His Ramblings:Broken Reflections

"An illusion, huh?" Suddenly, it hit him - the dried blood on his hands, the unending waves of mirrored images, and everything else up to now. It was all an illusion, but why did the attacks hurt if they were merely just illusions?

Josh's focus returned to the mirrored images before him. They came at him with murderous frenzy, their claws ready to tear him apart. Drawing in a deep breath and closing his eyes, he exhaled, and his lips moved, uttering soft-spoken words that seemed to stop time itself. "And now, shatter."

For a moment, the whole dimension went still. The mirrored images surrounded him from all angles, not moving, as if they were stuck in a painting. "CRACK!!!" A loud crack, resembling that of a glass shattering, spread out from their location, and from there, a series of loud cracks resounded. Reality itself seemed to be shattering, replaced by a different scenario.

The shattering stopped, and Josh slowly opened his eyes to a whole different setting. The tree was still in front of him, but it was all dried up and dead. The lake of crystal bones was now the lake of broken glass shards.

[Could it be that... No, it can't be.] Turning around, his eyes scanned his surroundings, and he spotted Eve not too far away from where he was looking, just as confused as he was. Their eyes met, and Josh could read the question in her eyes.

"I'm inclined to believe so," Josh said loudly, so Eve could hear him. "Ever since our arrival, it seems like we have been under an illusion, but the question is, how?" Eve pointed at the tree.

"That's how," Eve said. "Now that you have shattered the illusion, I can feel traces of origin from its roots. But this origin is unlike anything I have ever come across... it feels ancient."

Eve paused, staring at Josh for a short while before asking, "Now, tell me, how exactly did you shatter the illusion?" Eve's words were straightforward; Josh understood her real question: "What ability was that?" was the question she really asked.

"Luck, I guess," Josh replied. Eve spared him one last look before looking away. The real face of the dimension was way worse. It appeared as though the dimension was crumbling - a forest of dead trees, the pool of fire, the towering mountains - all of it was crumbling.

The crimson shade of the realm had turned a shade deeper, and the pull of the void above was even stronger now that the illusion was gone. Before, they could feel its pull, but not on this level. The only time it got stronger was when they directed their gaze above.

"RUMBLE!!!" The dimension shook violently, the ground beneath them cracked, and Josh almost fell into a fissure. The epicenter of the rumbling was the hanging tree; the cracks spread out like a web, going deeper into the dimension where their eyes could not see.

"The dimension is dying; we have to leave, NOW!" Eve started running towards the tree. It only took him a moment before he reacted and ran after Eve. The rumbling intensified, and as they drew closer, the terrain shifted, and a lake of glittering glass shards stretched out before them.

The shards reflected the chaotic landscape, and for a split moment, Josh caught the reflection of the sky, to which he almost stumbled, horrified by what he had seen.

"EVE, DO NOT LOOK AT THE SHARDS! THE SKY - THE VOID - IT'S MOVING!!!!" He warned Eve after regaining his footing. They both braved the pain of having their feet cut by the shards, leaving behind a trail of blood. Unknown to them, the shards absorbed the blood, and strange symbols appeared on the surface of the shards.

"Shrieeeeek!" A piercing shriek stopped them in their tracks. Quickly covering their ears in agony, the shriek was coming from the tree. Bleeding from their eyes and ears, they stood with their ears clasped and forcibly moved forward despite the ear-shattering shriek.

For every step they took forward, the pain doubled, and Eve seemed to be losing her strength with every step. Josh only saw Eve topple over, and for a moment, he paused. His body shaking, he had no way to determine if she was dead or alive since the blood was disrupting his vision.

[This is the second time I'm disobeying you, Master.] Josh thought sadly before he started mumbling under his breath. As though the tree understood what he was trying to do, the shrieks got even louder, coupled with the rumbling. The world shook violently, and Josh fell on his knees.

The mirror shards pierced his knees, but he ignored the pain. The blood from the wounds was absorbed by the shards, and more of the strange symbols appeared on the shards. If Eve was awake, she would have seen a faint silhouette behind Josh. Josh mumbled his last word, and with it, the shriek, the rumbling - it all stopped. In turn, Josh looked older than he did a few moments ago, streaks of white hair were now visible.

