10. Chuuni Demons

Pain.

Overwhelming pain. If pain could be condensed into a liquid, then Kai would be drowning in an ocean of it.

But pain was good, pain meant he was alive. Being alive was good.

{H̸̡͎̏̏͋̒̿̃̑̄̈́̾͆͝͠ͅa̷̛̩̖̯̞̹̰̖̭͎̝̼̎̈́̎͘h̵̞̗͉̹̀̋̾͗͑͆̋̕͝a̶̳̮͚̲̐̿͘h̴͈͚̠̳̣̙͎̠͕̺́̂͘̕a̸̩̼̞̱̝͑̈́͋͆̿́̓}

Kai's thoughts moved like molasses, threatening to drift apart with a slight break in concentration. Kai knew, if he lost focus it would be the true end. A true death. No second chances.

Pulling his fragmented mind together with pure willpower, Kai was fueled by his strongest emotion; spite.

Not anger, not pride, just pure spite.

He refused to, no, he couldn't die until debts were paid. He had been wronged, scammed to the highest degree. Never in his entire life had he been screwed over so thoroughly. His soul couldn't rest until the scales were balanced, by his standards of course.

As his determination grew, so did so did Kai's awareness.

{H̸̨̦̩̻̖̤͔̼̘͎̩̽̿̒̔̒͊̌̑̐̂̊̕Ă̴̙̺͚̠̳̱̭ͅá̴̳̣͖̳̺̖̝̭̱̄͐̏̊ḫ̷̡̢̼͙̭̣̒̎̽̌̉̓͋̽̈́̏͜͝ͅà̴̞͔̤̲̮̞̯̟̤̤̭̉h̴̡̠͎͓̩̥͍̻̟̠̖̭͌͐̾͊̐͐̓̍͘͠a̷̧̧̢̮̰̺̮̫̩̝̻͕̐̏͂͊h̵̼͓̻̹̗̩͙̻̩͙̜̪̼͓̑̾͋̔̿̓͆͠à̴͈̻͕̥̲̠͇̘̞͓͍̏̀́͋̀͗̽̋̀̈́͠h̸͍̣̠̯͈̰̮̦̭͉̣̪͍͇̟͐ǎ̸̢̟̟͉̦̔̀̀͒̊̂͗̇̈͠H̵͇̿̃͑̒̿̃͐̄͗̒͝͝͝Á̷̢̼̯̳̮̘̠̊̈́̿Ḩ̸̨̛̰̤̬̰͎͎̱̃͗̽͑̅́̎̌̀̃̾̕A̶̺̭̅͗̀h̶̨̜̰͖̘͔̤̄̓̓̎̌͒̄͛̈́̉̐͝ͅā̷̛̪͙̗}

A speck of dark purple light appeared in his vision, as if responding to his determination. Faint yet certainly present. Obvious against the pure blackness of pain that Kai was drowning in.

Kai tried to reach for the light, but found himself without limbs, well, without anything. No arms, no legs, no body. Nothing but his thoughts, and the ceaseless pain.

As if it could feel his overflowing desire, the speck of light grew. 

Slowly at first, the light creeped forward. It was as if the light was conscious, as if it were afraid of brushing up against Kai's delicate mind and sweeping it away.

With a comforting softness, the light eventually reached Kai's body, enveloping it.

The light seemed to eat away at the pain, though it wasn't much.

Kai had no idea how long he was in this state. Wrapped in the purple light, doing his very best to hold himself together against the pressure ripping his psyche apart.

He kept his metaphysical eyes wide open, afraid that if he closed them he would never see again.

