Zero's consciousness descended into the depths of his Mind Palace, where he stood before the colossal window, encircled by bookshelves. Gazing into the swirling colors beyond the glass, he observed their intricate dance, though they lacked the vibrant intensity of his previous visits, such as the one inside the maze.
"You grow weaker," a resonant voice echoed, shaking the space and toppling several bookshelves, scattering textless books in all directions. "What do you plan to do about it?"
Zero scanned the window for the Dark Dragon version of himself. "I thought eternal darkness would make a Dark Dragon stronger?"
"But you are not merely a Dark Dragon, are you?" The voice shifted to behind him, this time speaking with a lower timbre. When Zero turned around, he faced a mirror, and on the other side stood his reflection, its movements independent, its mouth unmoving as it spoke, the Dragon's voice resonating from within. "You are a composite of Light and Dark, the perfect entity for annihilation, but an imbalance can erode you like waves against a cliffside."
"What do you suggest, then?" Zero glanced at the dimmed colors outside the window, then back at the mirror. "Everything fucking sucks. I've hardly had any sleep. I haven't even eaten; I nearly lost my mind fighting those vampires in the forest. It's been one relentless ordeal after another. All I want is to reach Magic's End, but I keep getting ensnared in more and more madness, all because Nix and her troupe of Highers seem to delight in toying with Arrithians like pawns in some cosmic game."
Zero took a deep breath before continuing his exasperated rant. "I mean, seriously, what in the world is happening? I can't catch a break. I gave Varin to Nix so she could secure Fadsper's release. She had me believe killing the Emperor of Sidra was a good idea, but it's as if she foresaw she'd need the vampires to take control and recover after our clash, and now that she's got what she wants, she's glad they're all gone?" Zero unleashed an exasperated yell. "Does any of this make any sense to you? It's like I'm her personal pawn, and she can see the future. Oh, I'm so stupid."
The mirrored version of Zero in the reflection smirked and nodded.
"She can't see the future, but Protos can!" Zero clenched his fist, anger coursing through him as he stared at the ground. The majority of his human existence had been a bewildering maze, and the past three months had only heightened the confusion. Yet now, he was beginning to see through the fog of fatigue and discern that the path ahead was riddled with gaps. These gaps weren't mere oversights born of exhaustion; they were deliberate, steering him toward an undisclosed destination.
Zero's aspirations shifted, Magic's End would have to wait. A new objective had taken shape, one that would liberate him from the Highers' bindings and allow him to forge his own destiny. He was determined to piece his Soul back together, breaking free from the machinations that had held him captive.
"So, like you got a name or anything?" Menelik asked. "I can't keep calling you Máire's son in my head."
"Bennwick, but please, call me Benny."
Menelik, Idris, Maeve, Oiwa, and Benny were making their way toward Tarkwa, the village home of the MoonShadow Elves. The MoonShadow Elves were a small tribe that came to Sidra with the Uthol Forest Elves, branching from their own clan to start their own path and show more of Arrithia the Ways of the Moon. Maeve believed that the Illusion Forest that surrounded their village was more than enough to keep the vampires at bay, and since she never once saw or heard any mention of Luna, Sol, or Zus making a move here, she felt it would still be intact, especially since they were so preoccupied with their creation in Taurean Village.
"Beeeennnnyyyy?" Idris exclaimed. "Your dad really got a name like Taurus, and your mother all fancy with Máire, and they called you Bennwick, and then you went with Benny as what you thought sounded better?" Idris stopped in his tracks, causing everyone else to follow. "I'm gonna call you Bertwin until you come up with a better name."
Benny looked at Idris, he looked him up and down and with a slight sigh, he said. "You sure talk a lot for someone made of something so crackable."
"Well, you have a stupid name, and then you gave yourself an even stupider nickname. If I didn't say it…" He gestured toward Menelik at the back of the group. "...he would have done it."
"He's right," Menelik confirmed. "I had like six insults sitting in my pack ready to go."
The group shared a small laugh, apart from Benny, even Maeve let out a small chuckle, but Benny just stared blankly at the group.
