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Entry 1 | Date Unknown | With a crunch, the past was gone.

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My first memory is watching a rotting corpse take a large bite out of a teal crystal. White-hot, searing pain enveloped my very existence. I tried to close my eyes in desperation. But couldn’t. I tried to scream. Nothing. I could only watch the corpse mindlessly chew with its broken jaw. Its rotted teeth cracked and splintered as they failed to grind down the shards. As it dryly swallowed, I could see the faint protrusions of the shards through its leathery skin as the remaining muscles slowly moved them downward.

After several agonizing moments, bright teal light flashed inside its empty eye sockets. Causing it to slump to the side. As it fell, its arm hit a rock, knocking the remaining crystal out of its hand. It rolled and fell into a crevasse. Bouncing against the walls, redefining the word agony with each impact. I bounced around uncontrollably as if tethered to it. It landed on the dust-covered ground, and I finally stopped moving. I mentally wailed and wept.

As my mind reeled from the pain, I heard the body finish its decent with a moist thud. After several moments of stillness, there was another flash of teal light. Heart-wrenching screams and unintelligible words shattered the silence. Joints creaked and moaned in protest as I heard the thing stand. Through the pain, I could hear it shuffle around. Dry, raspy sounds of desperation echoing in the darkness. Then heavy foot falls followed as it moved away.

I sat there, unable to move or look away from the dull, pulsing light of that teal crystal. Time seemed to distort until the agony finally faded into waves of searing pain. I tried to distract myself by focusing on the pulses. Desperately trying to bulwark my mind from the endless waves of torment.

In the brief moments of relief, I noticed the waves hit the hardest when the light was dimmest and faded when it brightened. Wave after searing wave, the pieces fell together. That crystal, or whatever it was, was me. It was my body, my mind, my soul. Everything. Yet, it was small, vulnerable, and exposed.

I tried to move closer, but the pain slammed into me again and again, preventing me from moving. It was like trying to move against the waves of a hurricane. I clung on and waited it out. I could not help but scream wordlessly with each wave. After an unknowable amount of time, the waves lessened and eventually faded into nothing.

I sat there gathering my scattered thoughts. Slowly, I regained control, floating into the air. I felt weightless. Looking down, I found nothing. It confused me and seemed impossible. While I did not have my memories. I knew I had a body. I couldn’t recall my name or how I arrived. I tried to remember anything from before the corpse, nothing.

Confused, I looked around. There were two large boulders. I could see the droppings of tiny insects behind the crystal next to a large, flat wall. A hole laid in front of the crystal. I tried to fly far enough to see past it, but couldn’t.

I repeatedly flew around. But, I could only travel a short distance from it. I found I could fly through solid objects. But, I could not see through them. The left boulder had a small void, barely larger than a pebble. That's all I found interesting. So, I flew out and rested in front of the crystal.

‘I’m bodiless and can fly. I wonder if I can smell… Wait, can I even breathe?’ I tried to inhale and was surprised to feel air filling my nonexistent lungs. I exhaled and felt the air leave me.

The light grew with each inhale and dimmed with each exhale. I stopped and held my breath, so to speak, and the light dimmed to almost nothing. I inhaled deeply, and the light intensified to an unbearable level. I went back to breathing normally, and the light returned to its normal pulsing.

‘So, I can breathe, and it’s like before. I can change the speed of it. However, it’s also an automatic motion. Good to know.’ I took one deep, calming breath. ‘Alright, let’s sort this out. If this crystal is me and that corpse devoured a chunk. Then it devoured a part of me. Maybe it ate my memories? Or perhaps the sheer agony of being torn apart wiped them clean. I’m not entirely sure which is true.’

‘So, what’s my next move? Hmm... I need to figure out what I’m capable of and what I’m not. I need more information on potential threats and self-defense. I guess ultimately, my top priority is retrieving those missing shards and finding out if I can reclaim my memories.’

I tried to remember what I needed to survive, and the answers materialized in my mind. Shelter, food, water, and a way to protect myself. I couldn’t remember where I learned that from. I just knew, which was disconcerting. ‘Since I don’t have a body. I guess I don’t need food or water. But I will need the others.’

Before I could contemplate further, I heard something small hopping near a boulder. Chirps and clicks reverberated through the crevice. I held my breath, and the light dimmed. I wanted to remain hidden. I couldn’t lose any more of myself. I floated around to investigate.

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A large, well, large when you’re the size of a small stone, round creature wiggled its body into the crevice. It was covered in fine quill-like hair, had six segmented legs, and two enormous eyes for its size. Oblivious to my presence, it happily licked the dirt and wandered about. Its focus seemed solely on the ground, chewing on the dirt contently. It reminded me of a plant eating creature that was used for food. I couldn’t remember its name. As it chewed, its gaze shifted upward. Panic welled up inside me as it locked eyes with the crystal.

