"Yo" Talking
'Oh' Thoughts
"Really" Inner voices
"ᔑリ↸𝙹ᒲ" Mad utterings/Language of the old
T𝙹𝙹 ꖎᔑ∷⊣ᒷ ℸ ̣ 𝙹 ᒷ⍊ᒷリ ʖ𝙹ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ∷ ℸ ̣ 𝙹 ᓵᔑꖎᓵ ꖎᔑℸ ̣ ᒷ years ago
"FADE(1) AWAY!"
Aether shouted as he buried his hand in a dark sentient sludge with malevolent red eyes.
The Creature turned its many eyes at one of the few Primordial beings that can hurt creatures similar to it. Its uncountable eyes were red with madness, but when it saw the hand that was piecing its body, the madness lessened, and something akin to relief filled its eyes.
"I Tha⍑ᔑリ y%$ f∷r t*i$ me&cy P∷╎ᒲ𝙹∷↸╎ᔑꖎ c𝙹ᓭᒲ𝙹ᓭ"
Aether ignored the creature's gurgles and just pulled his hand when he grasped what he was looking for within the creature.
The object he pulled was a dark transparent ord, it pulsed with the same rhythm as a beating mortal heart, and every pulse sent out by the orb created a shockwave of maddening corruption.
"How saddening. On my Authority, fade and rest forever creature." Giving his decree Aether crushed the transparent orb.
The Creature shook and let out a scream. The sound made was enough to drive a demi-god mad with insanity.
Aether walked away ignoring the creature's shouts. He wants to go back and comfort it, but in the void, the only mercy that can be found is to Fade. (1)
"959,689,999,768,256,789,898,967,784,867,845,967,678,974,666,951,420,069 down an infinite more to go." Aether turned around to look for more creatures to give mercy to until his legs buckled.
"No, no, no, no! Not now Lumine and the others aren't here yet I can't afford to go insane yet!" Aether cried out as he clutched his head. The madness and insanity that was building up in him slowly took control of his mind.
Aether's eyes briefly turned red "Hahaha…HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" He would have continued laughing but was interrupted by his requirement to dodge a spear that was headed toward his core.
"I thought the void finally learned that sending copies of me won't defeat me. But I guess it still hasn't learned."
Aether snapped out of the madness that briefly took hold of him, and looked at the one who tried to destroy him only to find a carbon copy of himself.
"Well, might as well enjoy something to talk to, En garde you damned Faker."
Aether the one who briefly went insane. Looked at his copy with annoyance.
"You're the damned copycat asshole!"
"Oh come on. Is that really the only vocabulary the void can imitate? Every copy I encountered all said the same damn THING!" The Aether wielding the spear charged at his copy, who just stood his ground and prepared to intercept.
"Impossible… How cou- *cough* how could I fail like." My copycat asked as he crawled toward his broken spear.
"What a stupid question, the reason you lost is that you are the fucking faker."
The copycat turned to me, its eyes were filled with hate but weirdly enough, there was determination and acceptance in those eyes.
It seems like the void is learning how to imitate positive emotions. THAT is concerning.
"Seems like this cycle will end like this. I'm sorry Lord C⍑ᔑ𝙹ᓭ, I'm sorry mother, I'm sorry sister, I'm sorry my children. I'm sorry for my failure to unable to keep this cycle longer."
"Oh drop the act. You're already going to fade away, yet you still pretend to be me? Why not show me your true form? I've already seen worse. Who knows, maybe you'll be the worst form my eyes will ever have the displeasure of seeing." I proposed to the copy, who looked at me with eyes enough to burn an entire galaxy.
"Go fade away!" was the answer I got.
"...Well at least I tried… So be it." Grabbing the copy by its neck. I threw it up towards darkened sky that was filled with malignant growths, similar to the skin of a plague victim. As The clone fell I thrust a fist at the location where my core is.
"GAHHH!" The copy screamed, as my fist entered its back and exploded its front.
On my hand was another transparent orb, but unlike the rest of the cores that I shattered in this accursed place, this one didn't pulse with corruption...
In fact, it didn't pulse at all.
Weird.
"On my Authority, fade and rest forever creature." I muttered the blessing and crushed the core.
I expected a scream from the copy because even we primordials would be in unfathomable pain if our cores were broken. But the scream of pain never came out.
Instead, I heard a gasp and the words.
