Grey Nirmala
I was trying to bite the monster's tongue, but I couldn't. I couldn't spread the black flames through it, nothing worked.
"This is complete nonsense!"
I roared; my voice came out distorted because of the black flames.
"It wasn't supposed to be like this."
Hachiko's hopeless voice drifted through my head:
"Yes, but it is."
I was starting to get angry. One way or another, I had to find a way to spread the flames.
"Your Aetheric level should be at its highest, but it's dropping with every second."
Hachiko pointed out the obvious.
"I don't care. All I want is to burn this monster to cinders."
"Calm down. You're losing control because of Destruction."
I frowned.
"I can tell, thanks for pointing it out anyway."
The sarcasm in my voice was overflowing. I drew in a long, rancid breath and tried to steady myself. I couldn't let Destruction take over.
"Maybe if I let myself get eaten, I can spread the black flames."
I thought to myself.
"Isn't that exactly where we are?"
Hachiko asked. I shook my head; his hesitation and confusion grated on me.
"I haven't gone down to the stomach yet, I'm still in this bastard's mouth. If there's even a chance I can spread the flames, that's game over."
Hachiko nodded with his imaginary head. The moment he did, the black flames shivered.
"What the hell?"
The black fire spread to my severed limbs, and from them grew new limbs made of black flames.
"The monster can only eat raw Aether. If the Aether's been used, it can't consume it."
Hachiko said, relieved.
"And when, exactly, did you figure that out?"
I asked, half-bewitched. Hachiko gave a little chuckle, then his voice turned serious.
"I don't know what you think of me anymore, but I am a supreme, cosmos-born, Aetheric, all-knowing being."
"So you're bullshit. Got it."
Hachiko grumbled and fell silent. I rolled my eyes and, with some effort, stood up. I couldn't feel the new limbs, yet I could still use them easily. It was a strange sensation. I looked down into the monster's esophagus from above. Long, maybe as long as me.
"You're not that tall."
Hachiko said with a glimpse of sarcasm.
"1.69 meters isn't that short, okay? And with Aether, I get a decent boost."
I could feel Hachiko rolling his eyes.
"Whatever. Time to do what we can."
I said, and jumped into the esophagus. I sped through it and dropped into the stomach.
"The monster's stomach acid won't harm the black flames. But any part of your body not formed by the black fire will be damaged immediately."
"Thanks for the heads-up, dear companion."
The monster's stomach was enormous; I could see the shreds of my limbs floating in it, what was left of them, anyway. There's nothing I hate more than a dark stomach, but this wasn't the time to whine, I wanted out of this filth pit as soon as possible. I pressed the black flames to my face and tried anything, anything, that might trigger them to spread.
Hours passed, but no matter what I did, the flames never moved beyond my body. Somehow, some way, I had to make it work. Exhaustion crashed over me, and I let myself fall into the sea of acid. I was hungry, sleepy, thirsty, miserable, and worst of all, lost. All I wanted was to go home and sleep. I had no desire to explore the Dream Realm, but at this rate I was going to tour the entire realm just to pursue getting home. A few hours ago, even Hachiko had gone quiet. I figured he'd lost hope too. I didn't want to give up, but what was the point? No power here could get me out of this disgusting creature's stomach. My Aether was low again, when it ran out, I'd die. I could feel the acid starting to melt my ass; it hurt, but every other feeling I had smothered the pain. I started thinking what someone else would do in my place. Sunny would probably find a way, he was made to survive. Klein would likely end up like me, but just a bit more positive about it. Raya, maybe she'd find a way out with that strange, beautiful dance. I thought of so many people: Opie, Nico, Alora, Rain, Nya, even Maya and Cinder. After all those faces, my mother and father came to mind. I wondered how they were reacting to my absence. I hoped they weren't too shattered, or I'd lose the only two people who truly loved me. My parents didn't meddle much in my social life, because they knew I hated that. I'd always seen myself as the last-loved in the family. From my perspective, Opie was the favorite child. She was beautiful, happy, smart… But she, too, was born with a curse: she was born as my sister. No matter how hard I tried, it would always be like this. I had to be alone until the very end. The more they loved me, the more I pushed them away. I wanted to be loved, and at the same time, I didn't. I hated myself, but still valued my own life the most. I really was the walking definition of a two-faced bastard.
