FATE/PARALLEL COLORS

Chapter 15: Priestess of the Outer God

Connla couldn't remember when she passed out. All she knew was that at some point, she had become unconscious, and that she was slowly opening her eyes in that moment. The surroundings that greeted her were extraordinarily bizarre. She was no longer inside the stable where Aife kept her horses, but rather some kind of dim-lit machine with openings and passages that stretched on for miles like an incomprehensible maze. Before, she was feeling the cold breeze of Scotland's mountain ranges. Here, the air felt stale, yet the musty garage-like smell seemed rather pleasant. Or maybe she was getting high on the fumes? She couldn't really tell.

Connla floated through this mechanical labyrinth like she was in outer space. Once she understood where she was, she regained full consciousness and swam around in midair, investigating at least the nearest entrances and crawlspaces she could find. Nothing looked particularly remarkable – just metal and old oil as far as she could see. Any sparse sources of light came from ancient lightbulbs that struggled to keep functioning.

Where am I?

That question kept cycling through the confused girl's mind repeatedly. Was this really a machine built for some purpose? Or was it simply a maze that she had been tossed into for someone else's amusement? Why was she floating, rather than walking around? Was there no gravity here? Was she in outer space? If that was the case, how could she be breathing? Was she supposed to be looking for something here? What could it be? How would she know when she found it? Was there an exit?

The questions ravaged her so much that she grew increasingly confused with the situation. Compounding her delirium was the lack of sound within this frightfully silent world. Nothing else was around to provide her with even a modicum of stimulation. Even her own breathing was difficult to hear. Maybe there was some kind of compelling force that was drowning out all sound from this world, or probably made her deaf. Regardless, she couldn't hear anything. As much as she wanted to call out for anyone, her throat still felt incredibly painful.

Hah… I guess I've gone completely mad.

Connla took a short break from her investigation and sat down on the edge of a high-rise skyscraper. She stared down at the abyss far below her with a forlorn expression. In the real world, she probably would have contemplated falling off to her death. In this world though, she knew it was pointless to try. Maybe that was the reason why there was no gravity here. All she could do was sway her legs and think about what Aife did to her.

Mother… why? Why did you attack me like that? I was just trying to ask you some questions…

She spent an immeasurably long time just sitting there in deep thought. She didn't know what to believe anymore. She was so exhausted that she couldn't cry or get angry. She simply wanted to rest… to sleep as long as she liked, without worrying about appeasing anyone. She was sick and tired of doing her best, only to find out it wasn't enough. Day in and day out, it was always the same routine – do some ridiculous task or 'endurance training', then be told to do better tomorrow. What was the point of trying so hard when it wasn't going to be enough anyway?

Maybe I should just sit here and rot to death.

Connla sat back and rolled her eyes up, staring at the metallic ceiling that was as huge as the sky itself. It probably had millions of other passageways she could explore as well. However, that was when she noticed a peculiar glint of colored light shining from one of the thousands of black holes in the ceiling. Her eye followed its path as it streaked along the empty space, changing colors at random with such speed that her sight couldn't keep up. Compared to this drab and monotonous world, it was strangely pretty. To her surprise, the light kept descending closer and closer to her until it was within range.

"There you are!" a young boy's voice exclaimed from the light source. Now that Connla could examine this colorful light, it turned out to be something akin to a large-sized firefly, except that the insect was nowhere to be found within this formless entity. The strange glow zipped around in joy as it cried out, "I've been looking everywhere for you!"

Connla's mouth moved, but she couldn't utter a sound.

"What's the matter? Are you trying to talk?" the being asked. "You don't need to. We can communicate psychically."

(Psychically?) she tried asking with her mind.

"Yeah, that's it."

(Oh… I never thought of trying that…)

"I can't blame you. You must have no idea where you are right now. Well not to worry – I'm here to help you out, as my god has decreed."

(Your god?)

"I'm an acolyte of the Outer God Daoloth. Does that name sound familiar to you?"