"Oh no, this can't be…" with those words muttered, the copy faded.
As the copy faded, I waited for my counter to go up, but it never did. How curious, did my spell break? Before I could ponder more on why my counter stopped working I was brought down to my knees again, but unlike before, where it was madness and insanity that made me fall, it was an agonizing pain that sprang forth from within my core that made me fall.
"*cough* Damn that creature must have used shared pain… Uh C⍑ᔑ𝙹ᓭ almighty! This is unbearable." I would have lied down and tried to regain my breath, but again I was interrupted by something crashing on my back launching me away.
"Uh C⍑ᔑ𝙹ᓭ almighty! Why are there so many copies of me here? Is the void so desperate to see me fade that it sends copies of me, just to see me gone?" Another voice like mine came from the darkness.
Shaking my head to clear the distortion I received. I grabbed the thing that crashed at me, and taking a guess I was unsurprised when I saw that it was another copy of me. The location where the core should be was scorched and exposed to the poisonous air.
The copy that killed this one was holding guns one in each hand, the guns it hold glowed with energy enough to create a new universe.
"Now. Make this easier on me, 'cause I really don't want to lose any more of my already low sanity." The copy announced. It raised the guns and shot at me.
Using the dead copy's body as a shield I blocked the barrage of energy that the gunner fired at me.
When the barrage ended, I charged at the gunner, who charged at me as well.
Gun handle and fist would have met in the middle if it wasn't for an explosion that knocked us away from each other.
"OH FOR C⍑ᔑ𝙹ᓭ SAKE WHY!? MORE SERIOUSLY!? HOW MUCH MORE COPIES DO I HAVE TO FADE!?"
Shaking my head again. I looked at another copy that appeared out of nowhere, its hand was stretched to an open palm with a ball of fire at the end of it.
"Uh, how irritating. On my Authority, let this cleansing ball of flame free you both fro-" it didn't get to finish its sentence when a pike was thrown at it and exploded. Vaporizing it, along with its core.
The gun wielder and I would have charged at one another again to resume trying to vanquish one another, but a rain of pikes prevented us from doing so.
Dodging these things would have been easy, but it was harder for me because the gunner kept shooting at me while both of us dodged the rain of death.
The pike storm ended and both me and the gunner returned to fighting one another. That is until I made a mistake and tripped on one of the pikes that rained on us. Not a second later a foot pinned me to the 'floor' and a gun was pointed at my face. I could hear the charging of energy readying to be shot.
"On my Authority, fade and rest-" It began the blessing.
MOVE DAMN YOU! YOU PROMISED EVERYONE THAT YOU WILL SEE THEM AGAIN! DON'T LET SOME RANDOM VOID COPY TAKE YOUR LIFE!
I grabbed the copy's leg in an attempt to break it so I could escape and get a second wind. But it was faster.
*BOOM*
"GAHHH C⍑ᔑ𝙹ᓭ ⊣╎⍊ᒷ ᒲᒷ∷ᓵ||!" I screamed as the hand that I used to hold the copy's leg was destroyed and reduced to a stump.
"Don't even think about it. Now, where was I?... Oh right! As I finish this blessing of rest. Rejoice and celebrate creature of the void, for peace is finally yours to achieve,"
The gun powered up. I closed my eye and waited for my end.
'I'm sorry everyone.'
*Gurgle*
Hearing the sound, I opened my eyes and saw that a pike was piecing the gunner's throat and core. The pike that pierced it began to glow red.
Oh P∷╎ᒲ𝙹∷↸╎ᔑꖎ c⍑ᔑ𝙹ᓭ!
*BOOM*
The explosion launched me into the broken sky. My body had severe burns and I lost both my arms (I used the other one to protect my core from the explosion caused by the pike) and a leg. While my physical body is as strong as any primordial, being exposed to the air here in the void is the least preferable.
Concentrating I regrew both my arm and leg while healing my body from the injuries.
Fully healed, I was about to summon my wings when.
*SCREENCH*
My body was snatched in the air by an avian void creature, it opened its 'mouth' in a way that no sane being should see. Reacting quickly before I could be considered a treat by this creature I reached into its mouth, gored its inside, and located its core.
"In my Authority, fade" With the blessing given I lit my hand on fire and destroyed the core.
959,689,999,768,256,789,898,967,784,867,845,967,678,974,666,951,420,070.
