Arghhhhhh—AHHHHH—hahhh—!
A thousand wails.
Then nothing.
A sharp, unnatural silence swallowed the cries like they never existed.
Ryanis blinked. Or… he thought he blinked. His body was gone. His breath was gone. His heartbeat was gone.
Only the memory of pain lingered like a phantom.
Where… am I?
His voice echoed back at him from the void—thin, trembling.
What is this place…? Aren't I dead? My sister…
A crack formed in his voice, the kind only despair creates.
My poor sister… what have I done…
He turned—or believed he did—but every direction was the same endless, ancient darkness.
A darkness so complete it felt older than creation, like it had watched universes rise and fall countless times.
Then—
A ripple.
A breath.
A vibration that made the darkness itself shiver.
And from everywhere at once came a voice so deep it felt like it scraped the soul clean:
"Human. Who told you the truth?"
Ryanis jolted. Terror slammed into him like cold water.
His eyes darted around even though there was nowhere to look.
"Wh-who is there!?" he shouted, voice cracking, "W-what truth?!"
The void swallowed his words.
No answer.
Just the heavy emptiness pressing against him.
Then the voice returned—
Lower.
Older.
Almost bored.
"It has been long since I dealt with your kind. My patience is paper thin.
I will reveal myself in due time… but first, answer me."
The darkness trembled with each word.
"Who told you…
that the gods are not the true gods?
That everything you have seen, worshipped, or feared…
is a lie?"
Silence again.
Ryanis opened his mouth—then shut it. Fear coiled around him like chains.
His mind raced through memories, through prayers, through old stories whispered by dying elders…
Then something inside him broke—not with defiance, but surrender.
"…Lies?" he whispered.
"D-Do you mean my parents lied to me?"
A sound like a cosmic chuckle rumbled, vibrating the void.
"They did not lie. They told you what they were told.
And everything they were told… was a lie."
The darkness pulsed.
"That is why I ask, little human…
why did those words leave your lips in your final breath?
Why did you speak the ancient forbidden truth—
that the gods rebelled against the True Creator?"
The void tightened like a closing fist.
Ryanis felt something unseen leaning closer.
Watching.
Judging.
Waiting.