Finally, paradise at long last.

Or so he thought. To one in his situation, the world that he believed was this "paradise" in the scrolls of legend was really the epitome of Hell but without the fire. In fact, he felt very cold. He could not move, he could barely breathe, and he could feel himself slipping away. Like his whole body was slowly dying.

Was it really it?

Was it going to end this way? Prayers unanswered? Cries unheard? Tears ignored? All, while he wasted away in this void. Strange. It was a feeling of deja vu… But this time, it was different. There was no warm embrace similar to that of his mother's hugs or Flamberge's flames scorching his robes and skin. There was nothing sucking away at his energies. In fact, he felt completely drained, as if there was nothing left at all.

Hyness was sinking deeper, the light drifting into shadows. This second world, his "paradise", it shimmered with colors of yellow, blue, silver, and red with purples and blacks thrown into the mix. Like a galaxy without the stars. But, much like space or even the Void itself, it was freezing. What little fur on his body was standing on end, the coldness chilling the bones in his body and disconnected hands. He was helpless to resist. It was the will to be done.

He was going to fall.

Was there anything to repent? Was there sins he needed to admit? Maybe. He was too tired to think, a shame. To think the Jambandran priest would sink so low. Literally. Something weighed heavily on his mind throughout this whole debacle, though he was unsure of a way to put it to words. There was nobody around, so that didn't appear to help his situation. He was alone with his thoughts, time was slowly ticking away, and he was losing what little pride and sanity he had left.

Was this all for naught?

The thought was not his own. It was a voice. One of the voices in his head that guided him since the cult grew. It was not welcome. Not right now. It was not the best time for the voices to appear. It would just make him feel worse than he already was.

You feel guilt, do you not? Allowing yourselves to fall that way?

We have not fallen. Our order is still alive. I have found Lor at last. My time is complete.

Foolish to deny that fact. You have not found paradise. You drift around in a nightmare world with your blasted follies and convictions, your petty desires and forsaken wishes. You prayed for many decades for him to come, finally performed the ritual, and you couldn't even get that right. Now look at where you fall. Into the Void, where nobody will find a trace of your wasted corpse.

It is rather strange to be so mad to argue with the voices in your head in silence. And it was with that, Hyness remembered that he was alone. Alone with his convictions, alone in the Void. There was nobody to find him. Nobody was going to find him, that much he knew. But was it any different than before he disappeared? This feeling of lonesomeness wasn't unlike the existence he led on the Jambandra Base, or anywhere else for that matter.

Throughout all his life, Hyness was isolated from society, ostracized for his ideas and plans, his dreams and values. There was nobody he could share anything with, no one that would listen, no one that wanted to listen. The ideas he spoke of weren't far from the ideas he adopted as of late with the Dark Lord and the Void. For the lower kind with little ambition, little comprehension of their true purposes and potentials, they were afraid of what he was capable of. His ideals were "unholy, mad, and a fool's errand".

What fools they were. He mentally scoffed. They couldn't comprehend the grandeur of the true purpose of life: seeking a greater power for the highest worship, the greatest Lor, nirvana, paradise. What sad fools they were. He told himself.

Who is the true fool?

The voice in his head resurfaced, speaking in such a harsh chiding tone that not even his own mother could muster. It angered him. Hyness' ears twitched upon hearing it, head whirling about in all directions. His eyes narrowed into a glare at the nothingness of the abyss he was sinking into and he shouted, rambling incoherent gibberish that was like booming sounds of thunder amidst the once eerily calm silence of the Void. But the silence returned as quickly as the shouting began, once he remembered that nobody else could hear him.

Hyness curled up, shivering, curling into a ball in a pitiful effort to warm his freezing body. The cold embrace was rather similar to how cold it was outside when he found a young girl, perhaps about seven years old, near death from hypothermia. He restored life to her frozen body by giving her the power to control ice and snow. That child was Francisca. Then he remembered her sisters, Flamberge and the other one, the young lass with the sleek yellow hair.

Flamberge nearly died from suffocation in an old cottage. He was in the forest on an another planet, a long time ago, before his heart was fully corrupted and his mind was still his own. There was a black smoke obscuring the sky. He could hear a screech not akin to anything he ever heard before, and traced it back to a cottage burning to the ground. Normally a fool would attempt to save someone from burning to death in a fire. Yes, he was a fool, but that foolishness saved the young girl from her demise. Oh how he wished to be in such warmth right now. Even if he used his fire magic it would do little effect for his body temperature; his energy would run out to the point he would probably expire.

Still you persist with your foolish thoughts of hope? It is your fault they have fallen. Your fault. Your follies were your downfall.

"SILENCE! YOU KNOW NOTHING! NOTHING! MAPOP IS STILL ALIVE! I WILL FIND LOR! I WILL FIND PEACE FOR ALL OF US! MAFO! YOU LIE! YOU KNOW NOTHING!"

And yet you scream to nobody but a voice in your head. Perhaps your bastion has lost it all the way. You truly are a shell of your former self, Hyness.

