God of Balance

Chapter Two

There's a sharp ringing in his head. It's painfully loud, and the skeleton groans. He raises one arm to cover his eyes. His entire body aches faintly. Eventually, the ringing starts to fade as the Monster becomes more aware of themselves and their surroundings.

He abruptly bolts up into a sitting position. His head is all fuzzy, but he can recall the the whirl of adrenaline and mind-numbing fear that he felt. What was he so afraid of? Looking around, there's hardly anything in this empty place. The Anti-void. The name pops into his head. It's safe here. This is home. At the same time, the Monster is uncomfortable with the place. It's bare and empty expect for him. He was laying in a pile of some sort of sand or dust, but it's meaning doesn't quite register.

What..... who is he, again? Everything is so hard to remember. He looks down at his hands, not surprised to see their strange colors. His fingers go from black, to red, to yellow at the tips. His palms are covered by deep blue fingerless gloves. Black pigment creeps up the skeleton's arms, but the color slowly lightens to an ashy gray and then to white at his shoulders. The same faded effect shows up on his legs. He wears a pair of shorts the color of grass under a midnight moon. His shoes are a wicked pair of combat boots that are the same shade as his gloves.

His shirt is a plain white. It's neckline slopes down in a 'V' and shows a peek of white ribs with a fractured soul floating behind. A a maroon jacket with a hood goes on top. A scarf is around the skeleton's neck. The two ends trail down in two different colors: baige and midnight blue. What's most interesting is his eyes. Set in a white skull, one pupil is a yellow star while the other socket is filled in with red and a blue pupil. The Star tends to change shape from time to time. Fine thin, black streaks trail from his red eye and down his cheek.

     That's it! He knows his name! The skeleton hits himself on the back of his head. How could he forget!

"Alloy! My naMe is Alloy......", he says it out loud, but then gets startled by his own voice. It echoes in the emptiness of the Anti-void.

Alloy is happy to have remembered something, even if it's just as simple as his name. Alloy gets one leg underneath himself before standing up. The world spins for a moment. He forgot about the aches in his bones. Alloy nearly falls over before he can shake the dizziness off. While regaining his balance, his right foot hits something behind him. Alloy jumps and whips around. He didn't realize that there was anything else here. Behind him, a massive paintbrush rolls back into place after being tapped. Alloy can't help but laugh. He's never seen a paintbrush that big. It's just as tall as he is! He's still giggling when he picks it up.

     His laughing slows once he has it in his hands. There's something strange about this brush. A whole bunch of different conflicting emotions wrestle for control all at once in Alloy's head. The brush feels comforting an familiar, but at the same time, it's dangerous. Alloy won't leave it as much as he wants to. The paintbrush has a single strap attached to each end. Alloy pulls it onto his back and wears the strap across his chest.

Now, this place. Alloy stands up straight and takes a good look around the Anti-void. Yep. It's pretty empty, but not completely. Alloy can see a single blue string high above him. It seems to be glowing. The glow gets a little stronger in one direction and darker in the other.

     "That has to leAd somewhEre", Alloy talks to himself. In fact, he knows it goes somewhere!

     Alloy takes off in a sprint through the Anti-void. The ends of his scarf whip around behind him in a multi-colored dance. He can't help but laugh. Alloy is overtaken by a feeing of giddiness and glee as he runs. His body feels so strong and sure of itself. He's just really happy to be....... alive; happy to be present in the moment. Alloy runs faster, pushing his limbs to run harder. He's panting and laughing so hard that he almost doesn't see the web above him. The glowing blue strings stretch out in every direction. They all slowly converge to a point ahead. Alloy slows as he approaches the convergence point, caution taking over.

     This is the only part of the Anti-void that isn't empty. Alloy knows this to be true as soon as he sees the mess of items. Home. A single worn down beanbag sits across from a TV. Alloy has no idea how electricity would work here. A wooden chest sits a few feet away from the beanbag. It attracts his attention the most. Alloy walks over and kneels down in front of the chest to rummage around inside. As soon as he opens it, a wide smile breaks out on his face.

     The chest is full of hand stitched dolls. All of them are unique, and Alloy instinctually knows that they're all of real people. It's incredible! They're ugly. Alloy shakes his head. He reaches both his hands into the chest and grabs a doll in each. One is all black with extra limbs. The other is dressed in yellow with a little crown. Alloy feels familiar with them both, but he can't remember their names. Both of them make him comforted and uneasy in their own ways. Alloy drops them and closes the chest back up.

     When he stands up, Alloy is startled by a sudden beeping. He looks around frantically before looking at his brush. There's a small, mechanical device wrapped under the brush's bristles. It has a blinking red light that matches the clicking. Alloy gasps.

     "It's the beacon! There's a meeting going on!", Alloy shouts in a panic. It's important that he never misses those! People are depending on him.

     Without another thought, Alloy lifts up the brush in front of him. All his actions are instinctual. Alloy then whips the end of the brush to the ground. It rips a glitchy portal into existence. Alloy races through without another thought. The portal closes up behind him.

     Moments later, another portal, that's much more colorful, opens up in the Anti-void.