The Shadows of Nature

7. False

Still.

Everyone remained motionless. No words, no thoughts, no emotions - nothing. For a single moment, it felt as if the universe had frozen.

Then came the darkness. Its mystery, its solace and its destructive power washed down all at once. Kasia stared at her astray image in the luminescent satellite, the original sea-green lustre fading off of it to resemble the Earth's moon. An aura of hatred emerged from the stripped energy, though Kasia made them her responsibility, collecting it in her soul.

A furious gush of wind blew across that land, destroying every bit of the nature. Trees had fallen and water rushed over the wounds of the creatures and the woods. However, the humanoid figures remained protected as they rested in the abyss of the land. With time, the atmosphere would surely grow repugnant, and that fact weighed heavy on the Shadow's feelings, her conscience.

Yet, all she could do was retreat to the chaotic environment.

"Kasia!" Zoey exclaimed with relief the moment the Shadow opened her eyes, gripping her shoulders gently to help her up. Her eyes looked sick, an aura of fatigue surrounded Kasia as she regained consciousness.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm feeling fine, thank you." Kasia gave Zoey a smile, gradually regaining her strength.

"What happened? Did you see something?"

The concern in Mildred's tone prevented her from sounding aloof, though Kasia couldn't shake off the subtle nonchalance that accompanied Mildred lately.

"I think my mind travelled to the Land of Destructive Tenebris. It's aura held a profound depth, the perfect atmosphere of sibylline darkness. There was a sense of tranquillity and belonging that I doubt I'd ever find elsewhere, not even Sylva Vita."

Her expression melted into a mellow smile, as if thinking about a pleasant memory. One that was left far back in time.

"Moments after I reached the land it simply... erupted. Sousconic's action struck powerful emotions in the spirits of two lands. Fear in Zephyr and hatred in Azrael."

Kasia's voice was thick with sorrow and Zoey's senses grew numb, the two staring at the ground as they reflected at their recent sights. They felt everything in their minds - every being did. But something in their circuits, in their hearts shook with immense melancholy. They didn't recognise the pain, but they felt responsible. The burden was theirs to carry.

On instinct Zindel walked towards the two, bringing their heads closer to his own. His eyelids were shut against his kind expression. The two followed his gesture, accepting his signal of assuage as it passed into their minds. A saccharine melody guided them to an empty void, three stars flickering to life. A yellow light emerged between the blue and sea-green ones, though their sole emotion remained to be the same. The connections between the one-dimensional points were weak, needing a simple burst of energy to form their bond once again.

No worldly existence remained and the three shadows recognised their presence. Elysian zeal was spread across the fabric of the dimension, realising pure sentience. The yellow spirit's compassion grew in zeal, recalling memories from the early times to help the other two remember their bond. All sight, all sound, all senses now faded away, an inexpressible expression, and a sentiment of realisation became their sole sense, their true sense. In that moment the burst of white light strengthened unity once again, the bond between the souls of the land becoming firm.

There was the shortest flash of darkness and then came the six, crimson and grey radiance returning to the circle. An invisible quanta remained, waiting to be ignited and recognise its true vigour. Nonetheless, their thoughts now beat as one even if their emotions remained their own. Two of the strongest bonds of that universe were present, their energy coming together in a sphere of enigmatic gases. An invisible fabric curled them all together, though they were not united. Not yet.

The colourless quanta approached it slowly, calling forth its power of unity with the aid of its duty, its sense of truth and altruism. Finally came the ordinary strength of friendship that grew significant by the wisdom of solitude in unity. With the burst of immense ardour came the burning rock, the scene from over four billion years ago playing before their eyes. The invisible quanta burned into its orange brilliance, settling beside the sphere of magma. Perhaps time passed and perhaps it didn't as the rock's surface cooled, an ocean blue slowly forming on the crust before the emergence of brown and green, with the gradual formation of white wisps of safety.

It was nothing but a natural phenomenon as the particles broken from a sun came together. Yet recalling the six's bond in semblance to that, to a parallel string of perception, held something profound.

The greatest Zeal Conflux. Their return to their dimension.

The moment was perpetual; the six stayed in that moment for as long as they could. Perhaps it was their moment of enlightenment, their moment of recalling their true form. Their bodies, however, remained on ground, and they were still bound to their duty as that timeline's Shadows of Nature. With a flash of light the six returned to the bodies of Ethelred, Kasia, Zindel, Mildred, Zoey and Thet.

The information of that sight settled into their minds in an instant. Although because of the demands of their timeline, curiosity emerged and knowledge was locked away. and locked away their knowledge. Nevertheless, their thoughts still beat as one.

What is it to exist? What is it to be a being, an individual, to have a life? We all have one destination to go to.

What is it to have ideals? Who are we? Why are we in this body?

Truth. Duty. Time.

Truth.

Sentiment.

True.

Thoughts.

True.

Reality.

True.

Dreams.

True.

Illusions.

True.

Everything.

True.

Nothing.

True.

False.

"You've finally stopped seeing, haven't you? Seeing is perceiving, perceiving is neither Truth or False. Perhaps both.

"The questions burn in you. All of you.

"Questions that need no answers. That need no words. Words are trivial, futile in the face of the one thing.

""