{̶̧̡̛̲̖̖́̉̈́͆̅͊̾̎̍̌̑̋͗͂̀͘̚͜͝͝H̵̛̤̺̀̔͒͆A̴̢͍͓͍̯͓̺̩̣͍̠̓̓̓̌̽́̈́̒̋̐̈́͐͑̆̚̚͠͝ͅH̴̛̳͌̍̎̊̈́̔A̶̡̛̘͓̫̗̦̜̗̲̣̳̪̣̣̟̯͍̖̥͗͂̓̃̅́̓̌̒͠ ̶̧̘̝͂͆̏͗͑͗̃͋̾̕̚H̸̨̹̺̫̖̠̮̼̑̔͜A̷̧̡̡̜͈̟͚͓̟̜̮͕̯̐̏̌͘Ḩ̸̞͙̪̝̭͎̗̥̗͈̯̂̈́̍̒̐͌͐̓͂͗̂̈́̉̋̊͊͠͝͝H̶̡̩̱̮̣̘̼͉̜̘̱͖̦̤́̇̎̾͜H̴̺̠͚̫̯̺̠͓͛Ą̸̨͙̗̟̖̳̼̼̳̭̗̩̓̄̾̈́͆͗͑̿̇̿̌́͒̚ͅḦ̷̝̼̘͖͎̠̭͙͖̗̹̝̜͖̥͚̰̘͕̝͌̒̔͗̑̿̄͆̚H̶̢̛͎͖̖̫͖͕̹͎̦̔̀͒͜A̵̢͍͎͈͖̞͇̯̭͔͈̮̜̮͖̘͈̽̏̉̔͐̇͑̾̏̀ͅ ̵̧̺̼̥͓̙̹̗̳̝̗̪̣̩̼̰̮̠̘͊͑̆̈̆͂̎̈̕͝Ą̶̢̢̫̳͎̟̣̭͇̲̲̜̞̻͙̦̾̋̑̏͌̋A̷̢̛̛͕̰̤͎͎̭̥̯̥̮̺͙͕͇͊͆̿̎͒͂̏͑̆̌̿̀́̚͘͠H̶̼̳͔̮͕̘̘̝͈̔̐̓́͋̎̄̐͑̓̋̈́͆Á̶̡̺̫̜̞͇̮̘̮͍͎̱̱́͛͗̓͠͠H̶̢̨̧̨͈̳̳͇͎̦̳̊̿͐͂̉̄͂̈͐͑́̚̚͝͠A̶̛̭̙̬̞̱̞̠̦̮͍͎͋̽̈́̄͐̀́̓̌̕͠͝ͅA̵͔̯͖̦̯̽́̓̎̀̒͆ ̷̧̛̼̲̪̪̗͓̲̖̩̗̝̹͙̹̠͚̳͆̔͑̈́̐͑͌̄̽̔̊͌̅͊͝H̴̰̑̔͂͝Ā̶̡̟̻̣̙̞́͐̀͗̆̆̽̅͘͘̚̕͠H̸͙̥̯̥͇̱͍͕̥͈͇̪̥̼̟̲̖̟̲̬͒́̊̈́͂͋͊̈̍͗̇̀͝͠A̵̡̝̮͔͇͎̜͔̅̿͌̉͛̎̆̉͐̒͂͝͝ͅH̵̡̧̡̡̞̼̥̹̯̘̤̻̹̪̽͜Ą̷̧͎̥̝͈̗̼͔̩̯̐͛̄̽̃́͆̏̐̇͌͜͝͠H̵̨̢̢̨̨̱̺̙̱̭̀̏͆͜ͅA̵̡̛̤̝̥̤̬͇̝̺͓̅̉̈̒́͆̽̀̍̋͒̾̎̽̚̕H̴̡̨̥̭͎̩͓͋̀̑͌̊̓̉͜Ẳ̶̧̧͕̻͕̬̳̝̺̟͇̠̞̲͓͔̫̭̔͆͐̊̓̍̊̏̉̋̿͛̈̇̀͝͝͠H̸̢̛͚̠̙̘̳͓́̇̀̎̐̏̽͛̀̚̕̚͠͠Ȧ̸̧̢̱̺͚̪͙͉̯̭̹̣̈̊͌̌͜ ̷̧̼̲̣̣͕̳̹̟̰̈́͊͐̆͛̕}̴̡̛̫̃̐͆͊͋̐͋̂̆́̄̌̏̉̈́̀̒͂͝ͅ

Then he heard laughter, a booming laughter on the very brink of madness. The kind of primal laughter that left your throat raw. So loud it challenged the very definition of laughter.