Connla glanced away as she tried to think of where she heard it before. Eventually, she shook her head and admitted, (It sounds familiar… like a feeling of déjà vu. It's practically on the tip of my tongue… but I don't know…)

"That's okay," the light assured. "Daoloth figured you wouldn't remember clearly. The two of you made contact in a different timeline anyway. Your Spirit Origin is struggling to recall even just the sensation."

(A different timeline?)

"The timeline that many would call Proper Human History. Your timeline is a bit different. Rather than make contact with Daoloth, he already knew who you were thanks to what happened in Proper Human History. He has deemed you worthy of being his priestess, but he needs to get you ready for the transition from a denizen of Earth into an entity of the cosmos."

(I'm not sure I understand…)

"Well, let's take things one at a time. For starters, Daoloth is an Outer God who comes from a place far, far, far away from your planet. He exists within dimensions, always observing and analyzing countless millions of other worlds. Anyone who summons him can be given the power of seeing things as they truly are, although pretty much everyone who uses this power winds up dying from sheer madness. Because of that, he's extremely selective of who he chooses to be his priests. Most other Outer Gods have entire congregations of priests following them, but not Daoloth. You could say he's an oddity among the Outer Gods' pantheon, and that's saying a lot."

(Are you saying that this Daoloth thing is a recluse of some kind?)

"Ah ha ha ha! A recluse, huh? That's a pretty interesting way of putting it! Well, I don't really know what Daoloth's deal is, but I do know that you and I are both worthy of being his followers."

(But… why me? What did I do that would interest such a god?)

"When he made contact with your Proper Human History counterpart, she had already realized what Earth's darkest truth was without relying on his power. It left quite an impression on him, so he imparted a fragment of himself to her before she died."

Connla tensed up for a moment. Then she narrowed her eyes and asked, (Was she killed by a man using a crimson spear?)

"That's right," the light replied. "It's exactly as what you saw in your vision."

(No way…)

"Not only that, the man who murdered her was her own father."

She was so shocked that every muscle in her body froze. Her eyes widened and her jaw gaped as she whispered, (It can't be…)

"It's true… You were going to follow that same path as well. However, Daoloth managed to trigger your Imbas Forosnai abilities so that you could make that prediction. Since you knew what was going to happen, you questioned your mother's motives and avoided having to go to Ireland as a proxy for her petty vengeance."

(What happened to my mother after she attacked me? She just seemed to blink out of existence.)

"Daoloth transported her to another dimension. I couldn't tell you where, but I'm sure it's one that she had no possibility of surviving. She could be floating in outer space, or crushed to death by the deep ocean's water pressure, or being feasted on by a horde of aliens, or wandering around in a maze similar to this one until she dies of starvation. It's better not to question it, if you ask me."

(…)

"You do realize what this means, right? It means that you've averted your fate, exactly as what your Proper Human History counterpart wished for."

(My counterpart… made such a wish?)

"In her dying moments, she realized that she was going to cause her father immense suffering once he discovered he had killed his own daughter. Not only that, she understood that her mother must've hated her, only keeping her alive so she could be used in a sick and twisted trap to get back at her father. What was the point of being alive if she was just going to cause such pain for her parents? How could she make anyone else happy if her own family became miserable due to the circumstances behind her birth?"

Connla fell silent as she pondered these questions. Aife's enraged expression when she jammed that hot iron into her throat started to make more sense. She had a gut feeling that Aife despised her, but she never had the courage to ask. Soon, she said, (So she doesn't want to exist in order to save her parents the sorrow of having a child they didn't want.)

"That's right. Daoloth could've chosen any number of your counterparts to be his priestess, but he chose you to inherit your Proper Human History counterpart's wish."

(Why me? What makes me stand out from any of my other selves?)

"I don't really know. It's impossible to tell what's going through an Outer God's mind."

(I guess so.)

"The fact is that you have the potential to be his priestess, and to redo human history so that you were never born. In other words, you've become a Denialist."

(A Denialist?)

"A Servant who rejects their history and seeks to change it. You can gain the power to erase yourself from human history, just as what your counterpart wanted."

