Chapter 16: Banished
Ian opened his eyes. But there was no light.
So, he closed them and reopened them. But, to no avail.
Ian's hand reached what might be ground. He didn't feel the slimy dark floor before he put his hand on the floor. Not even across his body.
Then, he heard a voice.
"In the dark where the seal cracks wide,
I watch you run, but you cannot hide.
Sleep, little void, let the balance bend,
Your pain is sweet, and it has no end."
"I taste the cracks in your fragile soul,
I drink the fear that makes you whole.
Come closer, child, let the old gods play.
The dragon stirs… and so do I today."
And then it was silent again.
'Was that...a poem?' Ian thought as he stood up.
As he stood, light emerged. As if the surroundings were being built up, he was suddenly in the throneroom of a castle.
The walls were dwrk grey, riddled with cracks and damages where grey vines climbed through.
It didn't take long for him to realise he was in some sort of ruin.
The moon was clear on the sky, reflecting whatever light there was to reflect in this weird place.
Suddenly, Ian's gaze automatically drifted a head.
As his gaze had stopped drifting. Now facing the steps where a dark carpet cascaded down and behind him.
His eyes searched upward.
They stopped by the throne.
The dark throne was equally damaged. Yet, someone sat in it.
A dark shadow from a tree was obscuring the person quite well. But, he could make out the outlines of something that looked like a human at least.
The person was sitting with their legs crossed and leaning on one of their hands.
Their gaze was the opposite of his.
Downwards. Staring him through his eyes and very being.
"Where am I?" Ian asked, looking up at the person.
They didn't respond. Nor could he see their face due to a tree casting a heavy shadow over it.
With one flick of their finger, Ian fell to his knees.
He managed to catch himself with his hands to avoid faceplanting on the red carpet. The one he could've sworn was just dark.
A sharp pain struck Ian's legs. He hadn't fallen. His legs had been torn off.
Only stumps of his thighs remained. Actively bleeding as bits and pieces of flesh fell off.
He looked up at the throne again. This time, his eyes reflected pain... and especially fear. Just like the moon reflects light.
And still, he didn't know where he was, why he was here or who is in front of him.
Ian's breath accelerated to greater heights. His head feeling like it waa about to explode from the blood in his body going there.
Ian's brain was screaming as his internal organs were shut off to protect it. It felt like he was being hit a thousanf times in his intestines.
But still, Ian pushed himself up with his hands. The adrenaline was masking the majority of the pain.
"Who...who are you?!" His voice echoed in the desolate ruins, causing gravel stream down slightly from a nearby demolished wall.
Then, he felt his body falling slightly once again.
A quick glance down and he saw the floor. The carpet was now crimson red. As if it was being restored by his blood.
An unknown force lifted him by the throat.
He tried gripping it with his remaining limbs, but to no avail.
The latest part he lost was everything under his stomach. He felt his intestines falling out of him like a band of hotdogs, splatting onto the floor.
"What the hell is happening?!" He screamed again, a gurgling sound present as he was actively choking on the blood filling his lungs.
Then suddenly, he was standing there. A quick glance down confirmed he was alive and in one part.
The glance then went higher to the throne again.
"Who...who are you?" He stuttered, his voice echoing against the floor he had just been dying on.
Only a smirk slipped through under the shadow concealing the persons face.
"Who are you?!" He repeated. This time shouting causing his voice to crack.
The person simply switched the leg that was resting with the other as they leaned on yhe other armrest.
Ian looked around. He didnt know what to say or do. He knew he wasn't in shallow water this time. In fact, he might no, he had never been this deep before.
Even though it was a 'dream' it felt real. Like it was a real place that existed. A stark contrast from Veyra's realm.
He stopped gazing around and looked head on again. The truth was that he was too scared to take his eyes off the 'thing' in front of him.
"You're funny. You know that?" Suddenly came from the throne. The tone was that of a woman.
Ian's eyes widened at the sound and his entire body froze at the sound of footsteps behind him.
The person on the throne was gone. Now, there was only a hand on his shoulder.