Weird my counter went up when I ended this creature. Why didn't it go up when I made that copy fade?
Shaking that thought I focused on producing my wings to get to the ground safely. As I flew in the sky I observed the view and my eyes widen at what I saw.
The ground was covered in my copies all fighting one another.
There are at least 100,000 copies that were fighting one another. Primordial energy was thrown in every direction, and shouts of blessings were screamed out. The tears in reality that were natural in the void are being closed at a rapid speed due to the amount of energy that the war was creating!
Normally I would be filled with joy at seeing the tears be repaired. But because the ones who repaired the tears is why I am very concerned instead of pleased.
THE VOID IS LEARNING TO IMITATE MY ENERGY! DEAR C⍑ᔑ𝙹ᓭ! THIS IS BAD! REALLY BAD!
Wait, calm yourself, I can use this to my advantage.
These void creatures couldn't differentiate me from their own species, so they resorted to killing one another in their confusion. Take advantage of it.
Covering my whole body with energy, I covered myself with the fire of creation, when the heat is enough to create a new universe I dived at a cluster of copies who were at each other's throats.
"On my Authority. Fade away and rest!"
*BOOM*
When I landed, all the copies at the center of my crash area were instantly vaporized, others far from the center reacted quickly and surrounded themselves in a barrier protecting them from my impact.
They dropped the barrier and, went back to attacking one another.
Alright then, time to use this to my advantage.
420,069 Years Later
"On my Authority. Fade away and rest!" I shouted as I shattered the last copy's core in my area.
99,997 copies faded.
'And then there were four'
Only three copies left, and finally, I'll be back on my endless crusade again.
Joy.
That was sarcasm.
Over the years of my war against my copies, I invented a new spell that allows me to locate where there are energies similar to mine. It made hunting them easier.
Locating the closet copy to my location, I shattered the fabric of reality in this part of the void with my speed. I guess fighting yourself has some merits.
Aside for Lord C⍑ᔑ𝙹ᓭ, I am considered as one of the strongest beings to exist. Now after fighting myself literally, I can see that my power and control of the C𝙹ᓭᒲ𝙹ᓭ grew in an extremely short time.
I have to give it to the void. It sure knows how to make a very good copy of the things that exist.
As I approached the energy of my copy, I sensed that the other two were approaching as well.
This makes things easier,
Pov Third Person
If one were to pear into the darkened space of the void during this particular moment in time. They would have seen four golden lights approach each other, if the void was a map each of the lights would have come from the north, south, east, and west. And all four would meet at the epicenter.
And met they did.
*BOOM*
The sudden stop of speed created a shockwave that annihilated the few existing atoms in the area.
The four last Aethers observed one another.
During their time in the war with themselves, they learned that each copy was extremely accurate in what the real Aether was. They have the same faces, the same powers, the same attitude, and the same philosophies.
But one difference is what decided, who will continue fighting and who will fade.
And that difference is weaknesses. Each of them had their own very different weaknesses.
And they exploited each other weaknesses till only they remained.
One Aether the first to stop on the 'epicenter' was riddled with scars that covered his entire body, and on his back were weapons of different kinds, from different eras. To a stick from the very first tree, Iron weapons from an era filled with knights and crusades, guns that shoot lead, guns that shoot concentrated energy that can annihilate any substance it touches, even balls that when thrown create a black hole. This Aether had every weapon imaginable.
The second one was nearly 'normal.' The only thing that prevented him from being normal was the space that surrounds him. It distorted as if it was TERRIFIED to disappoint its master. That and the transparent tentacles filled with eyes that moved in an erratic way looking at ANYTHING but the other Aethers in the area is what prevented him from looking normal.
The third one unlike the rest who had their feet pressed firmly to the 'ground' was floating cross-legged. To the naked eye, he would have looked the second most normal in the four, but to an eye of a god, he is the most dangerous. Energy spilled out of him in the same way, Dionysus spilled his never-ending wine into his mouth. Invisible orb-like things moved around his body with extreme speed not letting ANYTHING inside. Even air or micro-organisms wouldn't be able to enter the invisible shell.
The last one to arrive was the most normal of the four. And to the other Aether's perspective the most dangerous of them all. All of them showed signs of battle, from mess and tears on their clothing to injuries and the remnants of used energy permeating their body, each of them had it.
But this one didn't.