Connla sat there, thinking about how to respond. While she found this strange light's story a bit too unbelievable to accept at face value, there was also that tinge of fear she felt after being so brutally assaulted by Aife. If she rejected this proposition, what was going to happen to her? Could she really break her own fate of being killed by her father without an Outer God's help? Even if she did, would she just wind up dying to a different cause at such a young age anyway? The prospect terrified her. How was she ever going to be happy on a planet where its denizens slaughtered each other over such trifling reasons?

(I can't change how this world works… To even consider that notion is the summit of folly.)

"Hm?" the nameless firefly murmured.

(If I can't do anything about this world's cruelty… maybe it would be better… to escape from it. )

"Of course. In outer space, the possibilities are endless."

A new determination welled within Connla as she faced the sentient light and declared, (Okay. I'll do it. I'll make my counterpart's wish come true.)

"Then you'll become Daoloth's acolyte?"

(I will. My mother hated me, my father would've killed me, and I don't know anyone else. There's nothing left for me on Earth. Besides, if I remove myself from human history before anyone knows I exist, it shouldn't affect anything, right?)

"Good point. I don't know how it'll be done, but there are some possibilities. Maybe your parents failed to conceive you. Or perhaps you died stillborn. You could even die while training under your mother or mentor. The point is that you need to avoid meeting your father in Proper Human History. He's the one who keeps your memory alive through the stories he had people tell after his death. If those stories are what got you written on the Throne of Heroes, then you need to prevent those tales from being told in the first place. It's the only way you can break away from being a 'human being' and evolve into a 'foreign priestess'."

(So those stories and the Throne of Heroes are getting in the way of me leaving Earth behind?)

"Right. So long as you and your father never meet, Daoloth will figure out a way to supplant this timeline's history as the proper history."

(How is he going to do that?)

"I have no idea. The important thing is that you and I train together to get ready for our ascension as his devoted priests. That means we'll have to be on the move at all times."

Connla tilted her head and asked, (Why is that?)

The light swirled around as if darting about in a panic as it exclaimed, "You might not believe this, but your father's looking for you as we speak!"

(What!?)

"For now, Daoloth's moved your body to some other location in that country you call Scotland. Some islands in the far north, I believe?"

(Must be somewhere in the Orkney Islands then. They're rather remote and difficult to reach. But wait… When you say he moved my body… where exactly is this place then?)

"Oh yeah. You don't know where you are, do you? Not to worry – we're inside a dream right now."

Connla glanced at her surroundings once more. The bizarre geometry and drab atmosphere started to make more sense if this was all just part of a vivid dream. The sentient glow continued, "This is part of our training. We're supposed to observe and journey through numerous worlds, learning and growing as foreign entities as we go. You could say that it's an endless adventure, with the end goal being the destruction of our former selves so we can transform into an alien god ourselves. Daoloth decided that the best way for you to accomplish this is through your dreams, since your physical body cannot survive in any of the dimensions he has observed."

(So he needs to keep my body on Earth, but we also need to keep moving everywhere to avoid meeting my father until I'm ready.)

"That's the gist of it. On the bright side, Daoloth can possess your body and take it to any number of parallel Earths, or even to Imaginary Number space. Whatever it takes to escape your father's pursuit."

(I see. So he's possessing my body while I'm constantly asleep undergoing my training.)

"Yep. I know this is a lot to take in, but I'm glad you're catching on quickly."

(I kind of needed to be smart, if I wanted to undergo my mother's training to her satisfaction,) Connla said. She then stared at her companion and asked, (What about you? You've been talking about Daoloth as a separate entity, so I'm guessing you're not him.)

"You'd be right. There's not really much to talk about myself," the stranger muttered sheepishly. "I'm kind of in a similar situation to you, but not quite."

(How so?)

"I'm what's called a Mi-go, from the planet Yuggoth. It's a species with the biology of what you humans call fungi, but with the physical appearance of crustaceans. We're supposed to be a hive mind that worships various Outer Gods, but for whatever reason, my mind mutated and strayed from the path of how an ordinary Mi-go should develop. I started gaining these strange thoughts, and awakened to the concept of human psychology. I was so scared of telling anyone else about this… but since we're a hive mind, my brethren quickly found out about my mutation and attempted to slaughter me."

