"What happened to her?" The Inquisitor High Lord arrived at the Pope's Palace.
"She was mumbling something in her sleep and started sweating. She has no fever nor any poison in her system. None of us know what happened." Healer Hendrix, one of the Sanctum Council members, diagnosed Xylena as she was brought to the sick bay.
"Such ominous events continue to take us by surprise. This is not natural, we can surmise." Lord Inquisitor pondered and glanced at the Deputy Pope, "It has been a year since His Holiness left. We should raise the alarms and prepare to do our best. I sense there lurks an evil, out to cause upheaval."
With a stale face and dark eyes, Gabriel nodded without showing many expressions. After officially becoming the temporary Pope, he experienced firsthand how often Sylvester had to deal with crises. One after another, it was as if the world was on the brink of erupting in chaos at every given time.
"The fact that we don't understand what happened to Queen Xylena is what worries me the most. Felix hasn't responded back from his visit to Beastaria either. There is certainly a force acting behind our backs," Gabriel said.
"A force that doesn't belong to this world," added King Rathagun of Alfia, a surprising presence in the Holy Land but a welcomed one. "Every single mountain has been toppled. Every piece of land has been searched. Saint Viceman is nowhere to be seen."
"The Darkpit Sea remains." Guardian Julius suggested, "Emperor Raz and I can search it if we both go. Two Supreme Wizards shouldn't find trouble traversing the place."
"I shall join too," Rathagun added. "The Pope will be furious if I don't."
"I'll also go!" The Prince of Giants, Castell shouted. "I've completed my training and education here."
The room was filled with an air of melancholy. There was confusion since no one had any clue what was happening. Before, they always had a goal, a pathway that Sylvester suggested. Somehow, that path also always led to victory.
But now, they truly felt they were on their own. No amount of ancient wisdom was helpful.
"What should I tell Isabella? She just recently gave birth." Aurora changed the depressing topic, but the new one was even more gloomy.
They all silently looked down.
"Nothing," Gabriel decided. "Unless we have conclusive information to tell her, we'll keep the matter between us. Mother Xavia, please remain by Xylena's side."
…
Meanwhile, in a time unknown, in a place that technically didn't exist, standing between the countless moving eels, Sylvester felt so small and pointless. It was a feeling he had never felt before, as if he didn't even matter. A greatly humbling experience that seemingly yearned to alter his worldview, and in this case, his view on reality.
Nothing mattered as he was surrounded by infinite realities. Each eel contained a universe with its own set of rules. Each probably possessed life and people who hoped to grow strong like gods, never to realize the true extent of what lay beyond.
This view, this little peek into what the actual 'Gods' ruled over, made Sylvester almost give up. How could someone fight against something that controlled all of that? Who made all that?
"Each eel contains a reality across time and space."
"What do you mean, Maxy?"
"That, even I don't understand. Yet it makes sense." Sylvester shook his head, feeling uneasy. "Where do we stand now then? What is this space?"
Woosh!
"Maxy, I can't control it!" Miraj cried as he realized they had once again changed their location. "I don't know what's happening."
'Nehilius merely controls one of those universes, in one of those eels, or whatever those creatures are. Primordial Gods are above all this.' Sylvester's mind spun like a storm, trying to make sense of their situation. 'Only because I'm no longer a human I can survive the extremities of jumping between spaces.'
Woosh!
Once again, they jumped to a different reality. As they appeared in the new place, a massive cloud-like hand shining in cosmic red came descending towards them from above, as if trying to grab a hold of them.
'Another Nehilius-like creature?'
Having turned numb to the changes, as if it were a scripted play, they jumped into space just when they were about to be squashed by the creature.
The whole time, he kept his focus on Miraj, stuck on his chest. He tried to see what was making the cat's spatial magic so unstable. Again and again, they flickered through worlds. Sometimes, they also found themselves back in the eel-infested space.
'His body is phasing out.' Sylvester noticed something after a long time of observing. 'Every single time we jump, his body turns translucent.'
It happened for a very slight, flickering moment, but he saw it happen every single time. He could see Miraj wasn't even using his jaw's ability to make the portal to his belly or whatever dimension he could control.
Brows furrowed, the furball's hair stood up in tension. Miraj tried his best to control the magic, but he couldn't make any sense of it.
"Calm down, Chonky." Sylvester massaged the furry head. "Let's sort this out. We're not going anywhere until we can stay in one place."
Miraj was frustrated already, "I feel tired, Maxy. It's like… it's like someone is eating all my energy."
'So the spatial jumps are indeed because of you,' Sylvester silently confirmed. 'But how can they be stopped?'
Woosh!
Once again, Miraj flickered as if he was glitching, and they changed locations. Sylvester maintained his senses sharp this time and tried to feel the spatial changes. It was a boon to him as it helped in cultivating the spatial magic, elevating his understanding.
'What? How is that possible?' He noticed something. 'It's not Chonky phasing and flickering. It's the darn space around him reacting to… his existence?'
It made absolutely no sense. Why would the supreme reality around them controlled by the Primordial Gods, react against Miraj, a minuscule being of seemingly no significance?
