Chapter 41
(decisions, decisions)
As Jarow soared through the open portal in her superhero pose, an unusual sensation overcame her. It felt as if her entire body was being stretched, like those syrup-filled stretch Armstrong dolls popular in the eighties.
First, she felt her arms extending outward for what seemed like miles, followed by a similar elongation starting at the top of her head. Her vision distorted shortly thereafter, rendering shapes and colors strangely malleable and elongated. Within moments, all she perceived was the swirling darkness of the portal itself.
Amidst this disorienting experience, Jarow's mind wandered back to her friends. She desperately hoped that her decision to leap into the portal prematurely was the right one. It was her only option to try and halt the portal's expansion; she had to believe that her entry through the aperture would cause it to seal shut behind her. But the certainty of whether that had worked or not was not something she would be able to know.
In this strange elongated state as she traveled to her destination, Jarow decided it would be best to check her status to ensure she was at peak performance. Opening her character sheet, she discovered that she had leveled up twice from defeating the skyscraper robot thing. It seemed that removing the Discoball of Destiny was enough to actually destroy the machine, or perhaps she had received a substantial reward for completing the quest. She could look through her log if she was curious enough, to find out for certain.
Regardless, she allocated her attribute points to Power, Mobility, and Perception, as those were the stats that were uneven. With the added stats from the Aether skin, she now had forties across all her physical stats. Although there were no new abilities or powers gained by the levels, she did gain a few racial attribute modifications, the same one’s she had gained last time while occupying this body.
After she finished, her character sheet looked like:
Jarow Holloman Catalystic Converger
Level [- 22 -]
Race [- Orc ]
XP [- 26,796 -]
HP [- 1600 -]
MP [- 1360 -]
SP [- 1500 -]
Physical
Power 40 [ +2 ] Racial Bonus
Durability 40
Mobility 40 [ +3 ] Racial Bonus
Mental
Perception 33
Willpower 35
Judgment 35
Unquantifiable
Charisma 18 [ -1 ] Racial Penalty
Luck 23
Powers
Molecular Fusion
Essence Transposition
Spatial Exchange
Temporal Inversion
Aural Armor
Dimensional Stream
As Jarow continued to stretch through the darkened length of the portal, she felt the unusual elongation sensation starting in her torso and reaching down to her legs. There was a part of her mind which understood that this was taking much too long, that her body should already be fully immersed within the portal, but it seemed as though time itself slowed once she touched the thick soupy substance within this tube like portal.
She thought to herself, “This has got to be the most disturbing portal I have ever experienced.” Her body felt elongated, like it was being pulled upward through a thin straw. She wondered if this sensation was due to her entry into the portal before it was fully formed, or if it were simply the nature of this portal. She also wondered if she would actually survive this unusual experience or if she would have to choose another of her bodies in order to proceed.
The energy of the portal felt thick and syrupy, like Jarow was being pushed through a milkshake. The sensation wasn't unpleasant, but the still-human part of her brain began to panic, as if she couldn't breathe. But she also intuitively knew that breathing wasn't specifically necessary for her; her magically formed body technically didn’t need air, just like it didn’t require food, water, or sleep. She had continued to breathe nonetheless because it was an essential base function and occurred naturally, so while her logical mind understood, it was still difficult to convince herself that breathing was unnecessary.
Finally, after what felt like several minutes, Jarow could sense the entirety of her body entering the portal, with her toes being the last part to join in the stretchy, elongated sensation.
As she felt the last part of her big toe stretch out, a new sensation overcame her. It wasn't like something else following her into the portal; rather, it felt as though the end of the portal was slowly snapping shut.
An extreme tightening sensation quickly overtook her toes and feet, with the pressure building and pressing against her strange, spaghetti-like body. It didn't hurt, but it was incredibly uncomfortable. Within seconds, it had moved up her legs, binding her and catching her off guard.
Panicked, Jarow attempted to wiggle her toes, and kick her feet. She tried to thrash her legs, but to no avail. The pressure continued to ascend along her body, constricting her midsection and encroaching on her chest. She felt it pressing against her lungs, and despite not needing to breathe, she instinctively gasped for air, but there was none to inhale. The pressure moved higher and was enough to expel the last puff of air from her body.
The pressure didn't stop at her chest; it continued to ascend her body, wrapping around her neck like a strangling cord. Jarow thrashed her head from side to side, attempting to escape, but the pressure proved to be too formidable. She felt as if she were being devoured by a giant snake. She silently screamed in terror as she felt the pressure close in around her.