"You must be wondering how I got down here so fast...no?" The voice spoke again.
"I-" Ian started. But before he finished, his body collapsed and broke into thousands of dice sized cubes.
He blinked as the moonlight shone on him.
He was standing again. No cubes of him anywhere. He was whole.
The person was on the throne again.
"I am Thysera. Goddess of potential and order." The voice bounced.
Ian recognised the name instantly from Charlotte's story of the three goddesses.
And Thysera wasn't the nicest of the three. Not now or apparently ever.
"Order..." Ian repeated to himself.
It made sense, kind of. Order.
'She has pseudo-killed me twice already at least. Reseting to the point I entered in...' Ian thought.
Ian cleared his throat as he met her now revealed face. "May I ask, mighty Thysera. What kind of order? Order as in things happening or order as in decisions?"
There was a pause.
"Any order I want." She responded slyly.
A frown crossed Ian's face.
'No. It doesn't make sense. Besides, it's a god. In her eyes I'm not even human. More like an infinite reset button...' a sigh escaped him.
"I won't keep you long. I just want you to know something." The moon went in clouds as she spoke.
Ian nodded in her direction. The eye contact now broken.
"Don't pretend to be something you aren't."
She said. There was a hint of agression in her tone.
"Don't pretend to be something you aren't," she said. There was a hint of aggression in her tone.
The clouds drifted over the moon.
And then, nothing.
Morning.
16.2 Woken up by a goddess?
Ian shot upright in bed, breath uneven. His body reacted before his thoughts caught up, like even sleep refused to stay in that place.
"Those words… were they a threat?" he muttered.
A pause.
"…Why am I so popular with goddesses?"
The joke came out automatically. He froze a second later, the thought turning heavy as it landed.
He got up. Quiet.
Ryn was asleep when he passed the guest room. It was rare enough to feel wrong.
Though, all of them had a lot on their plates currently. Especially him. So it was only natural he would be tired.
Charlotte was already packing down the corridor. No hesitation. No delay. Just movement.
She looked up and caught Ian down the hall.
"Are you alright?" She asked, her familiar voice warming him. Or, at least draining the cold he had felt in his dream.
"Yeah...just tired..." Ian responded. His inner face was much worse than his outer. He didn't know what would happen if he spoke of his encounter with Thysera.
It would either be a laugh from Charlotte followed by a lecture. Or he might be punished.
You never knew with gods. They were almighty, and unpredictable.
Thysera clearly knew how to break him down, and it made him feel terrible. The pseudo-deaths didn't hurt. But, his heart still felt them.
Like losing a piece of himself after each time.
He walked past Charlotte and further down the hall. His gaze falling to the floor.
'Smart choice.'
Ian tensed up. It was Thysera's voice. But it was just his own mind warning him of what could've been.
As he got closer to the lobby of the clinic, where he usually sat there was a knock on the door.
"Ugh...is she here again...?" He muttered tiredly, clearly expecting Mara to be standing there with her sly grin. But as he opened he had to look down to see who it was.
It was the girl he had seen right outside the clinic during his second day in Zendrya. The one who he had briefly talked to after being treated.
"Was hoping it was you who would open." She responded.
The smirk wasn't Mara's but the visitor still had one.
Fen stuck his nose out from the doorcrack as he sniffed the air. He seemed to recognise the smell somehow but was too lazy to investigate further.
Both Ian's and the girls eyes were on Fen as he trotted away and lay down on the lobby carpet like a sack of potatoes.
"So...do you need help or something?" Ian responded, switching his attention towards the girl instead.
She nodded, her blank eyes were still focused on the sad excuse of a wolf inside.
"Right...so, what's up?" He continued, a little stumped from her lackluster answer.
"Sorry, got lost in thought. Yes, I need your help." She looked up at him once again.
Ian thought for a moment. 'I'm not sure who this little rascal is...but I should be careful. But as long as Fen follows it should be fine...'
"Alright. I'll help." Ian finally answered. "But I'm not very rich on either money or time, so if you planned to mug me you'd better just do it here and now."