Every second in the monster's stomach, I felt myself slipping away. My breaths were running out. The black flames burned, but served no purpose. I called out to Hachiko in my mind, but he didn't answer. He must have truly lost hope.
"You know, Grey? If you'd just gone on that damn vacation, you wouldn't be here right now."
I started talking to myself, trying to soothe my mind. I brought Raya to mind, trying to make myself whole by thinking of her.
"How did a girl like her ever fall in love with someone like me?"
There were mountains between us, yet she still chose me. She chose these golden eyes. She chose me. I rolled to my side; I didn't care what the acid did anymore. My face had started to burn, but the pain was smothered. It didn't matter. I pulled my legs in and hugged my knees of black flames.
"Why am I like this? Why do I have to be nothing but flaws and mistakes?"
I asked myself; my voice was starting to break. A few tears slipped from my eyes, but even my tears were made of black fire. Time seemed to slow. I watched, in the slowest motion, as the drops hit the acid. And when they did, the thing I'd been waiting for finally happened: black flames began to burn on the surface of the acid. Even as it happened before my eyes, I couldn't believe it. I heaved myself out of the acid. Some of my hair had dissolved, and my right cheek was raw. The black flames grew and spread, and the larger they grew, the farther they climbed. I stared into the darkness ahead with joy. The sole cause of absolute destruction: joy.
The black fire covered the entire stomach; I danced within the flames. The darkness-shrouded organ began to tremble. The acid shuddered. I lost my balance and splashed back in. The stomach began to turn. It looked like a whirlpool. The acid surged, bathing my entire body. I could hear the monster's cries of agony, and in a blink, it vomited. I shot from the stomach, into the esophagus, then the mouth. Its jaws opened, and I spilled out with the acidic slurry. I shook my hair to the side and opened my eyes. The monster glared at me with rage. It roared and slashed for me with its claws, but I simply smiled. Before its claws could touch me, the mosnter collapsed. The hunger in its eyes went still. It groaned in pain, and I watched in delight. It drew its last breath and surrendered itself to the black flames. In time, the fire devoured the creature completely, down to its very last cell. I looked around and tried to remember where I was. The tunnel was utterly demolished. Two different paths stretched away, to places I couldn't see. But I had no strength left to walk. I let myself fall into the black flames still burning and spreading at my side. The moment they touched me, they covered my eyes and blacked them out.
"What a beautiful life."
I said with a soft voice.
"Maybe I can sleep in here for some time..."
I snapped my eyes open. I couldn`t give up there.I looked but saw something that indicated me that I was no longer in that tunnel. Distant stars and the near darkness stretched before me.
"Where the hell am I?"
I couldn't feel Hachiko in my head. I scrambled to my feet and tried to walk, but even that was hard, everything was hard. Even breathing felt like the most difficult thing in the world. I looked around, and what I saw froze me. A gray, stony surface. The rock ran all the way to the horizon, but to my side, far to my side, was a different sight. Earth. Or rather, the Green Realm. From here I could see the face of the planet turned toward me, Lineage City, Unarya City, Zelyana City, Pronica City, and more...
"I hope you like the view."
A feminine, thin voice spoke. I turned toward the sound and saw her. The Girl Who Sits on the Moon.
"Who the hell are you?" I asked, fear creeping from my voice.
The girl`s long silver hair fell to the ground. Silver eyes studied me. A crescent crown of tiny stars rested above her head, and she wore a gown woven of dark stars, as if it had fallen straight out of the cosmos. She was sitting, looking at me with sad eyes.
"Please, sit."
She spoke, and in the next instant I found myself right beside her. Behind me, a small chair carved from Moonstone waited. Warily, I sat on the moon-made seat. Hachiko's absence clawed at the inside of my skull; the hole he left in my mind gaped wide. I stared at the girl, bewildered.
"Who are you and, how and why am I here?"
