However that nothingness, was in itself something. I fell and I fell. My mind shook in a small terror. This was Fading. My soul was being transported across realities. To a land Between. Then to the Vast. My crazed blush, and my embarrassed look almost instantly disappeared. Instead replaced by an expression of seriousness. If I wanted to live up to the promise I had made, I would have to focus.

Fading was not instantaneous, instead a gradual process. This was probably made apparent by the already slow process of the physical body become transparent. While I’m not very educated in the science of it, apparently it was a metaphysical transformation from bodily being to what humans consider the “soul.” Now this soul was being thrown across realities, bounced around by whatever shaped the convenient portal to the Between.

However this process was random. I could be found in a loop in time, a tear in space. I saw endless colors, but at the same time color was not even a concept. My mind was torn apart, yet it had never existed. The realities that controlled the meshed universes twisted and pulled at me. It was a horrible feeling.

However I could not feel. For I did not even exist.

What a weird place. I sighed, or well my soul sighed. Not that it could breathe. Quite confusing huh? Well I saw and saw. I saw a town of peace. However my vision widened. I saw the world I called home. Shrouded by darkness. Surprisingly the entirety of Antarctica was gone. Russia was also obliterated. For some reason the world hadn’t ended yet, but it seemed as if it should. Probably the effect of some eldritch being keeping us alive.

My thoughts shifted towards a certain creepy ocean deity that controlled the now dark water of the world.

I should probably explain what all of this means now. This monologue of mine is too entertaining. It’s as if someone were watching my every action! If my soul could laugh, it would be.

The Vast was an amalgam to say the least. A universe that had been formed through the forceful meshing of who knows how many other universes. I had done my research, and by what the humans of the day before had gathered. In their words:

“A catastrophic event, unnamed by history. Now classified as Fading. As research on the observable multiverse expanded, an event of incomparable might began. The Incursion of worlds began. A single universe, of unknown origin, seemed to have decayed in full. However instead of the measly extinguishing of itself like we had observed happen before, we saw something different. Something terrifying. Then it began. It was like a riptide that pulled our universe deep into the cosmic tide. We were being absorbed by a whole other universe. And so were the others.”

Geez. What an “event”. Truly horrifying. Well that was just a minuscule part of the true history of the Vast, its origin, and what came with it. However my situation regarding my intellect was a bit rough, as information costs money.

Money I said.

I continued to fall towards the chasm in space that would lead me into the Between as I explained to myself. I swatted away a piece of junk that was heading towards me. It was probably some important natural law for a world in the Vast, but who cares?

The Vast was ordinary in some parts. Just like Earth, just bigger. Much, Much bigger. It also contained species of all types and shapes. Some were sentient, some were a hive mind. Some souls, some fleshly. Thousands. No myriads. However one thing was for sure, they were not friendly.

The Vast, other than the eldritch and horrifying creatures and legends it contained, also had political events. Of course. Politics.

A seemingly endless war raged on day and night in the Vast. All the races of the world clashed. They were powerful in their own ways. Some more than others. Some reigned the paragons of the world, while others challenged those “paragons”.

The Vast also housed their homes…well most of them. Some worlds were left semi-intact like ours. However the Forsaken were the problem.

Forsaken. Damned Forsaken.

They were just like the races I described, deadly, unfriendly. However most of all…they were unpredictable.

See when an unknown number of universes collapse, and merge into one…its inhabitants don’t always stay…well…the same. So to put it like this.

Say you’re a random race, sentient, living at home in a distant world. One day your world literally explodes. Not physically, but metaphysically. Time and Space cease to exist, same things with pretty much every other law people are familiar with. Not that all the universes even had time, or space.

You are horrified beyond comprehension, but still manage to flesh out positivity. “Wow what a mess huh? Well I guess I can just keep living my life in this now broken and shattered world full of amalgamations of what was once a habitable universe!” Oh wow, I guess you’re also dumb.

Turns out that your world meshing with others wasn’t so healthy biologically for you either.

What I’m trying to say is…The Fading caused the subsequent absorption of many universes. Some didn’t even survive. Some did. However its inhabitants, or even itself…was broken. Forsaken to nothing but suffering.

These broken worlds and beings wielded heinous powers. They went from simple elemental powers, to world shattering, reality bending, and simply impossible powers. Thank the gods most of them just died on the spot instantly though. However the ones that didn’t, all wielded one similar power.

They could invade other worlds.

