Jericho and I read over the book, and got ready. I managed to make special necklaces to hide us from Deletes as well as other Void' creatures. Also in the book there was an artifact that would allow us to see in the Void but I don't have the time to make it. Not myself, a Starfish clone though… yeah. Thank God I can do that now. Heart was still in my… belly but they were out cold I had to jump to wake them up and I figured they could stay there. The boost they'll give me will be helpful. Lastly the book also mentioned a person in the Void who sells void items to non void beings. We figured we'd hit him first for back up weapons or other things.
I have to admit having Heart in my stomach I've forgotten that were there more than I thought I would. It's still… weird, but overall an experience I have a feeling Eclipsa will want to try… oh yeah, still gotta do that also… baby steps.
"Alright, we ready?" I asked Jericho while finishing up my list of things my clones can do.
"Yeah. First stop that merchant person then off to the Void Dire wolves. How's Heart?"
"He's out cold, so he'll be okay." I said honestly. "And watch as this is the Merchant from Resident Evil 4." I chuckled.
"Loved that game." Jericho laughed as we used the Blindmans eye to find our way into the void.
"Let's hope this thing works…" I muttered while seeing the eye...swivel around to find the way. "Gross…"
The compass rotated around a few times, blinked, then glowed as suddenly it seemed the reality around them was now peeling off, soon it was gone, and we found ourselves in a floating stone altar of sorts. "What are you two doing here?" The voice of the Outsider Hollow spoke, appearing behind them. "How did you even get here?"
“Found an artifact, and we were going to find the Void Wolves.” I said. “Oh by the way, how’s John doing?”
"His training is going well. Hopefully when he returns to his home he can defend it with honor.”
“I know he will.” I nodded. “Now, we originally started with finding The Merchant here to get some stuff before looking for the Void Wolves.”
"Ah. Yes." Hollow said, suddenly a bridge forming from where we were into further darkness of void appeared. "This will take you to the deeper sections of The Void. Once you cross the bridge your Blind Man's Compass will be critical. The Merchant you are talking about lives inside a shack of sorts. Just know where you want to go and the compass will take you."
“Cool.” I nodded. “Oh uh...what is the Forest of Roots?” I asked. “I read up that that’s where Void Wolves appear rather frequently.”
"Well. That's a bit of a story, isn't it. You know how the Void Mother was the first Mother, right? The locations and ruins within the void are not all spilled leftovers of the admins and cycles. Most are from the voids days as the first creation, the first cycle. The Forest of Roots was the original birthplace of the original first cycle wolves. They came from those woods in that ever so bygone era. Many split off, went to other places and world's, becoming the various species that exist in this and every other cycle. As a wolf, it's the furthest back you can trace your ancestors, the first ancestral home of your people. The Void Wolves are the void tainted kin that never left them."
“That’s really interesting...wonder if they’ll be friendly towards me given...who and what I am.” I wondered.
"Perhaps, it's hard to tell with those wolves."
"Well...let's hope for the best." I said honestly.
Jericho and I walked across the bridge. The ever growing density and bleakness of the void getting more intense.
"So far things are looking more bleak…" I said honestly.
"It's the Void so…" Jericho said, taking out the Blind Man's Eye and it began guiding. "Well… this will be something."
"Let's hope we don't bump into anything. While the accessories I made should work it's better to be safe than sorry." I said honestly.
“Yeah.”
As we walked, following the compass’s directions we thankfully walked, maybe seven miles or so, might be more? We arrived at said shack here. It was a very haphazardly built shack that was part of the rotten wood, part various assortments of junk. “This is it?” Jericho asked. “I’ve seen some crappy living conditions before but… this is pretty bad. Like a homeless guy just piled all their gathered trash to make a building.”
"Don't judge a book by its cover as they say." I said honestly. "Inside could be a nice shop. Who knows?" I shrugged.
Shrugging, Jericho and I knocked… and the door fell over… “Come in then.” Spoke the elderly ancient voice of a raspy man, a coughing fit followed swiftly after their words were done.
Inside was… pretty bad. It at least looked like a shop but it was the definition of… all the health code violations. “Nice on the inside huh?” Jericho asked sassily.
“I said ‘could be’, and ‘who knows’. So don’t sass me.” I frowned. “So, how are you doing today sir?” I asked the shopkeep.
The Shopkeep wore a dirty cloth toga of sorts that was stained in dirt and blood… their own if that massive greatsword through their back and chest means anything. “Welcome. Creations of Admins… No, Admins. Been a long time since your lot saw my wears. So, anything in particular you want?”
“Do you have any items that can let us see in the Void without blindly following the Blind Man’s Eye?” I asked curiously.
“Ah. I think I have what you need” The shopkeep said, rummaging through a pile of jars with… various items. After a minute he pulled out one with what looked like herbs. “These herbs when blended and boiled into a tea, taste like Deaths Asshole, but taints the eyes just enough to allow vision in this forsaken place. The effects last only for a day, per cup.”
“I kind of thought it would have been like a set of goggles or something to help you see...not basically Death’s ass liquid.” I said honestly.
The shopkeep launched, wheezing heavily ashe finished. “Good one lass. So how will you be paying for this?”
“Um...what currency do you take?” I asked curiously.
“Currency?” They laughed again, a coughing fit ending it. “Money is as worthless here as the will to live lass. We barter, do a job and all that. Question is, what can you do for me?”
“Build you a house that won’t fall apart if you accidentally cough at the wrong ‘support’ beam?” I asked honestly.
“Heh. Nah lass. Hmm...Oh...Oh… Hang on, I know you.” They said, gaining a manic smile. “You killed that Honorable Delete Knight and his Wife!”
“I’m not killing their children damn it!” I barked at him immediately. “I already regretted killing the both of them, I’m not killing their children even if they hate me…” I took a deep breath. “Just...I’m sorry for overreacting, why do you want to know why I killed them both?”
“Oh I don’t want you to kill those kids. Little buggers died a while ago. House raided and then they were burned alive inside from what I heard.”
I...I was honestly speechless at hearing that. “No...no that can’t be true…”
“The void is a harsh place, children don’t last long without parents. But that’s where you come in.” He said, placing his arms on the rotting counter. “You see, words mean little when the travelers are the same people who’d have burned the place down. If ya find their bodies, bury the kids. Buggers were annoying but their parents were good customers. If there aren’t two tiny corpses, I know where those buggers likely would have ended up assuming something bigger didn’t eat them beforehand.”
“Where would they be?” I asked curiously, already knowing where to bury the kids.
“First lass, see if they aren’t dead.” The shopkeep said, grabbing an old kettle from under the counter then bringing it on top of his hand, Void Fire burning under it as he tossed a few of the herbs in it. “Do this for me, and the cup is on the house, bury them brats, or save them, jar is yours.”
“I will...I’ll make sure to save them if they are still alive...or bury them with their parents if I find their corpses…” I sighed out. “But...thank you sir for telling me this...hopefully their still alive.”
