Everie’s mind stilled. Not out of shock, but out of awe.

And Fear.

The darkness had ruptured. Tendrils of shattered space snaked around the disrupted area like the roots of a fell tree. Even without the slightest foreknowledge on what power this was, Everie could tell immediately that this was yet another rift.

Only, of a much different sort than the ones that had been employed to protect her for this past time. They looked different, too - uglier, in a sense - compared to the rifts the Crying Demon had used; instead of clean, surgical slivers, these rifts looked more like pustules, or ugly bruises on the fabric of reality.

The remaining behemoths screeched, before scattering. The rifts, too, hung in the air for a split second longer before disappearing - as if they were worried.

I would be, too, Everie thought, darkly. She wasn’t sure if the Crying Demon could hear her. That doesn’t look good. These… aren’t yours, right?

As if in response to her query, the cracks shuddered, pulsating a sickly white.

Then a single creature stepped out of it.

Everie immediately winced. Whatever little was left of her physiological instincts told her instantly to look away. And thus, divert her attention she did.

If she hadn’t, Everie was sure her thoughts would not have been left untouched. Even the merest voice of the Crying Demon from earlier had disrupted reality. This… thing was undoubtedly greater. In almost the way a parent would be to a child.

Their very presence seemed to distort the flow of reality around them, and although Everie hadn’t quite gotten a good look at them - her instincts told her literally couldn’t, or at least shouldn’t, unless she wanted bad things to happen to her in this pathetic soul-only state - she knew they were important. Far more important than any of these behemoths.

Half of them instantly screeched, before running off. The other half turned to stare at this new interloper, interrupting their hunt, and attacked.

They lost miserably. The figure didn’t even move; the behemoths that targeted the white being simply disappeared upon nearing it.

Everie tensed. The fact that the mountain-sized behemoths that had been targeting her had been utterly vaporized didn’t even register in her mind, because shit they’re looking at me-

Void flickered-

-and they were on top of her.

A rift appeared over her, blocking her vision and shielding her sight, but that barely stopped the wave of devastation that rippled across the entirety of whatever this place was. Everie would have screamed if she had a mouth; she was barely lucid, and the scintillation still disturbed her, shaking the confines of her fragile mind.

Surprisingly, her physical self seemed untouched. A cursory glance over her ‘body’ told Everie the rift had somehow held against the blow. But the rift was also shuddering, likely from the strain of bearing such immense energy.

Piercing booms resounded across the voidscape - sometimes near the rift, other times vast distances away. With every blow, the fundamental frameworks of time and distance seemed to shudder; with every blow, entropy screamed and reality wept.

Are they- Everie winced, as part of the space seemed to peel away -are they fighting?

Over me? What, am I supposed to blush?

Everie chuckled, the thought careening out of her consciousness despairingly. First, there had been that eyeball-demon thing. Then those behemoths. And now these...

This god?

No, Everie reminded herself.They’re enemies. Pursuers. That’s all that matters, right now.

The rift shuddered. Everie tensed, glancing at the whirlpool. It’s so close!-

There was a clang, and the rift shattered. The sound of shattered space shattering - an oxymoron, if one could ever even exist - made Everie cringe.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Time seemed to slow, perpetuated by only the whirling of her thoughts.

Don’tpanicdon’tpanicdon’tpanic-

She panicked. The Hell am I supposed to do? These things are going to take you away, and they’re going to enslave you, they-

Stop, Everie reminded herself. You don’t know what they want. And you have a protector - use that. I-

She paused. But… why am I even trusting this Demon-thing to save me?

But that was different, she found herself arguing. The Crying Demon had saved her from these beasts. Instead of ending her, it had set her free. Granted, she didn’t know what it wanted from her - she might die anyhow, for all she knew, if she touched that vortex it seemed to be sending her to - but so what if she died?

