Destroy. Rebuild. Die. Return. Glitch. Scream. Breathe. Destroy. Rebuild.. Die... Return... Glitch.....

Their flesh tore first. Skin was peeled away in searing ribbons as bones splintered into shards of dust and veins frayed like dried rope. It was instantaneous and horrifying. There was no grace or wisdom to be found in the brutality of being ripped apart and remade from the smallest soul secrets. Every nerve begged for The Void. Consciousness ceased and was reborn in a millisecond as billions of memories and experiences floored them in remembrance.

And then, they were remade in a slapping thud as the screams echoed across the expansive tundra in which they landed. Purple glowing earth and obsidian stone pulsed beneath their feet as the frozen lake caught them and graced them with the next crystal. Izhari’s clawed fingers dug into her staff, and she pulled herself forward. Tomita was there beside her, gasping and supporting her small frame as he fought back tears.

They reached the crystal and Izhari muttered unfamiliar words that flowed from her stolen memories like forged documents. Still, it worked. There was a snap, and they were gone. Before Izhari had even fully planted her feet, she was taking Tomita’s hand, and they were teleporting once more.

Organs vanished and ripped into ether. Time was a forgotten language written in a lost novel. Darkness burned into the corners of Tomita’s eyes as he fought to hold back the scream of indiscriminate suffering that was consuming his being. Then they reappeared. Lungs burst wetly back into place within their cavity as ribcages cracked like ancient trees. Fluids filled muscles and membranes, and tongues reformed in time to scream as burning eyes clenched shut in agony.

Now they stood upside down in a realm of labyrinthine steps that moved and pivoted, but it did not matter. The crystal was before them, pulsing in waiting. Izhari steadied herself as her weaker leg struggled to gain its form. Bone cracked and reset and she let out a howl of agony, but now she was whole. Tomita’s hand was still in hers, holding on for safety and mutual reassurance that they were both still there.

His liver felt like it had torn open, and he feared that it had. But they had to continue.

So Izhari touched the crystal and spoke their destination once again.

Once more, they vanished from the planes of existence as reality ended and returned.

Skin wrapped muscle and tendon. Teeth and nails protruded from fleshy ends. Blood ran from Izhari’s eyes and Tomita’s scalp as their bodies began to break.

Please let it be over soon.

But it wasn’t.

Again, they teleported.

Again, they suffered.

Breathe in.

Nothing existed until it did. But existence was slowly drowning then.

Breathe in.

He knows about us. We have to move.

Heartbeats returned in pounding bursts as the souls’ drums churned and propelled them forward.

Her hand was trembling and drenched in sweat. Tears were running down their faces. Pain was all-consuming and the only truth in a world of blight and lies.

Hold.

Again, they teleported.

Again, they suffered.

There were stars falling through the sky.

Hold. Breathe in. In breathe. Ehtaerb nI. Dloh.

Destroy, rebuild until gods appear. Destroy rebuild. Destroy rebuild. No one is going to save us.

Exhale through the nose.

Glitch.

Scream.

Die.

Return.

Scream.

Glitch.

Scream.

Die.

Return.

Scream.

Scream.

Scream.

Scream.

This world is only a world of screams.

THISWORLDDESERVESTOBURN.

Keep your eyes on her. Don't let go of her paw. She is the only truth.

Keep your thoughts on him. Feel his hand on yours. He is the only reality.

Sorrow ran like a river beneath thought, the only rhythm in the chaos, the only tether to self. I have only known suffering. No, you have known him. No, you have known her.

Please let it be over soon.

Please let it be over soon.

Memory star falls were scattering the distant horizon.

The world fractured, stutters echoed, time folded on itself. Glitch. A faceless scream caught in the teeth, throat torn raw. Die, dissolve, scatter like ash on the wind. Return. Hold on to her hand. Hold on to his hand. Scream. Scream. Glitch. Die. Return.

Hold on to me!

Hold on to me, please!

Stay with me!

Breathe!

Staywithme!!

Exhale!

Please stay with me, we are almost there!!!