“Maybe. That’s what you’re going to see.” He said, the tea done as he poured it into two small cups. “Bottoms up, it’s got a kick.”
“Thank you.” I nodded while taking one of the small cups and drinking it, knowing full well it’s going to taste like absolute garbage. Hope Heart doesn't end up tasting it.
Garbage… did this thing justice. It took ALL my willpower to keep from throwing up, keeping the drink and Heart down as I saw Jericho was in no better boat. My eyes got hazy for a bit until finally I… I could see… colors? Sunlight? What?
Getting up, that taste was lingering… and this place still looked horrible, but everything had color, everything looked like just a trash building in normal daylight. Is this how Deletes and other void beings see?
“I think I’d prefer going through this place blind…” Jericho wheezed.
“But...honestly seeing this place in color is nice…” I coughed. “So...where would the Old Man’s house be? And where would they be if they aren’t there?”
“The house was in the ruins of Cartha, once a fine city, before the Void at least.” Shopkeep said. “If their charred bodies aren’t in the house, they must be in Pitt Vally. One of the only places here that has kids that are kept alive. Key word there is alive, safe, not so much.”
I took a deep breath. “Alright, let’s get going then.” I said. “Thank you kindly sir.”
‘Oh fuck what was that!?’ Heart screamed, likely having tasted that liquid and was now spazzing about in there… actually doesn't feel as bad as I thought. Kinda like belly rubs. Got a lot of those from Mom and the girls.
“Sorry Heart, but it’s so I can see in the Void…” I muttered while putting a hand on my stomach.
‘You should have stayed blind!’
“Thank you!” Jericho said.
Once Heart had calmed down and was back to napping in there, we headed off. I have to admit, seeing in the void is… weird. Colors and such everything looks normal but… At the same time everything here was… defying every law in every book. “This place must have been nice before The Mother here went apshit nuts.” Jericho said.
“It would have…” I sighed out. “We’ll have to fix this later, but right now...we have to make sure kids are okay.”
As we walked along the roads, some Void beasts showed up. Nothing too bad, No Heart ended them fast and easy. They dropped a few… odd items Jericho kept to study and we saw the ruins of… Yeah just looking at these ‘ruins’ makes my brain hurt… “So which house is that Delete couples then? There’s a few here that are burned to ashes.”
“Should have asked that…” I sighed out. “But...let’s start searching, hopefully we’ll find something.” I said while already heading off to find any signs of either dead bodies or life.
As we were looking In one house that would have once been tall, I found a suit of armor… much like his… Arrows, bows, lots of swords… Yup! This is the place! I began sniffing and digging through rubble and ash piles. I found… a single, small arm… and that was it. Part of me was happy, and the other angry. Someone… cut this kid’s arm off. This is right at the joint…”Well...I found one of the kids arms…” I said while trying to see if the scent went off anywhere.
I got nothing. “So those fuckers took them to this Pitt Valley then…” Jericho said, looking at the parents weapons. Despite the fire, they were in good shape. “They were after the kids.” Jericho said, picking up a sword the size of my body. “Everything of value is still here… but not the kids…”
“So Pitt Valley is a child slavery scene?” I asked.
“Or worse…” Jericho sighed. “There was a place in my old realm… We called it Galvalla. We all grew up there, at least until we ran away from it. It was safe, yes, but slavery would have been prefered. Like here, kids were not common. If we couldn’t fight, we were ‘entertainment’...”
“So let’s go liberate the kids.” I said. “I know Nothingness is the opposite of Void but...Nothingness can still help them be less corrupted and be better.”
“Even so, what after? They’re all Deletes, we can’t bring them home, they’d erase it the second they arrive… Unless…”
“Unless?” I asked curiously.
“I remember Pecator told Heart that when he was forging Void Key, he discovered that Nothingness, PURE Nothingness and Void cancel one another out, forming instead blank code, if you can manage to use it… they’d become normal kids, Admins even maybe. Their void would be purged and Delete powers and abilities gone. At the very least they’d be able to use Void like how John does.”
“Perfect.” I said, thankful there’s hope. “I am so glad there’s hope for these kids...cause they deserve a better life than what’s either happening to them...or what’s to come…”
“Yeah.” Jericho said, raising the massive sword with ease. “Let’s go save those kids.”
I brought out No Heart and Skysplitter. “Yeah, let’s go save some kids.” I said. “Let’s go to Pitt Valley.”
Pitt Valley was quite a distance. For some reason I can't shift No Heart or any of my other Keyblades into Gliders, but Lindworm worked still. Even flying though is going to take a while. “This better not be as worrying as I’m fearing…”
"It will be worse." Jericho sighed.
“Oh god…” I muttered worriedly as we got closer to the place. “I...just hope we can save all the kids…”
"Won't be easy. Won't be pretty." Jericho sighed. "Hmm… Here. Take my hand." Jericho said, holding out a hand to me.
“Lewd.” I joked as I took Jericho’s hand.
There was a sudden rush over me. I felt code, code from Jericho enter me. "Admin trick. We can take Abilities or give them. That's an ability I got from the old Admin of War."
“Oh? And what’s the ability?” I asked curiously.
"Conquests Spoils. It's basically a magnet ability but it brings you what you want, but only after whoever is in charge of this place is dead. Hopefully if this place is not run by anyone you can get the kids out fast and then we can fight without holding back."
“Alright.” I nodded. “This will help a lot, now let’s just hope there's no one their we can’t easily take care of.” I said, knowing full well the the place is going to have someone there other than their slaves.
As we arrived, Pitt Valley was a haphazardly constructed City within a massive gash in the soil. The majority of beings around did not look like Deletes. "Echos." Jericho said. "Haven't seen one of those in a while, now there's a city of them."
“What are Echos?” I asked nervously.
"Some people deal with various void beings. Like Hollow. Echos are the void bound souls of people who deal with these beings. For the most part they are like how they were in life, but they can't technically die. The only way to 'kill' them is through absorbing them… but Your Nothingness should also be able to do the trick."
“Alrighty then…” I said. “So, time to start a prison break I suppose.”
"First try the Ability."
“Alright…” I nodded while taking a deep breath and trying to ‘collect’ from the Valley in hopes that there wasn’t any leader here. “Let’s hope this works…”
Once we landed I activated Conquests Spoils. I felt suddenly Each child in there… all sixteen thousand of them. All of them either used as slave labor, punching bags, experimentation… rape… I felt it through all of them, and yanked my arm back. All of the kids appearing around me. Acting fast I tapped into my Nothingness, diving deep as pure adrenaline and instinct kicked in, Pure Nothingness flowing to me, and out of me. Cloaking the kids as I saw their inborn void react with the Pure Nothingness, they each changing from Deletes to normal kids.
"That will have painted a target. Let's slaughter the bastards then rush off. You try and send them home and look for those other two."
