Poisoned Rationality

-Ariana-

I was floating in darkness.

Where was I? Wasn’t I in the middle of a fight?

And my arm got hurt, didn’t it? What happened?

I felt a strange warmth through my body as I drifted. It was a pleasant warmth, seeping into my bones and filling me up like the heat of a fireplace on a cold winter night.

All of a sudden, I wasn’t floating anymore. I was standing in the middle of an empty wasteland that stretched on forever. The ground was pale and dusty, with the occasional tiny shrub.

The sky was also a dark blood red, with similarly colored clouds slowly drifting by.

Looking around, I noticed a strange box of a building with a single door. Seeing as it was the only thing in this seemingly endless landscape, I began walking toward it.

After a period of time that I could not measure, I was at the door.

I opened it and stepped through, into the small building. Which, as it turned out, was not small at all. It was, in fact, incredibly big inside.

The wall directly behind me stretched to either side into the distance, with a door just like the one I had walked through spaced every few meters.

All the people walking through the other doors were tinged very slightly green, with their legs or lower body starting to fade away toward the bottom.

I looked down at myself, but I appeared completely normal.

“Please continue forward,” A strange monotone voice said suddenly. I jumped slightly and turned to see a metallic construct standing nearby.

“Where am I?” I asked.

“Please continue forward,” It repeated. I sighed and turned to face what the construct was indicating.

There was a straight pathway closed in by partitions, with a tall metal doorframe at one point ahead of it.

“What is that box?” I wondered. Surprisingly, the construct replied.

“That is the [Ancestry Scanner],” It said. “The [Ancestry Scanner] reads your ancestral history for underworld organization.”

“Underworld?” I exclaimed. “Am I dead?”

“Please continue forward,” The construct repeated a second time. I growled but continued through the strange metal object. There was a loud beeping sound, followed by several soft whirring noises and a low clunk.

“Ancestry scanned,” A different monotone voice coming from the doorway said. “Reaper detected. Please continue forward and take the left path.”

I looked ahead and saw that there was a fork. Right as I noticed that, a wall popped up from the ground in front of the right path, leaving the left as the only option.

I glanced around to the other lanes, where the strange green-tinted people were walking through more of the machines, before walking forward and going through the right path.

I shrugged to myself and walked forward, going down the left path. It led my to a set of stairs, which led up somewhere.

Groaning to myself, I began my ascent. After several minutes, I reached the top. Along the way, several other staircases had joined up with the one I was walking on, growing slightly wider as it did. By the top it was several meters wide.

I walked along the flat portion at the top up to one of the many doors and opened it. Stepping through, I found myself in a large, open room that was dimly lit.

“Where is this?” I wondered aloud, not expecting a response.

“This is my office!” A bright voice said, making me yelp in fright. I turned around to find a somewhat short girl with an oversized dark grey shirt standing behind me. She had long white hair that was tied back into a ponytail.

“Who are you?” I asked, taking a step back. The girl smiled and put her hand on her hip.

“I’m Lucy,” She replied. “Most people call me Lady Grim, though.” She did a little spin followed by a curtsy. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” After a moment, she continued. “The fact that you’re here means you’re part Reaper.”

“Huh?” I said. “What’s a Reaper?”

“I’m a Reaper!” Lucy told me. “The first one. Any of my descendants are part Reaper.”

“So I’m your descendant?” I guessed.

“Yep!” Lucy replied, grinning. “You’re the first in a few centuries. But anyway. Welcome to the Underworld!”

“Wait, am I dead?” I asked.

“Yep!” Lucy said, and I paled. Oh no. Nyx. “Don’t worry, though. You’re part Reaper, so you get special treatment and stuff. I can even send you back if you like.”

“Please do,” I told her. “I need to get back to my [Fated One].”

“Ah, okay,” Lucy murmured. “Gotcha. Follow me.” She turned around and started walking toward some part of the big room when the whole building shook violently.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“Something bad if it can reach here,” Lucy replied grimly. “Stay in this room, it’s protected.” She dashed out through a door next to the one I had walked in from, and I walked over to watch from the doorway.

This door seemed to open onto a balcony on the side of the building, which, unlike the one I had originally entered, was absolutely massive. The same desolate wasteland surrounded it, but the reddish sky was laced with familiar inky tendrils.

Huge spines shot from above, piercing the clouds and stabbing into the ground, small tendrils and teeth lashing out around them.

Lucy rose into the air, her dark grey shirt expanding into a long cloak. A massive scythe appeared in her hand, which she brandished menacingly. Blood-red magic appeared around it, shining brightly.