In a cruel twist of fate…the Forsaken could enter any world. Run wild, and then leave. Now that wouldn’t be so bad…if all of them weren’t maddened and torn by literal laws of reality! Quite literally we had crazy people with immense power invading our world almost daily. It was a miracle the world hadn’t ended.

Wow…what a mess. However the Vast was just that. A mess. It contained countless histories. So much lore, yet none of it mattered in the face of the races that were not blessed with powers, and abilities.

Just like Humanity.

Oh I forgot to mention. Humans are probably the weakest among basically every single one of the races introduced to the Vast. We posed basically no threat, due to us having one “trait.”

Adaptability.

What a joke.

Sure the “indomitable human spirit” existed, as jokingly as it could, yet that adaptability was no match for the un-adaptable. I mean it was shown for countless millennia. Talent most of the time reigned king. No matter the occasion, a talented individual held the advantage.

Our technology didn’t even help, we were so advanced, being able to reach a level of technology unprecedented in most histories, yet we were still wiped out in a fast manner. Probably because sadly our technology could not travel across worlds.

Now imagine that, but upscale to that talented “individual” being a whole race of superior creatures, bloodthirsty for power and riches, exploring a new world which they now called home. No wonder humans were cast aside like dirty rags.

I slapped my ethereal cheeks. “Enough!” I was getting bored of monologuing, besides. I was getting close to the entrance to the Between. I fell towards it in silence. Narrowly dodging strange shapes that seemed infinitely geometric, but also infinitely organic, and holes which seemed endlessly deep, and endlessly shallow.

Eventually. I heard a simple pop. It was not super complicated, yet it was.

I had exited the second part of the Fading process. Now was the true hard part.

“The Between.”

I sat up. My soul had landed on what seemed like a stone altar. What exact it was made I was unsure of, however it did not matter. I looked around. It was a grey world. “Hmm…” Confusion clouded my face.

I know I said no more monologues, but one can’t hurt right?

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

The Between was the last thing before the Vast. It was a strange land. See, when the Incursion of worlds happened, the Vast was instantly formed, however so was the Between. The Between served as a balance to the Vast. It was extremely mysterious. However if you were unlucky to be in a world absorbed by it, instead of the Vast. Then you’d suffer greatly.

Not much was known about it. Other than that it housed the strongest of the strongest. The most powerful of the species. They were sealed here. For good reason of course. Remember what I said about it being a balance? This is what I mean. The beings in the Vast were too capabeable when the Fading first occurred.

The Vast and the Between seemed to be sentient. They relied on each other. Thus the Between served as an endless battlefield for these higher beings. No one knows how they even ended up here, however it was apparent they weren’t always sealed in the Between. They had simply one day disappeared from the Vast.

Some left marks on the world. Quite literally. Such as craters of unimaginable size, and some left kingdoms in ruin. Some burnt a world to ashes. Others recycled a world for power. Some even went as far as to consume the world itself.

Thank god the Vast had no problem supplying worlds for people to live in.

Anyways.

I took a step forward. Towards the light at the end of the tunnel. Funny I know, almost as if I was ascending into the afterlife. The Between hindered my movement however. To put it simply, it felt as if I was submerged in an ethereal liquid. I could not move freely. If I tried to run, I would simply not run as fast as I normally could.

The scene around me consisted of what seemed like a valley. The stone path I walked on lead straight towards the light. Otherwise what I believed to be a gateway to the Vast. However it was quite far. Each step I took I was wary. My surroundings were also filled with countless petals. For some reason it was raining, not with water, but with a grey petal. I was unsure where they came from, or what they were. I just knew they were beautiful.

I continued to walk in silence.

A pink light slowly gathered around me. I knew what this was. Due to the influence of the Between, whether it be a person or not, a weird process happened while traversing the Between. It was a process where a memory from deep within you was examined, and then an item of the world’s choice was chosen, and given to you. It was unknown why this happened, or who orchestrated it, yet it worked.

Sometimes this process was useful, sometimes it was no more useful than an ant.

I continued to walk, trying to shield the pink light from shining too brightly around me, simply because I didn’t want to attract attention. The pink light began to concentrate on my palm thankfully. It seems like the item would not be too huge.

I continued to walk, paying no mind to the pink light as it spun. It was forming something. The light was nearing closer, and I figured it would not be long until I safely was through the Fading process. I couldn’t really believe it.

I figured I’d be dead by now.

I won’t say what, but several things could’ve gone wrong by now.

Hell, I slapped away a piece of reality itself not too long ago for god’s sake. How was I NOT dead? Too bad it was just a trivial thing though. I was still a scrawny and weak kid being thrown across worlds.

