Sparkles of silver light fluttered across the void of imperceptibility, once the brilliant blade called Silver Lining.
A sword which had once brought hope to the frail heart of a dying prince, a hope that then brought immense solitude.
Silver Lining had given Alex hope.
It had given him strength when he was weak, and had granted him light in the darkness. It had accompanied Alex throughout his lonesome journey; watched him laugh, cry, and grow.
It had been his blade, through which he willed forth death.
And ultimately, it had been his guiding light.
It had brought hope to Alex's fractured mind, a lonely hope but hope nonetheless.
A hope that burned in the void of Alex's self, guiding him towards his inevitable destination.
As Silver Lining scattered into nodes of light, Alex's body buckled, having lost the final ember. He fell forward, before crashing to the ground of negative space.
There was no impact, or sensation but only absence.
The silver nodes of light continued to dissipate but flowed in a certain direction, swirling.
For a long, long moment, there was nothing but the silver nodes.
Until someone spoke.
"Thank you, Silver Lining."
At the words, the nodes of light finally vanished.
There was another long silence before the voice spoke again, this time with acknowledgement,
"At long last, we finally meet..."
"Alex."
The source of the voice revealed itself, stepping forward.
It was a man...or rather, the echo of a man.
Existing as an enigma, simply a silhouette of shimmering radiance. His radiant form was traced with strings of pulsing black imprints; their meanings and purpose unknown.
This enigma of a man was a wraith.
He gazed down, staring at Alex's body with an unreadable expression. He raised his fingers, pointing them at Alex but then hesitated.
He froze for a moment before lowering his hand and shaking his head, "No, this won't do."
Lowering himself, he crouched down to Alex's level and then cradled his head in a gentle manner. He raised Alex's head up and pushed his messy hair aside, revealing his bloodied face and lightless eyes.
He chuckled, "His resistance is impressive, what tenacity. To still remain alive despite being dead, Alex you are truly impressive. Truly one of a kind."
"No mortal could have endured what you had survived. I commend you."
The wraith stopped for a moment, contemplating before saying, "Ha...I should act now. I should finish what I started but...I can't help it. I have to see..."
Slowly, the wraith leaned closer and spoke into Alex's ear,
A word.
A word that brought the light of life back to Alex's eyes.
Alex shifted slightly, seemingly in a daze. His fingers twitched, his breath returned and a single node of the World Energy ignited in his vast Aperture.
"Ah...ah..."
Alex groaned, before suddenly rattling. His eyes widening when he registered where he was and what he was seeing.
Then the wraith, who's form had taken the shape of a devilishly handsome man with flowing auburn hair and a perfectly sculpted physique, spoke.
His words.
"Hello, I am Galter Droet."
...
[Recalibrating...]
[Restoring sensory...]
[Equilibrating status...]
[Recalibration complete.]
[Restoration of sensory complete.]
[Equilibration of status incomplete.]
[Overriding...]
[Name:] Alex
[Title:] null
[Level:] null
[EXP:] null
[Skills:] null
[Saturation Technique:] null
[Path:] null
[Spells:] null
[Aliases:] null
[Debuffs:] null
[HP:] null
[Achievements:] null
[Override complete.]
[Initiating host...]
u-UH...Ah...ah....
[Initiation complete.]
My eyes fluttered open, heavy and distracted.
My breathing was slow, yet sharp.
The World Energy in my core came alive, and nudged me awake; giving me a modicum of lucidity.
Wh-whe...re a-am...I?
My thoughts were incoherent, struggling to form. My blurry gaze seemed to pulse for a moment before settling.
Although it took time, my awareness was beginning to return.
Slowly, my blurry vision cleared and soon, my surroundings became clear to me.
I seemed to be inside a weird space...a void, perhaps.
T-the void!
Suddenly, my body shook and the weight of realization settled on me.
R-right...am still in the Abyss...r-right?
I remained still for a moment, letting the thought sink before I thought again,
T-the Abyss? Wha-where is the Abyss?
In that moment, my gaze finally settled on the figure before me.
It was a strikingly handsome man; slanted cheekbones, sharp jawline, hazel eyes and long auburn hair.
I rattled, my mouth quivering to say something before he spoke,
"Hello, I am Galter Droet."
Silence.
For a long moment, there was nothing but silence. Long, jarring silence.
I stared at the handsome man deep in the eye with a bewildered expression before swallowing.
GULP.
And then my voice came out, low and husky, grating even,
"G-Galter Droet..."
The man let out an amiable smile, one warm and pleasing, one utterly perfect.
"The one and only.", he said as he released me from his grasp.
