"Hey Taren, long time" Jynx waved at me at the left side of the throne
"What's all this?!" I screamed
"We will explain later" Sytren said calmly with his arms crossed on the right side of the throne
"NO TELL ME WHATS GOING ON NOW" I demanded
"I WAS JUST WITH MY FRIENDS A FEW MINUTES AGO!"
"WHAT IS THIS PLACE!?"
"WHY AM I HERE!"
"WHY AM I BACK HERE!" I lifted Sytren up by his collar
"Zalgo, may I talk to him, in the liminal void" Sytren looked up at Zalgo
"Three minutes.." Zalgo said firmly
"And don't try anything funny I will know" He said before snapping and teleporting us to a black void.. There was nothing but black space
"W-where are we?" I stumbled backwards
"It's just a private room" Sytren explained
"No one will be able to hear us here" He sighed
"Okay.. Start explaining. NOW" I ordered him
"I'm going to need you to calm down first" Sytren put an arm on my shoulder. I dropped my shoulders and relaxed my body as if he was dead.
"Okay listen.. Zalgo is-" Before he could finish
"Say another word,I dare you" Jynx said appeared out of the abyss with another voice echoing stopping Sytren
"Y-Yes sir" Sytren responded with a straight posture
"Wait, Jynx, what are you doing here?" Sytren looked up at him immediately
"TtTtTttTAAARREN!" Jynx yells, for a split second I saw two faces as if someone is trying to take control of him
"S-s-s-s-save Z-ZY" Jynx yelled
"Jynx.. You need to stop now" Sytren
"Z-z-z-zy is i-i-i-in danger" Jynx said… but right after, Jynx slowly rises in the air, screaming in agony as Zalgo slowly appears, gripping his head with both hands, slowly crushing his head
"You lived long enough, wouldn't you say?" Zalgo taunts as Jynx's eyes slowly started to pop out "I'd say so?"
"Wanna see a magic trick..no? Oh well- cause i do! ABRA KADABRA" jynx's head explodes into a cloud of blood, as his lower body drops and hits the floor, and slowly leaks blood onto the floor. Zalgo picks his decapitated body, and slowly picks his limbs off one by one, his screams still play out as if it's still happening, getting worse and worse by the second.
and I just watched.. Zalgo smiling though it all,It's not the first time I saw my friends die… But this has absolutely gotten through my emotion barrier. That made my body freeze in shock and fear.
"I need to go" I said firmly and loudly, voice shaking
"You can't" Sytren looked down
"I NEED TO GO NOW SYTREN" I yelled, but he didn't respond
"Yes sir." Sytren responded.. But not to me
"I'm sorry Elarvek, but I'm gonna have to keep you here for a while" Sytren charged up his arms like he's in a boxing match. His eyes pulsed red again like last time in the infirmary but faded quickly.
"I'll get you out if you can defeat me" Sytren barked, jumping towards me. An azure vein of lighting flashed, as I quickly countered him by going into lightning tiger. But even the lightning barrier of my form couldn't stop it. When his fist reached my hand my barrier exploded, his fist went right threw it and pushed me back
"I'm sorry" Sytren whispered
"If you are.. THEN LET ME GO!" I threw a frozen lightning vine towards Sytren wrapping around him
"And who… just who is Jynx really?" I breathed hardly in rage
"I don't have m-much time but I can at least answer that" Sytren struggled through the vines
"Jynx.. Was alive since the first cent-" His head dropped quickly, so did all the tension in his body.
"SINCE THE FIRST WHAT?!" I screamed at him shaking him
"Fine.. I'll do it myself" Sytren said but his voice sounded different.. More energized, more high pitched, and more Phycophatic
Outside the Void Space where Zalgo's watching them through a rift
"Oo this is gonna be good," Zalgo says with more excitement than ever before, he snaps his fingers as a bag of popcorn appears in his hands "go on, fight- Put up a SHOW!" Zalgo lifts one arm
"And make sure you make him tired enough Hytren, he's more vulnerable in that state"
Back inside the Void Space
Sytren's body suddenly caught on fire and his eyes–They started to glow red again
"What are you.." I whispered but in a blink of an eye Sytren disappeared, all I saw was my vines wrapped around nothing. I looked around nervously, but all I could see was how infinite the void was.
