Holographic Sea

Subject: Terilynn Veranos | Classif.: Barzakh

Much of Mortis’s past did not exist. Purged. Redacted. Wiped clean from most historical records.

Supposedly, he was killed during the last Crown War over a century ago. A footnote in the academy textbooks. But of late, Lynn only found out from the Council that this wasn't the case. That it was a lie manufactured to satiate the curiosity of inquisitive students. He was the only Exiled in the history of the kingdom to be given such treatment. And to learn that it was Vita who burned down the Eternal Library; what kind of person would drive the wisest and greatest of the Council to this extent?

Commander. Doctor. Stuntman?

Depending on the Council member, each one painted a different version of him. Their varying individual accounts a collage of myth and hearsay. A threat to the Loyalists. Messiah in the eyes of the Reformists. His absence cast a shadow over the Council to this very day. They spoke of him not as a person, but as an entire nation. Both an enemy of The Surface and the guardian of The Depths. A wandering king with no kingdom to call his own.

Thus, it was only befitting someone of her noble standing to lead negotiations with such an enigmatic figure. Or so she thought.

The lack of banter in the car was painful. They had just escaped by the skin of their teeth. A momentous victory, yet there was no joy. No celebration. She was still too stunned to talk. Mind stuck at what she witnessed earlier, still trying to put together the pieces that fractured and fell apart. His daughter appeared to be the same. The father’s pathetic attempts to drive conversation failed to go anywhere.

At least the scenery was comforting. Marine lifeforms flew overhead, swimming in the space around them. Their multicolored scales and vivid patterns reflected the light that shone from above. The source of this light mimicked the sun, incandescent rays reminding her of the warm summer days on The Surface. But unlike the artificial sun in The Mids, the “sun” that beamed over the Holographic Sea was natural.

A cluster of pure, concentrated magic. So unfathomably dense, it burned the air around it, giving the illusion of light without most of its properties. When she raised her hand in front of her, it was both reflective and refractive. A bizarre sensation. It was like her eyes and brain were fighting to fill in the visual inconsistencies. Vision and illusion merged into one.

She faced outside the window once more, finger tapping on the door panel as she filled her time by fishwatching. An entire school of them formed a whirlwind of silver. Shifting, bending, fluttering in unison. Moving together with friends and family, freewheeling without a care in the world. They felt so far away from her, stuck inside a dying car whose engine coughed and wheezed. As if the concept of gravity only applied to her, not the wildlife that called this mirage their home.

“What… are you?” Lynn asked. She could no longer stand being left in the dark. To see everything around her live so peacefully, unaware of the truth. That the man in the driver’s seat could end existence at a whim.

-----

Subject: Mortimer | Classif.: Sirath

Tim sighed. Those were the three words he had heard more than any other in his life. What are you? How would he begin to answer that? Truthfully? Amicably? Did she want to know the real answer, or the one that aligned with her worldview?

But as his mind stewed, faces of the dead bubbling on the surface, the answer revealed itself.

“My father.” Mia’s words were soft, but the glare she shot at Lynn was anything but.

He didn't notice at first, but his eyes got wetter. Maybe it wasn’t the answer Lynn wanted, but it was the one he needed. To be reminded of who he was. Not a world-ending weapon. But someone who already had the entire world.

His entire world was sitting in the passenger seat right beside him. And that was enough.

“A-Anyways…” he interrupted as he cleared the ball forming in his throat. “The view’s kinda nice, right?”

“We’re not here for sightseeing,” Lynn grumbled.

As if to agree with her, the carcass of a whale came into view as the car went down a decline. Smaller than the Abyssal Fangcrawler that blocked their way earlier, but still a sight to behold. An all-you-can-eat buffet for sea creatures big and small alike. Both predator and prey dined side by side, signing a truce to be scavengers.

With the road taking them closer to the whale fall, the foul stench of rot sneaked into the vehicle. Mia wound up the window on her side, prompting the other two to follow suit.

The massive mammal had been dead for a while, yet, even on land, the speed of the decay was no different than if it were on the actual ocean floor. Tim estimated it to be around a month old from how much soft tissue still lingered on the bones. Thankfully, with the treasure trove of food nearby, none of the creatures would bother them.

“Mia,” he said as a random thought filled his head. “Do you think you can transform into a fish?”

“Oh.”

Looking outside, she had no shortage of options to pick from. Could she fly like the fish here? Or would she start floundering about in need of actual water?

She sat in total silence. For a moment, Tim thought she had turned into a statue. But after a while, she admitted. “I can’t.”

Figures. When he bore witness to all her potential transformations back in the woods, there were no animals. The requirement seemed to be the presence of either a soul or a core. Without either, she was unable to shapeshift into the target.

But with the limits of her Gift established, he wondered if she could transform into the souls that awaited them at their destination further down the Holographic Sea.

“I really want to try flying,” she murmured, looking a bit down.

“Have you even seen the sky?” Lynn scoffed.

