Chapter 119: Negative Node
Resplendent rays of rainbow light shot out from Quin’s body. Something within his chest was shining much brighter than his spirit body, and it could only be his own heart.
The dark entity watched on as the rainbow glow of the boy’s heart started to shift in hue, the light rays fluctuating between the seven primary colors, and the color of pure white.
‘Radiance.’ The entity said to herself in a somber, and even somewhat reminiscent voice.
How long had it been since she had seen that power? Seeing that white radiant light, it brought to her a flood of memories.
A flood of bright and sweet memories…to which she banished as soon as they came.
Yet despite her efforts, it was too late, for a seed of light started to sprout within her imagination.
Unlike mortal minds that could envision images and scenes, within her own imagination, a whole universe was being simulated. And within the imagination of her higher mind, the concept of radiance bloomed.
She saw a limitless, expanding white light, embracing all and everything in its glow with unconditional warmth and nurture.
And whence she returned from her imagination to the present moment, she felt fullness mixed with bittersweet melancholy.
Fullness from the light of radiance, and melancholy, for the life she used to have, and the people who were no longer a part of it.
Whatever the case, now she knew what the undead hand was trying to accomplish.
‘Resonance.’
‘When the light of radiance shines, upon chance, it could inspire.’
’Through radiance and resonance, the heart of one could move the heart of another. It could possibly move the hearts of many. And although unlikely, it could one day even move the hearts of all.’
The dark deity scoffed at the same words that emerged from her memory, but she could not deny their power, and their truth.
Just as many held darkness in their heart, so too did many hold in their hearts, drifting specks of floating light. And those motes of light, well…they were many things.
In essence, they were abstract, conceptual, and symbolic in nature.
The floating lights could be moments or intervals of time, ranging from brief actions lasting only a split second, to days or weeks of a certain action. They also could be significant thoughts, beliefs, prayers, or even intense emotions. They could also be, oaths, resolutions, and promises.
Whatever the case, all the floating lights had one thing in common. They were the very embodiments of human compassion, courage, and love. The motes of light were metaphysical representations of the good within each and every person.
Now, the process of Quin’s heart shining radiantly white, was an effort to move the own floating lights within Zan’s heart.
It was a form of resonance.
If each and every thing in the universe emitted a sound— a sound that never ceased to reverberate, then resonance meant two existences playing the same song.
And in this specific case…
‘Heart resonance.’
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‘One heart invites another to resonate on the same level.’
‘Huh. Definitely a higher form of connection than touch-contact.’
‘...But where did you learn how to do such a thing, little one?’ She thought to herself, as she looked at the luminescent body of the little boy.
Quin’s eyes still laid closed, but the subtle quivers in his expression revealed the amount of focus it was taking him to really maintain his current state.
It was by no means easy. In extremely simple terms, radiance was the attunement of body, mind, and soul, into the higher expression and beingness of positivity.
Radiance was selfless and unconditional compassion. It was nurturing wisdom and keen empathy. It was courage and strength, resolved to noble purpose. And yet, still it was much more.
Now humans typically could not stay in those energies, which was one of the reasons for the immense difficulty of what Quin was doing. The shining and perpetual release of that radiant light was one that took extreme power of will, purity of intention, and contrastingly, a sort of enlightened detachment.
And despite all of that struggle, still there was no guarantee that Quin’s tremendous efforts would really even change anything. Resonance was like an outstretched hand— it was still up to Zan to react to the stimulus.
The light coming from Quin’s heart continued to shift, unsteadily waning between the seven separate colors, and that of unity, which was of the color of white.
‘Pray that your efforts work, child.’
‘And don't pray to me either.’
The deity’s attention soon turned towards Zan’s orb shaped heart, and within, she peered.
The darkness continued to spread. His conjoined existence with an eldritch monster meant they shared one heart, and that monstrous side of him right now was shifting from an obediently receptive role, to a more wild and active one. With its own sentience and will, it was feeding the festering darkness with both wicked intentions, and intense negative emotional force.
