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Final Fantasy VI: The Sands of Time

Book 1: The Beginning

Chapter 7 - Confluence

Part 7.9 - The Other Side

I am Dune Karn.

I am the son of Silas Karn.

My wife is Mae, and I will find her no matter what.

I am a scientist, and my mind says this is not real.

This was Dune's mantra to himself as his body crossed the threshold of the Ultima Gate and entered the twilight realm known as the Nexus. His body was not his own, and most of his mind wasn't either, but his soul was still his, and he intended to fight Doom to the last thread of his existence.

Oh, but this is very real, Vessel. I am your Doom, as I have said since the beginning. And this is where your fight ends, and mine begins. Chatter in my ear all you want, insect, but your body is mine, and it will walk itself right into the very forge of creation at my command. Prepare yourself for oblivion, mortal.

Dune did not pay any attention to Doom's voice, now coming out of his own mouth in harsh, alien tones. He chanted his identity to himself and watched, and waited.

I am Dune Karn, son of Silas and Katherine...

My wife is Mae...

After several minutes, the blinding white light that had filled Dune's vision completely began to fade, or perhaps his eyes simply got used to the unnatural brightness that filled this place. If the brightness bothered Doom's perception through Dune, it didn't show. His body mechanically and purposefully walked forwards through the glare towards...what? He still could not make out anything here. Everything was just white light.

This is the Nexus, a place your feeble mind can only begin to comprehend. It is a place of unformed dreams and desires - where reality ends...or begins, depending on your perspective. For you, this the end. For me, it is the beginning of a glorious existence that has been denied me by my brethren for far too long.

Now Dune could see something of this Nexus, as Doom called it. The light was no longer covering everything, but still shone from everything, everywhere. This was indeed a world of light. But the light formed structures he could see, swirled in patterns his mind could understand and follow. There was order to this place of dreams, and Dune was beginning to see it as he struggled to hold onto the last of his being.

I am Dune Karn...

As he moved forward against his will, he realized he was alone. Not completely alone, of course. Doom was always with him, but where were Sade and Levi? As his vision became more accustomed to the light, he was able to see farther and farther out. And he was utterly alone here. For all he knew, he was the only living thing in this world.

There were no hills, no valleys, no landforms of any kind to obstruct his view here. It was all a flat, formless plain of glittering light extending infinitely away from him in all directions. He could not even see the giant gate he had walked through to get here. There was no horizon, no sky, no north or south, east or west. The plain extended so far out that it seemed to rise up and up until it became the sky. In the real world, on a real planet, the curvature of the planet would make even the flattest landscape eventually curve downwards and away. But here, everything just kept going and going, forever. The only place Dune could even remotely compare this world to was a place he had never believed real, until now. This place was like the nightmare world of ice he had found himself trapped in when he first came face to face with Doom.

You are right, in so far as you can understand. My prison of Cocytus was modeled after the Nexus, an infinite world of pure power, still unformed by the dreams of gods and men. I filled it with my being, and through my desires it shaped itself into what you saw. Soon, the whole world will be as Cocytus, a world of eternal ice, with me as its ruler. I will be the Master of Ice once again.

Not if I stop you. I am Dune...

Dune's body croaked in laughter at his fading defiance, and continued forward into the light. He still saw no sign of Sade or Levi, but as he moved forward, the structures and patterns of swirling light around him grew stronger, and took on shapes he began to recognize. He saw translucent trees, houses, cars, chairs, tables...just everyday objects from the real world. But they were being formed almost as soon as Dune thought of them, as if the light was responding to his own thoughts.

And why not? Doom had said this was a world of unformed dreams and desires. Perhaps his own mind was creating order from this chaos as he traveled through it. How far could he take this power before Doom stopped him? Perhaps...

Ha ha ha...my poor naive Vessel. Still struggling in vain even as your very essence is consumed. Conjure all you like, it will only hasten your obliteration. This is the world of dreams, and to make one's dreams real is to invite the nightmares that lurk in the hearts of all mortals. Your dreams will become real here, yes, but so will your worst fears and memories. And I will be here to feed on those fears, watching as you succumb to the stink of your own humanity. At the very moment your despair is total and your soul defeated, I will have won and you will be gone. So amuse me, Vessel. What is it that you fear?