She stayed there, floating several hundred feet above the ground, hair flying around as the wind began to pick up.

Then the clouds burst apart and a huge ball of void shot from the sky, crashing down with immense force. Dust rose into the air, and everything stilled.

Several moments of silence passed.

“What are you…” I heard Lucy mutter, gripping her scythe tight.

It was then that void exploded out from the impact site, huge tendrils and spikes lashing out at the air. Several tentacles latched onto the side of the building.

Lucy grimaced and shot forward, swinging her scythe in large, arcing slashes. One of the tendrils was cut, and it detached from the wall, pulling back toward the epicenter.

A loud roar echoed across the desolate landscape as a massive form stood up.

It stood nearly a kilometer tall, with a large body composed entirely of void. Its lower half dissolved into a hazy mass of smoke, tendrils, and ever-shifting portions, while its upper half was structured like an absolutely massive person.

Its face was thin, with many rows of glowing white eyes that stood out from the inky surface they were cut from. Several sets of horns curled from around its face and swept back, forming what almost looked like hair, if you squinted.

It let out another roar once it stood up fully, a large gash along its upper chest lined with teeth opening, revealing swirling chaos inside.

Is that Nyx? I wondered. It seemed very illogical that she would be able to make her way into the underworld without dying, and I highly doubted that the leader bandit would have been able to kill her, considering how strong her abilities were.

I stepped further out onto the balcony and felt a surge of energy run through my body. A flare of heat engulfed my right arm, and I watched as void spilled over it, coating the limb up to about 4 inches from my shoulder.

I remembered, then, what had happened before I died. My arm had been cut off, and despite Sarya’s healing, the damage was too severe.

Now, it seemed, Nyx’s void had formed a replacement. I flexed the muscles, testing its flexibility and dexterity.

“Ariana!” Lucy shouted, dashing back toward me. “Get inside the door! This is dangerous! If you stay any longer you’ll be consumed.”

“No, it’s fine!” I told her. “This is the power of my girlfriend!”

“You’re girlfriend’s a fucking Primal!?” Lucy exclaimed. “I guess that explains how void managed to get here.” She sighed, before swinging her scythe behind her back as it disappeared.

Nyx’s huge form had focused its attention on the small balcony and had begun to make its way toward us. I tensed as it froze, feeling the gaze of its many eyes locking onto me.

With a shudder, her body began to flake apart as it slid across the ground, shedding large pieces as it went.

By the time it was only a few kilometers away, most of it had fallen away. There was a loud cracking sound and the large face split in two.

A small, person-sized figure was floating in the air, in between the two pieces as they fell. It was curled up, with long tendrils waving around them like hair.

They uncurled and short forward, flying through the air toward me.

As they got close, I recognized Nyx’s face and opened my arms. She slowed down right in front of me, barreling me backward into a tight hug. I spun on my heel and held her close.

“You’re okay,” I murmured repeatedly, stroking her hair, which had calmed down and hung down like normal.

“You were gone,” She cried, tears streaming down her face. “I thought I would never find you.”

I patted her head and hugged her tightly. After several minutes, she finally drew back. Her hand lingered on my right arm, a sad expression on her face.

“Hey, I'm fine,” I said, flexing my fingers. She nodded, and turned to face Lucy.

“So who are you?” She demanded, putting a hand on her hip.

“My name is Lucy,” The white-haired girl replied. “You can call me Lady Grim. I’m in charge of the Underworld, and Ariana here is one of my descendants.”

Nyx narrowed her eyes at Lucy, and I grabbed her hand in mine.

“Nyx, I’m okay,” I told her gently. “She was going to help send me back, but then you got here.”

“How did you even do that?” Lucy asked. “The only way for anyone to get here without my help is by dying.”

“I don’t know,” Nyx answered softly. “It might be because of our connection?” She guessed, leaning her head on my shoulder.

“I’ll look into it,” Lucy said. “It might be because you’re a Primal, like me.”

“What’s a Primal?” I asked.

“A Primal is a person or being who is the embodiment of a force tied to the universe,” Lucy explained. “For example, I am the Primal of Death. I know of Time and Fate, and I’ve met the other Primal of Void, named Null.”

“You know Null?” Nyx exclaimed suddenly.

“Yes, they are a Primal,” Lucy said. “You seem to be a kind of Primal as well. I’m not sure why, but your energy feels different.” She shook her head. “Anyways, I’m going to send you two back. I’m not sure how you got in, miss Nyx, but I’m fairly certain you can’t leave on your own.”

She waved her hand, a swirl of red energy appeared around the two of us.

“I’ll see you some other time,” She said, smiling. I waved to her as the magic swallowed us.