Much to the dread of the gateway receptionist, Drides kept his promise and returned to the exact same spot in a flash of light five minutes ahead of schedule. The pretorian glared quietly as the lone staff member toiled away on the City’s records and attempted to keep them up to date with the exodus. He couldn’t believe that his enemy was just feet away and yet didn’t seem to pay any notice to the City’s illegal activities.

  Milla’s group came in right after leaving Simon’s house to join the pretorian. They were refreshed and nourished and had gone over all manner of combat tactics throughout the day, but they knew there was no way of planning for what they were about to experience. And if there would be any trust at all within the shaky alliance, it would have to be proven that Drides didn’t already know far more than they did.

  “You’ve come,” he said and turned to them. “Your courage is admirable. I can tell that you’re as ready as you believe you possibly can be.”

  “Sure, but we still don’t know anything about what we’re really going to do,” Garder replied. “All of this is bordering on insane or just stupid, Drides. You need to tell us something.”

  “And I will. Your determination to change Aurra for the better has returned you to me, and now we can work together. I hope our partnership will last awhile. Working together, we can forge—”

  “Cut the act,” Garder said angrily. “This isn’t you.”

  Garder received a few worried looks from the others, but Drides didn’t change his expression in the slightest—and even let out a small laugh.

  “Yes, you are right. I should not talk down to you like I do to politicians. I will speak plainly. The Fragmented Dimension is but one of a number of sub worlds. If I had a second pair of those claws, I would be able to explore them, but as it stands now, I cannot. We only have a single pair at our disposal, and that does not seem to be enough.”

  “Sub worlds?” Milla replied. “That’s just an old theory, right?”

  “Science has evolved greatly since the Seriph era. The Guard keeps information on these sub worlds under needed secrecy.”

  “So… that means they’re real.”

  “Yes, and their existence would bring out fears about transworld stability. I will fully divulge everything I know about these worlds to you.”

  “Just how many are there?” Shin asked.

  “We’ve detected many, but by no means an infinite amount, and they are not exactly different dimensions or universes. Earth and Aurra are the major worlds, existing on parallel planes. Whatever space Earth doesn’t take up, Aurra does. The Fragmented Dimension is the pocket squeezed in between; briefly touched when we travel between worlds. It is like the glue holding the two in place. These sub worlds are very small, existing above and beneath Aurra and Earth, on different frequencies and spaces. Some are vast but have so little mass that they cannot support a human body. Some are so tiny that we could not even poke a finger into them. These worlds might act like waste areas, absorbing dead matter. Some may create it. Some create light, while others destroy it. Most of the worlds are likely so bizarre that the human mind cannot comprehend them.”

  “Does anything live in these worlds?” Simon wondered.

  “Not naturally. It’d be impossible.”

  “What about Hold?” Verim continued. “Is it a sub world?”

  “As simple as Hold is, it is still too complex to be a sub world. Hold is… more of an environment maintained by the Administration to create order on Aurra and indirectly on Earth. Simon and I, because we are native to Earth and know of its current technology, might see Hold as a virtual environment. A giant computer, one that dates back thousands of years. Past that concept, Hold is a complex entity, and I couldn’t properly tell you in what ways it functions and exists. But to give you an idea of the power behind the white plane where you receive judgment, I believe almost all of the Administration works just to maintain the place.”

  “What are the purposes of these sub worlds?” Wendell asked.

  “Their purposes are likely also beyond our understanding. But I assume that they are each needed for something. Each has a small task part of a greater whole. Remove one, and the laws of physics and transworld interaction may collapse. Right now, the importance of these sub worlds is that one of them harbors and hides the Original.”

  “Drides, before we go on…” Milla spoke up softly. “Before we do anything else, I need assurance. That you won’t take Rayna from us. That you’ll allow us to free the Fragmented City.”

  “So long as you can keep Rayna from Lontonkon, you can keep her safe. And I’ve always disagreed on using the Fragmented world as a place to trap people. I will admit that I did still use it sometimes—but for short-term purposes only. It makes a rather useful prison.”

  “Short-term?” Garder muttered. “I’m sure that you’d be able to free everyone there if you actually wanted to. You can even access the place with that weird eye of yours.”

  “I do have a special eye… It allows me to push away the veil of the dimensional fabric and open the entrance to that place. The world between worlds is frail, with a weak barrier, and where alchemagi flows the weakest, the claws can also force an opening. But sending people there was never something I wanted to keep doing forever. If you don’t believe anything else I say, then at least believe me in one aspect: I respect human life. We have different viewpoints, but I do respect the privilege and beauty of life.”

  “And why did you send Rivia there?”

