A Peek Behind the Curtain

John continued to float in the endless abyss for an indefinite amount of time. At first, he decided to inspect the void for any indicators of what it was. However, he found nothing but emptiness and a sudden unpleasant chill that seemed to permeate his very being. He could’ve sworn it was a comfortable temperature just a moment ago.

Noting the apparent temperature change, John theorized that the hypothetical “bubble” that kept him from freezing to **** or exploding due to depressurization, assuming the area outside was a vacuum, was actively degrading even as he was thinking this.

Following the theory-crafting mood he was in to avoid freaking out about the real possibility of ****, John realized that this was likely the experience he had whenever he utilized Barrier Dive. However, he forgot this very passage each and every time due to an unknown element. This could be any number of things, a built-in thing from his powers, one of the god-like beings that Faith spoke of earlier, or… Gaia herself.

The idea was mind-boggling in and of itself, but the sheer fact that Gaia hadn’t made a snarky comment about it made it unlikely that it was her. Unless she was making him forget that too.

Deducing that he just didn’t have enough information to fully track this down to its source without sounding like Alex Jones, John simply sighed and attempted to take in the view.

After what seemed like an eternity, John saw something move in his peripheral vision. But when he glanced at where he was sure something had moved, all he saw was more of the eternal blackness that stretched as far as the eye could see.

John noticed a flicker in his peripheral vision once more. However, whatever it was had completely disappeared by the time he turned his head to look at it.

Beginning to slightly panic at this seemingly unexplainable phenomenon, John attempted to ignore the flickers the best he could. Suddenly noticing he was freezing, he wondered, ’When did it get so cold?’.

Even more time passed, with the flickers of light gradually increasing in frequency and intensity. John even managed to almost catch what one looked like when it appeared in front of him. All the while the temperature continued to drop and drop.

John, whose limbs had begun to feel stiff with cold and mind had begun to cloud with frost, wondered if he was going to die like this. While his unremembered current track record of not dying disproved this possibility, he was in no state to realize this.

Opening the eyes that he hadn’t realized he had closed, John found himself surrounded by a quickly growing lightshow of all colors, with gaps that had begun to rapidly envelop him.

Within a few moments, the flickers of light entirely surrounded the protective bubble around John, which began to fill with a soothing heat that eased his shivers and aches, somehow permeating the protective bubble and rapidly heating John to the very core within moments.

Once he felt reasonably well, John glanced around at the sphere surrounding him, which began to slowly disperse into a soft neon glow of various colors that eventually faded.

Finally relaxing after all of this, John wondered what the fuck had just happened.

Abruptly, a new kind of light enveloped him entirely once more. But this one was different, almost an inversion of all things John considered physical. The one glance that revealed this was all John needed to be overcome with it.

It hurt to look at, but he just couldn’t stop. It tore at his very being, the memories that made John who he was. He struggled in vain to look away despite the overwhelming pain that filled his mind, but it was far too late for that.

Under this pain, the person who was John was utterly shattered and reassembled with skill not even approached by the best noetic surgeons in the multiverse, albeit with a few more recent memories that were cast aside. Cleaning its mind of all that had just occurred, the being felt content. In this moment of rare satisfaction, it missed something.

Once its job was done, the sphere enveloping John returned to its bright, cheerful color before dissipating once more.

Stumbling a little as the transition between realities occurred, John felt as if he had awoken from a dream that he was rapidly forgetting. Mentally grasping at straws, he soon found himself mystified as to what he was even thinking about.

“You okay?” came a voice off to his right, which naturally revealed itself to be Faith’s.

“Uh, yeah, I think I just experienced some magical vertigo or something,” said John, standing up and stretching his arms out.

“Eh, its uncommon, but some people get that. It’ll pass in a moment.”

Taking the opportunity to get his bearings, he glanced around, finding himself in a rectangular room made up of a type of dark stone. Intricate carvings covered the walls, most of which met John’s expectations by largely involving some sort of rat or mouse from what little he could gleam from them. An incredibly ominous looking exit stood off to the side.

Also glancing at the walls, Faith mumbled something that John couldn’t quite make out.

“Alright, I haven’t been here before, so I suppose we should be looking for some sort of pattern in enemy spawn locations and expect to be attacked at any moment by… whatever kind of rat is in here.”

“That sounds like a good plan, but may I suggest that we also try and figure out what this place is? If we’re not actively dying at any moment, of course.”

“Sure, I’m a bit curious myself.”

Taking the initiative, Faith began to venture down into the tunnels. John hurried after her, trying his best to keep pace.

The tunnels were completely devoid of light, causing Faith to get out two flashlights, one of which she gave to John. They turned them on and proceeded onwards.

Half an hour later

“How in the fuck have we not found something yet?” John, whose feet were aching from the activity, muttered.

Aside from a few bones that crunched underfoot and squeaking noises in the distance, the duo had found absolutely no sign of any rat living here.

Stopping to take a break, the pair contemplated the situation at hand.

“There’s only slight signs of rat inhabitation here. If any are here, how many can there be?” Faith uttered, sipping out of a canteen that she had taken out of her bag.

“Probably few from what we’ve seen, but I’d be wary about underestimating our opponent here. If the Abyss has taught me anything so far, it’s that. We need to stop thinking of them as dumb. For all we know, it could even have us surrounded right n-”

Being interrupted by Faith clamping her hand over his mouth, she indicated for him to be quiet before whispering “Listen,” into his ear.

Taking a moment to focus, John did as he was told, straining his hearing for any sound he could detect. And that was when he heard it.

Nearly outside of his hearing entirely, he heard the rustle of something or somethings moving as if trying desperately to remain quiet.

The realization that the rats had been tracking them came as a complete shock to John, What sort of animal has the intelligence to stalk prey cooperatively like this without the slightest noise?

Shining his flashlight down towards the noise, all John could see was a collection of hairy bodies, many beady black eyes shining right back at him. The moment they knew that stealth was useless at this point, John channeled an Observe using the casting gauntlet.