"Right on top of you!" Sytren screamed on top of me in the air before dropping down at impossible speed, luckily I was fast enough to dodge it but then I was blinded by smoke moments later. His punch shook the entire place and causing a giant crater All I could see was his glowing eyes zooming through the fog
"What… The.. Heck?" I covered my face with my arms
"Na na na naaa na, you can't seeee meeee" Sytren Taunted me laughing
"What? Is little Elarvek Scaaared?" He added before his eyes disappeared, I looked around nervously. That's when I heard a step behind me and I quickly twisted and threw a punch but he grabbed my fist instantly
"Ha…Haha…HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! YOU THINK IT'S THAT EASY.. TO HIT MEE?!" Sytren lifted me up holding my fist and shaking me dangle side to side
"You're not Sytren are you?" I asked, trying to escape. His smile dropped
"No… I am your nightmare" He threw me forward, his figure disappeared in the smoke, seconds later I saw him come out of the smoke while it was fading away running towards me at the speed of a bullet train with a sonic boom. He was shrieking louder and higher than a Red-tailed Hawk's screech
"I AM HYTREN, I AM UNSTOPABLE, THE FORCE OF BLOOD AND DEATH" Hytren punched me in the chest knocking me out of my form and sending me flying faster than a human can comprehend. I wasn't able to open my eyes. But I could tell that he jumped in the air ready to slam me… Is this my end? No… It can't be.. I can't die here. Not now
"NOT EVER!"
Outside the Void Space where Zalgo's watching them through a rift
"No no no NO!" Zalgo stood up from his chair
"HYTREN YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO KILL HIM!" Zalgo's scream went straight to the screen to Hytren's head
"Awhhh comeeeee onnnnn big boss what's so good about this guy? I mean I could easily kill him right now" Hytren's voice came through the screen"
"Don't forget I still need him.. He is my key out of here.. And he can be my most powerful unit" Zalgo stated
"If you say s-" Before Hytren could even finish.
"What. is. That" Zalgo's mouth hang open
Back inside the Void Space
I felt a charge up in my body. My veins started to glow bright blue, bright enough to light the whole realm, my heartbeat synced with the light and I started to hear a charge up
"I'M NOT DYING HERE!" My body let out a blue nuke sized explosion
"WHAT IS THIS BLOODY POWER" Hytren's body was absorbed.. And the realm started cracking, I saw the actual void in the cracks
"So.. He has finally reached instability" Zalgo smiled and he clapped his hands. The explosion, my body, the air, everything stopped. He had stopped time but I was still conscious
"What is this?" I whispered
"You are unstable, your stone has complete control of you.. And soon their realm will be destroyed by you" Zalgo appeared in front of me
"But I.. Can contain it for you.. If you join me" He lended his hand out even though I couldn't move
"How do I know if I can trust you?" I barked back
"Without me you could hurt everyone you love.. Or worse. I will give you a stablelizer, it wont last long and you will have to come to me for more" Zalgo put his hand together and with a red flash of light in his hands he formed a red sphere, it was brighter in the middle and it floated towards me and it went in my chest. Even though time was stopped my explosion slowly faded, and when I looked at the last place Hytren-NO Sytren was at all I saw was his feet
"I will see you soon.." Zalgo snapped and I was back on the meteor like nothing happened.
Sytren grew back just from his legs
"Why did you let him go? I thought you were gonna force him to let you out of this place" Sytren straighten his clothes and walked towards Zalgo
"He will come back.. And he will join us." Zalgo turned towards Sytren
"And after he does he will let me and my demons out" Zalgo placed a hand on Sytren's shoulder.
Back to the crew
I blinked, looking around the place. Then I stared at my chest, it was glowing red and beating. Then I quickly zipped up my jacked when I heard Mira call out to me
"Taren what are you doing?" Mira asked
"Taren, are you okay?" Rayu looked at me like I was dying
"How long have I been gone?" I questioned them
"What are you talking about?" Mira tilted her head
"Was I not gone for five hours?" I hopped off the meteor, my jacket flowing loudly from the high drop
"We just got here, did you sleep right?" Rayu walked towards me, he raised a hand to touch my shoulder but I quickly moved away
"I-I think I'll go see Zy" I held my head before Lightning dashing away. Mira and Rayu looked at each other and just shrugged.