It echoed off of the infinite nothingness and shook the very darkness of blank space itself. He almost felt scared before realizing it was his own voice.

He had no voice, yet it was his laughter all the same. He had no mouth, yet he was screaming.

He was not dead. 

As if reinforced by the psychotic laughter, his thoughts became easier to hold together, their natural state slowly becoming easier to maintain. With the slight reprieve, Kai started to organize his thoughts.

Kai was betting on two things; his tower, and the potion of mind and body.

His game included a respawn function. What game didn't? It was tied to the towers mana and an integral part of the game design. Whenever a player died, they were supposed to resurrect in their tower.

But as an integral part of the game, God likely didn't remove it as he did with the multiplayer portal. The portal was a direct threat to God, potentially offering Kai a fast pass back to earth. Naturally, God wouldn't include the respawn function in the game right out. If Kai died, he should expect to stay dead.

Yet he wasn't dead. Kai suspected this respawn function acted in a similar manner to how he bonded with the tower. He didn't arrive in the world with the bond, he had to force its activation.

This was his first major assumption, and he was right.

His second assumption was regarding the potion of mind and body. Seeing as how the other potions did not act like vanilla items in his game, Kai guessed they must have been tampered with. Operating with rules that slightly bent the natural order of this world.

What would happen if he ingested a potion of mind and body while in a state of half-death? Without a body, what would the potion bind his mind to?

If it was a potion brewed by a mortal wizard, Kai was sure it wouldn't matter. He would likely end up dead or worse, some Eldritch abomination of reanimated flesh.

Seeing as how he could still think, Kai assumed he was right.

His wild gamble paid off. He was not dead.

Feeling the dark purple light fill his vision, Kai's pain lessened once more. His thoughts cleared by a small margin.

Honestly, he was surprised he even got this far, he wasn't completely sure what to do next. 

Noticing the similarities between the purple light and his mana, Kai's muddled mind started grasping ant straws and tried to will the energy towards himself.

Luckily, the energy seemed almost happy to comply. It gushed towards him as if it had been impatiently awaiting his command.

Swirling in the center of his consciousness, Kai felt the energy reach an obstruction despite already touching him. The laws of physics likely didn't apply here.

Golden threads were highlighted within his vision like a cage of fine silk, proof of God's alterations to Kai's thought process. The purple mana's flow being disturbed by their presence, standing out like a stain upon the uniform background.

A few groups of threads had been snapped, swaying along to unknown currents by their esoteric anchor points. Likely having been broken when Kai's thought process escaped their confines due to his epiphany. Kai figured the purple light had squeezed through those gaps as well.

The rest of the threads were starting to fray under the flow of the purple light. Their gossamer strands unable to hold up under the constant onslaught of the writhing and twisting mana.

Kai pushed harder and harder, determined to free himself from the mental bonds.