He refused to listen. He needed nobody to preach to him, especially a sign of his insanity. Hyness flattened his ears and covered his head up with his covered hands, but he couldn't block out the voice's noise.

Consumed by your ideals and a lonesome heart. Did you truly seek peace for those three girls?

You lie. I did seek peace. I sought to save them. Why would I save a suicidal waif from her self sacrifice if I didn't truly seek for the better?

Did you really intend to resurrect the Dark Lord for the being to grant you a final rest? Oh yes, Void Termina would have given you a final rest. It would have been your demise, Hyness. Your demise, and the demise of those three girls you saved so long ago.

Stop talking. You lie. You keep lying. Stop lying!

You sought to use them. You wanted to use them. They were nothing more than mere toys that were tossed in your self-righteous hand by the wheel of fortune. Why would you sacrifice them if you intended to save them?

Stop. Lying! They would have paradise once more! I will make sure of it even if it costs me my life!

That can be arranged. A fool's pursuit knows little bounds. Even more boundless is their false convictions. Men show their true colors at the brink of death. It is only a matter of time.

"STOP LYING! FOOLISH VOICE! YOU KNOW NOTHING AT ALL! NOTHING! MY INTENTS ARE NONE OF YOUR CONCERN, FOOL, YOU ARE JUST A DISEMBODIED APPARITION OF MY MADNESS! BEGONE WITH YOU!¨

Madness that you brought upon yourself. Madness that you have embraced. Madness that you have become. Your devotion is your end, Hyness. Do you still hope that you will succeed? I see doubts. Doubts that fog your psyche. A possibility of repentance. A chance of salvation. If only that chance were attainable.

¨I tire of hearing you speak.¨

You are still falling. Falling ever deeper into a spiral of madness and depression. Loneliness that you imposed on yourself. There is darkness in your mind, in your body, and in your spirit. Do you see it even now?

¨Juh? What do you speak of?¨

The voice silenced itself. There was no reflective surface for Hyness to gaze into to see his face. He dismissed it as more of the ignorant ramblings of his madness, reminding himself that there was some truth in the words of his mental ruin. This world… This place he was drifting around in. It was beautiful, but the entire swirl radiated with a dark evil, it was fouled by the air of hatred and despair, madness and disarray. As if this place was the very origin world of the Dark Hearts. Was this dimension also Void Termina's homeland? Perhaps. Or maybe this was just where the evil energy from the Dark Hearts is deposited.

All he knew was that this world appeared to give him an awful feeling in his chest. And it wasn't just from the exhaustion in his body or his already dark mood. But what was giving him this almost suffocating feeling? Why was he feeling this emotion?

Fear…

What was making him so afraid? His fear was crushing, metaphorically and almost literally. Hyness half expected chains to appear, crushing his limbless hands and choke him to death like the result of many night terrors in the past. Not until we reach bottom. He reminded himself. He was still falling, still drifting, still silent.

The silence was all that was present. The voices left, leaving him in a lonely silence. So much silence… Silence… Silence…

This silence is maddening! He screamed in his thoughts. There was no answer, mental or physical or otherwise. Another reminder of how he was alone. Sure, he wanted his Dark Lord to give him a new salvation, a way to go to Lor; paradise, but is a place truly paradise if there is nobody to share it with? He finally sank to the bottom after hours and hours of falling. The ground around him appeared almost akin to his Lord´s arena back home.

You miss your home? The voices returned. Less chiding, less harsh. That was confusing to say the least. Though this was not the first time the voices sounded maternal. It's rare for the voices to sound more compassionate, though Hyness usually took the kindness of his mental apparitions as pity he would rather cut his nose off than accept. He certainly didn't wish for a disembodied voice in his head to pity him, that was just the mark of a pathetic madman.

But, it did speak the truth. He did miss his home, the Jambastion. He missed the warmth of the station, the cozyness of his bed, all of his books. He was lonesome, strange to say. He desired someone to speak to. Why did he desire this so much? All in his past he kept telling himself that he needed nobody else. That having others around would only lead to an unneeded chaos of emotions and destruction of his mission from the inside. The presence of others unable to understand his plight will only lead to madness.

At least, that was what he used to believe.

Maybe it is no longer the case. Maybe the real reason he has managed to keep on as long as he has with his mission is because he had the sisters. They helped him. They swore their loyalty to him. That, he still fails to understand at times. Especially in the case of Zan…

He never remembered her full name, even after all these years. Hyness never was any good with names, as some names often appeared the same in his eyes. But he still remembers the first time he ever saw her.

A teenage girl, climbing a large stony tower in the middle of a lightning storm with golden hair. She wore a ragged brown tunic that covered most of her body. She was scrawny, the tunic flowing over her body as if it were a dress instead. He watched from a distance, wondering as to why she was climbing the tower in such conditions. She made it to the top and in that instant, lightning struck the tower at the spot where she was. Hyness was alarmed, warping to the peak to see if the girl was even alive.