I nodded while opening a portal as two clones of mine appeared and started to herd the children into the portal rather quickly, carrying those that were too weak or hurt to move as they all were thankfully brought to the medical center in the Castle. “Hopefully we’re not too late…” I said worriedly, hoping what these fuckers did didn’t hurt them beyond repair.
I then saw one kid, an older boy, one armed, carrying a much younger kid. "Thank you Miss." They said, a ping of joy, guilt, and shame hitting all at once as they escaped.
“I’m glad their safe but...shame and guilt are clouding my joy…” I sighed out sadly.
"We won't have a lot of time." Jericho said, shooting an explosive blast of Code at the city. "Fire up that Nothingness, we need to end this fast cause Nexus will be here fast."
I took a deep breath, remembering the feelings of each of the kids pain that these fuckers put them all through...all sixteen thousand of them. “Jericho...step the fuck back…” I growled as rage fueled my action as I stepped forward at the entire Valley. “----” I ‘said’ as I raised my hand, Pure Nothingness seeming to just erupt in the entire Valley as it was completely obliterated with any of those abusive fuckers inside. “That good enough?” I growled.
"Yea-Agh!" Jericho screamed, blasted to the ground by a void blast.
"Well, well, well…" That voice… "What do we have here? And I was wondering if you had the guts to walk into our turf." Void Key spoke through their current host.
I stared at their host, then down at the Void Key replica. “Still hiding I see.” I said honestly. “What? You think your hot shit, why haven’t you just came up to me and fight me like a man. And Jericho quit being theatrical, you know that didn’t hurt.” I frowned.
"Fuck off it did!" They yelled, arm regenerating in a glow of code. "I hate Deletes…"
"Two on one? Heh. Well, guess I can spare an Allie." Void Key said, tapping it's blade to the ground as a Void portal opened. Walking through it was… is that Vilgax? "I hope you don't mind, but we made our own versions of your gear."
Vilgax then summoned a void version of Sky Splitter and Frozen Pride. "I've been dying to test these." Vilgax said.
"I forgot I picked him up…" Jericho huffed.
“Cause of course you did…” I sighed out. “I’m curious, now bear with me here.” I said. “I want you to hit me as hard as you can.” I said to Vilgax simply.
“Oh is that right?” Vilgax asked with confidence in his new abilities.
“Now hold on.” I said. “You might have misheard me. Not ‘half as hard’ not ‘some arbitrary percentage’. I want you.” I said simply. “To hit me. As hard as you can.”
“And if I don’t play along?” Vilgax asked simply.
“Well then I guess Ben was right about you.” I said, causing Vilgax to snap and swing Sky Splitter at me, only for me to take the hit and...nothing happening. “Well consider that nerve touched.” I said with a grin as Vilgax jumped back.
“Void you said these weapons were as strong as his!” Vilgax snapped, not knowing why I took literally no damage.
Void didn’t say anything, as he seemed more intrigued by this new development.
“Now Vilgax, you should know this by now.” I said. “You're either Perfect, or your just worthless.” I growled as I slammed my fist into Vilgax’s face really hard and sent him flying away rather fast.
The alien managed to stop himself in mid air. “I’m okay...I’m okay…” The alien said as he fell and hit the ground.
“Think I hit him a little too hard…” I muttered before seeing him get up rather quickly.
“How dare you make a mockery of me!” Vilgax shouted as a massive Void Aura appeared around him.
“I’m going to give you one last chance. You, me, hard as you can.” I told him with a grin. “We clear?”
“Crystal.” Vilgax growled as he jumped into the air. “Prepare to die you worthless mutt!” Vilgax shouted as his aura got even bigger.
“Oh ho ho! That’s impressive! I can actually feel that!” I taunted him.
“The only thing you’ll be feeling is Oblivion!” Vilgax shouted.
“That or disappointment.” I said while spreading my arms out. “Go ahead, flip that coin.” I said.
Vilgax could only growl in rage as he continued to charge up his attack. “Apocalypse!” He shouted as he dived down straight towards me.
“Aw how cute he named-oh shit!” I shouted as a massive fuck off explosion wracked across the area we were in, pillars of earth rising so high it damn near made mountains as Jericho and Void only stood their and watched.
After all the dust settled Vilgax panted heavily as he looked up to see I lost an arm, only for him to start laughing in triumph. “You think this is funny?” I asked with a pained voice.
“It’s hilarious!” Vilgax laughed.
“Well it’s not as funny…” I said before dropping the joke. “As your face.” I said as my arm regrew as if nothing happened.
“Wh-what!?” Vilgax backed up from that.
“You know, I kind of liked the old arm better.” I said as I started stretching the new arm “Welp, looks like I’ll have to break it in.” I said as Vilgax tried to attack me at blinding speeds, only for me to block it all.
“Why won’t you die!?!” Vilgax shouted.
“Really Vilgax, has that really ever worked?” I asked before bringing out my own Sky Splitter and slamming it into the back of his head, knocking him out cold. “Don’t need to answer that.” I chuckled as I kicked Vilgax back to Void Key. “Happy with your little testing?”
"Extremely. Runes notes were not all just talk." Void Key said, picking up Vilgax and tossing him back into a portal. "The data from this was useful. Now we know your power is not all from your weapons." They said, leaving through the portal also.
“Dick…” I growled. “So anyways...now we can move onto the Void wolves.”
"Well first we tell the merchant guy about the kids. Then off to the void wolves." Jericho said.
“That is true.” I nodded. “Let’s go tell the merchant about this and...the massive fucking hole I just made…” I said while heading off back to the Merchant.
We arrived back at the merchants place, he was just sitting down… eating a rat… a rather large rat. "So, what did ya find lass?" They asked.
“All sixteen thousand kids are now in my world being tended to by the best doctor's, as well as Pitt Valley being nothing but a Nothingness infused crater.” I said honestly.
"Ah. So that was the rumble that I felt. And those two little twats?"
“They...thanked me before heading into the castle's medical center.” I said sadly. “I’m glad they’re all safe but...guilt and shame suck…”
"Well ya did kill their parents. It's expected." The shopkeep said, bringing up the jar and sliding it over as Jericho took it. "As promised. The jar is yours."
“Thank you.” I nodded. “Now...quick question, where are the Void Wolves? I only know about the Forest of Roots, but I don’t know which direction it is.”
"Isn't that why ya have that void compass there lass?"
“While that’s true, might as well also know just in case I lose the bloody thing.” I said honestly. “Better to be safe than sorry in the Void you know?”
"What you'd need then, lass, is a map." The shopkeep said.
"That would be useful." Jericho said.
"I have just what you need." They said, rummaging through the piles of junk. "Now where did I…?"
“Need some help?” I asked curiously.
“I know it's… ah! Found it!" He said, grabbing an old box… that symbol on it… "This is an artifact that, back before this place even was the void, took you anywhere. However, after the void appeared, swallowing this land and everything, one person managed to make this thing work while in the void. Only one like it in this entire forsaken hellscape."
"And how did you come to have it?" Jericho asked.