The relentless pressure persisted, compressing Jarow's body like a vise. It moved up over her head and down her seemingly endless arms until she was completely ensnared, unable to move or even breathe. Her vision darkened, and she was engulfed in an intense, binding pressure.
The only silver lining to the incredibly restrictive pressure was that Jarow's body no longer felt stretched out; it began to compress and regain its solidity. However, the downside was the unyielding pressure was constricting her, keeping her from moving and blocking out all of her senses.
Jarow found herself lost in a void of darkness, silence, and crushing pressure, the only sound the pounding of her own heart.
Time seemed to stand still, although Jarow knew that couldn't be true. The portal must have closed behind her, leaving her trapped in this unknown place. She tried to stay calm, but panic was rapidly setting in.
As soon as Jarow had jumped into the portal, her UI’s clock had gone blank. She had noticed this phenomenon before; portals, it seemed, were not subject to normal time. This made it even harder for her to understand what was happening now.
Luckily, the restrictive pressure didn't seem to last much longer than a few moments. Then it began to loosen and relieve some of her panic.
Though still unable to change her pose, trapped within the thick energy of the portal, her muscles were no longer locked down. She could wiggle her head and limbs slightly, and her body felt solid again. The sensation of being stretched out for miles was also thankfully eliminated.
Jarow could see again as well, but there wasn't much to see. The swirling wisps of dark maroons and indigoes passed by too quickly to focus on, but they gave her a sense of motion, which she was grateful for.
Jarow mentally whispered to Xinpo, "Are you okay? Did you feel all that as well?"
"Yes, Suzerain. It was rather unpleasant. I take it the sensations of being pulled apart and then pressed back together were less than comfortable for you as well?"
Jarow wasn't aware of what had actually happened, but Xinpo's explanation made perfect sense. She was not keen on having that happen again though.
"Yes, not pleasant in the least. Is that what happens when someone enters a portal before it's fully formed?" she asked.
"I haven't had the experience before, so I'm assuming that's the most likely scenario. Although I believe this portal is unique, so the consequences may be different when done through a normal inter-dimensional portal," Xinpo answered.
Jarow attempted to nod and was only able to make a slight movement with her head. The lesser pressure still exerted on her allowed for slight gestures, but it was almost like moving through thick liquid, such as honey or molasses. It was possible, but not easy.
A slight change in the density of the colors shooting past Jarow's eyes alerted her to a new light source up ahead. She couldn't quite straighten her head, but within seconds, the brightening of the portal was apparent.
"I believe we are about to arrive, Suzerain," Xinpo stated the obvious.
The exit of the portal was not what Jarow expected, and it was far from something she wanted to experience. Instead of stepping through a normal portal exit or being ejected onto the ground due to her unusual pose when entering the portal, she felt her hands enter a new ring of pressurized light, which quickly slowed her movement down.
She could feel the thick, wet light close around her hands, as if they were being enclosed by illuminated muscle-like tissue. It clamped her hands together and guided them into what could only be described as a puckering sphincter. Once her hands were lodged in the hole, her momentum pressed her arms within the slippery tube as well. The walls of the tunnel took over from there, rippling with strength that both prevented Jarow from withdrawing and pulled her forward.
It was obvious that she wasn't moving through this end of the portal; rather, it seemed like the portal was squeezing her out. The dense and slimy tube sucked her body in and undulated as it moved her forward. The passage from which she was being extruded was several feet thick, and only after feeling the puckering spasms of the exit orifice for several long moments did her body finally begin to break through the end.
The spasmodic and jerky movement as she passed through the end sphincter was especially disgusting. As Jarow's head emerged, her senses returned, and an unpleasant aroma assaulted her. She could finally see that her body was covered in a viscous mucus, which seemed to stick around, unlike everything else that had touched her Aether Skin, which had quickly disintegrated.
Once Jarow opened her eyes, she found herself in a new area of darkness, seemingly suspended in space. There was no ground or land in sight. She watched in disgust as her midsection oozed out of the portal which appeared as a stark white, circular, wrinkled muscle covered in shiny, thick fluid. It protruded from nothingness, with no visible support behind it.
The space sphincter spasmed again, expelling more of Jarow's body, which was also covered in the sticky clear liquid. The substance dripped off her and remained suspended in the space around her. It seemed as though her body was the only source of gravity in this place, as the droplets of liquid fell a few inches away from her and then began to orbit around her.