{h̵̗͔͂̿̆̀̄̆̍̍̏͂ä̵̢̡̻͓̳̝͕̯̝̼͎̔̍̋͐̌͒̑̓͊͑̈́͛̕̚͜͝͝H̵̨̰͍̺͋͑̈̊̑̾̀̓͋̈́̇̉̅A̷̡̨̹̠̗̟͈̬̰̩̳̹̝̳̤̓̇́͗̾̇̀̌́̇̆̋̈̑̋́͜͝ͅH̶̠̗̻̃̍͊̋̄̂ḧ̷͔̠̱̥̭͝a̵̧̢̘͕̭̘̞͎̾̂̂̽̑̏̌̃̓͘͠ͅ ̶̨͓͖̜̦̝̱̼͌̄͛̈́̀̃̑̃̋F̶̢͖̘̟̙̟͓̗̙͇̟̳̖̦̖͚̩̓͊͗̿̂͐͛̓̈́͑̿͛̓̅̽̚r̵̢̼͓̠̻̯̥͕̲̦͎͙͎̹̣̽̃̉͠e̷͕̫̞̩̮̯̝̙̞̤̫̪͖̰͓̞̊̈̽͊̇̅̚̚̕E̴͎̯͎̻̮͔͓̥͎͔̔̀͛̋̒̏͊̆̐̈̀͋͛͜ ̸̨̧̭͎͉̘͚̤̣̤͚̤̠̲͓̱̍̎̊̈ͅṂ̴͓̺͎̥̣̟͙̫̝͓̭̰̰́̔̽͛̀͋̅͒͊̊̈͐̕̚͝͝e̸̡̡͓͕̬̗͓͍͈̳͈͍̭̟̯̋̈́͗͊̏̑̒͐ ̵̛̟̞̝̤̦̒̅̈́́̌̀̋̈́̎̀͋̔͘͠ḣ̴͖̝̔̈́̊̓͋͋̅͜ͅạ̷̧͔̦͇͎̼͙̝̥̙͎͚͓͕̝̇̇̉h̸̢̫̲̱͉̥̞̥̠̍̏͛̏͆͗͂̕͜ͅȃ̶͖̗̟̣̜̼̰̲͇̮̎̈́̈͋̇̓́̈́̓͛̄͠͝ ̶͇͉͖̦̮͎͉̺̖͚̦̲͇͉̌̾̈́́̽̾̍̍̈́̈́̆̆̚F̵̧̢̡͎͎̘͇̯͙͎͖̲͈̄̄ͅṞ̴̖͙͈̭̇͋̌͆̈́͘E̷̙͚̲͚̗̼̎͋̉͗͋̉̈̽E̵̢͎̺̫͚̲̙͈͊̑̂̈́̑͂͛̊̑͒̓̚͜͜͜͠ ̷̨͎͌͗͆̋͘M̸̛̟̙̦̳̟͙̜̳̯̿̆̿̿ͅĒ̶̦͍͇̘͇̩̱͎̫̖̮̆͊͋̌̔̏̾̄̈̑̚͜͝ ̵̨̡̨̛͔̱̖̹̯̦͍͕̥͕̘͒̿̈͒͗̓̇̔̋̀͘͘H̸̢͎͚̦̺̗̗̪̔̅A̷̢̢̡̛̛͉̦̦̤̖̰̺̺̼͉̲̎̓͐̋̂̈́̑̔̾̂̾͋̑̎͝H̵̡̻̪͖͈̰̅͌̒́͐A̵̧̲̤̤͕̬̓̆̋̀̓̇͆̂̌̄̚͜͠H̶̛̯͓͗̀̇̃̿̾̚Ą̷̞̻͈͍̥̪̺̘͔͓̅̽̒̀̑̈͒̊̈́͂́̔̀̽͗̈́͠ͅͅͅ}

Kai hated being caged, putting shackles in his psyche was far beyond his bottom line. His mind's anger reached a new peak. Kai had never felt such rage before.

The strands wore away one by one, snapping and being wretched from their anchor points. With each strand broken, Kai felt a twinge of pain. Though it was nothing compared to death. Nothing compared to what he would do to the meddling deity.

