Foreigner fell into a deep slumber, letting the sensations of his body on the cold wall drift away until he was free-falling in the darkness of his own mind. There was activity here, lights glimmering underneath him as if he was being consumed by the starry night sky, a pleasant affair he had experienced in his youth. Just the sight alone as he hurdled towards that abyss reminded him of the warmth he had felt on his-

“You were fond of these…memories, warm to the heart and gifts of humanity…” A familiar face, a serpentine creature with 6 yellow slits for eyes towered over him, shifting back and forth with the rippling of the water beneath. “The waters have risen… cracks have formed around the binds… even a sliver was enough.” Foreigner could see that the embers underneath his feet, these stars, varied in emotion and familiarity. At a glance he could pick out pieces of his previous life but these glimmers were often obscured by memories of black or abstract notions, feeling alien to pry into.

“You said we have much to discuss, right? Something about a big fish in the pond slipping through the cracks. Honestly this is all so-”

“Esoteric?” The serpent allowed the statement to linger, Foreigner’s words stolen right out of his mouth. “It is a byproduct of inhabiting such a… peculiar space. Logic is free flowing like the memories and dreams that lie below… an interstice between the master controller and the rest of the fish.”

“You mentioned that there was something different about the both of us, how I needed to open more doors for answers, but I’ve just been throwing myself head first into danger without any follow up on unlocking my memories.” The serpent leaned in close, so close Foreigner could see himself reflected in the glassy yellow of its eye.

“And yet you remember… your embers are indicative of these binds being ill-suited for… someone like you. Someone like us…” The serpent left another statement to drift through the empty space, bait that Foreigner was certain had been casted for him.

“You said the last time I was here that answers would flood my mind. That these memories underneath us would turn to ash.” Foreigner was circling around the question he wanted to ask, knowing full well that there was a history to this place and this serpent that wasn’t-

“Revealing? It is not often that the tool gets to…play with their wielder…” The serpent revealed rows of triangular teeth as it smiled, ink dripping from the folds of its mouth back down into the pool it had risen from. “And yet you are back… because the waters have risen enough to call forth a fish and reclaim these segmented memories.”

“Wait, if you’re a tool, then what function do you serve in here? In my mind?” Foreigner was feeling uneasy as a gnawing realization crept within him. He had never considered the extent to which his assailants would go to incapacitate him. They could have killed him and yet they locked away his memories, and for what.

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The serpent stared at Foreigner, waiting for him to go through his thought process before speaking, its eyes turning from its glassy yellow to a radiant gold, “I am the Snake in the Water. My function is to maintain a balance in the terrarium of the mind, protect the embers that drift through these waters, and serve as a bridge between yourself and the other fish.” The statement was trained and robotic as if programmed by a higher power, an unfeeling automaton. The radiance in its eyes faded and once again it bobbed back and forth with the rippling of the water.

“And these other fish. What are they?” Foreigner asked this Snake in the Water.

“Who are they… these fish are facets of the master controller… the reason why the efforts of those assailants… merely delayed the progress of your work.” The Snake in the Water submerged its body into the water and expanded, making cracks in the darkness to reveal slivers of worlds left on the other side. “Do not look inside unless you are sure of the choice. They merely slip through the cracks… left to fester and grow with the progress of time… the fishes you seek lay beyond. Those that remain active anyway…”

“And what happens if I allow one of these fish to drift from their cracks into these waters?” Foreigner asked, his hand instinctively outstretched and feeling at the slivers in the dark for feelings of warmth, of power, of single-minded ambition.

“One fish is enough to agitate the cracks further… and provide access to the knowledge held therein. It is a matter between you and them… to remember the terms of your contracts and the pieces they are composed of.” The Snake in the Water began to sink deeper and deeper into the waters below. “I suggest breaking bread… with the more proactive fish to deal with that… lingering thought in the back of your mind.”

Foreigner watched the Snake in the Water sink deep into the abyss, leaving him alone to feel at the 3 distinct slivers of chaos for him to engage with. Each movement from one to the other told him of a function or a purpose; one sliver was focused on the practical and operated like an executioner with impunity, another sliver felt nauseating as if spiraling through a never-ending stream of words and ideas, with the final sliver tasting like sugar and sweat and copper. Foreigner knew that if he wanted the assistance to handle the singular rampage he was going to wreak on the Blade Garden, it would need to be done by a creature far more calculating and cold than himself.

Foreigner grabbed the first sliver and peeled it open, revealing a checkered room beyond, a tall figure clad in armor, and a massive gate just behind them. In seconds, the inky dark was consumed until nothing but the chessboard room remained, Foreigner facing an inscrutable figure with eyes as calculated and cold as he needed, and yet with so much more cunning and vitriol than he had anticipated.

“You and I need to have a chat.” The individual bellowed, materializing a halberd to slam the pommel onto the floor. At once, the ground shifted to have pillars erupt and move, creating a table, a chair, and a chessboard.

“I hope you at least remember the rules of the game.”