Here we are again. The miasmic Ocean under me, the razor sharp clouds above and lightning in eery rainbow colours snaking through the Darkness. The Island in the distance gets closer with each instant.
I am ready to see the damage. Bearing myself my presence looks down on the piece of Land. It is feeling like the World I came from, but why is something like that here?
It is not real, as it’s only an echo, that is now a piece of me. Embedded in the muddy dirt is that gigantic bloated Dome. Not only is it broken, it is filled with Void. This Void is also an echo and now mine. Like a drowning man has filled lungs with water, I am drowning in Void.
It looks like a broken Egg sitting in its nest oozing black innards right out of the large hole it has on top. Tendrils and other unexplainable things flicker in the light of the Lightning, but are otherwise invisible. What am I?
Taking my time to get my bearing I float to the Crystals strewn across. They are broken into tiny pieces. I feel desperation and fear in them. What destroyed them that thoroughly?
Touching them turns them into dust. They were already close to vanishing, and the slightest touch just let them turn into sludge being swept away by the foul waves.
This is my internal Space. Broken and flooded with all the Malice, but my Soul is still barely intact and working. How is this possible? The Void should have ripped me apart without remorse, but here I am.
Exploring the exterior of my Soul shows how smooth and dark it is. Black as Night, having a strange colouration like crude Oil. I am not reflected in this shiny exterior, as I am not even here right now. I just look from the small hole into the World that should not be seen.
The cracks look different, like broken glass but still swim around, as if the whole thing is liquid, I can not explain what it means. Is my Soul ever changing, or is every Soul like liquid but still a hard shell?
There! That looks not like it should belong to my Soul! What… Is that a Mouse? An image of a Mouse is floating in the reflection of my Soul. That is… Is that the Hero Mouse I took over first?
More and more Creatures are seen, but they are neither soul nor spirit. They are… They are imprints of what I killed? Those things are here because I eliminated them? Are Humans here too?
...No Human is visible. Only Monster have some kind of effect. Their end made a small imprint to heal my Soul. Either Humans are the best tonic and evaporate without leaving an imprint or have no effect at all.
At least it seems to be healing, but how small those imprints are it would take Millions if not Billions of dead Monsters to make a difference. There must be a better way.
…
Opening the Eyes of Beta, Snow looks worried at me.
“And? Is everything alright?”
She worries too much. I now knew what to expect. My Panic and screams were having seen something I should not. Like someone in an accident who thought they were uninjured to see suddenly an arm in the wreckage with horrifying similarity to their own left arm.
“I am alright. Well not really, but I am composed about it.”
“I do not think you should look where I can not go with you. How shall I comfort you, if you are sad?”
“You already worrying about me comforts me. Thank you Snow.”
“So, what did the Crystal thing do to you?”
“Nothing. It was not able to get close enough before the parts it sent were obliterated. But I do not know how. At least it did no damage.”
“So, why were you so angry?”
“It must have awoken something in me, that defended its territory. Whatever I am, I can not even say I am something that should exist.”
“Do not say that! You need to exist or I get sad!”
“I did not mean it like… No, I understand Snow. For your sake and for the sake of all of our Family I need to exist, and will go forward. Just… realizing how damaged I am is so scary.”
“I heal you. What do I have to bandage?”
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Snow, you are sometimes so adorable, I can only hug you…
…
“Edgar, you seem to visit me rather often?”
“Not that I have a choice. What happened here?”
“After the shout came from the western area our Livestock was nearly totally hysterical. Every single Villager and even all the workers in the Castle were in a panic. What was that?”
“That we want to know from you! It came out of this area, did it not?”
“From the Death peaks or far north of the Steppe. Whatever it was, it made our Ears nearly bleed.”
“So not from here? Are you sure?”
“If whatever made that sound were here, do you think we would still be alive?”
“...You make a point. Maybe we should increase the protection of this place. How about we let some of our roaming Castes guard the place?”
