Thunder Cloudian:
Augustus Rookwood frowned thoughtfully as he observed the results of his latest research. Yaxley's physicality had been successfully cloned, but his magic and his memories were absent. What he had was a bag of flesh, not a person.
He had a theory on how to give memories to the clone, but giving magic was out of his realm of expertise. Magic was dependent on the soul, one either had it or didn't. Rookwood reported his findings to Master Hydrus and the boy eagerly said he would be there soon.
"Ah, Master Hydrus, I've been expecting you." Rookwood greeted. Hydrus nodded his greeting while Bellatrix scoffed, looking annoyed to be there.
"When I heard about the situation, I started brainstorming right away. What do you think of a lacrima transplant?" Hydrus said excitedly. Rookwood frowned thoughtfully at the idea.
"It sounds solid at a surface level, but there's a very good chance the body will reject the transplant if the magic isn't directly from Yaxley." Rookwood said, tapping his chin as he thought about the results.
"Perhaps if the lacrima was introduced at conception that might be a work around." Rookwood hypothesized. Hydrus shook his head however.
"You're overthinking it. This is a body that was built with the power of the Life Force. Even a transplant as advanced as this should be a simple matter." Hydrus said with confidence.
"Very well, we'll get ready for the operation. In the meantime, would you like to see the progress made on the other ships?" Rookwood asked. Hydrus nodded enthusiastically and left with one of the Unspeakables.
After Hydrus left and Rookwood continued his research, Bellatrix frowned thoughtfully as she slowly started to put together a scheme. Over the course of the last several months Bellatrix had watched Hydrus develop his country and establish his rule. She had seen how he interacted with the citizens.
The people of Nocturnia loved and respected their king. But they did not fear him, and Bellatrix did not like that one bit. People smiled and waved when they should be bowing and begging for their lives.
To Bellatrix, Hydrus was far too lenient and involved with the commoners and she would change that. She wouldn't destroy what her son had built, that was far too cruel even for her. Instead, she would make the people destroy themselves.
A smile came to her face as her plan came together. With a devious look in her eye, Bellatrix pointed her wand at an unsuspecting Rookwood.
Obsidian Venue:
After checking in with Rookwood, Hydrus had gone home. He was currently going over some documents and planning for the newest additions to his country. Currently, people are making more money than they were spending. What the people needed was entertainment.
So, Hydrus would provide it, in the form of Victory Road. An entire city built for the exclusive purpose of nightlife. He was hoping to get the Umiko Company involved as they had found huge success in using magic to replicate slot machines and other various forms of muggle technology.
He had a business lunch scheduled with them later on, and Hydrus admittedly felt excited. Slowly but surely, he was building paradise.
While Hydrus was preoccupied with his plans, Death watched over Bellatrix. The woman radiated the essence of death and destruction and through her, Death's Master would grow stronger. The air had a strange feel to it that Death didn't like at all.
Being so intimately connected to Vita, Death knew of Lumina's plan and was unconcerned. The dimensional barrier that surrounded Nocturnia would protect all those within. It was something else, something couldn't quite put Its finger on, but felt unmistakably like the flow of Time.
The Time Force was mysteriously elusive, evading both Chaos and Order for the most part. If Chrono was making moves independently of Lumina, then things could get very complicated very quickly.
As Death thought of a way to handle the problem, It took notice of Its master's closest advisers. If Hydrus was to awaken to the Chaos Dimension, then he would need to be pushed to his physical limit, and to do that Death would need to isolate the boy. Death knew very well what would happen once Hydrus and Bellatrix were separated.
Bellatrix would unintentionally send souls to the Chaos Dimension while Hydrus would find a way to access it. Knowing what needed to be done, Death searched for Its master. Death found Hydrus with Orchid as the two were meeting with the owner of Umiko Company.