Curiosity piqued, the creature meandered up and inspected the crystal, using two round appendages at the corners of its mouth to explore it. I could feel the hard, fine hairs touching me. It felt like being rubbed by Velcro. It chittered a bit, then licked the crystal. The raspy tongue scraped against it, causing a surge of dread.

Holding my breath for so long was becoming unbearable, and I finally exhaled. I took a deep breath. The sudden burst of brightness startled the creature. Causing it to fall back onto its rump. It scrambled to stand back up before scurrying out of the crevice.

I sighed in relief when the creature didn’t return. ‘That was terrifying. I need to protect myself. I doubt the trick will work twice. Let me think... I can’t physically touch anything or move objects. All I can do is breathe.’ I took deep, measured breaths, feeling their depth increase with each consecutive inhalation. It invigorated me. “That’s progress. I guess.”

I continued breathing, growing more and more energetic with each breath. A faint white outline of an orb formed in the crystal’s center. ‘I wonder what that is?’

Drifting closer, I entered a liminal space. The background was a dark teal hue intermixed with clouds of various shades of orange. It brightened and darkened in time with my breathing, creating a captivating display.

An orb sat in the center of the void. With each breath I took, a substance entered. Faint wisps of white smoke emerged from the edges of the liminal space and flowed towards the center. As the wisps entered, the orb gradually gained opacity, resembling a glass orb. You could see it, but it didn’t obstruct the view beyond. Once the smoke stopped being absorbed, a new orb would form, continuing the process.

Fascinated, I kept watching as the orbs filled. Doing my best to fill them as quickly as possible. After ten orbs, they trembled and merged into a larger one, which had a light, mist-like opacity. Then the cycle repeated.

‘Not what I had in mind. These orbs are tracking something that is based on groups of ten. That raises so many questions, adding to my already considerable list.’ I took a moment to watch. However, a nagging dread came into my mind. ‘I need to learn more about my surroundings.’

I flew out and checked for any sign of those creatures. I saw nothing. However, I noticed that the more I breathed, the farther I could fly away from my crystal. So I did my best to breathe deeply as fast as I could. Once I caught a glimpse beyond the boulders, I slowed down. Peeking out, a scene of carnage unfolded before me.

The area was littered with the bodies of humanoid creatures in various stages of decay. Their skin was leathery and their bones protruded through. The view was limited to gray shades, except for what was being illuminated by my crystal’s teal light.

I cautiously investigated what I could reach, and the scene appeared to be a massacre. Among the lifeless figures, armored beings armed with swords, axes, shields, and pikes lay strewn about. Others wore simple attire and carried bags. Some bore signs of being crushed, slashed, or impaled while others were charred. Whatever had occurred here, it was truly horrific.

Insects, molds, and mushrooms were still feeding on the corpses. I watched them to see if they reacted to my presence. The mushrooms moved rhythmically with my breathing, as if caught in a breeze. But it was the various molds that captured my attention. A slime mold was growing towards the crystal with unnatural speed. I tried to quiet my breathing, but it didn’t stop the mold.

It just kept getting closer and closer. I panicked and flew around, trying to blow on the mold and imagining a wall blocking its path. Nothing worked. I cursed whoever put me there as yet another danger approached me.

As the mold reached out and touched the crystal, terror replaced my panic. It had a slimy texture, like firm snot. I couldn’t bear to look and braced myself for the excruciating pain that had consumed me before. Anticipating being dissolved into nothingness.

Time seemed to stretch on endlessly. But to my surprise, nothing happened. With hesitation, I glanced back. The slime had shifted its entire mass to cover the crystal. Embarrassingly, I panicked again and held my breath, trying to hide as much as possible. The slime went from transparent to pitch-black, cutting off all light.

‘What the hell?!’ I watched intently, waiting for something, anything, to occur. Yet, nothing changed. Gradually, I allowed myself to relax, taking normal breaths while remaining cautious about revealing any light. The slime remained black. Deciding to return to normal caused it to turn clear again.

‘What?!’ I happily bobbed back and forth. ‘Slime, you had me going! I was sure you were going to eat my crystal.’ Relishing in the realization that I had stumbled upon a friend, or at least an ally. With newfound excitement, I floated into the crystal, eager to observe how the liminal space responded to the slime.

Although there were no visible changes, I could feel a difference in how my breaths were being used. The slime was taking a small fraction of each and using it to increase its overall growth.

That means that the breaths must contain some kind of energy. Since I didn’t see the slime mold consuming anything else while on top of my crystal. I flew back out and took a high vantage point above the two rocks. I watched as the slime grew at roughly twice the normal rate. It even attempted to catch tiny insects that got too close, but they were too quick for it.