  “Would you believe that I did it to protect him? Of course, at that time, Lontonkon didn’t believe that there was any return from the realm.”

  “Protect… protect him?” Milla murmured. “I thought that Rivia was your enemy, no matter what?”

  “He is. But he can also be useful. I want Lontonkon dead more than I do the rebellion. But this is beyond either of them. The conflict may continue, but if we succeed, it will do so in a different, better Aurra.”

  “… What do we do?” Shin asked with remaining reluctance.

  “We use two pairs of claws on one of my portals. If my theory is correct, we will access the largest of these sub worlds. If we create a single tear inside of my portal, it will provide a two-way gate to the Fragmented City. If we use two, however, one right inside the other, they should cancel themselves out yet still lead… somewhere,” Drides said with an ominous tone.

  “Somewhere? What do you mean ‘somewhere’?” Milla questioned.

  “I wouldn’t exactly call it a place. Rather, it would be a lack of a place. A world of nothingness. An example of complete obliteration.”

  “Um, right,” Garder said in disbelief. “A world of nothing. How would we breathe there? Or even just exist?”

  “There are things I couldn’t know. But if I kept the portal up and thus a connection to a real world, we may be able to remain in existence. That is why I need your help, to keep the gate open.”

  “Drides, this makes no sense…” Milla sighed. “A world of nothing? What is that to begin with?”

  “The bottom; a place where matter that has been reduced to nothing comes to rest, where dead thoughts and emotions settle. Could you really define nothing? I can open a one-way route to the world between worlds. A pair of claws makes it a two-way. A second tear in the first should neutralize both, opening up the path to nothing. And this world of nothing may be the only place that could support the Original. Without time and space, it may be in a place where it could persist for eternity.”

  “This has all got to be just conjecture,” Shin stated.

  “It is, but based on all Aurrian scientific knowledge, the existence of this place in some shape or form or another is an almost guarantee.”

  “And what if the Original isn’t even there?”

  “Then something happened to him, and I doubt he’d still be alive. We know he isn’t in Hold or the Fragmented; the only two places where the decay of matter is slow or non-existent. If he stayed on Earth or Aurra for so many thousands of years, his body would’ve turned to dust long ago. If he is not in this place, then he is no longer in existence. It is that simple.”

  “Does this place have a name?”

  “Would anything be more appropriate than ‘The Void’?”

  “Is that the best you can think up?” Garder sighed. “Bit cliché.”

  “You are the funny one, aren’t you?”

  “Let’s not waste time,” Shin said. “If we’re doing this, let’s do it.”

  “We still don’t know if alchemagi will exist in this place, though,” Milla replied. “Or oxygen, for that matter.”

  “That is why we maintain the opening,” Drides repeated. “Both should flow in. Meet me at Lontonkon’s villa. We’re moving out.”

  He vanished in a flash of light, and Milla got right to work on the demirriage without hesitation.

  “Do you think he’s a solar?” Simon wondered. “His way of getting around seems similar.”

  “Who knows?” Garder replied. “I still can’t believe we’re trusting this guy.”

  “We don’t have to,” Shin said. “But as much as I hate to admit it, this may be a chance to do something important. He just so happens to be the only way of doing it.”

  The six stepped into the carriage and Garder piloted it, taking it to a spot right outside the old gallery he had passed through with Jeryn a month ago. It was a calm late afternoon; an otherwise normal day save for the journey about to transpire. Drides, after just pocketing his demirriage scroll, turned to them and formed a smile behind his robe’s tall collar.

  “Good. I wish we could prepare for what we’ll experience in there, but I believe that we have enough collective talent to overcome whatever may happen. The Original is likely not expecting visitors, so we should be able to take it off guard. I’ve already told you what to do, so let us begin.”

  He stared at an empty patch of dirt, opened his mechanical eye patch with a flick of his head, and formed a swirling black tear that looked just like the one he used on Rayna’s parents. Milla cautiously stepped up to it with both claws out—careful to keep her feet anchored so she wouldn’t be sucked in. Drides released his gaze and prepared his own two claws.

  “Don’t worry. It won’t pull you in unless I boost its power,” he explained. “I can maintain it so long as I am nearby, and provide it with alchemagi. Don’t stick your arms into it… If a part of your body is through the black pool of transpace for more than a few seconds, it’ll, well, separate. Hence, when I use this to imprison people, I shove them straight through.”

  Milla looked backed at the others, looking for assurance. The tall, seemingly omnipotent figure beside her seemed to be in full control of the situation—and that could mean a betrayal at any moment. After taking a deep breath, she touched the surface of the swirling vortex with the claws, and then opened up a tear as she would normally.