Death watched with little interest, waiting for the mortals to leave before It revealed Itself. As Death watched the scene an unmistakable sense of wrongness rattled Its senses. The Soul-Reaping scythe appeared in Death's hands as It prepared Itself.
The owner of Umiko Company glanced out the corner of his eye, making direct eye contact with Death. Needing no other explanation, Death materialized in front of Its master, sending a crescent wave of instant death towards the mysterious owner.
"Orchid, leave! Put everything on lock down!" Hydrus ordered at once, sending a blasting curse at the owner. He covered her retreat as he continued unleashing powerful curses and blasts of Space Force, all to seemingly no effect.
Despite the quantity of attacks that filled and destroyed the entire room, the owner seemed at ease with the situation.
"Stop."
Hydrus was immediately frozen in his tracks, completely unable to move. It wasn't just him, the debris in the air was completely still as well. The only ones moving in fact were Death and the owner.
"So, it's you after all, Chrono." Death said, guarding Its master. The owner snapped its fingers, and the dust and debris reformed back into a chair. Chrono took his seat and gestured for Death to do the same.
"Fighting will get us nowhere. You and I both know that. So, let's talk, I was here for business anyway." Chrono said patiently.
"I prefer to stand, thank you very much." Death said, lighting a cigar. Chrono shrugged, unconcerned.
"Why are you here Chrono? It's not like you to appear before Noctis." Death inquired. Chrono looked genuinely surprised as he glanced at Hydrus.
"That little runt is Noctis? I thought it was some kid playing dress up." Chrono remarked, taking a closer look at Hydrus.
"Now that I'm actually looking, he does seem to embody Chaos. I would've never guessed in a thousand years that Noctis would take a mortal form." Chrono said.
"Enough chit chat. What do you want?" Death demanded. Chrono huffed at Death's tone. "For a timeless being you sure are impatient. But nonetheless, I'm here to deliver a warning. Lumina is planning on meddling with timelines." Chrono said, looking annoyed.
"What do you mean? How is that possible?" Death asked. "It's not possible, rather it won't be possible if Noctis is destroyed." Chrono said calmly. Death tightened Its grip on Its scythe in response.
"Relax, completely destroying Chaos is impossible. Believe me, I know that better than anyone." Chrono said, starting to look annoyed.
"If I must be forced to live this… fractured life, then I'd prefer if most of them don't suck." Chrono said, looking truly incensed and tapping his foot with impatience.
"Why do you hate timelines so much? Isn't that right up your alley?" Death asked inquisitively. Various objects were erased from time as Chrono's anger started to bubble.
"The fundamental Forces of the universe exist at all points in time across every conceivable timeline. Unlike the rest of you, however, I get to experience all of it all the time. Trillions worth of events and lives all within the span of a picosecond for all of eternity. It's disorienting at best, and extremely painful at worst." Chrono said, taking a deep breath and calming down.
"Lumina's power of Order gave me a means to cohesively process the information, which helped with pain. Since Lumina absorbed some of my essence, I know he intends to imprison me and use my power. Because They didn't absorb all of me all at once, I managed to escape. But I can't live without them. I can't go back to the way I was." Chrono said, a note of anxiety creeping into his tone.
"And you think if you come to Noctis, Lumina's opposite, he'll find a way to provide you a solution similar to what Lumina gave you." Death summarized, looking at Chrono intently.
Chrono was silent for a moment. "I saw what happens once Lumina fully absorbs me. With Vita and I combined, he could make immortal beings. You would cease to exist as a concept Grim. It would leave Noctis and Alheimur hopelessly outmatched. With you gone, and Noctis having no influence over the living, the Chaos Dimension would crumble. He would be powerless for all of eternity." Chrono said solemnly.
"With Noctis gone, every timeline becomes the worst timeline." Chrono continued, bouncing his knee. Death looked troubled at the news.
"How long?" Death asked.
"About two years. That's when Lumina will act." Chrono answered.
