Chapter Text
It was day. Just day, it was hard to know what time exactly. But the sky was bright and the distant star, also known as the "sun" was shining, few clouds glided from one side to the other and disappeared into the unknown. The sky around the valley seemed clear and even during the "day" few stars shined in the horizon. The atmosphere was steady, no snow storms or meteor showers. A good day, Aydan would say.
This little dimension he had found was so much different than Pjuno. There was no end, there was no beginning. And if there was a end, it would still continue as empty void. The tundra behind the largest mountains seemed to last forever and the ocean behind the darkest of woods was ever frozen, that too lasting for great distances. Tundra had its dead trees and old fallen meteors but none really caused harm. None ever landed in his valley.
Aydan had went both directions before, slowly getting bored and tired as there was nothing to be found. The ocean had such a thick layer of ice on that it was impossible to see what it was hiding beneath. Water, most definitely. There was flowing water to be found, however. The river that came down the large, intimidating mountains and slithered past the forests and tinier lakes. For Aydan's luck, the water contained fish. Or "fish". He was not familiar with the species of the fish. Large flowing fins, eyes like pearls and scales like glass.
Personally, he had no need for food. The star inside of him provided enough energy to last for years on end without the need for food or rest. But he liked fish. And sleep. Which is why he was on a fishing trip that day.
The snow easily reached to his calves around the area surrounding his tree houses. But if he went over the largest lake, the snow would go up to his knees. Near the mountains it would reach to his hip.
To be fair, Aydan wasn't the tallest guy out there. But in his little world, he was the tallest. He was both the tallest and the shortest, smartest and the most stupid thing imaginable. But the fish was dumber so he had something to flex with. Aydan could just float freely wherever he went but it would take out most of the fun. He loved to challenge himself time to time. The cold wasn't a bother, the lack of other people to challenge was. But now he'd always be the winner no matter what. Which sucked. He can't be a winner in everything.
He was never afraid to admit that he was alone. Alone and lonely. You could be alone but not feel lonely, but he felt it. If he didn't feel lonely he felt miserable. But optimistic. Always optimistic, no matter what.
But once in a while, he did have company. The "birds", the "deer" and the "wolves". The wolves he was walking with towards the lake. Large, pale grey and white wolves with dark and empty eyes, like coals on a snowman. They wanted no harm and were kind to Aydan, as Aydan was kind to them. From his tree house he could see far, signaling the wolves where they could catch easy prey. In return, the wolves would tell him whenever a new lost soul made their way to his little world.
It happened, not often but it did. Even if he had the wolves and birds, they weren't really always to be found. The wolves hunted elsewhere, the birds stayed silent. Like hiding out secrets and staying away from trouble. After a lost soul had killed a bird, they had started to avoid any and all visitors, only trusting them if Aydan reassured them.
Having someone to talk to regularly was that he was missing. Human contact. It had been a long while since someone was in his forest. And even then the stranger was so scared to be there Aydan had given him a lantern right away and pointed where to go. The large man had ran off, clearly scared of the place he was in. To be fair, he was most definitely not prepared for the everlasting winter. Aydan pitied him.
But standing on top of a hill, surrounded by wolves and birds while being tucked away in his cape must've been quite a sight. With the moons shining behind him, the stars circling around him. A friend, but scary.
The largest wolf, back on the same level as Aydan's shoulder, was quietly walking next to him. Few smaller wolves ran around the woods near them, chasing each other. They had returned from their hunt, hunger satisfied. Not that they'd even consider of eating Aydan. But it was still good to know he'd get to fish in peace without curious pair of eyes staring intensely as he pulled out fish from the lake.
"Anything new near the rocks? No new portals?"
The wolf shook its head, long icy mane making little sounds as the crystals collided with one another. Like little icicles growing out of their neck and back. Little spikes. It huffed, sounding relieved that there was nothing this time. Still a little irritated by the man from last time. Aydan could feel that.
"I probably should soon head out of here, get back to exploring some edges of near galaxies. Last time was fun. But the whole place was so empty. Did find some sick rocks though. Did I show you guys the rocks already? The iridescent ones? Like really heavy magpie feathers?"
The wolf shook its head once again, looking at Aydan in interest. He always showed the wolves his latest discoveries, sometimes giving the wolves something to play with. The big wolf had appreciated the crystallized barks from a planet not that long ago. The younger wolves had thrown it around, biting it and dropping it off of cliffs to chase it. And it was still in one piece, keeping the young ones entertained.
The dim forest path came to an end soon as it opened up to a large lake, Aydan's favourite fishing place. A dark blue deer, with luminescent horns and markings on their rear were making their way down the path on the other side of the lake, not keen of Aydan's company. They never seemed to be. The wolves seemed to be the other part of making them leave, but they gave no shits about Aydan no matter his company. Like the birds, they kept their distance.
