Within the timespan of a single flash of blinding light, Nyx's existence became that of a living hell.
Before she could even understand what had happened, her five senses were overloaded by a barrage of signals crippling her mind and body with agonising pain as streams of scorching golden energy invaded her body without restraint. As they divided and spread like a spider's web or cracks in a wall, twisting around her circulatory system and core, the strands suppressed and disrupted any ability to control or manipulate the tiny amount of refined essence residing in her body.
Yet, even as her body convulsed and squirmed on the floor, Nyx was still capable of coherent thought. It took all of her willpower not to flee to the safety of the abyss. Each time she almost gave in, the fear of the unknown stopped her. She knew that the pain she was experiencing would be temporary, while what would happen to her core she left behind could last forever.
Every breath she took burnt her throat and lungs, the blinding light feeling as if she were trying to look directly into the sun while her skin felt as if it were too tight and ants were devouring her alive. Not only that but the more she fought the invading energy, the more it felt as if molten metal was steadily replacing her blood and essence.
"Why?"
The single question reverberated in Nyx's mind. Her internal tone resonating with both hurt and disappointment in equal measure.
The more she fought for control, the worse things seemed to become. Soon pain, confusion, fear and despair were battling it out as Nyx's insides squirmed. Her body felt as if it had warped into enraged, coiling snakes.
As she resisted bitterly, deep down Nyx had already started to accept that she had lost the fight. The only saving grace, which strangely made it even more terrifying, was that the energy wasn't trying to kill her but restrain. She felt like she was drowning, reaching the surface to take a gasp of air only to be dragged back under the surface.
Taking a deep breath, which felt as if she were breathing in a mixture of fire and ash, Nyx realised that she was only making her situation worse.
Unable to think of anything else she could do, she gradually stopped resisting. Much to Nyx's surprise, as she was attempting to hide the remaining energy under her control, she noticed the invading essence become sluggish. It seemed like a predator who had lost track of its prey. While it still stalked her body, it was apparently moving at random and without purpose. However, the moment she tried to manipulate any internal energy, it would rush towards it and brutally restrain whatever she was trying to do.
The brief respite, even though her senses were still overloaded and her body writhing on the ground, let Nyx semi-focus on trying to work out what had happened with the hope of finding a way to escape or alleviate her suffering.
It had started when she heard the explosions in the distance and decided to investigate. As she stealthily moved through the ruined town, cloaking her form in shadows and using the buildings as cover while blending perfectly with her surroundings, she had discovered a wounded human being chased by what appeared to be metal insects.
As she continued to watch from what she considered to be a safe distance, Nyx noticed the warm, somewhat intimate connection that had been present when she first woke up. Her curiosity only grew when the human's eyes started to glow with a very familiar blue hue, causing her to ponder his origins.
However, her curiosity remained just that. Even when it looked like the human was about to be destroyed by a hail of bolts of faint red energy, hissing angrily as they flew through the air, she had no intention of intervening. He was a passing curiosity, nothing worth exposing her existence over.
It was only when the human had somehow discovered her, calling out her name, that Nyx knew that things were not as they first seemed. Without needing to think, she reacted.
Nyx had dreamt about her freedom and various scenarios for countless years. She knew she had to eliminate any threat that would expose her existence quickly. Failure to do so could potentially unleash hell upon her life. However, she didn't want to use the tiny amount of essence she had refined or her trump card, the energy from the abyss which she gauged to have around thirty breaths worth.
As such, she decided to use a somewhat blunt and crude soul attack. The aim was to obliterate the human's consciousness and hopefully fry the metal creatures circuitry or at least buy her some time to find their weaknesses.
However, instead of the small, targeted attack, what she released was an explosion of soul energy that seemed to obliterate everything in its path. It was so powerful that it directly affected the bolts of energy mid-flight, twisting and distorting them. However, Nyx's pleasant surprise didn't last.
Moments before the blast wave hit the human, a golden explosion, like that of an exploding sun, blinded her senses. At the same time, her soul power that felt as vast as an ocean moments before was suddenly squashed and condensed back into her core.
