The final battle began, but the most important battle took place somewhere out of sight and out of mind. It was yet another game of chess, being played by the unspeakable powers that controlled reality. Their pawns were the players of a session, their knights and queens agents of Prospit and Derse, and a time traveling demon that thought he was in control of the situation.
One pawn had gained the knowledge of the true battle that was taking place, and now she zipped to and fro among the many timelines, observing the other pawns fighting each other.
"It looks like it's going well for our dear friend Caliborn," Aradia muttered as she watched the great green monster fry wave after wave of ghosts in the fracturing dream bubble.
Yet, even though it would appear to most that the monster was winning, the truth was that the goals he was furthering were not at all his own.
Aradia drifted off into the cracked void, where the dying screams of the Horrerterrors echoed ad nauseum. It was the death of the old world, the old order, and the old gods. Gotterdammerung. Images floated up and down from all sides; the old Troll Empress locked in battle with some of the kids, the Felt fighting another kid, two Jack Noirs fighting each other, and Calliope trying to figure out where to proceed. All of those scenes were pointless, really. They would have no impact on the most important factor of all.
"What's behind those cracks?" Aradia said, watching as they grew ever wider as the last bubble began to break apart.
Aradia had long wondered if their reality had been constructed. That they were living in a kind of simulated world, rather than a real collection of particles and physical laws that resulted in a true space. And now they could find out the answer. Caliborn, driven by a childish urge to destroy everything he could get his hands on, would use his power to rip apart the fabrics binding the world of Paradox Space together. Then she could see what laid beyond, on the other side.
Then, the last bubble exploded. A great cry of pain shot through the world as the largest chunk of flesh was forcefully removed from the Horrorterrors. Then, everything began to shake, and then the world turned dark, empty, and silent.
But only for a little while.
Aradia opened her eyes.