This is the end.

Break me. Unmake me. Consume me. Annihilate me and take me. I don’t want this. I never wanted this. I never wanted this. Please let it end. Flesh unraveled like an unspooled thread. Does a soul even notice if it is erased? Memory stutters like his voice. What did she taste like that night?! Scream. Die. Return. Death claws at the marrow. Scream.

Scream.

Breathe in—hold—exhale through the nose—

—but the breath is never enough, never whole.

Glitch.

It was never enough.

Until it was.

staywithmeplease…

I NEED YOU.

They fell to the ground, sobbing, spent, and broken. Their skin was covered in blood after seventeen glitches through space and time. Tomita was screaming without realizing it. Burn marks lined his eyelids and cheekbones. Short, terrified bursts of traumatized gasps fell from his mouth as Izhari fell forward and vomited blood and bile onto the crystallized sand beneath her paws.

They were too stunned to see the ambient golden fog drifting all around them. This place was different. But they could not look up yet.

All they could do was cling to one another.

Tomita’s hand was still on Izhari’s paw as he slumped over and exhaled shaking, piercing sighs of absolute ecstasy. Color returned to his vision, but it hurt to even open his eyes at the moment. All he could do was hold on to Izhari’s paw, who was now swaying side to side as her mind cut between consciousness and death.

“I-I-I-Izhariiii…” Tomita gulped as more tears ran down his face.

“Tomitttttaaaa…” she sobbed as her paw shook in his grasp.

They were there. They had made it. They were still together and put together.

“Y-you did it. We made it…” Tomita choked, still unable to even look upwards.

Izhari’s lips turned down as she held back a deepening cry, but her spirit found a hint of comfort in knowing it was over.

Tomita’s other hand released the cart long enough to reach into his jacket and find the bottle of etherdrop. The bottle was opened with haste, and Tomita downed half of the remaining contents before handing it to Izhari, who followed his lead. Only after the liquid began to soothe the screaming and suffering did Tomita open his eyes to see the ethereal empty space before them.

Empty.

Empty?

EMPTY?!

The thought shot through his mind and pulled Tomita back to near-functioning consciousness. This was their destination, but it was an empty white and gold void, as though they were on a cloud at the edge of a misty morning sunrise.

Above them, dozens upon dozens of memory star falls were streaking the sky. All around them, streams of strange lights tore through the clouds and fell towards unknown destinations. Something about them and their newly increased number concerned Tomita, but his main fright was from the vacant realm before them.

“...I-Izhari…” he asked in concern.

The tone of his voice scared Izhari, and she forced herself to open her eyes. She felt something awful growing in her chest and knew it was from whatever he was seeing.

Glaring bright light dissipated through the fog but it was still garishly gentle. They were at the edge of a great body of golden water that curved upwards towards the heavens. Incandescent warmth emanated through the ghostly fog, but there were no orbs.

She could feel it.

She could feel the emptiness.

Empty.

She couldn’t feel any memories.

Empty.

She couldn’t feel any magic or even a hint of ether presence.

Empty.

All she could feel the emptiness, and that was it.

Panic strangled Izhari in a vice grip more painful than the teleporting.

Empty.

“What is this?!” she whimpered as she struggled to stand.

Tomita was there, hoisting her up as she nearly dropped her staff.

Empty.

“Where are the orbs?!” she cried.

“WHERE ARE THEY?!!!!” roared the beast from within Izhari’s chest.

Something beyond despair was building in Tomita’s chest as he watched Izhari struggle to process what she was feeling.

“There’s… n-nothing here,” Tomita explained.

“There’s fog. And something like a sea at dawn. But there are no orbs..."

Instead of a never-ending sea of memory orbs holding the true recollections of time eternal, all the duo found was gentle emptiness. Not a single memory orb floated to greet them.

Empty.

The memory orbs were gone.

The Shores of Time were destroyed.

What was supposed to hold the keys to restoring the world and defeating Mathael was instead an empty grave for the realm, where the last bits of Izhari’s hope started to truly die.

It had all been for nothing.