S-12 and L-01 were both swept aside, as Alice's Hunger took care of Vadim instead. Their voices drowned in an echo of the Void and its pulsating nature, swallowed in its endless emptiness, as if they never existed, as if they never lived in the first place. Was it really all for nothing? How meaningless it all turned out to be after everything had finally ended.
...Not quite.
Regurgitating souls and spitting them out in different shapes and sizes, each individual soul was reborn as a new entity; an extension of itself or as another part entirely separate from what came before it; either way these things were living creatures now, they breathed and they spoke words even though none could hear them over one another due to how fast they talked amongst themselves while others tried desperately not to drown within themselves or become lost among so many minds clamoring together endlessly inside their heads.
These beings, these souls, were born into a world where pain was commonplace – most didn't remember ever existing elsewhere prior to becoming aware again but some retained faint recollections (and only vague feelings) regarding previous lives spent elsewhere beyond here, somewhere far away from home...
Their bodies were covered with the maws of the dead and of the damned. Eyes and eyes. Ears and ears. Fingers and toes. Teeth and tongues. Blood flowing freely throughout veins pumping fluid throughout organs made entirely out of meaty flesh rather than bone. Boneless they were, full of sinewy muscle instead of hard calcium deposits beneath skin which stretched tight over muscular limbs ending at hands without thumbs nor fingernails — digits ending abruptly before reaching any tips, making movement difficult as there isn't much dexterity left in them after years spent languishing amidst decaying corpses rotting and around constantly decomposing around them causing constant discomfort from stench alone. Let alone when touching things gets tricky due to lack of proper tactile feedback since nerves aren't really present anymore either; sensory receptors having long since died leaving nerve endings exposed raw exposed nerve tissue open air unable feel touch, temperature, pressure, texture, softness, hardness, smoothness, roughness, slick, stickiness, slipperiness, wetness, how dry, oilyness, greasyness, slimness and so forth ad infinitum. These entities also lacked reproductive capabilities given no genitalia remaining intact despite otherwise being made up of similar components albeit distorted horribly grotesquely twisted into shapes unrecognizable as human beings yet recognizable nonetheless due to their general shape still resembling that of humans albeit twisted horribly grotesquely misshapen malformed misproportioned asymmetrical uneven mismatched lopsided disproportionate off-balance imbalanced disproportionate asymmetry irregular and......
Ah! I have gone too far!
These entities, these souls, they had their bodies, or at-least a form that resembled their former bodies. But it wasn't enough. It was never enough. For what good is a body if it lacks function?
S-12 and L-01 were in a similar predicament, however, it was a bit different, in their case, their souls had been rebirthed into new vessels, vessels that were completely different from what they once possessed.
L-01's Biomechanical body and metal heart remained, however his limbs had grown back and they were organic, yet his head was still made out of wires and cables. And his face, it looked like it was stitched onto his body with thick black stitches. His eyes were hollow, and he lacked any semblance of life in his body, aside from his lips that, even when rested, resembled a grin or a smile. The monitor on his chest displayed his name, and that's it. A simple L-01, with nothing else to show.
S-12's body, however, had become completely different, and it had changed from the inside out, as his flesh had been replaced by minerals and rocks, as if he was an entity of the Earth itself. The rocks were a bright yellow color and were shaped like spikes and needles. It looked as if he was covered by a rock-hard exoskeleton, and his eyes had been replaced with gemstones, as they shined with the color of the sun. However, a monitor lay on his head, his name was still there, with the simple title of S-12.
But their minds remained intact, and they were aware of everything around them, even though they had experienced the worst out of all. Their bodies had been torn to pieces, shredded to bits and then put back together again in an imperfect way, as if it was done by an amateur, as if they were simply put together like a jigsaw puzzle.
...
"Huh...?! What happened?" Zabulus spoke. He stood in a void of nothingness, his eyes darted around the empty space surrounding him. He was lost, confused and scared, but at most he felt... alone.
There was no sound in the darkness except for his breathing and the beating of his heart, his thoughts racing as the last thing he recalled was an eye of the sky opening up into a gaping maw of endless hunger. Then it consumed him and spat him out. But what was the result of all this? Was this hell? Had his sins finally caught up to him?
"Here we are again. Zai■■, have you found your name yet?" The familiar voice of the thing spoke. The entity, or whatever it was, was still nameless and still formless, and was still just a thing, an it. The name it spoke, he still hasn't found it. "....'s...."
"....'s..." The entity's words were strange, and it was speaking nonsense. "You've forgotten your own name." The entity said.
"What are you talking about?!" He yelled at it. "We've been through this before... Listen..." He put a hand over his left eye socket. "Just tell me... what am I?"
