The Illusion of Solitude

[Morigung-oog 2443]

 

 

[Art by Aotsuyu https://tensor.art/models/626754591977086968]

 

 

Spoiler

OOC
This is an ST-approved attempt to commune with a Voidal Horror. If any visions are granted regarding this post, the identity of Valindra and the notion of her participation would be heavily obscured and thus not public knowledge. Please don't metagame or I will sic my team of pocket mods on you.

 

Posted with the blessing of @Werew0lf

 

 

Solitude…

An apt description for that which the watcher Valindra Nullivari currently dwelled in, at least to those who somehow managed to peer through the window to her palatial room amongst the upper echelons of humanity. The ‘aheral lived a life of luxury compared to that of the common man. Her quarters were lined with elaborate paintings, chairs and a bed so elaborate, a commoner would have to part with years of his hard-earned salary to even come close to the cost of such. Despite these comforts, the Voidal Oracle had taken up a kneel on the cold stone floor. To most of the Marchdom of Stassion, it would seem as though Valindra were engaged in prayer, yet upon closer examination, her eyes had been consumed by the galaxies. The veil and the infinite planes that lurked beyond sprawled out across irises, sclera and all, mimicking the night’s sky in all its otherworldly beauty, yet somehow so much more… Along with that of her eyes, her mind too seemed worlds away. So deeply enveloped in their ventures that several knocks upon the door to her room from a servant went completely unanswered.

 

Where her body was still, devoid of movement, her mind was toiling away, seeking the answers that mortalkind had not yet been provided with…

 

Stood amidst an unending sea of stars nestled between glorious waves of cerulean, midnight and indigo, the incorporeal form of the mali reached out into the vast expanse, seeking that which lurked beyond the reach of most magi. The First Watcher floated almost serenely in place, her translucent features shifted into a look of calm focus. She drifted gracefully among the very edges of the veil, as though tempting the very threads of fate to grasp at her. Alas, it was not fate who sought her out, but the numerous tendrils of countless entities, one after the other. With each brief touch, flashes of knowledge appeared before Valindra, though no matter how valuable, they were not what she sought. 

 

Deeper towards the edge she plunged. Where once were tendrils and tentacles that reached out to meet her grasp were that which was far more visceral. In some cases, the masses reaching towards her were beyond comprehension, beyond that which a mere mortal could even begin to describe. 

 

The passage of time seemed to matter not to the scion up until the moment the stars, providing a comforting light seemed to flicker out, to die one by one. Where once she could see all, she could now feel a terrifying absence creeping upon her. Entropy.

 

The mali’s breath promptly caught, a panic rising within her, that spurred on her determination. Forwards she pressed, beyond the appendages now more actively trying to grasp her, to pull her forth into oblivion. Her pulse quickened, straining against her neck, serving as a timer, a vital countdown until she would fall victim to that which she was so desperate to pry into. There were few fates worse than losing one’s soul to the void. 

Her heart thrummed, all but threatening to leap out of her chest as that darkness creeped in from the corners of her vision, and from them, a thousand eyes peering at her, staring beyond her pathetic mortal husk. Now reduced to ragged gasps, the final stars did not flicker, but were seemingly consumed, devoured by something her mind refused to comprehend, as though protecting her from a truth too terrible to be believed.

 

Three,

Two,

One.

 

As the darkness enveloped her surroundings, and she was greeted with but a brief taste of true absence, a sharp tug was given around her neck, sending the mali writhing and reeling. Her nails scratched at the fleshy mass, though due to the spectral nature of her being, it did naught. Even if it were visible, not even a scratch had been left upon that squishy, foul-smelling abyssal mass coiled around her.

 

Resistance felt futile. When she fought back, it fought back with a fury redoubled, unrelenting with its grasp upon her. As the once simplicity of breathing became a process too complex for Valindra to achieve, she let out a pained, hoarse cry, and a final plea.

 

“Where are you?” 

 

As that grasp closed around her with crushing pressure, the translucent form of the pale mali collapsed in on itself, into an ominous mist of fathomless noir, intermingled with a core of amethyst lightning that dispersed with one final crunch of that being’s appendage around her.

 

For now, she had escaped the clutches of true chaos, a paradox, both alive and dead, both orderly and chaotic, both there and not, though the cost of her actions was undoubtedly soon to follow.

[Laeonathan 4059]

Raziel Amethil had no idea what was happening when was in his winecellar preparing the jars of next years harvest, "I wonder what kind of wine Valindra would enjoy... oh- well. She's probably still mad about something."