I laughed into the sky once again. This time, I actually felt like there was something genuinely funny.
"Ah," I said softly, almost amused, as I began walking toward the imps pouring from the cracked mountains.
"I have gone insane."
The words felt factual rather than dramatic.
I raised my hand again.
Fire did not hesitate this time. It gathered, climbed, and shaped itself without instruction. Above the mountain range, a colossal sword of flame formed, its outline clean and impossibly sharp, hanging there like a verdict waiting to be delivered.
The heat pressed down on the world.
"Fall," I said.
My voice dropped, not by intent, but by weight.
The sword descended.
When it struck, the mountains ceased to exist as mountains. Stone collapsed inward, then outward, pulverized into dust and molten slag. The impact rolled across the land like a second horizon forming, the explosion flattening everything in its path. The shockwave tore through the field, ripping the earth open, swallowing the remains of thousands upon thousands of imps in a single, blinding instant.
Silence followed.
Then the energy came.
It surged toward me, thick and violent, a flood of released chaos and dying will, clawing through the air as if eager to be reclaimed. Instinct screamed at me to absorb it, to let it refill what I had lost, to drown in it.
Against reason that was already bending, I moved.
I flew backward, forcing distance between myself and the tide. I watched as part of the energy dispersed into the land, sinking into the soil, into the cracks of the world. The last tendrils reached for me, stretched thin, then evaporated into nothing.
I landed hard, boots skidding across scorched ground.
I stood still.
In.
Out.
I forced the breath in, held it, then let it go slowly.
In.
Out.
The laughter was gone, but the echo of it lingered somewhere behind my eyes. I closed them, focusing on the rhythm of my breathing, anchoring myself to something simple, mechanical.
In.
Out.
The fire around me dimmed, settling into embers. My hands trembled, then stilled.
For a moment, there was nothing but the sound of air moving through my lungs.
Then the Void spoke.
"Your structure has changed," it said, its voice appearing from nowhere and everywhere at once. "You are now almost linear in nature. As a result, corruption from chaos will occur faster than before."
I opened my eyes but did not look for it.
"Chaos itself is not inherently detrimental," the Void continued.
"However, excessive exposure—"
"Where are you?"
The voice cut through the Void's words, sharp and burning, heavy with fury.
Silence snapped tight.
"Where are you hiding?" the voice demanded again. "I can feel you. You don't get to leave us like that."
Another voice followed, lighter, breathless, almost laughing.
"Oh," it said in wonder. "Is this it? Is this what it feels like to be awake? It's so loud. Everything is so bright."
A third voice trembled into existence, overlapping the others.
"I don't like this," it said quickly. "I don't want to be here. Everything feels wrong. Please, can we go back? Please?"
Then another, low and heavy, like words pulled from deep water.
"…You always do this," it murmured.
And another, softer, closer than the rest.
"You didn't have to take all of you," it said. "You could have left something."
The last voice arrived like a whisper pressed too close to the ear.
"So much space," it said hungrily. "So many things we could want now."
I stood frozen.
I knew them, they were me and I was them.
Anger burned in the first voice, raw and demanding.
Happiness rang in the second, unrestrained and bright. Typical
Fear shook in the third, small and desperate.
Sadness weighed down the fourth, slow and tired.
Love threaded through the fifth, quiet and wounded.
Desire lingered in the last, restless and eyes wondering everywhere.
My vessels, they were awake. I turned slowly, scanning the air where the voices seemed to overlap.
They stood there.
Six figures, shaped like me, but not quite solid, each glowing faintly with its own hue. Blue light shimmered around the one smiling too widely. Red burned around the one clenching its fists. Yellow flickered erratically around the one backing away from everything. Pale blue draped the slouched figure like mist. Pink pulsed gently around the one watching me with eyes that hurt to meet. Green coiled around the last, its gaze never still.
They looked at me.
All of them.
Anger stepped forward first. "You don't get to just pop us out and then leave us hanging like you went to get milk!" it said. "You don't get to decide we were in the way."
Happiness laughed, spinning slightly. "But wow, this is incredible! I can feel things everywhere. Did you do all this? You did, didn't you?"
Fear shook its head violently. "I don't want this body. I don't want this world, it's too big, it's too unfamiliar."
Sadness did not move. "I hate it here," it said. Its back still slouched
Love met my eyes. "Hi there," it whispered. "Im here to remind you of her. Don't disappoint her." it added its eyes not leaving my face
Desire smiled. "And now look at you," it said. "Still wanting, even after everything."
I said nothing.
The Void did not speak again, but i could feel its amused gaze on me. It was clearly waiting to see how I would respond.
I just indicated with my hand for them to descend to the ground, and surprisingly they did. Well anger tried to say something but a glare from me kept his mouth shut as he descended to the ground.
"You all know your purposes, I suggest you start doing what I created you for." I said with a straight face.
"Sit down and I will impart to you the method to refine the elements" I added sitting cross legged. The others sat except anger who was still frowning hard at me, another glare made him sit down and I began the impartation.