A person burned in the darkness. Their figure glowed as brilliantly as a star.
He had no voice to scream.
No mind to think.
No body to run.
A panel opened in front of the figure, bright runes shimmering into existence.
But one wasn't like the rest. It didn't just glow. It burned with the same intensity as the figure, perhaps even brighter.
***
The -Unknown- opened the thousands of his eyes. Each locking on the burning figure. Each piercing through realm barriers and matter with ease.
"He" raised a single slippery tentacle, it trashing violently.
The thousands of eyes narrowed, anger surging for the first time in millennia.
Then, a raspy voice sounded out.
"You dare harm my Heir? Answer me!"
Yet there was no answer, no snarky and prideful remark from his old brother.
There was just silence.
The eyes narrowed further, forming horizontal slits.
Hundreds of slippery tentacles formed from the darkness itself, forming a terrifying, giant shape.
Then, the colossal and absolute will of a God seeped through the void prison. Fighting its effects.
"He" would not allow "his" heir to die by one of his old brothers. No. Such an action was blasphemous.
The will surged once again, seeping through the barrier, into the shadow realm.
At last, a minuscule piece of his authority returned.
And with that authority the -Unknown- sent a blessing past "his" cage.
The same raspy, malicious-filled voice returned.
"Child of Nightmares, receive your blessing!"
Just as the words left "his" form.
An all-encompassing entity surged around the void prison, sealing the minuscule crack.
But the -Unknown- didn't fight it. "He" had achieved what "he" wanted.
Now, it was time to slumber once more.
***
The brilliant white flames surged violently, eating through the figure with what seemed to be desperation.
The runes flickered constantly, on the verge of dying.
Then, they stabilized.
A single word was left glowing, its runes cracking under the strain.
[Blasphemer] cracked, then shattered into thousands of dark sparks.
The sparks form a single sentence before disappearing into the air.
The figure gasped in air, a scream following right after it.
The flames still licked at his dying form, yet they were slowing. They were being pushed back.
Slowly, a barely visible dark translucent barrier flowed over the figure.
From head to toe.
Injuries healed, the flames were eaten, but the pain remained.
The figure cried, bled, and screamed. Cursing the world. Cursing the spell. Cursing the very gods.
He had realized that his arrival at that beautiful place wasn't a coincidence.
It was the spell, trying to get him killed once more.
A single arm flayed, checking over the body it belonged to.
Everything was as it used to be.
But the figure felt it. His soul, no. His very being shredded beyond comprehension.
His mind swirled, soul ached. His very nightmare cores on the verge of destruction.
A fist slammed into the ground, shattering it.
It slammed down again and again and again. Each widening the small crater.
Until finally, the knuckles bled. The fingers went numb. And the shoulder ached.
A small chuckle rang out, filled not with amusement, not with sorrow.
It was empty, as if the emotions had left the form.
Finally, the two eyes opened. Seeing the world for the first time in hours, or at least, trying to.
Yet the very eyes were different.
They weren't the same normal obsidian coloured orbs from before.
Instead, they were white. Pitch white. As if there wasn't anything inside of them. No emotion swirled within them. No recognition of the world around them.
Just silent and empty, just like the boy himself.
Finally, he willed himself to awake. He wouldn't be able to do anything in his current condition.
***
The shadows carried my intangible form through the world. Through the dream realm.
Three shadows are doing the same throughout the entirety of Valor.
Until finally, Nephis was found.
She seemed to be training on the edge of the citadel. Her white form drilling the same swing over and over again.
She was alone, good.
Shadow step carried me right inside her shadow.
My form emerged as silent and as fast as any shadow.
Nephi's eyes gleamed with recognition, far too late.
My body, augmented with tremendous augmentation of shadow, surged around her.
Locking her left arm behind her, my knee already pressing against her back.
We fell to the ground as one. She raised her right arm, the blade still in her grasp.
I slammed it down with my own, the blade clattering to the ground uselessly.
She gasped, my knee still pressed against her back.
"Sunny?"
She asked. I knew what she was referring to. She wasn't asking if it was me. She was asking what I was doing.
My fingers twitched, almost letting go of her.
But I rallied, she wouldn't answer me otherwise.
"Why did you kill the boy?"
I asked, my tone audible with anger.
She opened her mouth, then paused.
I could see her right eye, confusion visible in it.
"Who?"
My knee pressed against her back harder. My own eyes filled with disbelief. She was still pretending. Still acting as if I didn't see the proof. As if it wasn't her flames eating through my dream pod.
"A young boy! Dark hair, dark eyes, a single arm."
I growled out, barely restraining the urge to slam her head into the ground.
Yet her gaze didn't shift, there was no recognition. Only confusion in her eye.
I huffed a breath of disbelief.
I knew Nephis well, better than most, perhaps even better than Cassie herself.
She wouldn't be ashamed of a kill, she wouldn't lie to me. Would she?
I shook my head, focusing.
If it wasn't Nephis who did it. Who could have? There was not a single record about flames on Nephi's level.
I had checked, as I have my own abilities.
Such abilities weren't seen before, at least not on such a level.
And I doubted the boy had died from a flaw, he didn't seem to mind sunlight.
My mind buzzed, remembering every zone in the dream realm. None had white flames, not even volcanoes.
"Can you... Release me?"
Nephis asked silently, careful not to accidentally command me.
I climbed off her back slowly, making sure she wouldn't attack me back.
Yet my mind didn't stay on her. My mind swirled, it seemed there was only one option left. To bring Kai.
I brushed away the thought. Kai could tell if a person lies, yes. But it was easily bypassable. I myself had done it numerous times.
It seemed, I wouldn't get any answers.
A scowl appeared on my face, and I shadow-stepped away. I couldn't bring myself to stay near Nephis, especially after her last words to me.
***
I finally returned home, it being already midnight. My travel was made much easier by it.
I didn't bother unlocking the door, just entering my kitchen through the shadows.
What I saw wasn't the empty dark kitchen. But rather a figure sitting on a chair, drinking a glass of water.
There was quite a mess all around the kitchen.
Spilled water on the counter and floor.
A few cabinets open, some stuff on the ground.
Finally, I flipped on a light switch I didn't need. It was more for the figure that sat silently, his back turned to me.
I let out a breath, "You're alive." I stated.
The words lessening the weight on my shoulders.
The figure's body tensed, as if prepared to run.
I sat down slowly, the figure turning his body towards me.
My eyes narrowed as I saw the fingers stuck on the table's edge, slowly tracing it.
Then I finally saw the figure's face.
My eyes widened, horror filling them.
Because instead of a face, all there was a giant scar.
The skin was still red, the eyebrows singed. And the eyes. A milky white, empty of everything a person should have.
I shot up, the chair falling on the ground.
The boy flinched, as if sound itself had scared him.
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[A/N: Literally hit the author notes cap. This is the final section for it:
What else..
The realms!
So like. Shadow realm is the shadow of God's corpse or whatever, right?
And it's in the dream realm.
That's like, the third realm I can guess from the gods.
I forgot the other place. Like the ocean, the storm gods' place.
And of course, the war God's is the waking world. Which is being swallowed like a Slurpee or something. Others? No fucking clue. And I really don't wanna read more. So I will write more, because I apparently got time for it or something.
So yeah, I will be doing the realm things. Or rather some of them.
Question. I know the dream realm is like the realm of the unknown, right?
But which part of it is the original?
Not eaten I mean.]
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