Wiping away the blood from his eyes with a trembling hand, his lips curled upwards as he could see Eve stir. "How was your nap?" His voice oozed sarcasm and exhaustion. He watched as she slowly got up to her feet.

"I was just catching my b-" Her words got stuck in her mouth as she saw his appearance. She covered her mouth with a trembling hand. "What is going on with you, Josh?" she asked in a slightly trembling voice.

Josh chuckled, looking at her before getting up and removing the mirror shards from his knees. "Do not worry about it. I will be fine after a few days. We have to keep going. I did not stop the shriek nor the rumbling. I just placed a barrier between us and the assaults, but if you look carefully, you can see that the assaults are still ongoing. They are just not reaching us... for now, that is. So let us not waste time."

Josh explained, and Eve nodded, looking away before continuing to run towards the tree. They reached the tree in a short time, and on the base of the tree, there was an opening big enough for both of them to enter.

Eve knelt down and placed both hands on the ground. "Vim mutuo, Oculi radicum." Josh watched in amazement as the veins around her eyes darkened, and her iris turned mud brown. The tip of her fingers turned to roots, connecting with the roots of the hanging tree.

[That's terrifying....] Josh thought, watching Eve finish up her spell. After a short while, the veins around her eyes returned to normal, and her eyes gained their natural color back.

She rose from the ground and turned to Josh with a solemn gaze. "Our suspicions were correct. This tree is a gateway. But there is something inside, something very... holy? It resembles a man, and it is hanged on the center of the tree. I do not know if it is dead or alive, but my connection to the roots was severed the moment I looked at it."

Josh remained quiet. In the book of divine providence, it was written that all holy existences were divine. So, could it mean they had stumbled upon a divine life form? But why would it be here, of all places?

"Could it be an... angel?" Josh asked Eve, a bit skeptical. Just because it was written in the book of divine providence did not mean it was true.

"Possibly," Eve replied. "Although I, too, believe the existence of angels to be the stuff of legends. But we cannot rule out the possibility of them being real. I say let us see for ourselves. This might be the only chance we will ever get to leave this place."

Josh agreed with her logic, and they entered the small opening side by side. The void from above had descended, and it was slowly swallowing what was left of the dimension while heading for the tree. The tree shrieked loudly, but no one was around to hear its cries.

Inside the hollowed tree, their footsteps echoed off the walls. Walking in complete silence, Josh followed Eve, who had the whole tree mapped out in her head. The interior of the tree was surprisingly well-lit, with strange symbols carved into the walls that glowed with a faint blue light, illuminating the inside of the tree.

Under Eve's guidance, they quickly reached the center of the tree, but right before they entered, an unsettling gaze caught them in their tracks, rendering them immobile. It seemed to be searching for something deep within them.

In front of the gaze, Josh felt naked, like all his deepest and darkest secrets were laid bare for the world to see. But soon after, the unsettling gaze retracted, leaving them out of breath and slightly trembling in fear, with the realization that if the owner of the gaze wanted them dead, they could have done it easily.

Exchanging a quick glance with one another, they continued towards the tree's central chamber. Upon entering, they both stood in awe at the sight before them. The tree's central chamber, a vast hollowed-out space, contained a colossal figure.

The being resembled a man but was slightly larger. Both its hands and feet were bound by thick vines that had the same strange symbols as the walls of the tree. The being's face was hidden behind a flimsy veil, while the rest of its beautifully sculpted body was naked.

Below the being was a pool of feathers that shimmered with an otherworldly light. They stood in awe and also in utter fear. The pressure from the colossal body made them feel a great deal of unease. It was not oppressive, but rather judgmental. It felt as if they were standing on holy grounds, ready to worship the being in front of them.

"Do you think we should bow?" Josh asked Eve, who threw him a murderous side-eye in return. Josh shrugged, and his eyes began scanning his surroundings, looking for anything that would resemble a portal, but to his annoyance, he found nothing.

Instead, the central chamber had nothing else besides the colossal body and the pool of... feathers? [Could that be the gateway?] Josh thought, his eyes fixed on the feathers.