Chapter 88: What I am.
Ardent Friend?
I stood upon a plane of black. It was the Void but unlike any I had felt before. I could recall the blood red blade cruise towards me. I could feel the sharpness of its crystalline structure as it split my head from my body and then in an instant, just like that, I felt nothing. When I opened my eyes, I was already here.
"You shouldn't be here," the voice spoke from close by but as I turned to the source, I saw nothing, just the endless Void.
"Where are you even looking?" the same voice, no, it differed slightly. I turned again but nothing.
"You're not looking with the right eyes," another version of the voice sighed.
I tried to reply but couldn't.
"It's his first time, don't be harsh on him."
"Actually, it's not."
"Really?"
"Oh, I guess he is a bit more special than us."
"Figures. Afterall, he did protect her."
"For now, at least. Can't do much when he's dead."
"Look at him all confused."
"He probably thinks he's dead."
"Well, he kind of is."
"Then again, aren't we all?"
"No, some of us are really dead."
"True."
I realised who the voices were, and, in that moment, they appeared. They were me. They watched from a few metres away, their faces faded. Some sat on invisible structures, others leaned, some stood straight, and a few lied down. I tried to open my mouth but again no words formed.
"He can't speak."
"That's good."
"He hasn't lost his connection."
"We should get to the point. Who knows how much time he has."
Although I couldn't speak, I expressed confusion and desire for information. I knew that other versions of myself existed through the other Ardent but as far as I knew, for so many of us to gather would be only under extreme circumstance. Travelling between universes was only possible through the Void, and though I had gained a power over it, it didn't feel like this was my doing.
One of the Ardent's stood, "You're here because you need to make a choice."
"A choice for what ending you want."
"All of us here, have made that choice in one way or another."
"Our story eclipsed. They reached their climax."
"For now, at least."
The Ardents looked at me, speaking in turn.
"I became a demon."
"I died at the beginning."
"I made it to the End but achieved nothing."
"I watched my world be destroyed."
"I destroyed mine."
"I became the Witch of the End."

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The Game Before the Fall
FantasyArdent Friend has already witnessed the Fall. The cities of Earth torn apart and those that remain forced to hide in dungeons for safety. What started as a joyous merging of worlds ended in nightmares as Rift Walkers, the enemies of all life, ravage...