{I̷̹̘͎̅ ̸̫̞̻͉͌̽̓ĥ̵̟̤̠̯͆a̶̗̞̜̘̿̿̚V̶̢̰̣̑̍͌̈́ȩ̶̼͍̅̆͝ ̴̠̜͐̋̋n̶͚͔̾̀͠Ȯ̵̹͕̬ ̶̺̮͆̑̆̏ͅṢ̷̋́̂͜t̴̨̲̯̆̍r̴̨̙͍̼̚Ĭ̸̲͇̤̂͐͜͝n̵͖̽̌G̵̭̀s̴̺̮̳͗͐͐ ̵̺͙̼̆a̸̳̟̤͌͒ͅN̸̨̦̈́̾͝ͅd̸͎͌ ̷̝͍̍̾̒͊n̷̠̪͈͊͜O̴̭̽̾̆w̶͎͐ ̶̠̆I̷͍̭̲̦͌̉̇M̸̟͈̂ ̵̺̬͕͇̇f̵̬͌̊͌R̸̢̬͐̑̾̕ẹ̷̊͠e̴͍͌̀͑̏ ̴͇͕̎͂̀a̷̧̓̚h̴̞̭̻͑̆̑̿a̸̠̔̄h̸̡̪͖̖͌̋H̸̰͌Ā̵̜̭̘̘̔̈̓H̷͎͘A̶̢̠̻͒̓͂͆ ̶̡̳̼̈́̾͆̕͜Ń̶͔̫̔̃Ȯ̷̩͉͓͕̇̎ ̵̨͎̣̽̒͝S̴̨̜̈́͝͝t̷̳̭̝̽̾̈́͝ͅȓ̸͈͙̗̗̒i̷̬͑͂͗͝Ñ̸̠̤̗̜́G̸͚͗̓̌͝s̸̫̽ ̷̩̞̀̉̅̕O̶̲̠̘̐̒͜n̴̬͈̰͙͒̔̈́ ̷̡̙̜̱̎̑͝M̷̧̖̀͘ͅE̴̘̘̖̚͝ ̶̥̇̇Ḣ̷̜͕̽̋̕A̵͎̱͉̒H̸͓̼̼̙̒̽A̴̡͠H̶̡͈̽̉À̸͇͆͝}

The booming laughter became clearer. Kai could make out a voice echoing amongst the laughter.

With only a dozen or so strands remaining, Kai's consciousness bloomed. Expanding outwards like a flower during spring rain, Kai could feel himself floating upon a literal purple sea.

He could even see the origin of the golden threads, they all seemed to have centered around one spot within his mind, expanding outwards like a spider's web.

Willing himself closer, Kai felt the space around him obey. As he approached, the laughter cleared up even more. By now, Kai could tell he actually wasn't the one laughing. Or at least, he wasn't the Kai who was laughing.

{̴I̵'̷v̸e̸ ̶g̵O̴t̴ ̸n̸o̷ ̸S̵t̴r̵i̴N̶g̴s̸,̶ ̴t̷O̶ ̸h̵o̴L̸d̵ ̸M̵e̶ ̸d̵o̴W̴n̸,̶ ̵i̴ ̸h̷A̶d̴ ̸s̸t̵r̴I̵N̵g̵s̷,̷ ̸b̷U̸t̵ ̸n̷o̶W̶ ̵i̶M̶ ̸F̵r̵e̴E̵,̷ ̸T̴h̴e̶R̸e̴ ̷a̵R̷e̷ ̵n̴O̸ ̴s̷T̴r̷i̸n̵G̶s̷ ̸o̷N̵ ̴M̵E̵!̷!̶}̶

The last strand dissolved into the nothingness and Kai could make out the center of the web.

Standing within the void of space was Kai. Or at least, an entity that looked almost exactly like him.

The figure was purplish black, the same color as the surrounding mana yet distinct. Its face and figure were a carbon copy of Kai, yet its interior was filled with those trademark cracks, the gaps between them filled with something like tv-static.

They stared at each other for a moment, before Kai broke the awkward silence.

"Really? Quoting Ultron?"

{̸I̸t̴'̴s̸ ̷c̴o̸o̷l̶!̸ ̶W̷e̶'̷v̵e̷ ̷a̵l̸w̶a̵y̷s̶ ̵w̵a̵n̶t̸e̸d̸ ̶t̸o̸ ̶d̸o̸ ̸t̴h̵a̸t̴.̴ ̸I̵ ̶k̴n̴o̵w̸ ̶i̷t̶,̶ ̶y̸o̴u̶ ̵k̶n̴o̶w̸ ̴i̴t̵,̸ ̷W̴E̷ ̶k̷n̶o̴w̸ ̷i̴t̸.̸}

Hearing the entity's words, Kai was now certain who he was talking to.

"Damn, I really am a chuuni huh? Isn't that right, inner demon?"

