But that didn’t matter.
The shadows didn’t need to reach him for them to affect him.
No, their insidious nature could reach him through their presence alone.
“Resist! I must resist!..”
A wave of screeching voices forced their way into his skull. Whispers from beyond the edge of creation. Whispers of the damned… and the forgotten.
The Shattering.... The Fracturing.... Singularity....
The Shattering....
The Frac… uring… Sing… ularity…
…
His mind was on the verge of collapse, but he continued to ignore them. As much as his mind demanded to listen—to hear the words and understand their illusive meanings, he knew better than to indulge his curiosity…
“I won’t listen! I won’t!
“Won’t…”
The voices continued to bombard him, each one becoming more and more coherent yet corrupted than the one before it. It was nauseating.
Finally, after an unspecified amount of time, Soren opened his eyes to find himself laying plainly on solid ground. At some point during his fall, he had made it to his destination.
The Faerie Court.
The voices were now gone… And even his once cold and fleeting mind had returned to its previous clarity. Even so, the memories of the incomprehensible ravings would spring up from time to time, bringing waves of immense pain with it.
Shaking away his dreary thoughts. Soren stood up and dusted his robe then adjusted his cone hat. With a frown, he wielded [Fictionalization] to alter the space around him. In front him now stood a colossal yet mysterious gazebo canopy, furnished in all white marble.
Soren nodded and walked toward it.
Inside, a colossal round table stood at the center, illuminated by a flickering flame of a million radiant butterflies.
“Long time no see?”
“To me, only a moment’s time had passed.” The figment of his imagination voiced.
Indeed, ever since that incident, Soren had refrained from entering the Faerie Court again. The reason was obvious—the Echoes of the Rift were too difficult to deal with.
Even with the blessing he had from Mr. Unknown, passing through the rift before entering into this enigmatic space was extremely taxing, if not deadly. Even more worrying was the fact that the symptoms seemed to be getting worse.
After all, both Silmar and Tazzith acknowledged that the blessing was slowly becoming weaker… And the weaker it became, the less resistances he would have against the rift… Eventually, it might even become impossible to enter [The Faerie Court] again.
No, it was no longer a matter of if but when. He suspected that the [Traveler] blessing would vanish after his next visit…
In a way, Soren was grateful that his extra cautious personality led him to not enter [The Faerie Court] the moment he gained the ability to do so. Until he found another way to enter without relying on that blessing, he had to make sure every visit counted.
This was also one of the reasons he had chosen the Wards affinity. Because of its natural association with barrier magecraft, Soren figured that it might provide him with a solution in regards to this dilemma. The Voidstar Voyager ship he had [Record]ed also seemed to have similar functionality that he could use for study.
Sighing, Soren leaned forward against the table and frowned.
“Say,” he glanced up at the enchanted flame. “Let’s say back then, I decided to enter this space just right after I unlocked the [The Faerie Court] ability… What would have happened to me?”
There was silence for a moment. “I would have immediately usurped your existence.”
Soren sighed. Figured. It should have been obvious, after all. The only reason the figment of his imagination wasn’t already trying to take over was due to his Epoch Star being frozen. His fate was suspended for the next five months.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
If Soren had decided to foolishly venture into the Faerie Court before his meeting with Sienna…
He shook his head and smiled faintly. Being cautious is truly a virtue.
Glancing back, Soren sent a mental command and issued [Fictionalization]. A matching marble chair manifested itself behind him. He lowered himself into it with a nod, then interlocked his fingers atop the gleaming table.
“Let’s commence the meeting…”
The flame flickered eerily before returning to its usual state.
“As you wish.”
The Records got to work initiating contact with the desired Anchor, and with [Fictionalization] at play, constructed the appropriate avatar.
Soon, a form began to take shape across the table from him. Shrouded in a thick, inky smog, was the silhouette of a child sitting cross legged atop a hovering dark sword. Its hollow gaze locked onto his, leaving him somewhat uncomfortable.
The being had no discernible features—just a shifting mass of smoke molded into the eerie suggestion of a humanoid entity.