"How could he just leave me here" Zy banged on the door loudly
"Seriously, that woman fully healed me and he-he thinks I can't take care of myself!" She whined
"UGH, just what happened to him" she pressed her back on the door before sliding downright before I opened it making her fall backwards but I caught her with my foot
"AAA TAREN" Zy quickly stood up
"It was meteor, nothing dangerous" I obviously left out the dangerous parts
"SO I COULD HAVE GONE AND WOULDN'T GOTTEN HURT," She yelled at me
"I still couldn't take the risk," I sighed. Zy smiled
"Even though you did trap me here.. That was sweet of you caring for me," Zy placed her hand on my chest. But through my jacket my chest started to glow from red to bright blue, and I pushed her away quickly
"ZY WATCH OUT" I screamed. My chest shot out lightning breaking lights in walls then seconds later a huge ball of light formed swallowing everything. This time, there wasn't anything to stop the explosion so I grabbed Zy, to protect her.
"RAYU LOOK!" Mira screamed, pointing at a giant blue mushroom cloud with lightning whipping around from its steam and steam on the top, seconds later a huge shockwave came by pushing dust off buildings and moving their hair and clothes.
"WHAT ON DRAVENS EARTH!" Rayu yelled and started running towards it with Mira. When they arrived,they saw a dozen town squares gone… everything was gone all that was left was debris and skeletons of possible citizens
"What happened here?" Rayu looked around quickly looking for any survivors through the dust cloud
"WHERE'S TAREN AND ZY!" Mira ran around lifting debris, then she heard Bronte meowing on top of a chunk of a wall.
"THERE BRONTE FOUND THEM!" Mira pointed at Bronte, then Rayu and Mira lifted the wall chunk and saw me curled up with Zy in my arms
"ARE YOU TWO OKAY?!" They said in sync
"She.. She's okay" I held Zy tight
"What even happened?" Rayu looked around, hoping to see who caused the explosion. And I just closed my eyes
"I-I don't know," I lied. I stood up with Zy in my arms, and I gently put her in Rayu's hands
"I.. I can't go with you guys anymore, I will have to go in a separate path" I looked down and placed a hand on my chest feeling for another possible Tierrium explosion
"What are you talking about?" Rayu squinted his eyes with a serious face
"I am too dangerous for you guys to hang with" I responded
"You know ever since that fall you had with Zy you have never been the same Taren" Mira and Bronte down and crossed her arms
"What happened to you?" Rayu asked
"I've seen things and been through things that are unexplainable.." Was all I could say back. Seeing your friends die, having to fight your childhood friend, going into a completely brand new world, and almost killing the love of your life is enough to break a person
"You can talk to us, Taren," Mira said gently. But I didn't answer
"You crazy mouthed beast.. You can teleport me now.. I will take your offer as long as you contain my Tierrium" I said raising my hands
"Who are you talking to?" Before Rayu could finish, reality started to warp. I was back in the void, in front of the throne once again. This time Jynx was not in his side of the throne
"I thought you died" I said in a disappointing and low tone towards Sytren
"I can regenerate" He laughed
"Enough chit-chat" Zalgo stood up
"You said you would take my offer right" Zalgo floated towards me
"Yes. SIr" I responded with a straight posture
"Well.. In that case" Zalgo flew to a giant wall, across the wall I saw a giant portal
"In order to prove your worthiness and for me to actually help you. You must break this wall" Zalgo smiled
"Only a person with the blood of a god can break this, and once you do I will neutralize your Tierrium" He said. I walked towards the wall, I placed a hand on the wall and it instantly shock it
"OW" I shook my hand rapidly
"How am I supposed to break this" I stared at the wall
"Use your power" Sytren appeared behind me
"It's unstable" I responded
"It's unstable because you yourself are unstable. If you don't clear your mind and calm yourself" Sytren explained. I looked at my hands and I closed my eyes breathing in and out slowly
"Yeah there you go," Sytren chuckled. I felt knots untangling in my head, feeling the lightning flow through my arms like snakes. The minute my eyes opened I clenched my fist. A lightning barrier surrounded my fist like gloves shooting sparks everywhere and I charged up my punch and threw it onto the wall. The wall BROKE almost instantly like glass shattering, pieces of it flying everywhere
"I did it" I said in confusion at first
"I DID IT!!!" I said loudly second jumping and I turned back to see Zalgo
"Nicely done.." Zalgo clapped his hands slowly, and I saw a giant wall slowly appear out of the darkness behind him. It was a wall of distorted demons
"Um, is this a welcome party?" I said nervously
Zalgo shakes his head "No.. A child of a god is not welcomed" Zalgo stared me down and snapped his finger, commanding the wall of demons to start flying towards me at incredible speeds. I ran quickly towards the portal in fear, I was lied to but I had no time to be angry. If I stayed here I would die. The demons got closer but then I lightning dashed into the portal teleporting me high up in the air in the underground city
"WOOOAH!!!!" I screamed loudly but I quickly shielded myself with a lightning barrier in the shape of a hamster ball before making contact with the ground. I bounced on the walls of the lightning barrier before it faded away.
