endless path, infinite cosmos

chapter 36

Vahn was floating in the void. He couldn't determine which direction was up as his body slowly rotated through space. There was a warmth permeating through his body, reminding him of a feeling he had lost long ago. As time passed a chill began to set in his body; he could feel the warmth begin to fade and a panic began to spread throughout his consciousness. He began a desperate search for the feeling, but no matter how much he struggled; no matter how much time passed, he could not find it again.

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Eventually, he gave up searching and began seeking solace in the stillness brought about by the chill which had permeated every fiber of his being. But, even though he gave up searching, he wanted to protect the memory of the warmth deep within. He curled his body into the smallest form he could manage and imagined the warmth still existed, a distant echo of a memory which he should have never allowed to be lost.

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The concept of time had long been lost as his body drifted aimlessly through the endless void. The stillness had been a part of him for so long he even lost the concepts that had defined him in the first place. His curled body had turned into an ambiguous shape and taken on a spherical nature. Thoughts, emotions, even dreams had long faded...remnants of a time long forgotten. Only the memory of the warmth kept his body from dispersing in the endless, eternal, darkness of the void.

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One day the thoughtless sphere came across a small light within the darkness, stirring something within the remnant spirit contained within. From the tiny, almost inconsequential light, it could feel the now ancient warmth it had so desperately sought in the past. It quickly sought solace within the comfort of the light, but in its haste nearly extinguished the light entirely. It became conflicted, both wanting to take the light for itself, but unwilling to seize it for fear of losing it once again.

It began to gently surround the light, allowing it's gentle touch to slowly warm its now cold and desolate frame. Every now and then it would split a small part of itself to nurture the light, hoping that it would one day grow and help it reclaim what it had lost. When it split these fragments, the light would emit fragmentary images of times and places the entity had never experienced. Within the images, it could see a figure, the source of the lights warmth. It leads smaller, but powerful lights, to confront the darkness and create a path through the abyss. The being hoped that one day the light and its companions would be able to-

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Vahn woke up in a cold sweat. His head was throbbing with a powerful migraine similar to the times he had overused [Will of the Emperor]. He desperately tried to remember what he had been dreaming about, but the more he focused on the thoughts the faster they would vanish. The only thing still remaining by the time he had calmed down was a deep, all-encompassing loneliness...

"You're awake. I was worried you would end up sleeping all day." A gentle voice broke the empty feelings that had began to take root in his heart. Vahn turned to see the source and saw Hephaestus giving him a worried look.

"Sorry...I was having a dream, no, a nightmare...." Vahn shook his head to dispel the remaining negative feelings before leaving the couch. Hephaestus, who was currently sitting at her desk working on diagrams, gave him a gentle smile while setting her pen aside. "What are your plans for today? Since you've officially joined my Familia, you can have your own workshop, but I think it would be better for you to apprentice under someone else for the time being. If you're not busy I'll introduce you to a veteran blacksmith. She is quite capable, and someone I can trust to teach you everything you need to know for the future."

Vahn shook his head with an apologetic look. "I've already made plans to meet up with someone this morning, and I still need to report my level up to the guild and renew my booking at the Inn. Hopefully, they haven't let someone else take the room yet."