Flinching at the memory, even though her body was still twitching as she gradually got used to her over-sensitive senses, Nyx tried to draw on her soul. However, she quickly discovered that while she could feel it, a thin barrier of energy surrounded her core and seemingly stopped her from controlling it.
While she couldn't see what the barrier looked like, Nyx instantly assumed that it was golden in colour. Just as she was about to prob its defences, the trembling on Nyx's body stopped at the same time that her eyes snapped open.
Ignoring the blinding golden light and pain that the slightest touch caused, she abruptly sat up as a foreboding feeling replaced everything else. She was so focused on her fears that Nyx didn't even realise that her sense of taste and smell were rapidly returning.
Tentatively, as if she were scared the slightest tremble would shatter the world, Nyx tried to manipulate the abyss energy in her core. Unlike the dark and ice essence, only a minuscule amount would circulate her body at one time. The rest seemed to be intrinsically linked with her soul. It would move with her as she shifted forms and travelled between reality and the abyss.
"No. Please No." Dispair surged forth as Nyx realised that, just like her soul, she could feel the abyss and her stored energies but could not call on them.
To have them so close, literally inside of her, and not be able to command what she considered part of existence left Nyx feeling as if she were being crushed by a mountain. As the sensation intensified and the perceived weight on her back and chest increased, her breathing became ragged.
"Trapped. Conquered. Vanquished. Defeated."
Nyx's body trembled as her eyes darted about, trying to spot anything that may give her a clue to what was going on or help her escape.
["You have done well, John."]
The world seemed to vibrate as the strange series of noises caused a wave of excruciating pain to wash over her body. It was only when her right eardrum burst, giving Nyx a small amount of relief that she was able to avoid falling unconscious. However, it took a couple of core beats for Nyx's vision, which had become as narrow as a pinprick, to return to normal.
Gasping for breath, now recognising the burning pain to be essence poisoning from the overabundance of light energy in her surroundings, Nyx didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Not even when she had been cornered underground by Lucifer had she felt so helpless. As it was, she felt as if she were fighting against a god or force of nature.
Just as she was on the verge of admitting defeat and withdrawing to the sanctuary of the abyss, Nyx shook her head violently and clenched her jaw. "No. I don't want this."
Manipulating the ice essence in her left ear to explode, even as restricted as it was, Nyx forcefully burst her remaining eardrum. The invading energy tried to stop her, almost succeeding, but her body was her own creation giving Nyx the slight edge needed to accomplish what she deemed an insignificant task.
However, the brief battle of energies left her dizzy and slightly disorientated, even as the anticipated relief occurred. Without the constant humming, crackling and hissing energy sounds of the barriers and essence, the strain on Nyx's senses had been significantly reduced as her focus improved.
"Did they really think they could use my own senses against me?" As the moment of joy turned to anger and resentment, the suffering Nyx experienced slightly subsided.
It was only as she took another fiery breath that she realised she had closed her eyes again. Nyx's eyelids providing little to no protection from the vivid energies surrounding her.
Slowly, remembering the two types of vision she had developed before she was trapped, Nyx opened her eyes once again feeling relief and pain at the same time.
Just like before, all Nyx could see was gold. However, after blinking multiple times and fighting the urge to recoil, she began to make out vague shapes. The most notable being the hazy silhouette of a giant humanoid with what looked like six wings. After a couple of seconds, Nyx was able to spot flashes of light to each side of her. They were mostly white, with a couple being blue, red or green. Yet, she couldn't make out what they were or the purpose of the golden bubble-like barrier that surrounded her.
While the ability to understand and translate the signals her senses were sending to her brain was gradually improving, Nyx felt the increasing needed to vomit. Her nausea became so intense that being sick seemed like a pleasant prospect. Yet she had nothing in her stomach. Not even acid as Nyx had long since inhibited its production so she wouldn't need to suffer the pain of digesting her own body when her prison ran out of food.