Yeah, you want to insert men to usurp this place, right? That won’t happen.
“We are safe, as only one way exist to get inside.”
“And what if it comes over the Mountain range?”
“If that would happen, no one could stop it. The only way in, is the Tunnel, otherwise the whole Crater is sealed by that miasmic Bubble, you know?”
“...it should still be worthwhile…”
“No, it is not. If you have People to spare, they should be finding out what was making that horrible Sound in Death Peaks. It sounded angry and scared, so maybe it died after entering that place, but still is an unknown.”
The back and forth still was rather long. Eventually Edgar stopped trying to force people inside, as he has not the endurance of an Elf to negotiate. I remember Leafy close to being squished by me… twice. Damn was that a Discussion. I ramble again…
…
Weeks passed and finally I found it. Searching my Domain for something unusual was hard, as everything was under my control and looked totally the same. But this place is different. Laws are slightly different. This must be it!
“This must be it. I am sure of it.”
“And what exactly? There is nothing we are looking at.”
Right now we are hovering on a huge floor Tile I use as a place to stand on. In front of us is nothing, but empty space. Still it is different and has other Laws than what I am now acclimated to.
“Please stay back I will work a bit with Miasma, and that could be dangerous.”
After stepping back I use my Miasma to seal the space in specific Miasma. As I already have knowledge to break rifts in space, there was not much difference in creating a Rift inside my Realm. The feeling is… weird, as my Realm is different than outside, but especially this place is weird. Creating a rift in space I see not a way into the Void but another pocket space.
“This must be it. That is why I was not destroyed by the Void!”
“Null, what is it?”
“This is a piece of the other World I was banished from. It was hidden inside of me, when I was thrown away. Afterwards it encased what was left of me and protected me for the instant I had to come here.”
“So it saved you? Thank you space!”
Snow… No, she is right. I should thank it too, otherwise I would have never been able to get back. It was like driftwood on the Ocean for me to hold on to. I never had thought something like that was hidden here.
“Null, while I really am thankful for it, you should close it. It is rather gloomy, don’t you think?”
She is right. That small space alone has enough Miasma to manifest into something sinister. I know that with pressure most gasses can become Liquid, but for etherial Materials to become the same…
...Wait, should that not mean it would explode outside? Why is it still inside and not rushing into my Realm?
Using my will I invade and take a small portion like half a drop and try to pull it out. It resists with heavy might and looks like it does not want to move into my Realm until a few seconds in.
And then it exploded. Miasma filled the whole realm in a cacophony of strange events until it finally spreads out into every corner, before filtered by the now overheating Crystals.
“Do not do that again!”
“Sorry, Snow… I did not know that would happen.”
…
For now I know where the whole mass of Miasma is stored. They have really sent all of it with me, but somehow only a bit of excess was infused into my own Realm.
Crunching Numbers and hypothesis I found the reasoning for all of this. Inside is a piece of the former World. The Laws hold it inside, as it does not follow the now acclimated Rules of the new World. Forcing it out forces the new Rules on them albeit still retaining most of the Laws that can work parallel.
What that means is I have a miasmic Bomb inside a hidden part, that can explode if forced too much. Great! Exactly what I wanted, thank you former World! I will bring a bigger present for you back. It comes even wrapped in a grey sphere, maybe I crack it right after visiting you?
...Nah, I need that for transport. And I want to take the World over, not destroy it. It would be too simple for them to just… perish.
While I have now a way to find the Coordinates, as I have a small piece of the World somewhere in that tar Dimension, I still need to get there and might need more Mana, than I realized… If the Tileans used that much Mana for one Summoning, what about making a Bridge to another World? So much to work on…
knock knock
Something knocks on my Study. I already knew they would come, I heard the Children scream as they walked through the Halls. It was too late for me to stop them anyway, I have to explain Sister Annette who this is… I so do not want to, but can do nothing against her accusing tone, when something strange happens...