Fea was awoken by an incredibly loud noise.

He opened his eyes and saw that he was laying on a cold dark floor made from material that resembled obsidian. Its shiny surface made even more so by the falling rain.

He hopped onto his feet and quickly realized that he was no longer in Dòchas. Instead of a single street of small damp wooden homes, his vision was filled with dark obelisks and gigantic archways that stood along a dark staircase that led up to a place he could not see.

His eyes drifted further up and they widened to the fullest as he peered into a dark sky.

It seemingly twisted and convulsed, as though it were made of flesh.

Dark orange flares whipped across the sky and Fea assumed they were the ones causing the deafening noise.

It sounded like the clap of a thousand thunders. The roar of a thousand seas and the screams of a thousand doomed souls.

Fea thought of “souls” because it sounded as though voices were screaming something in a tongue he did not know. Their owners burning in the maelstrom above.

Fea returned his gaze to the ground.

He was seemingly at the foot of a dark monastery or temple.

He looked behind him and saw that the was nothing there.

The dark twisted architecture simply stopped, revealing a darkness that numbed his mind the longer he looked at it.

He hopped towards the edge of the temple and he cautiously looked down and like he somewhat expected, there was nothing there.

It was all emptiness for as far as he could see.

He looked up and saw that the sky was still a cauldron of chaos, but at least it moved.

He hopped backwards but was immediately pushed to the side by something.

He quickly got up to find a large beast facing him.

Its teeth were long needles and its fur was dark, and shiny and looked almost like it was made from countless shards of glass. From its head, rose tall dark tentacles that reached out to the dark sky.

The beast readied itself to pounce at Fea, but just as reached out to grab him, another beast of similar make jumped onto it.

This unfortunately led to both of them sliding off the edge of the temple.

Fea would have let out a sigh of relief if it was not for the fact that many more of those beasts were descending the staircase.

They all looked at him with bright purple eyes and although their mouths didn’t move, they seemingly communicated with each other.

Some of them playfully snarled at each other as they approached.

Fea’s heart began beating so frantically, it shook his small body.

He then realized that sitting next to him were Ayanna’s Claymore and Jean’s daggers.

He needed to leave this place and give these Ayanna.

He grabbed the weapons and flapped his wings to fly, but just as he did, one of the beasts lashed out and clawed at his wing, forcing him back to the ground.

“Ah!” Fea cried as his body hit the cold floor.

The beasts all jumped out to attack him, but they awkwardly bumped into each other.

This led to several of them fighting each other.

Fea used this as an opportunity to grab the weapons and drag them towards the wall behind me.

More beasts tried to attack him, only to get attacked by more of their own.

They bit and clawed away at each other like ravenous dogs, but this would work out in Fea’s favour.

He dragged the weapons towards the dark wall and although its surface was covered in many intricate etchings and designs, Fea focused his attention on the staircase.

He did not know why, but he felt as though his salvation awaited him at the top.

He dragged the weapons up the first few steps, but just as he did, something bit into his wing before wildly swinging me around.

“Ah!” Fea cried as the weapons flew out of his small hands.

He looked up and saw that the beast chewing at him was running up the stairs.

This did not last long as it was immediately pounced on by the other beasts.

They ate away at his captor and as one of them ate at Fea’s captor’s head, it opened its jaw, allowing him to fall to the ground once more.

At this point, there were so many dark beasts, it all looked like an endless wave of malice and hunger.

Fea looked around and saw that the weapons were a few steps down.

He crawled to them as best as he could, but at this point, he was in so much pain, his body had grown stiff.

He shook away the strange coldness that crept over him and grabbed the weapons.

He then dragged them up the staircase as quickly as he could while the beasts tore away at each other.

Fea’s breaths quickly grew short and his vision darkened, but regardless, he kept moving.

He kept climbing.

Even as his body was bathed in the dark blood of the beasts.

Their innards covered the glassy floor making it even more slippery than before.

Fea slowly approached the top of the stairs and just as his vision reached its darkest, he arrived at the top.

There he was met by an enormous dark wall made from the obsidian like material.

