The Nether Root was an expanse of nothingness, an infinite darkness that I ventured into with little more than a sliver of hope.
Magic, the very essence of my strength, had no dominion here. The Arcanas, once pulsating with power, were now lifeless stones, void of the energy they once held.
I was alone, save for the spectral presence of my Familiar, the Kraken, whose ethereal form somehow persisted in this place beyond the grasp of any magic.
I walked through the darkness, my every step echoing into the void.
I had no concept of time here; it could've been days, years, or even centuries. I walked endlessly, tirelessly, fuelled by a single, desperate need - to find Karlia.
The solitude was almost maddening.
In this immeasurable silence, the sound of my own heartbeat became my sole companion. I had no voice to speak, no words to utter, my every thought reverberating silently within my mind.
If not for my Familiar, if not for the spectral presence of the Kraken by my side, I would have undoubtedly succumbed to the suffocating darkness.
Its formless entity seemed to echo my determination, a steady, silent vow that we were in this together.
In this timeless void, introspection became my only solace.
I found myself traversing the corridors of my own mind as I journeyed through the darkness, revisiting old memories, the victories and failures of my past.
Each step, each breath, each heartbeat was an affirmation of my existence, a silent rebellion against the oppressive nothingness of the Nether Root.
In those countless moments of solitude, I found strength in my desire for Karlia.
Her laughter, her spirit, the touch of her hand – they became my anchor, my lighthouse in the heart of this impenetrable darkness.
I clung to her memory, her essence, with every fiber of my being for the fear that I would go insane otherwise.
Every thought of her ignited a spark of hope within me, casting a faint glow in the shroud of darkness.
I held onto that hope, nourishing it, cherishing it, letting it fill me with determination, with resolve.
No matter the darkness, no matter the solitude, I would not falter.
I would traverse this void, face this maddening solitude, defy this timeless expanse.
I would find Karlia. I would bring her back.
This, I promised to the darkness, to the void, to the Nether Root, and to myself.
This was my vow, my singular purpose as I journeyed through the darkness, one step at a time.
Karlia. My guiding star in the void of the Nether Root.
'No matter how long it takes, no matter the distance, no matter the darkness, I will find you.'
That though alone put a smile on my face despite the eternity I suffered.
********
Time, if it existed in this endless void, had lost all meaning to me.
I was a lone wanderer in a realm devoid of light, direction, or hope.
Until... out of the silence, out of the nothingness, I heard it - a voice.
A voice that I'd longed to hear, a voice that I'd clung onto, a voice that I'd promised to find.
Karlia!
"L-Lewis..."
The sound of my name on her lips echoed through the void, a beacon in the darkness, a lifeline thrown to a drowning man.
My heart pounded in my chest, a frenzied rhythm that matched the cadence of her voice.
'W-where is it coming from... where... a-ah!'
Above me, amidst the obsidian void, there it was.
A cube, colossal and enigmatic, pulsating with an ethereal light, sending waves of sound into the silent abyss.
Her voice, Karlia's voice, was emanating from it, an endless chorus of my name.
As if she had been calling me, waiting for me, guiding me through the darkness.
Tears welled up in my eyes, a liquid testament of relief, of triumph, of love.
They spilled down my cheeks, droplets lost in the cosmic ocean. I had found her.
Against the odds, against the despair, against the infinity of the void, I had found her.
"Karlia...!"
The laws of this realm had long since become familiar to me, a second nature born out of necessity, survival.
I noa could see in the darkness now, perceive the unseen.
I could defy gravity, defy logic.
And so, I ascended.
I floated towards the cube, drawn towards it as a moth is drawn towards a flame.
"Karlia!" I screamed into the void.
My voice, unused for what seemed like eons, cracked with the intensity of my emotion.
I reached out towards the cube, my hand outstretched, reaching for her.
Reaching for the light, for the hope, for the love that I had been denied for so long.
As I got closer, the cube seemed to pulsate with more intensity, her voice ringing louder in my ears.
It was as if it responded to my presence, to my desperation, to my love.
And I, lost in the depths of the Nether Root, was answering its call.
"Karlia!" I screamed again, my voice echoing through the void. I was close, so close now. I could almost touch it, almost reach her.
I was on the precipice of reunion, on the brink of salvation.
And I knew then, with a certainty that resonated in every fibre of my being, that no matter what, no matter the odds, no matter the cost, I would never let her go.
There, in the deafening silence of the Nether Root, I connected with the cube, reached out with [Connection].
I felt an instant ethereal link forged by sheer will and hope, rushing with the ominous box before me.
I let my consciousness seep into it, to become one with the world within the cube.
What followed was an onslaught of raw, unfiltered pain.
'GAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!'
What should have been a single moment of pain—in the shortest of moments, the briefest point of time—felt like an eternity of pure, indescribable pain.
It was an eternity of agony condensed into a singular moment, a fleeting instance that stretched on endlessly, painfully.
It felt like I was dying, over and over again.
I could feel my life force draining, my spirit crumbling under the unbearable weight of the torment.
My breath hitched in my chest, my heart pounded erratically, my vision blurred at the edges.
However, just as the pain ended, I could see the cracks already forming. And then...
... The cube shattered.
A cataclysmic explosion that rocked the very fabric of the Nether Root.
The release of my energy offset the balance of the cube, causing it to implode, to shatter, to free Karlia.
As the world spun around me, as my consciousness threatened to slip away, I saw her.
A silhouette in the darkness, a form amidst the chaos.
I felt the warmth of her touch, the familiarity of her embrace as she caught me, held me, saved me.
A smile tugged at the corners of my lips, my voice nothing more than a whisper as I uttered her name.
"Karlia..." It echoed in the void, a declaration of love, of hope, of victory. The world around me faded, my vision dimmed, and my consciousness slipped away.
I was only able to feel the briefest moment of her pain, and it was a torture unlike any other.
How much Karlia would have suffered... how much she had endured in my absence.
It made me nearly bleed out tears.
But, tugging my heart even more was the satisfaction I felt that she was out now.
I was happy.
For in the face of despair, of darkness, of death, I had found her. I had saved her.
And she had saved me.
"... Thanks for coming back to me."
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[A/N]
Yayyy! Karlia is back!
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