He was completely flawless, there wasn't any sort of tears or mess in his clothes, no sign of exhaustion, no injury, no sign of used energy. Nothing, not even a sign of unpleasantness.
Only a poker face is what they got from this Aether.
And the poker-faced one was the first to talk in the four of them.
"Selve's." he greeted.
The other three raised their eyebrows.
"What do you mean by selves? Copycat." The Aether with the weapons asked.
"Oh, nothing. Since well we are all nearly identical I decide to call the ones who aren't me. Selves. But just a reminder to all of you before each of you think of something really stupid like you are the real one, I am the original and all of you are just void creatures that delude yourselves into thinking you are the real one."
"Like ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ᒷリ↸ 𝙹⎓ ℸ ̣ ╎ᒲᒷᓭ you are." spoke the crossed-legged Aether.
"Oh? Isn't it obvious? Look one of you looks like you took on cousin Ares's choice of fashion, and another one of you uses their energy apathetically as if it doesn't damage the mortals and our children. While the last one is literally breaking the only rule that I refuse to break.
"I'm not breaking any kind of rule. Because while we are here in the void we do not exist, so the breaking reality is allowed."
"Excuses, excuses"
"The situation calls me to change my form, if I was just fighting the normal creatures of the void, I would still be in our golden form, unlike this scar-filled body. I like my old one."
"Oh, please look at the rest of us, all of us are nearly identical, you're the only one who changed their body."
"Let's… Just end this."
The three who were arguing looked at the Aether who floated, his eyes were filled with annoyance at the events that happened. But one thing lingered in his eyes that was present in the rest.
It was exhaustion.
They are all tired of fighting.
Tired of purifying.
Tired of the torture that they took.
"I'm just tired. I wanna go back, I want to see our children, I want to see mother again, I miss Fos, let's just end this fucking war so I can be alone again."
"Ha! Look at you, you don't even remember Ying and my vassal's message, which means I am the real one."
"Message? What message?"
"As if I'll ever tell. COME ON! Ready yourselves up so I can end this."
A weapon was powered up.
Reality obeyed an order.
Energy gathered.
Actions were read and are being predicted.
"ON MY AUTHORITY!" The blessing was shouted.
The space in the center contorted, and out popped ten figures.
"STOP!"
"HOTARU!?"
"YING!?"
"FOS!?"
"LUX!?"
Getting to the mindscape was a process that all four of them took some time to get used to. But the more they got used to it, the more familiar they got with the process. And familiarity brings comfort.
As the social Aether felt the solid ground in their shared mind hit his feet, he opened his eyes to be greeted by the other three who were sitting around in what looks like… A campfire?
Each of them doing various things, one looks like he was creating a blueprint, another was reciting the words of old and the last one was glowing green as the various bruises that covered his body glowed.
The Aether reciting the words of old was the first to notice the new arrival.
"Oh, hey Sora."
He raised his eyebrow, seeing his expression his other version laughed.
"We gave each other names, because we lost enough sanity, to the point we can't even tell whose who."
Getting an answer the now-named Sora walked towards the others and sat near the fire.
"Why Sora though?"
"Well, your the social guy, and well that's what Lord Uncle Zeus called us, and him being king of Olympus and your leadership and great social skills we saw it fitting."
Sora gave everyone the stink eye.
"Without my consent!"
"Well, even if we did tell you, all of us agreed that the name fitted you and your skills."
Sora only let out a sigh of annoyance.
"Haha, well you'll get used to it Sora. Anyhow, let me introduce everyone, you can call me Apeiro. Information keeper and resident smart ass, weapon and fighting expert guy over there picked Kong, and finally, our lazy magic man conveniently named himself Cos."
Kong stopped writing on the blueprint he was making and turned to everyone.
"Well, now that Sora is here, should we talk about our situation?"
"What's *YAWN* there to talk about, we already know why we spitted up. Without *YAWN* Lux and her purifying presence near us, the corruption within us WILL continue to grow." Cos spoke as the bruises all over his body disappeared along with the green glow.
"Then… What are we going to do now? Going completely insane is a big No, no situation because, let's face it. We are extremely weak, so weak even a Demi-god can destroy our core as of now." Kong questioned.
"Easy, we focus on our strengths. Kong continue improving your proficiency in fights, Sora. You and I will be working together most of the time. You do the information gathering and I do what I do best, and that's finding ways to use the information you gathered to help us. And as for you Cos-"
"Sorry Apeiro but, I'll be disposed of most of the time."