My lips and eyes twitched.
There was something about this man that made me feel something akin to anger or irritation. I couldn't pinpoint the feeling though, my memories seemed to be in a haze; largely disjointed.
"Don't think too much, child. You just resurrected."
I stared at him for a moment and then sighed, taking his advice. I forced my arms to move, trying to plant them on the strange 'ground' beneath me but instead only my left hand moved, my right arm didn't.
My gaze turned over to it and settled on the dead stump.
"Oh..."
With that single remark, I pushed myself into a sitting position using my left hand only. My body felt odd and foreign like I was just learning how to use it, but I refused to remain vulnerable.
The man who addressed himself as Galter Droet watched without helping.
And when I finally steadied myself into a seated position, he spoke again,
"Ah, Alex...aren't you curious?"
I paused for a moment and spoke, "Should I be?"
Galter didn't respond immediately, "Do you know who I am?"
Do I know this man?
"Yes, I do. You're a man who has been a constant source of irritation for me."
Galter chuckled, "Impressive. Truly impressive, even with such a fractured mind you're able to draw conclusive deductions, based on a hazy memory no less."
I remained silent before asking,
"Where am I?"
Galter's smile deepened, "A fine question."
He leaned forward slightly, resting his elbows on his knees, "But perhaps the better question is..."
"When are you?"
What?
I stiffened. My gaze locked onto his, my thoughts racing.
Slowly, I grimaced.
This man...
He was toying with me, but at the same time, he wasn't lying.
This strange place I was in... this void...it felt unstable.
In fact, this whole space made me confused, no it was deeper...
It made me feel wrong.
Galter must have noticed, because his expression slowly turned thoughtful. Then, after a moment, he sighed.
"Don't think too hard on it, Alex.", his voice was oddly gentle, "Your mind is already fraying at the edges. It would be a shame if you lost yourself before we even had a proper conversation."
Then he rose to his feet and stretched his hand, "Come, walk with me."
I paused for a moment. There was no hostility in his voice, no command, not even compulsion.
It was simply a request.
One I could easily refuse.
And so, I out-stretched my left hand and took his hand, rising as well.
Darn...his tall...
Indeed.
Galter was towering, seeming to be nearly 7 foot in height. I wasn't too far off though.
"So...wher-when are we walking to?"
Galter turned to me and then chuckled, "Don't take my words seriously. Hahaha...we're just in the Void of Imperceptibility."
Standing beside him, I deadpanned, "That doesn't explain anything."
"It doesn't, does it?"
HISS...this man...
Galter laughed, wiping a single tear from his eye, "Haha...I haven't been this amused in a long while. Come follow me."
He took a step forward and begun to walk along the strange ground. I lingered for a moment and then followed.
Galter and I walked side by side in silence, simply watching the expansive endless void before he asked,
"Alex, what do you think came first? The chick or the egg?"
I raised an eyebrow, "Weird choice of question. I pick the chick."
"Oh, why so?"
"Nothing much just a vague intuition."
"Mmm, yes. Intuition, the highest level of thinking. The point at which knowledge and understanding becomes instinctive where conscious reasoning ceases.", Galter said with a nod.
"True words. So, what about you? What came first?"
Galter turned to me and smiled, "Wouldn't you like to know?"
My skin crawled and I instinctively swallowed, "No thanks. Am good."
Galter turned away, continuing to walk forward. I followed in kind, my left hand etched in my torn clothes' pockets.
"What happened to my right arm, anyway?"
Galter gave me a glance, "Oh that. It just got severed by a man who couldn't bear being cuckolded."
I raised an eyebrow, "Hmm? Since when did I have rizz?"
"If you are referring to a seductive quality towards women and even men then no you never did. It was all one big farce orchestrated by a hungry serpent."
I sighed, "Fair enough."
Galter smirked, "I do wonder though, how is it possible for a human to have never experienced love before? Even the ugliest of scoundrels that I've met all encountered the phenomenon once in their lives."
"I do wonder myself.", I paused for a moment and said, "You must have lived quite a long life."
"Well, I am immortal so it's only warranted.", Galter spoke in a matter-of-fact manner.
I stumbled slightly but quickly regained composure.
"Immortal? How so?"
"Oh, I just got cursed by a god for dabbling in forbidden arts, big deal."
I groaned inwardly.
There was limit to how much BS a person could take and this man was already hitting my limit.
Strange...why do I feel like am being fed my own medicine?
"Which God by the way? And what Forbidden Arts?"
"Thanatos. He cursed me for researching the True Names of the Underworld Order or the Yang Dao, name as you see fit.", Galter said as he continued to walk, his hair and cloak billowing in the realm of non-existent winds.