"Stole it." Shopkeep said matter of factly.
“Alright…” I nodded. “Interesting symbol on it.”
"No one knows what it means. Knowledge of that era is damn near completely forgotten." Shopkeep said, opening the box as inside was… wow. It was an Assistant, definitely, but was way more… high tech…
“Uh...okay so you have an Assistant...but it’s weirdly high tech…” I said with some thought.
"Now this little treasure will cost you."
“What will the price be?” I asked curiously.
"I'll need… what your friend there has been carrying."
I looked over at Jericho. "The sword?" Jericho asked.
Shopkeep laughed. "No. You know what I am talking about."
"..." Jericho thought for a bit. Eyes widening after a bit. "Over my dead body…" They hissed.
“I don’t know what’s going on what?” I asked curiously.
Jericho reached into their shirt, taking out a necklaces. It was plain, simple. "Remember when I told you that, before Cript, before I became the Admin of War… I loved someone else. This was hers, and it's all I have from them left."
"A priceless item, for a priceless item." Shopkeep said.
“No deal then.” I said simply. “A map is fine...but giving up the only thing you have of the people you care about is too much.”
"Then we are at an impasse lass…"
"I take it you have something else in mind?" Jericho asked.
"Oh, maybe. Surely, that trinket would be of less value to you… if this love were with the living."
“And what the hell do you mean by that?” I asked, knowing full well that people can come back but wondering why he brought it up.
"There is tail of a relic, forged by the Void Mother herself. A relic of such bygone time before the void. A Code Catalog. Anyone that has lived, their Code is cataloged within it. A means of resurrection. Even when ended by a Delete."
"So Deletes are now completely harmless." I said. "Where would this relic because you wouldn't bring it up if you know."
"Not quite lass. I said it brings them back, I never said it brought them back as is. Or was." The merchant said.
"What's the catch?" I asked honestly. "Cause right now it sounds like they would be brand new people instead of how resurrection actually works."
"Yes and no. While it would be them, down to the last strand of code that made them up, this relic brings them back as they were when they first entered this world. Their world."
"As a baby…" Jericho said with thought and confusion.
"Correct. Mother's Womb, the Void Mother tore out her own Womb to become what she is, guess it caused her too much pain. The one being it can't resurrect was her dearly beloved. So she ripped it out, and cast it away into what is now known as The Tomb of Heroes."
"Well then...that is a thing." I said honestly.
"It's only the second most dangerous place in all of The Void, surpassed by The Void Mother's Garden only. Even at your power, that place is a suicide run."
"Hasn't stopped me before." I said honestly. “So what’s the actual problem?”
"One hundred floors, one hundred heroes killed, and morphed into the artifacts protectors."
“Sounds simple enough.” I said honestly. “How strong are these bosses?”
"They all come from the first cycle lass. You tell me?" They laughed.
“Depends on who they are...cause even first cycle people can be weaker than most people here.” I said, knowing they would be strong but not knowing how strong.
"One way to know for sure…" Jericho said thoughtfully. "This… this artifact could change everything Ben. No more lost soldiers, no more death period. Just rebirth."
“And...some people deserve it.” I said honestly. “People deserve a second chance…”
"Then off ya go. Hope to see you lot again, if not, well, I can't say I wasn't expecting it."
“Well either way.” I said. “Where would this place be again?”
"The Tomb of Heroes was the last place made before this place became The Void. It sits at The Voids Edge. A place many believe does not exist."
“Now the main issue is to get there.” I said honestly. “Cause no matter where you go, getting to the Edge of anything is going to be a pain.”
"Assuming it exists at all lass."
“It exists, you wouldn’t be telling us this if you either didn’t believe it existed, or haven’t been there before.” I said honestly. “And honestly...I’m pretty sure you’ve been there before.”
They laughed, a coughing fit leading to some coughed blood ending their self-hysterical laughter. "Been? No, but, I knew a fellow once. The one who gave me this." They taped the giant sword that impaled them. "Was all they could get from the first floor before leaving. Traded it to me for a complete memory extraction. Wanted to forget the place even existed."
“Well alrighty then...that’s one hell of a payment honestly.” I said nervously.
"A memory extraction means you didn't erase it. You transferred it." Jericho pointed out.
"Indeed." The Shopkeep said, reaching under the desk and taking out a… a castle Oblivion card. But this is different. The colors are so dull and lifeless. Normally they look more bright and vibrant. "Put them all in here. Handy little trinkets."
“Yeah, those things are nifty.” I said honestly. “So...looks like we’re going to head off to a Super Dungeon, how do you think we’ll fair Jericho?” I asked, given that Jericho is technically the Admin of War.
"We could be fine. Better if I can use your Nothingness for some protection/ kick." Jericho said.
“You can, you have the same powers as me, Heart, Eclipsa and Cript remember?” I said simply.
"I know, but given how… training went, I figured it was best not to use your powers or weapons until you had cooled off."
“More like how I accidentally destroyed an entire Dungeon in a blind fit of rage.” I said honestly.
"I was talking about when you were training with me."
“Either way, I’m not going to get into an argument right now.” I rolled my eyes. “So anyways...we’re going to have to find the place ourselves, or use that memory card to find where it is.”
"Card will cost ya." Shopkeep said. "In this unique circumstances, an eye for an eye, or rather, a memory for a memory."
“And...what memory would that be?” I asked curiously.
“An eye for an eye, so one that equals in horror to that one most likely.” Jericho huffed.
“Correct you are there.” The Shopkeep said. “So long as the emotional toil is the same, what was in the memory matters not to me.”
“Well...mind if we have a small example of the memory to give us something to go off of?” I asked curiously.
“Oh I’ve been hoping for someone to ask.” The Shopkeep said almost evilly as they tapped the card.
What I saw, in order, made me scream, vomit, several times, surprisingly Heart did not pop up though did shuffle around a bit from my vomiting, made me cry, triggered my Motherly instincts fear and gave me slight PTSD flashbacks to when I killed the first time and when I killed Villain Deku… Jericho was in the same boat.
“This truly is an unholy land!” Jericho whimpered, clutching onto me like a scared sheep… and I was doing the same to them.
“Okay so...legit, what the fuck…” I whined.
“You have not seen the worst this forsaken place has for those who tread it lightly.” The shopkeep said, unphased by what we just witnessed. “Bright side, you got the needed memory.”
“Fuck off you planned that scare!” Jericho hissed.
“I did, and it was worth it.”
“I hate you so goddamn much…” I growled.
With the location, and some basic knowledge of that first floor now given to us, we headed off to The Heroes Tomb. Jericho was still shaking a bit. “Alright, so first floor...shouldn’t be too hard.” I said, trying to play off the...event as if it was supposed to happen whether I had a say in it or not.