["I know you both must be confused. While this is nothing more than a recording, I believe I have taken most scenarios into account so you will get your answers."]
The moment the strange sounds started again, weaving together as they were a chant or had some form or pattern, Nyx couldn't resist any longer and started retching. Surprisingly, golden yellow liquid, with traces of fleshy-red, black and blue, splattered on the semi-transparent floor. As she deliberated where the liquid had come from, Nyx felt her life energy, as well as the dark and ice essence in her body, plummet.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Her thoughts were further disrupted when the gold-yellow liquid touched her skin, the sensation akin to being splashed with acid, causing Nyx to clumsily roll away before groggily returning to her sitting position.
Nyx desperately wanted to stand but knew that doing so at the moment would be impossible. She felt as if she had drunk her body weight in alcohol and was now at the delicate moment before losing consciousness where it felt dying would be a godsend.
["John, allow me to introduce you to the Daughter of Night and Ice. Goddess of the Void. One of the oldest beings in existence. The source of the curse that has affected your bloodline for over a hundred and fifty generations. The first known creature of the void and... your ancestor, Nyx."]
As Nyx's mind was continually assaulted by the noises, the sensation of despair washed over her as she tried to focus on the humanoid figure. Somehow, even with her burst eardrums, she could still hear.
As the noises continued, Nyx subconsciously grabbed her ears and pulled them down. At the same time, the heavy scent of iron, which she vaguely associated with blood, the acidic smell of vomit and the overpowering reek of light essence hit her like a speeding train. It almost made Nyx want to vomit again, yet only resulted in dry heaving.
After forcing down the bile, Nyx continued to breathe rapidly. She could imagen that, with each breath she exhaled the light essence was leaving her body, complete ignoring the fact she was breathing in moments later. However, she knew it was a fantasy created by her state of mind.
With no way to stop whatever was happening to her, Nyx drew her legs to her chest as she pulled on her ears harder. Somehow the conflicting pains seemed to make the other more bearable.
"Why?"
The question once again appeared as she fought the urge lash out. Every time she tried to mobilise her energy, like a python wrapped around its prey, the foreign essence would constrict and tighten, causing Nyx to feel more and more helpless.
["Nyx, I am sorry for restraining you, but I need you to listen first and maul later. This is John. He is your blood descendant as well as my great-grandchild. He is both biologically and spiritually linked to you."]
She tried to snarl, releasing more of a near-silent whimper, at the strange, unrecognisable noises. However, the more Nyx listened, the more she realised there was something in the tone and how they sounded that gave a sense of familiarity.
Not only that, the more she fought the energy invading her body, the more she felt she had encountered it somewhere before. A distorted, vague memory of a silhouette of a woman flickered in Nyx's mind as she tried to remember where she had experienced it before.
The memory was fuzzy, only the human's gold hair and blue eyes held any sort of clarity. It was standing before shadowy silhouettes in a stone city. Nyx was watching down from the sky when the figure slowly looked in her direction. Everything was hazy and shifting, causing Nyx to almost doubt for a moment if her mind were playing tricks on her.
Almost.
Nyx felt her top lip curl painfully as she believed the answer she was searching was at the tip of her tongue. However, even if she couldn't give the figure a name, she knew that the winged humanoid was the source of the strange noises, her entrapment and more importantly present in her memories. As such, whatever it was, it definitely was not friendly.
Even if she ignored that she had been trapped and was under constant attack from the energy coursing into her body, Nyx knew she had no friends left. The last being she could have called a friend, she had killed with her own hands.
Ignoring the sudden sadness, something she hadn't felt in a long time, Nyx continued to recall the past. Her memories were seemingly chaotic, mixed with dreams, fantasies and her imagination, yet like a clap of thunder, a single name appeared.
"EOS!"
A name that she had almost forgotten, along with their limited interactions, caused an explosion of thoughts and emotions as Nyx's body violently trembled. "He... he really captured me."
