Chapter Text
Snip, snip, snip.
He watches with wide eyes as the cold, unfeeling hand reaches towards his chest, a feeling of unbeing sinking into him with the hand plunging itself into his chest, and stays there for what feels like a terrifying eternity. A gasp pulls itself out of his lungs as the hand finally retreats, pulling with it a sliver of— was that his code? Even a trainee admin can recognise code, and that's— that's his base code. His throat constricts, his insides threatening to make themselves known as the realisation of what the code is hits him.
They can't— surely, They wouldn't. They— They couldn't—
Snip, snip, snip.
He watches as They cut away at his code.
His code. His Player code. What makes him—
His chest lurches, and—
Gone.
Snip, snip, snip.
A scream. Raw and guttural. Tearing itself from his throat, leaving what he was sure was shredded skin behind.
His bones. The fire raced along his bones, seeking a way in, before cracking them open in an explosion of blood, mallow and other unidentifiable pieces. Another scream tore itself out into the cold air of the void.
One of the Watchers paused their work to shush him.
He was sure he was dead. Or at least on the way. He hacked a cough, saliva dribbling down his chin. His legs felt too hot. Too wet. Shakily, he brought his vision down, down to his broken legs.
His legs splayed in whichever direction, with too many bends and too much blood. He vomited on the floor. Bile burned his already torn throat as it rushed out of his stomach.
"⍑ᒲᒲ." A Watcher peered down at him, observing his broken coughs of the last of his stomach's capacity.
Grian coughed again weakly. The Watcher said something else to another, but he was too tired to listen. His legs— his legs—
He couldn't bear to look.
"Please…" he croaked, the single word tearing long lines of pain through his throat.
"リᒍ. ▭ ↸ᒍ ▭ リᒍᒣ ▭ ϟ|:ᒍ∴. ▭ ╎ᒣ ▭ ╎ϟ ▭ ᖋ ▭ ϟ╎ᒲi!|:ᒷ ▭ ᒲ╎ϟᒣᖋ·ǀ·ᒷ. ▭ ╎ᒣ ▭ ∴╎|:|: ▭ ᕊᒷ ▭ ⎓╎̇/ᒷ↸."
And the fire was lit again.
Snip, snip, snip.
His— his arms— They—
A burning cough wrenched itself through his throat. Blood splattered in front of him.
Oh. That's not good. He thought dimly.
The floor was cold. He felt it on his cheek. He ached. Please. It hurts. It burns. Please. Please.
He mouthed the words soundlessly, please, please, please, please, please, please.
The noise above him ceased. Oh, the Watchers were watching him. A huff of a laugh left him. Isn't that ironic?
"ᖋ∷ᒷ ▭ ॥ᒍ⚍ ▭ ϟ⚍∷ᒷー" This Watcher sounded concerned. Is that good or bad? his mind asked him sluggishly.
"⍑⚍ϟ⍑. ▭ ᔮᒍリᒣ╎リ⚍ᒷ ▭ ∴╎ᒣ⍑ ▭ ᒣ⍑ᒷ ▭ i!∷ᒍᔮᒷϟϟ. ▭ ╎ᒣ ▭ ↸ᒍᒷϟ ▭ リᒍᒣ ▭ ᒲᖋᒣᒣᒷ∷."
Burning. Fire. Agony. His skin was tearing into pieces, falling off and landing on the cold floor with soft schlep sounds. It gurgled as air was trapped underneath, a spray of blood lifting into the air when it popped.
Bad. His mind helpfully supplied.
Snip, snip, snip.
He's pretty sure he blacked out. To be honest, he's surprised he didn't sooner. With a shudder, he prepares himself for the newest change. He looks down, and something feels off — his neck. It— It's longer. He feels— he's not sure what he feels. The new changes have become mute. His legs are scalded, pockets of a deep purple nearly black infesting his purple skin here and there, patches of hair growing as he watches on in horror.
Grian gags.
His legs and arms look like something of the shape of an animal's, knees bent at different angles. Oh, and there's another pair under there. He feels the rough claws catch against his belly as he shifts.
Something inside him reminds him to scream. So he does.
The sound reverberates within whatever room he's in. It hits his own ears, striking him with the fact that it sounds too sharp, too clear.
His throat burns, and the scream is cut off into sharp coughs that wrack his frame with each one.
A sharp pain from his belly. He cranes his too long neck to look downwards, spit dribbling down his chin, to see his second set of arms clawing at his belly, clenched in pain.
Snip, snip, snip.
"⍑╎ϟ ▭ ᔮᒍ↸ᒷ ▭ ╎ϟ ▭ リᒍᒣ ▭ ᖋᔮᔮᒷi!ᒣ╎リ┤ ▭ ᒣ⍑ᒷ ▭ ᒲᒍ↸╎⎓╎ᔮᖋᒣ╎ᒍリϟ." A voice sounded above him, breaking the monotone with a hint of… it couldn't be concern?