"Listen Benjamin," Taharqa stated, placing a hand on Benny's shoulder. "If you're gonna be a part of this group, you gotta learn to roll with the punches and throw your own."
Benny lifted his fist, where Taharqa quickly grabbed it and pulled it back down. "Metaphorically, please, just, you know, playful insults and it's meant with sincerity, that type of thing, there isn't any ill will, just good fun."
Benny stared at him for a moment then looked at the other members of the group. Then, he addressed them. "I have not known you very long, but from what I understand, Maeve, you are quiet and try to be mysterious not because that is who you are, but it is because of what you perceive as what you need to do to protect yourself from being hurt by others. I assume a parental figure abandoned you or was not kind to you when you were younger, making you pull yourself into a rift of self-isolation so that when you do let others in, they aren't completely in, and thus you can't be hurt when they leave you."
Taharqa curled in his lips, then ran his hand into his afro before rubbing his ears awkwardly. He shifted his attention to Maeve; everyone was looking at her, and she was just looking at Benny. She waited a moment longer with nodding her head and shrugging her shoulders in agreement. "He's not wrong."
Benny nodded, then turned to the next member of the group. "Menelik, you boa—." "Yeah okay, how about we just, uh." Taharqa tried to pull Benny's attention away and get the group to continue, but Menelik had other plans.
"Nah, let him finish. I want to hear what he has to say 'bout me," Menelik exclaimed, moving further inward. "Let's see what ol' Bert here can say about me."
"You're thinking that I haven't known any of you long enough to make a fair assessment, but the fact that Maeve agreed with my assessment, you're curious how accurate I can be in yours. Is that a fair reading?" Benny said.
Menelik slumped back and tilted his head back, his face looking a bit annoyed but more impressed. "Ight, being able to read minds gives you a huge advantage in this game." He leaned back and took a step away, turning around he said. "So go fuck yourself, and let's keep moving to this village that we don't even know if we can find because the forest that surrounds it is enchanted with magic that makes you all confused and shit." He looked directly at Benny. "Is that a good assessment?"
Benny stared at him blankly and nodded his head. "Yes, the Forest of Illusions is an old spell, invented by the High Elves of Tzang."
Idris shook his head. "Okay, Benny, Mr. Knowledge Man, what else can you tell us about this enchantment?"
The Forest of Illusions was a nightmarish spell, capable of transforming any patch of soil into a bewildering forest. It would twist and turn your sense of direction, keeping you trapped within until the grim end, whether it be starvation, dehydration, or the maddening despair that drove some to take their own lives for escape. As you ventured deeper, the telltale signs of the enchantment were unmistakable. The trees, once their natural hues, morphed into ebony trunks adorned with ghostly white leaves, much like dense pine trees. They encircled you from all angles, spaced randomly yet in a way that confounded every attempt at navigation. The layout remained maddeningly unchanging, and the colors played tricks on your senses, inducing a dizzying disorientation. The only constant was the growing confusion within you, which seemed to feed off your own perception of being lost. No matter how resolute you were to remain oriented, the forest's unforgiving arrangement would inexorably lead you down a spiraling path of bewilderment. It was a place where vampire corpses littered the terrain, their pitiful remains a trophy to the forest's cruel grip. Many had perished from a lack of blood, while others bore the gruesome marks of desperation as they turned on each other in the futile quest for sustenance.
"So, are we lost or what?" Menelik asked as he looked around at the vampire corpses. "I don’t want you doing to me what they did to each other."
"I told you already, feeling lost only makes it worse; you need to keep a clear mind," Benny replied. "Besides, it seems Maeve knows where she's going."
Maeve led the group not by sight, but by her unique sense of smell. Just as she had done in the maze, she tracked a faint scent of the MoonShadow Elves. She couldn't ascertain whether they were still alive, but the scent gave her hope. It came from one of the bodies she had kept in her Void Domain, discovered on her way to the Hier Castle. It was the only scent she had found, subtly suggesting that the MoonShadow Elves might still be alive. She held onto that glimmer of hope, yearning for a plan to save the moon from Zero's destructive intentions.
"Okay, if we ain't lost, then I gotta question Benjamin," Menelik stated. "How did Taurus sweet talk your mother?"