This whole process in and of itself was unprecedented, at least, in the mid-realms. The voraciousness and unsated wrath of an eldritch beast had never met the clarity of choice that many mortals were beholden to.
For just the same as Zan enjoyed the benefits of an extremely powerful body, the eldritch sentience enjoyed the benefits of a higher framework of mind. And that was also the reason why the darkness within Zan’s heart grew so fast.
Darkness, in fact…was unable to birth itself within the undeveloped consciousness of a purely instinctual animal. To have light and darkness within a being’s heart, required the conceptual framework of positivity and negativity— something that existed mainly only in creatures with societal and moral cognizance.
Beasts, including monsters, hunted and devoured to survive. Although at times they could display either cruelty or compassion, it wasn't to the higher degree that more intelligent species could.
Compared to animals or most eldritch monsters, the choices that a human or other intelligent species could make, effectively used a higher degree of free will, autonomy, and sovereignty.
This…also meant that the spreading darkness could never have been born from the eldritch sentience. Instead, the growing nebula of darkness, was first born as a tiny tear-drop from Zan’s very own heart.
His actions. His thoughts, feelings, and emotions. The darkness came solely from his own self and no one or nothing else. The eldritch sentience that was a part of him, was only feeding what had already been present within.
Now through the purple light’s influence, Zan’s consciousness was currently spiraling further into the expressions of selfishness, manipulation, and domination.
It was instrumental that Zan himself was swayed, else the process of the spreading darkness would slow, and the chances of a mishap taking place would become greater.
Speaking of mishaps…
Quin’s heart continued to shine white, whilst the moon deity was currently entertaining herself by looking through the various memories and twisted imaginations within the darkness.
After sifting through an ocean of heavy, abyss-colored energy, finally she found her divine sight looking at the memory that Zan's consciousness was currently engrossed in.
Amusement filled her, for in this memory, he held in his arms the body of a certain girl who had hurt someone close to him…
Shelly was unconscious, her clothes stripped from her to cover for his sister's torn rags, leaving her only in her undergarments.
Of course, that itself was not what amused the dark entity. Instead…it was the fact that Zan carried her unconscious body above a raging, flooding river.
He carried her like a princess, but the young boy’s intentions were not so gentle. For just a few years younger than he was right now, young Zan was contemplating on whether to throw her in or not.
Obviously, throwing the knocked-out body of a little girl into a roaring river meant her sure death, but for Zan, it seemed, that didn't matter.
Not under his silent waves of wrath, and…not under the twisted anticipation of pleasure he’d get from taking revenge on her.
Despite his sister saving her sorry life— which in the very first place was all her idea! Despite the girl that Elea herself saved being placed in the position to help them by saying just a few nice words— instead she chose to stab them in the back at the most crucial and worst time.
Zan wasn’t dumb— he knew the influence that the rich had over their servants. He knew just a few words like, ‘You’ll get in trouble with daddy!’ would have stopped that scum from touching a single hair on his sister’s head. In fact the two girls he saved previously, had already vouched and said enough to make the man falter.
Shelly didn’t even have to help. She just had to shut her mouth and stay silent. Instead though, she chose to voluntarily screw them over.
‘Stupid little bitch just had to open her mouth! I told Elea the bitch wasn't worth fucking saving!’
Now his sister’s clothes were torn to shreds, and the bastard even hit her face, knocking her unconscious while leaving a terrible mark.
Young Zan was boiling with rage, even though it manifested as cold-blooded murderous intent.
The moon deity heard and felt his thoughts, and she only grew further amused.
‘Was this memory one of the fountain nodes for the darkness’s birth?’
As Zan stood above the waters with the body in his hands, the flooding waves of the river roared. Along with them, the waves of dark influence emerged too, ever stronger.
Zan took a step closer to the river, while his arms carrying Shelly’s body started to extend outwards.
A smile crept up on his face, and truly, it was difficult for the moon deity to decipher whether it was the darkness influencing Zan’s memories, or if the memory, simply played out just like this.