"ᖋi!i!|:॥ ▭ ⚍リ↸ᒷ∷ϟᒣᖋリ↸╎リ┤." Another responded, this one sounding cold.
His brain exploded. Or at least, that's what it felt like. Stabbing pains of ice pushing in and out of his skull, serrated edges catching and molding his brain.
An inhuman screech left him, several limbs curling around his head protectively. The stabbing pain continued, unforgiving. Jagged icicles pushing and scarring his brain, before a hot magma ran through his brain like a flood through suburbia. A hacking cough cut off the guttural scream, as warm blood bubbled up and onto the floor, sticky trails clinging to his clammy skin. He twitched uncontrollably.
"╎ᒣ ▭ ╎ϟ ▭ ↸ᒍリᒷ."
It is done.
The incomprehensible mutterings and sounds no voice box was capable cleared. Still so painfully unnatural, comprehension reached him. A shuttering gasp pulled cold air into his lungs, his aching mind whirling. It registered; the pain had stopped.
His several, tired, aching limbs relaxed, a whoosh of air gently warming the cold floor next to his face.
"╎ᒣ ▭ ↸ᒍᒷϟ ▭ リᒍᒣ ▭ ϟᒷᒷᒲ ▭ ᒣᒍ ▭ ⍑ᖋ⍊ᒷ ▭ ∷ᒷ⍊ᒷ∷ϟᒷ↸ ▭ ᖋリ॥ ▭ ⚍リ⎓ᒍ∷ᒣ⚍リᖋᒣᒷ ▭ ᔮ⍑ᖋリ┤ᒷϟ. " It does not seem to have reversed any unfortunate changes. A Watcher observed.
A growl from another.
"ᔮᒍリᒣ╎リ⚍ᒷ."
Continue.
Snip, snip, snip.
Something was moving. His spine lit up in pain, something shifting and moving under it. It burned. He screamed again, his fingers claws searching for a hold on the cold floor. Simultaneously, a pinch at the bottom of his spine. Then a pull. The shifting under his spine worsened, becoming hard, pressing against the bone and muscle. He collapsed, pulling what he could of his limbs together in a feeble attempt to protect himself. It reached skin, or what was left of it, anyway. It stretched and stretched, until a sharp pain exploded over his back, warm blood pouring down his sides.
Grian coughed weakly. More blood. Nothing new. Shakily, he dared to reach over his back, trying his hardest to ignore how it pulled his other set. His hand met a thin rod of flesh, which twitched under his touch. It felt itchy.
He could feel it. He could feel it itching.
He gagged again, nothing but bile coming up at this point. It splattered on the ground unceremoniously. The itching sensation increased, turning to something painful under his skin. He withdrew his hand with a gasp, as that pain turned to something burning, exploding out of his skin. He clamped down on his tongue to stop himself from screaming again. He tasted blood.
His shoulders itched. His jaw itched. His spine itched. The back of his neck itched. His— what was that?
Through his watery eyes, he struggled to turn his long neck. A— A tail. Two of them. They swished behind him, skinny and covered in inflamed purple skin.
The itching turned to prickling. To painful. To burning.
He screamed again. Raw and painful, like this skin on his body.
Vanes of keratin shot out of those rods of flesh, growing to at least two meters before slowing, and cracking apart to reveal deep purple feathers.
On his shoulders, a thicker rod shot out, to reveal a thick, harder feather, looking like a purple frill at first glance.
His body shuddered unnaturally, contorting his new limbs painfully. A low whine echoed in the space. He felt his ears, too long, shift to locate the source. It came again, with a vibration in his throat. Him. It came from him. It came again.
He lifted his eyes open slowly, expecting more of the void.
A white concave circle, gripped around the edges by thin black fingers tipped with claws, was being pushed towards his face. He reacted, this unknown body flailing uselessly, limbs thrashing wildly in the extreme urge to get away.
A cold force pressed down on some part of his body, his blood running cold as he realised, oh, it's the wings.
He writhed madly, feeling eyes on every edge of his being, both his physical and his code. A growl sounded from his throat, new vibrations thrumming through his body. Cold overtook him, spreading from the inhuman touch of the Watcher, causing a shiver to run through his body A second clawed hand grabbed at his unnaturally long neck. He thrashed.
It pressed him to the ground forcefully, uncaring. His other limbs flailed around uncoordinated, like a fish out of water. The white mask was being thrust before his face again, his eyes widening in panic. Violently, he thrashed, panic rising in his belly, hair raising, feathers thrown around the silent void of the room in his need to escape.
It pressed onto his face, cold as stone, and he shut his eyes, preparing for pain.
He waited.
Waited.
It didn't come.
