Inside the abandoned house, where the walls had been eroded by time and the wind crept through the cracks like the whispers of ghosts, Nullus and Iggy stood amidst the stretching shadows, as if they were strangers to this land. The perforated ceiling allowed the moon to cast its silver light upon the dusty floor, leaving fragmented shadows dancing around them.
After moments of stillness—after the battle with the past, after collapsing into the sudden sea of memories—Nullus slowly opened his eyes. He wasn't sure if he was truly awake or if his mind was still trapped in the shadows of his lost realm. He lifted his head, weighed down by the throbbing headache, as if he were carrying an entire universe within him. Every thought was a knife, every memory a stab.
Iggy stood there, staring at him with his glowing eyes in the darkness, like embers that had never been extinguished. He spoke in a slow voice, as if measuring his words before uttering them:
"Have you regained some of your powers?"
Nullus sat back against the cracked wall, running a hand through his hair as if his fingers were searching for meaning amidst the chaos in his mind. Then he exhaled, a half-smile crossing his face, but it carried no real joy.
"Yes..." he said hoarsely before adding,
"I now have Conceptual Vision… Amplification… and… because of this wave of memories, I regained the ability to steal Concept Gems—but only for a limited time."
As he spoke those words, he saw how Iggy froze for a moment, how his expression shifted briefly before he masked his surprise. But his eyes spoke volumes, and inside his head, something else was happening.
"Conceptual Vision? Amplification? Stealing Concept Gems?"
Iggy couldn't pinpoint the direct link between these abilities, but they all revolved around a single theme: concepts. How could a single entity possess such an unusual combination of powers? Was he truly one of the Outsiders? Or was there something deeper at play here?
But Iggy didn't comment. Instead, he lifted his head slightly, as if his train of thought had suddenly shifted.
"That sleep didn't help just you," he said in a low voice.
Nullus looked at him, waiting for clarification.
Then, slowly, Iggy began to change.
At first, his entire body trembled, as if an unstable energy was trying to burst from within him. Black smoke seeped from his limbs, like he was shedding his old self. Then, little by little, he started transforming—no longer the smoky hound, but something else. Someone else.
His body took on human features, his skin darkened to a deep brown, his black hair fell messily over his shoulders, and his muscles formed gradually—but they weren't fully stable, as if his body had yet to decide what shape it wanted to take.
He stood there, a man yet incomplete, a being still teetering between two states.
Nullus, watching this transformation in silence, nodded slowly and said in a quiet voice:
"This is very good… Now, how do we reach one of those realms?"
He stood up, stretching his hands slightly, as if testing his body's sensations after the storm of memories, then continued in a tone of deep contemplation:
"I think recovering my memories is tied to connecting with the realms. They aren't just places… they are connection points between me and what I once was."
Iggy didn't argue this time. The theory made sense, but what made it more unsettling was how this process actually worked. Were the realms just windows into Nullus's memories? Or were they something deeper… something yet to be revealed?
He nodded in agreement and said in a thoughtful tone:
"Yes, this gives the theory that you are one of the Outsiders more weight. It seems that your connection with one of your kind has unlocked a part of your memories from the barrier that was blocking them."
Yet, despite his certainty, there was a logical gap he couldn't ignore. He frowned slightly, giving Nullus a scrutinizing look before saying:
"But the thing I don't understand… How did you enter the physical world?"
Silence fell between them for a moment, as if the room itself was waiting for an answer.
That was the lingering mystery, the question that no one had an answer to.
But Nullus could feel, deep within himself, that the answer was drawing closer and closer…
---
Nullus, having regained some of his strength, stood with his posture straight, his hands tucked into the pockets of his coat, as if he were hiding his thoughts within the folds of the fabric. His eyes, though they seemed calm, bore traces of the headache that lingered after the sudden flood of memories, as if something inside him was boiling with a question that remained unanswered.
Meanwhile, Iggy was exploring his new form, as if every movement was a new discovery, a test of something that did not yet fully belong to him. His hand traced along his arm, checking the solidity of his muscles, then brushed over his face as if to confirm that he truly had human features now. The glow in his eyes dimmed slightly, as if he had become closer to the physical world than he had ever been before.
After a long silence, Iggy lifted his head, as if a realization had settled in his mind, then said in a quiet but confident voice:
"Now, I have the ability to sense anything that exists outside the boundaries of this world."
Nullus raised an eyebrow slightly, mildly surprised by this development, but he didn't comment.
Iggy continued, in a less rigid tone:
"This will improve our chances of transitioning into one of those realms."
But suddenly, Iggy fell silent. His eyes widened for a moment, and his hands moved to his throat, as if he had felt something new pulsing within him. Then, telepathically, he began to speak—but his voice, at first deep and hesitant, grew clearer and steadier with every word.
"Finally..."
He held his breath for a moment, as if the act of speaking itself was a miracle, then whispered in pure astonishment:
"The throat has formed… I have a voice."
There was something childlike in the way he said it—a mix of awe and quiet delight, like a child hearing their own echo for the first time in an empty room. He lifted his head and looked at Nullus, as if seeking confirmation that he wasn't imagining it.
Nullus, who had been watching him the entire time, couldn't help but smile… but it wasn't a smile of joy. It was a bitter smile, the kind worn by someone who sees another experiencing something they had long lost. There was a strange contradiction in his gaze, as if he was happy for Iggy, yet at the same time, he felt an emptiness within himself.
Iggy nodded slowly, accepting this new reality, then returned to their main objective without wasting any more time.
He turned toward one of the corners of the room, where the shadows were gathering in an unnatural way, as if they were breathing with each passing second. He raised his right hand, running his fingers through the air, leaving behind traces of blue sparks that danced around his fingertips. Then, with a swift motion, he tore through the void in front of him, and a gateway began to take shape.
Blackness seeped from its edges like ink dissolving in water, its center reflecting an unstable scene, as if the other world had yet to decide what image it wanted to present. They could catch glimpses… a cracked sky, inverted buildings, figures shifting without clarity… but nothing was fixed, nothing was certain.
Iggy turned to Nullus and said in a steady voice, laced with a hint of awe:
"This is the unknown."
Nullus looked at him, then at the portal, then back at him again.
"And since when have we ever feared the unknown?"
Iggy smiled, but this time, his smile wasn't one of sarcasm—it was the simple thrill of stepping into something no one had ever seen before.
Then, with steady steps, they crossed together into the other side, leaving behind the abandoned house, leaving behind the world they had known… and stepping toward the truth that awaited them in the shadows of the forgotten realms.