As you slowly open your eyes, your immediate observation is that you're in a comfortable bed somewhere. As you start to look around at your surroundings, a familiar voice speaks to you from your bedside.
" 'Morning, sleepyhead. "
Tom says as he's hunched over in a chair with his elbows on his knees.
" How long have I been out? "
You ask him sluggishly as your vision begins to sharpen and you slowly wake up.
" Three days. After you passed out, I immediately took you and the book back to Moriarch and had the castle staff take care of you. "
You try to sit up but you feel something on top of the sheets that's making it difficult, so you look down and see that Mimi is cuddled up next to you asleep on the bed.
" She was worried sick about you… We tried to convince her that it's best to leave you alone and let you rest but she insisted on staying with you. "
Tom says with a soft voice. You look at him and notice that he looks a little rough around the edges, so you ask him a question.
" What about you? Did you even sleep when I was out? "
Tom sits back in his chair and looks at you playfully as he responds.
" Yeah, I've been fine. Just stayed out too late exploring the kingdom last night. That's all. "
" Don't let him lie to you. "
You hear a bratty feminine voice interject from the doorway of the room.
" Tom was awake sitting next to you the whole time. He was pretty worried too, and he'd talk to you after Mimi would fall asleep. "
You look at the doorway to see a young woman standing there leaning on the door frame. Tom laughs under his breath and shakes his head embarrassedly before leaning back in the chair.
" Yeah, okay… I was pretty worried about you. It took a lot out of you to bring your own creation into existence using The Holy Omniverse Transcript. After you went unconscious, I thought that maybe the book had killed you because you had used it in a way that The One may not have approved of. Thankfully, you were still breathing when I brought you here. "
That's right. You made Rosium to defeat the Valghul in that other universe.
You respond to Tom with a remark.
" It's too bad that I didn't have the book with me when I was in Somniohm. I might've been able to save Sowzo if that had been the case. "
Tom glares at you intriguingly and you notice something strange. As Tom looks at you, you can tell that he's sifting through your thoughts and memories. It's almost like you can feel him in your mind looking through everything that happened in Somniohm.
Have you gotten more of your power back?
Tom notices that you're aware of his psychic snooping, so he instantly stops and apologizes.
" I'm sorry, Donny. You spoke about Somniohm and I wanted to know what happened when you were out. I would've just asked, but I'm a bit on-edge and I wanted to make sure that you were okay. "
" It's fine. "
You respond in an understanding manner.
The woman suddenly speaks up curiously.
" Sowzo? You were with the God of Nightmares? What happened?"
Tom then turns and looks at the woman with a sad stare as he answers.
" Sowzo is dead. He sacrificed himself to keep Donny alive and help him escape from the Valghuli that destroyed Somniohm. If Sowzo hadn't done what he did, Donny wouldn't have ever woken up again. "
The room fills with an awkward silence as the woman looks at you peculiarly. You can tell that she's skeptical of the notion that a god would die for you. Tom breaks the silence by picking up The Holy Omniverse Transcript and continuing to talk.
" Even if I knew about what happened and wanted to help, I'm afraid that it wouldn't have been possible. The book is locked shut, and as soon as the Valghuli invaded Somniohm, portals no longer worked here in this universe. That could have either been done by the Valghuli to prevent Donny's escape or it was a safety measure by one of the gods to protect the remaining realms. Seeing that portals still don't work, I'd like to think that it's the ladder. "
Your stomach sinks as you think about the possibility of the Valghuli invading Havnahm to destroy it and kill Faerah like they did to Sowzo. It's a good thing that the remaining realms have been blocked off.
Tom then turns his gaze at you with serious eyes and continues to elaborate.
" Donny's lucky that he was dreaming in Somniohm during the invasion. If he were in any other immortal realm or if his physical form was there in Somniohm instead, there would've been no escape and we would've lost him. Those Valghuli were unlike that Valghul that we defeated earlier… "
" How so? "
You ask Tom curiously. Tom responds with a grim stare on his face.