  She needed no extra strength. Whereas most of the time tears had to be forced open, the one within the void slid open smoothly and without effort. She opened it as much as she could, until it touched the edges of the vortex. On the other side was a thick veil of gray fog.

  “I thought you said the Fragmented Dimension was on the other side,” Garder said.

  “That is the place,” Drides replied. “In its non-condensed state. From our side, we are probably seeing no more than a millimeter of space in that broken, thinly spread world. Now then…”

  As Milla kept the second tear open, Drides began the third and final one, starting at the center. With precision and concentration, he opened up the entryway to a world of blackness. In appearance, it looked exactly like the portals he created on his own. But this time, it acted like a vacuum, and the more he opened the portal, the more air it sucked in.

  “Indeed… nothingness,” he said over the noise of rushing air. “I can maintain this opening with my mind. We no longer need the claws. As a sign of trust, I will go through first, but you six must quickly follow.”

  “With any luck, going through will kill him,” Garder said to Milla through telepathy.

  She didn’t know what to say back as she watched Drides carefully avoid the swirling edges of the vortex and step into portal, one arm and leg at a time. Once enough of his weight was inside, he fell a few feet and hit solid ground below. From Milla’s perspective, he was almost directly underneath the portal, but within arm’s length. Blackness surrounded him, with only the light coming through the opening keeping him lit at all.

  Not wasting any time thinking about it, Shin went in next, followed by Verim and Wendell. Milla and Garder leapt in at the same time, followed by Simon. They stayed close to Drides at first and took in the bizarre world they had just entered. All that existed aside from their small oasis under the portal was the endlessly dark and quiet landscape.

  Garder spoke first, “Simon, light is your forte, so…”

  He reached into his bag, took out three glow sticks and activated them, and tossed them as far as he could in three directions. With nothing to bounce off of, their light only existed as thin rods of a dim yellow.

  “Odd,” Simon whispered. “Solid ground, and matter seems to be able to exist here, but… there’s nothing.”

  “And nothing except for the Original has likely entered this place in a physical form,” Drides replied. “This realm may be where everything goes when they disappear from our reality. Sound, matter, time, emotion… Maybe everything we perceive save for life itself eventually settles here.”

  “Why would anyone want to live down here?” Milla replied.

  “Perhaps when they also don’t want to exist.”

  “What do we do? Start looking?” Garder asked. “You have to stay near the tear, and we don’t trust you enough to put ourselves in a position where you could trap us. Even if you didn’t, we still have to find something that might not exist, and if it did, we have no idea how big this place is…”

  “We will not travel far from the portal, and will wait for it to come to us. We are likely the only people to have ever made it here. It might very well be able to detect that sudden change and come investigate.”

  “Remember, our goal is to kill it,” Shin replied. “It doesn’t need our sympathy, even though I’m sure we all have plenty of it. If things get bad, we can just retreat back to Aurra. Um, right, Drides?”

  “I suppose. But if we let him retreat, we may never find him again. Be at your best and kill him the first time.”

  A minute passed. And then another. Nothing was happening, but the atmosphere still felt like it was becoming tense. Somehow, the existence of the bizarre world even seemed to become more real every few moments.

  Simon focused his attention on moving light around the place, but with only darkness to absorb it, nothing ever became brighter. Yet his alchemagi looked like it was intensifying—something the others noticed as well. Everyone except for Drides would occasionally fire off a small spell, and it quietly turned into a group experiment. With every following minute, the techniques seemed to be growing stronger.

  “If I could guess, this world seems to be filling up with… well, something,” Shin stated. “What’s coming in from the outside is changing this world’s environment.”

  “There’s more…” Drides added. “There is a life form here. It started out very faint, and spread throughout this abyss. But it’s been condensing since we arrived. And the process is speeding up.”

  “Are you saying this place… is The Original?” Garder asked.

  “No. But something is living in it. Just… all across it, uniformly. Wait. I think it’s coming together. Look behind you!”

  The six turned to see something coming to life from the darkness. At first, it took the form of a spider, but as more matter gathered in place, the arachnid form took on the shape of machinery with six robotic legs holding a body up. No one could tell for sure when the being finally “awoke,” but eventually, the legs buckled, crawled forward some, and then lowered the large metal capsule which made up its body.

  The being was like nothing they had seen before. It looked to be made of machinery, but its structure appeared far too simplistic to function in anyway. It was organic, yet made up of metal—reminding Simon of the scorpion he had just fought. They watched cautiously as a slit opened on the capsule, revealing two bright eyes in an otherwise black inner chamber.

  “That’s it,” Drides murmured. “That’s all that remains of him.”

  “That thing in there, behind those eyes?” Verim replied. “But it’s so tiny. It’s no bigger than Scud.”