Connla frowned and moaned, (That's horrible…)

"I laid there dying, staring at Yuggoth's moon for the longest time. My mind wandered to places it shouldn't have. That was when I realized something; I was a human being inside an alien's skin. I didn't belong there. I wanted to be anywhere but there. I also discovered that my brethren had 'inner humans'… incomprehensible monsters that were incapable of understanding each other."

(That sounds like…)

"Yep. It's the reverse of what you discovered when you were dying; you, and every other human, had an 'inner alien' that could not be understood by anyone else. I gazed upon Daoloth's real form, and I lost my original body in favor of being reduced to this spirit form. I didn't really understand why he did it, but in hindsight, maybe it was so my form would be more palatable for you to handle."

(Probably.)

"Well, whether it's an 'inner human' or an 'inner alien' doesn't really matter in the end. The point is that every living thing in the universe has some kind of hidden monster lurking within themselves, which cannot be understood by anyone else. The trouble is that no one is either wise nor willing enough to come to this conclusion without Daoloth's power. Anyone who discovers and accepts this without his help is worthy of being his priests. That's why worship of Daoloth is incredibly rare, even among the Outer Gods."

(So even though we're from different planets, you and I realized the same thing, and were acknowledged by an Outer God for it. This kind of makes me feel rather small and insignificant, like a speck in the corner of some divine god's eye.)

"I know how you feel. I didn't think I was worthy of his notice either. But unlike many Outer Gods, Daoloth is not a threat to anyone. Once he chooses his followers, who have completely lost their original way of life and discovered the truth, he will be their guide towards true enlightenment. You could say that he's a massive nerd who just wants to gather all of the information in the universe on his own terms, without any of the other Outer Gods interfering."

(Calling such a powerful entity a nerd… You're quite the bold one, aren't you?)

"Eh he he. Maybe that's not the right word I should be using. Oh well. Whatever the case, I gazed upon Daoloth's real form right as I died, and I lost my original body in favor of being reduced to this spirit form. He intended for us to work together as a single unit, and he knows the human mind is incapable of processing what aliens look like."

(You and me, huh?) Connla replied. (Does he have other followers?)

"I don't know. If he does, he hasn't said anything to me."

(So we're on own own then.)

"Sure looks like it," the light replied, changing to a vibrant orange color to indicate its happiness. "So do you understand everything? Is there anything you need me to go over?"

(No, I think I get what's going on for now. Just one question though…)

"Yeah?"

(What's your name?)

"Huh? My 'name'?"

(Yes. A word that's used to address someone or something, like how our patron Outer God's name is Daoloth.)

"Oh… so that's what a 'name' is."

Connla raised an eyebrow curiously. (Are you saying you don't have one?)

"I guess not. We Mi-go never needed to be identified the way you humans do."

(That's not good. If you're going to be more human than your brethren, you need a name.)

"Really? Is that how it goes?"

(Mm-hmm. Okay, if you can't think of something, then I'll give you one.)

Connla sat there brainstorming some ideas for a short while. After a long period of silence, she said, (How about this?)

She reached her hand out and conjured a long wooden druid's staff not too different from Cuchulainn Caster's. Compared to it, this one was smaller in size, had some cute pink, white and mint green ribbons wrapped around the pole, and carried a small lantern at the top with various Celtic symbols emblazoned on the sides. The sentient light circled around the staff, then asked, "What is this supposed to be?"

(It's called a druid's staff, and the thing at the top is called a lantern. It's a device used to illuminate in the dark.)

"Interesting."

(Since you're just an orb of light, I thought you and I could travel together with you residing inside the lantern like this. In my country, the Gaelic word for 'lantern' is 'lochrann'.)

"Loch… rann?"

(How about it? If you don't like it, I can think of something else.)

