Chaos

An explosion of colour sparked inside his pupils. Bleaching his retina, he could not see anything.

Strangely for the young man, the pain and agony that he had anticipated did not arrive; however, it seemed that he was not in the fog-ridden temple anymore.

It was his soul sea. 

Dark clouds rested on a high atmosphere. Open to the infinite expanse of space. Stars littered the black canvas, like dust in the air. Light traversing at speeds beyond measure, all to reach this dreary atmosphere of dark clouds.

He peered through the clouds and looked down; a dark abyss sprawled out. With no beginning nor end. The previously destroyed and depleted army of dark figures was now completely rejuvenated and more numerous than before. The dark figures were fixed in a line that spiralled from the centre to the edges of Aldric's sight due to their numbers and the ever-widening spiral that they formed.

In the sky above, three black holes had formed.

A void that absorbed everything that it saw, even light itself. Surrounded by a radial disc of light. To Aldric's knowledge, this was called an accretion disc. Formed from the remains of stars, debris, and planets being compressed under extreme gravity to make a ring of superheated gas and plasma.

Unlike a regular black hole that remained stationary, these three were moving. The ring of light that surrounded them was spinning wildly.

It seemed that each of these rings was not the same in appearance.

The centermost black hole had a ring that emitted a yellowish-orange light. An emission standard from recorded black holes.

However, the other two were different.

Left from the centre, this one emitted a white hue. Contradicting the black abyss it surrounded.

Right from the centre, this one's accretion disc emitted a light blue hue.

"V͜͠r͢͠r͝͏h̸z͟z̕z̕"

Twisting his body fast enough to hurt his neck, Aldric did a complete turn. Facing the southeast from where his cores rested, he looked up.

'How did I not see that?'

He thought to himself.

Aldric did not feel like himself.

It felt as if he was forgetting something. Like he was not meant to be here.

It was something that was completely alien to him. A small tear through space at the boundary of his soul. In that tear was something akin to another dimension. Red webs of pulsating light peaked through like an eldritch heart. He knew that it did not belong.

This tear in space had remained stagnant since it appeared the day that Aldric received his aspect legacy. Aldric had learned to ignore the feeling it emitted and subconsciously avoided entering his soul sea more than he needed to.

It was so alien to the dimly lit starry space beside it. Like a skyscraper built in the middle of a village, it was jarring. But the feeling that it emanated was the worst part.

Like an outer god spreading its influence in a realm beyond their reach, it emanated a feeling that he could not even bring himself to describe. It was utterly futile.

And it was spreading.

Like an invasion, the red webs of light arose as if they were alive. In the form of tendrils, they broke through the metaphysical barrier that separated the two realms.

And it moved.

A chaotic red bled into the black void.

It was a contradiction. The light seemed to shift colours every moment. But it always returned to red.

Like light in a dark room, the eldritch tendrils of unknown origin crossed the infinite expanse of space in a moment. As if there was someone painting over his picturesque soul sea in blood red.

The pure stars were now stained red. Like a virus, the chaos spread to the neighbouring stars. And once it had completed covering the skyline, it traversed space itself.

The darkness of space was now gaining a red hue. The light reached Aldric on the lonely clouds that he rested on.

The bed of dark but tranquil clouds shifted as if it were alive. Grey turned into red. Colours bleeding into Aldric's eyes until everything gained a red hue.

It penetrated deep below the clouds and into the black abyss.

A red supernova exploded beneath him. Light emitting through the clouds. Looking through the beams of light that surrounded him like a disco ball, he could see the dark figures beginning to change as well.

Red pulsating and invading their dark forms.

"AARRGHHH"

Dropping onto his knees, Aldric held his head in pain. Twisting and turning his head, he looked up at the origin of this madness. 

An eye.

He saw an eye. 

Death. Life.

Infinite. Finite.

Time. Space.

Law. Chaos.

He saw it all. He felt it all.

Emitting and encompassing all the laws of the world. It was confined.

But now it was set free.

With a black sclera and scarlet iris shaped like a slit, the infinitely large eyeball bulged out grotesquely.