Zero's consciousness descended into the depths of his Mind Palace, where he stood before the colossal window, encircled by bookshelves. Gazing into the swirling colors beyond the glass, he observed their intricate dance, though they lacked the vibrant intensity of his previous visits, such as the one inside the maze.
"You grow weaker," a resonant voice echoed, shaking the space and toppling several bookshelves, scattering textless books in all directions. "What do you plan to do about it?"
Zero scanned the window for the Dark Dragon version of himself. "I thought eternal darkness would make a Dark Dragon stronger?"
"But you are not merely a Dark Dragon, are you?" The voice shifted to behind him, this time speaking with a lower timbre. When Zero turned around, he faced a mirror, and on the other side stood his reflection, its movements independent, its mouth unmoving as it spoke, the Dragon's voice resonating from within. "You are a composite of Light and Dark, the perfect entity for annihilation, but an imbalance can erode you like waves against a cliffside."
"What do you suggest, then?" Zero glanced at the dimmed colors outside the window, then back at the mirror. "Everything fucking sucks. I've hardly had any sleep. I haven't even eaten; I nearly lost my mind fighting those vampires in the forest. It's been one relentless ordeal after another. All I want is to reach Magic's End, but I keep getting ensnared in more and more madness, all because Nix and her troupe of Highers seem to delight in toying with Arrithians like pawns in some cosmic game."
Zero took a deep breath before continuing his exasperated rant. "I mean, seriously, what in the world is happening? I can't catch a break. I gave Varin to Nix so she could secure Fadsper's release. She had me believe killing the Emperor of Sidra was a good idea, but it's as if she foresaw she'd need the vampires to take control and recover after our clash, and now that she's got what she wants, she's glad they're all gone?" Zero unleashed an exasperated yell. "Does any of this make any sense to you? It's like I'm her personal pawn, and she can see the future. Oh, I'm so stupid."
The mirrored version of Zero in the reflection smirked and nodded.
"She can't see the future, but Protos can!" Zero clenched his fist, anger coursing through him as he stared at the ground. The majority of his human existence had been a bewildering maze, and the past three months had only heightened the confusion. Yet now, he was beginning to see through the fog of fatigue and discern that the path ahead was riddled with gaps. These gaps weren't mere oversights born of exhaustion; they were deliberate, steering him toward an undisclosed destination.
Zero's aspirations shifted, Magic's End would have to wait. A new objective had taken shape, one that would liberate him from the Highers' bindings and allow him to forge his own destiny. He was determined to piece his Soul back together, breaking free from the machinations that had held him captive.
"So, like you got a name or anything?" Menelik asked. "I can't keep calling you Máire's son in my head."
"Bennwick, but please, call me Benny."
Menelik, Idris, Maeve, Oiwa, and Benny were making their way toward Tarkwa, the village home of the MoonShadow Elves. The MoonShadow Elves were a small tribe that came to Sidra with the Uthol Forest Elves, branching from their own clan to start their own path and show more of Arrithia the Ways of the Moon. Maeve believed that the Illusion Forest that surrounded their village was more than enough to keep the vampires at bay, and since she never once saw or heard any mention of Luna, Sol, or Zus making a move here, she felt it would still be intact, especially since they were so preoccupied with their creation in Taurean Village.
"Beeeennnnyyyy?" Idris exclaimed. "Your dad really got a name like Taurus, and your mother all fancy with Máire, and they called you Bennwick, and then you went with Benny as what you thought sounded better?" Idris stopped in his tracks, causing everyone else to follow. "I'm gonna call you Bertwin until you come up with a better name."
Benny looked at Idris, he looked him up and down and with a slight sigh, he said. "You sure talk a lot for someone made of something so crackable."
"Well, you have a stupid name, and then you gave yourself an even stupider nickname. If I didn't say it…" He gestured toward Menelik at the back of the group. "...he would have done it."
"He's right," Menelik confirmed. "I had like six insults sitting in my pack ready to go."
The group shared a small laugh, apart from Benny, even Maeve let out a small chuckle, but Benny just stared blankly at the group.
