Falling Fragments
When I first came into Untethered, I was curious.
I wanted to learn about this strange world.
I wanted to just run as far as I could, feeling the soft wind kiss my cheeks and the sunlight warm my skin.
I wanted to relish in the feeling that this new world gave me.
Freedom.
But I also wanted to learn...
I wanted to learn about this world.
I wanted to understand it.
I wanted to grasp the very essence of Untethered.
But...
I didn't need to...
I didn't need to be enthusiastic about learning about Untethered.
It was more than willing to reveal itself...
More than willing to show its horrors to all those who even opted to see.
From the very start, I knew of its true nature.
The lack of animals.
The strange trees.
The weird mist.
The ajar tree.
And even that lake.
I had not missed how clear the surface was...
Nevertheless, all these discrepancies where all laid bare before all our eyes.
My classmates saw all these and didn't bat an eye.
Maybe some did suspect something, maybe they were all oblivious.
But I knew...
I knew the convoluted nature of this world.
I knew this world was wrong the moment we stepped in it.
But I too was wrong as well.
I had a convoluted nature too.
That's why I didn't shy away from this world.
I didn't relent.
I embraced it all...
I embraced Untethered with a smile...
Until, it smiled back...
...
MURMUR...
MURMUR...
MURMUR...
Incessant whispers assaulted my ears as I fell.
Descending through the void.
"Uhh..."
I let out a dazed sound, as I struggled against the whispers, my fingers wrapped tightly around the hilt of Silver Lining.
The sounds were alluring; the promise of dark, forbidden secrets present in their hushed voices. It made me curious, made me inquisitive, made me want to lean in and listen.
If only...for but a moment...
'Alex! Are you crazy?!'
A voice rung in my ears, drowning out the ceaseless murmuring.
I shuddered slightly before calming myself.
Hmm? Why yes, I am?
'Tss...Alex...this isn't funny anymore...you-you know that...so why are you smiling?'
A dark smile came to my face before I replied.
You should know that, right?
The voice didn't respond.
And I didn't bother it either.
Instead, I allowed myself to fall.
Hmm...I sure having been falling quite a lot these days...
A chuckle bubbled up my throat, dry and jagged.
The void.
The realm which I was descending through...was both strange and familiar.
There was no ground beneath me, no sky above, no air to breathe, yet I wasn't suffocating.
My body descended, weightless yet heavy, as if submerged in a thick, unseen medium. There was no gravity, no wind, yet I could feel something brush against the Veil of the Moon, cold and insidious, like fingers tracing along it.
It was so alien and yet...
It was comforting.
Why?
Because it reminded me of my own mind.
A quiet void.
The whispers slithered around me, their voices scrambled and discombobulated. They seemed to make no sense...unless one opts to listen.
But of course, I didn't.
HOO...
I let out a breathless breath.
Simply watching as the liminal space around me stretched to what seemed like infinity.
The world around me was so wro-no it was different.
Different....
I thought as I closed my eyes, relishing the feeling of weightlessness.
I wonder what awaits me...I wonder what's at the end...
My eyes were closed and my heart was calm.
Even though I was in such a surreal and paradoxical place, I was calm.
I had chosen to descend rather than escape.
I had chosen knowledge over ignorance.
Darkness over light.
HOO...FWOO...
I reached into my Aperture, observing the World Energy in it. It was swirling in its usual whirlpool form but something was different about it...
I couldn't quite place my finger on it but...
It seemed much denser...? I wasn't so sure.
Meh, things like this solve themselves.
With that last thought, I surrendered into the silence of my mind, using it as an escape from the incessant murmuring.
The void around me seemed to reach stretch endlessly before finally snapping.
It was subtle at first, merely a hairline fracture in the void. Then it spread, thin veins of white light threading through the black. The murmurs slowly began to intensify, turning into loud ravings.
I clenched my ears to deter the sounds but fragments still slipped through, ringing in my head.
'...threads...'
'...fallen lord...that drake...'
'...do you...immortality...?'
'...between stars...'
'...the inevitable...'
These words teased my ears, enticing me with vows of juicy secrets but I held back myself, holding every inch of my being from listening to the ravings.
Don't give in! Don't give in!
I steeled myself, gripping Silver Lining tightly to keep me against the ravings.
MURMUR!
MURMUR!
The ravings intensified, nearly reaching a point where I would be unable to resist them before the system spoke.
[Skill: Resistance is active.]
The moment it activated, the ravings weakened but not before a full sentence slipped into my ears.
'Hope is a lie.'
What?
My eyes widened slowly, stunned at the secret I had just glimpsed.
Hope is a-
[Extreme Bloodlust detected.]
The moment the system spoke, I felt an extreme sense of terror.
And in that same moment, something tore out of the void.
My eyes snapped to the direction, widening, "What the fu-?!"
BOOM!!
Before I could even finish, a large black mass slammed into me with so much force, it knocked the wind out of me.
[You have been wounded.]
Bright red blood flared out of my fractured nose as I felt my internal organs rattle violently. I felt my ribs cave and my skull crack, Silver Lining slipped out of my grasp and plummeted elsewhere, into the void.
My body was sent flying across the void like a ragdoll before I forced myself to regain balance.
HA... calm down...calm down...
I urged myself as I clenched my nose, trying to stem the ruthless flow of blood.
I wanted to raise my head when I heard a voice scream,
"YOU ABOMINATION! WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING?! AFTER SLAUGHTERING MY BROTHERS?! DO YOU THINK YOU'D LEAVE WITH YOUR LIFE?!"
The moment I heard it, I froze.
The hea-
SMASH!!
The large mass struck me again, connecting with my side and shattering my left arm.
RARRGH!!
A shrill cry escaped my lips.
Pieces of jagged bone pierced out of my skin, protruding out of the wear of the Veil of the Moon. The black leather was stained with leaking red, which flowed down along the cracked vambraces.
The pain was unbearable, it was mind-numbing but it only lasted for a moment before I was suddenly struck again.
BASH!!
CRASH!!
BAM!!
I tumbled through the abyss, bones splintering, flesh tearing, blood trailing like a comet's tail in the endless world. Each strike was like a hammer against glass, my body shattering bit by bit, pain dulling and sharpening in waves.
Resistance was unable to defend my body and as a result...
Ugh...
[You are in critical condition.]
The system droned as I struggled to keep conscious.
I raised my head to meet the wrathful gaze of the monster, the heads in the artery or rather...a single head.
It seemed to have torn through a crack in the void.
It was the same head that had spoken to me during our last clash.
Having chased me all the way here to take its revenge.
"Oh...you...", I croaked out in a coarse tone, my aching body suspended in the liminal space.
The head didn't respond, it simply glared at me with intense killing intent before throwing its singular gigantic tentacle-like limb at me.
"DIE!!"
It screamed.
The tentacle lashed out like a whip, threatening to end my life when suddenly...
Tsk...
I vanished.
[Spell: Spoken Phantom Blink has been cast.]
Before suddenly reappearing right before the monstrous head, and out of the tentacle's range.
Open.
A small constellation of sparks connected across a rectangular outline, forming the forbidden Quill-Book.
Using my right hand, I turned the book towards the head and flipped the pages beyond the safe point.
A wry grin came to my face, as the head's eyes glinted at the pages.
HAHAHAHA! THERE DI-
My glee instantly died the moment, the head collapsed, scattering into a fog of dust.
And then, everything went dark.