Nyx instantly linked Eos' name with Lucifer's as she felt that her worst nightmare had come true. She had only been free for a couple of minutes, before falling into his hands. A small part of her gave up, declaring that it was inevitable. They were fated to each other. However, that thought quickly vanished as Nyx felt the terror of what her current situation implied. That Lucifer knew not only how to seal her, but enslave her once again.
["Now introductions are over, let's get to the point."]
The air continued to vibrate, making Nyx almost believe that her insides were about to disintegrate. The sensation was enough to disrupt the energy she had been carefully gathering and cause her to subconsciously release a whimper before wrapping her tail around her body and legs as she longed to be back in that dark, cold room deep underground.
["It's been a long time, and I'm sorry that this is merely a recording. I can't risk exposing that you are once again free. Its-"]
The emotions, fear and hatred mixed together in a volatile stew, made Nyx feel if she was about to implode. She had seen the light and felt the breeze on her skin, only for it to be taken from her minutes later. The more she thought about the unfairness of it all, the more she felt the need to vocalise her hatred. The thought, like a virus, spread rapidly until it became her driving need.
Finally, Nyx gave in to the urge to lift her head upwards and release her anger, despair and frustration in the form of a half-roar, half shriek. The moment she did, the shackles suppressing her energy seemed to crack, giving her a tiny amount of control.
While it wasn't enough to make any significant difference, the mobilisation of her essence seemed to spark some response from the invading energy. Yet, instead of trying to regain control, it rushed towards her core where it seemed to weave together into a mesh-like cage.
Nyx's screech abruptly stopped as she felt her core lurch and stomach summersault. The sense of loss was almost unbearable, greater than anything she had experienced up to this point. "I can't... I can't."
She didn't know why, but she suddenly felt extremely vulnerable. Ignoring any lingering doubts about what would happen to her core, Nyx tried to shift her focus as she had countless time before and return to the abyss.
Yet every time she tried, Nyx would suffer a violent rebound, forcing her conscious back to her body in a dazed, semi weakened state. After the tenth time, Nyx felt her bottom lip tremble as wetness formed at the corner of her eyes.
"No." The small hiss-like sound was barely audible as Nyx pulled on her ears so hard that she felt the skin start to tear. "No. No. No. No. No. No."
Using every iota of energy under her control, even the tiny amount of abyssal essence, Nyx erupted in an all-out attack.
The abyssal energy, like a dragon being unleashed against a flock of sheep, devastated the light energy restricting her body and core. Yet, the more she destroyed, the more essence flooded into her body. Where her resources were finite, those of her assailants seemed to be infinite.
The battle wasn't limited to inside Nyx, she quickly realised that she needed to disrupt the energy flowing into her.
Fueled by hatred and fear, the golden world around her promptly became one of ice and darkness. Unlike before her imprisonment, the essence Nyx refined was pure and entirely under her control. She was their sovereign, and her intent was law, making the tiny amount of energy she had extremely powerful.
For a brief moment, Nyx began to believe that she had the upper hand. However, she quickly realised that she had only been able to stabilise her control at what would have been the first layer of the core realm. No matter what she did, it was like hitting a soft, bouncy wall. Her ferociousness and will would win the battle, but the war would be quickly lost due to sheer numbers.
Not only that, but she sensed that if she continued to fight, she would risk even that small pyrrhic victory. Something that may prove invaluable in the future. Where before she would have struggled to the bitter end, Nyx suddenly hesitated.
After realising the fruitlessness of her struggles, and the dwindling levels of energy, she finally stopped resisting. Yet, the small relief that the hostile essence didn't continue its assault had no effect the levels of hopelessness she was experiencing.
Her mental distress almost reached the same level as the physical. The only piece of good news was that her environment now had a fair amount of dark and ice energy, making it less jarring on her senses. However, at this point, she was almost beyond caring.
"Why?"
The half hiss, half whimper coming from her mouth was soft and quiet, mostly because she didn't feel like wasting the energy. Her hatred, initially focused at Eos twisted towards everything.
"Leave me alone. I don't deserve this. Not anymore. I've suffered enough."