At least she would die on her own terms. Not because of the whimsy of a mad priest, or a behemoth, or even a say-so god. Her collected death would be an inevitability.

Not a flight of fancy.

She would have clenched her fists if she had any. The only thing left to do was plead. Beg. But not pray.

Hey, Crying-Demon, she thought. If this didn’t work, then she would have to resign herself to her fate. Your rift that was protecting me just shattered. Mind helping out?

There was nothing but silence. Everie closed off her consciousness as she sensed an arm reach out towards her. The thing that had developed in her core shuddered in fear, cringing away from them.

Okay.

Everie startled. It was, oddly enough, a feminine voice. She sounded weary, but there was a strength to her, which belied her scratchy accent.

There was a hum. Then a hiss, and a crackle. Like a snake, something unfurled across the land. The being freezed, stopping their clash, and their mad dash towards her. Their hands were still outstretched.

For the first time, Everie got the sense they were looking at her warily, instead of just something to covet. Everie stared at them, confused, until she realized that the being had literally been frozen in space.

And at that exact moment, Everie got her answer.

You’re hardly worthless, the voice scoffed. In fact, I must apologize. It took much longer than expected to find you. I wasn’t sure until...

Who are you? Everie asked. She half-suspected - well, it was basically confirmed, at this point - that this was the Crying-Demon speaking to her, but she felt she might as well ask nonetheless.

You met me earlier, the Crying-Demon said. She sounded disembodied - weak. This won’t hold long, but it should be strong enough for me to build up enough strength to banish them from this plane.

They shouldn’t have even been able to get here in the first place. This isn’t a good sign...

Everie startled. The whirlpool was getting ever-closer. She knew the eyes of the entity, though she still refused to look directly at them, were tracking her soul, still drifting along the river, with barely constrained rage.

Well, no matter, the voice sighed. It was bound to happen eventually. And perhaps it is fate that your coming should be signaled by their return.

You haven’t answered my question, Everie insisted. Who are you? What do you want from me? What are you trying to do to me?

For a second, Everie felt the pressure of the beast weigh upon her soul, and she felt that same arcane language the Crying Demon had seemed to use flicker through her head. But unlike before, it felt oddly comfortable - and familiar. To her surprise, she felt the fragment trapped in her core resonate, pulsating with that same warmth.

I’ve given a part of myself to you already, the Crying-Demon said, ignoring Everie. Her voice was rapidly fading, and almost sounded labored. If the spell works correctly, then you will find the other half quickly enough. Although, of this, I am now confident; the fact that you can even understand me in this way is a testament that the restoration was a success. It seems you really are what I thought you were.

What- Everie gasped. She felt her soul twist as she impacted the whirlpool. She felt that same, odd sensation of her soul being flattened between two unimaginably vast panes of space - but then, at the same time, the soothing feeling of space ripping apart, as the Crying-Demon used her rifts to guide Everie into whatever place she was to be sent to.

Goodbye, Everie, the Crying-Demon said. Her voice sounded tired, but something else was there - a spark, or a glimmer, of something new. Everie couldn’t figure out what it was, but it felt so nostalgic, so familiar...

I’m sorry our meeting had to be so brief. I was overcome by emotion upon first meeting you, and it took time for me to impart my fragment upon you so that we could properly commune. As for why I’m not telling you my name; I can’t tell you anything more across this connection, as doing so may have unintended consequences.

But remember this: when the time is right, seek out my brethren. Don’t tell anyone else of this meeting. There is much at stake here, and time might be running out.

With luck, and once you’ve regained what you’ve lost, we’ll meet again, Everie. Seek my other half; I’ll be placing you close to it, so it shouldn’t matter. I’ll do my best to hold off the tide in the meantime. Like I always have.

Goodbye.

As she felt her soul being pulled through the layer between worlds, Everie gasped.

Ah. So that’s what this is.

It was hope.

Only then did everything truly go black, and for the first time in a long while, did Everie truly sleep.