Disconnection

Upon finding her own eye-somehow taken from her this whole time with her being none the wiser-an indescribable pain surged up from deep within her soul. Her vision split into two separate screens, the right showing what was in front while the left socket gained sight once more. But it was not normal sight.

Unable to stop it, Endyr saw scenes flashing by, playing over and over again on repeat but moving too fast to be legible. Soon however, the blur reduced itself just enough for the first scene to present itself.

A dark purple crack appeared in a forest bathed in soft gold, and from it came a grey amorphous blob. As soon as this blob touched the ground, it became writhing and squirming, absorbing all Mana around it rapidly. The trees, grass and shrubbery died all around it as the blob greedily kept on stealing the Mana-the life force-of everything it could to sustain itself.

After creating a barren zone twenty metres in diameter, the blob stopped absorbing Mana and instead began vibrating, the wriggling and squirming picking up exponentially. Within seconds, the blob had assumed a roughly humanoid outline, which slowly became more defined as thr minutes passed. When roughly fifteen had passed, the blobs new form was revealed: pitch black scales covering every inch of skin, claws, fangs, a spiked tail, velvety wings...and a golden circle for eyes.

The newborn Abomination looked up at the world around it...and raged. Dark purple energy that bordered on black surged from its' pores, sweeping over the forest and reducing everything it touched to nothingness. The beast flung itself forward, expelling more and more energy of Infinity as it desperately sought to destroy everything around it, to cleanse itself of that hateful Mana.

But no matter how hard it tried, no matter how much it destroyed, there wasbalways more. The laws of this world encircled it like a cage, and caused the Abomination pain. This world was hostile to it, as hostile as the Abomination was in turn. Mana and Infinity could not coexist, one had to give way to the other. And so the Abingdon fought.

Someplace far away, the beast could feel its' brethren presence, struggling against the endless tide that never stopped pushing them back. Even farther away yet, the Abomination could feel something...other...calling to it. This "Other" felt familiar, like Abomination but not quite. As the beast stormed through trees, leaving a path of barren desolation in its wake, it grew vaguely aware something was wrong. Not with itself of course, for an Abomination could not be introspective, but with the world it currently resided it. Orvonia was wrong, on a deeper level than the perversion of Mana.

As the Abomination struggled to piece together the embers of purpose that swirled around it, the purpose which all Abominations were given when they came to this world, it sensed a third beacon of Infinity. Unlike its kindred, who numbered in their hundreds yet were scattered, or the "Other" that forever lurkered in its' peripheral (oh how it longed longed for the "Other", though ignorance clouded it's reasoning) this sensation ran far deeper. The Abomination stopped its resistance against the world momentarily, focusing on the third signal. As its' eyes traced the deplorable Mana back to its source (what it would give to extinguish that star!) it also caught the trail of Infinity. Deeper it peered, beyond the unnatural fabric of this reality, the polluted cosmic cloth that struggled to hold back their coming, the third beacon was located.

An endless sea of grey, millions of limbs and orifices emerging like debris in a dump. The mass stretched on forever...for Infinity. And as the Abomination looked at the grey expanse, so too did it look back. Hundreds of thousands of eyes turned at once, latching onto the beast and sending its' consciousness reeling. Despite the comforting sense of familiarity the mass gave, it also terrified the beast.

'It's because I have become an individual' the Abomination thought, then was surprised because it did not know it could think. 'I was once part of the unconscious collective, but now I am aware and an individual. I recognise them as my spawn and kindred, but fear returning myself to them and losing my sense of self.'

The Abomination searched within itself for how this could be (another irregularity, Abominations are incapable of introspection) but found something else. Orders.

Memories that did not belong solely to it, but to each and every extension of Grey Mass, occupied its' nascent consciousness. The collectiveness of the knowledge frightened the Abomination, but it knew it could not refuse the memories. To do so would to cast aside its purpose. And what a glorious purpose it had!

Yes, it remembered now! It was on this awful planet alongside its brood, where the Laws of existence moved against them, to reclaim what was once lost! To enact revenge upon the traitors and usurper and return to its throne!

The Abomination felt its' individuality sink into a quagmire, the shared subconsciousness all Abominations were linked to. But unlike before, it did not fear anymore. The mental awakening of this Abomination was no accident: it was a purposeful attempt to create a superior breed. And after dozens of decades and thousands of duds, the first self-aware Abomination was born. And now, it was time to share this infomation with thr rest of the horde. Across the world, Abominations of all shapes and sizes stopped whatever they were doing and looked up simultaneously. Moving in synchronisation, they touched upon the Grey Mass from which they all originated and took what the sentient Abomination shared. Slowly but surely, the method foe success began to be transfered from one Abomination to another.

But things would not be so simple. Sensing a turning tide, Orvonia reacted. Aggressively. From the highest point of the atmosphere to the deepest ocean trenches, the Ley Lines churned and bellowed Mana. Like a tsunami, the world was shook by a violent Mana Exposure that left countless lifeforms dead in its wake. Yet the main purpose had been achieved: hundreds of Abominations had been wiped out at once. Suddenly lacking receivers, the sentient Abomination was forced to halt the transfer and struggled to protect itself, blasting out energy of Infinity to stall the waves of Mana.

