Chapter 122

And that was how in a blink of an eye I found myself back where I had started from, inside the vessel voyaging through the space between realities and ideas. I had left the world I had fought so hard in an anticlimactic way, but I was not disappointed. I had reached my aim and discovered even more than I thought I would. The time of the contract was up. Precisely eleven months and two weeks, as originally agreed upon. Now I had to sail home, where my duties were waiting for me.

The vessel was larger than I remembered. The interior appeared to have stretched to accommodate the great number of metals, foods and other supplies I had been promised as payment for my services. I had no knowledge of how it had happened, but I had no interest in it.

I learned something far more important from this trip. The simple manifestation of a few crates of materials couldn't bother me in the slightest. Even if indirectly, I came into contact with a being who stood on top and beyond the reality it ruled.

The way it had interacted with me and the way it had called my lymph "ichor"... Finally, things were clearing up. I now knew who I was, what I was and what I had to do. But knowing and putting it into practice were two things that stood wide apart. The road was still uphill; but I could see the top.

The unpleasant glances scouring the immenseless space still fixed on me occasionally, but I paid them no mind. A different self-awareness drastically changed how one interacted with the world, even with what previously would cause untethered terror.

I sailed for some time. A day passed and the embrace of true-space wrapped around me. The light weight of the Veil left me and the laws of my world reinhabited my body. Gravity took hold of the vessel while it plummeted into the waters beneath the opening to the Otherlands. I felt an impact strike the outer surface of the ship and then a force driving the vessel. The keel met the seabed and the vessel was stranded on the shore.

I stood up and reached for the invisible opening. It opened up the moment my hand touched its surface and the dark day sky of the Last Harbour welcomed me home.

"Had a good f*****g trip?" my vulgar friend greeted me.

"It was fine," I answered.

"Oh, come on! The air on the other side is so f*****g good! And there is grass! Grass!"

I left the opened vessel and let the local inhabitants unload it. Every single person took what they wished from the bounty and left behind what they didn't need.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" the old man who had been my guide and teacher welcomed me back with a kind smile.

He already knew the answer and yet he asked, in a show of great courtesy and respect.

"Yes, I did. I grew stronger and wiser of my place"

"You are indeed. A full-fledged adult archuman, almost to its complete maturity, in such little time. I can say it for certain: it won't be long before you overcome even this limitation"

"And after that, another step," I added.

He gave me a mysterious smile but his sparkling eyes betrayed his true mind.

"You already knew," I told, finally realising the reason for his original friendliness.

"I am old, John Doe. I have seen many things and I was given keen eyes. How could I not know?" he laughed.

"Why did you help me?" I inquired.

"Because I only feel hostility for Her. You should go now. Your people on the other side await you. We'll be here if you'll decide to come for us"

"I will"

These were the last words we exchanged. Much was omitted in speech, but nothing was lost in meaning. I knew myself and he had been looking at me since the first day. Further talk was unnecessary.

I turned around and set my sight towards the horizon. I walked the streets, gazing at the questionable architecture and the shining waste spread around. It was a sight much different from what I experienced for almost a year, but I now appreciated it more than the civilised land I had lived in. After all, this was my world, and I had to cherish it.

I left the village behind and set out along the coast of the frozen sea. My steps were light and the burning air thundered around me. I soon reached the cliff I fell off when I first came to this side. I planted my fingers in the quartz and propelled myself upwards to the exact necessary height. I went on and ventured into the silent wilderness. My ichor surged and reality opened in front of me and I entered the fractal space in between.

The same spectacle as the last time welcomed me, but I retraced my steps by following the purple Ariadne's thread I had left behind. I use the opportunity to train myself in self-control and forced my domain to expand. Every inch was sweated, still slowly but surely the bubble of real-space around me grew.

A switch had flipped inside my head thanks to the words of the otherworld lord and now I knew what my ichor represented. Although employing it was still a complex matter, knowing what it was made it possible to concentrate my efforts towards an aim. It was different from before, when I had roamed in complete darkness.

I continued on, aware it wouldn't take long to emerge to the other side. Already two days had gone since I had entered the fractal space, and the exit was near. Suddenly I felt a tremor in the ground. I stopped and turned around, but saw nothing in the midst of the unstable world.

I made as if to continue, but a voice reached my ear. My eyes shot in the direction of the sound and the rest of my body followed suit. There was still nothing. A bad premonition took hold of me and an alarm rang in my head. I needed to leave as soon as possible.

I planted my feet in the dirt and as I was about to propel me forward, the ground yielded under my weight. It was nothing major, just a missed step. But in that insignificant fraction of a second, the purple thread was severed.

My body stiffened. I had heard on the other side what happened to those who got lost in the fractal space. Years and decades could go by before they returned. I focused my eyes in search of anything which could be of help, but I found nothing.

I pondered my options. I could look for the lost thread, but there was no way to know how long it would take and there was no assurance it would help in any way. The thread ensured my internal clock was synchronised with the one on the other side. Once severed, it wouldn't recover the lost time.

A single option remained, even if it was a great gamble. I recalled my ichor and the bubble of real space swiftly collapsed. The torn dimensions of space and time engulfed my body and forces with impossible directions pulled and pushed me.

My eyes became useless as the light was no more being rectified by the bubble of real space. I circulated ichor through my entire body and stabilised it against the outside forces, keeping its tri-dimensionality in a world where numbers quickly varied.

I stood, couldn't tell in what direction, and ran, following paths of absent time.