  Wendell’s cat, its eye patch on its blind side, stared at the being.

  “It’s probably little more than a shriveled-up corpse,” Drides replied. “Might’ve stayed in Aurra for so long in hiding that it turned into this thing; a frail body that gets its only mobility from robotic legs. Then it might’ve come down here once it could no longer resist its own mortality.”

  “Wait, hear that?” Wendell spoke up. “It’s breathing…”

  They fell silent. Tiny breaths no louder than a quiet wind could be heard from the capsule. The creature was unblinking and unmoving. It seemed to be holding onto life by the thinnest thread possible.

  “Rudimentarials… presidigitating… in… mine… world,” it suddenly breathed out in a barely audible whisper.

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  “What? What’d it say?” Garder wondered.

  “Wanting to… Obliterationing… intrudiaters…”

  “It can’t speak correctly,” Verim noted. “I can kind of understand it, but its speech makes no sense. It’s like fractured English or something.”

  “Compoundeding… factorials… obligingly… invasionings…”

  “Doesn’t seem to have much of a mind anymore,” Shin replied. “Let’s finish it off before it loses whatever humanity it has left.”

  “We may be past that,” Drides said. “I’m practically staring at its soul right now. It’s nearly unrecognizable. This thing, whatever it became over the years, has no right to exist.”

  “Then let’s get this over with,” Wendell said and took out his rifle.

  “Wait,” Milla replied. “Let’s try to share some dialogue first—at least hear if it has anything to say.”

  “I’m sure it has plenty to say,” Garder said. “Stuck in this place for who knows how long… We’re probably the first people it’s seen in thousands of years. If it were me, I’d be begging to die and move on.”

  “No…” the being wheezed, its voice more in their minds than the air around them, as if it spoke in an omnipresent manner. “No… I have… long been… observate… all life… around me… through me… over me…”

  “Observing?” Milla wondered. “Can you see the outside?”

  “The outer… moments… sing… The colors… I cannot… understand… all around… The people… brethren… No connections… Cannot establish… Disconnected. Discarded. Dishearted. Forlorn. What… have I become… and wrought…”

  “It seems sad,” Shin said. “Something about not being able to connect to other humans? It’s hard to be sure from the way it speaks. Maybe the world it created is something it’s lost control of.”

  “But has it really been observing us?” Verim added.

  “Simplistical… creatures… wielding my light… my power.”

  “It’s talking about alchemagi,” Drides said.

  “Yeah, and we’re the rudimentary or simplistic creatures,” Garder said. “I don’t think it sees highly of us.”

  “You come… into… my place. My world. You seek… undoing… I want this not… I am scared… death cannot reach me… what if?”

  “It’s scared,” Milla replied. “It still doesn’t want to die. I think it must be worried about what would happen to it.”

  “Doesn’t explain why it speaks the way it does,” Verim stated.

  “Thoughts… memories… pounding… repeating… torment. Always ponderings… reconciles… thoughts. Thoughts. Cycles. Recycles. All over. Want to be with… them. But cannot. Break… I will break… Here is… where I must be. Aches. Cannot… feel. Want to. Desires. I wait. I wait for you. I wait for someone. To come… to give rest. But I cannot allow. I want to feel… I must destroy. Only… how I can feel now.”

  “Okay, this is starting to, uh… not sound so good for us.”

  “It can’t feel anything,” Simon replied. “I think it said that it’s only had its thoughts, for thousands of years. But if it destroys us, then it might feel something again. I hope I’m wrong. It’s not making much sense.”

  “Are you maintaining your grip on Aurra?” Milla asked. “Could you release the haze if you wanted? What is your influence?”

  “Worlds… are mine. I was first… I will be last. I began it. I end it. I see all. I am lord. I am king. I am master of our people.”

  “Sounds like it believes that it brought about the dawn of man, and now it wants to stick around to see the end of it.”

  “But look at the state it’s in,” Shin replied. “How could it even comprehend anything? There’s practically nothing left of it.”

  “My underlings… seek to undo me… This is impossibility. Cannot be… obtainable. My existence… is forever.”

  “You have to be in unimaginable pain,” Shin said. “But I know your soul is still in there somewhere. Don’t you want to be freed?”

  “It is scared,” Wendell replied. “Trapped in that body this long, it can’t accept that death would catch up to it eventually. It can’t comprehend being destroyed. But it has no assurance against it so… it’s defensive.”

  “I will not die. Never die. I am life. I am giver. You are not taker,” the Original said in a hissing tone. “No. No, I will not fall into forever silence… You cannot send me there.”

