After being separated by Mahnstin and Sana,Foxen felt a sting of loneliness–sharp,unexpexted and unsettling.
He had said he knew where to go–
But in reality, he had nowhere.
He drifted through the emptiness of space,the weightless void,letting his thoughts collide inside his own void–his mind.Everything had changed so suddenly.One moment–he was the saviour of his world,being worshipped by the Blecians for bringing the peace
And
at the next moment–he got stuck in this chaos of CE,tentacles and powers.
Foxen muttered
"Only if that Spiracle hadn't come that day...."
He looked down
"Even if she hadn't come not like anything would have changed,I never really cared for the people there–All I did was just for my...own selfish motives.
Hahh that Achinos promised to improve the life of Blecians on Prith....
As if I care the least."
On Prith–they had worshipped Foxen almost like a god,serving him being unknown of the fact that everything he did was for just selfishness and arrongance....
He never really cared...or did he?
Foxen was flown into the dilemma
"I don't really deserve to care.All I did was exploit those people and those poor beings accepted everything thinking–whatever I do is for their betterment.
When did I stop being so selfish...
Was it after I lost my family?...
Was it after I lost my loved one?..
Ahhhh I can't help but just be confused.What is the purpose of my life now?.....
Hope Mahnstin isn't like me..
and Sana didn't go hollow due to someone like me"
His thoughts flattered as memories dragged him into the emptiness.
In the distance,fragments of a small planet drifted silently–remnants of a meteor strike that had shattered it in seconds.Foxen stared at the ruin.His chesf tightening.Life erased just like that.
The void strecthed endlessly around him,dark-suffocating.Foxen stopped drifting,suspended in nothingness–staring into the eternal dark.
Then he saw something.
A faint blue light shimmered in distance.Dim but unmistakable.
The Blue Planet.
The one legends spoke of.A planet said to hold answers–truths no one knew.
Last time Foxen just caught a glance of it before going to the dome.
He hesitated for a bit because answers and truths always seemed dangerous.
But standing in the void hurt more.
Foxen moved forward.A ripple in a space around him and in an instant,he vanished.
He emerged into the surface of the planet and froze.
It was beautiful.
Everywhere he looked seemed like a living painting.Trees lined in elegant paths,their leaves glowing softly under the unseen sky.A single massive river flowed through the heart of the planet nourishing the greenery and wildlife.Peace wasn't enforced–it just existed.
Foxen noticed some familiar shapes lingering around the river.
The one eyed creatures he had seen on Arcanum but these were twice as big than those ones,these seemed calmer and full of life.
Curiosity tugged at him.Slowly,he reached out and touched one.
The creatures weren't afraid of him–they didn't move back or avoid him or bent down.
Foxen frowned "Why do these beings accept me? rather than worshipping the CE flowing through me? "
He moved around petting more of them and each of them reacted with a contentment.Foxen for a while seemed happy.
Then he heard something from the bushes nearby.
A laugh.
Foxen approached the cluster of bushes and looked into them.A small child emerged–a girl,blue–skinned,black–haired and well nourished thought seemed quite different from all the Blecians Foxen had known.
"Why are you laughing?"Foxen asked gently."And why are you alone at a place like this?"
The child didn't answer.
Foxen's gaze shifted towards the child's hand and he noticed something in her palms.
His heart skipped.
"Impossible,it can't be"
It was the eye.
Eye.The eye that Foxen carried with him from the dome.
He was shocked because he never noticed her near him and the never sensed the eye being detached from his arms–he had merged the eye in his arm.
Foxen breath hitched and he instantly checked his arm–the eye was gone.
Panic surged through him.
"Give it back" he snapped "You little thief"
The child's eyes widened.She screamed and ran.
Foxen reacted instantly,catching her within the moments."How did you take it?"he demanded "And how were you able to hide your presence?"
The child began to cry "Mamma! Mamma! help!"
Foxen faltered "Oh,your mother's here? " confused,he asked " Call her–"
Suddenly the river behind them trembled.
Water surged upward,twisting and shaping itself into a figure.
She emerged fully formed–her body entirely made up of shimmering blue liquid still it had shape,her hair and eyes were deep endless black coloured.
Foxen forgot how to breathe.
Not because how she appeared.
But because she was.....captivating.
"Blue" he whispered without thinking.
The woman tilted her head."Well,yes.All three of us are." A pause "Why are you troubling my child ?"
Foxen blinked,flustered "Did I say that out loud???? Dammit–sorry.And yes your child stole something precious to me.
She knelt down to the girl's level "Is that true Bleca?"
Foxen blinked "Bleca huh quite peaceful name"
"Yes" the woman said smiling "but she is quite mischievous,you see."
Bleca sniffed."I took it because it was...glowing"
The woman's expression changed the moment she saw the eye in her hands.Her warmth as if vanished completely.
"Throw it back" she commanded.
Bleca obeyed instantly.
As Foxen knelt down to grab the eye,the woman spoke carefully.
"Answer me.Are you one of those wielders ?"
Foxen stiffened."Yea....how do you know about that? "
The woman's face darkened "I have a long history with your masters."
Foxen said nothing.
The river flowed behind them in the silence.
End of chapter 16.