The cold stone pressed on his face uncomfortably, his eyelashes brushing the hard surface. Carefully, he allowed himself to open his eyes slowly.
He blinked. He couldn't see anything. It wasn't black, it was just— nothing.
His chest tightened again as he tried to hold back panic. He didn't know what was happening, he didn't know what they were doing to him, he didn't even know what he looked like—
"╎ᒣ ▭ ᖋi!i!ᒷᖋ∷ϟ ▭ ϟᒣ∷ᒷϟϟᒷ↸."
It appears stressed.
The simple words reached his ears.
Stressed? he thought distantly, blood pounding in his head. Really? Void.
He shook his head, feeling his unnaturally long neck follow the movement, in an attempt to clear his vision. Still, he couldn't see anything.
A keening cry came from him, the unnatural sound vibrating in his throat.
"ᒣ⍑╎ϟ ▭ ╎ϟ ▭ ᒣ⍑ᒷ ▭ |:ᖋϟᒣ ▭ ϟᒣᒷi!. ▭ ᒷ↸╎ᒣ ▭ ᒣ⍑ᒷ╎∷ ▭ ᒲ╎リ↸. " This is the last step. Edit their mind. Instructed one of the Watchers to the others, raising their clawed hands again.
Another Watcher hesitated, before nodding and copying the action.
He sucked in a breath, recieving the cold air of the void through his mask. It rattled in his chest, his muscles pulling tight uncomfortably. His claws screeched against the floor as he clenched his paw fist in grim preparation.
His breath wooshed in and out, sucked in and forced out in quick, tight breaths.
He felt Them— he felt Them—
A stabbing pressure pushed through his head, scratching through his mind. He choked, the unbearing pain of Them clawing through becoming overwhelming. His skull felt as if it would burst, the striking pain unforgiving.
It stopped. They panted, feeling as hollow as their bones.
"╎ᒣ ▭ ╎ϟ ▭ ↸ᒍリᒷ." It is done.
It laid there. It was sore, it was tired, it didn't know itself. They just wanted to rest.
A cold touch announced the addition of a chain to one of their legs, inflicting a flinch upon their ruined body.
They didn't know how it got there. They didn't care. Please. They wanted to beg. It was tired. They couldn't move. They laid there, quietly.
"ᕊ∷╎リ┤ ▭ ╎ᒣ. ▭ ╎ᒣ ▭ リᒷᒷ↸ϟ ▭ ∷ᒷᔮᒍリ↸╎ᒣ╎ᒍリ╎リ┤." Bring it. It needs recoditioning.
The words rang through it's mind, unforgiving in its volume. It felt the sound in every crevice of it's body, a poison running through.
Please.
It just wanted… it didn't know what it wanted. It just wanted Them to let it rest. Let them lay on this cold floor, and may They Watch it with pity in their eyes. It didn't care. It didn't know who it was. It waited.
The cold chain tugged at their leg. They whined. The tugging grew incessant, impatient. It halfheartedly flapped it's leg, resulting in a sharp yank.
It screamed, short and sharp, their Vision distorting.
Distantly, they noticed the floor moving. Oh, that was them. It struggled— or at least it tried to move it's limbs. It resulted in more of a pathetic flailing.
"╎ ▭ ᒣ╎∷ᒷ ▭ ᒍ⎓ ▭ ᒣ⍑╎ϟ. " I tire of this.
An ethereal hand reached down for the final time, cupping it's shivering head as it looked up in fear, and commanded quietly," Ϟ|:ᒷᒷi!." Sleep.
They were so close. Just a few more wing beats, and they'd finally be free of the End, of the cold, bleak prison.
The light shined on their mask, a gentle lull teasing at them from the tear in reality. A roar reached their ears; the Watchers were after them.
A broken thought pushed it's way through the stuffing plaguing their mind, the impulse to run. They beat their wings harder, anxiety and anticipation fueling them. It wasn't enough.
"Ϟᒣᒍi! ▭ ∷⚍リリ╎リ┤․⎽ ▭ ̇/ᒷ|:ᑑ⚍ᖋ." Stop running, Xelqua.
Faster. They had to be faster. The Watchers were catching up. They— They were right there—
An inhuman screech erupted out of what was left of the creature's voice box as claws tore through a limb, something towards their rear end. They didn't know which one. It didn't matter. The Watchers behind them didn't matter. They just had to keep going.
It's claws extended, reaching for the tear. It scratched at them, an icy cold feel rushing through their many limbs, pulling tendons taught against their bones. They pushed the feeling down, not unlike the many times they'd had to before. They ignored how it turned into acute pain. They ignored how it turned into a deep set shattering within their brittle bones. With an effort, they pulled themselves into the tear, and fell.
Stars bled into fine lines rushing past their broken body, falling through the unforgiving depths of the Deep Void.
