Chapter Text
It was done. They had finally climbed to the top of Pantheon 5, reaching its peak. They could sense that The Radiance was incredibly close to finally being defeated.
Their void bubbled underneath their shell. It felt almost like it would burst open at any second, growing more and more restless with each and every hit.
She teleported to the center, clearly too tired to keep going any further. This last hit had to be it.
The leaped one final time, pure nail aimed to go directly through Her. It hit its mark, and She thrashed about helplessly, letting out a screech of pain and fury.
Ghost felt a slight pain on their mask, but paid no attention to it, full attention on The Radiance.
The Godseeker, still sitting high on her throne was looking down, terrified, yet strangely in awe of the giant, writhing mass of void below her. A giant mass of void that started forming into something that was somehow more terrifying- something the likes of which she had never seen before. Someone called the Lord of Shades.
The newly formed Lord of Shades reared back and glanced at Their new form, before snatching up The Radiance in Their newly formed claws. They didn't land the final blow yet, studying Her. Maybe to find a weak spot- or one that would cause the most pain. Perhaps They weren't yet ready to end Her.
A brief flash of hope glinted in the Radiance's eyes. Hesitation- this was her last chance!
In the moment of indecision The Lord of Shades had, She muttered some unheard words. The world around them flashed- The Radiance and The Lord of Shades left feeling disoriented for a split second before everything went dark, both falling unconscious.
---
The Radiance woke up; feeling like absolute shit. Which, besides the feeling horrible part, was strange. When had She fallen asleep? Sleep wasn't exactly required for Higher Beings.
She also felt like She was forgetting something really important… actually, quite a bit of important somethings.
But (with unexpected difficulty) She checked through the eyes of her… Followers, and everything was the same as yesterday. No. Not yesterday. That doesn't sound right. It feels like its been so much longer than that.
Maybe these are just the effects of sleep? She hasn't done so in quite a long time, and she never thought it to be of importance. Her memories of it are fuzzy. At best.
If it weren't for their disagreement and the lack of things on fire, then She would say that Grimm had pulled a prank on Her.
This was unbelievably frustrating. She shouldn't have fallen asleep, and if She had, She wouldn't have dreamed. Or at least She'd have remembered the dream. Her domain was in dreams. The Radiance was the God of Dreams.
It also didn't explain why She felt like shit. Like She had been torn apart and put back together. It didn't explain why looking through the eyes of one bug was so difficult to accomplish.
And it didn't explain why She felt such a desperate need to do something- and that the time to do so was slipping away.
---
Ghost woke up, a sharp throbbing pain all over their body. What happened? How did they get out of Godhome? Where wer-
They were interrupted by a loud, piercing screech in their mind. They jerked up, before the realization that it had come from the void in them screeching in anger. Like it had just lost valuable prey. That was new.
After a long moment it quieted into a low growl before returning to silence. Well. They hoped they wouldn't have to deal with that again.
They couldn't figure out their first two questions, so they resolved to figure out where they were. Trying to identify where they were they looked around. They instantly recognized their location. A part of Ghost called out for their home, and another shriveled up in disgust.
The Abyss. Complete with their siblings bodies falling all around them.
And the pull (they now knew that it was coming from the Pale King) they had felt when they first hatched was there as well. This time it didn't feel as powerful, being the last thing they noticed.
This had to be a dream. If they remembered correctly- which was actually a little difficult -they had defeated The Radiance. So they didn't have to fear Her. They hoped so, at least. This couldn't be a trick. They didn't want to think about if it was.
With nowhere else to go, they started climbing again. They jumped from platform to platform, easily making their way to the top. It was easier this time, as long as they didn't pay attention to the bodies.
This was the third time Ghost had climbed to the top by now. They saw their sibling, just out of reach. Their sibling- destined for a fate worse than death.
A flash of anger ran through their void. No. They wouldn't let that happen again, even if this wasn't real in the end.
This time they were not going to fail their sibling.
They jumped, putting all their effort in reaching the platform.
The moment seemed to last longer than it should've, as they hung in the air, threatening to plummet down like their siblings. Collecting theirself, they dashed midway through, and landed shakily on the platform, almost knocking their sibling over.
They had done it! That felt so... Good. That felt good. That felt- what was it called?- Fantastic!
They had felt similarly before, but it couldn't compare to this! They fiddled with their cloak and shuffled their feet happily, trying to contain their excitement. They doubted the safety of this platform.
The Pale King looked at both of them and muttered something under His breath before turning and ordering them to follow. Ghost's sibling didn't hesitate, shoulders relaxing slightly when they exited The Abyss.
If Ghost could pout they would. They followed, but they were following their sibling. Not Him.
He sealed the door and they walked up the stairs (there were stairs here??) to the White Palace. Ghost quickly checked what they had on them. Neat. They still had all their stuff. They loved their stuff.
Even that broken delicate flower sitting somewhere in their void. They even liked the slimy rancid eggs, and the charms they had never actually used. Their stuff was great.
Focusing back into reality, they spotted the King's tail slithering behind them and got an idea. This wasn't real, right? So they could cause as much chaos as they wanted. With no consequences.
They equipped their pure nail, and started dragging it behind them, making a very loud and unpleasant screeching noise. The Pale King stopped, and both Ghost and their sibling bumped into Him.
He looked behind Himself and zeroed in on Ghost's nail.
Ghost held it out innocently and then dropped it back into their cloak, where He would never be able to get it.
He watched the whole thing, staring at Ghost for a while before rubbing his eyes and shaking His head a little bit. "Stars, I really am going crazy..." He muttered, and turned to continue on His path.
That wasn't what Ghost was expecting. He was really stupid. Ghost had held out their pure nail in front of Him. He had just brushed it off!
Also, what were stars?
---
The Radiance paced (as best as a floating moth with toothpicks for legs could) in Her dream realm. She had nothing to do. Well, that wasn't true, its just that She couldn't do any of what She usually could do.
She could probably only infect a single bug before running out of strength.
One bug wouldn't do anything, and She knew that they would be killed by the Pale King anyways. (He had only directly killed one, but She was sure that He would do so to the rest.) So She just continued pacing, thinking over what had happened.
Now that She thinks about it, it was a long time since She had actually...well...thought. She had been thinking, sure, but her actions had all been decided by how She was feeling in the moment.
Perhaps this infection was not the best idea. The Radiance was supposed to be a guiding light and a protector. She had done a little bit too well at the first part, and failed horribly in the second.
She still hated the Pale Wyrm with a burning passion, but perhaps this was overboard.
She always did this, didn't She?
Maybe She could change. Maybe She should change. That nagging feeling that Her time was running out hadn't gone away. This might be Her only chance before its too late.
Again.