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THE HORRORS OF OBLIVION | [@]MERIDIAN
[D's communion into Meridian aligned minds is like a very polite knock at the door, except when the door is finally opened, a rush of icy wind blows in. No warmth or mirth can be found in the space of his mind, though it's a surprisingly gentle, dark void despite the chill. It's familiar for anyone who has had a communion with him, but probably kind of eerie for those who haven't.
It's also pretty quiet now actually.]
I made an attempt to Reincarnate the late Tribune. [He delivers this all very clinically, very factual.] It failed, but not because he hadn't been willing.
Something else had been inside him. [Can Nothing be something?] It had cleaned his soul out, if he had one at all, and left him as a husk. There was no soul to shift into another body.
It spoke through him. It said, "We never would have been able to Enter without the Choices that have been made."
[:wooper:]
It's also pretty quiet now actually.]
I made an attempt to Reincarnate the late Tribune. [He delivers this all very clinically, very factual.] It failed, but not because he hadn't been willing.
Something else had been inside him. [Can Nothing be something?] It had cleaned his soul out, if he had one at all, and left him as a husk. There was no soul to shift into another body.
It spoke through him. It said, "We never would have been able to Enter without the Choices that have been made."
[:wooper:]
2/2 Private
When I was dissipated during the last Oracle trial, I saw a... worrying vision. A nothingness that contained a will of its own...
[At least, he hoped it had been a vision, and not actually real.]
private as well
That is what spoke to me. A hungry Oblivion.
private all the way down!
[He is quiet for a long while.
But he didn't sever the connection, and it almost felt like he was bracing himself for something, building himself up towards an unpleasant task he knew he was procrastinating from, but needed to finish with utmost urgency. Finally, after a long while, he said:]
I'll share my memory of my encounter with... it.
[And it's like an outstretched hand, an offer to witness the memory if D chose to do it - but there is something distinctly repulsive about the memory, something that made every primal instinct bristle in self-preservation.]
no subject
The memory doesn't even get much further than the beginning, and he already knows this is it. This is the encompassing Thing that had grabbed him when he dipped into Cyrus to look for a soul to transpose.
D does not really feel panic, or fear, but he does feel apprehension. It bubbles up in the back of Byleth's throat in response, settled like an iron egg. All of Byleth's muscles feel the echo of tightness.]
It was the same as what I experienced.
no subject
[Though his tone is flat, enough so that it almost sounded sarcastic were it anyone else, Byleth is genuinely........ troubled. He felt like a ball of static trying to fray apart around the edges.]
That it was inside of Cyrus's corpse... is that the fate of everyone here in Kenos, without a Shard? They're consumed by that... [Could he even call it a 'creature'? That implied something where there was nothing] ...entity?
no subject
I don't know. I do know it's likely he had a Shard of some kind, or something which imitated it. I didn't check his body, but he could perform certain things only Shard-bearers can.
Something else is also at play.
no subject
['We never would have been able to Enter...']
Have our actions somehow given it a foothold...? I'm thinking about the words it spoke to you.
no subject
Is this something eating every iteration of those who compete for Oracles, or something happening only to ours? More importantly, how do we stop it? If we even can.
no subject
[Save the worlds - destroy them to create new ones. If this thing consumed...]
It's possible this may be yet another part of that. The more Oracles we gain, perhaps the stronger it becomes? Perhaps it's not the Oracle that grants the faction their wish, but this entity instead...
no subject
But if it's hungry, and it runs out of things to consume... Perhaps it is a key playing in what our outcome might be, whether it's our victory, or our reset.
no subject
[Then it may be sentient enough to farm, as it were. Give a little to assure eternal, sustainable meals...]
Kenos may just be its abattoir.
no subject
I know.
No matter who wins the Oracle outcome, it could very well eat one world, or the many we've brought back. I'm wondering if it will play our side, too, knowing it will have more food if worlds are returned.
[...]
Thank you. For the help.
no subject
...it's no problem, I'm glad to be of assistance.
[Beat.]
If it manifests again... via dreams or through a intermediary, what is the best way to combat absolute entropy, do you think?
no subject
I can't say with certainty. But it felt hungry, so my theory would be to starve it. The problem is figuring out how to do that.
no subject
[Hm...]
Non-existence can't exist if there are things... existing. But it can eat existence. Hm. Hmm...
[This is hurting his brain.]