Embodiment

Tirelessly fighting off flesh monstrosities, occultists, and rebels for two days had driven Ambrose to the edge of his sanity.

As he sat in a corner of the blocked tunnels, his back laid against rocks and before him, the bodies of his comrades alongside the infidels they fought, he was unsure of what to make of the scenery.

He was the only one left in his group and that was as a result of his men putting their lives on the line to ensure his safety.

"Is this the end?" With disheveled hair and sunken eyes, Ambrose pondered taking his own life.

He already found out about the situation on the surface just before the Enforcer that manned the radio had her head chopped off by a flesh monster.

"Basar…" he muttered softly.

Truly a fearsome foe to abandon everyone and everything down here just so he could have BoneHaven up there to himself.

Ambrose wanted to believe that things up there were fine but it didn't seem that way even if he wanted to deceive himself.

He glanced to the side to find the body of the female Enforcer still intact with the radio between her legs.

Reaching out, he grabbed the radio and pulled it closer to him.

He stared at it without doing anything for a full minute before he began to move.

Twisting the knob and then picking up the transceiver, Ambrose said.

"This is Captain Ambrose speaking. My squad members are dead and I am the only one alive. The enemies have been brought down but it remains to be seen if there would be more. I hope for what I'm about to do, there would be someone up there to receive this message. Please… save BoneHaven. Save my city."

***

"We are all gonna die….We can't win… it's hopeless."

Alex heard a familiar voice coming from somewhere as he slowly opened his eyes.

Blinking a few times to get his bearings, he tried to pinpoint the origin of the voice.

He turned in a certain direction before muttering. "Ana?"

However, he quickly shook his head.

How could that be Ana?... It did sound like her but Anastasia was a dragon.

Would she say such pathetic things?

He couldn't fathom it.

Shaking off the weariness he felt, Alex dispelled the voice as an illusion.

He glanced around the great expanse of endless darkness that surrounded him before calling out.

"Nyx!"

His voice echoed but there came no response.

Furrowing his brows, he called out again. "Nyx!... I know you are there!... Come out!"

Silence reigned for a while before a soft voice, neither masculine nor feminine was heard.

"You are back."

Alex turned in the direction of the voice to find the familiar featureless humanoid entity with a grin on his face, seated not too far away from his location.

Currently, he was floating in the darkness but a moment later, the darkness took shape, turning into a four-cornered room with nothing within.

Alex sat still for a moment to regain his composure before he then spoke.

"You gave me access to your domain despite my refusal… why?"

Nyx seemed taken aback. "Oh my… and here I thought you were unconscious."

"The more attuned I get to mysticism, the easier it is for me to retain knowledge." Alex casually brushed it off.

Nyx nodded. "Quite intriguing."

"So tell me why."

"Why?"

"Don't play dumb, Nyx."

Silence followed for a moment before Nyx replied. "Would you prefer I take it back and take my authority while I'm at it?"

"You may take it if you so wish…they were never mine, to begin with."

"Don't like being a step-down, do you?"

"I prefer equal standing."

Nyx's grin lessened somewhat. "What you call my domain, is but a speck in what this is."

As he spoke, the four-cornered room disappeared with the endless expanse of darkness appearing before Alex once again.

"If you call it a domain, I call it embodiment."

"Embodiment?"

"Indeed. As I am, I only embody one concept. I do not rule it as it is me and I am it. We are the same."

"So that means… your authority and power go hand in hand."

"Exactly. Since you have my authority, your subconscious is somewhat connected to an aspect of my embodiment, and through that, when you are completely hopeless, that subconscious mind would utilize your connection with me and that would lead to what happened not too long ago."

Alex pursed his lips. "...I see."

"In any case, thinking back now, it's good you didn't accept my offer to have access to my embodiment."

"Why?"

Nyx sighed before casually pointing at Alex's right arm.

Alex frowned before following his finger only to find that half of the fingers on his right hand had darkened as though stained by black ink.

"This…"

Nyx remarked. "This is the effect of a mere human touching upon primordial darkness. You will be corrupted and if you aren't careful, lose yourself to it."

"How do I stop it?"

Nyx shrugged. "You can't. Except you have the opposing power to darkness, which is light. Of course, not just any light… light that is on par with primordial darkness."

"How many more times would this happen before I need to worry about losing myself?" Alex asked.

"No idea. It could be 5, it could be 10… it all depends on factors outside your control."

"This is bothersome."

"Hehe, and here I thought you'd panic a bit more."

"Am I supposed to?"

Nyx pondered before they replied. "Well, I guess not. Anyway, if you want to leave, you may. Our meeting is over."

As he turned to leave, Nyx suddenly paused as they said. "Ah yes, no rush on gathering my heart pieces."

"Hmm?"

"I quite enjoy your little adventures." With that, Nyx blended into the darkness, an echo of their laughter filled the void.

Alex furrowed his brows, pondering on the meaning of Nyx's statement only to turn away as the voices came again.

"We are doomed!... I can't do anything…. I'm going to die here."

Alex pursed his lips before reaching out toward the voice.

"It can't be Ana but on the off chance that it's her…" As he said that, Alex left the dark expanse and found himself in a scattered bedroom, and at a corner, Ana sat with her head buried between her legs.