The green miasma languidly swirled in the endless emerald world. Occasionally strange purple tinted islands could be seen drifting in the far reaching void, some inhabited, some barren of any un-living creature.
An entity could be seen navigating through the scattered landscape. They floated along without a real destination in mind as they did for millenias if not more. Time held no consequences to those who were timeless.
They had a very long time to think and very little to amuse themselves with. They came up with various ways to pass the time, one of which was exploring their inherent abilities. Their favorite game was changing their forms from young to mature from monstrous to something more humanoid. Their most well used form was what you would call mythical creature form, after all it was the most handy and comfortable to travel the realm in.
Just as they were starting to get bored and wonder if they should engage in their favorite pastime activity once again they came up on a scene that many would call spectecular.
A dozen of deep indigo doors floated in space, disappearing and reappearing without any rhyme or reason. This scene was nothing new to the entity, they had witnessed it already too many times to be surprised by it, but this time something seemed to be different. As if guided by an unseen force, they drifted towards a door marred by weird and magical symbols. Intrigued, the entity studied the door with unabashed interest.
The door had a small window at the top of it just in the line of sight of anyone who wished to gaze through it. It was in the shape of a half circle, its edges lined with brass colored iron chipped here and there. Looking through the transparent glass, the entity observed the endless swirling gray fog behind it that was not unlike the ones of his own world, only differing in their respective colors.
Moving their gaze downward they started to observe the main body of the door. Where empty space should have been, a masterfully drawn symbol was drawn out instead. On closer inspection, they noticed that it wasn't a single symbol, but two symbols overlapping and not at the same time, as if space were disordered around them. After scrutinizing them both for quite some time, they could finally make out that one of the insignias looked like three pointed arches layered on top of each other, with the thickest layer on top. Draped along the bottom like a necklace was a string of five diamonds. The middle diamond, which was also similar to the one in the center, sat directly below a star that shone brightly from the midst of the arches. The other one looked mainly circular. In its outer layers it had four clocks and tiny little circles as if symbolizing the passage of time, while in the middle there was either a swirl or a tentacle—which one was debatable.
Being unable to figure out the mystery of the two symbols, the entity moved their gaze to the framework. It was made out of the same purplish wooden material as the rest of it. Its age could be seen in its faded color and various marks left on it by the passage of time. The frame was filled to the brim with the same two symbols as the main part of the door. The smaller, merely matchbox sized inscriptions faded in and out of existence erratically all the while glowing in an eternal misty silver color.
Gaining no new information, they moved back a few meters to observe the enigma in front of them in all its eternity. Even the uneasy feeling it emanated couldn't hide its otherworldly beauty. The entity tilted their head contemplatively, sickly green eyes clouded over with a faraway look as they sank deep into their thoughts.
They had been wandering the infinite realms for so long, the same scenery day after day with nothing other than their wayward thoughts to keep them company. The idea of something new, something exciting, sounded very tempting to them at the moment.
Here they were, in front of this door calling to them from the bottom of their core, inviting them in. It really didn't need much contemplation to decide it would be worth a shot, if only for the change from monotony . So with a decisive move, they grabbed onto the handle, feeling cold even to their touch, pulled open the door, and stepped through it into the infinite gray fog obscuring anything beyond their border.
As they disappeared from view, the doorway, now empty, creaked close with an ominous click and slowly faded into nothingness as if it had never been there to begin with.
It was as if they had entered an entirely different dimension, which in hindsight, they might just have. Fog engulfed their figure instantly, churning and twisting around them in a forceful way. At first the fog stayed cool, a soothing temperature not unlike the Far Frozen, but slowly, it began to heat up reaching a near unbearable degree even for their inhuman constitution. And then, just as suddenly as it started, all of it stopped.
The air stilled. The fog froze. It seemed like the whole world was holding its nonexistent breath.
Slowly a screeching noise could be heard, piercing their ears like nails on a chalkboard, and it only got louder the longer it went on. The light around the lone figure started to flicker like a faulty light bulb, switching between gray, white, and black as if unable to decide which one it was supposed to be. With an abrupt cracking noise, the world itself seemed to fracture and small cracks started to creep up into their vision, progressively engulfing the lone figure, before a blinding red light burst out of them and the world went dark once again.
It was a peaceful night in Tingen. The norm was only broken by the abrupt silence engulfing the city. As if the whole world froze in alertness, not a cricket nor a cry of a bird could be heard in the blanket of the night. Just as the air was getting stilted, an array of light manifested in the quiet corner of the cemetery. A wisp of pure starlight, as if someone had crushed the Milky Way itself, slowly gathered together, eventually forming into a solid figure that levitated a few feet above the ground.
Coming to, their clawed fingers minutely twitched and their multiple eyes slowly blinked open taking in their brand new gaze drank up the new sights rowing over the neat lines of graves, briefly fleeting over the lush forest bracketing the whole area on one side. As if feeling a watchful gaze, their head suddenly snapped upwards to take in the view of the night sky.
Their eyes widened with astonishment at the sight of the crimson moon, so red it almost dripped blood shining through the curtain of clouds.
Their body, the embodiment of numerous galaxies, reflected their shock with the freezing of the usually swirling midnight mass. The misty tendrils occasionally waving in and out of their body came to a stop. The red light reflected on the entity's face as his numerous toxic green eyes drank in the sight of the huge celestial body in the sky, sitting there and exuding a majestic presence like a queen before her subjects, their mere presence commanding respect.
The view felt all too right and all too wrong at the same time. Its entire presence differed from the one in their long since faded and frayed memories. The moon they gazed at looked like as if it had been dunked in blood. Long since gone were the pure white garments, replaced with rubies earned in bloodshed and war.
They were snapped out of their stupor by an abrupt thumping noise. It was muffled as if coming from behind multiple layers but it still rang very clear to their inhuman senses in the silence of the night. No longer enthralled by the new sights and their faraway thoughts, they started looking for the source of the increasingly desperate banging. Their gaze lolled over the small forest at the edge of the path before gliding over the multiple rows of graves.
No longer floating, their newly materialized claws dug into the fresh earth padding along the small walkways between the burial mounds. Their steps came to a stop beside one of the unassuming graves. Moving their gaze to the engraving of the plaque in the eerie foggy night, accompanied only by the frantic scratching noise coming from under their feet they started to read the lines:
'Here lies..
Klein Moretti
The best elder brother,
The best younger brother,
The best colleague.'