Dune struggled to listen to Doom's voice without being consumed by it, but it was becoming harder to focus. Harder to exist.

I am...I am...

Who am I?

"You're Dune Karn, right?"

Yes...Dune...Karn...

"Give me the crystal!"

Who is that?

"Give it to me!"

That voice...I know that voice...

"What are you doing? Stop it!"

A woman's voice...and...light...blue light...

"I'm just trying to help! AHH!"

Suddenly everything came into focus. Dune was back in his apartment, and everything was going to hell. A woman in a black robe stood inches away from him, her hand perilously close to the pocket where the crystal slept. But now it was awake, and its merciless blue light was filling the apartment, filling him.

This is...I remember this...

A bone-chilling scream filled his ears and broke whatever train of thought he had managed to put together. The scream continued, on and on, rising beyond Dune's ability to endure it. It was a woman's scream, a scream of pure terror and pain. It was the sound of death. It was...

"Cassandra!" Dune yelled out, this time through his own mouth. Either Doom had allowed him to speak, or his own emotions were overpowering the demon's control. The world around him was all blue now, and cold, so cold. Cassandra was standing in front of him, being assaulted by the cold energy falling off him in waves.

This was no mere nightmare. This was a real memory that was being brought to life around him. This was the memory of Cassandra that Dune had blocked from his mind for months. And as he helplessly watched the memory unfold, he knew why.

Cassandra continued to scream louder and louder as the blue waves washed over her. Blood was beginning to trickle from various spots all over her body as the cold wind bit at her flesh. At first it was only a few sensitive areas that were exposed - her cheeks, hands, her ankles. Soon the blood began to flow more freely, and her black robe was damp from the wounds that must be covering her entire body now. The cold wind was buffeting her right through her clothes, right through her skin, into the very center of her being. Before long she would be completely blown away by the ruthless blasts of cold air.

Dune tried to look away, tried to end this horrible memory, but he was powerless. This was a reality he had forced himself to forget, and now he was forcing himself to relive it. But a part of him knew he needed to see this. To see what he was capable of if he let his guard down even for a moment.

The howling of the poor girl's voice went on and on, even as the wind ripped her bleeding lips from her mouth and tore great swaths of skin from her body, exposing muscle and bone. She had no eyes to see now, and only the cruel blue light shone from her bleeding sockets. What was left of her body was covered in bright red blood, but Dune could still see its color clearly underneath the gore. Any exposed flesh was turning as blue as the horrible light around them. She was being frozen to death even as the wind tore her to pieces.

And yet she was still conscious, still screaming in agony as the wind ate her alive. Dune could feel his sanity slipping away as he was forced to watch, forced to bear witness to his greatest crime. This was too much, too much...

At last the screaming subsided into a mournful wail, then a gasp, then a guttural clicking that no longer sounded human. Cassandra's body had reached the utmost extreme that it could endure, and her body was finally giving into its fate. Dune watched as the bloody hole that had been her mouth stopped fighting to stay open, and the rest of her body went limp and flailed lifelessly with each gust of cold wind. Cassandra had finally died, in unbearable agony.

The wind kept assaulting her body even after she gave up, though, and as Dune watched in horror, what was once Cassandra DeMore gradually faded, piece by piece, until there was nothing left but a skeleton, dressed in a few black scraps that were soon destroyed. For a brief moment her lifeless form stood erect, the disintegrating skull grinning with finality at its murderer, then the bones fell to the floor and were ground to dust by the relentless wind. There was no trace of Cassandra left. She was utterly consumed by Dune's power.

Yes. By your power, Dune. You killed her, destroyed her. She was an innocent young girl, and you murdered her with your own rage. You are as cold-blooded as you claim me to be. You are just like me. We are the same. We are Chemosh, the Doomed.

NO! I am...I am not...AGH...WHAT AM I?

You are me.

NEVER! ...I...am...

You are nothing. I am everything. You have seen your soul laid bare, the worst of humanity inside you. You are cruel and defiant, capable of anything if it will serve your own sense of how the world should be. Stop fighting your destiny, child of the sands. Join me, and I will make us more powerful than anything that has ever existed. Join me, Vessel. NOW!

NO! No...no...nononononono...

I...am...

I...

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