The rascal blinked. Clearly taken back by his no bullshit words. But her expression cracked into laughter. "I like you."
She folded her arms, the smirk reemerging on her already sly face.
"I'm not a mugger. And my time isn't very affordable either right now. So lets hurry." She waved her hand idly.
16.3 Trouble?
As Ian and Fen accompanied the rascal down tight alleyways and bigger roads they caught the attention of some people around.
Or, Fen did at least.
Kid's especially seemed attracted to the wind wolf as they approached to pet him, after getting a reluctant yes from Ian of course.
A sigh escaped Ian slightly as a bigger group of kids were flocking the canine. 'Hurry, huh.' He thought.
He figured they'd been done by now if there weren't so many doggy lovers in Zendrya. But, alas.
Fen's tail was swinging left and right as the kids petted his white fur. Some
16.3 Trouble?
As Ian and Fen accompanied the rascal down tight alleyways and bigger roads they caught the attention of some people around.
Or rather, Fen did at least.
Kid's especially seemed attracted to the wind wolf as they approached to pet him, after getting a reluctant yes from Ian of course.
A sigh escaped Ian slightly as a bigger group of kids were flocking the canine. 'Hurry, huh.' He thought.
He figured they'd been done by now if there weren't so many doggy lovers in Zendrya. But, alas. Some rough and others gently.
The rascal was there too. Not waiting, but in the flock of kids. She was taller than them. But it wasn't by much.
"Hey." Ian called out to her.
"Right." The rascal responded, clearly remembering what they were doing.
She shooed off the kids and continued walking.
"Where are we even going?" Ian asked, following impatiently.
"You'll see." The rascal quickly answered, balancing on the sidewalk with her hands behind her back.
Ian glanced at the sun. 'What is it...one or two days left? I haven't even started packing...well, not like I have anything to pack but my old clothes...'
Ian's eyelids fell halflidded. They had been walking for an hour now.
"What's taking so long?" Ian sighed.
The rascal finally stopped. "We're here.
She turned around, a giant sign above her head.
"Mr. Sight". Ian read loudly. He wasn't very good with the written language here. But, Charlotte had helped him study the letters and formal speech to some degree.
As well as being a visual learner helped him understand a little better.
"Yup! Mr. Sight." The rascal clapped. Before spinning around and walking inside.
"Hey wait!" Ian quickly hurried after, stumbling into the shop.
As he entered, he saw that it wasn't a shop.
But some kind of seer place. The classic red curtains and a round table with a glowing orb ontop present.
"Talk about cliché..." he couldn't help but say.
An older man in a hood sat in front of him.
"Sit boy. Vala, grab the guest some water." The man muttered tiredly.
'Vala...so that's her name. Guess I don't have to refer to her as "the rascal" anymore.' Ian sat down on the wooden chair, placing his hands on the white cloth.
"Fen, stay outside this room for now."
Fen replicated some kind of nod as he backed out of the room, barely crossing the curtains before sitting down as if expecting a treat of some kind.
"Give me your hand, and I will see your future." The man said as Vala walked in with a glass and a canister of water.
Ian reached out carefully. He knew the man was the real deal since magic really was a thing in this world.
It was at least better at concealing the false so far. A key difference from the world he came from.
The man's thin bony fingers held his hand, as the other was hovering over the glowing orb.
"Ian briar..."
The old man said the name slowly.
"A strong name."
Ian was a little caught of guard as he heard his name. One he hadn't told either of the two present here.
"Are you ready?" The man looked up, revealing his face under the hood.
"I'm ready. Read my future." Ian responded.
He couldnt lie that it was pretty exciting and cool. But, he also felt that it was sudden. He had walked in here and two minutes later an old man is reading his future.
"It's free right?" He suddenly asked.
There was a silence before the old man responded.
"Hm...I suppose. You seem like a strong boy Ian Briar. So I will take reading your future as the payment."
Ian nodded. Then the orb started flashing.
Just as fast as it started, the light show was over. And now, now the old man had a frown on his face.
The previously covered scar over his left eye stood out now.
"You, my boy. I pray for your future."