"Ouch.. At least it cushioned my fall a bit" I sobbed my head, then after hearing a loud explosion I looked up in the sky and I saw the giant rift with a wave of demons coming out of it like a fast spreading virus, some are throwing punches at buildings completely obliterating it, one demon lets out an atomic level screech destroying thousands of city blocks and leaving space for demons to live in and cause chaos. And whenever a demon touched the ground they spread their wings as if sheltering themselves from the sun,before slowly turning into solid stone
"What have I done?" I stared for a good minute. I was in total shock and amused at the same time then it hit me
"MY FRIENDS!" Using my lightning dash ability I ran around the entire city looking for them, but I couldn't find a single trace of them
"NO NO NO NO" I panicked and I watched the city get destroyed by the demons before seeing Zalgo fly out of the rift laughing. I fell to my knees and I held my head
"This can't be happening.." My voice cracked
"THIS IS NOT REAL ITS ALL A DREAM"
"A HORRIBLE DREAM"
"I NEED TO WAKE UP" I shook my head
"WAKE UP UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP!" I started to slap myself. But nothing happened, then my hand went completely black and it got surrounded by an orange aura
"DAMN IT!" I punched the ground hard sending a loud deep shockwave sending some demons down, luckily no one noticed. But from the same exact spot I hit I saw something. I saw light compacting and going to one spot, then that light slowly became dark, then it slowly became solid. It was now a dark stone and it had a orange aura around it
"What is this?" I picked the dark stone up, and almost instantly it liquefied and sank into my skin
"What the?" I stared at my hand in confusion
"Hey kid" A distorted man's voice called out. I looked around then I saw a man come out of a shadow with a steel,black helmet, keeping his face hidden from all corners, wearing all black clothes with a patch on his shoulder that reads "D.I.C.E 1-1" and "T.C.C", alongside a suppressed HK416 slung around his back
"Watcha laying there for, there's a war going on out here" He tilts his head ever so slightly, his voice is deep yet understandable, and sounds too real to be a real voice
"A war?" I asked
"Yeah, a war between the remaining humans and those demons" He walked up to me, lending a helping hand
"The name's Dev" He said under the loud sounds of explosions
"I'm Taren Elarvek" I grabbed his hand and he helped me up
"Thanks"
"Elarvek huh, well..some idiots told me to give you this" Dev handed me a folded paper, when I opened it up tears fell down my face
Taren we are heading out of the city to explore more of the world. We have now become official adventurers after signing up in the adventurers guild, our adventurer group name is "Starfall Rangers". We are sorry we left without you after Rayu and Mira saw you get warped away but they told me what you said and I hope to one day cross paths with you
With care-Zy Richson
"I sure will see them soon" I smiled
"Keep wishing, with this war they are probably dead by now," Dev sighs
"those demons spread fast" Dev yawned, withdrawn his pistol from his hip, and shot a demon that was flying towards us
"Oh don't say it like that" I rolled my eyes. I looked at the rift and back at Dev, My new journey has begun
"What are you standing around for? Come on, we need to get outside. It'll be safer in the outside world than being underground" Dev started running and I ran after him.
Table of contents
Chapter 1: A new world (1-23)
Chapter 2: Titan Sandstorm (24-44)
Chapter 3: The underground city (45-63)
Chapter 4: The city of Gravity (64-107)
Chapter 5: The void's Edge (108-126)
Chapter 6: The land of Souls (127-138)
Credits
Trickzion (Author)
PL@YBO1 J4Y aka TGT (co-author and editor)