" The Valghul that was possessing Sir Arthur was more of a spy. It came here in secret and wanted to sow destruction without being discovered. If Aatu hadn't baited it out and sacrificed himself to bring me to you, things would be alot worse than they are right now. Those Valghuli that you fought in Somniohm weren't spies, they were warriors. If those Valghuli are what I think they are, I don't even think that I could stand a chance fighting one. I've only ever heard rumors about them from other Valghuli that I've interrogated, but if my suspicion is correct, those were Valghuli Exemplars. They were once Gods that became possessed by a Valghul, and The None only chooses the most powerful of Gods to corrupt. They're The None's perfect servants, and in the trillions of years of their service, they have never failed him. "
" Donny here seems a little bit too lucky to me… "
The woman says as she stares at you.
" What are you trying to say? "
You ask her. She responds in a blunt demeanor and asks a question of her own.
" I'm saying that you should be dead but you aren't. Why did you go to Somniohm in the first place? "
" Sowzo wanted to show me a place in Voldoor that he thought was the source of interference within his realm, but as soon as he showed me, those Valghuli showed up. "
You say to the woman as she continues to look at you with suspicion. Tom speaks up in your defense in an attempt to put her nerves at ease.
" The Valghuli want to use Donny's body as a vessel for The None. If Donny was working against us, he would've gone with them willingly. "
" Still… I find it strange how not just one god, but three of our gods have all died in a short time since Abaddon first arrived here; each of them dying in order to protect him in some sort of way. You also have my people worshiping The Dark Ones, which would normally be considered taboo. After you Otherlanders arrived here, there has been nothing but problems and change within Moriarch and Aria. I can't help but feel like my father made a mistake in trusting you both when you came to ask for his aid… "
The woman says in a dubious manner. Then, a manly voice speaks up from outside the doorway.
" Now, now Elise. Let's not throw accusations and assumptions at our guests so carelessly. They were quick to act upon the invasion of our kingdom from an outside entity and our castle was the first place they came to in order to rest and recover from their battle with it. Three of our gods may be dead, but they died because they had faith in these Otherlanders to do what they could not; to save our verse and the many other verses within the Otherlands from destruction. "
The young woman crosses her arms and pouts as the King of Moriarch walks into the door frame and puts his hand on her shoulder. He looks at you with a compassionate stare as he apologizes.
" I'm sorry if my daughter's ill manners offended you. It's hard for her to trust new people. "
Tom shakes his head as he responds.
" None taken. She has every right to doubt us considering everything that's happened. "
The King begins stroking his beard as he questions Tom.
" So… that's Aatu, Noeh, and Sowzo dead. There are only four gods left in our Pantheon. What's your plan to prevent any further gods from dying at the hands of these monsters that you've been fighting? "
" We still need to go to Voldoor and speak to the Czar. If we're lucky, he'll listen to us too and we can have the entirety of Aria praying to the remaining gods of the Pantheon and fighting alongside us. I also believe that it's no coincidence that the gods governing the mind were the first to be killed. Corrupting the minds of mortals has always been a priority of the Valghuli when they begin to dismantle a universe because getting mortals to kill other mortals is more efficient than having to fight against an entire universe themselves. "
Tom says to the King before he looks at you. He continues to talk in a disappointed tone.
" I'm afraid we're going to have to travel to Voldoor by normal means. Since Sowzo believed that the interference was coming from somewhere in Voldoor, I think it's best that we don't approach the city in a way where the enemies within it will be able to see us coming. "
Puzzled, you respond to Tom and ask him a question.
" Couldn't we just fly there? I'm sure if any enemies get in our way, we could handle them easily. "
" I'm afraid it's not that simple, Donny. The book is our trump card, but it isn't an option right now because it's sealed shut. I have a hypothesis on how to get it open but in our current situation, we can't test it. As for why we shouldn't fly there, our enemies within Voldoor obviously have been up to something. If we make ourselves too obvious, we might be putting the entire city at risk of destruction before we even get there. I think it's best that we lay low and travel on foot. The King and I have already made preparations for our departure. "
Tom stands up and walks to the door and turns around to look at you one last time before he leaves.
" Take as much time as you need. The King and I will be waiting to brief you in his throne room when you're ready. There's some people that we want you to meet. "
Tom leaves with everyone else and the door shuts quietly so as to not wake up Mimi.