"Listen Benjamin," Taharqa stated, placing a hand on Benny's shoulder. "If you're gonna be a part of this group, you gotta learn to roll with the punches and throw your own."
Benny lifted his fist, where Taharqa quickly grabbed it and pulled it back down. "Metaphorically, please, just, you know, playful insults and it's meant with sincerity, that type of thing, there isn't any ill will, just good fun."
Benny stared at him for a moment then looked at the other members of the group. Then, he addressed them. "I have not known you very long, but from what I understand, Maeve, you are quiet and try to be mysterious not because that is who you are, but it is because of what you perceive as what you need to do to protect yourself from being hurt by others. I assume a parental figure abandoned you or was not kind to you when you were younger, making you pull yourself into a rift of self-isolation so that when you do let others in, they aren't completely in, and thus you can't be hurt when they leave you."
Taharqa curled in his lips, then ran his hand into his afro before rubbing his ears awkwardly. He shifted his attention to Maeve; everyone was looking at her, and she was just looking at Benny. She waited a moment longer with nodding her head and shrugging her shoulders in agreement. "He's not wrong."
Benny nodded, then turned to the next member of the group. "Menelik, you boa—." "Yeah okay, how about we just, uh." Taharqa tried to pull Benny's attention away and get the group to continue, but Menelik had other plans.
"Nah, let him finish. I want to hear what he has to say 'bout me," Menelik exclaimed, moving further inward. "Let's see what ol' Bert here can say about me."
"You're thinking that I haven't known any of you long enough to make a fair assessment, but the fact that Maeve agreed with my assessment, you're curious how accurate I can be in yours. Is that a fair reading?" Benny said.
Menelik slumped back and tilted his head back, his face looking a bit annoyed but more impressed. "Ight, being able to read minds gives you a huge advantage in this game." He leaned back and took a step away, turning around he said. "So go fuck yourself, and let's keep moving to this village that we don't even know if we can find because the forest that surrounds it is enchanted with magic that makes you all confused and shit." He looked directly at Benny. "Is that a good assessment?"
Benny stared at him blankly and nodded his head. "Yes, the Forest of Illusions is an old spell, invented by the High Elves of Tzang."
Idris shook his head. "Okay, Benny, Mr. Knowledge Man, what else can you tell us about this enchantment?"
The Forest of Illusions was a nightmarish spell, capable of transforming any patch of soil into a bewildering forest. It would twist and turn your sense of direction, keeping you trapped within until the grim end, whether it be starvation, dehydration, or the maddening despair that drove some to take their own lives for escape. As you ventured deeper, the telltale signs of the enchantment were unmistakable. The trees, once their natural hues, morphed into ebony trunks adorned with ghostly white leaves, much like dense pine trees. They encircled you from all angles, spaced randomly yet in a way that confounded every attempt at navigation. The layout remained maddeningly unchanging, and the colors played tricks on your senses, inducing a dizzying disorientation. The only constant was the growing confusion within you, which seemed to feed off your own perception of being lost. No matter how resolute you were to remain oriented, the forest's unforgiving arrangement would inexorably lead you down a spiraling path of bewilderment. It was a place where vampire corpses littered the terrain, their pitiful remains a trophy to the forest's cruel grip. Many had perished from a lack of blood, while others bore the gruesome marks of desperation as they turned on each other in the futile quest for sustenance.
"So, are we lost or what?" Menelik asked as he looked around at the vampire corpses. "I don’t want you doing to me what they did to each other."
"I told you already, feeling lost only makes it worse; you need to keep a clear mind," Benny replied. "Besides, it seems Maeve knows where she's going."
Maeve led the group not by sight, but by her unique sense of smell. Just as she had done in the maze, she tracked a faint scent of the MoonShadow Elves. She couldn't ascertain whether they were still alive, but the scent gave her hope. It came from one of the bodies she had kept in her Void Domain, discovered on her way to the Hier Castle. It was the only scent she had found, subtly suggesting that the MoonShadow Elves might still be alive. She held onto that glimmer of hope, yearning for a plan to save the moon from Zero's destructive intentions.
"Okay, if we ain't lost, then I gotta question Benjamin," Menelik stated. "How did Taurus sweet talk your mother?"