Surprisingly enough, she was. Barely. The electricity was surging through her body as if it had nowhere else to go; it was drawn to something. Using his powers to scry, he found the presence of Electrical magic flowing in the child's veins. So he gave her a bit of his own power and took her away from the tower to the safest area he could find. It was close to where the other two sisters were. No words were exchanged between any of them until the time came, until he came to . And despite the scatteredness of his mind, Hyness remembered saving all three of the girls before they were his Jambastion generals. Why did he miss them so?

Do you miss their loyalty to you?

The voice asked.

I do not know. I am not even sure why I feel these feelings. It is strange. As if they have put a spell on me. But I dread these feelings. I do not wish to feel them.

You feel what you will whether you wish it or not.

Do I?

It is how the mind works. You believe you do not wish to feel the way you do, but consider, deep down, you actually wish to feel this way. To distract from the walls of your mind closing in, crushing you with overwhelming thoughts that you wish to stop thinking. But when the mind is troubled, recurring thoughts often keep returning, nagging, nagging, rapping at your mental door like the shadowy Birdon in the old poem. They remind you of your recurring troubles and mental anguishes. You still fail to see. Even if your barriers are crumbling, you still deny your true intentions.

My intentions were true. I did intend to save the sisters from themselves! Why must you keep speaking this nonsense about an ulterior motive?!

You sacrificed them to rebirth the Dark Lord! Did the years you spent with them mean nothing to you?! Was it all for the Dark Lord and nothing else?! You've pursued this goal for ages, now look at where you are. Look at yourself Hyness.

No! Stop this speaking!

Look at yourself!

NO!

LOOK AT YOURSELF YOU BLIND FOOL! LOOK AT YOURSELF!

NO! NO! NO!

LOOK AT THE PERSON YOU HAVE BECOME!

NO! NO! NO! NO I SAY! NO I SAY!

He was thrashing his arms about, trying to claw at his face even though his robe covered his hands. When he realized that wasn't working he started slamming his head in the ground, slamming it harder and harder for the longest time, screaming in rage. And then, he just stopped. And the tears began to fall.

Hyness curled up into a ball and sobbed uncontrollably, as if a flood of pain had been stored inside for many centuries. It has definitely felt so. Keeping up his image among his cult and to the lower minds gave little room for any sort of weakness. The pent-up frustrations and stored woes and sorrows broke loose, and for the first time in many many years, Hyness was crying. The walls that fortified what little pride he once had have broken. He was now a shell of his former self.

Do you finally see?

Silence.

You cannot deny it anymore. You are broken. And now you shall see what you have become.

Energy began to surge around the Jambandran priest. He was still curled up into a ball, but he could faintly hear the energy crystallizing around his body. Hyness looked up from his position. Purple crystals were surrounding his body, building up higher and higher, like a physical projection of the walls that fell in his mental castle. When he paid attention to the behavior of the energy, the crystals' shape appeared to be clear. It was the Jamba Heart used to summon Void Termina.

You would resort to this? You mock me. You mock me so, accursed voices. Thrice damned jamblasted voices in my head…

Curse at me all you wish. But it is you who did this. The Dark Hearts are drawn to darkness, and you have darkness in your heart. It even shows on the outside of your body.

When the Dark Heart stopped forming, Hyness could see what the voices meant. He didn't dare lower his hood, not yet. The pristine white robe was now a bluish gray, and his eyes were a stark orange-red, as if he himself were possessed by the heart he was encased in.

He lowered the hood. His skin was a darker blue, about a shade darker than the robe. His ears had a dark red stripe where the yellow used to be, and his eyes were a brighter gold. Needless to say, the darkness did indeed show, for he wished to see no more. He could not help but see his reflection, however, for everywhere he turned, his image was there. The glowing eyes of his own reflection cast their glares at him, burning the image of his self-hatred into his very soul. Voices in his head were screaming incoherence that he could not understand, but the mad priest was having the shakes so bad he didn't care to understand it. Death would be welcomed, as he would rather die than hear another word from the voices in his head.

"Please, no more… Give me mercy from this… I cannot take it anymore!" Hyness cried, curling into a ball, sobbing uncontrollably and shaking as if the chills had penetrated his very bones. The voices did not relent with their onslaughts, after all, it was merely their task to show him the errors of his ways. They were just voices, they did not care if he broke down and lost it all the way. After all…

Hyness has already broken.

He is a shell of his former glory.

He has fallen.

A/N: Thought y'all wouldn't see me again, did you? Well, this is my contribution to the Wave 3 fanfics that have been popping up. Holy shit, the lore with this. This is probably more centered toward the game than my normal canon, but you could get awesome Hyness mind shit no matter what you do. He's just that fucked up!

At this point, just expect sporadic appearances from me. One-shots are probably all I'm good for at this point but who knows, I may finish a long story one of these days. One thing's for sure, and that's that I'm not dead yet!