“This place, can fuck itself into oblivion.” Jericho said finally. “I’ve seen some FUCKED stuff under the old Admin of War’s tyranny, but THAT… was beyond just simply cruelty… This place is just pure fucking evil…”
“Okay now that I call bull.” I frowned. “I haven’t sifted through your memories yet but even I can imagine that asshole doing much, much worse...and regrettably...so can I…” I sighed out, Jericho knowing full well the locks I keep on certain memory doors that I make sure no one, not even myself, can go into. “So anyways...mind giving me some cliff notes on how not to pass out while going full hundred percent? Cause...we’re gonna need it.”
“Are you actually going to listen or will you immediately try and hit me with a Tomahawk again?”
“I’ll listen.” I said honestly. “We can’t really do that crap where we’re going…”
"Alright then." Jericho said, taking a deep breath. "There are several methods, but a combination of them is always a better. My method is to exert a large portion of it into the area around you. This has the added benefit of also dealing some damage over time to any enemies around you while also weakening their power, especially if they draw it from a place or being as all that will be around them is your power, acting as a barrier of sorts."
“And what are the other methods?” I asked curiously. “Cause that part might happen when I stop limiting myself cause...don’t want to hurt others accidentally.”
"Another is to focus a chunk into your mind, speeding it up and allowing it to be 'overclocked' in a sense, letting you mentally handle that power better, and of course, physically as a byproduct. One method I know of also is called the Burst method. Cript does this one. They unleash in small burst/actions the full extent, focusing all that raw power into a single point or attack for a concentrated, powerful attack."
“Would Drive Forms fix all this? Cause I do have a ‘True King Form’ that I haven’t fully tested yet with one hundred percent power.” I brought up, having gotten this form after I became King but didn’t notice until much much later.
"I am not that knowledgeable on Magic. You'd have to ask Cript there."
“Well we’ll figure it out soon I guess.” I said honestly.
It was still… a long ways from this place. Despite our speed it was still going to take maybe a week or so. "Ever just wish for a simple life?" Jericho asked, the two of us bored out of our minds and basically laying on a solid floor of air I managed to make so Lindworm could carry us to this place.
“It’s been a running thing I’ve wanted since I got here, but we both know ‘simple life’ isn’t really possible, whether it’s because of who we are or because the world itself is just fucking weird.” I said honestly.
"But doesn't everything have a meaning different to another person's based on preference or ideals? Given our powers, life's and duties simple is our current family life."
“True.” I said honestly.
"So, since becoming an Admin and all that, what is the craziest thing you've done?"
“Oh god...there’s a lot of things.” I said with some thought. “Can’t really decide on craziest...what’s the craziest thing you’ve done?” I asked.
"Drank out five bars and ate a whole farm." Jericho said. "A Milgalop farm."
“Milgalop?” I asked. “Sounds familiar but what is it?”
"Imagine a mix between a Cow, Buffalo, Hippo and chicken. That's a Milgalop. Huge too. Just one has enough meat to feed a town. Bones once broken up make great fertilizer."
“Cool.” I nodded. “But all things considered, the craziest thing I’ve done after becoming an Admin would be…” I hummed. “Well...considering I’m me, the craziest thing I can think of is having all of this.” I said honestly. “Family, friends, more power than I can ever have and more money and items I could ask for...that’s honestly the craziest thing when I look at myself.”
"Figured the craziest thing for you would have been shifting into a herm. Though to be fair by God tier and up standpoints, herms are the norm."
“Yeah, I could have also gone with either the two week orgy or making an entire colony is what should have been an endless amount of Shadow Creatures.” I said honestly.
"That's cool. So, ever try and make your own weapon unique from the others?"
“I mean, I have done research into it but I haven’t really tried to do anything along those lines. Honestly at this point with things I’ve either never had time to check or just completely forgot about I’m basically handicapping myself on complete accident.” I said honestly.
"It happens. How about a quick lesson." Jericho said, sitting up. "Learning to imbue an object with power."
“That would help.” I nodded. “That’s one thing to help make my weapons stronger.”
"Alright. Now there are several ways to do this. But two can be done by anyone, and one is unique to Admins." Jericho said, taking out a simple dagger from their Assistant. "The first is by resmelting the weapon, but adding into it magic or special ores, like your Nothingness, Zeke's Balance, ect. Second is by crafting a gemstone with this power placed inside it. In my experience, no matter the realm, Gemstones can hold a large variety of power depending on the type of gem it is. The Admin way is actually kind of easy." Jericho started, showing me how to do this method. They flowed Code onto just their fingers, tapping the weapon and suddenly l, popped up on an almost Holo screen, was all the information about this weapon. Damage, materials, who made it, who used to own it, even it's molecular structure. Everything. "This is the Admins Edit Menu. Our ability to access this menu on anything below Admin power is the primary reason why we are so powerful."
“From the Old King’s research, there’s apparently another way. Joy and my Council are actually prime examples of it.” I brought up. “Something to do with the weapon itself shifting or ‘evolving’ to fit the wielder...but not sure if I’m doing something wrong or haven’t noticed anything about it.”
"Some weapons that have levels of self aware sentient can choose their best wielder. Keyblades are a prime example. As well as your weapons. That can happen to a weapon in one of two ways. First, is that they are made that way, another is that they gain this sentience by squirting life force and energy from their wielder or wielders over time. As such they will search for those who could add to or better embrace their already established power." Jericho said. "But back to topic, this menu I can add power to this weapon by simply typing." Jericho proceeded to add a section to the weapon, adding under the new 'Powers' tab and adding Nothingness. The dagger then gave off a strong sense of Nothingness, so much it became cloaked in Nothingness thorns. "This does not stop there. Watch." He then tapped on the tab for stats, showing its rather low 5 Damage, then added four zeros behind it. "From weak to powerful in two simple edits." He said, closing the menu and giving me the dagger.
“Oh so basically just fucking with the numbers till you see fit.” I said honestly.
"In a sense." Jericho launched. "There is a limit though. If you try to make this thing go above you in power, it will create a code error, and despite it's numbers stating it can kill everything, it will not even deal damage. Majority of the time when editing a weapon it's mostly for balancing it out stats wise or to see which collector of your creation will end up with it."
“Alrighty then.” I nodded. “Sounds simple enough, let’s hope it’ll be enough against that thing…” I muttered as I started to edit all my weapons.
"Yeah. Actually, we might be able to use this before heading off. Which of your weapons has the weakest damage?"
“Physical or Magical?” I asked curiously.
"Physical."
“Um...I’d either say Foudre or Memory Stealer honestly.” I said honestly as I looked through all my weapons stats to make sure if I was right or not.
I wasn't off. Foudre and Arpeggio had the lowest physical stats but the highest magic stats. Memory stealer had… pretty average stats.
"Alright, which one shall we edit them?" Jericho asked.
“Let’s go with Memory Stealer, cause honestly I want to start using it again even if it’s abilities are...rather extensive and massively scary…” I said sheepishly while bringing out Memory Stealer.
"If you say so." Jericho said, opening it's menu. "Let's see here… hmm… oh, that's unique." He said, reading through it's stats.
