Vell considered that his plan might hurt.
That seemed likely.
He had never attempted to force an essence through dimensions before.
Then again, he wasn't entirely certain he could feel pain anymore.
So why did he think it would hurt?
He had no nerves, no flesh, no brain for that matter.
Pain was simply another sensation belonging to the person he had once been.
Still, he suspected that whatever happened next would be unpleasant.
There was nothing else left to do.
He had prepared enough, he thought.
He turned one last time toward Endrith in his cage.
He watched him for a moment before he spoke.
"Endrith. I suppose you still can't or won't hear me, but this may be the last time anyone speaks to you for a very long time. I blame you for most of this. But I've come to accept it for what it is. I'm not exactly sure if you wanted to come here. I feel like I'm just a figurative step away from figuring this out. But as I am now, I just can't piece it together. Maybe I'll come to a full understanding when I'm whole again. Maybe not. Maybe not ever."
The golden darkness inside the cage continued to struggle.
"There is a chance that I'll just destroy myself trying to do this. Then nobody will ever speak to you again."
After a few moments, when it became clear that Endrith wouldn't answer him, or even hear him, Vell left him.
"I still believe you can become something else. But for now, I'll leave you here. I don't think this cage will last forever. If you ever become more of yourself, you'll be able to get around it somehow. I don't know how. I think I could, given enough time. It seems that any and all things here are both permanent and not so permanent at the same time, depending on your understanding and point of view. I wonder how much I'll remember of this place if I do succeed. It's terribly beautiful here, and its vastness is terrifically horrifying. Perhaps I'm better off not remembering."
Vell thought about trying to destroy Endrith's essence as penance for the things he had done in life, but he decided against it.
Not out of mercy.
He simply did not know what destroying an essence in this place would actually mean.
Perhaps Endrith would die, or his essence would simply scatter throughout the realm.
It could be useless, so he didn't do it.
Besides, after gathering power for so long, why would he waste it on something that could amount to nothing more than a gesture of punishment?
He wasn't a man of righteousness, so there was no point.
He could have his opinions about how terrible Endrith was, and this place was more of a prison than anything his world could have offered.
It seemed that he and Vell had been here for eons.
Maybe they had already paid for their crimes.
Imprisoned for an unimaginable time in such an alien place.
With no other living being to keep them company.
The latter mostly applied to Vell.
Endrith was less than a person here, his only companion being something he had deluded himself into believing was a person.
Maybe Endrith had been right not to come to consciousness.
Being aware in such a place without a way out was torture.
Simple as that.
He was glad that there was even the slightest possibility for him to leave.