"The young ones are probably going to chase the deer." Aydan stated, noticing two of the running wolves making their way towards the lake, hopping onto the water. As their paws impacted the surface, it froze to create an icy path as they made their way to the other side. The big wolf growled and barked out, trying to get the young wolves to stop to no avail. It huffed and charged towards the lake, following the others. Three other wolves had stayed by Aydan, watching the others go. One of them let out a confused whine, looking back at the others. They all seemed to debate whether or not they should follow. But they seemed to come to an agreement that they'd head home. And off they went, back to the dark forest path.
Aydan was left alone but he didn't mind it, the wolves had more important stuff to be done. And he himself had some fish to catch.
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And quite a catch it was. Not only did he fall into the lake twice but he had found shining rocks. Somewhat translucent rocks with pitch black cracks. Or maybe they were just stripes. But they did have pieces missing near the cracks. He decided to investigate further later on.
On his way home he had decided to look for the big wolf and the youngsters. They didn't appear back at the lake and neither did they make any returning home call. Aydan had gotten worried that they had gotten too near the ravine as their track lead up to it. Far too close. He floated just high enough to see the tracks and also have a better look around. Nothing so far, only dark rocks and few trees here and there.
The trees ended near the ravine. The whole crack on the mountain side was nearly two times wider than the lake, slithering around the mountains and reaching the tundra where it continued for ages.
The footsteps had ended thankfully, turning back towards the lake nearly at the edge of the ravine. The deer had made a path across it and the young wolves seemed to be brave enough to try and follow. But the big one had stopped them, just in time. Relieved, Aydan floated closer to the edge. The deer had made a bridge to the other side but only they could walk across it. Like the wolves were able to run on water, they'd be able to make bridges into thin air. Aydan had studied both of their traits and tried to do the same himself.
With his free hand, he drew an antler to the open space and then pushed the symbol. The dust he had created the symbol with scattered to the air but quickly shifted into a bridge, made out of luminescent roots and branches. It slowly made its way to the other side of the ravine, looking like an exact copy of the deers own product. Happy with the result, he set a foot onto the bridge. It creaked ominously, seeming like it truly could only hold other deer and no one else.
Confident, he took a bold step onto the bridge and at that second it gave out underneath him. Aydan jolted but kept himself afloat, his lantern nearly slipping from his grip and his back swaying from side to side as he tried to find balance while on air. The cover of the bag opened in the process and his best catch flung out with grace.
"Shit- no!" He yelled as the fish fell towards the ravine. Fucker dared to be still alive to make last little wiggle that lead to its most certain doom. But Aydan had caught it with such style, he wasn't letting it just slip away. He glided towards the still flopping fish, managing to catch it but his grip kept slipping. The fish still ended up getting away, falling down to the deep dark.
"Aww fuuuuuuck dude."
Aydan wasn't really into chasing just one little fish down to the ravine. It was still just as dark and terrifying, even after being familiar with it for quite a while. He saw a meteor once fall down the ravine, never hearing it impact anything. Perhaps the ravine is just yet another portal towards unknown. And Aydan was not ready to figure out where. Not yet.
Sighing in defeat, he started to float back to the edge of the ravine. But his ears caught on a small sound. Splat. The fish had hit some surface.
The small sound was hilarious but he was more interested on the source. He looked down to the ravine, noticing a rather large ledge on the side of the steep ravine. Hmm. Tempting. Aydan looked around for a while, unsure if he should just leave it alone and go back home with the other fish. But the ledge was interesting. He had never really paid much attention to anything else in the ravine, expect the absolute void.
Taking in a deep breath, he made his way down slowly but surely. Keeping his eyes open for anything suspicious.
He floated onto the ledge carefully, setting his feet onto the cold stone. The very first thing he noticed were the large carvings and markings under the snow. Forming few circles, layered on top of each other. They didn't seem to hold any power in them, or rather any power Aydan was familiar with. They could also just be some erosion, but at the same time they looked handmade. The snow had been blown off from few spots, so the whole area wasn't visible to naked eye. Curious, Aydan followed the small slithering path that circled around the larger round marking, before it took off towards the wall of the ravine.
Aydan followed it, until it stopped. He turned his gaze up, bright blue eyes meeting a large door. Taking a step back, he took in the entire view. Two doors, tightly shut. Dark stone, against the even darker stone of the ravine. Intimidating, not at all inviting. But Aydan was intrigued.
The doors were shut, but that could be changed. But how, that was the question. A force, unknown and unfamiliar was keeping it closed. Not just that but a giant pair of chains and a lock. If the force wasn't strong enough by itself, the chains were making it three times more buff. Well, it did look scarier with the chains.
Should he go a little overboard? If there was a chance to be a little overboard and extra, He Will Take It. A little key spell would just look dumb, yet he tried it. Basically a lock picking spell, but it made him feel like a robber. He wasn't stealing anything. Yet.
Before even reaching the lock, the spell died out. He tried again, with more focus. Died out again, before impacting the lock.
He took out his dagger and looked at it, turning it in his hands. No. He will not sacrifice such a sweet gift. He could just throw it against the lock, but in the end it wasn't any sort of cosmic wonder. Just a silver dagger with a little blue gem.