It stretched out so high, he couldn’t see where it ended.

At its flanks were gigantic pedestals. Atop three were statues of three dark beings and nothing sat atop the fourth.

At the bottom of the wall’s centre was a large door and in front of the door was a fountain.

In front of the fountain, was a mangled corpse.

Fea crawled towards the corpse and saw that it clutched tightly in its hands a stone disc.

He ignored it before crawling towards the fountain.

He looked over its low rim to find that it was filled with a tar-like liquid that had no smell.

He looked behind himself and saw that most of the beasts were dead and above all their corpses, stood one.

Its left eye had been torn out of its socket and its innards hung out from beneath its belly.

It crawled towards Fea while baring its teeth.

Fea looked at the fountain’s still black waters and decided to jump in.

.

..

Fea beheld four dark gods.

They stood around a star with crowns made from the very essence of consciousness.

The first took the form of a man.

His naked body was incredibly radiant and yet it was too dark for any details to be seen.

The only part of his face that wasn’t hidden in his darkness was his eyes which were two bright points on his face.

The second was a womb.

A vessel that patiently awaited the day when it would birth its destined child.

Its fleshy surface was covered in countless stars that got brighter towards its centre.

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The third was an eye.

A black, scaly eye with countless stars at its pupil.

The last god was made of countless interlacing rings.

Dark rings that rotated seemingly independently of each other and at random speeds.

At the centre of the ring was a massive star- no. It was the opposite of a star.

Something from which no light escaped.

It reminded Fea of the first god.

Fea’s eyes then fell onto his body.

His form was small and weak. A wisp of consciousness in the infinite.

Infinity insignificant when compared to the dark gods.

Gods who spoke in a tongue that shaped reality itself.

Fea wanted to be like them.

Especially the like the first god.

With a form like his, Fea could those he cared for.

With his form, Fea thought he could be useful-

His thoughts all seized as the first god raised his head.

His bright white eyes then peered into Fea’s and he felt a strange sense of calm wash over him.

Fea’s form rippled violently before plummeting at an extreme speed.

The dark gods quickly became far too distant to see, but Fea did not particularly care.

All that would come to pass was set to be from the very beginning.

That is what he told himself, at least.

Resistance on his part was futile.

.

..

He could not breathe.

He desperately flung his arms and wings around before realizing that he was submerged some a thick, sludgy liquid.

He swam upwards and eventually emerged from his liquid prison.

He gasped dearly for air while frantically eying his surroundings.

He was still at the foot of that cursed temple only-

Fea raised his second pair of arms to find that they were far bigger and more muscular.

Actually-

Fea spread his wings and saw that his wingspan was around two and a half metres.

He looked at his legs and saw that they were long and muscular. Although they maintained their dark, scaly texture.

Parts of his body were still covered in black feathers, but the rest of his body was dark and scaly.

His knees also faced forward and so he awkwardly tried walking only to lose his balance and fall to his hands shortly after.

Fea’s new body was heavier. He also had a massive set of wings which would make walking about very troublesome.

He folded them and tried standing up again.

It was… passable.

He felt unbalanced, but he had to keep moving.

He grabbed Ayanna’s claymore to find that, although it was still pretty heavy, it was nowhere as heavy as before. He also grabbed Jean’s daggers before walking over to a certain corpse.

From what he could tell, it was the corpse of a man.

The parts of his clothes that had not been torn shreds looked bright and shiny.

On his head were wisps of white hair, but he still could not be sure how old he was when he died.

Actually, he could not figure out much about the man. Only that he too had suffered at the hands of those beasts.

He tried using his feet to grab the disc in the man’s hands, but he momentarily lost his balance and so he returned his foot to the ground.

Fea sighed before placing Ayanna’s claymore on the ground.

He then grabbed the dark stone disc and inspected its surface which was covered in etchings and what appeared to be runes.

Funnily enough, he couldn’t read any of them yet he know what they meant-

He dropped the disc upon coming to a dreadful realization.

His new body, his understanding of runes…

He was awakening.

