Years went by, going from place to place aimlessly searching for something i don't even know. All i did and could do was travel while accompanied by my shadow.
I went to new worlds brimming with magic, technologies, and horrors of development. Each their own in unique ways. Some worlds across the universe i even revisited for a short while before moving on. Seeking that something i still wasn't quite sure of what it could be.
Crossing rivers while riding boats of steel, wood and sometimes flesh. Soaring the sky on the backs of massive flying creatures. And crossing the land in steel wonders such as trains, cars or buses.
In the twenty years I've travelled since briefly reminding myself of the past with Ingrik and Taul of how i met them. I've been to hundreds of worlds and seen even more of this vast universes hidden beauties and horrors.
[admin notice!]
Pinging into my face as i rode the top of a giant centipede between mountains. A
[the fail-safe dial empyrean has been detected rooting on planet: Wanxia]
"An empyrean?" I muttered, catching Thorn's attention as he poked his head out from my hood. Before i could think further or begin to move another notification popped up.
[
[duel: invention vs memory - has begun!]
Grabbing the bone armrails of my seat on the giant worms back i immediately jolted up. It was a duel between the kralscell's of memory and invention. And without a doubt it was a fight over the empyrean! There's no way the timing could be so coincidental.
"If it's the [fail-safe dial empyrean] then... the kralscell of invention has the highest resonance with it." Removing my bandaged right hand from the bone armrail it held my chin instead as i blew out much exhaustion. "Culkin, you're supposed to be smart. You better not have been taken over by the empyrean."
"Thank fuck we can finally leave this flesh ball." Thorn blew out in relief. "I don't know how you stomach it but any planet thats pulsating is disgusting."
Glancing beyond the worm's back Thorn took a brief sight of the flesh tree's, Hairs growing out the skin floor of the planet, and the strange skeletal formations ridden across the land. This planet was a horror of flesh and bones, a horror straight out a nightmare, if not hell itself.
Nearly throwing up Thorn turned his head back away as he gagged and hid back in my jackets hood. "Please get us out of here already. I'd rather be told what to do than spend any longer here looking for Clarity's traces."
"Its a rare day for you to be so polite. But you've always been pretty squeamish to this level of grotesqueness so i really shouldn't be surprised." Channeling my aether it already nearly finished constructing the spell. "Really would have thought you'd be used to it by now with how many flesh horrors, eldritch worlds and meat planets we've traversed over the millennia."
"Urgh... i know you cheated with that coin flip we gambled on!" Thorn groaned. Refusing to take another look at the horrific continent as the giant centipede we rode reached the peak of a mountaintop where its nest was.
Unbothered by the sight taking in a long breath of the rotting smell filling the atmosphere i remarked. "...there are things far more terrifying than this out there."
The aether spell finished and in an instant we were shot up into the void with a beacon of light.
Flying through a white world of cracked glass before smashing through one of its many cracked sheets of glass. Emerging back in reality landing on a petrified titans skull that had been turned into a regular mountain.
"Wanxia looks different than i remember."
Looking down at the planet from the cliff of the titans skull. I saw a blue star in the distance dragging all the metal inside the planet's crust out to the surface to try and build a tree entirely from differing metals to encase itself within.
At the same time above its roots made of metals, a war between angels made of chalk and heavily armed machines was going on. Lights flew in both directions, the robots firing blueish-purple beams of plasma while the angels swung and threw weapons of rainbow shine.
Heaving in an exaggeratedly loud breath Thorn tasted the air of the world we landed on. "Ah~ grass and actual water instead of bleeding rot and piss. Mundane worlds are so much better than meat planets." Taking another whiff of the air Thorn noticed the peculiarity about this planet. "Do I taste a trace of the immortal dao on this world as well?"
"We are in the
Lifting my left hand up i observed the metal traces on my body getting ripped through the skin before floating across the atmosphere heading for the blue star and its growing metal tree.
"Wonder where i picked that up from." I muttered while watching the metal stop draining from my body.
Seeing this Thorn tutted his bird tongue and beak. "If thats the case then its easy to say everyone on the planet died before we arrived. That just leaves the dumbass elf and rainbow pride." The raven said heartlessly. Matching my lack of care for the victims of this world.
[skill: astral third eye - detection]
Watching the war of angels and machines continue i soon noticed that the kralscell's meant to preside over them were gone as well. Being just the machines guarding the constantly growing tree of metal against the attacking chalk-bodied angel army.
"If the kralscell's are both gone currently to fight each other. Taking the empyrean right now could be pretty quick."
"Fat chance." Thorn rebuked. "Even if that genius was stupid enough to put him in debt to you by a couple trillion credits. There's no way he'd leave the empyrean unguarded knowing we'd arrive as soon as the empyrean began rooting itself as a world tree into the planet. There's definitely a trap."
"Given its the [fail-safe dial empyrean] and muse of all intellectual knowledge across the Integrated Veil of multidimensional reality. It would be surprising if there wasn't something worse than a nuke waiting to smite me the second it noticed either of us."
"I'll bet its already noticed us and is just waiting for us to attack." Thorn huffed pessimistically. Watching me think Thorn wore a concerned face. "You're going to just charge in without a plan aren't you?"
"We're both going to, yeah."
Blinking slowly Thorn was quiet in acceptance of the ludicrous idea "Alright. Lets do this." Agreeing easily he hopped a little further away from me. "You know that's probably what the empyrean and Culkin both expected you to do, right?"