"You're an immortal, Zai■■. You're an anarchist, you're an eldritch horror, a monster, and a nightmare. But most importantly, you're an entity that shouldn't even exist." It spoke, as the name was being whispered, yet the last part of the name sounded as if it was being scratched out. "An aberrant existence that shouldn't even be possible, that is the result of your birth."
"What... are... you?" He spoke.
The entity didn't respond.
"Answer me!"
"I am an entity that exists solely for the sake of existing, I have no identity nor self nor purpose. Part of that is a lie."
"My existence... I am god... I... My mother granted me power, she... she's an eldritch entity. A god of her own. My father was... an eldritch horror. But... but how do I exist? How do I live, in this state of existence, how does everything exist around me? Why should I suffer as a god?!"
"Gods are fickle, aren't they, Zai■■? The world is filled with false idols. Some are gods, others are monsters, others are simply mortals, but most are just puppets dancing for an audience that isn't even there." Its body came into vision, a path of eyes leading towards a blackened figure with a glowing eye above its head. It had many wings, all made of eyes, and a body that seemed to stretch out for miles. "But in the end, the show goes on. For whom does it play, in a world past the edge of eternity?" The thing spoke, as the void seemed to grow smaller. The entity was no longer in front of him, but was instead growing closer. The thing was now towering over Zabulus, and the only thing that could be seen in its eye, was the endless abyss that reflected his current state, a broken shell of a person that he once was, an old, weary, worn and broken individual. And in the abyss, the monster could be seen. It had been there the entire time, and it was waiting for its chance to strike, its opportunity to pounce. Though, it would not dare hurt its own master. The thing, however, it was a completely different story, for the monster was still a monster at heart.
"Tell me... What should I do? I don't want to hurt anyone anymore."
"Your actions are no longer yours, Zai■■. They're now the actions of a force that controls your every thought and deed. Your nature as an anomaly is not one of the mind, but one of the heart and soul, as you've been an eldritch being, whose nature has corrupted you into the monstrosity you now are, for a reason, and that is the nature of the eldritch." It spoke. "That is the true nature of an entity, Zai■■, you have no free will, nor control, and your fate has been sealed."
Did it lie? Did it tell the truth? Zai■■ couldn't know. The entity continued speaking, and it told Zabulus of a time long before he ever existed, of a world that was filled with nothing. Absolute nothing. The fear it felt was not existential, it was not a dread of an unknown that was beyond its grasp, it was not a terror of being unable to understand or comprehend. The fear it felt was simply of being unable to feel. To feel the coldness of death, to feel the emptiness of life, and to feel the emptiness of being nothing. That was the fear that it felt when he came into existence, and that was the fear that the entity had felt in the beginning.
Zabulus stood there, and stared at the entity, the entity stared at him. He felt... anger.
"What should I do?" The entity spoke. The question wasn't rhetorical. It was rhetorical in a way. The question was directed to itself, and to the one that would answer the question that it had posed, the question it asked itself, and to the one that answered it. It was a paradox, and it was a question with no answer, but there was always a way to find an answer. Zabulus thought to himself. What would he do?
"No more will I be controlled by the likes of you!" He screamed, as he charged at the entity, and he tried to punch its eye, the eye that lay in its head, the one that was looking down at him. It was a cliché move, it was a stupid move. How stupid can you be, Zai■■? And yet he tried to strike it, the eye, the one that was watching, observing. The one that had always seen everything, and the one that had always been watching.
It was a foolish move, a foolish attempt to fight against something greater than yourself, an attempt to overcome something that is much greater than yourself, something that is much more powerful than yourself. But Zai■■ was determined, and he wasn't going to give in.
His right fists landed directly on the entity's eye, as he struck it hard, and a crack formed on the surface, a small fissure on the iris of its eye. It was not a great hit, not a great attack, it wasn't even a powerful blow, it was just a weak punch, but it was a punch nonetheless. The crack on the entity's eye began to glow, and a dark purple aura seeped out, as the entity screamed, and it screeched, a blood-curdling, bone chilling, soul-crushing scream.
Was it Zai■■ that had done that, or was it the entity that had screamed? Was it even Zai■■ that had hit the entity's eye? Was it the entity that self inflicted its pain?
Zai■■ watched, and then he watched some more, as the entity's body was engulfed by a purple fog, and its form twisted and warped and changed into a less monstrous, yet hideous copy of what can be called 'itself'. It was still an entity, still an entity, and it was an aberrant existence. It was an aberration. It was a monster. A monster with no form. No shape. And it had no eyes. The entity that had been created by Zai■■'s own actions and words was no longer the thing that had spoken, it was no longer the thing that had spoken to him.
"Ah....Aaaah.......Ah........." It said, or it moaned something that could not be described with words, it was not something that could be heard. The words it said were indescribable and unrecognizable. Its tongue coming out half-way, as its body changed in size, it was like an amoeba. Its body stretched, as if trying to reach the sky. It grew and shrank, it changed shapes, it distorted and distorted. Bowels forming on the outer part of its flesh. Its body growing and shrinking, its limbs stretching out and then shrinking back. It was as if it was trying to become something that it was not, but it could not become what it wanted to be. It could not become what it needed to be.