His breaths quickly grew frantically as he looked at his taller, more equipped body.

Wait! Fea cried internally.

What if this is a more progressed partial awakening like the one Jean underwent? He wondered.

Yes! That has to be it. Fea thought.

I will not turn into a beast and I will most definitely return home!

Fea grabbed the disc and read only half of its front face.

This place was apparently a library of some sort and the beasts from before were called Lopa or Lopus if alone.

The library’s only other exit was in a garden behind it, but that meant he would have to enter the frightening building.

Fea nodded to himself before placing the disc back in the man’s hands.

He then picked up Ayanna’s claymore and made his way towards the library’s front door.

He flinched as the door opened, seemingly by itself. This revealed a single path that led toward what looked like a garden.

Fea’s eyes narrowed as he approached the door, which was covered in strange etchings and runes.

He looked at them closely only to find that they moved.

Actually, every marking on every wall did.

They all seemingly crawled all over the building and the only place that was free of markings was the floor.

Fea avoided looking at the walls too closely as he walked into the library and as soon as he stepped into the building, the door closed behind him, but part of him expected that.

He walked further down the single path and as he did, he saw what was the library’s interior and his eyes widened as he saw a pathway that looked similar to the one he walked on only it hung horizontally in the air to his right.

He looked to his left and saw the same thing.

Another path only it hung vertically.

The further he walked the more paths appeared, some overlapping others.

Fea returned his gaze to his path to find that the door on the other end was gone. It had been replaced by a large bookshelf.

He frantically looked around and saw that his original path was floating away above him.

His eyes narrowed as he surveyed his surroundings.

The Library had seemingly changed its own layout after he entered it.

The dark walls from before had long since receded into the infinite only to be replaced by countless paths and stood at every conceivable angle.

Fea walked forward towards a dark bookshelf.

It was made from the same material as the dark walls.

A material which, although rigid and of definite shape, twisted and morphed into itself.

Fea grabbed one of the nearby books only for his mind to be flooded with dark visions of burning civilizations and crumbling worlds.

He quickly let go of the book and stepped away from the bookshelf.

He could not allow himself to awaken any further.

He turned around to leave, but just as he did, he saw that at the ends of the other pathways, stood several doors that led outside.

From them, came the Lopa.

They came in the hundreds and due to the positioning of the stone pathways, some of them walked with their feet above their heads.

It was as though this place did not obey the laws of nature.

Things were not tethered to the ground yet they still had weight-

Ah! Does that mean that I too am exempt from the laws of the real? Fea wondered.

He dashed across the platform atop which he stood before jumping off the side.

He then fell sideways at an incredible rate before hitting one of the sideways-facing platforms.

His ears rang after his head bounced onto the cold hard floor, but although he was in pain, this had confirmed something for him.

He stood up to find that he was standing upright.

With renewed energy, he looked around for the original path, but just as his eyes scanned the room, the many Lopa jumped from their platforms and landed on his.

Fea looked at his arms, which were occupied with Ayanna and Jean’s weapons.

He would have to use them if he wanted to survive and so, using the bizarre laws of this place, he released the weapons and watched as they eerily floated in place.

The Lopa then swarmed towards him and as they did, he folded his wings and reached out towards Jean’s daggers.

The two blades promptly spun back into his hands and he violently stabbed the nearest Lopa as it reached out to bite me.

The daggers barely managed to dig into its flesh thanks to his weak and thin limbs, but he managed to stagger it somewhat.

He quickly hopped off the platform and rushed towards another, but this time he landed somewhat gracefully.

He then looked back at the platform from which he came and he willed Ayanna’s claymore to him.

The blade whizzed towards him before narrowly stopping next to him.

The Lopa followed the large sword and landed all around Fea.

They then rushed towards him, malice and all, while he raised Jean’s daggers.

One of Lopa tried clawing at him, but he deflected its paw with a dagger before stabbing its eye with another.

If he could not use raw strength to hurt them, he would have to target their soft spots.

The Lopa fell to the side only to be clawed at by its own.

