Without a care Pamela moves back, never moving her gaze from Crim eyes. Crim, somewhat scared of her, decides to obey, taking the moment to examine Will. Immediately he notices a large bruise on his chin. Did she do that? He can't be sure but at least for now she seems to be friendly.
"So then, what's I need ta do ta kill em? I saw tha man get 'is neck ripped right off. Hard ta believe I can kill em."
Pamela smiles, happy to have his attention.
"That requires a little backstory. Willing to hear it?"
Crim nods in response, paying a bit more attention.
"A long time ago, a seal was broken. That seal was a girl. I'll be frank, I have no idea what was sealed, just that if it fully escapes…all of existence is doomed."
Silence, even if only for a moment. Seeing no response from Crim, Pamela continues.
"When that seal was broken the girl's body parts scattered and merged with people from this world and another. Those that fused with her body were given special abilities. You now have the stomach and eyes, so you can digest anything and merge it with you as well as see anything you want. Thanks to that stomach you're the perfect replacement."
Crim stops her.
"So ya want ta make a new seal outta me?"
She smiles.
"Bingo! Now onto how you can kill that knight. You have two options…eat him alive and digest him so that he won't revive orrrrrrrr become the new seal and sever the ties that keep him immortal."
Remembering Harry's fight, Crim knows, at least for now, he has no shot of defeating the knight let alone getting a single bite of him. Despite that, one thing sticks out to him.
"What's in'it for ya if I become a new seal?"
Suddenly, somberness and homesickness take over Pamele's eyes. For a few seconds she radiates the aura of an ordinary girl lost in sadness. Only for those seconds before returning to that same domineering aura.
"That seal anchors reality, you can do what you want with it, considering as the seal, you have the power to trap an existence ending monster in an eternal dream. I'm hoping you can send me back to earth. Whatever else you do, I frankly couldn't care."
"And i'm assumin that tha knight bastard wants ta make a seal too? What's different bout them an ya."
Pamela takes a moment to think, tilting her head and putting a finger on her chin.
"They want to remake the original and do a hard reset to the moment the seal was broken. We don't care what happens so long as we get to go home, as such, our best shot is making a seal we know we can work with."
Crim nods, deciding he can't place all his trust in them but at least knows he doesn't have to worry about any kind of betrayal. A deal without at least one side gaining something isn't a deal worth trusting in his eyes. Still, he has several questions. He's not sure he can ask everything knowing the knight might be on his tail but he can at least ask the important ones.
"So then, what's ta stop the knight from finding me?"
"Ah, about that. I need you to eat this."
Stepping off her rock she walks to him and passes him a piece of…pale white skin? Crim looks at her, then at the skin, then at her again and all he can say is, "Wha?" Pamela doesn't respond, instead motioning him to hurry up and eat it. Still cautious, he decides to eat it after a few seconds hesitation. The second he does, Pamela smiles and speaks, "Now we just need you to eat the rest of the seal's body. Don't rush though, you will naturally come across them." Crim tilts his head in clear confusion, wondering what she means. "The seal naturally wants to become whole again. We can't have someone else becoming the seal though so what we'll have you do is wander while we hold all but one in place."
At this moment, it finally hits Crim, the most important question he should ask.
"An wha 'appens if tha seal ain't fixed in time?"
Instantly an overbearing silence hits.
Pamela looks to the moon, dread filling her eyes and determination filling every word as she speaks, "Everything will end. Past, present, and future. It will all end." Hearing this, Crim doesn't really care that everything would end, instead his trust in these people growing. They can't return home if there's no home to return to after all.
"So then, is there anythin I oughta know?"
"Once in a while we meet in the maze of memories to discuss and report. There's a warning an hour in advance, though, you don't need to worry about changing your actions or hiding. If you go in front of ordinary people they'll immediately forget what they saw and continue on like normal."
Crim instantly focuses on the words, "Ordinary people."
"An if I get in front a tha unordinary?"
"Prepare for a fight."