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Normally, such a strange occurrence would have fascinated Jarow, but in her current state—covered in foul-smelling goo and witnessing her legs being expelled from a giant white space anus—the entire situation with the slime seemed secondary.
With a final splutter, Jarow found herself free from the confines of the portal. Grateful for the ability to move again, she glanced around the void in which she now floated. Small lights resembling stars dotted the expanse, but they didn't quite fit the description of stars. They seemed too close, too bright, and strangely translucent. Jarow couldn't shake the feeling that if she had a telescope, she could see right through them.
A slight noise caught her attention, and she turned to see the disgusting portal from which she had just exited shrinking away with a sound very similar to air being squeezed from a balloon with its end mostly clamped. Then, with a wet pop, the portal closed completely.
Left adrift in the emptiness, Jarow pondered her next move. She believed she was in the right place, but she wouldn't know for sure until she received a message or quest update. Patiently, she waited, counting the moments in her head. When she reached one hundred, she turned to Xinpo, hoping for some guidance.
"I am sorry, Suzerain. My interface is abnormally blank," Xinpo replied.
Jarow glanced at her own UI and noticed that many of her powers' buttons were grayed out as well.
"Wait a second, what's going on here?" Jarow's voice echoed hollowly in the void, barely audible even to her own ears. It seemed as though her words dissipated before they could travel far.
Observing her surroundings, she couldn't shake the feeling that this place resembled another portal more than an actual location. And to add to the oddity, she noticed that only a few of her powers were available in her User Interface.
Breathing in, she sensed the air moving into her nostrils, but it felt thin, barely qualifying as air at all. It carried with it the stench of the slime that coated her body. Checking her UI, Jarow confirmed that "Complete Cleanse" was one of the few abilities still at her disposal.
Without further hesitation, she closed her eyes and activated the power. A wave of light passed over her, eliminating all traces of the foul substance that clung to her skin. Curious to see the extent of the spell's reach in this strange place, she reopened her eyes quickly once the wave of light had left her.
What Jarow beheld in that fleeting millisecond when the spell's power lighted up her surroundings was more terrifying than anything she had ever encountered. Within the darkness, something writhed, and perhaps not just one thing, but trillions.
The darkness churned and pulsed, revealing a writhing mass of tentacles, sharp teeth, and eyes. Eyes were everywhere, of all shapes and sizes, from tiny pinpricks to enormous orbs that stared at her with malevolent hunger.
In that brief instant, Jarow impossibly tasted bile rising in her throat from a stomach she wasn’t sure she even had. The lights she had seen were not stars; they were eyes. Giant, bulbous eyes that stared at her with malice.
A primal fear gripped her, her body trembling with the knowledge that she was surrounded by something ancient, something evil, something far beyond her comprehension.
Jarow's heart pounded in her chest as she stood in the void, her mind reeling from the terror of what she had just witnessed.
Just as a message appeared in her UI, a calmer voice spoke in Jarow's mind. "Your Aether Skin will keep you from harm, Suzerain," Xinpo said somewhat reassuringly, though she could sense an ounce of fear in his voice as well.
Jarow heard the words and felt a little better, but she couldn't completely calm herself. Then a scroll-like message unfurled in her vision, and the text began to burn onto the paper. It was obviously a message from Frank.
Jarow, I apologize for the delay. You had to understand where you are before I could communicate with you. This is the void, the interdimensional space that holds the Aether. Within it resides the Void Weaver, which you have just seen.
As she continued to read the words appearing on the scroll in her vision, her mind also experienced the expanse of time and space itself, the images of what it was to be a part of the universe. She felt those events as they unfolded, as though experiencing them herself. It was like hearing the words in her mind and living through the experiences being unfolded before her.
Before either me or Tenebrous were created, an event occurred. A perfect molecule came into existence. This single molecule held within it everything that will ever be, as well as nothing at all. It was the beginning of the universe.
With so much information and mass packed into that single molecule, the Void Weaver could not contain it, and the molecule exploded. It expanded and grew, the force of the explosion raging for billions of years and sending material out in all directions for billions of lightyears.
The Void Weaver had held off the universe's growth for countless eons, but when it finally burst, it filled the creature with pain and shame that it still feels to this day. The Void Weaver has two opposing duties: instinctively, it tries to prevent universes from forming, but it also must keep existing universes from interacting with each other.