After what felt like an eternity but was really less than a minute, the Mana waves subsided and the Abomination was drained of energy, with even its reserves empty. Sensing its' situation, the Grey Mass attempted to churn out more Abominations and resume the transfer. But the world had other plans.

Before the Abomination could stabilise itself, it became aware of a presence fast approaching it. Pupils constricting, the beast hurried to flee but was far too late. Barely taking a step back, it was flattened to the ground by a Mana wave only slightly inferior to the previous ones. Straining to look up, it saw its' attacker: a humanoid made entirely of prismed light with wings and a halo comprised of pure sunlight. Reading the depths of the figure's Mana pool, the Abomination despaired in fear (the third difference between it and its' kind) as all hope of completing the transfer was lost.

Sensing the peril of its' creation, the Grey Mass violently tore at the cosmic cloth that kept it barred, but failed to summon any other Abominations to aid their kin.

"So a mere Abomination was the cause of that Mana Surge? Haa, I don't know whether to be annoyed or impressed. On the one hand, such a reaction means your kind were planning something big. Another evolution perhaps? On the other hand...you have to respect the grit of your species. No matter how many of you die, you just keep sending more...or maybe its not actually courage? You aren't actually capable of fear or self-preservation after all. You are fine with dying as long ss you take down more with you. But I suppose that's also respectable, on a certain level."

The Abomination absorbed the figure's words silently as it desperately attempted to establish a connection to the Grey Mass. Its' attempts were all met with failure though, as a layer of disgusting Mana had formed between the two sides and intercepted any signals. The Grey Mass was trying, and quite furiously at that, but would not make it in time. As the realisation of death dawned on it, the Abomination felt a different emotion boil up within its' heart.

Determination.

They had spent too long, lost too much in their struggle to reclaim what was rightfully theres. Ignoring the figure of light that seemed to be monologuing to themselves, the Abomination focused on the only signal it could still feel: the elusive "Other"

Like always, the "Other" swiftly danced just outside of its' grasp, always only on its' fingertips. As the figure of light realised it was being ignored and thus stopped talking, the Abomination knew it was out of time. Various newfound emotions bubbled up in it, the first emotions other than hatred an Abomination ever harboured. Using them as fuel, the Abomination made last desperate grasp for the "Other"...

And made contact with it.

Like a door it wasn't even aware of, the Abomination felt something previously closed swing upon within its' soul. Power swelled up inside of it, as the prized individuality that made this Abomination so special bloomed and blossomed into something more.

The severed connection to the Grey Mass suddenly restored itself, as the inverse of what happened previously occcured: rather than be crushed under the weight of the dormant Abomination, it instead began to swallow the Grey Mass' zygote consciousness. Infomation and knowledge previously barred to it, or lost entirely, found a foothold in its mind.

Like dropping a coin in a still lake, ripples spread out and disturbed the surface. Only, these ripples were anything but small. Spreading all over Orvonia, it soon bounced off an enclosure of Mana...and bounced right back. Like a ping-pong ball, the Abominations consciousness flitted back and forth...before one side gave way. With a pathetic groan, the wall of Mana cracked and shattered, allowing a mote of the Abominations' mind to escape it space. And from there, the ripples grew into a storm.

As the sensation raged across the Infinite Universe, all of creation seemed to hold its breath. After an unknown period of time, the ripples died down and vanished, forcefully quelled by explosions of Mana...but it was already too late.

From the depths of a place none could locate, pairs of dark purple eyes turned their attention to that corner of the Infinite Universe. Shaking like a child before an angry parent, reality attempted to erect barriers in-between itself and the gazes, but they shattered immediately. Like an unstoppable force of nature, the energy of Infinity flooded into the Infinite Universe, an endless deluge that eradicated all in its path. A path with Orvonia as the destination.

Back on the planet, the figure of light looked up at the sky, sucking in a breath when they saw the standard blue expanse absent. In its place was a mix of purples, blues, blacks and indigoes that were splattered across each other, like ome giant cosmic storm had gripped the solar system. And lo-and-behold, that was indeed what happened.

Across the whole Infinite Universe, space and time began splitting apart as the Universe gathered everything it could to defend itself against the brutal invasion it faced. Stars died and were reborn in a matter of minutes, worlds shrunk or blossomed in size, moons collided and formed...the cycle of creation was rapidly set in motion and accelerated from the energy being scattered across the Infinite Universe.

As the Infinite Universe entered a new stage in its history, Orvonia itself seemed to sigh in despair of the upcoming turmoil. Sensing the change, the figure of light looked at the Abomination before it and raised a hand. "Goodbye"

Simple words, but the last thing the Abomination would ever hear. In that body at least. For as the beast was reduced to atoms and then ground even smaller, its consciousness had already infected the Grey Mass...and every other Abomination in the Infinite Universe. More powerful than ever, and with a newfound grasp on its' goals, the Abomination looked at itself and decided a name was in order. "Let's see...in celebration of coming this far, I believe I should anoint myself properly. What did they call me again? Oh yes..."

"Endyr"