{H̷A̶h̴a̶h̶a̷H̸A̶ ̸Y̶o̶u̶ ̸K̸N̵O̶W̵ ̵m̴e̴!̴ ̶I̵ ̸k̶n̸o̴w̴ ̸y̴o̵u̸!̴ ̴S̶i̶n̴c̴e̷ ̵y̵o̴u̷ ̸K̸n̴o̶W̷,̷ ̶l̶e̷t̴'̵s̸ ̴s̵k̷i̵P̶ ̶t̴o̸ ̷t̵H̶e̸ ̴F̴u̸N̷ ̸b̴i̴T̶s̷!̷!̶}

Kai's inner demon threw back its head and let out another maniacal laugh, its mouth splitting from ear to ear. Claws popped out from the beings fist like Wolverine and its aura visibly spiked like Goku.

"Sigh… This isn't a cultivation novel. There's no need to fight. Doppelgänger battles are so cliche. Like, what kind of idiot fights their mental clone instead of getting along? We are literally the same person."

At this, the entity's mouth snapped shut. It stared at Kai for a few moments before letting out a pout.

{̸Y̵o̵u̷R̴e̷ ̵r̴I̴g̷h̸T̸,̴ ̴c̶o̸U̶l̴d̷n̵T̶ ̸y̶o̵U̶ ̶h̸a̵V̴e̷ ̷p̵l̵a̵Y̷e̷d̵ ̵a̶L̸o̸n̶G̴ ̷a̶ ̶b̴I̷t̶ ̴l̸o̵n̷G̴e̷r̸ ̵t̵h̴o̶u̴G̵h̴?̸ ̵W̴e̶ ̵a̸l̶W̷a̶y̴S̸ ̴w̴a̷n̸T̸e̵d̵ ̵t̵O̷ ̵D̴o̴ ̶s̴o̴m̵E̸t̴H̶i̸n̸g̵ ̸l̸i̸K̸e̷ ̴t̴h̵i̷S̵}̵

Secretly, Kai really did want to have a big chuuni battle with his heart demon. But, time and place dude… Kai was trying not to die at the moment.

The inner demon was right of course, it knew everything Kai did. It was the personification of his insecurities, fears, and hidden desires. The summation of his personality without any moral bounds or inhibitions.

Unlike most people, Kai was ruled by his inner desires. If anyone else stood face to face with their heart's demon, they would likely feel a deep sense of revulsion. It would be like trying to get Fire and Water to be friends. Just like cultivation novels, they would probably start battling for possession of their body or something.

Kai only felt a sense of comfort upon seeing his demon. He was an anomaly. Instead of being two sides of the same coin, Kai and his demon were the same side of the same coin.

Kai embraced his desires and encouraged them. Rather than natural enemies, they were closer to best friends.

Noticing something, Kai asked the demon a question in a concerned tone,

"I've just got one question though, why are you all purple? Were you contaminated by that energy back on earth?"

{̵Y̸o̴U̵ ̷d̶o̷n̸T̵ ̷k̸n̸o̸W̸?̴!̷ ̴H̴a̶h̶a̸H̸A̶H̷a̵h̴h̵H̴A̸A̶h̷H̸A̴H̶A̴!̷ ̷I̶ ̵K̷n̷o̴W̸!̷!̴!̶ ̸Y̸o̷U̵ ̵t̴h̴i̷n̷K̴ ̷W̵E̵ ̶w̸e̸r̶e̷ ̶c̶O̴n̶t̵a̵M̵i̶n̴a̴t̷e̵D̶?̴!̶ ̵W̸e̸ ̵A̴R̸E̴ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶C̵O̷N̵T̶A̶M̵I̴N̴A̷T̴I̶O̴N̷!̵!̵!̸!̸ ̸H̴A̶H̷A̸H̴A̸H̷A̸H̶A̵}̴

The purple sea erupted as Kai experienced an epiphany.

He was never infected by the otherworldly energy, it was the other way around. The energy was infected by Kai!

The moment his laptop exploded, the energy rushed into his body. Instead of changing his soul to match its own properties, Kai and his inner demon instead encroached upon the energy itself. Warping it and forcing it to adapt to their own twisted soul. Otherwise, why hadn't Kai changed in the slightest after being 'infected by an otherworldly energy.'

