As Alice harmonised with her surroundings, with the oblivion that stood before her, sound faded into the distance. Her mind flowed with the memory of this land. Time slowly rewinding as chunks reconstructed themselves in this memory.
Even as she undid the wounds left behind by Feris, there was only silence. No wind, no dust. No life.
There had once been mountains here. Snow capped peaks stretching towards the sky. Rivers flowing through the valleys. A village that stood beneath these mountains.
People...
Now there was only an endless stretch of death and destruction. Of the violet that now stain the sky.
All of the beauty that was once here... gone.
In this memory, Alice stood upon a mount of rubble. Her boots breaking off small pieces of debris that would now slowly float towards the dead zone that Feris had left behind.
Alice couldn’t even hear herself breathe. As though even sound itself was swallowed by the destruction.
Was this the Oblivion that Allura commanded? That Theron tapped into?
No...
This was merely Feris’s interpretation of Oblivion. One modified to suit the colour of the Void. An all consuming devourer that left a ’Void’ behind.
Allura’s Oblivion cut off possibilities. Feris’s Oblivion swallowed possibilities.
These were the interpretations of two that fully mastered this power.
Oblivion is the end of all things. To reach that origin, Alice needed to construct a bridge towards that end point.
Exhaling softly, Alice placed her hands against her weapons.
She had seen death, she had seen life. She had seen suffering and despair, she had seen hope and longing.
She had walked through cities where flames reached into the heavens and earth shook beneath collapsing buildings. She had walked through cities where life prospered and golden rays graced the land.
But she had never seen such emptiness like what stretched before her.
Here, in this place... Existence faltered on the brink of erasure. A line that split the dimension in half.
Beyond this line, the only certainty that remained was oblivion.
Alice glanced down.
The swirling darkness that swallowed all.
Yet in that darkness... It felt like another version of her existed.
Alice frowned.
It was a reflection of herself and the deaths that should’ve occurred.
The rupturing of her veins as blood poured out her eyes from the misuse of skills beyond her level.
A blade that carved into her lungs, breaking her spine as blood flooded her throat.
Her eyes being gouged out as she was unable to react in time.
Flames that consumed her flesh, ice that peeled her skin.
Needles and scalpels digging into her back, mechanical arms slithering beneath her flesh.
She watched as the people around her died. As the Hybrids burned the capital of the North down.
She watched the weapon explode to pieces in her hand as a fist broke through her defences and shattered her rips.
She watched a pair of hands wrap around her neck and tear off her head.
A kick that shattered her knees.
A maw that crushed her between its teeth.
Death had always been her companion. She simply avoided its grasp.
But these reflections? They were what could’ve happened.
A single question lingered in her mind...
What kind of Oblivion did she want to create?
She who had now seen the ultimate end, how did she want to bring it to the world?
Unknowingly, Alice was about to take a step towards the darkness when the weapons pulled her back.
In her reflection within the darkness, ’she’ smiled and held a finger over her lips.
"Shh."
*BANG!!!
From that darkness, countless hands burst outwards in an attempt to grab Alice as her eyes widened in shock.
Without hesitation, Alice stepped onto Ruby, launching herself into the air.
But the hands were tenacious, refusing to give her up.
Even though this should’ve been a ’memory’, Alice didn’t want to risk it!
"Helena!"
Splitting herself into countless fragments, streaks of energy began shooting towards the hands only for them to swallow the attacks without care.
As more and more hands started to claw out of the darkness, a single black orb manifested, acting as the core of this monstrosity. A singularity of which the hands orbited like it was an celestial star.
Leaning forward, Alice injected more energy into Ruby as a burst of energy erupted behind them, propelling them towards the sky.
Transforming into a glowing streak of violet, Alice circled the monster and took aim.
Leon hovered next to her before latching onto her arm.
Tethering herself to the weapon, Alice’s eye shifted as energy pulsed through her body.
"!!!"
Her reflection melded into the darkness. Her snow like skin faded into her silhouette became one with the darkness. All that she could see was the two glowing eyes and a toothy smile without lips.
Flee.
That was all she could think about.
There was no fight or flight response. For that requires her to have the thought of fighting back.
In this instance, even if she was at the height of her power, Alice understood that whatever she was fighting wasn’t a ’creature’. It was a phenomenon.
