Displaced: Crossing Roads
Chapter 17
Give Me A Reason
"I know what its like to fail, that's why I hate to lose the same way again" ~ Serafin
"Lumos, its time we talked."
"Strange voice in my head, its time we stopped with the ominous shit." I retorted in the darkness of my own subconscious. Before me was a strange, white entity, though its eyes were blue, no expression or other key features, just light with eyes and a 'mysterious' tone to its voice
"Just to cut to the chase, if you say anything cryptic or call yourself something stupid like, 'Ghost', 'Specter', or something else that's edgy, I'll be leaving." I added with a blunt look, knowing full and well of these encounters in stories ive read. Not that I don't mind them, they off more to question, and can be interesting once a reveal is shown, but for me right now, I ain't got time for that!
"Once more, you prove how reluctant you are to bend to the conventions of this reality's rules. I will admit, I care not to waste time either." He spoke to my understanding, seeing him agree with my way of communication was a good step in the right direction. "As in, I barely have any time to spare."
"....Explain." I eventually asked, finding this to be rather curious, but I decided to humor the voice in my head
"I exist in a plane between worlds, where the absence of physical, spiritual, and other forms of ether cease to be, an endless nothingness, a prison of no-ones design." He explained dryly, as if the very though made his own voice snap at its own making
"The White Dimension." I answered with a slight chill. It was a place of pure torture, forever alone among its endlessness, if you were trapped with someone, that would be a mercy, but alone, you'd never find the others trapped in it, because your own sanity would have been lost by the time you find the dusty remains of their corpse. "Talk about a high-maintenance prison."
"Now, about the creatures you face, and the one that was nearly your end. It was nothing more than a morning routine for them, a jog if you will." He continued, pressing the matter into a stern mood. Then he raised a finger. "How much do you know of the Ciphers' involvement in all of this?"
"Less than I should. They woke up due to three sources of power, that bitch with the displaced Anti-Spiral controls them, and I nearly died twice to a sacred shard used as a fucking cutlass." That last part irritated me, my hand raising to my chest where a scar would be from the strike
"Those Ciphers are merely pawns in all of this, but they hold three significant objects that can not only render them useless, but may hold the key to ridding yourself of that Anti-spiral, forever." He explained briefly, his body seemed to flicker like light between branches on a tree
"What are they? And where can I find them?" I quickly asked, deciding to gather all the info I could before he vanished for Gods' know how long. "Does if have something to do with the crazy, Fallen-looking Cipher?"
"Yes, it was holding a gemstone that contains a fragmented piece of ether, representing magic. As you know, ether is everything and nothing, the construct that binds the worlds to our creator, these objects hold a speck of that power." He continued, my interest beginning to peak, the reasons to why these Ciphers were around again was starting to make sense
The Anti-Spiral as a whole was a spiral being that had reached true-evolution, so it made sense its body produced ether, though I doubt the chick who decided to gain his power knew this, so in a way, she has both the power to control them, and stop them, but these pieces of ether must have been produced by Equestria's Merlin, seeing as he would naturally have a fail-safe as backup.
"As for the others, there are two, the scepter of Limbo, controlling the powers of time and space; and the chains of remnant, constructs of chaos and imbalance. Your friend, Gel, she's holding onto the gemstone of arcane magic." He gave the details, but I doubt he knew where they were, since the gemstone was attached to the Cipher. "I know its not much, but when one of the artifacts gives off power, the map will guide you to their epicenter."
"Knew grabbing that map was a good idea, and Erebus told me it was pointless, well fuck 'em!" I smiled at my well-spent money, but I still had one question, or two, to be exact. "Before you.....vanish or something, whatever it is you do; Who are you, why should I trust you?"
"You can't, you know that better than anyone, Lumos the Noximillion displaced. As for my name...."
"Call me, Imago."
"What they fuck does 'Imago' mean?" I muttered under the covers of my bed, seeing as my body wasn't lying in the flat, uncomfortable hospital bed, if it was from home-world's hospital, then its another story, but I doubt my coma turned me into an equine with a mummified look. "Everything hurts."