"I see. Let's make a deal, if you can hold out for two years, and alter time for this island, I'll get Noctis to awaken to the Chaos Dimension." Death proposed.
Chrono stood and began to pace as he thought of his answer. "I'll speed up the development of this place to surpass Lumina's army, but you better keep your end Grim." Death merely nodded before turning around to face Its master.
"I'm sending you to the Chaos Dimension. Once you're there, you'll be completely out of reach. You're the only one who can control its power." Death said, raising Its scythe and bringing it down on Hydrus's neck.
The Chaos Dimension:
Hydrus awoke to fire and brimstone. The acidic smoke made his eyes water and he gagged at the smell. Before he could get his bearings, there was a loud roar that shook the ground beneath his feet. Looking around wildly, Hydrus saw it.
An absolute behemoth of a demon. With a body that was half dog and half eagle with iron wings, the thing radiated power and malice.
Hydrus tried using occlumency to suppress the terror that was clouding his mind, but it was no use. He couldn't use magic!
The monster caught sight of him and let out an ear-splitting screech before flying toward him at high speeds.
Fueled by fear, Hydrus ran for his life. The flames of the area licked at his clothes, burning him, and the smell made him want to retch.
The chimera demon landed in front of him and with a single swipe of its mighty iron wings, tore Hydrus to shreds.
The Chaos Dimension:
Hydrus awoke in a stupor. As the memory of what happened came back to him, he vomited. That served to make things worse, however. His surroundings had not changed and the amount of noise he made drew the demon to his location once again.
It attacked with its beak; the speed of which Hydrus couldn't possibly follow. He felt an excruciating pain for only a moment as his head was severed.
When he awoke again, Hydrus took off running. Anywhere was better than the literal hell he found himself in. Just as he was beginning to make good distance, he fell to his knees, suffocating on the smoke.
Reviving from death once again, he let out a scream of anguish, drawing the chimera to his location once again. It screeched and spread its metallic wings which glinted ominously in the fire.
Madness overtook Hydrus as he rushed at the demon, filled with uncontrollable fury and hatred. With a mighty leap, he decked the thing right in the face before it opened its beak. The chimera shot out a gout of flame that incinerated the boy.
Over and over Hydrus fought the chimera, so lost in his fury he failed to realize that he was putting up a fight without any magic. Time and again he lost. The demon was an unscalable wall that Hydrus couldn't bypass or smash through.
As the demon screeched yet again, Hydrus let out his roar of anger before he began to shapeshift. He didn't get to finish his transformation before he was cut down yet again.
With his bout of madness over, Hydrus was exhausted, but he could think more clearly now. He had begun to transform without the use of magic. It could only mean one thing. He had manipulated his Body Synchronicity Wave to alter his physicality completely subconsciously.
Just as that realization hit him, the landscape changed. The fire and brimstone were gone, and the chimera was nowhere to be seen. Instead, there was a clear blue sky. That wasn't as important at the moment as Hydrus was falling.
He had been falling for quite a while actually. Surrounded by blue skies in all directions, he couldn't tell which way was up or down, just that he was moving very quickly. Before Hydrus could get a grasp on what was happening, he splattered against a solid surface, dying on impact.
The Chaos Dimension:
When he awoke again, Hydrus was once again falling. He slammed into random solid surfaces over and over again until eventually the impact didn't kill him.
He groaned as his body ached from the continuous abuse. He hadn't done anything special this time, but it would seem he was getting stronger the longer he was here. Hydrus watched with grotesque interest as his body healed itself slowly. His limbs twisted back into place, his skin regenerated, and his bones were mended.
Exhausted, Hydrus stood and tried to take in his surroundings. It was total darkness; he couldn't even see his hand in front of his face.
The darkness weighed upon his shoulders like physical mass, it invaded and terrorized his mind, and it took everything he had to not scream out. He tried to get his breathing under control and to reassure himself that he was the master of shadows.