Over billions of years, the vast universe had become unstable and vulnerable to the Void Weaver. Following its instincts, the Void Weaver tore the universe apart. This is when Tenebrous and I were created.
We embodied the entire history of the universe, yet we were powerless to change anything. The Void Weaver's fission had split not only the physical universe, but its properties as well. The very elements of each began to unravel and be torn apart.
Now there is the chance to bring the universe back around to its own beginning. There is little left of our universe which still remains fused and it is up to you to decide what will become of the pieces. You have the artifacts and powers necessary to mend the tear and overcome the Void Weaver, or you can use those same powers to complete the separation.
If you choose to reunite the universe, you can return to your home. Earth is a part of a combined universe. It has a long lifespan and will continue to exist for eons. The reunification will reset the universe, causing it to be held within the perfect molecule once more. What you call "The Big Bang" will occur again, and all things will resume.
Alternatively, if you choose to separate the universe, the consequences will affect all the trillions of life forms held within it and the universe itself will become chaotic and unknown. The worlds in which you have been fighting, gaining your powers and artifacts, are a precursor and only one of the infinite possibilities that could occur if the universe is separated.
With the elements of the universe separated, the basic foundations of the universe would be ripped apart, and the balance of all would be lost. One universe would contain the things I find important: light, kindness, and hope. The other would go to Tenebrous and take with it the alternatives: darkness, despair, and cruelty.
No one, not even I, can truly know what will happen if the universes are separated. A connection between the two universes will always remain though which may prove to be even more inconvenient for the Void Weaver.
The choice is yours alone to make now, Jarow. Choose wisely and good luck.
New Quest: You have been given the decision to bring the separating universes together as one or separate them into their representative halves. Use your weapon which has been combined with the Staff of Eternal Binding and Discoball of Destiny to complete your quest.
Reward - for reading the previous update you receive [ +7 ] to Luck.
Jarow returned to her body as the message ended. Her mind still felt as though it were spinning from the mental journey the words had taken her on. She had seen the aforementioned molecule sitting alone in the darkness, the Void Weaver's tentacles wrapping around it, holding it together. Then it exploded, and she saw the expansion of the universe: stars formed from gas clouds, and planets and other heavenly bodies emerged from the debris and rock strewn forth. She watched as stars aged and died, and civilizations formed and fell. All of time, far beyond what she would associate as her own, passed before her mental eye as the story told through the message continued.
Throughout it all, she could see the Void Weaver being pushed farther and farther back from the expanding universe. She could sense its pain, but also its vastness. It was beyond quantification; all of space as known within the universe could fit within a single molecule of the creature. It held within it not just this universe, but an infinite amount of other universes as well. To the Void Weaver, a universe was nothing more than a grain of sand in a sand dune the size of the solar system.
Yet the message made the quest sound as if Jarow had to somehow fight or free this universe from the clutches of the Void Weaver. She knew differently. The Void Weaver was somewhat alive, but not as we understand it. Each cell or molecule of the infinite darkness was its own being, yet also a part of the whole. The very idea of fighting such a thing was impossibly naive.
No, when considering the multiverse as a whole, or even just this small area of it, the quest appeared simplistic yet impossible. Jarow faced the daunting task of either reuniting the two parts of the universe, currently drifting apart, by stitching and repairing them until the process of regeneration reset, reverting the universe into the very same molecule it had once been, or she had to sever the remaining bonds between the separating sides, creating two smaller, oppositely polar universes which could occupy the same space, yet constantly repel each other.
The decision was the key, the goal. It was the reason Frank and Tenebrous had needed her, the reason she was here. Yet, it was also the most difficult decision she would ever make, perhaps the most impossible decision anyone should ever be allowed to consider.
Before she could even begin to contemplate which way to lean, she needed to deal with the Void Weaver. From its perspective, Jarow's actions would be comparable to moving a single strand of hair from the body of a massive long-haired Saint Bernard by a fraction of a millimeter. It would never notice nor feel the action, yet it would also be keenly aware of her and whichever path she chose. The dichotomy was mind-bending and instantly gave her a headache.
In either scenario, Jarow was completely unprepared to undertake such an overwhelming feat. The mere thought of beginning to work through this conundrum caused her mind to shut down. Her heart sank, and her cognitive faculties all but ceased functioning. The infinities that surrounded her, the time frames she had just witnessed and experienced while reading Frank's message, and the impending decision that would impact more beings than she could even fathom were far beyond her current capacity to comprehend or deal with.