They blinked blearily, tired, aching, falling. Falling. Falling. Through one of their many Eyes, they witnessed a purple shape emerge from the tear.
Dread filled them.
No.
The Watchers— They were still coming. They were following it through the Deep Void— The place that all entities fell prey to, the cold unforgiving nature of the Deep Void tearing apart anything and everything that fell in its grasp. They were following them, through here— Why?
They didn't understand. Why couldn't They just let it go?
Surely they could be allowed to simply die?
Pulling in a breath from under their cold mask, they braced themselves before spreading their wings, not catching air, but something similar, the thick environment of the Deep Void slowing their descent.
With weak wings, they veered away, away from the Watchers. They could feel Them. Their very Being was pressed against their own, a leech spilling blood.
"Ϟᒣᒍi! ▭ ᒣ⍑╎ϟ ▭ ᒲᖋ↸リᒷϟϟ․⎽ ▭ ̇/ᒷ|:ᑑ⚍ᖋ. ▭ ᔮᒍᒲᒷ ▭ ⍑ᒍᒲᒷ." Stop this madness, Xelqua. Come home.
What was left of their insides twisted.
Home?
Oh how they wished for a home. Just one.
Distantly, it could feel the Deep Void tugging at their bones, awaiting a chance of weakness to unravel their very being, to rejoin the flow of code within the universe.
The Deep Void. The Watchers.
It was so tired. Please.
One of their wings faltered. Once. Then again. A stumble led to a spiralling fall, from the thick web of busy server hubs, past the big servers, to the personal ones, to the abandonded ones, slowly falling apart to be consumed by the Void.
The Watchers followed, Their powerful movements slowing, giving in to the push of the Deep Void.
Xelqua kept falling. Falling.
Through bleary Eyes, they noticed the glare of the Watchers upon them fading, growing more distant. A relief filled them, and they let themselves finally close their Eyes, let their injured body go limp, and followed the fall of the Deep Void.
It was almost peaceful, the fall. There was no air in the Deep Void to become wind rushing past their ears, no Eyes watching their every move, ready to critisize. Just them and their mismatched body.
They let the pain become unimportant, a gentle throb reminding them of how they are still falling.
They think they are smiling. No one will ever see it under their mask, not even they will know if they have succeeded in the simple act of smiling. They hope they are smiling.
Now all they had to do was wait. Wait for the Deep Void to finally do what it had been itching to do, all throughout the chase.
They waited.
A sharp pain cut through their carefully crafted peace, originating from… one of their wings.
With an effort, they opened an Eye. A singular line reached down, from the server hubs, leading to… somewhere.
Curiosity tugged at their tired mind.
They suppose they will allow themselves just one more want.
With a tired arm, they reach out to the line, and close their claws around it.
It burned, resisting Xelqua's grip, hot enough to deter any regular entity. To Xelqua, it was just another dot point of the long list of different things sending pain signals. If anything, all it did was fuel their curiosity. Not many servers had protections that would burn as much as this did, and those were valuable, largely populated servers. What was one doing all the way down here…?
Their Eye tilted, facing down towards the destination of the line.
A tiny, tiny speck of light slowly grew, indicating the existence of a server.
This deep down, past all the others, even the abandoned ones? Curiouser and curiouser. It was probably so degraded that it was nothing but a spawn point, the rest rotten and pulled back into the Deep Void.
Still, they held on. The remains of a spawn point surely had more hope than what the Deep Void had to offer.
Maybe the burn had reached their bones now. They weren't sure.
Finally, the spawn point was close enough for them to bother reaching more limbs onto the line to slow their descent.
Their singular Eye showed nothing like what they had expected. Confused, they allowed themself to spend the effort required to open another Eye. This one showed the same, a strong, healthy server full to the brim with protections that rivaled the busiest servers, maybe even stronger.
One of their feet landed on the server, received with another welcoming burn.
That's definitely a firewall. Their sluggish mind pieced together.
A slow movement of a few more limbs, and they were on the burning wall of the server, claws primed to start investigating.
It burned, but they didn't care. If this was the end of the line for their sad little existence, they could last a little more pain to satisfy their curiosity. The server did its best to push back at the intruder, but it wasn't a match for this unholy creation of the Watchers.
Eventually, they had torn a hole large enough to allow them to slip inside this mysterious server, to discover this little world far below all the others.
It only took the slightest of pushes for their mass to stumble forwards, and fall inside.
The bright sky of the overworld greeted them, full of gentle clouds rolling through a previously quiet afternoon. This fall was different, full of the overworld's thick air. It pressed against their body, threading through their fur, feathers and scales.
It was almost as if it was trying to keep them in the sky, to save them.
If it had any ounce of energy left, it would have attempted to smile at that. It was far too late for that now.
It hit the ground with a thud.