  The slit closed, and the capsule was raised by its six legs and put back in place. The being scuttled back some, and a glowing circle formed on the ground around it. Powerful alchemagi welled up around the circle, and moments later, dozens of pillars of flame shot up into the air.

  The fire hit an invisible ceiling and spread out like a wave of lava, creating a soft red glow across the darkness. The lava condensed in a dozen places and began oozing back down. And the abnormality of the attack had just started. Surrounding the fiery stalactites coming down at the intruders were scattered vector lines, lightning bolts, shards of metal, and cutting air whips. Everyone managed to get out of the chaotic spell’s range and avoid the molten rock, but the Original’s power was now clearly established.

  “Look at how many elements it just put into that attack,” Garder exclaimed. “Simon, keep bending light onto the thing! We need to always see where it is, or it’s going to take us by surprise.”

  “Got it,” he called back. “I might be able to stop some attacks with my diffusion.”

  “Yeah, good luck with that—we might be fighting a god here.”

  “Get me a clear shot at its legs, and I’ll blow them off,” Wendell shouted as he loaded his Aurrian rifle with special explosive ammunition.

  “If it’s part machine, I could try frying it,” Shin suggested.

  Verim took out a seed pouch and replied, “If that doesn’t work, we can try the sap vine again to get some extra current going.”

  Milla began launching vector beams, but her target either dodged them with its surprisingly nimble speed, or blocked and shattered them with high-energy atomized lines of its own. She knew she wouldn’t land a hit at this rate; she was instead simply trying to keep it busy.

  With Simon moving light to keep the being visible, Shin waited for a moment to strike. But the Original’s attacks came so quickly, with such little effort. Every instant it had where it didn’t need to protect itself, it would launch something new at the group that had to be dealt with or avoided. Meteors of rock and flame, vines with iron thorns that spewed electricity, rays of light with lightning and vector alchemagi mixed in. The spells came one right after the other, and from seemingly nowhere.

  As the Original’s metal body scuttled to reposition itself after a few minutes of intense combat, Shin took the opportunity and made a dash at it. Using a technique where she built up a current and then collected it into the katana, she could fire a thin, condensed bolt of electricity; almost like a reverse lightning rod. And while the attack hit, it had absolutely no effect.

  Her target responded by charging forward at Shin, who had to parry several swipes from its forward legs. Her blade didn’t do much either; while it batted the legs away, it didn’t seem to cut into the metal at all.

  As she made her retreat, Garder shot out air cutters, with no particular target in mind. But as he was still injured, and with there being a lack of air in the world, they only glanced off the Original’s natural armor.

  Following another round of traded blows, they regrouped and took a defensive formation before another attack came at them. Wendell was a few feet away from the others, and had just finished loading his rifle.

  “If I can get a few of its legs, maybe I can slow it down,” he said. “Just keep it away from me while Scud and I get a good shot.”

  The cat’s eyesight allowed it to tell its master where to aim with more precision—something that allowed Wendell to take accurate long-distance shots. Wendell’s partner was also fairly adequate in predicting movement, and when sniping, he always worked tightly with his cat and waited for him to do everything but physically pull the trigger.

  The Original took position ahead and shook from side to side to avoid Milla’s vector lines, and then rapidly fired out more spells. Spheres of light with embedded vector mandalas launched and crashed to the ground, where they exploded into violent domes of swirling alchemagi. The group was running out of places to run, as the radius of the attacks kept growing.

  “How’s it seeing us?” Verim muttered.

  “I’ve been studying its movements,” Simon replied. “Remember its first attack? It did it as soon as the slit over its eyes closed. From then on, it only attacked us after we did. But we haven’t seen its eyes since.”

  “So?” Garder said.

  “It needs some way to detect us,” Milla replied. “I think if we stop using alchemagi, it might be completely blind.”

  “But we’d be letting our guard down.”

  “We should still try it,” Shin said. “After its next series of spells, we go quiet and see what happens.”

  “Got it. Guess we don’t have many other options.”

  The Original reared up on its legs and blasted out electrified plumes of plasma, which arced into the air and slammed down across the abyss. Though the heat was immense, the attack was so scattershot that the group avoided it just by making a few adjustments in their position.

  “See? Even now, its relying on wide, random techniques because it can’t pinpoint us,” Shin explained as everyone released the flow of their active alchemagi. “And now, it should have no idea where we are.”

  “But without Simon’s light, I can barely see it,” Garder replied.

  “Its eyes glowed, remember? Maybe we could just wait for them to pop out from the darkness and then make our move.”

  They stood and waited nervously. They could hear the distant sound of shifting metal joints, but the Original’s body only existed as a blob of shadow in the distance, moving across an endless void; little more than a sight movement caught in the corner of their eyes.

