"What is going on? Why am I here?"
"You are here because I just thought you should have a bit of information about what I've been up to while you've been out and about, after all, time works weird in here, you know? At least before you go and meet that great pillar of motion of which I am quite certain you'd like a break before..."
That was right, he had indeed been exhausted, and in the worst case he might've lashed out at an omnipotent god, something he really didn't want to kill him in the end, after he had already survived so much.
Why was he this concerned though, and why had he just appeared as a child, had it just been to annoy, or rather, distract him from what was going on, to save him from his own thoughts, and what was so important that it warranted him being dragge-
No, rather, there were many important things of that relative magnitude, actually, he could even count Cades wanting to have a nice conversation as a topic that would count, even more so if that conversation allowed him to calm down a bit before meeting a being that was supposedly MORE powerful than the goddamn mother ducking gods.
Yes, yes, it indeed made sense for the other him, Cades, to try and calm him down, that wasn't the problem, so why was he this irritated, this senseless, this irrational, why was he acting like that when he was so calm before?
Cades moved, he waved his hands elegantly and as the world seemed to slightly warp his voice resounded once more, something changing with the way he was talking, the voice becoming less monotone, more energetic, quickly catching his attention, just as he had once done when giving presentations at school, his favourite having been one about a rare worm that controlled the headless body of a snail after it's death, as well as a presentation about a potential business where he had gained a few potential, though fake, investors, a small talent he had previously been told by others he possessed.
Now, that talent was simply working it's magic to distract him further, calming him down, engaging him, from the very first, energetic word uttered by the person in front of him, standing behind, being everywhere in the starry twirls upwards, endlessly extending even to the distant, infinite horizons.
Actually... kind of terrifying to think about tha-
"Yes, yes, it's terrixying, now listen here, I've got fantastic news that'll hopefully distract you a bit more from what you're moping about, including the fact of the matter of the fact that just happened to mope past you, something you don't seem to consciously realize yet."
He made a small break, and finally, something clicked within Leyk's mind.
He had died.
He was dead, now he wasn't, but how long, why, when, it was all blurr-
Was there anything after death?
Was it just absolute?
WA-
"Yes, exactly that was what I wanted to avoid" he smirked slightly" but now listen here, I found out other self."
He found the other self.
He found the self that had been lost atop the endless reddish floor, the endless floor-like desert made of wood that they had been stuck on and almost fought atop of, the place from which he had been ripped away, the place from which he had fallen...
But how was that even possible?
How had it been possible for a being without body, simply a consciousness stuck to a bit of mana, clinging to life in a dead subconsciousness, residing where nothing existed, a bridge between what was and wasn't, to find someone like that, someone that had been lost, someone so distant, so far away...
"Well, in the end I am still Cades, and you both originated from me, from your original subconsciousness, so it wasn't really all that difficult, it was just very distant, divided by things I couldn't even begin to understand, separated by not just worlds, but everything that could be put between, as if this thing, this plane of existence turned into dozens of fragments and I had to search for one corn in a sandstorm of sand that was about to devour me and spit me out full of cuts and in a great deal of pain."
"How are they doing..."
"They are fine, it is pretty weird, they aren't really themselves right now, the place where they are, countless fragments, some of which I actually recognized are flying around it, and he wasn't moving, but he was alive, constantly thinking, just now himself right now, at least not fully."
"How in heaven's name would that work?"
"From what I was able to garner, and from what you were able to hear before, when you heard the great pillar's name-"
"I heard their names?"
"So you already forgot? Well that's just how it is with such instant wisdom and knowledge, it is short-lived, such as the way to be a baby, the way to turn of the heart, the way to start breathing, all there, all instantly acquired, just gone shortly after, never to truly be reacquired aside from the outside, and even then, just partially."
"Then how do you know about it?"
"I never forget, I have every piece of information you ever had, I remember when you pissed down your legs as you were a young ehetrian child, your wings not even grown yet, I remember how our mom fed us, though I'd sure like to forget that, and I remember the names, though, just as all the other knowledge stored here, hidden away, I fear it would just do you more harm than good..."
"Okay... but if you are able to contact him, if he ever get's out of that challenge, or whatever it is that you won't tell me about, if I assume correctly, then, what will you do...?"
"OH! I am preparing quite a handsome few things, but most of all, I should be able to exist between you two at once, which means that you both gave the other Cades a power-up, and you got yourself a messenger to command, or rather, to work together with."