My voice came out hard. The Girl Who Sits on the Moon smiled wide, but it held sorrow rather than joy.
"I've been watching you for a long time, Grey."
Her voice was soft. I lifted a single brow at her. A fear of the unknown began to rise inside me. Suddenly, she laughed and raised her hands in surrender.
"Forgive me. I'm sorry. I haven't even introduced myself."
An embarrassed smile touched her face as she brushed a lock of hair back.
"My name is Pronica, the Lunar Goddess."
I stared at the person before me in fear.
"A… a goddess?"
Pronica's smile shrank, but filled with meaning.
"You need not fear, Grey. I'm as lost as you are."
I narrowed my eyes at Pronica. "Why am I here? Don't tell me… did I die?"
The word slipped out in a whisper. Pronica shook her head. The gesture eased me. I wasn't in the mood to die. Pronica tittered.
"Ah, ignorance of you lesser humans. Its always so fun to watch. Ignorance breeds fear; fear breeds hatred and aggression; hatred breeds war, division, and destruction."
I continued to look at her with indecision and confusion.
"Then why am I here? Why did a goddess pull me to this place?"
Pronica's eyes met mine. "Because I wanted to speak with you, Grey. There's nothing to fear. Only your mind is here; your body remains in the Dream Realm."
The more she talked, the more questions I had.
"Why did you want to speak with me?"
Pronica looked away, toward the vast blue planet. My tension ratcheted up.
"All the Dimensionless are trying to draw you to their side. I only wish to talk."
Her eyes found mine again.
"Because I'm tired of being alone. Tired of waiting for him."
The goddess sitting before me might as well have been speaking another language which I understood none of it.
"Nightmares, Gods, Dimensionless, Pillars, and Bloods of Eclipsera… they are all at war with one another."
Pronica's fingers drifted across the stone.
"At the end of this war for order and survival, there will be no victor, only pain. They want to control aether, but they don't understand the fact that, even if they are all-powerful beings, they still have a limit. They fight not knowing that it's all just meaningless."
Pronica looked at me with eyes for many questions.
Why do you continue to fight, Grey Nirmala?" She asked.
Her question struck me. I'd answered it many times, and every time my answer had changed from the last time. A question that reached nowhere. A answer that seeked only the abyss.
.
"I…"
This time, I truly thought about it. For truth, for myself. I needed a definitive answer. An answer that would last until the very end of the universe. At last I decided, stood, and looked down at the lunar goddess.
"I want to live. I want to take the hands of those who accept me, and erase those who reject me. My enemies are many, but none of them have overcome their own darkness. I reject fate. I reject my name, I reject my meaning. I reject living inside mistakes and flaws. I want to create a world where I can rest without fear or sadness. I want a world where understanding it is primal, a goal that finally gives me the answers I was looking for so long. And by that, I can finally understand the world that I was born in. And... I want to go on a date with the girl I love."
Pronica smiled at my answer, a meaningful, warm smile.
"And what will you do to obtain this dream?"
She asked. I gave the goddess my answer without hesitation.
"I'll destroy everything that stands in my way.I will end dreams and create nightmares."
Pronica's smile grew smaller, and more devilish. A smile that didn't suit her sweet, gentle face.
"But your enemies are deities. How will you overcome them?"
I narrowed my eyes and gave her my divine reply.
"By manipulating Aether in ways even they cannot."
My voice was cold and merciless. The goddess's wicked smile melted into intent. An intent that may have swollen me if I was really there.
"Then watching you will be a pleasure."
Her gaze swept me up and down.
"Since you reject all the names you've been given, what should I call you?"
I looked at Pronica with a confident look.
"You don't need to call me by any name. My enemies won't tremble because they hear my name; they'll tremble because I am there, waiting for them."
Pronica drew a breath and leaned back. She lifted her fingers to her lips and said:
"Grey Nirmala, child of two worlds."
Pronica burst into laughter. A laugh so loud I was about to ask why she was laughing, when the moment I opened my mouth to ask, I found myself wreathed in black flames. Hachiko's terrified voice echoed in my ears:
"Where the hell have you been? If you don't move now, we're going to die here!"