Yet again, it screamed, screeched, as it cried and wailed in the endless void of its existence. "I need more." Its voice said.
"Wh...at?" He said. Zai■■ was confused. What was the entity even saying, what was the point of this conversation?
"I need...more...of you... I...want....to...con...su..." Its words were fragmented, incoherent, and nonsensical. But Zabulus understood it perfectly. It needed his flesh and his body for its own purposes.
The entity stopped speaking.
Its body began to grow, to stretch, and then it grew larger and larger and larger until it had become a large blob that filled the entirety of this empty, void.
The once congested minds of all the beings that had been regurgitated and vomited by this thing began to slowly melt into the emptiness. It wasn't an unpleasant experience, rather, a calming one that made one forget all their worries and stress in the universe.
A tree spoke, in a single mind that seemed to stretch on endlessly, its thoughts being repeated, echoing in an empty, vacant space. "How...? How did we get here?" The trees voice spoke. Its voice echoed throughout the void that stretched on infinitely. This place was empty, yet the presence of these entities, its host and counterparts were making their existence felt. These were creatures that didn't know where they were. They were creatures that couldn't explain what was happening to them.
The fleshly planet began to shrink. It's mass being reduced to nothing. The planet itself began to break into small pieces and float away. As it fell into pieces, more of its mass dissipated. Soon after the last pieces fell from the fleshly planet, all of its mass vanished as well. Only for the checkerboarded floor that the eye of a monster and the maws of the dead and the damned devoured and swallowed whole.
"Help us!"
"Please..."
"No more, make this end!"
They all screamed as it all went away, as if this was something out of an old cartoon movie from the 90's, as if they were being drawn into the background, or the background was drawing closer to them. They were just screaming, as their body parts slowly grew back and became part of a giant meaty creature that had many faces, many monitors. The monitor masquerade, which might as well be the final one, had ended and had begun again. There were so many monitors.
It's all a lie, and it's all an illusion. It's an optical illusion, a trick of the light.
"No! No! Don't... Alice! No!"
It was Zai■■, the god, he had finally appeared again, but no one else saw, no one was there, not in their own mind. And the entity continued devouring the entire realm. Her hunger— or, perhaps it was simply her desire, had devoured everything, as Zabulus' face looked like he had been crying blood.
"I have no choice left..." He whispered to himself, his words unheard as his consciousness was lost to the psyche within him, growing larger than his soul could handle, his metaphysical body breaking under its weight.
"Zai■■...." The name, as if he had been erased entirely, replaced with the new entity. But Zabulus' essence, it was still there, it existed, somewhere. Maybe in another timeline, maybe in the past. "Con...sume... the names of those you know, to become yourself again. To become the one true you."
"Ah... yes." Zabulus chuckled. "I understand."
"What... is your name?" The entity spoke, its eyes glowing as its voice echoed through the darkness.
"Zaig■." Zai■■, now Zaig■, said his name slowly. "And yours?" He asked the entity.
The entity's head grew larger and its maw grew wider as the question was posed, as it spoke, the entity's maw opened, a sound coming out. Its maw, or mouth, grew, as the entity grew and changed. Its flesh and organs bulged, its maws and mouths widening as the words were uttered. The uttered words echoed for a good minute, that minute turning to hours, weeks and eventually years. But that which was said had only taken mere seconds, but those few seconds stretched out for what felt like days, months, or years.
"...'t....'t....'ts...." The entity's muffled words, were no longer coherent.
"I see." Zaig■ smiled, but it quickly faded after he recalled where he was. "But... I ask you... Who am I, truly, to know what will become of me?"
"...'t......'s...."
"And I will do everything that I can to change that," Zaig■ replied with a muffled voice that was not his own, for he had lost it when he entered his soul once again.
An opening was created in the darkness, revealing the light below, mushrooms and a dark land below, and other things alike.
Vetro climbed in through the darkness; however, the darkness did not follow. Instead he fell onto a hard floor made of bricks, hitting the back of his head against a large mushroom, he rolled down the mushroom's stem and fell onto the ground.
Whatever he did, it interrupted the little chat that had occurred, and the world of darkness was destroyed, along with any trace of Zaig■ being there.
Zaig■ fell down not too long after, landing softly on a large shroom.
"Agh..." Zabulus, as Vetro called him, stood up, dusting himself off. He then looked around, confused. "Wait, Vetro? What the fuck?! What are you doing here...?!"