Jarow fell into a stupor, drifting off into the vastness surrounding her. It reminded her strangely of the time she had lain on the floor of the Liminal Divide, staring at her own body. Though that moment felt like ages ago, she knew from her perspective it had been barely over a month.
And therein lay the crux of her dilemma: perspective. She now understood that there was no way a mere Human, Orc, Elf, Gnoll, Halfling, Dwarf, Naga, Aasimar, Quigza, or any other singular being could accomplish what she was being asked to do. Yet here she was, floating within the Aether, surrounded by the Void Weaver and its interdimensional appendages. It was a stretch for anyone to even comprehend the enormity of a single universe, let alone a multiverse tethered by the undulating tentacles of this ancient being. But with the revelation of Frank's message, as well as subtle hints dropped in their previous interactions, Jarow now understood that perspective was not solely about size and shape; it was about understanding and relativity.
Now armed with the knowledge of her task and having witnessed the universe being birthed from the perspective of Frank and Tenebrous, who were the universe itself, and understanding how the universe was held in the Aether by the Void Weaver, Jarow could perceive everything.
Thus, she found herself, her thoughts finally catching up to her, floating in the nothingness of a creature that held an infinite amount of universes in its grasp.
She floated within the creature and within nothing simultaneously, her mindscape producing her sensations, yet her body melding with the Aether. She was the size of a Universe herself, yet viewed through the eyes of a being the size of an Orc.
The entire notion was ludicrous, especially the notion of time, particularly in this realm, and the idea sparked a small flicker of amusement within Jarow. She had now come to understand the essence of time: it was movement. Here, in this void beyond the confines of the universe and its perpetual expansion, there was no motion, rendering time irrelevant.
While traversing portals, she had experienced an almost lack of time, yet during those travels she was moving within the universe but at a different alignment depending on the portal's direction. This diminished the significance of time while traveling through said portals. She likened it to a hair floating on a soap bubble; it was connected, yet separate, atop the bubble, yet unaffected by the bubble's actions.
Then there was the Liminal Divide which was now somewhat clearer to Jarow though still not fully comprehended. It existed in a transitional state, caught amidst the unraveling of the universe. There, time functioned differently; the entire place acted as the mechanism atop an unzipping universe, tethered yet riding the separation of its parts.
This new understanding shed light on the peculiarity of her UI's clock in such a place. Its interface wasn't bound by specific locations like she had assumed; it was driven by the movement of everything through the universe's expansion, which, for the most part, was constant and uniform. Its unusual feel and actions were a result of the place’s strange positioning within, yet atop of, the universe.
Yet, she acknowledged that universal expansion wasn't an entirely accurate way of telling time. Despite the myriad ways in which a universe's expansion could be manipulated and bent, when viewed in the broader context of time itself and its relationship with the universe, the universe she had always inhabited, these complexities seemed inconsequential.
While these ideas passed through her mind, she realized that her entire perspective had become much more cosmic due to the message and the journey it had taken her on. Small things such as friends and families seemed less significant, yet they were still the foundation of everything in her life.
As Jarow's mind wandered through the faces of her comrades and acquaintances, a surge of emotions washed over her. The memories, both cherished and challenging, flooded her thoughts, each face bearing the weight of their shared experiences. She saw the determination in the eyes of her team, the unwavering support of her parents, the loyalty of Noruff, and the loneliness of the Ookla.
But amidst these recollections were also the faces of adversaries she had defeated. Even their presence stirred a sense of connection, a thread of camaraderie that bound them all together, regardless of past conflicts.
In that moment, Jarow realized the true purpose of her journey. It was not solely for her own salvation or redemption, but for the countless beings whose lives intersected with hers. Each life she had touched, each soul she had encountered, held significance in the vast interconnectedness of existence. It was for them—for their hopes, their dreams, their struggles—that she bore the weight of this choice and this quest.
With this newfound understanding, Jarow embraced her role with greater determination. She recognized that her actions would determine the destinies of countless beings.
She accepted the gravity of her responsibility, and felt a profound sense of purpose overcoming her. A purpose that transcended her individual desires, to encompass the collective of all she had encountered and so much more.
Jarow's eyes began to focus once again. She knew there wasn't much to see here, but she knew she had things to do and needed to do them. All life depended on her now.