Kai had stared into the abyss, and the abyss flinched.

It was why the towers crystal turned purple, it was why Kai could break free from a creator god's mental bindings.

His soul was like a pack of squirrels with rabies, or that one kid from grade school, biting at and infecting all within reach.

Suddenly the demon's eyes snapped towards Kai, letting out another void-shaking roar,

{L̷e̵t̴ ̶m̸E̶ ̸o̸U̵t̷!̷ ̷L̷e̷T̶ ̶M̸e̴ ̶b̷i̶T̸e̵ ̷t̸h̸E̶ ̵p̸e̵s̴K̸y̷ ̷g̵O̵d̸!̵ ̵h̴e̸ ̸H̷u̴R̶t̶ ̵u̸s̶,̴ ̴h̶E̸ ̵T̵R̷I̶C̸K̵E̸D̶ ̵U̸S̷!̴ ̷L̵e̴T̸ ̷m̵E̴ ̶G̸e̸t̴ ̷H̴I̶M̵!̶!̷!̶}

"Patience. I want to ruin him as bad as you, we are the same. But we must be careful. As we are now, God could squish us like an insect. We need to build our strength, then and only then can we make our move.

When the time comes, we will see what color God bleeds."

The demon nodded its head, seemingly reassured.

{I̴ ̷h̷O̴p̵e̵ ̷i̸T̵s̶ ̸g̸o̶l̶D̶,̸ ̸S̶e̵e̵m̵s̶ ̶t̶H̷e̸ ̶t̴a̸s̷T̵i̷e̸s̴T̵}

At that moment, Kai felt his mindscape tremble. A gargantuan purple crystal identical to the towers core emerged from the boiling purple sea.

It shimmered with a light that illuminated the entire space, slightly scaring both Kai and his demon.

They looked at each other, awkwardly shuffling apart and pretending they hadn't grabbed each other for comfort in a moment of weakness.

Being the more impulsive of the two, Kai's demon approached the tower and poked at it. The crystal seemed to be trying to communicate with the two, but the connection was faint. Like it was too far away despite being within arms reach.

"Any ideas?"

{I̸ ̶w̶A̸s̷ ̸g̴o̵N̸n̶a̴ ̸a̸s̶K̸ ̶y̴o̷U̸…̵}

"Huh, I thought you were supposed to be the expert on this spiritual stuff. Ya know, being a literal soul demon and all that…"

The demon could only give a helpless shrug, it was new to all this magic stuff too.

(Momo POV)

Momo could only watch as her master fell from the tower.

She didn't know what was going on, was it her fault? She knew her master was petty, but surely he wouldn't leap from a tower just because she stole some potions?

Despite only knowing her master for a few days, he had been Momo's first friend. She truly didn't realize how much liked spending time with him until he was gone.

Her tribe always excluded her, always picked on her. Even her mother ended up choosing the tribe over her. Something about bad luck.

Her master never cared about her heritage. He probably didn't know but Momo guessed he wouldn't have cared anyways.

He always gave her the best fruit, even when he was eating those nasty grains. She could see the greed in his eyes, she had the same look herself, but he never took her precious fruit.

Her master always took the time to brush her fur before bed every night. Not even her mother had paid so much attention to her.

For an imp starved for affection, her master was the first being to treat her with respect. Like she mattered.

Watching her master splatter across the dirt, Momo's heart nearly broke. Maybe if she was faster, stronger, or smarter she could have saved him. Done something.

Maybe the tribe was right, she might really be cursed.

Momo kneeled by the gory pile of flesh and let out a few quiet whimpers, holding back her tears.

Strangely enough, the bond with her master had yet to disappear. Even though Momo was a smart imp, she didn't know how these things worked. She would stay here until the bond disappeared.

It was the least she could do for her master, who gave her the happiest few days of her short life.

Momo stayed by her master's side for hours. He had fallen in early morning, and the sun had set long ago. She may not be the smartest, or fastest, or strongest familiar, but she swore that she would at least be the most loyal.

