End of an Obsession [P3Final]

In the nothingness, a terrified Ariel floated aimlessly.

[Ok-okay Ariel. Ca-ca-calm down.] She thought as her intense breathing slowly regained a regular rhythm.

[Let's figure things out first. Lain, she threw me into that hole. What was it again?] As her thoughts spun, she managed to recall Lain's words in those final hectic moments.

"A crack in reality." She whispered, the very concept was hard for her to get her head around.

Ariel inspected the surroundings.

"Nothing, Nothing and what else? you guessed it. More Nothing!" Ariel joked to herself in an attempt to keep her calm. The current situation was terrifying her as she had never seen such a strange scene in her life. There was literally nothing as far as the eye could see, no color or light or darkness, absolutely nothing.

The absence of anything at all painted quite the terrifying picture for Ariel.

She tried to speak out loudly but she couldn't be heard, her mouth moving as if she were a puppet without the puppeteer voice.

[How's that possible? There's no air but I can still breathe? Could it be.. Lain?] Ariel thought to herself questioningly.

A gasp came from the startled Ariel as she discovered she could see herself, looking at her hand as it waved through the nothing. It was a yellow aura surrounding her body.

[I'm glowing.. ] When she focused on her hand she was surprised again when her vision amplified and she could now see her veins, muscles and bones.

"What? That's freaky."

As she was wondering what the hell was going on, she heard a faint sound in the distance. Not from her ears but from her mind, it sounded like a song.

Looking towards the direction she saw a faintly discernible light that was growing larger and larger. It was extremely easy to see considering that there was nothing else.

As it grew closer she could hair two voices that were growing louder in her mind.

"Come on master, sing along! sing along! I need a hero! I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night!" A cute girlish voice sung.

"What is this nonsense Nuya? Where's my highway to hell?" The other voice said in a disgruntled manner.

"You're not singing master, you're no fun at all.. " The cute voice pouted.

"Listen here Nuya, you need the right song for the rig-" The male voice was interrupted by a loud alarm.

"Oh shit! What is this place? This isn't a fracture in space!? The ship is beginning to break up!" The male voice was panicking.

"Master, the ship is disintegrating! You need to activate the time warp immediately!" The cute voice said in a serious tone.

"Ahh dammit! The old man got it wrong, space anomaly my ass. Nuya we could end up anywhere, there would be no chance we could go back and save the human race."

"I know master but we're out of options.. Perhaps this was inevitable."

A sigh could be heard from the male voice.

"Sorry old man. Buckle up Nuya, this is going to get bumpy."

Ariel watched as the light got closer and she was surprised. It was the same ship she saw when she arrived at the bridge with Lain.

The ship zoomed past Ariel at blinding speeds, it looked like a burning wreck but it was still holding together.

"Time warp drive charging, 88%, 92%, 96%, 100%! Time warp drive fully charged! We're ready master!"

"All right Nuya, engage!" The male voice tried to sound cool and collected but failed badly along with his attempted english accent.

"Uuu silly master, you're not captain picard.. "

Suddenly the ship became see through, a trail of blue light followed the large rockets at the back.

A tear opened up in front of the ship, wasting no time it speed into it.

Shouts of excitement could be heard from both of the voices.

After the ship passed and the tear closed, all that was left was a stunned Ariel with her mouth agape.

She floated there silently still trying to understand what just happened.

"Ahh!" A sudden scream of pain could be heard from the startled Ariel.

She stared at the origin of her pain with teary eyes, the tips of of her fingers.

The aura protecting her body was slowly receding like the ocean tide.

"AHHH!!" Her screams were now hoarse and full of suffering, she could now feel the pain at her feet.

She looked her fingers with the mysterious vision granted to her, eyes now completely bloodshot.

[My fingers! They're disappearing!] As she inspected her fingers, she saw the retreating aura and as soon as any part of her was exposed whether it be skin, muscle or bone it disintegrated. Like thousands of needles piercing her skin and ripping away her flesh.

There was no time that existed in this place outside reality so Ariel didn't know how long she had been here in this black abyss. Her screams of pain was now replaced by a deranged laughter.

Ariel was now just a torso.. well half a torso, gone were her arms and legs, belly and shoulders. One of her lungs had also started to disappear causing her immense torture.

Her laughing fit was interrupted by coughing up blood which was immediately consumed by the nothingness.

She stared listlessly into the endless nothing that would eventually devour her.

No longer distracted by the immense pain, Ariel recalled her purpose for coming here but now that she was at the end of her rope, it didn't make a difference.

[I came here.. why did I come here? Oh.. yes, I wanted to become a god.. ]

[Lain she said t-to believe in my desire, I believe but all I see is nothing....only emptiness.]

[I'm going to disappear.. I won't exist anymore.. will anyone remember me?]

[Mama.. I.. will.. ]

Tears slid down Ariel's pale cheeks. Most of her organs now gone, her heart beating slower and slower. She could feel death near.

[I will.. ]

[I.. will.. become.. ]

The light in Ariel's eyes disappeared along with her final thoughts. All that was left was her severed head floating in the void.

...

As Ariel's head finally disappeared, floating out from the nothing came a sighing Lain.

She clicked her tongue in dissatisfaction. "Another failure, I had a good feeling about her but I guess I was wrong."

"Oh well, guess I'll have to find another one. The next reality crack, Hmm.. it should be.. Alpha Centauri.. " As Lain turned to leave she halted in her tracks and looked back to where Ariel disappeared.

"Oh my." Lain's lips curved upwards into a big grin.

There was a faint light glowing ever so slightly in the void, it was so small and weak it could flicker out at any moment.

Lain's smile grew wider, she stretched out her hand and cupped the little light gently.

Bringing it to her ear, she listened carefully.

"I.. "

She could barely hear a weak voice which was as fragile as a feather. Nodding her head, Lain brought the little light in front of her and whispered a question. "Who are you?"

"Who?"

"Who.. am.. I? "

"....."

"The.. one.."

"You.. have.. been.."

"Seeking.. "

"....."

"Know...that..."

Lain lifted her hand up and free'd the little light. As it escaped from her grasp it flew into the distance like a shooting star. When the little light disappeared from view, the faint voice could still be heard like it was whispering directly to Lain's mind.

"I...am..."

Although the voice was fairly indistinct, it caused the void to ripple and tear under it's terrible power.

"GOD!"