Even as she wallowed, a tiny part of Nyx felt relief. The fear of the unknown and how she would interact with the world would be removed if she didn't have a choice. However, it wasn't enough for her to spare more than a passing moment contemplating, instantly becoming disgusted with herself. She didn't want to hurt, to be forced to do things against her will, to be used as a plaything or expendable asset.
Nyx shivered, the tiny voice in the back of her mind returning. She briefly wondered if it wouldn't be better to just give up. Though time had faded her memories, she remembered that there had been good amongst the bad. Even though they were few and fleeting, they gave her the strength to carry on. She also considered a few critical moments, even those she apparently despised, held her together. "It's so unfair! I've suffered enough."
"Why can't you leave me alone? Why can't I have even a little happiness? Why? I... I hate you all."
Nyx felt herself rocking back and forth. The pain of the hard floor caused her skin to scream in protest but was also strangely reassuring. With each rock, she felt slightly more grounded. Yet, she felt as if something was missing.
Her mind spun, images and throughs flashing through it rapidly. However, they fragmented as soon as they appeared. "Maybe... I should just learn to enjoy the small things. To be able to eat and experience the world. Even if it's as a slave."
"No. Why would I think that? I... I don't know what I want." Nyx shuddered again. As she remembered her servitude to Meredith, who later became Lucifer, she continued to pull on her ears. However, after a brief internal struggle, she had made her mind up.
"No! I don't want this."
Deciding that she needed to act, Nyx focused on her rapidly recovering senses, almost immediately noticing something familiar yet strange. Turning her head slightly to the side, she spotted that the golden barrier surrounding her had seemingly become weakened in places. In some areas, it was so thin she could sense the void on the other side.
It wasn't the same as the abyss, far from it, but it was similar enough to give her hope. Trapped in a world of light, the emptiness beyond was a beacon to Nyx. The more she probed the barrier with the residue ice and dark essence, the more she smiled.
["Fuck~ me."]
Nyx ignored the new noise, lifting her hand and pointing her index finger at the weakest part of the barrier. As she did, she scraped together the remains of abyssal energy and pushed it through her body. A tiny part of her mind screamed not to reveal her trump card, but after giving it a thought, Nyx realised she didn't care. She had already been captured.
As if sensing the danger, waves of golden energy swarmed towards her from all directions, only to disintegrate the moment it touched the abyss energy gathering in her hand. By the time most of the essence had gathered, Nyx's finger had turned form a soft, velvety black to pitch-black while tiny fractures flickered into existence around it.
After she had gathered all the energy she could, she released it from her fingertip with a thought. However, unlike what Nyx expected, the abyssal essence didn't erupt forth.
As if it had always been there, a hair-thin, crack-like line floating mid-air extended from her finger to the barrier. No sound or noise had been created, yet the hair standing up on the back of Nyx's neck and her instinctual sense of danger told her all she needed to know.
Everything seemed to freeze for a split second before suddenly speeding up. The section of the golden wall Nyx struck seemed to be sucked into the crack-like fissure as the rest of the dome started to bubble and warp. Tilting her head slightly, Nyx watched as the barrier crumpled inwards before finally exploding.
It happened so suddenly that Nyx barely registered the multiple layers of golden energy that formed around her body as she was catapulted into the inky blackness of space. By the time her thoughts had caught up with her senses, Nyx had barely registered that she hurtling towards a mostly blue planet, fourth in line from a blazing red sun. She was surrounded by the flaming remains of the multiple spells she had just destroyed as well as an oval sphere just like the one surrounding her, blazing through the solar system like shooting stars.
----------
On the dark side of planet Atheros countless beings, either with their natural vision or via technology, looked up towards space in awe and fear. A shooting star, brighter than any they had ever seen had streaked across the night sky before exploding and littering the heavens with glowing orbs of light that seemed to grow in size with every passing breath. While some debated what it meant, others prayed for salvation while some rejoiced, believing that they were witnessing an omen of biblical proportions.