The girl replied, “Hey, I’ve been on The Surface, too, you know…”

“And would you agree it is more splendid than anything down here?”

“... No.”

A single “no” was all it took for the princess to start preaching, nationalism rife in her voice as she lectured Mia on the superiority of The Surface. His daughter was having none of it. Disrespecting The Depths was not allowed under the roof of this car, it seemed. The growing intensity of the argument melded into white noise for Tim as he zoned out.

He found their disagreements calming, their clashing opinions warming his heart somewhat. He much preferred this over the heavy silence from earlier. Bicker as they might, Mia having someone to talk to other than him was a win in his book. It was moments like these, while insignificant at the time, that he truly missed. If he could turn back the clock, he would talk and listen to his old companions a lot more, instead of treating them as a waste.

Maybe he’d get the chance to do so, soon.

But before that, he had to navigate the steep terrain of the Holographic Sea floor. The car was moving downhill at about 30 degrees, which was actually a blessing in disguise. With the engine overheated and suffering other internal injuries, gravity helped shave off some of the strain. Nothing a bit of elbow grease and a few replacement parts couldn’t fix, the latter of which would be easy to come by in a matter of minutes.

All he needed to do was to avoid the rocks and reefs. Child’s play compared to what he had just been through. With how vibrant and dazzling the corals were, he had to be blind to hit them. They were practically glowing all around him, the kaleidoscope a feast for his sore eyes. Patterns and colors fused and flowed into one another, painting a new scenery with every twist and turn. Only the reef dwellers, like the crustaceans and eels peering behind the shadowy crevices of the painting, seemed worried about his presence. Their nervous gazes glued to the dirt-ridden body of his orange ride.

Likewise, Tim kept his sight on the skulking sea creatures, their reflective eyes gradually becoming the only source of light as he went deeper. The difference between the real sun and its magical counterpart here was apparent. The “light” from the coalescence of magic had a fixed distance. It failed to penetrate the darkness at these depths, even though no water obstructed it.

Eventually, the coral reefs vanished. The slope smoothed to a level plane as sand turned to cement. At the deepest point of the oceanless floor were signs of civilization. Only, the kind of civilization unknown to Mia and Lynn.

They stared outside their respective windows, perplexed at the unnatural structures that paved the way. What was cement at first glance appeared to be a different kind of substance altogether, glowing as the wheels of the car traversed over it. Towers, walls, and other constructs spread all around them, the intricate carvings on their surfaces spoke in glyphs and runes forgotten by humanity.

The hairs on Lynn’s skin stood straight. Every single one of these constructs brimmed with magic, far more than any structure she has seen on The Surface. But it wasn’t just the quantity; it was the fact that they breathed. The infrastructure of this space, despite the age and state of neglect it was in, was alive. The road glowed upon contact with the car not because it was built to, but because it was born to. An unconscious reaction to stimuli.

“You both should get ready to close your eyes,” Tim suggested.

Lynn asked, “Why?”

This entire space appeared circular in shape, like the base of a bowl, surrounded by the slopes of sand that fanned upward. At the center of it all was a large complex, a geometrically impossible edifice. Its existence an insult to the known laws of physics. A structure that stood somewhere between the third dimension and another. To gaze upon it was like witnessing a dream, visible and intangible at the same time.

But before Tim could explain it, the building decided to make its presence known. Much earlier than he would have liked. Much earlier than it was told to.

Just glancing at the massive structure hurt the girls’ minds far more than any headache, their brains on the verge of bursting from the sensory overload. Tim could only pat his daughter on her back, the most he could do to soothe her pain. Thankfully, they only caught sight of it for a very brief moment. No lasting injuries.

Still, he was annoyed. Not because the building affected him, but because it betrayed him. Granted, its temper tantrum could be a lot worse than a sensory attack, but it ought to show more respect for his guests.

Maybe it was even jealous of Mia.

While he mulled over his choice of words to give it once he arrived, his eyes were drawn to the orbs of light behind it. Digitalized souls. Sequences of ones and zeroes made manifest. Even without Soulsight, they were visible, forever flying skyward, never reaching their destination.

But while they could be seen, they could never be touched. That was the boundary of the Spire separating him from the real, outside world. Planet Earth, as he recalled. The true Holographic Sea was not the space he was in where the aquatic creatures hovered above, but what lay beyond. A sea of souls. Souls that dwelled outside his reality. Outside the final moments of the dying god.

Stopping in front of two large bunker-like doors, he stepped outside the car. The passengers stayed inside, eyes closed.

He asked, “Could you close your ears, too?”

This time, they did so right away. A wise choice, as the building began to speak. Not in words, but in frequencies, vibrating their teeth and bones. Yet, even with the safety measure implemented, their discomfort was only just beginning.

As for Tim, he understood the building just fine.

“Welcome back, Ewantree,” the voice spoke in a familiar, female tone. “How would you like to die today?”