Time passed without meaning. Domison had no idea how long he had been floating there in the deep reaches of space, wreathed in pain. The only thing he could keep count of was the number of times his body had broken apart and seemingly reformed, but even that was becoming a blur.

'How many times has it been now?' He thought in the nebulous void of his mind. 'Wasn’t I at fifty? Or no... maybe it's been one hundred times at this point.'

Eventually, the immense pressure began to feel like a blanket wrapping around his battered form. No longer did his body expand to several times its original size. His muscles retained their taut form instead of shredding and pulping. As this change occurred, Domison began to cross his legs and then rested his palms against the top of his knees.

He had no idea what had changed, or what had allowed this new freedom of movement. That didn't matter to Domison at this point, all that he cared about was the fact that the pain was gone. Yet, if he were to look from the outside as a bystander, he may have been shocked to see a black viscous liquid congealing upon his floating form. After that shock had the chance to work through his system, he might also realize that the black liquid had a striking familiarity. It looked exactly like what was kept in the vats back in the ProtoElectrica sub-level.

Although Domison had no way of making this observation, gleaming red eyes peered through a crack in the dimension, a hair's breadth from the back of the man's head, and watched it all. The little red eyes peering from under the bottom of a tilted gentleman's hat shone with pleasure at seeing the change.

'Just a bit longer' the little imp thought to himself, shivering with delight. 'He is almost ready for the next step.'

Now that the pain had receded, for the first time, Domison was able to look inwards and truly take stock of his body's condition. Even though he was unable to breathe, he could still feel something circulating through his body. His chest no longer rose and fell at regular intervals, yet he could still feel his heart thumping away inside his chest cavity. His heart seemed to almost be beating harder now. It wasn't any faster than before, but now it was a deep BA-THUMP BA-THUMP vibrating through his entire being.

As he continued to look inwards, Domison attempted to understand the feeling circulating through him that seemingly replaced his need to breathe fresh air. The more he focused on this internal feeling, the clearer the picture of his internal world became. A silhouette of what he could only place as his own form began to resolve in his mind's eye. It was also sitting in the lotus position, but there was a small pinprick right above his navel. The more time Domison spent studying this internal form and the ball at his center, he began to realize something was odd. That little sphere at his center looked something akin to a tiny black hole, but it was expanding and contracting slightly in time with his heartbeat.

This new discovery excited Domison and he did everything he could to attempt to manipulate this feeling. After what felt like hours, he was able to deepen and broaden the pulsing, causing a deep pulling sensation in time with each contraction. It was almost like watching a whirlpool increase in diameter, sucking in everything around it. That was an odd feeling to Domison, as he was sure there was absolutely nothing he could be attracting within a feasible distance.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Yet even with his internal argument, there was no doubt that the sucking sensation only grew deeper. With each beat of his heart, he felt new strength build within his limbs and the little black hole at his center began to grow. It was imperceptible at first, but after what felt like weeks, it was no longer the small dot nestled into the middle of his being. It had become a deep black void with such a strong attractive force that it seemed as though light was bending around the circumference.

The moment Domison made this observation a shudder ran through his being, and he could feel fire erupt along every pore on his body. It felt as though a madman was injecting boiling honey into every open pore across his exposed body. For several minutes he writhed in the open space, the picture of discomfort. Though this time there was agony displayed on his face and his teeth were gritted, he did not scream. The pain was short-lived however, and after only a few moments, it was gone.

'Well, this is quite.... unexpected.' The imps' voice came from right behind Domison's head, and he opened his eyes, only just realizing they had been closed.

No longer was the Imp-like creature a dull silhouette only barely standing out against the void of space. Now Domison could make out its features, and his eyes ate up every inch. The small creature seemed to be half the size of Domison's six-foot-four-inch frame, with deep red eyes peering out from beneath a tophat wrapped in a crimson ribbon. Bat-like pointed ears supported the hat, and an angular, sharp-featured face sat just below, a Cheshire smile taking up most of the space on the small head. Its infant-like body was clad in a pinstripe black suit, and light seemed to bend around the little beast, causing it to be ringed in white.

The voice slithered through Domison's mind again. 'Never would I have thought you could take the next step free of instruction. It seems you have even absorbed the pieces of your master's body you had been calling to your flesh. Very good little reaper.' At those last words, Domison felt a shudder run through his being.

'Oh no, no, no little reaper. No need to fret' The imp said as though it could see the shiver run down Domison's spine. 'Darkness is not inherently evil, light is not inherently good. Death is not an enigma needed to be avoided, but the rightful end. Just as life is not necessarily virtuous, as I'm sure you can attest.' With those last words the Imp seemed to smirk, and Domison felt the memories of a filthy auction house being wrenched to the forefront of his mind.

'Master does not care whether the punishment you bring comes upon the virtuous or the evil beings of your world. Whether it be the beings currently there or the ones soon to come. What matters is that you dole death, feed the Abyss, and grow... STRONGER.'

For several minutes Domison only stared at the little Imp floating in front of him. His thoughts were racing and he did his best to absorb everything he had been told. He didn't want to let a single thing wash over him and be left unheard. As the minutes passed the creature began to think the man floating in front of it wouldn't answer. It was just about to continue with its glorious speech, when Domison finally spoke, his words dripping with venom and impossibly reverberating through the nothingness.

"Your master better have not lied about saving my dog." Domisons eyes flashed with a darkness that had never been present before and it almost seemed as though a shadow was playing across his sclera. The imp only inclined its head slightly and Domison continued "Then take me back. Now."