Prologue: Fractured

Everything is moving so fast.

Has it always looked like this? The stars are always so beautiful. I’ve always loved looking up at the stars. But why are they moving so fast?

Wait. How do I know this? What are the stars?

Of course, I know the answer to that; they are a cumulation of gasses brought together through gravity, or something?

Where am I?…

***

These stars have been moving for so long. How long has it really been? It felt like an eternity, but it felt like only yesterday, I had that conversation with myself.

“Who am I?” I called out to no one, but I heard nothing in return. Not even my voice. It felt as if my voice was consumed by the void that wasn’t inhabited by the stars.

“Of course, I couldn’t hear myself, I'm in space,” I had thought to myself about it. I really don’t know why I know these things. The spots in my mind were what I pulled from for this information, all of the other memories were blanketed by something.

***

I had been staring at the stars for so long. I don't know why but upon closer inspection I saw something like a glint, a shimmer, between me and the starry night.

“Was it really night,” I thought to myself, entranced by the slight barrier I saw between me and the and the ‘otherside’

‘Ting’ through, living in the lands between and sensing the barrier of space that separates realms for thousands of years, you have gained a Grand (Great) General skill [Realm Sense] [Peer Space],

[Peer Space]: to know the very fundamentals as the lowest of levels is a feat one that garners respect, You are now able to freely peer into the space around you and partially sense disturbances in the realms if only slightly

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“What!” I yelled even though it wouldn’t amount to a noise. What is this, the words forced their way into my mind, I felt something within me change like I could look further into the world, if I merely willed it to come to be.

And so I did, I willed whatever my, [peer space], skill was. The world around me seemed to become violently warped and I heard an explosive ring in my ears as the world around me pushed against every one of my senses as if it told me to leave.

I screamed as loud as I could as the world around me contorted and twisted against my senses, then it all came to a stop, I didn’t know how long I had been there, in pain, but it seemed that the stars had finally stopped moving.

‘Ting’ [Peer Space] has leveled up exponentially from strenuous use and from peering into the lands between where space is mostly unstable. [Peer Space] lvl 1 to lvl 17

***

I had awoken from what seemed like a deep slumber. The stars around me still stood at a halt. I was looking around when I felt anger bellow within me.

The voice spoke to me once again and I began to hate it. It never prepared me for the pain it would give me. I sat there in anger and felt the lingering pain to my senses albeit small, then I halted at a figure in front of me.

“Took you a while to notice me child,” another unknown voice placed itself within my mind

The figure in front of me had a few distinct features, it was covered in dark void like wraps, the being itself as dark as the void around me, he had what looked to be skin at his joints with a slight tint of purple as a matte black carapace made up most of it. The being looked humanoid but instead of having legs it’s “legs” seemed like a dark mist; splotches of the void, like the wraps that he wore.

He looked off at the stars as I had been doing for what seemed like many a millenium and he spoke simply, “it seems that you are stuck in this void, are you not?”

I stopped there and thought, I wanted to ask so many questions but his presence seemed to overpower me so I spoke of what he wanted to hear.

“I have no-“ I had realized that I was still within a void, unable to speak; for him to hear me.

He finally turned his head towards me, his eyes consumed by a dark void, darker than the world around me. I felt my skin tingle as he ‘saw’ everything about me, I could feel his presence glossing over me. I was frozen as if it seemed to take an eternity for him to simply look at me.

“You are not a fiend of the void I see,” he took a long pause and it looked like he sat down on nothing next to me, on nothing but the void itself. “It seems that I have stumbled across a being of old, in my domain no less,” his presence started to vibrate the space around him, it felt… happy, as if he was laughing

He looked at me once again, there was less intensity in his eyes and simply said “here,” still vibrating, but less so

‘Ting’ The skill secondary General skill [Void walk] and [Voice of Void] have been temporarily bestowed by a Grand being

I began to feel anger but soon settled at the voice in my head, “I would need to get used to this voice,” I meant to say to myself but it seems that it had gotten out but not too far, the range of my voice felt like vibrations and it seems the ‘Grand being’ next to me got more happy but this time I could hear a hearty laugh.

“Quite amusing,” he said as he continued to laugh, “you are very unique indeed, child of void,” he seemed to say the last part with a little apprehension. “Follow me, child,”

And so I did, it seemed that I could finally get up and walk on what seemed to be nothing, I finally looked down and I almost yelled at what I saw, my body was made up of a carapace, one that looked worn and old and I saw legs but not 1 or 2 but 4 legs that ended in a point, they started to carry me forwards as the being was slowly leaving me behind.