Imprisoned Once More

  As the construct that contained the six chosen rushed to the opened gate, Mezalmeron tailed behind them.

 He didn’t even NEED to kill them. His entrance into the world was assured either way. He could tear it asunder before they had a chance to turn around. But they had earned His scorn. He would ensure they stayed together, if they desired unity. Stuffed into a single prison where they would sustain Him, echoing against eachother in a cacophony of pain and madness.

As they cleared the gate, those observing the portal stared in horror as a massive claw grabbed the edge, followed by a carapaced, pointed leg. The void god dragged himself out of the portal, hand outstretched to catch the group. That’s when he heard a noise resound through the minds of all those present. That of the young Heartmender.

“NOW!”

And that’s when Gaianyx sprung from the earth, wrapping the ends of her tail around his claw and leashing herself to the earth with her power. “Pitiful fragment,” he bellowed “You could barely hold me for mere moments the first we met.” As He began pulling against her grip. She could feel her spine being tested as she did her part.

“We need only mere moments.” she said in a voice that almost sounded like a growl.

It is then He saw the night sky… Blink.

The accursed voidwalker. The one who controlled space.

He tried to duck back through the portal, but Gaianyx’s grip was strong. He resorted to holding the portal open with his bare strength, a feat he managed rather well.

It was then that the chosen circled back around. Now that he was at least partially in the mortal world, he had weight. He had mass that must be very delicately balanced on those pointed legs, Aquaria reasoned. Using all the strength they could muster, they pulled his foot loose, and caused his grip to slip. He had just enough time to see the portal close as he tried to turn away.

It closed directly over His body, directly down the middle. And kept closing.

It was then that for the first time anyone had known, they had heard Him scream in pain. And Everyone, had heard it. It resonated throughout the world as the collapsing gateway tore his body in half almost completely lengthwise. For a moment, the eye they could see darted between the gods present. The orange gem of an eye locked onto the tiny white and green goddess and the silver-clad construct next to her.

It looked. Sad.

As the body began to collapse in on itself, reverting to a glob of dark matter that balled up tighter and tighter until it disappeared, leaving only an orange, pulsing diamond that seemed to contain the entirety of it.

Miraluna moved forward to inspect it as it seemed to gently drift away from her. From his perch, Kitumbron opened a gateway behind it, allowing it to rest in a pocket prison.

“You will have time to examine it later, Heartmender. For now, we must tend to the chosen to grant them their bodies once more.”

… “Of course, Voidwalker.”

———-

Within the pocket dimension, the core of a god’s soul waited. A space of absolute darkness, save for itself, was all that existed here. Mezalmeron had himself been fragmented. It could be argued he himself didn’t exist anymore.

This terrified it, but not nearly as much as the introspection it was forced to go through, with no other stimulation than its own memories.

It looked back on everything Mezalmeron had done. It remembered that tiny voice in his head. The one that had only grown weaker since he killed his sibling.

It remembered, because now that voice was all it could hear. All it could be.

It knows it should feel free. But all it feels is regret. Regret, and fear.

It wanted to say sorry. Just as it had wanted to so, so many times before. But it knew that was their call to make.

But as the fragment had resigned itself to its prison, it heard something. The familiar, almost silent sound of spacial distortion. The Heartmender had entered the darkness. Her cloak was blinding in comparison.

“…I need to know.” she said, plainly. Her hand gripped her weapon, clearly prepared for an attack as her halo churned like gears behind her. “Why you were doing this.”

She approached carefully. The core seemed. To tremble at her approach, even if it made no effort to move. She gently placed the tips of her fingers against one of the faces of the orange diamond, and felt a rush of emotion as usual. But she didn’t sense the rage she expected.

Miraluna saw fear running rampant at the sight of a red and yellow marble in space.
She saw terror, hearing about the creation of life. Terror at the idea of being replaced.
She saw anguish as a vision of herself and the chosen drifted into view, and the only reaction to the pain of being destroyed being that of resignation.

She stumbled backward.

“You… you were. Scared?”

She heard a low, ashamed chime. A ‘yes’

“Scared, of being replaced by us?”

That same broken 'yes’

She sighed as she gently rested a hand on one of the diamond’s faces, as if placing a hand on someone’s shoulder. As long as she’d heard of the void god, as long as she’d seen him, he had been rage and evil incarnate. But what laid before her was anything but.

“…Are you Mezalmeron?”

…. A long. Pregnant pause. As if thinking.

'i dont know’

“…Do you feel like you’re him?”

'yes’ 'i dont know’ 'help’ 'yes’ 'i dont know’ 'help’ 'yes’ 'i dont know’ 'help’ 'yes’ 'i dont know’ 'help’ 'yes’ 'i dont know’ 'help’ 'yes’ 'i dont know’ 'help’ 'yes’ 'i dont know’ 'help’ 'yes’ 'i dont know’ 'help’ 'yes’ 'i dont know’ 'help’ 'yes’ 'i dont know’ 'help’ 'yes’ 'i dont know’ 'help’

A black tar began to drip from it as it quaked. Miraluna’s eyes widened as she fumbled to use a wave of her power to try and calm the fragment. That. was a panic attack, she was pretty sure. All of this began to remind her of what Armerane described the separation between him and his alter had been like. Like being locked away in the back of your head, unsure what thoughts were even yours. With that, she got an idea.

…“Do you remember everything that happened?”

'yes.’

“Do you regret what you’d done?”

'yes’ 'yes’ 'yes’ 'yes’ 'yes’

“…Would you want to make up for it?”

'yes’

She nodded. All of those answers were very immediate. This was something she’d have to talk to the rest of the Pantheon about.

“Would you be okay if I left for a time?”

Another long pause. 'yes’

She gave it a gentle rub on the 'shoulder’, and moved backward slightly.

“Thank you for answering my questions. I’ll be back soon.”

With that, she turned around and slipped through the invisible gateway she entered from. And the fragment waited for its sentence.