  Eventually, it was forced to relocate its foes, and the slit on its capsule opened up again. The two glowing, piercing eyes were so close that everyone was taken off guard. Just a few meters away were two dull white marbles staring down at them. Within seconds, the attacks would begin.

  Simon reacted first. Taking the dull light provided from the tear, he condensed everything available to him into a mild flash. While not enough to blind his friends, it was more than able to overload the Original’s eyes, which were used to the infinite darkness of its home.

  It reeled back a bit and fired off a messy assortment of mixed alchemagi in an attempt at self-defense. Simon set up a small diffusion field to block and absorb the majority of the weak projectiles. And on Wendell’s side, Scud had just given him the all clear to fire.

  He pulled the trigger, and the sphere that blasted out was aimed at the being’s left legs. The projectile was a special brand, laden with fire oil and powerful explosives. As soon as the capsule had left the chamber, Wendell shot out his index finger and set the sphere ablaze.

  Whistling as it scorched across the air, the outer layer of oil burned at a very high, iron-melting temperature. It eventually made impact directly on one of the Original’s three left legs, where it penetrated the outer shell of metal, and then exploded with intense energy. The burst was large enough to knock back the rest of the Original’s body, and the nearby group could feel the reverberations rattle throughout them.

  When the smoke cleared, it was well apparent that the lower half of the middle-left leg had been blown in half—a testament of the being’s strength; a similar impact would’ve completely destroyed a Guard tank.

  “Now,” Shin said to Verim.

  “Yep,” he replied as they charged forward.

  With the being still reeling from its pain—something it hadn’t felt in uncountable years—Verim threw out several electrosap vine seeds and condensed what little water vapor existed to give them life. He then guided the growing vines towards the small opening in the destroyed leg.

  Two of the vines spread out and grew over the exterior, while the third slithered inside of a leg and began growing rapidly throughout the robotic-like structure. As the metal began to bend and rupture from the force of the growing plants, Shin jabbed her sword into the base of the vines and channeled a large degree of stored electricity.

  The result wasn’t quite expected. Instead of frying any kind of electrical system, the legs and the base supporting the capsule exploded into giant sparks and blasted out thick black smoke in all directions. Almost as if the six limbs were organic matter on Aurra, they faded away without a trace. Within seconds after the attack, the only thing left was the container holding the Original, now rolling away on the ground.

  “What the hell?” Verim grumbled. “That was… surprising.”

  “We’d better finish it off before it recovers somehow,” Shin said. “A quick slice ought to do it.”

  “Finish… me… off?” came the whisper from all directions once again. “A violenced orientationed people you all are…”

  The capsule left the ground with an invisible force and took to the air, where it hovered solidly in place. Shin and Verim stepped back towards the others, as did Wendell. The container seemed untouched, invincible.

  “I can feel… the hatredness and desperation in… your hearts…”

  “It’s not like that,” Milla replied. “We’re doing this for you. We’re trying to help you. I know you can’t understand it, but…”

  “You come here… I am not causing you pain… I am… happy. I am… alone. You seek to end me… for no comprehended reason…”

  “I know we seem brutish,” Verim shouted back. “But why continue living in your state? Don’t you know how the cycle works? You’ll go to Earth, and you can live a long, full, happy life. None of us would want to live anywhere near as long as you have. Even if it wasn’t in this place.”

  “Do… not… create assumptions… You… do not… realize how I… see myself.”

  “You’re not a god,” Garder replied. “You’re just a human, like us. You were just born with more power than anyone before or after you. Maybe it’s a cycle on every world, and you were our first. That’s all.”

  “I am first… I will be last… I must be last… I have observed all history… all trials… I will continue to observe… But now, I will end you.”

  Three glowing rings ran down the capsule’s body and hit the black floor. A light tremor shook the ground, and the group suddenly found that they were unable to move. In addition to their immobility, it felt as if almost all of the alchemagi had been drained out of their bodies.

  “Damn it!” Shin yelled. “Wendell—kill it! It may be up to you!”

  “I… I can’t move,” he replied.

  “Crap. It’s taken more than just our alchemagi.”

  “Allow me… to take in… your beings…” the Original’s voice thundered. “Be with me… forever. You… will observe with me…”

  “Go to hell,” Shin growled. “I was wrong about you. You’re not human at all. Just a monster… No, you’re not even alive anymore.”

  Its legs suddenly reformed from nothing in an instant, each devoid of damage, making every attempt and effort against it thus far meaningless to the being. It had always been in control; it had simply been continuing its “observations.” Without any human contact in thousands of years, it no doubt wanted to see firsthand just what its descendants could do.