'It's also draining his energy. He already looks barely awake.' Sylvester was alarmed, as he didn't know how far Miraj could be drained of his energy. 'How do I stop this… Yes, me!'
A fact that his body was no longer human and that he wasn't phasing out like Miraj. A mere being made of unknown energies, he wrapped his arms around Miraj's body and hugged him tightly, squishing him. Exhausted, Miraj didn't even complain this time.
'I can be any shape I desire to be in,' he muttered and attempted to extend the energy that made him over to Miraj. The skin over his hands began to dissolve into nothingness as shining red matter, looking like mist, began covering the furball.
"Maxy… It's warm." Miraj looked at the shining orange mist covering him. His half-open eyes blinked curiously, and his little tongue tried to lick and see what it was. "Tasteless."
'Did he just eat me?' Sylvester mused, continuing to try to protect Miraj. In the process of doing so, they continuously changed places, flickering into different universes or perhaps different places in the same universe.
The possibilities were endless. However, Sylvester wondered if the Primordial Gods hadn't noticed them yet.
In little time, Sylvester covered Miraj entirely with the same energy that made his body. It didn't feel like he was doing anything extraordinary. He was now only more aware of Miraj's body and his movements. He was still his own being.
After that, he waited for something to happen. Hovering in the dark space with flickering stars in the distance, there was nothing to do. Normally, the jumps between spaces happened in seconds or a minute apart.
He counted to sixty seconds. Then, he counted for five minutes more to be sure of it.
'The space around us and his body isn't compatible? But that makes so much sense. We're all constructs of the same reality.'
But now the issue was how he was going to return to the space in between all the worlds.
'That nihility… Only Chonky can take me back there. But how many more attempts will it take?' He wondered and looked at the tired Miraj.
"Chonky, will you gain back your energy if you eat something?" He asked.
"I don't know. I've never felt like this."
Sadly, there was no other way but to try it. So, he allowed Miraj to take out as many bananas or whatever he had kept in store and eat it. Of course, Sylvester had to protect all the food from shattering away in the coldness of the dark space they hovered in.
Chomp!
Miraj took big and greedy bites and ate the cookies packed by Xavia. He ate bananas and even the cookies that were reserved for Sylvester. Adding a few more things from the Bard's eatery, Miraj started to move faster than before.
"Alright, now you're just eating for the sake of eating."
"But it's so tasty. I don't like to waste food."
'Yeah, he's alright again.' That was enough for Sylvester to be sure. 'Time to find Dalgan and Zenith. I hope they're still alive.'
Woosh!
Sylvester simply made a small gap in the shield protecting Miraj, and they zoomed through space in no time. In quick repetitions, they went from one place to another, one deadly situation to another.
After almost three dozen jumps, Sylvester finally saw the mysterious eels.
"Stop!" He covered Miraj again and hugged him so tight that Miraj made a squeal from his mouth. "Don't try anything right now, Chonky."
"I didn't do anything anyway."
Sylvester still hadn't forgotten Miraj's folly. But for now, he quickly closed his eyes and tried to listen to the girl's voice that guided him through the mysterious space where he shouldn't be existing.
It required much deeper concentration this time, and yet he felt it was somewhat easier when it came to sensing the surroundings.
'Could be my increasing comprehension of spatial magic,' he reckoned, and focused with eyes closed. 'Where are you?'
And just when he hoped for it, a faint, desperate plea resonated in his ears.
'God, when will my wish come true?'
"There!" Sylvester's eyes opened wide, and he noticed the eels before him creating a pathway akin to a tunnel. He began moving immediately in the empty space, hopeful of finding Dalgan and Zenith along the way.
'I thought praying to you helps people. When will you help me?'
As he traveled, the little girl's voice became much clearer. Of course, he felt even more desperate.
"Maxy! Look!"
Sylvester looked to his right and skidded to a halt in that space. Since it was a tunnel, all he saw were eels that contained universes in them. It was a wall of them, but in between, Zenith's helmet was stuck.
"Zenith?!" He shouted.
"Sylvester!"
"They're stuck!" Sylvester rushed as fast as he could. He stopped using Elder Magic, which made his vision clearer as he couldn't see the eels anymore. With that, he noticed Zenith right there with Dalgan, hovering aimlessly, unable to move in any direction.
"What happened?!" Dalgan questioned, looking as if he had aged by years.
Sylvester sighed, wondering how much time actually passed. "Fate had something else planned, I'm afraid."
Zenith, without her armored helmet, stared at Sylvester's torso. Her eyes never moved, and soon, her hand pointed at him. "What's that on your chest?"
Shocked, Sylvester raised his brows as he looked down at Miraj's fluffy head. He alternated between them until he fixed his gaze on Zenith. "You can see Chonky?"
"Chonky? That's his name?" Dalgan blurted.
Sylvester again looked down, and then back at the man, "You can see him too?"
"Meow?"
Miraj's nostrils flared, and his tail wagged like never before as he realized a particular, very exciting possibility.