The eldritch eyeball looked at him and everything. Like a voyeur from another world. Tears of red bled from the eye, entering the sanctuary of his soul.

With each second that passed, his mind shattered.

With each second that passed, his soul fragmented.

Ｗ҉ｅ͠ ͡ѕ̴є̵є̷ ͘у҉о͞υ̶"

Something inside of him whispered. Beyond the novelty of language and speech.

"I...."

"I feel strange."

----------

Marielyn POV

'I wonder which death would be worse. A depleted soul core or that thing.'

The errant negative thought came to mind.

Twisting her head to banish the thought, her trust was in Aldric.

Nothing more had to be said.

Looking at his prone body, their leader had dropped to the ground unconscious right after the thing had entered his head. With Iris quick to stop him. 

The entire thing was eerie to her.

The way that he dropped silently without a word.

While Aldric had not told her exactly what it was, she could have an educated guess.

From what she knew, it could have been a last-resort type of memory that could only be used in dire conditions.

But this, she did not expect.

Especially when Aldric's veins glowed a bright red. As if lava was flowing beneath it.

His heart was physically beating so hard that his chest was rising up and down. As if he was having a seizure.

His body was changing.

Cold, then hot.

Pale then flushed.

Agonising in pain, then silent.

Aldric was ever-changing.

Kneeling beside him, she called upon the light of the stars. The few visible stars in the night sky that pierced through the fog fuelled her aspect.

Like the sun, her body fused soul essence and the absorbed starlight to form its own energy.

A silver light with an ethereal glow gently emanated from her palm. Basking Aldric in a comforting light. She saw the young man calm at her touch.

'Is he going through a metamorphosis? Just what did you take, Aldric?

Marielyn looked towards Iris, her gaze communicating something. 

"3 minutes and 43 seconds have passed."

A jolt caught her attention. 

Looking at his prone body, she could see his hand moving. Gripping the dirt beneath him in a tight grip.

His sudden movement seemed to traverse through his body. His arms raising from the ground.

His torso leading forward as he stood up.

----------

Main POV

[You have gained a new attribute.]

[Destined has e̷̦̦̺̩̘̠͊͂̎̽̍̚͝͝v̴̢̬̘̘͍̈́̊̈́̽͋̾̎o̷̼̻̤̝̰̺̞̎̀̌̇̌̋͘l̵̠͕̰̅̄̑̄̚̕̕v̷̡̩̤̟̍̀̋̑͐͘͘e̸̡͚̪̙͎͌͗͆͑̐̏̕͠d̴͛̏̎͂̓͆̔ͅ.]

Opening his eyes, a scenery of white fog met him.

With no more mind-breaking chaos invading his psyche, it was safe to say that he was back.

Looking and feeling his body, Aldric felt alive. Quickly taking stock of his body and changes.

Hot blood rushed through him like soul essence. Like a steel cable, his muscles felt taut. His mind clear and his soul lightweight.

His soul felt heavier, as if he had gained something new.

His physiology was different.

It was like he was treading through water his whole life only to finally reach the surface and breathe in air.

He felt better. More than a human. More than he ever was.

'Is this how you felt, Sunny?'

Aldric thought as he tightened his grip.

"Aldric."

He heard a familiar voice speak, her voice emanating a tone of desperation and uncertainty.

Looking at Iris, her expression brought him out of his reverie.

'Now is not the time.'

It was time for Aldric to choose between heading to the temple and battling the enigmatic beast or to pave a way out of the labyrinth of mist.

STEP

STEP

STEP

It was time to try something that he felt he could do.

An unexplainable confidence rested in his mind.

Darkness poured down his arm and coated his blade. But that was not all.

On the inside of his soul, he pulled on that faint but alien feeling. His eyes screwed closed as he focused intensely.

Unbeknownst to him, a slight reddish hue began to surround the black blade.

Each millisecond that he held this strange energy, it felt as if his stamina split in half. Draining not just his body but also his soul.

With a deep exhale, Aldric flooded his entire body with soul essence. Twisting his body into a turn, he swung his blade with all his might.