“You mean the part where it’s basically the Nothingness equivalent to a Delete?” I asked honestly. “Cause I did some major digging into it and...yeah it’s basically a Nothingness Delete weapon...that’s why I don’t use it…”
"No, not that. It doesn't just consume memories, it also can convert them into various boosts. If I'm reading this right it can stack them up and you can use them as per what you need… but this code structure is all kinds of fucked. Whoever made this did not know what they were doing." Jericho said as they were fixing the apparently partly broken ability.
“I blame God, and listen the ability is perfectly fine to keep. Also did you miss the part where it can literally revoke someone’s existence and absorb them?” I asked honestly.
"No I see that part here. But like how a Delete does it, this one doesn't so much revoke their existence as it does… convert it… Huh…" Jericho said, looking through the code. "By default it uses the memories for boosts, the heart becomes Nothingness energy, and the leftover shell just becomes a Nobody forever."
“Oh...well that’s a thing.” I said honestly.
"That's default though… I can edit this to shift them into something different… something merciful." He said, looking over at me. "I can edit this to reset anyone who you deal a fatal blow to, so they revert to an infant state. Memories would be gone, of course but their heart and body would just revert back to infancy."
“That...sounds better.” I nodded.
"Might have to rename this thing then." Jericho said, happy. "How about… Second Chance, or Rebirth?" They said, working away at the former deadly weapon.
“Both sound nice…” I said honestly. “I like Second Chance better though.”
"Alright Then."
Memory Stealer was now Second Chance, it would now take away all memories from someone hit fatality by it, and revert them body, mind, heart and soul to infancy. As an added measure Jericho made it so they'd be teleported to the clone of me at the Bedroom nursery safe room. He also changed its design. Now it looked like, well, Kinda like Oathkeeper but longer and had a Silhouette of me at the top clearly cradling an infant. "Man, feels good to do that again." Jericho said, happy at their own handy work.
“What? Reforging a weapon?” I asked curiously.
"Yeah. Was one of the few good things to come out of me becoming the new Admin of War."
“Alrighty then.” I nodded. “Can’t wait to test it out...hopefully it’ll work against our new opponents…”
"I made sure to boost it's Nothingness output so it will be extra effective against these things. Might even save them from whatever hell these former heroes are in now."
“And how big are the boosts? Cause you said they stack just not how much it stacks.”
"Well. One memory, can be used for a substitute for Mana for a cure or any other spell. Two cards can be used to boost Damage, speed, Defense or even Mana storage/restore time by times three… of itself. Three will give you higher stats to your drive forms as well as boost Nobodies you summon by five times their normal stats."
“And it just keeps going and going from there?” I asked curiously.
"It made out at three memories but so long as you have memories stored you can keep using them for boosts and they stack."
“You can only stack it three times?” I asked, just making sure I’m hearing this right.
"You can only use three memories for a boost, but you can use another three to stack onto the boost you already have so long as you have memories stored in there."
“Alrighty then.” I nodded. “Thank you, and given that this takes memories from the Heart people would have thousands of memories.”
"The older they are the more it can take. I also added a little something extra."
“Oh? What’s the extra?” I asked curiously.
"I added a feature that if it takes the memory of an attack they can do that can be remade for you, it will rework the memory and automatically teach you the attack, but with Nothingness."
“So basically copycat right?” I asked curiously.
"Kinda but you don't have to see them perform it first."
“Alrighty then.” I nodded. “Good to know.”
"So, anything else then?" Jericho asked.
“Have you checked your skill tree? There’s a shit ton of things in it that you might find interesting.” I brought up.
"Of course." Jericho nodded. "So, wanna upgrade your other weapons?"
“Yes, I would really like that.’ I said while bringing up all my weapons, which Jericho easily saw that these weapons wanted to evolve, but not sure how many times.
"Hmm…" They said, starting with Arpeggio.
“Oh? Something up with Arpeggio?”
"Did you know it records all prior songs/spells?" Jericho asked.
"I knew about songs, but not spells." I said honestly.
"No, I mean it records every song and spell ever played on it. All the way back to when it was made. It's got a ridiculously huge library."
"Oh...I didn't know that." I said honestly.
"Yeah. This is good. Now stats wise, magic is perfect, but raw damage is low. Stupidly low. But given that, this isn't your standard weapon it makes sense for that. I won't change that, but I will up it's area of effect and critical hit rate so it will be a hard hitter."
"Sweet. By the by, why do I see this 'evolve times 6' above their status?" I asked.
"It means this weapon can evolve six times. Each evolution stronger than the prior form. Of course you have to be a certain level of power for this to activate but given… everything that's not much of a problem. But to evolve them you do need materials."
"I have every material in existence to an outlandish degree. And I said it was on all/ my weapons." I said while showing him the Evolve Button on 13 weapons cause Memory Stealer was already a new thing.
"Interesting." Jericho said simply, tuning up Arpeggio a bit more before handing it back to me.
When I hit Upgrade it asked me for a list of items. 44 Oricalcium +, 37 Power Stones, 63 Electronium Shards, 19 Nothingness Stones, 44 Frost Stones.
"Okay so I can evolve this and not put a dent into my materials right now." I said while dumping the amount into the upgrade system and tried to evolve it.
The weapon glowed for a bit, it's colors soon changing as it also grew longer, larger, and was now built to have more bass than before. It's colors while still blue were a mix of dark and light blues.
"Cool." I said. "Now...lets see if I can do it again." I hummed, already seeing Arpeggios stats go through the roof even after Jericho's boost.
As I hit the Upgrade option, it have an alert.
'Alert! Waiting period of four hours before next Upgrade.'
"Rude." I frowned. "Well...can I evolve my other weapons?" I wondered while trying to evolve Skysplitter. It gave me the list of materials. "Alright. Let's get on with it…" I muttered while spending the needed materials to evolve it.
While it's design stayed fairly the same, Skysplitter now also had a longer, thinner handle, and the blade part was also smaller and thinner, but also sharper. Color wise it was like Arpeggio.
"Cool." I said. "Thinner but more compact. Now to do this to my other weapons while were still running." I said honestly, knowing we still had a couple days going full speed.
Each weapon over the course of, by my count, five days, was fully upgraded finally. Their maxed out forms was… amazing. Interdiction now took the shape of light claws that extended over my own. They could leave damaging after images, be shot out like bullets and cast immediat reflect spells for defense. Sharpshooter now shot up to five bolts at once, automatic or semi auto at my will, and held enough ammo that when I do need to reload, I’ll be in for a surprise. I also can cast Anti-Gravity across quite the distance, and shoot my floating targets for a capture of lethal takedown. Lindworm while not much had changed they all had a small wolf head at the tip for the blade, and each Lance I make can shift into a wind wolf to attack. Frozen Pride while now in the shape of a star, also had a new power. I call it Howling Wrath. Each hit it takes it absorbs to store up for a possibly lethal sonic attack that disorients while also freezing all within range.