As if spurned by the thought, the darkness vanished and was replaced by a sand pit. Waiting for him inside was a faceless, genderless humanoid. Despite not having a face to display any form of expression, Hydrus got the feeling that the thing was gearing for a fight. He sighed and raised his hands to defend himself.
The Chaos Dimension:
Hydrus spat out a mouthful of blood, teeth, and sand. He had been beaten down countless times. The sun was high in the sky, making Hydrus and his foe fight on burning sand. When nighttime came, they were met with blistering cold and light snow. Nighttime was the only time Hydrus was allowed to rest, other than being knocked out.
As a result of daily beatings, his newly acquired healing factor was starting to progress rapidly. Hydrus both loved and hated it. The healing factor lessened the pain, but it also prolonged the fight.
To call it a fight was extremely generous. His foe was stronger, faster, more experienced, had superior range, and was in a different weight class. It wasn't competitive at all and no matter what strategy he employed or dirty tricks he used; it all came to the same result. Hydrus eating a mouthful of sand before being beaten into unconsciousness.
There was also the matter of the random fluctuations in gravity. It only ever increased, and it always felt like by several magnitudes. Despite that his foe never seemed to struggle with it. It was the perfect fighter. Every time Hydrus started to adapt and predict Their movements, They would switch fighting styles, effectively undoing all of his progress.
Shivering from the cold, Hydrus looked at the clear night sky. He missed his family. If Bellatrix was here, she would blow all his enemies away with overwhelming force. If Druella was here no doubt she would effectively and efficiently make a plan to get out of this wretched place. If Orchid was here, she'd find a way to keep his spirits up.
Right now, he had no plan, he had no power, and he had no grit. Hydrus desperately wanted to quit, to die permanently, and to never go through this hell again. It was only the thought of reuniting with his family that pushed him forward. As much as he wanted it, Hydrus just couldn't see how it was possible. His opponent was the perfect fighter, and escape was impossible.
As he lay in the sand, freezing and on the brink of collapse, a sudden thought came to him. His shapeshifting power had to be related to his Body Synchronicity Wave instead of his magic like he had originally thought.
Hydrus thought deeply, trying to figure out a way to finally manipulate his body. He had spent countless hours researching this exact topic. The answer had to be in his memories somewhere. He closed his eyes, trying to focus. Just as Hydrus was about to fall asleep, the answer came to him.
The Principle of Biofeedback.
Everything Hydrus had researched about biofeedback was either theoretical, or required muggle technology that simply didn't exist, which is why he had originally dismissed it in favor of trying to use magic instead. The concept of biofeedback allowed one to gain greater awareness of their physiological functions with the end goal of being able to manipulate the body's systems at will.
If Hydrus could learn to utilize biofeedback, he would be able to push his synchronicity wave to the max. For the first time in what felt like months, he felt hopeful. Hydrus sat up, shook the sand out his hair and tried to focus with greater intensity. He needed to recall everything that he had read.
Biofeedback is a mind-body technique in which individuals learn how to modify their physiology for the purpose of improving their physical, mental, and spiritual health.
The words floated to the front of his mind with ease. Months of occlumency practice was once again showing results. Hydrus looked at his clenched fist contemplatively. Was it really as simple as mind over matter? No, wasn't one over the other, it was both in tandem, at full capacity. Hydrus wanted to scream in frustration. If only he could use magic. He could use occlumency to boost his mental acumen to put his theory to the test. How was he supposed to learn an advanced skill in the middle of a sand pit with no magic and no equipment? He took a deep breath in an attempt to calm down. He needed to recall more information, and getting angry would only make the process harder.
Hydrus did his best to ignore the cold in the air, and the coarse sand beneath him. He was tired, and very hungry, and memories of how often he had died in the strange place flashed through his mind. Without warning he vomited, suddenly sick as images passed through his mind's eye. He shook uncontrollably and screamed. There was fire everywhere, and the chimera demon was once again after him.