“Tazzith,” he spoke with a somewhat parched tone. The entity before him shifted—its eyes flickered from one oddity to the next, absorbing nothing yet taking in everything…
“How fascinating,” He replied. “I never expected you to invite me in here. Even during our last talk, you kept your distance from me.”
Soren shook his head. “Unlike last time, I have assurances now. Our contract forbids you from harming me—both physically and through tactical manipulation or theft. Besides, your current form is nothing more than an avatar manifested from the powers of this space. I can easily dissipate your form at any time if I wanted to.”
“I see…”
This explanation was only half of the truth, however.
In actuality, even if he wanted to, Soren had no way to transfer his anchors directly into the court. Not only would they have to pass through the rift in the same manner as him, but he would also need a method to bring them back to their respective locations across different worlds.
At the moment, neither of these issues had a proper solution, so he instead figured out a way to do the same thing through [Fictionalization] instead. He based his theory on the same logic that applied to astral projecting into the Beyond.
“So then,” his voice interrupted his thoughts, “What exactly have you invited me here for? And were you not planning on inviting that lass over as well? The one from your original world.”
Soren glanced at the fleeting fog-like figure and smiled. “No, Julie’s circumstances are still a mystery to me. Inviting her here would be a headache… I’ll probably only do so once I’ve gathered more information.
“As to why I invited you… I want to exchange information.”
A sudden chill ran down Soren’s back as he glanced over at the distant and hazy entity. It was… smiling from ear to ear.
“Stop that, you bastard. Do you know how creepy you look right now?”
Tazzith flinched momentarily and frowned. “Apologies, it's kind of a habit of mine.”
“Your habit is grinning like a mass murdering psycho whenever the word ‘information’ is mentioned?”
“......”
“Nevermind,” Soren shook his head. “Anyways, I need you to tell me everything you know about Gunther. Name your price.”
“Gunther?” He asked in bewilderment. “Who might that be?”
Soren clicked his tongue. “Stop bullshitting.”
Tazzith contemplated for but a short moment before his chuckle echoed across the marble chamber. “Ah, you saw right through me… I truly don’t regret signing that contract with you—you never fail to entertain me…”
Soren leaned back against his chair. “I don’t imagine there is much fun to be had in a decrepit prison made solely to keep you there forever… Is that also why you acted like a fool when we first met back in Yadria?”
He remembered his time in the Subterranean Shunning Grounds and how Tazzith tried to act clueless about his own identity… It was done so poorly, Soren had to assume it was only done for personal entertainment—there was no way in hell such an act would have fooled him.
What a damn fraud…
Tazzith clicked his tongue, “Why do I feel like you are cursing me out in your head right now?”
“Because I am. Now cut to the chase—do you have the information I desire or not?”
“How rude.” He casually leaned back and slept against the blade of his sword.
“Gunther… I'll be honest with you, brat. Even I don't know much about him. But there are things I am aware of.”
Soren’s frown deepened. “What things?”
“For one, his existence… It's shrouded in secrecy. Literally.”
“Literally?” He had no idea what He meant.
Tazzith nodded. “Yes. Literally. By the very definition of his anima, it is under a strange and mysterious power of concealment. One that dwarfs the Beyond itself.”
The words left him strangely uncomfortable… As if he had grasped this revelation somewhere else before…
Then, it hit him.
Soren’s eyes widened, “The Nameless Mist?”
Tazzith smiled, “Indeed.”
Hearing this, all Soren could do was stay silent. The orbits of fate had once again realigned.
He couldn’t help but smile.
They really won’t give up, huh?
Not that he expected them to anyway.
Tazzith chuckled, “As Hurion once told you, not even the gods could escape the clutches of fate. Out of the three Foolish Ones of history, you might be the most insane of them all.”
Soren sighed. “The orbits are not set in stone. I’ve twisted their paths once, I can twist them again.”
Tazzith observed him silently with His hollow eyes. Seeing this, Soren let out a faint laugh.
“You said you want entertainment right? That I am more interesting to follow than Silmar?
“Well then, watch me. And be entertained.”
Tazzith grinned. “As expected of someone fond of games… Very well then.”