"Huh?"
"What?"
"Why?"
Cos covered his mouth to stifle out another yawn. "Well you guys can probably see that I'm way sleepier than I was before, and *YAWN* you guys had to take an effective way to wake me up"
"You're welcome by the way." Kong chipped in, his tone proud at what he did.
"Shut up Kong! Anyways as I was *YAWN* saying. Even the effective way took some time and I want to show you guys a way to wake me up faster."
"Faster than the effective way?"
"Yup, faster than the effective way, so the way to wake me up faster is like this…"
Cos showed the rest a way to awaken him, when they all memorized what to do, they couldn't help but ask Cos.
"Why though?"
"Cos, you gonna explain to us why you are lazier and sleepier than usual?"
"Huh?... OH! *Yawn* right, I'm keeping the corruption at bay by using pseudo-purity to give us time to find a purifier(1)"
"Oh, I guess that explain's why you're way lazier than usual… Wait! Where in the voids forbidden lands are we going to find a purifier!?" Apeiro asked as the seemingly impossible task was now just noticed by him, the other two (Sora and Kong) also looked miffed at the newly revealed task.
"Don't know, you guys figure it out. I'm going back to meditating and keeping the corruption in check." Having said his part, Cos crossed his legs, and a few seconds later he began to float and energy began to expel from him.
Sora seeing both Apeiro and Kong having a mental breakdown, let out a sigh filled with annoyance.
'Why am I the one who always plays straight man?'
"Hey! You two, we can solve that problem along the way. As for now, we can discuss who controls the body."
"Sora, You take control most of the time. Kong when a fight ever happens take control of the situation. I'll do the observing." Apeiro told the two.
"Works for me."
"Alright nerd."
"Shut up Kong, if you're going to call me a nerd, it means your also a nerd."
"Huh… Touche."
The three parts of Aether's very existence just sat there, around the fire within Aether's mind when Apeiro broke the silence after a few hours.
"Well, looks like the day is about to start, Sora ready for the day?"
"Yup"
"Oh and by the way don't forget to talk to Paimon about our alibi alright."
"I won't."
"Good now try to survive out there."
"Thanks, I'll probably need it."
Information page:
Fade – When one is forgotten, everyone will forget who you are or that you existed. But the universe still remembers who you are if you are forgotten. To fade is the worse fate for any being that has ever existed. But it is also the ultimate mercy.
Fading means not only will the universe deny you existed, even the one who faded will question why they existed in the first place for they truly believed that they do not belong anywhere. And because they deny their own existence, their minds will eventually stop thinking, and they will lose feeling in their core and souls, then they will be put on a true eternal 'sleep' where they will exist sleeping, till the current universe cycle ends.
During the eternal 'sleep' they will not feel any pain, even deep wounds that damaged their core, even those driven mad by primordial knowledge will have their minds. All will be healed and put at ease when they are in this 'sleep.' Which is why it is also considered mercy.
Purifier – A soul trait that can purify anything that has been tainted. Even the foulest being that was born corrupted will be purified if they are in the presence of a purifier. (The process and speed of purification will depend on how strong the purifier is)
AN: Hey hey hey. It's been a while sorry that I took so long. Despite getting two weeks of reviews, the exams were still shit. Anyways leaving my IRL life behind.
I'm here to clear something up. The four Aethers (Sora, Kong, Apeiro, and Cos) are not personalities. Aether doesn't have a personality disorder, he is just really insane that his mind separated itself to create other Aethers. You know what I'll just explain it is some future chapters.
And also do you guys remember that I said that Aether will be one again a chapter or two from now? YEAH about that idea I'm scrapping it away. (Don't worry will see our boi become whole again although it will take some time) cause it doesn't really fit when Aether suddenly becomes whole again out of the blue if you guys want to know when Aether becomes one again. It's on the part where the Important OC will show up on "We Will Be Reunited" which will take some time so hopefully. You guys will tolerate the ragtag chaotic squad.
Anyways, Follow or Favourite this dumpster fire. Do what you guys want but please give reviews or comments they really make my day.
The next chapter will be Amber (and maybe slight Kaeya) friendship chapter where our boi(s) will get to know the two waifus so hope you guys will enjoy it.