realisation (2)

With a surprised look frozen on his face, Merfy stared into the utter darkness, feeling as if he had been plunged into the depths of a lightless cavern. Surrounding him from all sides. Merfy would have second guessed his eyes, if his own figure wasn't appearing as pristine as fresh snow, amidst the darkness, as if it had been crafted by erasing the shadows itself.

"Where on Astra—" Merfy muttered, his voice abruptly halted by the lack of sound. Panic began to replace his surprise as he realized he couldn't hear his own voice, nor feel the usual sensations of breathing, pulse, or body temperature. It all added to his belief that this was a dream, a lucid one teetering on the edge of collapse.

His certainty wavered when he felt a sharp presence approaching from the darkness, akin to the feeling of danger he experienced in the wastelands but amplified. Merfy abandoned the notion of a dream as he assumed a defensive stance, his incomplete body poised for action.

As the presence drew nearer, Merfy could visualize a pitch-black humanoid figure, just steps away from him. This perception was unlike anything he had experienced before, transcending sight and manifesting as a visceral awareness.

The figure held an orb in its grasp, the same crimson orb now enveloped in darkness, devoid of its previous energy as if drained of life. Merfy watched in puzzlement as the figure, exuding an air of haughtiness akin to royalty, crushed the orb with a slight smirk.

Full of grief at the destruction of the orb he had fought so desperately to obtain, Merfy stared at the spot where the figure had stood, his gaze filled with confusion and sorrow.

Despite recognizing Merfy's gaze, the raven figure didn't deign to reply and With a gentle touch on Merfy's forehead, it dispersed into a blinding light that seemed to seep into his body, staining his pristine color with a slight gray.

The sharp presence dissipated, leaving behind a void that felt even emptier than before.

Merfy struggled to comprehend the bizarre events unfolding before him, and his confusion deepened as a blue panel materialized in front of him—the only discernible object in the void aside from his own form.

Rectangular and vertically elongated, the panel hovered in the air with an eerie stillness. It appeared partially transparent, allowing Merfy to see his hand behind it, though he could pass through it as if it were an illusion. Ironically, he couldn't discount the possibility that he himself was part of the illusion in this strange space.

Shifting his focus from the panel's dimensions to its contents, Merfy attempted to decipher the moving, worm-like script until it coalesced into a single text.

"Translation complete.

Evaluating the Basic Info. of the Holder."

Merfy's heart raced as he awaited further revelations in this enigmatic realm.