I recognized the name Thanatos.
He was the God of Death who guided souls to the Underworld when their soul departed from the World of the Living.
I had once been a devout believer in him before converting when I took refugee in the Kingdom of Fire.
Wait...when?
I held my head.
Galter didn't comment on my actions; it was almost as if he could read my thoughts.
"What do you mean by Underworld Order and Yang Dao?", I asked, still clutching my head.
"Underworld Order or Yang Dao. They mean the same thing but just have different names. This refers to the framework of the world that exists beyond the usual reality – the Yang Space or the Underworld."
He continued, "The normal world that all living things exist in is the Yin Space or the World. It is where all living things which exist with a natural affinity towards a certain element of the World live in. The World Energy or Yin Qi is the purest form of energy which is ever-present in the Yin Space. It is the fuel for which all living things live and grow with, without it they stagnate and die."
He paused turning to me, as I pieced the remaining information together.
"And when they die, they get sent to the Yang Space."
"Exactly.", he snapped, "But that is only if they experienced True Death."
What?
I quirked my eyebrow.
"There are many types of death in this world, Alex. Emotional Death, Mental Death, Death of the Soul, Sensory Death...", he paused for a moment, locking eyes with me with a gaze that implied something.
But I couldn't quite catch it.
Galter raised his hand and ran it through his auburn hair, "True Death is an exertion of the absolute law of Thanatos. To kill someone is to will the law into effect, to evoke True Death. The death that grants closure to all living things."
"The curse he placed on me made me an exception to this law and as a result, I cannot die."
I frowned, "What were you researching? What True Names?"
Galter turned to me, "Isn't it obvious?"
His face grew cold.
"I wanted the True Name of Death."
I paused, my heart skipping a beat.
"Why?"
"You see Alex. To wield the True Name of a concept is to hold dominion over it. A mortal who wanted dominion over a god, what does it seem like?"
At his words, my eyes flickered with realization.
He wanted power? But wait...why would Thanatos curse him with immortality? Why not just kill him outright?
My thoughts spiraled for a moment before I then realized.
Thanatos saw Death as a blessing. A freedom from the cruel chains of Fate, from the futility of life.
A fitting finality.
So, to grant that finality to a mortal who wanted dominion over him, it was akin to blessing him.
And thus, he cursed him.
With the inability to die. The inability to receive the blessing of death.
But there was one thing bugging me with all this.
"Galter Droet, why are you telling me all this? What do you want?"
Galter's smile grew wistful.
"I thought it would be unfair...no-I wanted to speak to you. I wanted a glimpse into your mind.", he paused.
"A mind that claimed to be mad. A mind that had persevered for so long, through such an arduous journey. A mind that refused to break. Even with Silver Lining, I had expected you to have fallen apart the moment you entered Skull Garden. Hmm...I hadn't even expected you to even escape the dark chasm."
"The Skeleton Horde, the Dark Cavern, the Fomorian War, the Breathing Giant, the Void, the Garden and Wyrtweard's Unraveling Ritual. You had consistently managed to surpass my expectations. I applaud you."
He clapped.
But I wasn't flattered, I wasn't amused.
I simply stared at him, my lips tightening along a thin line.
My memories were a haze; an extremely scattered haze. I could barely recall myself from the sea of foreign memories, could barely tame them. They clashed with each other forming a fragmented outline of my so-called identity as Alex.
But I knew deep down...that it was wrong. I knew that this fragmented self wasn't me.
I knew because of what it was – fragmented.
Disjointed and incoherent.
I couldn't tell whatever had happened to me earlier but I knew it must have been harrowing.
I knew that I had suffered greatly. I may not have remembered.
But my body did. The strange way I perceived my own body was proof that my body must have experienced the height of pain.
And then there was this crown...
My gaze darkened, meeting Galter's wistful one.
"So, you've realized, ah..."
Galter looked down, his face wistful, "I wish we could have met under different circumstances. We could have been good friends."
As he spoke, his form began to fall apart.
Gone was the handsome man with auburn hair and hazel eyes. The figure that stood before me was a being of pure light bound by shifting black runes.
I watched as the man named Galter Droet disappeared, replaced by an echo of him.
He raised a hand, and his ethereal voice echoed, "Goodb-"
But before he could finish, I lunged at him, aiming a high kick straight to his face.
"Hmm-"
BAM.
My leg connected with his raised arm. The recoil sending me backwards.
I snarled.
"If you had watched me for so long, then you should have known that I wouldn't go down without a fight."
Galter's eyelids, if he had any, narrowed.