  “I will… take your memories… of each life… We will all merge… become one…” the Original said as it lurched forward.

  “Drides!” Garder shouted out desperately. “Help us!”

  “I swear, if you’re betraying us here, of all places…” Shin added.

  “I think I understand,” Drides said calmly. “Thank you for showing me all that I need to see. You have done your part well.”

  “What?” Verim exclaimed. “He’s going to leave us here, isn’t he?”

  “You bastard! Get us out of here!” Shin yelled at him angrily.

  Drides looked up at his portal and ran some calculations through his head. He figured that as long as he devoted some of his effort towards keeping it open, that it’d at least remain large enough to use as an exit for around a minute or so; and that might be all the time he needed.

  He ran ahead, leaving the portal behind him as it began to shrink rapidly. For the first time, the Original took full notice of him and turned to deal with the last piece of opposition, while still leaving everyone else incapacitated. It opened up its tiny window to get a clear look at the human rushing towards it, and Drides took hold of the opportunity by opening up his mechanical eye patch.

  The Original was hit by something unseen, and its body trembled—but that was the most that Drides’ strongest attack could muster given the kind of world they were in at the moment. The process of instant death couldn’t complete itself, and he already knew why.

  “It has control of this entire sub world,” he explained as the Original recovered. “It doesn’t matter what you do to it while it’s here. It’ll just regather everything it’s lost and remake itself.”

  “What if we just obliterated the entire body?” Shin replied.

  “I doubt it’d matter. Remember how it had to condense itself the first time it arrived? It can exist in very small bits all throughout this place without difficulty. So maybe Garder was right—it is its own home.”

  “So how do we kill it?”

  “Only one way seems possible.”

  “So do it already! The portal is closing!”

  “Who… is this one?” the Original questioned.

  “The bringer of your long overdue death,” Drides replied.

  With some of his concentration devoted to the exit behind him, Drides had to be pushed to his limit to open a second tear. He managed, but barely so. A tiny gateway leading to one of many sub worlds opened up under one of the Original’s legs, and he kept it active just long enough for part of a leg to sink through. Before the Original could pull itself out, he closed the tear, slicing off the bottom of the leg cleanly.

  After realizing that it couldn’t reform a part of its body, the Original went into a near instant panic, releasing the group in the process. It scuttled backwards like a crab escaping from a predator, and began ripping open hundreds of tiny portals around its body. Most shrunk back into nothing within seconds, while larger ones existed longer. Everyone else merely watched the spectacle, unsure of what to make of it.

  “What… are… you?” the being gasped as if struggling to breathe. “No… You cannot follow… Leave me be…”

  “It’s trying to find another sub world to escape to,” Drides said. “One large enough to support itself.”

  “Don’t let it,” Shin demanded of him.

  “I won’t. I’m just waiting.”

  Upon finding a place to go, the Original took a few steps into a portal as big as its body. But closing rifts took far less effort than opening them, and with all of its focus on getting away, Drides was free to forcibly shut the portal to an indigo universe as soon as the Original stepped through. It lost part of its body and two of its right legs, their matter having been separated from their owner by an impenetrable veil.

  The being cried out in agony, and opened another larger portal that it attempted to rush through before being cut off again. It stumbled halfway in, giving Drides plenty of time to make the world of pure white disappear into blackness. Nearly all of the left side of its body was gone now, and the Original’s remaining right leg was all it had for movement. It was soon crawling across the ground pitifully as it clung onto life.

  Milla saw her sympathy for the being spread onto the others. It all seemed so cruel, but she knew well that they couldn’t stop.

  The Original opened a rift to a place with burning orange plasma and a deep humming sound. Its single leg dragged the beaten body forward slowly enough for Drides to take precise aim at the opening, and this time, the tear closed at exactly the right spot. The capsule was cut apart from the bottom up, and promptly exploded into black smoke, barely visible against the background. There was a brief screech of pain, and then only stillness.

  A few seconds went by, and a faint gathering of dust glowing in a dull blue began to condense from where the Original’s body fell. The blue dust gathered together and flared into a vibrant glow coming off of a small object floating above the group. Like a star, it flickered in the blackness of space. No one was sure just what it was at first, but it was a beautiful sight that even Drides, his focus now back on his portal, had to admire.

  “I… am free…” a voice whispered into everyone’s mind.

  It was the same voice from before, but pure and clear. Instead of sounding like a ghost, it resonated as if it were coming from a real person.

  “Is that… is that the being we just destroyed?” Milla whispered.

  “Destroyed? No… Only my body is gone. A physical shell keeping me trapped inside of a prison I thought would never die.”

  “You sound so much different,” Shin replied. “Are we looking at your inner self? Is this… your soul?”