Skysplitter was now white and bright sky blue, it cracked with electricity, no, energy constantly, just holding it allowed me to move large rock formations at will and moving it actually let me tear a hole back home from here. I can tear holes into the void and back, and seal them up as well with it now. It also now completely ignores defence. Just Physical defence though. It’s blade was more like teeth now. Dire Wolf Teeth. While thin it’s power was so much more than before. Lunatic now held a unique appearance. Its blade was more like a blade, it was actually more like a sword, but the mid section split off into a curved tip, forming a crescent moon/scythe look. I can summon a moon at the center of the curved section to build up my Berzerk mode immediately. I can also give that Berzerk power to an ally, nearly tripling their power and, for a while, making them near immune to damage while in a berzerk. Eternal flames now were a bright blue of moving fire rather than metal, glowing brightly in the void’s darkness when we didn’t take that… god awful tea. They incinerate damn near anything.
Arpeggio had two sets of strings now, and I only really needed to play one while the others will take on magically, and even make water clones of me to play other instruments that will add to the songs power and give off a near unlimited pool of magic for my allies to use. Fair Game didn’t change much other than color, but my card capture prison is now its own dimension that holds even deletes that I can release, or use as a player in my game, total control over their moves and powers. Graceful Dilila now has teeth… No literally, actual teeth like mine that leech blood or life force from each hit. The first hit does ten, then it doubles per hit as the combo goes on.
Foudre now were longer, but their standard damage was triple the old and their lightning damage also had a near constant paralysis effect on the target, on top of that the speed clones I make with it each have their own health pool.
Book of Retribution was one of the more surprising ones, as it’s evolution not only became a sentient being that can cast the innumerable amount of spells it had, but it’s Book World was ten times better than before, as well as it’s evolution giving me a Sage Staff that, when used in conjunction with Book of Retribution, could amplify any and all magic I used to an insane degree, and even has all the modifiers added onto it.
“You know...with all of this weapon evolution, I legit think we can take it...too bad that No Heart couldn’t evolve yet.” I said honestly.
“Well it is a Keyblade, Nothingness or not it still falls under Heart’s category for these things.” Jericho said simply. “I wasn’t even able to access it’s menu because of that. Second Chance was the exception because of its unique origins and nature.”
“Yeah, Second Chance is a very special case...and also the two spirit’s in my weapons, the Elder Wind God Dragon in Lindworm and the Giant in Skysplitter seem a bit happier that they’ve evolved.” I said honestly.
“I can imagine. This evolution isn't just for them, it was also for you.” Jericho added. “Remember how your councils weapons all changed when they found their new wielders, but yours never did. Guess why.”
“Either because I was completely ignoring the fact that they could have evolved a while ago, or because they noticed something about me?” I asked curiously. “Still going with the first one honestly.”
“Because they all know who they are. You, as you are now, are happy with who you are. Once Heart fully accepts themselves, both the hearts of all and the Keyblades everywhere will unlock so much power. Now that you are accepting yourself, Nothingness and all it falls under will be stronger, better, whole.”
“Alrighty then.” I nodded. “But it’s gonna take a little longer for it all to get through…”
"I guess." Jericho sighed.
At this point we were both fairly bored, so we began reading books from that Library. I was actually reading the book on Floof Noodles Heart skimmed through. “Seriously, we should have gotten to the edge by now…” I sighed out, enjoying the read but finding this boring that we’re not getting anywhere.
"Void is a massive ass place Ben, bigger than any other creation or the other cycles." Jericho sighed, reading 'A Complete Guide To Stockpiling'
As I was looking through the book, I have to Admit, Heart's newfound biology is quite the healthy mix between Dire Wolf and Naga.
“How you doing in there Heart?” I asked the Naga Wolf in my stomach.
Still asleep. Huh… I flipped through the book, finding something.
Floof Noodles often conserve and even store energy by entering a hibernation at will, by lowering or raising their body temperature. This is often also used to help their young sleep within their many stomachs.
When In this hibernation type sleep a Floof Noodle can sleep for up to a month without food, water, or light. It is often Debated on who is a more protective mother, the Mama Noodle, or a Den Mother. Both hardly leave the children, however the Floof Noodle does have the advantage of having the ability to feed their young while they are inside their stomachs.
"Mama noodle jesus." I chuckled. "It was a cute joke name I didn't think this would take off that much."
"Well you did name them that, and it is a race that has never existed prior." Jericho added.
"I heavily doubt it never existed before." I said honestly. "And I'm sure I named them Dire Naga or something beforehand...I suppose Floof Noodle just stuck more."
I don't even know how much time has passed, but I was just tossing a ball up into the air and catching it. Jericho was reading 'A History of The World' but every noun is the word Mango.'
"How much you want to bet we would have found the Void Wolves by now?" I asked.
"Easily."
I shook myself awake. Was I dreaming again? I looked at myself. Yup, Diane's body. Huh… so I'm still asleep then. Must have dozed off.
"Alright...not entirely what I wanted...hopefully I'm still going…" I muttered. "So where am I in dream land?"
As I looked around, this was The World That Never was. Huh, neat. As I was walking around I felt something… no, someone familiar… and it pissed me off.
"Okay, show yourself." I growled.
As I was waiting for whoever this was to show up, suddenly, three Dusk's appeared. They motioned for me to follow as they walked away.
"That's… weird…" I muttered as I followed after them.
They lead me to the Castle… or rather, it's ruins. Leading me through the wreckage, I could see a makeshift camp. Getting closer they disbanded. Walking to this camp I saw… Zeke? No...no…
"I was wondering, when we'd talk." Kexez spoke, still human and exactly how Heart looked before. He was sitting by a fire.
"Oh. Its you." I frowned. "What are you doing here?"
"Hiding." They said simply. "Void Key can't enter the realm of sleep."
"You shouldn't even be here to begin with." I said. "Heart is a Somebody, so why are you still alive?"
"You can thank Jericho for that. Before his act was discovered and still played the villain. Extracted the… foundation, that was my own heart forming from Heart, and the body, Spoild's handy work."
"Well shit…" I sighed out. "So what has Spoiled been up to? And why are you hiding from Void Key?"
"Spoils has been building, literally, an army. Perfecting her clones. As for the last thing. I only joined them to help Heart realize he can choose his destiny, and learn to love himself. Once I sensed they were on that path I tried to leave… The Void Mother had other plans."
"Alrighty then...that sucks." I sighed out. "So...know where Void Key is?"
"I know a few places they shift between when hiding. But they don't use them frequently. Always adding too, always moving, like me. Hiding."
"Alrighty then." I nodded. "Can't be that simple sadly." I sighed out. “So...what? Are you supposed to be Void Keys proper wielder?”
"More like a vessel. I'm still a Nobody, and Void Key figures this shell would give them the body to store all that fake void they make up. They aren't wrong, but I'm not looking for a possession, besides. It would affect Heart as well."
