Location: The Motherplace
Third Planet of the First Solar System • Universe Wyverno
The silence on the stone platform did not last long.
A cold vibration suddenly moved through the air beneath Oblivion and Lazard.
HMMMMMMMMMMMM
The two stone chairs trembled slightly.
Oblivion looked down.
The glowing cracks running across the platform had started changing colors faster than before.
Blue.
Gold.
White.
Black.
Then back again.
Lazard slowly stood up.
His expression changed immediately.
"What is it?" Oblivion asked.
Lazard kept staring at the ground.
"The Motherplace only reacts like this when something unstable appears."
Another vibration spread through the platform.
THMMMMMMM
Far below the endless clouds something moved.
At first it looked like a shadow.
Then the shadow became larger.
And larger.
Oblivion narrowed his eyes.
A massive shape slowly emerged beneath the clouds.
An enormous creature made of dark crystal and shifting light rose upward from the depths below the platform. Its body constantly changed shape as if it could not decide what form it wanted to hold. Dozens of glowing eyes opened across its surface before disappearing seconds later.
Oblivion stepped back slightly.
"What is that thing?"
Lazard spoke quietly.
"A Possibility Eater."
The creature released a deep sound that echoed across the endless sky.
SKRRRRRRAAAAAAAHHHHH
The air distorted around it.
Suddenly the space near the platform began splitting into different scenes.
Oblivion saw hundreds of visions around him.
One version showed him dead.
Another showed Planet Hurricane burning.
Another showed Lazard covered in blood.
Another showed an older version of himself sitting on a throne surrounded by guardians
The visions flickered constantly.
Lazard grabbed Oblivion's arm.
"Do not focus on the visions. It feeds on possible futures."
The creature moved closer.
Each movement bent the air around it unnaturally.
The floating islands above the sky began shaking violently.
KRRRRRRRRRRK
Pieces of crystal land broke apart and floated upward into the atmosphere.
Oblivion placed his hand on his sword.
"You fought one before?"
Lazard slowly shook his head.
"No."
The creature suddenly opened a massive vertical mouth across its body.
Inside it was not flesh.
It was darkness.
Pure darkness filled with moving stars.
Oblivion felt cold immediately.
Not physical cold.
Something deeper.
As if the creature was staring directly into every possible version of him at once.
Then it attacked.
SHHHHHHHHHHHHH
A wave of distorted energy exploded toward the platform.
Lazard pushed Oblivion sideways.
BOOOOOMMMM
Half the platform shattered instantly.
Massive chunks of stone fell into the endless clouds below.
Oblivion rolled across the ground and quickly stood back up.
Lazard drew his curved blade.
"We leave. Now."
The creature released another pulse.
Reality around them cracked again.
This time Oblivion saw something impossible.
For one second he saw multiple versions of himself moving differently.
One version ran.
One attacked.
One died.
One stood still.
Then all the visions overlapped.
Oblivion grabbed his head.
"What's happening?!"
"The Motherplace is showing possibilities faster than your mind can process them!"
The creature moved closer again.
The pressure in the air became heavier.
Oblivion's breathing slowed.
Not from fear.
From instinct.
Something inside him reacted.
Aethron's power.
Very small.
Very distant.
But awake.
The world around Oblivion suddenly became quieter.
The moving visions slowed slightly.
Oblivion looked upward.
For a brief moment he could see the possible movements of the creature before they happened.
Tiny fragments of future actions.
Not complete future sight.
Just fragments.
The creature attacked again.
SHHHHHHHHH
This time Oblivion moved before the blast fully formed.
The energy wave missed him completely.
BOOOOOOOOMMMMM
A floating island behind him exploded into glowing fragments.
Lazard looked at Oblivion sharply.
"You predicted that."
Oblivion stared at his own hands.
"I... think I did."
The creature screamed again.
SKRRRRRAAAAAAHHHH
Dozens of smaller distortions opened around the platform.
Different possible versions of the creature started appearing and disappearing rapidly.
Lazard cursed under his breath.
"If it fully stabilizes its possibilities this entire region could collapse."
Oblivion looked at the creature.
Then at the fractured sky around it.
Then at the infinite distortions spreading outward.
A thought entered his mind.
Possibilities.
The Motherplace reacted to possibilities.
Maybe...
Oblivion slowly stepped forward.
Lazard grabbed him immediately.
"What are you doing?"
Oblivion kept staring at the creature.
"You said this place reacts to possibilities."
"Yes."
"Then maybe I can force one."
Lazard's eyes narrowed.
"Or you could erase yourself from existence."
Oblivion ignored him.
The creature charged another attack.
Dark energy gathered inside its body.
SHHHHHHHHHHH
Oblivion closed his eyes.
The visions around him multiplied instantly.
Millions of possible movements flashed through his mind.
Pain shot through his head.
Blood dripped from his nose.
But he focused.
One possibility.
One outcome.
He reached toward the distorted air itself.
For one second the entire battlefield became silent.
Then—
CRRRRRRRRRKKKK
The space around the creature folded inward.
Its unstable forms suddenly began collapsing into one version of itself.
The creature roared violently.
SKRRRRAAAAAAAHHHHH
Its multiple bodies vanished.
Its distortions disappeared.
The visions stopped.
Everything returned to normal.
The creature froze.
Only one form remained now.
Stable.
Real.
Lazard stared in shock.
"You forced the possibilities into a single outcome..."
Oblivion breathed heavily.
His knees nearly gave out.
The creature lunged forward in rage.
But now it was predictable.
Physical.
Limited.
Lazard moved instantly.
SWOOOOSH
His curved blade sliced through one of the creature's crystal limbs.
CRAAACK
Oblivion charged forward beside him.
He jumped and drove his sword directly into the creature's center.
THHHHHHRRRRKKK
Light exploded from the wound.
The creature let out one final distorted scream.
SKRRRRRRAAAAAAAHHHH
Then its body shattered into thousands of glowing fragments.
KSHHHHHHHHH
Silence returned.
The floating debris slowly drifted through the sky.
Oblivion dropped to one knee breathing heavily.
Lazard looked at him carefully.
Not fear.
Not admiration.
Concern.
"You should not have been able to do that."
Oblivion wiped the blood from beneath his nose.
"I don't know how I did it."
But deep inside him he already knew the answer.
Aethron.
Far above them the sky of the Motherplace slowly calmed.
But somewhere beyond the stars beyond the universes beyond the dimensions
something had noticed him.
And for the first time
it noticed back.
To be continue.