“Xinpo, would you release those memories you’ve been keeping back from me?” Jarow whispered mentally to the other part of her soul located in the sword at her waist.
“Are you certain, Jarow?” came the reply.
Jarow smiled. She rarely heard Xinpo say her name, which meant there was something serious going on. “Yeah, don’t worry about it. I understand now and need those thoughts to help me make some very important choices.”
For the first time, she admitted to herself, and Xinpo, that he was more than just a companion; he was part of her. She knew that to accomplish anything here, she needed to be whole. She needed to understand that her very soul or essence was split in the same way as the universe.
The feelings returned along with the emotions as Jarow's memories of Earth rushed back to her. A wave of sadness engulfed her, and she almost gave up. But among the pain was happiness and joy mixed in as well. Jarow's life had been anything but easy, but he had always found ways to cope with his failing body. He had found ways to have fun and had great friends. He also had a dad who was the greatest. Although the word “had” echoed through Jarow's mind with the knowledge that his father was no longer alive.
Through it all, the sorrow and joy, Jarow looked back through her memories, felt them once again, and let her mind work through and comprehend what it was to really live. Then she tried to imagine what it would be like to live with only half of her feelings.
Ultimately, it came down to whether Jarow was willing to separate the pain from the pleasure. Could she sever the happiness from the sadness and still be whole? She thought of the amazing adventures she had been on, the powers and game-style interface that floated in her vision. If she combined the universe back together, it would all be gone. The need for warriors would disappear. Even Frank and Tenebrous would be gone, as if they had never existed merging completely with the universe as it became whole.
She knew that without strife, a person couldn’t grow and experience happiness. She knew that without darkness, there couldn't be light.
Yet even with her breakthroughs, she still harbored the thought of leaving this life and returning to her old one.
She floated in the Aether, and a familiar memory took shape in her mind's eye, though her perspective had changed. She suddenly found herself hovering above, looking down upon her mother holding her original human body's hand. Tubes and monitors surrounded the weak and broken boy she once was. Her mother's hair was disheveled, and her clothes were wrinkled, yet she sat there by her son’s side and endured.
Jarow could only imagine the trauma and the consequences of such an experience. From her current vantage point, the only feelings her mother would experience would be sadness and loss. She would never truly be the same person she was. Happiness and joy would forever be overshadowed by the memory of that fateful moment when she lost her husband.
Yet even if Jarow returned to her human body and somehow survived, she would already have lost her dad. She would then be forced to confront that loss without even remembering what was happening in this realm. Her memories of this existence would vanish completely, not merely concealed as they were by Xinpo before, but utterly erased, as if this continued part of her existence had never been. She knew that the benefit she could bring to her mother in her time of need would most likely be minimal, and that her own failing health would cause that body to end soon, further affecting her mother's sanity.
Deep down, Jarow knew that if she chose to combine the universe, she would no longer be herself. She would revert to being the fragile, weak boy she saw in her memory. She would know nothing of the adventures she and Xinpo had undergone, the people they had met. Because Xinpo would not be going back to that life, being a part of this larger universe, he couldn’t be reintegrated with that body.
Just as the universe was being split by the Void Weaver, Jarow's soul had split. Xinpo was the part of her soul which belonged within the split universe and wouldn't be able to return to the repaired reality.
Once again, she faltered. She had been so close to choosing to mend the universe, but then the thought of losing her own soul brought her back to indecision. Was that a price she could willingly pay? What would it truly mean? Would she even know? These questions echoed in the back of her mind.
She understood that she had plenty of time here, since time was irrelevant in this space. But she also knew that she needed to make her decision soon. She was being allowed to be here within the Aether alongside the Void Weaver, but that wouldn't be tolerated forever.
As if to punctuate the need for her decision, her perspective shifted. Instantly, the universe sprawled before her, a swirling mass of colors, gasses, and streaks of dark space slicing through it.
It was being torn apart, like an orange peeled in opposite directions, with two separate yet equally significant sections extending out. Along the rupture, gasses escaped, consumed by the toothy mouths of slippery black tentacles.
At the center, shrinking steadily, hung a super-condensed orb of light. From her journey through Franks’ narrative, Jarow recognized this as the universe's core, teeming with the highest density of stars and planets. The radiant orb comprised trillions upon trillions of stars, each living out their billions-of-years lifespan.
This was the moment. The time for her decision and action had arrived. Her mind raced with the weight of her choice, her body trembling with indecision.