The petals rained from the sky, sometimes being manipulated by the breeze of the Between, not sure if it was even wind, but who cares. I continued to walk.

The pink light was now spinning very, very fast. It was also quite bright. See the creatures of the Between did not really care for the things that passed through it, however if the item produced by your memories was some treasure, sometimes these entities would be interested.

Now for a regular soul, their presence alone was almost enough to disperse your ethereal form. In other words. If the animosity of one of these beings was directed towards me, I’d probably die in an instant. So I tried my hardest to rush towards the light.

The pink hue in my palm however exploded out in a bright light as an object fell in my open palm. It left me stunned for a few seconds, and I was quite surprised. “Please…Please don’t be a treasure.”

I held up the small object to my eyes.

It was a small brown bottle, a cork of simple craft served as a lid. I shook it, hearing a liquid inside. I looked closer, and saw a label. Hmmmm…okay. I stopped walking and brought the object closer to my eyes.

I opened the cork, however I realized the label was much more important.

The liquid however felt strange. Simply opening the cork changed the surroundings. An aura of extreme nobility, and a supreme power was spreading out across my surroundings. The liquid was tempting. I wanted to down it in one swig.

I tried to make out the faded letters of the label. ‘D-i-s-c-a-r-d-e-d I-c-h-o-r?’ Ichor. Seconds passed as I clutched the bottle in my palm. I had to get out of the Between.

Now.

I broke out in a small sprint, but due to the hindering of the Between, it was barely faster than if I walked. The petals raced past me, and the path of stone served as a path under my ethereal feet. I was in extreme danger

However I still made progress.

How the hell did this get into my memories?! Ichor?! I panicked internally, as this was exactly the situation I didn’t need to get into. Ichor was the blood of the ancient deities on Earth. I’m not sure about what its special properties were, other than that it was highly toxic.

I’m sure it’s expensive.

However as I sprinted, I felt a change in the surroundings. My run no longer seemed fluid.

‘My vision is distorted.’ I no longer saw the path of stone and beautiful petals falling. My sprint died down into a walk. However every step I took felt as if I had imagined it. It did not feel real. Nothing did. The bottle of Ichor was there, but it also felt as if it wasn’t.

What is going on?

My question answered itself almost instantly. I felt my own existence weaken. In a terrifying manner, all the external influence of anything was quickly eradicated. The feeling of absolute power and nobility which hung in the surroundings due to the Ichor, was utterly gone.

Instead…A baleful feeling invaded my psyche. My soul turned a bit less opaque. This was exactly what I had been fearing. My pupils dilated into pin sized holes.

I might be dead.

“Thief.” Huh? “That bottle…how did you acquire it?” Uhm, I’m not really sure myself. I shrunk back in shock as my vision suddenly returned. Can we stop with the whole making me blind thing now?

The petals however, no longer serenely fell. A whirlwind of them spun in front of me. The mournful ambience came from whatever was inside that thing.

A soft voice demanded. The voice was well spoken, and not immediately threatening. However my soul’s structure said otherwise. Whatever was commanding me, is extremely powerful. “No matter. Your memories do not mean anything to me. That bottle, hand it over. For it has been stolen, and does not belong to you.” I hesitated. I didn't really want to give away the only thing of monetary value I owned. “Suit yourself.”

What?

I felt a soft feeling immediately surrounding me. The whirlwind of petals had consumed me. I could not even react, except for immediately cowering back in fear, covering my head for some stupid reason. ‘Wait! I can’t even explain myself goddammit!’ I stood there as the petals spun around me.

However, instead of whatever I was scared of happening, maybe my immediate death, or maybe possession, or whatever horrible fate I could imagine, a simple feeling overtook me.

Every part of my body these petals touched, felt tingly. It felt as if small pins and needles softly poked me. It was an unpleasant feeling. Better than death however. I slowly recovered from my crouching position as I realized I wasn’t dead. I stood there, slightly curious of what was happening.

“Huh?” A confused tone. I could not respond, however for some reason it felt as if I needn’t talk back. Maybe the creature could read my mind. Oh wait. That means it heard all of this, and even more. “Shut it with your dumb ranting human, more so…how are you not dead?” Oh I’m not so sure myself mister. “Did you drink from that bottle already?!” The voice boomed, however I quickly shook my head side to side.