Unable to process that what he was seeing wasn't real, Hydrus did his best to run, to escape. He frantically tried climbing out the sand pit, clawing at it desperately. The tightly packed sand scraped away at his skin, turning red with his blood. Hydrus didn't register the pain as terror clouded his mind making his movements more erratic and doing more damage to himself. His episode was put to a stop as the Faceless Foe knocked him out.
The Chaos Dimension:
Hydrus awoke to the familiar sensation of being kicked in the ribs. He groaned and slowly got to his feet, the hot sand burning his soles. He put up a meager defensive stance and was caught off guard at the state of his hands. His fingers were raw and bloody and were in the midst of still healing. He didn't have time to ponder the mystery as the Faceless Foe attacked.
They were as fast as always, and Hydrus could barely track their movements with his eyes. With pattern recognition proven to be useless, he had no idea how they would attack or how to defend himself.
His feet were swept from under him, sending him tumbling. Hydrus popped back up quickly only to be met with a devastating kick to his solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him and causing him to drop to his knees. He had just enough time to glare hatefully at the being before he was kicked in the face and lost consciousness.
It was nighttime when he finally came to. Hydrus flipped the Faceless Foe off. They didn't react but it did make him feel slightly better. With his daily beating out of the way he could go back to brainstorming.
Laying on his back, he did his best to ignore the pain that was slowly fading, and the light dusting of snow that was beginning to fall.
"Focus, you've got to focus." Hydrus whispered to himself with closed eyes and gritted teeth.
Many scientists believe that relaxation is the key to successful biofeedback.
Hydrus sighed at the seemingly useless bit of information. How in the world was he supposed to relax under these conditions? While Hydrus was thinking, an incredibly reckless idea came to him. He was too reliant on his mind and his magic. He already couldn't use magic, so what if he handicapped the amount of information he took in order to force his mind to work at the same pace as his body?
"Hey, asshole." He called out to the Faceless Foe. It didn't respond but Hydrus knew they were listening.
"I'm going to do something really stupid. After it's done, knock me out." Hydrus instructed. With his instructions given, Hydrus looked at his fully healed hands and took a deep breath. He pursed his lips as the anticipation built.
Deciding to go through with it before he lost his nerve, Hydrus raked his sharp claws against his own face, intentionally blinding himself.
He screamed from the pain as he ruined his own eyes. Darkness consumed his vision as he looked at his bloody hands for the last time. Just as instructed, the Faceless Foe knocked the boy out yet again.
The Chaos Dimension:
He opened his eyes and saw nothing. Hydrus only knew it was day time because of the heat. He could hear the sand shift as the Faceless Foe readied themselves for battle. The pain from the night before was already a dull ache thanks to his healing factor and Hydrus came to the realization that he would probably have to blind himself again if today proved to be effective.
Hydrus heard the sand shift and felt the wind on his skin as the Faceless Foe moved with extreme speed. He couldn't see what was happening, but even if he could, he already knew it wouldn't help him. Hydrus planted his feet as best he could within the sand and guarded his face.
He felt a fist slam into his forearm, bruising it instead of his face. He had no time to rejoice as he heard the sand move again.
"Relax, be ready." Hydrus told himself. He feigned confidence, hoping to fake it until he made it. There was nothing more relaxing than having confidence in one's self after all. He ducked and felt the wind rush above him, letting Hydrus know that he had just avoided a clean knockout blow. He made a swiping motion, hoping to tear out their throat but came up empty. Feeling something was wrong, he spun around and caught an elbow to the forehead.
The Chaos Dimension:
The freezing air let Hydrus know that it was nighttime. He sat up slowly so as to not aggravate his excruciating headache. He opened his eyes and found that his vision was extremely blurry, practically useless. As he reviewed the events of the day a new feeling took root in his heart.
Before he had hope.
But now he had determination.
He would master biofeedback, defeat the Faceless Foe, and get the hell out of here.