I open my eyes.
Or maybe I don't.
There's no light. No dark. Just colorless nothing. A void that doesn't feel empty, it feels full, like it's pressing against me from every side.
My body isn't here.
But something's breathing.
And I think it's me.
"...Hello?"
My voice doesn't echo. It doesn't even sound like mine. Just a flat noise that dies before it lands.
The air tastes like metal and rot. Like a corpse's breath.
There's no floor beneath me. But I'm not falling.
This place isn't real.
Or maybe everything else was fake, and this is what's left.
Something scrapes in the distance.
I turn toward the sound, but I don't feel my neck move. My limbs aren't here. Not like they used to be.
Shapes begin forming around me. Slowly. Like they were always there but needed permission to be seen.
Walls. Hallways. But they aren't made of brick. They're made of bone. Flesh. Veins. The walls breathe.
Every time I blink, they change.
Every time I breathe, I hear whispers.
And a voice. One that isn't mine. Whispers back.
"Welcome back." Something says and disappears.
"Zyvoss…?"
I try to move, but the space doesn't allow direction. The world folds in on itself with every breath.
Then I see it. Crawling toward me.
Something thin and insect-like with a hundred arms. It stops. Stares. Smells me.
Then it recoils.
"Impossible," it spits, voice twisted and old. "It was sealed. It was gone."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"You wear it's scent," it growls. "Rot. Malice. Greed."
From the ceiling, a cluster of eyes opens all at once. They twitch. Focus. Widen.
"Run," something says from within the wall. "It shouldn't be here. Not again."
A shape bursts from the bone. It scrambles away on broken limbs, leaving trails of ichor as it mutters "no no no no no" until it vanishes into the dark.
Another voice rises from beneath the floor. A child's voice, but wrong. Stretched. Fractured.
"Why are you back? We buried you. We tore you out."
Figures gather now. Not to surround me. Not to attack.
They gather to flee.
"You don't belong here," one says. "You're not supposed to exist anymore."
The hallway trembles. A pulse travels through the floor. The walls twitch like flayed skin. Every thing nearby stops.
Then one speaks. An ancient thing with no face. Just a gaping cavity leaking steam and blood.
It doesn't speak to me. But it's speaking about me.
"It is... the Velmourn ."
The others hiss. Back away. Fade into cracks and holes and veins.
A roar ripples through the air like an earthquake trapped in flesh.
"Why is it here?," something asked, unseen.
"I didn't—" I try to say.
"Liar," they hiss. "You reek of it. You reek of it's malice. You reek of his hunger."
I fall silent.
Because I'm lost.
And then, I feel something shifts.
Not the floor. Not the walls. It's underneath all that. Behind it.
Like the world's holding its breath. Like something just woke up, and everything knows it.
A shape starts rising ahead of me. Slow. Heavy. It doesn't rush. It doesn't need to.
It's not just walking. It's claiming space.
It looks like a person. But it's not. I know it the second I see it.
Something about it feels off. Not like a ghost or a monster. Worse. Like a mistake that never got fixed. Like it shouldn't exist, but does anyway.
I feel myself shift, even though I don't have a body here. Like I'm getting ready to fight. Or run. But there's nowhere to go.
The pressure builds. It crushes down like a second atmosphere. I can't breathe, but that's not new. The Bonecord's twitching somewhere in the empty part of me. I can feel it.
Then it speaks.
Its voice sounds like something leaking out of a cracked skull.
"You."
I don't answer. What would I even say?
It steps closer. No face. Just a blur. A shape. But I feel it staring through me.
"You shouldn't have that. That title doesn't belong to you."
Something sharp pulses in my arm. Sparks, but not white or orange. Little crimson particles spray out from where my right arm should be. Where the Bonecord should be. It's doing something.
Its aura crashes into me like a wall. I think the Bonecord makes its own aura. Something pushes back without me doing anything. Just instinct. Rage. Reflex.
The pressure doesn't break. It stacks. Fills the space. Everything starts to hum, like this place is fraying between us.
For a second, we just stand there. No words. No hits thrown. Just staring each other down.
His presence feels ancient. Like he's seen too much. Like he's the reason this place exists.
Mine's just noise. Pure, unstable malice.
But it still pushes back.
He speaks again. Voice colder.
"You are not Zyvoss."
Something breaks inside me. That name. Over and over.
Just… something.
So I look up. Quiet. Steady.
And say it like I mean it.
"Then take it."
The thing doesn't have a face, but I can still tell, it flinched. Barely. Caught off guard. But not impressed.
It stays silent. Just listening. Like it's waiting for something.
"Zyvoss this, Zyvoss that," I mutter, then yell, "YOU'RE ALL REALLY PISSIN' ME OFF!"
"It's Zyvoss."
"NO THE HELL IT AIN'T!" My voice spikes. Raw. Unfiltered. "I DON'T KNOW WHO THE HELL THAT IS AND I DON'T CARE!"
"I'M VEY. JUST VEY. GOT THAT?!"
The air around me feels heavier. Hotter. That pressure again. Maybe from the Bonecord. I don't know. Doesn't matter.
I glance at the rest of them, these crawling, twitching things hiding in the dark.
They shrink back. Like they felt it too.
Good.
I turn back to the one that talked.
Step closer.
My eyes don't leave the spot where a face should be.
"You got that?"
The figure stares. Then. laughs.
Loud. Violent. Like it's trying to tear my mind in half. I don't even have eardrums right now but it feels like they're going to rupture. The sound drills through everything.
I grit my teeth. Even though I don't think I have teeth here either. The pain's imaginary, but real enough.
Then it stops. Abrupt. Like someone snapped a wire.
Silence bleeds in. The thing doesn't speak right away, just watches me with that hollow, unreadable face.
When it finally speaks, the voice is changed, calmer. Almost amused.
"…You passed."
My breath catches. I don't answer.
"You have quite the vessel. Old friend" it adds, like that's supposed to mean something to me.
I blink. Or try to.
"…What does that even mean?"
It tilts its head slightly. I still can't read it. No face. No eyes. But it feels… friendlier now. Not in a comforting way. Just, less like it wants to crack me open.
"The strength of your soul. The fury. The refusal to bend. That was the test. Most break. You didn't."
"You were testing me?"
It lets out something between a chuckle and an exhale.
"Yes. And you're suitable. I am Endo."
The name hangs in the space around us. Like it matters. Like I should know it. But I don't.
"…For what? Why does any of this matter?"
"Because now," it says, stepping closer "You've been chosen. Whether you understand that yet or not."
"Chosen for what?"
It doesn't answer. Just turns slightly, like it's done here.
"Next time," it says, "you'll hear me clearer."
Then it fades. Not gone. Just, blended back into the nothing.
I'm left standing in silence. Confused. Angry. But still here.
Still Vey.