Aavern's mind flickered. The world contracted and spun, and he was floating in a blank world of merging colors, watching himself touch the gem. The brightest light he had ever seen engulfed him, moving him away from the other four. He was in a new cave. There was something in this cavern he was in, past his capability and capacity of understanding. It was a continuously shifting creature that was sort of like a jumble of flesh-and-bone donuts floating in the air, rearranging themselves and moving past each other using methods beyond comprehension. Aavern first checked to make sure the golden chain was still hidden in his fur. It was. He turned to the creature and stared at it.
Welcome.
"What happened to my friends? How did I end up there? What's going on?"
I am the guardian of the light gem. You are the first one who has survived long enough to get here.
"Wha- oh. That's what all that was. Well, I hope I will survive past this."
But what if you won't?
"Then Cyil will probably set something on fire."
That seems violent.
"Cyil seems to really like setting things on fire."
Is Cyil one of your friends?
"Yep. Do you have friends?"
No.
"That's kinda sad. Why don't you go out and see the world?"
I can't.
"Why?"
I'm trapped here.
"Have you tried escaping?"
No.
"You never know 'till you try!"
The voice sighed. Nevermind.
"You sound tired."
This is the first time I've had a conversation in a long time.
"Really?"
Nobody else has ever gotten far enough to talk to me.
"How many have tried so far?"
Those that have tried have failed.
"That's helpful."
You are the first one in a very long time.
"Great. My chances aren't good, then."
Well, you got this far.
"But what if I don't go farther?"
Let's see.
"Let's see what?"
If you succeed.
"How helpful."
The creature paused. Aavern's head hurt watching it. Even when sitting still, the creature's form made no sense.
You know, out of everyone who I have watched cross the Dimensional Link, you are the only one who I think will obtain the gem. I might even let you live if you fail.
"Dimensional Link?"
That space you use to travel quickly across your world.
"We call that the fourth dimension, but Dracoa started calling it the void."
You won't even be able to comprehend the fourth dimension.
"Azor said something like that."
You three dimensional creatures can only perceive three dimensions. Adding a fourth will break your mind.
"Is that why my head hurts when I look at you?"
Precisely.
Aavern was beginning to understand. "I see. So who are you? You're the light gem guardian, right?"
Call me the Overseer.
"What am I doing here?"
Strange things happen to the world and its inhabitants when someone attempts to obtain the light gem.
"I don't get it."
I have explained everything I am allowed to.
It explained why he got teleported and why he was here all of a sudden, but that still didn't explain where he was or why he was there.
"You still didn't tell me what's going on."
You'll find out soon enough.
Everything was starting to blur. The entire world contracted and sprung back with a tearing noise. Aavern woke up. It was a dream. He was at the foot of the castle, looking at the gate just as his friends entered. Puzzled, he started to follow them. Wait… why was he floating? Why was the air so cold?
Cyil was asking, "What shall we do?"
Qassot replied to Cyil, "Go into a tunnel? Each one is a different size?"
Aavern looked up at the black castle. Was this Ezarik's castle? He moved ahead a bit. There were three passages. One large, one small, and one in-between. To his surprise, he could dimly make out the magic traps lining the walls. Small lingering traces stood out in his eyes like lumps of color. Was this what Qassot's supernatural sense was like?
He snapped back and ran to the others.
"Don't go in there! There are traps-"
They couldn't hear him.
"The walls are squeezing us," Qassot said.
Aavern floated around and through them, jumping, running, yelling, trying to get their attention. They were still discussing. Now they were separating. Aavern groaned. He chose to rush after Cyil. He grabbed his wing… and went right through it. Cyil was going in. Aavern tried to jump over him and block his path, but he jumped into Cyil.
Wait. Where was he now? He couldn't see Cyil anymore.
Cyil was not moving.
Aavern wondered why. He absentmindedly went to scratch an itch. That made Cyil scratch an itch. Wait, what?
Do you understand now?
"Who is that?"
It was in Cyil's voice. Aavern was confused.
I hope you do.
"Cyil? You okay?" Qassot asked.
The voice sighed.
Aavern closed his eyes. There was a tearing noise.
Once again, he was at the front of the castle. Without hesitating, he leaped into Cyil.
"What if I try to speak?"
Qassot looked oddly at him.
"It worked!"
Riselus was puzzled, "What… worked?"
"Okay. This is Aavern speaking, not Cyil."
Qassot still looked oddly at him, "Wha… ?"
"I jumped into him and now I am talking."
Riselus couldn't quite grasp the concept, "What?"
"That's very funny," Qassot said, "Stop joking around, Cyil."
"I'm not joking! I really am Aavern!"
It took a significant amount of time to convince them.
"Wait, you're alive?" Qassot asked. "Here, let me make sense of this for a moment."
"Alright."
"So, are you alive?"
"Yes."
"Okay. Are you in some arbitrary area where you can hop into any of us at any time?"
"No."
"You lost me. Where are you?"
"I am a floating ghost-ish thing."
"Okay…?"
"Yeah. This is the only way I can talk to you."
Riselus groans. "Just what we needed. Do you have the light gem at least?"
"No."
Qassot sighed. "Can Cyil talk now?"
"Sure." Aavern jumped out.
Cyil snapped up, got a headrush and promptly sat down.
"Boy, that was weird. Was I asleep?" he asked.
"Aavern was… talking through you," Qassot said. She was still unsure of what was going on.
"That's creepy."
"You took the words right out of my mouth."
"Wait. AAVERN'S ALIVE!?"
"He said he's a ghostish thing now."
"WHAT?"
"Let's just go in." Riselus grunted..
Aavern groaned. He jumped into the nearest thing, a rock.
He tried to speak.
The rock ended up writing something on itself.
Don't go into the fortress.
"It's telling us something."
This is Aavern. Avoid the tunnels. Go to the door.
"What door?" Cyil asked. "Also, what happened to you?
The door.
"Very helpful."
Just go. I'll tell you about what happened later.
"You'd better."
The three walked into the castle. Aavern followed. He saw them look around for a door. There was a tearing noise. Aavern groaned.
He looked at the landscape again. The three were going in. Again. Aavern turned around and around. The landscape was all the same. Barren fields went on in all directions, with walls of mist blocking his path when he tried to follow them. The castle was the only thing Aavern could go to. Aavern glided past his three friends, trying to ignore them. He settled on a rock and thought.
Aavern floated over to the door he'd been trying to make everyone go through. He opened the door and glided through it. He began flying up dark stairways, through dark passages, by black doors, wandering around the castle. He stopped. Voices.
He floated through the door. There was a scroll. The voices were not here. Aavern turned to leave, then stopped. It was a test. The guardian wanted him to do something here, and it wasn't to help his friends. If the guardian was testing him, maybe the guardian wanted him to read something in the scroll.
If it was a test, then what was the point in letting him talk to his friends?
His mind went back to what the guardian said.
This is just to ease your mind.
Aavern sighed and turned his focus back to the scroll, reaching out to it. To his surprise, he could interact with it.
He opened the scroll and read. It was a collection of letters, all with the same written response. Everything was too blurred to read. Why was it here? There was a drawing on the last page. A black thing, with a flowing shape like a wyvern in flight, too smudged to make out.
His eyes traveled downwards. His breath caught in his throat.
You can stop causing these natural disasters now. You can stop sending out your dark armies. You will be a worse fool than me if you keep doing this. We need to join forces. The shadow has escaped my control. It will destroy everything we've worked to protect.
Help me, Azor.
This message had no response.
There was a tearing sound.