At that moment Crim decides to hide away before he gets pulled. Pamela, deciding she's said everything she's needed to say, walks off towards the north. Crim lets her walk away in silence, moving to Will instead and taking a seat next to him. He isn't sure he's completely safe even after eating that piece of skin, still, he knows his best bet on knowledge and safety is Will. So, in this moment, he takes a deep breath, moves close to Will's ear…and screams!
"Wakey Wakey!!! We Gotta Nope Outta 'Ere!!!"
Will opens his eyes, looks at Crim, looks at the sky, and promptly responds with a resounding, "Wake me up like that again and I guarantee you'll regret it" followed by a glare so intense it leaves Crim moving back in a panic. "Ma god in Ouros okay mate!" Smiling at Crim's over-exaggerated response, Will slowly stands up, immediately checking his backpack and finding everything in order.
"Pamela already tell you everything?"
"Wow ya ain't even gonna try ta hide it aint'cha? Yeah, she did. Now's then, where we want ta go?"
"Urbi, there's a few I want to kill and need your help."
"Sure, who we killin?"
"You'll know once we get there. Think you can open a door?"
Crim tilts his head in clear confusion. Will looks at his eyes and sees a faint silver, knowing that the plan went through. Maybe it's too early for him to open doors, he thinks to himself. After realizing they'll have to take the long way he lets out a heavy sigh and starts moving to the east, signaling Crim to follow along. As they walk Crim tries to make small talk, Will deciding to indulge considering Pamela's orders.
"What's ya mean by door?"
"Since you have his eyes you should be able to open a door to anywhere in the world. I don't know how to explain it. It's just in the Harry Abilities List document."
"Okay, so why have a list a 'is abilities?"
"Better to know everything you can about a possible enemy when they have the power to freely manipulate reality."
"Why would 'e be a potential enemy an can I see that doc?"
"He saw something and it made him unpredictable. As for the document, ask Pamela when you meet her."
Crim, a bit curious, wonders if he might be able to see what Harry did. It shouldn't be too dangerous considering Harry seemed okay. Plus, if it was enough to make Harry cautious about these people it's probably something he should know. Still, what would he have looked at? Suddenly, Crim remembers Harry's cold attitude towards earth. How he never mentioned wanting to go back. In that moment Crim makes a decision, regretting it immediately after.
A violent explosion of light poures out from his eyes, covering the immediate area in a star-like glow. Panicked, Will jumps back and pulls out his gun, ready to shoot between Crim's eyes without hesitation. Crim, unfortunately, doesn't have the time to care. Instantly he can see…another world?
Earth sits in front of his eyes. It's completely ruined, mountains flattened with the oceans almost all gone with various massive spikes pierced into it. Pieces from what used to be the moon, a massive fleshy eye replacing it. It stares at the earth with an empty glare. Before Crim can even try to understand what he's seeing…the eye, for the first time in half a century, moves. Slowly, it turns to him. In that cold pupil he sees glimpses of another world, the darkness in its center resembling a gate to infinity.
In the center of that void "something" is wildly trying to claw its way into the eye, break past that gate. Just as the eye sees Crim, so does "it."
"It" is familiar. Despite never having seen something so monstrous before in his life feels like he knows it like he would a parent. It's tall and skinny, yet despite its stick-like figure it clearly has no bones. On its fleshy diamond shaped head is an x shaped slit. As it turns the slit starts to open a single, lone eye is revealed.
With every millisecond the eye changes shape and color, the only consistent being a single black dot in the middle surrounded by an ever-shifting infinity. Cold sweat pours down Crim's forehead as a primordial fear slams into his mind like a hammer to an anvil. Looking at it he hears a name incomprehensible. Out of the infinite gurgles, screams, and mumbles that make out its title, Crim has only understood three letters.
Tep
Tep
Tep
By some unholy hell miracle a mortal manages to understand a fraction of a fraction's worth of its all encompassing existence without going irrepariby mad on the spot. Crim, unable to understand what he's seeing, can only scream, his eyes becoming bloodied as he pulls his hair so hard patches start to come off. Right as he loses conscious, as he closes his eyes and desperately wishes to return home one last thought fills his head.
Is that earth?