Dalyx leads me off the dirt path that would have taken us to that inn, into a bushy area to the left overrun by darkness and the stench of danger.
I stop and immediately shake my head. "This isn't a trap....right?"
Dalyx glances at me from over his shoulder, a strained smile plastered across his face. "Have I ever disappointed you so far, my dear boy?"
I suppose he hasn't. I'm not sure why I'm even doubting him but I can't be too careless. After all, my inexperience is what led me down this path.
And after what felt like thirty minutes of walking deeper into the woods with the trees becoming thinner and the cold snow becoming sharper, we come to a stop.
"Here."
At an open area covered in snow, there are large and sharp rocks poking out from the ground. The rocks, although black or grey, have their sharp edges engulfed in this odd red crystal.
"What is this?" I ask and Dalyx remains silent. Inching a hand closer to a rock with more crystal residue on it. The redness becoming a soft glow.
"The truth." Dalyx murmurs, picking up his free hand and motioning me forward.
I hesitantly obey, stretching out my own hand until we touch.
That's when I see sharp flashes of images rummaging through my mind.
Multiple screams of all possible ages and pitches begged to be put out of their misery. Their cries for death becoming a saddening melody that brings tears to my own eyes. And the more I listen, the harsher the cries vibrate my very bones.
"You hear them?" Dalyx asks me through the screams. Although there are many noises going around, his voice is somehow more clearer and louder. Like the light of a lantern in a dark and moist cavern dripping with many rain droplets.
"What are they?" I whisper, pushing through my own growing pain.
"Listen to what they say. And feel what they are."
I focus on the cries, allowing myself to be dragged away. Soon the cries become hoarse and faint, until only one remains--
"It hurts. I want to go home..."
It's the voice of a young boy, perhaps five years old, crying softly with his words full of deep sorrow and confusion.
"Who are you?" I ask in hopes of receiving an answer more clearer than a feeling.
"My name is James. I live in Manhattan. I have a mommy and daddy and a sister... But they're all gone."
I shiver at the final word. Gone. And Manhattan? I know what this means....
"They're all voices from my world." I utter in realization.
"Yep." Dalyx confirms. "After the merge happened..."
As he begins to explain in detail what had happened, the events appear clear in my mind like a silent movie.
Ever human on Earth were simply existing until they looked up and saw flashes of colors rippling throughout the sky, high above. Many thought it to be a light show, others a supernatural phenomenon. Whereas the rest thought various things but only one become truth; they were going to be consumed.
The light became larger, dipping itself amongst the people. Engulfing buildings and bodies of water until it eventually came for people. Taking them like a great beast ready to feast on grapes.
One by one they all went. The light cascading and ripping the fabric of reality apart. A tear-- a portal--opening and letting in the lights. And all of the people fell in. Their screams leaving behind mere memories on a planet now wasted and left to be destroyed.
It was like witnessing an impossible collision between spirit and material. Space and law intertwined and shot out to make Ehert what it is now.
Although many of my people found a place in that new world, others were lost. Their bodies or souls forced into whatever it could find.
I snap myself out of the vision as soon as I saw the bodies of my people and theirs merge together like a grotesque monster.
"I can't!!" I shout, burying my face into my hands. "How?!!? How could he do this??!!!"
As soon as I turn to Dalyx, he turns his back to me with a slight grunt.
"Why do you think?"
I turn to the rocks with a low pit in my stomach. "Sin forced all of us here. To a place we don't even belong..." I say, running my hands across my face to get a feel of reality--that the truth I am hearing now is indeed real and that I am present. "...placed in a world that changed. Turning into a thing where no one belongs to now."
Despite being presented with the results of Sin's atrocious plans and even shared a body where I could see his thoughts, I can't help but notice how clueless I still am. I am powerless too. I have nothing and he has everything. He took it all like the entirety of all beings belonged to him. He's--
"He's playing God," Dalyx mutters disgustingly, somehow speaking the thoughts I had in my mind. "To bring back an age and things lost to time. Impossible dreams that can destroy all of reality."
"He does." I confirm aloud, zoning into the past where I heard certain thoughts from inside Sin's mind. Moments where he had intense anger towards almost everything.
"I want to show you something else." Dalyx disappears from my senses, leaving me alone with my busy thoughts until I hear another pair of footsteps walk in.
I turn to the direction and feel shock control my body.
Right in front of me and next to Dalyx stands an... abomination. A poor creature shaking and moaning every time it took a step forward.
It was a little girl, the bottom half of her torso sharing a grotesque body with a poor wolf struggling to maintain balance on its deformed paws. I can't help but feel the urge to vomit and cry at once. But I hold it in as I remind myself to stay strong.
"Is this...?"
"Not an abomination. But a girl from your world, and a woodland creature from mine. Combined as one as a result from the mad prince's doing." He then turns to the being with a small smile. "He's a friend. Go ahead and introduce yourself, sweetheart."
How does Dalyx know all of this? I would ask, but for some reason I don't want to know. All of this is enough proof; an additional reason to hate Sin and what he's striving for. Using me like a puppet without feelings.
"M....yyyy na-y...me. Izzz..." The being struggles to speak, a combination of spit, whistling, and jittery mumbles spilling out. "Izzzz Ca...Ca...Caterrrr...ina...."
And then she extends her hand out. A hand covered in lines of deeply damaged flesh in the shape of claws. Her fingers crooked and slightly furry, the nails deformed and her pale grey eyes staring at me, protruding even farther as I take her hand. The both of us shaking it.
"Caterina here misses her home." Dalyx says, standing in between us to land his hands on my shoulder and hers. "Just like you and me. We'll make a wonderful team to rid the world of the one that took your homes. Are you with me?"
It's odd to hear such optimism come from someone who was imprisoned, but I think our chances will be good. I'm not sure how strong or able Caterina is-- somehow I know we will be able to accomplish great things.
"I'm in."
And to my surprise, Dalyx extends his hand, as if for a handshake. I hesitantly take it, following his lead as he shakes it.
Once we stop, he stays holding my hand. The both of us sinking into deep silence. Our expressions more tense. But his tautens almost vigilantly.
"Listen, I can't promise everything will go back to normal," Dalyx begins, finally letting go of my hand after gently patting it. "The magic that changed everything rivals the power of the Gods, making it extremely difficult to undo."
I knee he was going to say something like that. I was, am, afraid of staying in an unfamiliar place with a mind accustomed to less pizzazz.
"But, I will make it so that you can have the ability to change that old law etched in nature."
"What...do you mean?"
"Follow me."
Dalyx and I finally make our way to the inn, ordering a room for the night in where he tells me the full plan.
"We'll become adventurers for hire. We will take up odd jobs for all sorts of people, gathering information needed to prepare ourselves to meet them."
"Who's them?"
"The Gods up in their little castles."
"Wait wait wait." I breathe. "That's the same thing Sin wants to do."
He nods. "We will put that aside for now. The plan will become apparent once we collect enough information. You'll see."
"I trust you." I immediately blurt out.
Of course I do. He has been nothing but kind so far and knowledgeable when no one else has. Everyone has either tried to kill me, or to use me. And right now I'm being treated like something more than just a....thing plopped into a world that sees me as an abomination.
"You should bathe. You have the stench of death all over you."
"Ah, that's right..." I huff, glancing down at my clothes. I did meet death, after all.
"We'll eat later."
As I walk out of our room, I have my mind made up.
I won't go back to Attor or Ezephyr. Right now, I feel like I'll find answers and...
I could use my abilities to fix what he broke.