  “Perhaps. I only know that I am free. And you have my deepest gratitude for your actions… My physical mind long ago lost itself, and it would not allow me to seek release. Long I have waited for this moment…”

  “This is a human soul?” Garder murmured. “It’s… so… I don’t even have a word for it.”

  “It’s being maintained here somehow,” Wendell replied. “Though maybe it’s not surprising given the nature of this world.”

  “Please listen,” the Original continued. “What I must tell you is something I’ve been meaning to share with another living being for so very long… I did not create Aurra. I did not put into place its laws. I was merely the first to come to self-realization of how to define the world. And then, Aurra bent around me. I did not bend it myself.”

  “What do you mean?” Verim wondered.

  “Aurra reacted to me. It used me. It took hold of me. I was a physical vessel to its will. A slave whose mind it could use to reshape the world that relies on the power of mental creation.”

  “You didn’t do all the things that the Five said you did?”

  “Not under my free will, no. I suppose this was inevitable. It could have been anyone. I may have had a chance to resist. To fight Aurra’s will. But I could not overcome it.”

  “Aura’s will…” Milla repeated. “You make it sound like it’s alive.”

  “It is. As is Earth. Each a living thing powered by our sun, the givers of creation and life on a level unseeable from the other side. I do not know why Aurra used me. My description of what happened may not even be accurate… But it is what I believe to be true. The suffering all Aurrians have experienced for so many years is not my fault alone.”

  “And you didn’t create alchemagi, either?”

  “Not by personal will. It too was Aurra’s creation. I do not know how much influence I still have over the world. I may have been little more than a slave for another’s plan. This is all I can tell, as this is all that I know. My only dream is to reborn. I have been waiting, for unmeasurable time…”

  “Of course,” Drides replied. “You can go. Exit through my portal, and you should fade away into the dimensional fiber as everyone does.”

  “You. I sense malice within you. You are indeed a troubled and troubling being. I am sorry if I’ve disappointed. You likely expected more answers than I can provide. But perhaps I can send you off in the right direction. Something is out of balance between the two worlds. And it may be up to you to reverse it. The alchemagi… something in the alchemagi…”

  “Are you sure you have nothing else to tell us?” Garder asked.

  “I am afraid so. Let it be known that a force greater than myself put Aurra into its current state. I do not know what this power is. Now… let me rest. I am very… very tired.”

  “Good luck in your next life,” Milla replied. “We’re sorry if we made you suffer at all.”

  “It is of no consequence, kind one. I will forever be eternally grateful for the freedom you have given me. Farewell.”

  The blue spirit slowly drifted off towards the portal, leaving behind a faint trail of glowing dust behind. When it came closer to the opening, it began to break apart. And at the very instant it actually went through, it splintered completely and evaporated into the air.

  “A human soul in its purest sense…” Shin murmured. “I don’t think anyone has seen one before. Only a sunsphere would come close.”

  “How beautiful,” Milla replied. “I hope that they find some peace.”

  “Certainly sounded grateful enough,” Garder added.

  “I wonder what he or she looked like as a human,” Simon replied. “Maybe they’ve already retaken their ancient original form in Hold.”

  “Being a searcher, the things I felt from standing near a raw spirit like that were… unbelievable,” Wendell said. “I felt like I could read every part of its existence. I’m sure that it was happy in the end. I think that we’ve experienced something here today that no one ever has before, and will never again. I am truly humbled.”

  The world of nothingness shook violently all of a sudden—an event quickly followed by a horrid screeching noise from all around. The alchemagi fluctuations were tenable, and everyone could easily feel the levels go up and down rapidly.

  “No time to stand here in awe,” Drides said snidely. “Feels like this place is about to collapse. Best guess is the Original was the only thing forcing it to stay stable.”

  “Drides, you better not leave us here…” Garder replied.

  “Still have trust issues, do you? You six go first. I’ll keep it open.”

  “How nice of you,” Verim muttered.

  “Shut up and go if you don’t want to be scattered across this void of nothingness.”

  “Kind of a redundant way to describe a void,” Garder said mockingly as the group rushed off towards the gateway back to Aurra.

  “Mr. Nolland, it may be tough for me to restrain myself… from killing you when we get back.”

  Garder laughed at first, but after getting a look at his expression, he honestly couldn’t be sure whether or not he was just joking.

  As the world of darkness disintegrated around them, the friends helped each other back out into the fresh air and sunlight. Drides joined them last, closing the portal shut behind him. None of them could quite accept all that they had just experienced within the last hour. Of all their journeys so far, this one was the most unbelievable yet.

  At first, nothing seemed to have changed. But within a few moments, Aurra would suddenly be a very different place.