Fea ignored them and quickly jumped onto another platform and like before, Ayanna’s claymore followed him.

The Lopa also followed and like before, he fought with the one that got closest.

This particular one tried pouncing him and so he dashed backwards before letting go of Jean’s daggers and grabbing Ayanna’s claymore.

He then wildly swung the large blade and lodged it in the Lopa’s skull.

Many of its kin came after Fea and after letting go of the claymore, he grabbed the floating daggers and stabbed at the nearest Lopa before jumping off the platform to repeat the entire process again.

.

..

“Haa!” Fea wheezed.

Beneath him were the bodies of several Lopa, but even still, more came.

He wondered what evil pit spawned them and what purpose they served in this dark place.

It was a library of some sort.

Who would leave behind such creatures and why? He wondered but his questions would have to wait.

More Lopa crawled into the library and its at this point that he gave up.

He looked around for the exit and remembered that this place seemingly had a will of its own. A will that he could coerce.

He jumped off the pathway and wondered if these additional pathways were all just illusions.

The library was gargantuan in size and yet when he first entered it, only a single pathway could be seen.

What if all these other paths were simply roundabout ways of accessing the other parts of the library? He wondered.

If that was the case, how can I bring himself back to the first?

As he jumped from platform to platform, he concluded that these other pathways were all subdivisions of the library’s true space.

He looked up and focused on the point where the pathways reached a distance that was infinitely far away.

Fea then took a deep breath before jumping upwards.

He felt himself fall, but in his desperation, he flapped his new, large wings and ascended above the swarm of Lopa.

Fea tightly clutched the weapons in his hands as he hurtled towards the infinite.

He flapped his wings as hard as he could, increasing his speed by several folds.

Some unseen force ended up making him fall ever faster and it got to the point where all the other paths were a blur.

Fea’s eyes widened as he saw something rapidly approaching.

He quickly spread his wings and realized that he was fast approaching a certain pathway.

A sharp pain assaulted his shoulders as his wings struggled to slow him down.

He then hit the ground with a loud thud, dropping Ayanna and Jean’s weapons in the process.

His vision darkened momentarily as he struggled onto his feet.

He looked around and saw that the library had returned to being a single room with a single dark stone pathway.

Fea wasted no time in picking up the weapons and stumbling towards what he hoped was the exit.

He eventually emerged from the library’s only other door to find himself in a rather small garden.

He turned back and saw that the library was still open. Almost as though it was inviting him back.

Fea scoffed at the idea before facing the garden.

It was fairly simple. It had four tall stone walls covered in vines and at its centre sat a marble fountain.

He walked towards it and it is here that he realized that all the plants around him were fake.

They were made of glass.

He could not instantly tell, due to the rain and how shiny everything looked, but upon closer inspection, they looked like detailed imitations of the real thing.

Fea wondered why whoever built the library did not just get some real plants.

He shook aside his curiosities and focused on the fountain.

Within it was about an inch of water only instead of seeing his reflection on the water’s surface, he saw a giant blue sphere that eerily floated in an ink-black void.

Its surface made it seem as though it was made of water, but he could see large chunks of rock here and there.

Fea reached out to touch the orb as he felt a sense of… familiarity with it.

It called him in and before he realized it, his finger touched the water’s surface and he was pulled into the fountain.

He then felt himself falling at great speed.

He could not see anything and no sound other than the ones he made could be heard.

He fell for what seemed like a few minutes before something gently brushed past his face.

The feeling intensified and he quickly realized that it was wind.

Fea spread his wings and cut through a gust of wind.

He had no means to orient himself and so he blindly shot downwards.

The world around him was then flooded with colour and he quickly flapped his wings as a town appeared beneath him.

Fea looked around and realized that the town was Dòchas.

Its damp old buildings were bathed in the light of a red moon-

I am back! Fea exclaimed internally.

He turned to the north and was almost paralyzed by a deep ache that came from his heart.

He needed to find everyone and so he flapped his wings and made his way north.

His wings were beyond tired and his breaths were fought for, but he flew regardless. To his home north of Dachaigh Gual.