"Oh, no, no, no!" the light orb exclaimed exuberantly and darted into the empty lantern, casting an ethereal orange glow around Connla. "I'm perfectly fine with being called Lochrann! I think you're right about me becoming more human if I have a name! Now that I have one, I'm starting to feel like my own person!"

(That's great.)

"How about you? Daoloth told me to address you as 'Connla'. Is that what you want me to call you?"

She shook her head sadly. (If I'm going to discard my own existence, then using my birth name wouldn't be a good idea. I should make a fresh start with a brand new identity. I think I know just the perfect name too.)

She stood upon the skyscraper with a newfound resolve. Before, she wanted to die. Now, she had a reason to keep living. She could shed her former self and craft herself into a new person… No, not as a 'person', but as a 'foreign priestess'. She would inherit her counterpart's wish to be erased from human history; to be a fleeting dream that never materialized in the world.

(That's right. I am a passing dream to humanity, I dream to undergo my training, and I have inherited my counterpart's dying dream. Therefore…)

Her clothes shimmered, then shone bright pink as they transformed from her usual adventurer's clothes into something different. Her hair was now done up in a high ponytail with a large pink bow, and she wore a pink hooded jacket over a white waist-length blouse, bright green pantyhose, and charming pink slippers. It wasn't too different from her wearing a set of pajamas, except these clothes were designed for adventuring through the bizarre realm of abstract dreams, rather than through mountains, valleys and forests in the real world. She opened her eyes, which had changed from brown to bright pink.

(… my name will be Aisling.)

After several days of traveling by chariot, Cuchulainn eventually reached the western base of the Ben Nevis mountains. As he came closer and closer to the area, the blood-red sky and eerie black silhouette of the landscape became more pronounced. No animals, not even the smallest of insects, could be found here. Any semblance of wildlife had fled the region before they could be caught up in whatever this mysterious distortion was. The reason for the blackened landscape became more apparent as well, since whatever was corrupting this space also changed the foliage. Grass was still grass, leaves were still leaves, and flowers were still flowers, yet their colors, sizes and appearances were so drastically warped that they looked like flora imported from another dimension. It was as if Cuchulainn had stepped into a painting, and the artist used the wrong colors to portray their idea of nature's beauty.

His face blanched in horror. He couldn't find the words to describe both this strange landscape and his fear that Aife and Connla were somewhere inside. This bizarre pocket space was so deathly silent that he was afraid there would be no one for him to find.

What am I going to do?

Should he keep searching, or should he turn back? He couldn't make up his mind. Every fiber of his being screamed at him to get the hell away from here. Yet, his heart implored him to look for his one-time mistress and their child. He experienced a mix of despair and hope – the former due to the dead appearance of this landscape, and the latter from believing they were still alive. He couldn't resist the urge to meet his offspring, regardless of these unusual circumstances though.

As Cuchulainn stood there pondering what to do, that was when a second figure approached him from behind and declared in a firm, feminine tone, "They're not here."

"Wha-?" he blurted and spun around, discovering Scathach standing next to her own horse. "Mistress!"

"Long time no see, Setanta," the ageless woman slightly smiled, but quickly became serious. "I'm sure you're here for the same reason as me."

"What happened? Are Aife and Connla all right?"

"I'm not entirely certain. I recently had a vision of an omen befalling my sister and niece, and hurried here to investigate. I fear I am too late though."

"What sort of omen are we talking about?"

Scathach closed her eyes sadly. "There's a tremendous presence affecting the course of history itself. It is wholly unlike the Tuatha Danann or the Fomorian pantheons… This is a foreign entity that does not belong in this world, yet it has been attracted to this place due to a certain child's suffering."

Cuchulainn didn't really understand what his mentor was talking about. His simultaneously confused and worried expression spoke greatly to her, and she continued, "As you can see, there is no way that human life can be sustained in this pocket dimension. There's no point in looking for Aife and Connla here. In fact, Aife is no longer in this world, both physically and figuratively speaking."

"You mean she's dead?"

"Indeed. She was transported to another world, where humans cannot possibly survive. The specifics are so uncanny that even I was not able to perceive where she was taken."

