Waypoint

Answers Unaimed part 1: Disagreements

Life is a difficult endeavor. You will find yourself aimless at many points, lost and confused. But you will overcome. You will wander alone for many years of your life, and it is in these times you will realize the true weight that your own fate has in your hands.

Prepare yourself, for soon the day will come when your mettle will be tested.

Enix was taken aback as he entered a pitch black space. What he thought had been a room was an endless expanse of stars. Above, below, and around him. The boy lost all sense of distance, acknowledging only strange geometric shapes and patterns that floated around him. He looked to his feet to find he was standing on nothing, yet he felt his weight firmly on them. What Enix could only guess to be the horizon was a line of soft light, with glowing wisps and trails of cosmic dust flowing from it.

The boy took a few steps forward, before light suddenly appeared all around the line, a green glowing searing light. The geometric shapes changed to match their hue, and began spinning more rapidly, moving together and interconnecting until they formed a strange amalgamation of shapes, and within them a figure appeared.

A multi-armed crystalline figure appeared, sitting cross-legged. Its figure was frail, its thin three fingered hands laying flat against its lap. Its head was a helm, a single horn protruding from the top. At the sides of the visor were two horizontal slits, with a gaping hole in between.

"I am glad you have arrived unharmed, Wanderer." Its voice echoed out, sounding both male and female, like two voices speaking in harmony. "I have long awaited your coming."

"I can see that. I'm guessing you're Ankh?"

"I am. I am The One With Unified Mind. I have waited many moons and seasons to see someone before me. Few have rarely entered the Foundry, and none have succeeded."

"I can tell. Your friends outside are pretty persistent."

"You have traveled far, I am sure."

"I have. I keep having these dreams. In them, people keep calling to me, trying to talk to me. Warn me."

"Warn you?"

"Every dream I have ends the same. The voices stop, and i'm at the foot of a massive mountain, completely alone as the sky darkens. I've had the same dream ever since I can remember, and I need answers as to what it means."

"Then you are truly a capable individual to have made it here." the entity named Ankh raised its arms, gesturing around it.. "The Foundry is a place that beckons many to its walls. The guardian of this sanctuary ensures only the worthy may pass."

"The guardian? You mean that giant bird?"

"I do."

"Yeah, not a fan." Enix frowned.

"I am aware. Regardless, we are not here to discuss avians."

"My dreams told me to seek you out by name."

"Oh? Hmm, yes, I believe I understand now. If so, you are fairly late-"

"So I've heard!"

"-but here you are. So, allow me to make our meeting more comfortable." With that, he waved a hand as more geometric shapes formed, cubes and pyramids revolving around each other, forming a strange pedestal around him. Just as it finished forming, the space around him began to change. Stars moved past them, large round objects hurtled past as the scenery changed to familiar greenery and stone buildings. It took a brief moment for Enix to recognize what it was.

"Oh, this is-"

"A view of outside the Foundry, yes. Sit, child. I would like to hear your story." A single hand gestured at the boy.

"What?"

"I would like to hear how you arrived. Where you've come from."

Enix cocked his head. He had come here seeking answers to his dreams, and despite the normal request, it felt odd to him.

"I didn't come here to exchange stories."

"You came here for answers." The entity said, expression unwavering. "You came to me because we called to you. Whatever answers you seek lie within your past."

"What does that even mean?" Enix's face scrunched at the figure

"The dreams you have witnessed were indeed messages. Yet the truth behind them cannot be given to any creature lightly. Only those worthy can be allowed to know the truth, so if you desire answers, you must demonstrate your worth."

"Well I'm here, aren't I? Isn't that good enough?"

"It speaks volumes, yes. Yet there is always more to learn of someone through their stories, as well as their deeds."

Enix hesitated still, looking away in thought.

"Child," the entity's voice softened in a strange display of sympathy, "my pantheon has existed for millennia, and for all our time in existence, I spent observing. There exists an eventuality in the natural course of this world, an inevitability. Thus, the Foundry. We call out to the world, inviting champions to challenge, in the hopes of finding those who can prepare for the inevitable catastrophe. You are one of these champions." The entity emphasized with slow gestures, punctuating his last statement.

"So it was a warning." Enix muttered.

"Does that answer satisfy you? Will you now enlighten me?"

Enix sighed, his mind already running to remember his past trials.

"Take a seat. It's a bit of a long story."