“And that’s the thing we all don’t want.” I said honestly. “But if you want you can come live with us, there is literally no way that any of Void Mother’s forces can get near us. I made damn well sure of that.”
"A tempting offer. Since when are you so forgiving?"
“Because I hate Void Key a fuck of a lot more than you.” I said honestly. “I still hate you don’t get me wrong, but might as well start building a bridge instead of building bigger walls right?”
"Fair point. But still, if I do, I need a favor."
“I’m going to bite you, and you won’t like it.” I frowned.
"I need Spoiled captured. And I need her scythe especially."
“Three things, one, where is Spoiled, two, what Scythe? And three...what about your kid? Or did that kid just die?”
"She transferred them to another, the Spoiled she kidnapped and Eclipsa rescued. They were close enough, code and genetics for the child to grow in her. From what I hear they already gave birth. But, this leads into why I need her, and her scythe. As you know, most Nobodies are especially cruel do to a lack of a heart to feel emotions. She was cruel even with a heart. While still under Core, she extracted it, and forged it into the scythe she wields. A memento of Core in a sense. I can fix the error in her heart that denied her true emotions. But we must act fast. She wants her child back. Though child was not what she called them. She preferred the word… battery."
My eye twitched at that. “Oh no...she’s not going to live if she treats a child, her own child, as nothing more than a battery…” I growled.
"Which is why she needs to be found, fast. Once she takes her child back, and does… that to them, her heart will shatter and die on it's own, and the child will be lost."
“I mean, she literally can’t get to the child, in dozens of ways.” I said honestly. “We basically have all the time in the world, now where is she?” I asked.
"You won't like it."
“Is it a Castle Oblivion or something?” I asked. “Cause I remember Core was taking those things for cloning experiments.” I said.
"They are her mass production factories now. To make her newly upgraded clones, she packed up shop and left… but not far. She's still in the realm of darkness, just at its deepest layer, where it and The Void touch, it's there she set up shop and had more than enough resources to work with."
“That should be easy enough to find.” I said honestly. “Unless it’s not somehow.”.
"Navigation is the hard part. Between that and the unpredictable environment navigating that place is as hard as navigating the void."
“Well...I can take my enemies memories so that can help me navigate that place.” I said honestly.
"Doubtful. Nothing stays in one place for long. The whole place is an unending storm, and whatever land there is moves with the storm."
“Cause of course, why can’t it just be simple enough.” I grumbled.
"Cause life is never so simple." Kexez said, tending their fire. "I do know, who would know where Void Key would be at all times. His little right hand Vilgax."
“Son of a!” I threw my hands into the air. “I beat the shit out of Vilgax because he thought he was hot shit, but apparently he was my ticket to murdering that fucker and getting Coco back!”
"Such is cruel fate." Kexez said with a laugh. "If I know Vilgax, his pride is the best method of luring him out into your hands."
“Oh yeah, that’s how I beat him was get him to basically throw himself at me in a fit of rage due to his pride being hurt.” I said honestly.
"He will fall for it again, but he will be cautious next time."
”I only need one hit...that’s all I need…” I said as I pulled out Second Chance. “Then I’ll get all his memories, and I can set whatever caused him down this power hungry road right.”
"Save everyone. Heh. Maybe this cycle will be different." Kexez said with a sigh. "If I am to join you, I'll need a soul. A heart I am forming, but it's a soul I still lack. With that I'll be closer to whole, and if the worst would happen, it would give Void Key some hell trying to take me over."
“Oh, I can give you that.” I said honestly. “Did it with Diane, I can do it with you.”
"Perfect."
“Now the only thing I want to know is if this isn’t some trick for me to give Void Key what he wants.” I frowned.
"You are King of all Nothingness and Nobodies. How could I lie in your presence? If you want proof, use that crown, and command me."
“You have no idea how much I wanted to hear that.” I said with a smile as my Nothingness Crown, a mixture of the SIlver Crown I got ages ago and Nothingness forming a pretty cool looking crown. “I command you, what is your plan and speak the absolute truth.” I commanded him.
Nothingness thorns wrapped around Kexez, but did nothing physical. So far. "My plan, was always the same. Help what Zeke, or rather Heart, as they go by now, was built for. Becoming the perfect weapon. Once that was over, and I returned to them, I felt the self loathing again. Heart hated themselves more than anything. When Jericho brought me back, I felt a new path was required. Help Heart accept their role. Themself."
I sighed out, but nodded in understanding. “I understand…” I said while putting a hand on Kexez’s head. “For speaking the truth...I grant you a Soul.” I said while Kexez felt a new soul forming inside themselves.
"That ever persists of a soul." Kexez sighed. "I suppose it's time to join you. Guess I should take my actual form as well. You'll see me when you wake." Kexez said, giving me a wave as they slowly faded out of the realm of dreams.
“Well...that was a thing…” I muttered, wondering if I should have given Kexez a DTN to my castle instead of letting him find his way there. “Well...I suppose I should wake up now unless there’s something else the Dream Realm wants me to find.”
I woke up wrapped in a fluffy yet firm softness… I then realized it was a fur covered tail… "Good, you woke up." Kexez said. While physically they were exactly like how Heart is, color wise they were pure white.
“How does it feel to be a Floof Noodle?” I asked curiously.
"I can't feel. Not yet." Kexez said, a hand over their chest. *Soon though. Ready yourself."
Looking up and over I saw… saw the edge of the void. Liquid void energy formed a massive wall upwards for all eternity, and The Heroes Tomb, it was bigger than the Castle back home.
“Damn that place is big.” I said honestly.
"Hope you can fight without fighting." I was confused at that… then I remembered… that necklace...
“Oh this? Uh...I already broke the rule.” I said honestly. “Like...legit.”
"Perhaps you should learn the first rule of a king. Command your soldiers."
“I’m more of a ‘hands on’ king if you know what I mean.” I said honestly.
"Not with that Necklace. Besides, the king of Nothingness, and the admin of war taking on The Heroes Tomb. What a test for your council members."
“No.” I stated. “They can’t fight in this battle. It’s only going to be me and Jericho...I’m not going to let others endure whatever the hell is in there, let alone the first boss.” I said, remembering the horrid thing in there.
"And me?"
“Trust me...I wouldn’t even want you to experience what’s in there...and both me and Jericho experienced a glimpse of what’s in there...it’s not pretty.”
"How can I fear what is in there when I cannot feel?"
“Suit yourself.” I sighed out. “Where’s Jericho?” I asked while looking around for him given I fell asleep before we even got here.
"Here!" They gave a muffled shout from within Kexez's chest. A hand reaching out between the cleavage.
"What an odd place to end up?" Kexez said, pulling them out.
“Listen, there’s nothing wrong with being in fluff.” I said honestly. “How you doing Jericho?”
"One second you are asleep and I'm messing with a rubix cube, the next thing I know I'm stuffed between boobs bigger than my body… oddly okay." They shrugged
We landed at the entrance, and the doors were massive. Taking a deep breath, we entered.
To be continued...