Cuchulainn briefly thought about the woman he courted, knowing he was never going to see her again. His grief quickly turned to concern as he asked, "What about Connla?"

"She's still with us."

He sighed with relief and thought, So Connla was born a girl, huh?

"It seems this foreign entity responded to Connla's despair and infected the area around her home with its power before spiriting her away. I came here to see if I could find any clues regarding her whereabouts."

"I'll help you look. That's precisely why I came all this way," Cuchulainn said. He then frowned and asked, "But what do you mean by Connla's despair? Did something happen to her?"

Scathach's grim expression turned darker as she fell into a moment of uncomfortable silence. She then stared him in the eye and murmured, "Setanta… There's something important you need to know about her."

He had never seen her look so serious before. Any notion of joking around with her immediately vanished as he asked, "What is it?"

"Due to this entity's presence, history is not proceeding the way as it should. Now that it's abducted her, the course of humanity's growth will be warped. For now, it is as insignificant as the flapping of a butterfly's wings. However, given enough time, that slight difference will extrapolate into something irreversible. We need to correct history to its natural course, which means banishing this foreign entity and rescuing Connla. The trouble is that… well…"

"What's the matter? Connla's in danger, so we gotta go find her, right?"

"Yes, but… It's just that the 'proper history' might not be to your liking."

"Really? Why not?"

Scathach closed her eyes somberly. After exhaling a small breath, she explained what was actually supposed to happen between Cuchulainn and Connla, and of how Connla wound up witnessing what would be her future death through an Imbas Forosnai vision. As he listened to her tale, his heart sunk with horror. He was supposed to kill Connla over a tragic mistake? Her survival was actually considered an error in the timeline? He couldn't believe it. It was even more heartbreaking for him to realize that Connla had actually seen it when she shouldn't have.

"I'm sorry, Setanta…" Scathach finally apologized in a sad tone. "But that is the truth. If we want to correct this anomaly, the fact is that Connla needs to die by your hand."

He didn't know what to say. He couldn't find the words to reply in any way, whether it was through an angry retort or a grief-stricken cry. All he could do was choke helplessly. He then clenched his teeth and bared his small fangs as he snarled, "I'll find her. Mark my words, Mistress, I'll find her!"

"I figured you would. But what will you do when that time comes?"

"I don't give a fucking rat's ass about this whole timeline bullshit! The fact remains that the kid needs my help, and I'll go through hell itself to save her!"

Scathach muttered to herself, "Hm… Do as you will then. All I can do is tell you where this foreign entity took her. The rest will be up to you."

"Fine by me! Where is she right now!?"

"She is somewhere in Rackwick Bay on the Isle of Hoy, in the Orkney Islands. Try looking around where the Old Man of Hoy will be formed in the distant future."

"Got it."

"In the meantime, I'm going to do something about this warped space. If worst comes to worst, I'll have to banish it into the Land of Shadows so it doesn't cause too much of a disruption for the rest of the world."

"Are you going to be okay? That sounds like a huge job, even for you."

"Eh he he he. Have you forgotten who you're talking to? It's going to take more than some disruption in time-space to flummox me."

"Yeesh, sorry for being concerned, Little Miss Perfect. Fine, leave the kid to me. I'll figure out what to do once I get her back."

"Be careful. We're dealing with a creature that defies human logic. I don't want you to suffer the same fate that Aife did."

"Hey, if it comes to it, I'll jab Gae Bolg through its goddamn heart if I have to."

She glanced away from him and cryptically thought to herself, If it even has one…

With his destination set, Cuchulainn continued on his journey through Scotland. His travels took him through the unaffected regions of Ben Nevis, going northeast until he reached Inverness for a resting period before moving along the northeastern coastline. He eventually made a sharp turn north towards the small town of Thurso, where there was a harbor. He left his two horses and chariot behind with a caretaker, and purchased a small boat for him to travel to Rackwick Beach, the nearest landmark to where Scathach indicated. He never imagined that he would be venturing so deep into Scotland, going much further northeast than the Isle of Skye where he trained under Scathach. He journeyed deeper and deeper into such remote territory that not even the locals knew where Ulster was within Ireland, much less ever heard of the Cattle Raid of Cooley or of Cuchulainn himself.