When I pulled my head from the covers, I looked to see no-one around, well, there was a massive hole in my wall, which was patched with planks of wood and nails, most likely Erebus' lack of using doors. Then I noticed the nightstand, and the note sitting with a 'read me, bitch' on the front. Gee, wonder who wrote it?
'Dear, Cheap replacement
I just fixed your bones, internal and external bruising, along with ruptured veins and torn tissue. Don't know what kind-of power boost Nox gave you, but I can do it better, still, good job, here's to your full recovery. Atleast the physical side.
Sincerely, Erebus
P.S. Selene's been watching you like a hawk for the last five minutes'
"Mother....fuck." I hissed, dropping the note from my hoof at the jolt of pain coursing through my arm, guess I was still recovering from shock or recoil. Taking his advice, I turned my head slightly to my right, seeing Selene sitting with her head resting on the edge of my head, her face....well she wasn't pleased
"So....this is awkward; You doing ok?" I broke the silence first, since every sitation ended with me or her being unable to say a thing. But she smiled a little
"Yeah....I'm a little banged up, but i'm fine." That's....
"That's not what I meant; How are you doing, after what I said, figured you be wanting to kick my ass by now?" I mused, knowing full and well that Pinkie's talk with me was going to take some time to fully realize itself as an actual reality
"Well I, its hard to explain." Selene began, resting her head on my bed, looking down at the sheets as she talked. "Apart of me wished things would be different, that in some other world, you didn't have to go, all it reminds me of is my old friends, how they left me behind, I don't want that to happen again."
"You never told me about that." I added to her side of the story, though she couldn't tell that I was honestly surprised she went through the same situation I did, still do. "Back where me and Erebus came from, it was just us, and someone else we knew online who stayed friends, true friends, everyone else went their separate ways or weren't my friends at all."
"Mine overshadowed me; it was hard to stand out when they all had their own talents, whist I was just a Therstral with no talents. I guess....they never saw me as a friend." Selene added with a frown, her ears drooping
"It felt like I was always pressured to do better to keep up with everyone, always striving to do something to impress them back, maybe even gain acceptance too." I continued, not realizing how close our stories were aligning, but....bad memories were surfacing, one's I try to forget
"I guess the only way I could feel happy being alone, was to-"
"Be myself." We both said simultaneously, making us both look at each other with an odd expression, before we smiled in understanding of our backgrounds
"Guess we're stuck in the same, flaming shipwreck?" I grinned with a mischievous look, whist Selene pulled her head back up to face me eye-to-eye
"Lumos...I want to help you keep you word together." Selene continued with the start of our conversation, her golden eyes holding without any hint of hesitation. "I want to help you stop them, and get you home, but not for a selfish reason, for a 'real' reason to....well...."
"To live would be a good place to start, don't you think?" I finished for her, before my hoof messed with her soft mane, although my entire arm still hurt, even with the medication and healing, but heck with it. "Tomorrow, I'll explain everything, for now though, get some rest, I'm not the only person who's been thrown like a rag in the wind today."
"U-Uh, right! Ok!" Selene blurted out with a red face, before she flew out of the room, faster than even my teleportation. I just rolled my eyes and decided to just sleep this pain off. "Hey, Lumos?"
My gaze soon lifted back the crack in the door, where Selene looked at me softly.
"I'm happy I met you."
. . . .
. . . .
"Me too, my Good Luck Charm." I joked, before she finally shut the door....wait. "She does realize that Erebus took over her room right?"
But I just shrugged, deciding not to dwell on future me's problems, but then my mind recalled what I did back in town, how I managed to fight off that creature without a second thought for my own safety, was it because of Selene? That's when my face lit up brightly at the embarrassment I put myself through,causing me to yell into my pillow.
"AHH, NO THOUGHTS LIKE THAT!!!"
To Be Continued...
Lumos: I seem to have the worst luck. Broken arms and all
Erebus: You really do, also, where's my appearance?
Gel: Same
Lumos: You'll get yours next time, actually its what you two were doing 'before' shit hit the fan!
Gel: Oh, you mean-
Erebus: Shhhh, no spoilers
Gel: *Deadpans* You were there
Lumos: Just....don't encourage him