Nothingness... That concept is truly too absurd for the mind to comprehend. Sensations slip by, as if they had never been to begin with. Memories have become nothing but abstract fog. Reason was unclouded without emotion.
...
Is this how our soul feels like? I wondered.
When the body died, when the drums of the heart, and soft flute of the lungs ceased. That's when the soul would be free from all attachment. Free from its cage, the eternal flame inside us would rise into the skies, god would let it would go beyond man and machine to join the twin moons along their mad dance.
There were no stars here though. Neither did the two moons shine. This was not the firmament...
Whispers.
First, it was a muffled sound, a noise in the fog of the voids, a mutter emitted from everywhere, all at once.
Then, it manifested. From behind, the erratic voice centered somewhere behind me. Its words were now barely tangible.
{ There are... ways forward... }
It said in a seemingly endless loop. The voice continued looping over and over. Its mumbling drew inevitably nearer by the second.
{ For you, young Vaam. There are... ways forward... Not more. Not less. Only... }
Ways forward...
{ Three. }
It was the correct and only answer.
Without awareness of my words, I quietly completed the blanks. The number meant to exist then and there were... three, it always had been. The voice knew it, for some reason, I did too.
I could almost feel it grin somewhere behind me. Three of the voice's inexisting fingers rose on his void hand.
{ Three riddles, Three ways, Three trades. }
By that point, its whispers reached the lobe of my ear, its inexistent jaw settled on a shoulder I did not have.
{ May I begin..¿ }
The voice murmured in something resembling a playful tone, almost as if the whole aim of that void was to entertain itself.
...
"Do."
I complied, my mind strangely clean.
Devoid of doubts, worries, or excuses. As if the only true purpose of those moments was for me to... Choose. To choose a path ahead, whatever it may be.
{ Well then... Vaam. }
After a subtle pause, the voice reignited, unveiling a thin branch within the void.
{ Power always carved in blood of plenty. For a soul... Even a weak one I'll trade half a second of no-time. }
...
Dead time. Carved in the blood of plenty. What- what was that..? Was no-time some kind of forbidden knowledge? Was it a mere concept..?
The vagueness of the description was nothing short of puzzling. What was this about? Was I speaking to some type of god?
I had no time to ask, neither do I think I would have found many answers by doing so. The nothingness voiced the next riddle.
{ Blind eagle won't soar the skies. For your birthright, that you so much desire. I'll give... a short glimpse of what's to come. }
...
What? A... glimpse? My birthright?..
What did it mean by saying I was blind? Was it perhaps referring to the fact that I could not see at that very moment? Or was it something else? What were the glimpses it was speaking about? Visions?
{ What are you talk- }
Within the empty realm, the search for answers was always an error. The void was the land of choices, not one of questions.
My voice staggered as if the bellies of the empty no-land were about to shatter. Pulsing, throbbing pain spread through me.
{ Beware, young. The consequences of wielding unearned knowledge... will be fatal. }
The voice softly said, before the pain ceased, allowing my train of thought to regroup. Uncaring about the past remark, the voice simply did not halt to explain.
It uttered the very last riddle.
{ Fair hands do Fair trades. For your left, golden eye... Just a few minutes of sight, I'll give... A crack. }
...
Now, three branches lay ahead. Each converged in me, each growing far into the distance, igniting a beacon of pulsing light.
{ Now and only now. You may make your choice. }
As the voice spoke, I felt a strange sensation coursing through me... Whatever had become. It was as if a gentle current of breath was flowing through my soul, expanding its pores, allowing it to feel, to smell, and release the worn-out life on its insides.
{ Now, bind your will to one. One and only one. }
The very last whisper died down. I could sense, the thing was not there anymore... For some reason, I only strained to hear its fading words.
I was alone, sitting on the roots of a diverging tree...
{ What was a tree anyway? }
As fast as it had taken form, the concept of 'tree' vanished in a cloud of smoke, away from my grasp...
Forgetting he forgot. My mind slowly settled down, the cleanliness of my mind allowed me to ponder over the words of the void.
There were three riddles that had been presented to me. Each represented a path, a way forward glowing in a singular tint of yellow. Each meant a singular change to... me?
{ Am I, perhaps, not dead..? }
The void seemed to tingle, maybe it was just my imagination.
Without any true memories of what was the world outside this infinite realm, with no true grasp on the true reality of each path... How was I supposed to make any significant choice?
What was an eagle? Was it a bird? What was a bird?.. Pluto did not have air.
{ What is Pluto... }
As if trying to discern shapes in absolute darkness, my mind struggled to get a true grasp of the ideas I had once taken for granted.
{ Pure, golden yellow. Vibrant, greenish yellow. Bloody, reddish yellow. }
It had taken me minutes to truly grasp the slight differences in each tone. Strangely enough, it had been the smell that had allowed me to notice them in the first place.
{ Strangely familiar, as if recalled from somewhen else... Watered down, bloomingly exotic and filling... Warm, salty, with tints of Iron, a hint of melancholy... }
Those were their 'smells', although that word barely made justice to the indescribable sensation I managed to experience.
...
{ So... decide. }
I said to myself, as I recalled the first riddle given by the void. The forgotten centinels and their gift of quiet perception... I wondered what quiet perception could mean, why it had been taken away from him... What purpose it would it serve?
The second riddle, the one about the blind eagle left me even more puzzled. I could not comprehend what it meant by 'a sixth' being cleansed. Who made the layers of lies that blinded me? I couldn't help but wonder if it had something to do with his past or if it referred to something more profound.
The third riddle. Out of the three, this last one was certainly the most enigmatic. The mentioning of the vanquishing of death left me feeling unsure of what to do. What would it be like to 'step' towards eternity? The puzzling idea of living further was both tempting and terrifying.
{ So, which one Vaam? }
I asked. A trace of a choice formed in my mind. I could not move. I could not step on a path. I did not have a body.
Still, the subtle sensation of building decision was enough for the void to understand my true will... Even if I had yet to accept it.
A sense of clarity washed over me. My mind became sharper, and my senses heightened in a dangerously pronounced curve. I could hear the faintest sounds and smell the faintest scents. Within the void, there was nothing to hear nor smell though.
I was clearly hallucinating.
{ Choices... }
One last whisper, before my consciousness returned to the place it belonged.