The whole thing bothered him. Why would Connla be spirited away to such a rural area? Why was Aife banished to another dimension, but not Connla? Why did it have to be Connla that this unknown being responded to? What was he going to do when he found her?

Then a certain possibility crossed his mind:

Does she even want anyone to find her?

That was probably the best explanation he could think of. After all, if she made contact with a deity so bizarre that not even Scathach could understand it, wouldn't it be better if she was taken somewhere far away so that she wouldn't cause harm to anyone else? But then, what was the alien entity going to do with Connla afterwards? Maybe she was protecting the rest of society from its presence, but how was it affecting her directly?

As much as Cuchulainn didn't want to think about it, he couldn't stop worrying himself sick about Connla. Was she going to be as twisted and unrecognizable as the area that corrupted the Ben Nevis mountains? Was he really going to have to kill her? The possibility was so distinct that he lost most of his appetite during his trek through the Isle of Hoy. With each step, he knew he was coming closer to having to make such a difficult decision. Nevertheless, he wasn't going to back down. If he did, he would never be able to face Scathach again.

As he came closer to his final destination, the Ulster hero finally sensed the same disturbance in the air that he experienced back in Ben Nevis. It wasn't as severe this time, but he knew something unusual was lurking here. The landscape appeared perfectly normal… and perhaps its normalness creeped him out more than if it had been visibly distorted. While training in the Land of Shadows, Scathach taught him some Runecraft that allowed his eyes to perceive things that were hidden from the naked eye such as ghosts, spirits, invisible monsters, and well-hidden Bounded Fields. He suspected that he was dealing with a magical field, so he activated some Runes over his pupils to observe the world from a different plane.

Cuchulainn inhaled a sharp gasp.

Is that…

Sitting at the edge of the craggy cliffs, facing away from him while gazing out at the sea, was a small girl no older than seven years old. He couldn't make out her features very well due to the distortions in the air, but he could tell something was seriously wrong with her. He was sure that she cloaked herself inside a Bounded Field that mimicked her surroundings perfectly. If his senses weren't keen enough to pick up on the strange magical energy, he would have never found her. Despite how well this barrier was crafted, he found a weak spot that he could break through.

Without ceremony, he brandished Gae Bolg and slashed at the air once, unleashing a fierce howl as he did so. Although the blade didn't hit anything physical, it managed to cut through the incorporeal barrier wide enough for him to step through. He entered this new dimension, which looked the same as before except that the space-time distortions were downright suffocating, and the landscape was painted those same strange red and black colors. The rift closed behind Cuchulainn, and he glared at the little girl who clearly wasn't paying him any mind.

"Hey," he called out. His voice sounded so different that he momentarily thought he was in someone else's body. He shouldered Gae Bolg, as if reminding himself who he was, and said, "You're Connla, right?"

The girl didn't answer.

"Don't ignore me. I know you can hear me."

His retort was met with icy silence again. He approached her and attempted to rest his hand on her shoulder while imploring, "Come on, enough with the silent treatment. I came here to-"

FOOOM!

"GWAH!?" the spearman cried out in shock as his entire body suddenly went flying about 50 feet across the rocky ground! He had been repelled by an intense shockwave a split second before his hand could make contact with her shoulder. He shook his head to clear up the dizziness, then glared at the girl as she stood up. She calmly walked toward him, her gait appearing flimsy and unnatural. He became visibly freaked out when she kept fizzling in and out of reality like television static, teleporting several feet at a time with each step.

Before Cuchulainn could do anything, the girl warped right in front of him, staring at him with pink eyes that glowed soullessly. That was when he finally saw the reason why she was so silent toward him:

There was a large gap around where her throat and collarbone were seared, with an unknown contraption made out of gears and random shapes ticking within the crevice like some part to a clock.