All that ran through his mind and soul was a singular intent.

'CUT!'

SLASH

A dark slash of untold proportions bisected the air, destroying everything in its path. Sparks of red flickered through the darkness.

Bisecting the wall of fog into two, to those present, it looked as if the world had split. A metaphysical barrier of will and authority paved its way through the fog.

Like Moses parting the seas, a pathway opened. The walls of fog stayed stationary. As if an untold force was keeping them at bay. Small sparks of red danced along the surface of the partitioned fog.

Iris and Marielyn were completely stunned. What they saw was something beyond anything they had seen previously. They could feel something in the air. Their honed senses could not begin to explain what it was, but they could feel it.

Standing on the steps of the temple beside the research team, Kura watched what happened and quickly directed the team to the newly formed exit.

"Showtime people!"

He shouted.

With essence to spare now, the young man quickly grabbed two of the unconscious archeologists and dashed down the stairs. Their soul cores had long been exhausted by the temple's runic matrix.

With the ever-reliable Bael covering their retreat.

Laboured breaths brought them out of their shock.

Aldric was leaning on his sword, barely standing. His face was littered with sweat as he tried his best to catch his breath.

"I don't know how long this will hold up... Let's go."

He wheezed out.

Quickly coming to his aid, Iris lent her shoulder to the exhausted and began to guide them both through the clear path. Flooding essence through her body, she easily lifted Aldric and ran as fast as she could. There was no time to spare.

Marielyn had instinctively covered the front of the duo in case any dangers emerged when they exited the vicinity of the temple.

A 50-meter pathway connected their death trap to the outside world.

Behind them, the remaining group led by Kura was close to reaching them. 

It was a straight path to safety.

SCREEEEECH

A gut-wrenching scream echoed around the entire wall. Madness and eeriness were growing in their hearts as they heard the sound of the beast.

"Let's move people!"

Marielyn shouted. She and everyone else had identified what that monster was, and they could not hope to face it.

STEP 

STEP 

The group burst out from the other side. One by one they passed the boundary and made it to safety.

Dropping onto the wild grass, Aldric laid down and spoke to Iris. 

"Observe everyone that comes out. Find the culprit."

He said as he continued to catch his breath. Every part of his body and soul was exhausted.

With a nod, Iris looked at the tumbling researchers that escaped. Looking for any clues or anomalies that stood out.

Now not in danger, she utilised both her dormant and awakened abilities in conjunction. With her dormant ability of maintaining a maximum of three mental processing streams and her awakened ability of dilating her own perception of time by a maximum of ten times, she had all the time in the world to analyse the newcomers.

'Thirty seconds. I can maintain this for thirty seconds.'

She reminded herself. Beyond that, the burden is too much.

What were mere seconds felt like ages to her. Experiencing everything multiple times and at a slower rate. Like the shutters of a camera, she analysed each expression on their faces. Frame by frame. 

'Why are you making that face?'

Something caught her attention. 

Leaving the young woman to her task, Aldric watched as Kura and Marielyn approached them.

"How the hell did you manage that?! What were those red sparks and your eyes?"

She shouted out in alarm. 

'No! Not again.'

His heart raced.

The physical changes caused from that night in the dark sea still caused him grief. It was a strange experience, and he thought that he was past it.

"What is it this time?"

Aldric said sombrely. 

Raising her eyebrows at the change in behaviour, she spoke of what she saw. 

"Just a few red dots on your iris. They are barely noticeable."

She attempted to console him. 

After learning it was a small change, he did not want to even think about it.

"Both of you, secure the perimeter. I'll be with you soon."

Recognising the order, the two left. After his performance, they knew that Aldric deserved a break.

"Let's look at these runes."

With practiced intent, a glistening list of runes became visible to him.

But they were not the same.

"What on earth happened?!"

The nightmare spell had changed.

**********

Thanks for reading. 

It was fun to read the comments from Inevitable_End and ObamaUchiha.

Angel_Of_Damnation: I'll be working on it.

One piece 1138 anyone?

Till the next one.