PAIN.

::What have you done?! You can't be defeated! Stand up, you weakling!:: The familiar voice screams at me, like it always screams

I labor to right myself, but I can feel very little physical sensation. Just the pain.

::Not like that, you fool! Stand up!:: I shake my head, barely, just wanting the voice to go away for once.

The pain engulfs my world as I begin to fall backwards into the pool of Lifestream. I feel my body breaking apart from the inside as I gush blood from a dozen large wounds.

::Idiot! You are a God! God's can't die!:: The voice seems desperate now.

There is pain. And then there is nothing

I wait and listen for the voice to start yelling at me again, but it remains silent, wherever it is.

For the first time I can remember, I feel at peace.

Then I'm floating, immersed in a liquid that contains the souls of all the Planet's dead. The Lifestream pulls me in, deeper down into the Planet.

The peace is gone, replaced by something even more foreign.

For the first time I can remember, I feel fear.

This isn't like the times when I'd explored the Lifestream before, soaking up the knowledge of the Cetra. Then I'd always had a body to link myself to so I could return from the depthless pool of energy. And even then, at the peak of my power I never traveled this far down into the core of the Planet. My mind freezes in shock as I realize that I will now endure the punishment of the Planet for my attempt to maim and control it.

I start to struggle as I come closer to the brightly glowing center of the Planet.

::Don't worry.::

I freeze in shock once more. That voice… different from the one I'm used to... calm, loving...

And then there is nothing, again.