"That's what I should be fucking asking you instead, you fucking traitor." Vetro said angrily, his hands clenched. The darkness and silence of the cave and the forest surrounding it were broken. "What happened... to Guillerme.... what happened to Idalia?!" Vetro asked, his hand grasping his fist tightly as if he were preparing to punch his own hand repeatedly, or to crush it between his own fingers and bones. "You took away everything! EVERYTHING! And yet... you're just standing there, doing god knows what up there and you have the GALL to even question my intentions?! YOU, you're supposed to be better than that..." He paused momentarily before continuing. "...aren't we friends...?" His tone changed from that of anger, hatred and betrayal to a sombre, saddened tone. "No... right, you're the one who killed Aeneus. You're the one who let your brother and sister become a fucking tree over a name, and worst of all, you let Alice go mad. No, you made Alice go fucking mad... That... I think that was your mistake. You messed with a being's mind. That was your biggest mistake."
"No... Alice was born mad, I think...? I can't say for sure." Zaig■'s head turned slightly to the right.
"Don't you fucking look away from me now!" Vetro grabbed Zaig■ by the neck and forced him onto the large mushroom that had cushioned his fall, and was also being stood on. His grip tightening around Zaig■'s neck and throat. His eyes filled with murderous rage as they met the monster he was looking at, a monster, or an alien of some kind. "You're not getting out of here, at-least, not without explaining to me... what happened, to Alice and the rest! I've forgiven you over Aeneus... I tried to be forgiving... But I never got any explanation! Why did Idalia have to fucking die?! Where is she, and what happened to Alice?! And why Guillerme!?"
"Alice... she has gone mad, you are right about that. However she went mad long before this point and place. Long before I met her..." Vetro let go of his throat and backed off as Zaig■ coughed a bit before catching his breath. His eyes were still filled with confusion as Zaig■ spoke, not entirely grasping everything. "And... Idalia. Ah. Idalia." He sat down. "She was a great sister, she had all the knowledge I needed, she was always helpful... she... she loved me greatly... but, her death was not on my hand. She was in my way..." Zaig■ continued speaking, his voice not wavering once as if there wasn't a single ounce of guilt in his entire body. "But... If I could go back... I'd stop myself from doing what I did, honest." He looked up. His hands placed over his eyes as he sighed deeply. It was like a weight had lifted off of his shoulders and it had been replaced with immense grief. His body slumped down slightly.
"Then... why can't you fucking kill me too!?" The silence was broken again by Vetro shouting in anger and resentment and his grief. His fists were balled together. "I've stood by your side through it all, I've been by your side, even if you were doing wrong, I stayed, just for the hope..." Part of that, was a lie.
"For... for the hope..." he let go of the words and let his mouth open and closed like he had a lot to say but nothing actually came out. Like if someone held the button on a mic down, nothing comes out, except the sound of their own voice trying to escape.
"Because you're a fucking immortal soul, Vetro. Because of it." His tone changed, becoming more of a dark tone, almost a whisper. "I can not kill you. Not for your sins, not because you deserve it or anything of that sort, no. But because we are one and the same."
"What the fuck is that even supposed to mean, Zabulus?"
"No matter what... it is our destinies that will lead us to different paths. And it is our destinies to walk different walks of life." He recalled a few words of wisdom from the memories of the now forever-gone Idalia. "There are three fundemental ways of how one's destiny is shaped. One is that of the self. It is that which a person chooses to do and chooses not to. The second, is that of fate. A force beyond ourselves, our understanding.... Our control... something we have to accept... the third..." he pointed to Vetro, not daring to meet his eyes with a finger covered in black ichor, as his hand, or his body had changed from human to inhuman. It was a mix between the two. "...is the result of that which we have done... the first is that which you decide on. You can either accept or refuse it."
"Oh yeah. How do you then explain your existence?!"
"The second and the first. The path which was forged by my own volition and fate."
"Hmmm? What the fuck are you talking about!?" He stomped. He had enough.
"Simply put, I was always meant to die. But sometimes I die because I want to. Myself and others, even those in the realm of the gods."
"You... wanted to do this? Why!?" He yelled at the entity standing next to him, standing tall despite the circumstances of the situation they found themselves in and the fact he towered above most.
"I thought... That maybe my mother wouldn't forgive me... that if my siblings or my brother... wouldn't forgive me either, that... maybe I could bring back someone who died long before. But I was a child. A lost child, even if I knew better than to do so. I don't know anymore. I'm lost." Zaig■'s head was hung as his hands were on his chest in an almost hugging-like posture. He had a saddened expression. "But it's too late now. I've already committed so much evil, that there's no point in turning back. I'll let you take control, now. I need to rest. I'm so, so very sorry."
"Zai...g■...?" The name was whispered by a figure on his chest.
Zaig■ looked down to meet eyes with a purple entity.
His name wasn't lost anymore.
There was a tear, as if time had folded in on itself. Time was not destroyed by the event. But the world was, instead, just recreated anew.