Suddenly a purple arc of energy crackled from the pile of flesh, nearly scaring the fur off of Momo. 

She stumbled backwards, nearly falling on her furry behind before remembering she could fly.

The pile of flesh looked like a small source of lightning by now, purple arcs flashed across the broken bones and charred the nearby grass.

The gory mess was being consumed, slowly assimilating with the lightning and letting off an acrid stench.

Momo was horrified by now, she couldn't even bury her master. She didn't know much about wizards, but she was pretty sire this wasn't normal.

She grabbed a stick and tried to poke at the corpse, desperate to salvage even one of her masters artifacts. If she couldn't bury a body, she at least wanted something to remember him by.

Using the light emitted by the purple arcs, Momo managed to fish out her masters ring and loop it onto the end of the stick. She barely raised it from the pile of stinking flesh when a surprisingly thick bolt of energy struck the ring.

With a loud *boom* the ring broke apart and scattered its contents across the clearing.

Feeling like she was just making things worse, Momo zipped around and tried to collect her masters artifacts. Unfortunately the lightning seemed to be quite attracted to the artifacts, arcing across the ground in desperate attempts to strike Kai's amulet and God's paperweight.

Momo was quick, but she was certainly not faster than lightning itself.

The lightning struck Kai's amulet, letting out another loud noise as the artifact crumbled to ash.

By now the pile of flesh had almost completely burned away, leaving a vaguely humanoid shape consisting of purple gas and bolts of dark lightning.

Despite being quite frazzled, Momo's increased intelligence was not for show. She managed to connect a few dots upon seeing the purple gas and her still-unfaded bond.

Her master was not the type to end his own life, he must have had a plan in mind.

If the energy was so desperate for the artifacts, then she would help it out. Who knows, she might even help her master with whatever insane plan he was carrying out.

Counting only one more of her masters possessions, Momo desperately fumbled around in the dark searching for the object. Her frantic search quickly paying off, Momo hurled the paperweight directly at the amorphous figure, crossing her fingers and toes that she was actually helping.

As soon as the object impacted the purple figure, it seemed to collapse in on itself as if Momo had chucked a black hole. The glass ball lay suspended in the air for a moment before dropping to the ground with an audible 'thunk.'

Momo cautiously stepped closer to get a better look. The previously opaque glass was now filled with a faint purple tinge. Touching the ball, Momo immediately felt faint as if the vitality in her body was being drained. She let go in surprise.

The ball lit up for a moment before returning to its previous state. Momo realized it was absorbing her mana. The same thing wizards love so much. The same thing at the very top of the tower. 

Momo remembered her master eating the crystal and chugging the mana, it must be important.

Making a decision, Momo flexed her wings and squatted over the paperweight like a coiled spring. She reached down and grabbed it with steady hands, flapping her wings and blasting off the ground in a blur of speed.

She raced to the top of the tower at a breakneck speed, determined to reach the top before passing out from exhaustion. In the back of her mind, she realized there must have been an easier way to go about this but in her haste she already committed. No turning back now.

She reached the balcony as the last of her strength began to leave her. 

Tossing the ball with weakness in her limbs, Momo saw it fall short of the mana pool. She collapsed and watched the ball make a few bounces, eyes drifting closed just as the ball barely cleared the rim of the pool, plopping into the liquid with a final splash.

Momo had no clue how long she lay passed out on the balcony. Eventually, she felt consciousness return to her.

Her body felt like it was cast in lead, she could only open her eyes. With blurry vision she stared at the towers core, she could almost swear she saw an unfamiliar figure standing near the crystal.

Feeling herself slip back into a dreamless sleep, she heard a psychotic laughter echoing off the walls. It sounded like her master, but she was too far gone to notice.

[A/N: Fat chappy today. It started at 1500 words but I revisited it and just couldn't stop writing until the chapter felt more impactful.

Upon second reading, this chapter makes a lot of sense to me but could be confusing to readers who cannot read my mind. Let me know in the comments if there are enough breadcrumbs to follow along or just plain convoluted. I have another draft that I am less satisfied with but is a bit more clear.]