image [https://i.imgur.com/YezTdLK.jpeg]

Upon the mention of their name, the voices ceased, and the many eyes of Arkhe coalesced at a single point. The eyes danced and morphed endlessly, forming and reforming in an eternal, ever-shifting pattern.

"Interlopers, welcome," spoke the god. Each word echoed out of every one of Arkhe’s eyes in unison, using the same variety of voices that the trio had already been subjected to.

Renna, bewildered but instinctively defensive, dropped into a guarded stance. Though she knew, deep down, that whatever this was possessed power far beyond her, she refused to show fear. She fixed her eyes on the being, her body trembling despite her best efforts. Though she had some knowledge of spirits, this was far beyond anything she'd encountered.

I lay sprawled on my back. My heart was pounding harder than I even thought possible. Like Renna, I too stayed silent, too frightened to speak.

"Arkhe!"

Mr. Underbrook's voice rang with an enthusiasm that hadn’t been heard before. Unlike Renna and me, he seemed almost glad to witness the being before him. He dropped down on both knees with his hands in the air. Mr. Underbrook, it seemed, was no stranger to the god.

"You know me. Good," Arkhe replied, their voice dripping with the kind of arrogance that could bring kings to their knees.

"You are Arkhe, the All-Seeing,” answered Mr. Underbrook.

"Among other things," replied the voices of Arkhe with a tone that seemed to grin.

Mr. Underbrook was practically giddy. He was overcome with an immense mixture of fear, respect, and excitement. He asked the entity, "What interest do you have in us? Why have you brought us to this place?"

Arkhe’s voices echoed in a short, mocking laugh that reverberated through the infinite space around them. "I didn’t bring you anywhere. You came to me," they said.

Mr. Underbrook began shaking in place. His mind was racing and connecting dots. "The stones, were those your doing?" he asked.

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

At the mention of the stones, I stirred from my own fear, and I actually shouted at the god. "What did you do to my stones!?"

Arkhe’s many voices laughed again with a booming sound that rippled across the void. "Child… Stones like those choose who finds them." The hundreds of eyes winked in an asynchronous wave, sending me back into my stunned silence.

Renna’s initial defensive hostility faded into confusion, a far more terrifying feeling than fear.

"You don’t mean to harm us?" she asked, her voice quiet and unsure.

"Certainly not, no," Arkhe assured her. "Now that the stones have found their homes, things have been set in motion. This is a time I have awaited for a long while. Even the gods grow impatient. It pleases me to see you all here."

Mr. Underbrook's curiosity flared. "Fascinating," he said, "but what could you possibly want with us? I’ve not known Renna for long, so I cannot speak to her abilities. As for me, I’m an old man, and my best days are behind me and Chip… Chip is only 8 years old."

"It is not a matter of what I want, but what you will do,” spoke Arkhe. “That is a question only you can answer. The stones themselves contain immeasurable power, and that is something that you shall be able to tap into in time. Consider them a gift."

The divine’s many eyes shifted again, and the ever-shifting eyes appeared to morph into a wry smile. The nature of the smile carried with it feelings impossible to decipher.

"You made me find the stones?" I asked. Though my legs still trembled beneath me, I had finally managed to get to my feet.

"In a sense," Arkhe replied, their voices softening into a more soothing tone. "I did not orchestrate anything. I merely placed the stones and let nature take its course. The hands of fate reach deeper than the earth and further than the cosmos. The situation we now find ourselves in is the meeting of three specific elements. One is the Navigator and the driving force. The next is the Archivist, the recorder of all. The final soul is the Dreamer – conjurer and bringer of the unreal to reality. The stones unlocked something in you, and you, in turn, unlocked something in them. This dream we share is the product of those souls."

As Arkhe spoke, their many eyes slowly turned toward Renna. Her resolute expression of bravery remained, though cracks had begun to show.

"What does that even mean?" Renna asked, her voice breaking as she spoke.

Arkhe's laughter crackled through the air like lightning, once more echoing across the whiteness that enveloped them. As they stopped laughing, their eyes rotated and split, turning their focus to both Mr. Underbrook and I.

"We all have our parts to play," Arkhe mused. "There will be others. Try to get along."

The cryptic words hung in the air; no one was quite sure what to make of them.

"Now, remove yourselves from my dream. You are interrupting my slumber."

And with that, Arkhe’s presence vanished, leaving the group alone once more.