Oblivion.
She could not fight such a thing.
Clenching her teeth, Alice directed all of her energy into Ruby.
"Work with your brother! Get us out of here!" Alice shouted.
*BANG!!!
A rupture in space opened before them as Alice was dragged away from the location.
Not even a moment’s later, a black orb burst open where she was, consuming the space and assimilating it with Oblivion.
Shielding her face as the wind cut against her flesh, Alice wanted to find a way out when countless eyes opened in the sky.
Black ichor dripped from the eyelids as the world was slowly flooded with this strange liquid.
Twisting her hips, Alice dodged the falling corruption.
Helena was still trying her best to keep the hands at by but there was little she could do when everything they fired was swallowed without care.
*KRKKK!!!!
Beneath them, the space split apart like a jagged maw. A singularity spun at its core as dark tendrils whipped towards Alice.
Swiping with her hand, she created several gateways in order to redirect these attacks but all of her defences were shattered as easily as glass.
Out of panic, Alice unleashed a flood of blood before igniting them with her Violet flames.
Like her gateways, they were pushed apart with ease. However, it still bought her a bit of time as Alice transformed Leon into the shape of a sword.
Void Axis!
Unleashing a vertical slash, Alice created a railway for Ruby to glid upon as this saves them the time of having to create a path themselves.
Sparks flicked behind them as sweat dripped down Alice’s face.
The ’safe’ spots in this memory was starting to disappear one by one. The world was being flooded while all of the eyes were trained on her location. It didn’t matter how fast she was, she couldn’t escape the gaze of Oblivion.
Was this what Allura had to face when she came face to face with Oblivion? Was this what Feris saw?
These questions couldn’t be answered as Alice realised her time was running out...
This was no simple memory anymore.
This was a test.
Was it to see her worthiness? Or was it to see what she would do in the face of death?
With space running out, it’ll only be a matter of time before she’s consumed.
In which case... the only thing she could do was to try and take it out!
To consume before she is consumed!
To assimilate the enemy before she gets assimilated.
That’s how it’s always been. She had always consumed the corruption before it could take over her body. Sealed the souls of countless in her own body and used them to her advantage.
It won’t change now!
Spinning her body a hundred and eighty degrees, Alice narrowed her eyes towards the tendrils lunging after her.
Ah~ She could see it.
She could see the truth of her own Origin.
The design imprinted in her core this entire time.
That of which had never changed.
Unending voracity.
There had been a misunderstanding towards Feris’s Oblivion.
She didn’t swallow. She wasn’t the all consuming devourer. What she did was hollow out the space. To collapse it and render it to Nihility.
Her origin would be that of the collapsing star.
But Alice?
She had always been one to consume.
Her hair flared outwards as spider lilies blossomed around her.
Her energy transforming into a blend between demonic red black and violet.
Once more, she was reminded of a keyword spoken between her and Alyss long ago.
Perhaps it was never a command for her twin but rather for herself.
A word to unlock the seal of her powers.
Therefore, she shall speak it once more.
"Feast o’ flames of mine."
###
"Hm?" Allura paused in her actions as she stood up and glanced back.
A pillar of flames erupted from Alice’s body as her shadow started to twitch.
A frown hung on her lips.
She had only expected Alice to observe Oblivion but... From this reaction...
"No way..." Allura mumbled.
Confusion spread in her mind.
Even if they were standing near an explosion of Oblivion, it shouldn’t have been that easy to tap into it. So how was Alice now resonating with the dead zone in front of them?
In fact, a link had been established!
Just as she was about to make a move, the flames disappeared. Alice’s power faded in its entirety.
"!!!"
Panic filled Allura’s heart.
But before that panic could fully set, a spark appeared in the centre of the dead zone.
Blood.
Unending blood.
Darkness and blood intertwined as a burst of energy unfurled like that of a flower, wrapping around the dead zone before snapping shut.
At this point, neither Karya nor Solana could ignore it anymore.
Allura’s smile twitched. She couldn’t help but laugh at this absurdity.
Alice’s Origin, her interpretation of the Nihility that comes with Oblivion...
The bridge she decided to construct was in fact the hunger to swallow all.
Even Oblivion itself.
Chapter 1111: Tracking Down Feris 4
8 min read