"The only limit of insanity is one's imagination. And people become so dumb when you tell them to imagine a new colour."
Thorn rolled his eyes at my words waiting for when we'd attack before we both spotted a strange spark in the air where the machines and angels battled before it tore open in a great rift in reality. Detonating with a pulse of aether before two smoking titans flew out the right and ravaged the dead land of the planet as they rolled through mountains.
A towering angel made of chalk with a rainbow halo and six wings fell into the ocean but her form was so colossal she barely sank below her chest before her sword stabbed onto a near cliff face to hold her up from sinking deeper into the ocean.
On the other side a metallic owl titan transformed its body. Becoming more humanoid as purplish-blue energy glowed out from the cracks of its grey body. Ejecting and replacing the damaged parts of its titanous steel frame with the metal the world tree's roots sucked out from the planet like millions of ants flowing through its body to repair it.
"Cherubim and Deus Ex Machina." I breathed out. "Those two really must be going at this seriously to bring out their apocalyi armies and archon-states in full force. What brought the two of them to Wanxia in the first place though?"
"Maybe they can tell us." Thorn said, and my eyes followed the gesture of his tail feathers pointing at a small cove that held a small group of
[skill: astral third eye - far sight]
Observing them i was surprised i didn't notice them until Thorn pointed them out. Looking at them closer one of the group of three had a veil of temporal energy around him like fate itself was moving to his will.
"...How did i not notice them before?" I asked.
"Yeah thats-" the only uninjured soldier among the men turned around showing his face and Thorn's words cut short as we both recognised the face. "Thats fucking Arthur Moonleaf! The hell is he doing here?! How have we heard nothing about him and Laegii's pilgrimage on the
"He looks older than I remember... he's got a naivety and innocence that i don't recognise either." I said slightly amazed.
Tossing his black wings in the air Thorn exclaimed loudly. "Don't tell me we're victim to his regressions effects~! I had so much gambling planned!" Thorn emphasised showing the results of multiple intergalactic sports tournaments in a book he wrote going from cover to cover.
"Or it could be that this is the very first timeline." I interjected, calming Thorn down as his dreams of wealth returned. "We both know I'm mostly immune to cause and effect to the five branches of existence. Space, reality, mind, power and mind. Time is probably the causality effect I'm the most immune to hence how we got sent to the past after being thrown into a black hole. So it makes no sense for us to be caught in Arthur's regressions and not have any knowledge of them."
Calming down the ghostly raven acknowledged my explanation. "So... theory is this is the original Arthur. Before the brooding and declaring vengeance against all kralscell's?"
My shoulders shrugged nonchalantly. "Thus far. We've met regressor's before but like time deities their powers are at most limited to their own worlds. The kralscell of memory is the only being capable of manipulating time on a near galactic scale. Plus Arthur is the Fate Prodigal, time itself's literal child. So who knows just how effective his regressions are and what they'll scale to."
"Tsk." Clicking his tongue Thorn was disappointed. "And what if you're wrong?"
"Won't know until we experience it." I said.
Grumbling to himself Thorn was discontent. "You seem awfully chill not knowing how free you are."
Thorn's words sent a jolt through my mind. Unsettling my sanity as my vision filled with the sight of an asylum rooms white walls and the tightness of a straight jacket wrapped around me and a chain wrapped around my skull.
By my side Thorn was now just a a toy in the shape of a bird. No longer talking and no longer shifting like the shadow he was.
People observed me with clipboards taking notes and as my eyes landed on them they filled with shock.
"Patient-zero-eleven has attained retention of reality!"
"Try to keep him here! This is a breakthrough!"
One left while the others all grabbed my face, shouting and yelling into my ears making my head dizzy. At the same time i told myself that white room and these people weren't real enough before blood gushed out of my nose returning me back to where i was with the pain.
Panicked shouts called for doctors before blurring into whispers at the back of my mind.
"Pisspot!" Yelling at me as my eyes opened Thorn stared down at me and sighed in relief when i took notice of him. "The fuck happened to you? Suddenly went hysterical yelling 'let me leave this hell' at the air before your nose became a red waterfall of my endless contempt for you. I'm guessing I'm at fault for that for saying something i shouldn't have somehow." The raven exhaled without a shred of guilt.
Wiping my right hand over my mouth i smeared the blood into its bandages. Wiping the rest of the blood off from my nose and around my mouth before saying, "no. You obviously didn't mean to. Don't worry about it."
Surprised by my response Thorn tried to hide his guilty face hopping a few steps away on his talons. "Still... uh... sorry."
"Thank you."
Immediately back-peddling Thorn rammed into my side. "Why are you accepting the apology if its not my fault?!"
"What i said is that it wasn't your intention. Not that you weren't the cause, you sadistic ghost." Pushing my palm into the side of my hand i forced down the whispers raging at the back of my mind. "What happened while i was delirious?"
"Fight between the kralscell's in their archon forms continued for a bit but they've both drained themselves to the point they can't sustain their archon's anymore. Been an hour, but Culkin seems like he's panicking. Like something hasn't gone according to his plan."
"Probably expected us earlier." Groaning to an upright position i waited for my headache to pass before speaking more. "...since we never stepped in, his and the empyrean's plan has gone completely off the rails most likely. Must think I'm actually being clever and waiting for a victor to emerge before acting."
"And all you had to do was have a nose bleed and a migraine." Thorn muttered. "Talk about saving yourself effort." Waiting a moment he watched me shake off the pain in my head before yelling at me in an enraged musical. "Let's go already~!!"