“This is kind of unexpected, y'know? I mean this is my whole thing and all. The whole flower thing.” Ahhh I see. Yeah I imagine it probably is pretty weird. So wait, does this mean I can keep the ichor?

I felt my soul tremble, as if it were nearing collapsing. “Does that answer your question?” Apologies. I bowed in respect. “I don’t care about respect. Hand. Over. The. Bottle.” I’m getting to that! Geez are all your eldritch friends like this? “Like what?” My soul quaked.

I obviously meant are they all so cool and forgiving! The whirlwind of petals returned to their original position. I could see again. The pins and needles were gone. “Pins and needles…” I took a knee towards where the voice came from. I held up the closed bottle towards the being.

“Wow, that's lame.” My brow twitched. “Got something to say to me?” I shook my head violently. Take the bottle please. “Your obedience is appreciated.” I saw an arm, not big in size, reach out from the whirlwind of petals. The arm alone places great terror in me.

I felt the thing’s hand softly touch my palm, it paused. As if thinking. It then took the bottle, and shrunk back into its shroud of petals.

Oh.

The touch of the being felt endlessly painful though. I felt my ethereal face contort. I clutched my hand and stood up abruptly. The feeling I once called pins and needles was different. It felt as if a sword had simply gone through my hand.

I wanted to scream and run. I could only stand there in pain however. The whirlwind of petals is quiet. It was as if the madman was watching me. “Madman you say?” The pain got to my head, good sir!

Ow, Ow…Ouch! I jumped and paced around as the pain intensified. What did you do to me?! God this monologue into speech thing is so goddamn tedious. This stupid edgelord was just sitting here watching me writhe in pain. Just let me get to the tunn-!

I turned towards the tunnel. It was gone.

“I should just kill you right now shouldn’t I?” The voice sounded annoyed.

No! Once again I let my mind wander due to the pain. Don’t worry sir, let me get through this first, and then I will be at your loyal service.

Wait.

No I won’t. “Thank god, I don’t want such an annoying human under my service. Can you just die already?” I shook my head side to side. Nah. I don’t wanna. The whirlwind paused.

“You know if anything, you’re definitely amusing.” I bowed, of course with immense difficulty. The pain I felt was indescribable. So much so I couldn’t even think about it. I was just too busy trying to stay rational.

However soon enough all things came to an end. My vision weakened. So did my ethereal legs. I fell to my knees. My soul shook. Parts of it seemed to already be trying to collapse outwards. Hold it together. Hold it together.

Together!

Something deep within me rose once again. An emotion, or maybe a memory. No matter what it may be, its intensity was incomparable. I tried to stand up, only to fall back down. I was now on my back. Yet that intensity manifested even more.

I wanted to live. Hold it together! I clung to life as much as I could. I felt my soul trying to extinguish, yet I…My fist clenched. I felt this intensity manifest. My bottled up emotions exploded outward. Carrying something with them.

Whatever it was, I could not tell. However I let it rush out of my being. It was nothing compared to the figure shrouded in the petals. Despite this, despite death pulling me deeper into its grasp…I let the intensity take over. It exited my very being and contrasted the baleful atmosphere produced by the figure.

That mournful feeling was replaced, not by anger, or by whatever unimportant feeling I could think of. Instead the feeling that intensity was composed of was…will!

However, sadly…willpower alone was not enough to save me. I felt my vision weaken. It was over. As much as I wanted to stand up and fight for my life, to make a stand towards this mournful deity, I could not even muster the strength to clench my fists.a

Over.

My soul trembled. How long has it been? I’m not even sure. It felt like years, but also like seconds. Maybe it had been years. Nah it’s probably just been a few seconds. I tried to distract myself from my incoming death. Useless monologues.

I felt myself being lifted up through these useless thoughts. I could not see, however. “Human, whatever method you used to survive, I am impressed. However I, The Grey Mourner, do not favor guests. I will help you just once. However after this ordeal, no longer will any attention be drawn to you.” God. Just kill me if you’re gonna keep yapping.

“I will also ignore your insolence. Here, take this.” A third arm exited the shroud of petals. What the hell was going on? I just wanted to meet that beautiful girl again goddammit. The hand of the third arm held something I could not make out. It pushed it towards my head. I couldn’t even tell what it was due to my weakness. The willpower I had released earlier, was almost completely gone.

Then…I was simply chucked. The ‘Grey Mourner’ simply half-haphazardly threw me. One second I was soaring throughout the air, and the other…

I had exited the Between. My butt hurt. I had landed on it. I chuckled. However before I could even process what happened…I simply passed out.