Aydan took a deep breath, writing and drawing a symbol to the open air with his dagger, glowing light blue. In seconds, it flashed and shot straight towards the lock, making the chains jingle loudly due to the impact. Even after comet bomb, the door seemed unbothered. Trying it again, writing it twice as large but the result was the same.
Maybe it really needed some real cosmic wonder. Taking off his gloves he floated up just slightly off of the ground.
"A'ight, I see you're a worthy opponent, sir door. Taste t̶h͡is̷!͡"
He let go of the lantern, making it float towards a near by rock. It gently landed to wait for him, getting out of the way.
By the time the lantern had made its way out of the scene, Aydan was radiating cosmic energy, hair glowing like the tail of a comet. Space mass from head to toe, cape flowing behind him like a small galaxy. He felt unstoppable in this form but it was still scary. But so addicting at the same time. Maybe that was the scariest part. It was so addicting to just experience the whole cosmic wonder. Stars on his skin, galaxies inside of him powering up to open the bastard door.
Aydan pressed his hand over the door, letting the star ignite inside of him and cover him, letting his form grow and turn into a cosmic being. His burning bright eyes scanned a weak spot of the door and he tried to focus on it, charging up to form a cosmic spear in his hand. It seemed solid no matter what, but he still chose to try.
Floating from the ground he pointed the spear towards the doors and with his hands caught in blue flame like dust, he threw the spear. Before impact it split in three.
Tink, tink, tink.
Impact like that would've exploded any regural door in Pjuno but the spears seemed to loose any sort of power as they hit against the stone, sounding like little toothpicks thrown against a glass.
"A̢w̴w̸, c҉̷o̴͘͞m͘e͏ o̷͟n͡!̴͡"
Aydan scoffed, floating closer to take a closer look at the damage. Nothing. Barely even a scratch. The blue dust on his hands melted away as he touched the door, dissolving to small glitter like dust. Nothing and no one could just cancel out his own spell like that, he was in control. But the doors just ripped away any attempt to restart the spell.
Eyeing the door up and down, he floated backwards to cast a mirroring spell, the halos forming an eye on the top of his head. Studying the doors to the very last detail but more he looked, the less he knew. As if the doors knew they were being watched and hid away everything, only confusing the mage further. Even the spell he used to trick the corrupted monster of space and time, was useless.
"I̵t͝'s͏ li̸k̶e.̸.̢.̨r͏ep̕ęl̨l̛i͏ng a̴ny a̵nd̡ all ̕s̨pells͞.͝"
The halos fell back to their normal position, small particles that flew off of them turning into little question marks. He let his form turn back to normal, hair nearly out of its ribbon. Brushing back his curly strands he took in a deep breath and landed back on the ground, still feeling the dust on his hands.
So no spells, huh. What now. The door was stuck with a big fucking S. Stuck. Stuckstuck.
Walking from side to side Aydan pondered any sort of way to even get a glimpse behind the door. It didn't seem like anyone lived inside, but if that was the case, there was one way to find out. If the exploding sounds of cosmic spears didn't help, one thing surely did.
"Knock knock!"
Aydan yelled as he gave the door two hard knock, his voice echoing in the large and deep ravine. For a second, he held his breath as he felt the cold breeze pass through him, coming from under the door. But nothing was heard.
He looked around, then tried to peek through the crack of the doors but they were so tightly together not even a snowflake would fit through it. The magic that still oozed from his hands made the door rumble ominously, signaling Aydan to leave it alone. He had tried to mirror the spells that held the door but it clearly wasn't keen to his own magic in anyway, almost even repulsed by it. Aydan backed off, rubbing his hands together to rub off the remains of his spell, hands shining with glitter like dust that faded away as it fell towards the ground. Now that his hands were clean of the smoke, he put on his gloves, feeling the tips of his fingers getting numb due to the magic and the cold. He called out for his lantern that in a blink had floated back to his hand, illuminating the door better.
He kept his gaze on the door, studying it with more care. The carvings on the door and the door frame made no sense. It didn't symbolize anything, the language wasn't something he could understand or mirror, just like the spells. Perhaps the writings had the way to open the door. But.
They also could be warnings of whatever was inside.
Cold chills went up Aydan's spine. Not from the weather but from fear of whatever was inside the door. Maybe it was something completely safe, like loot from previous visitors. Oh, loot would be amazing. Not that Aydan hasn't looted all the places he had traveled to. Only take something that no one is looking for anymore. But hey, had to make a living sometimes.
Loot reminded him of the times in Pjuno. Finding old abandoned castles and caves, finding all sorts of things to give others that seek something to buy food or shelter with. Aydan kept some to himself, but it wasn't the priority. He had the blessing of the stars and the Bearer of the Beginning herself. He'd be fine.
But on the other hand, shiny stuff good.
He couldn't get the idea of a real threat out of his mind so he chose to give up, not like there was any other sentient creature on this little dimension. He huffed, small puffs of misty air flowing out of his nostrils as he pulled the hood of his cape back onto his head. Maybe someday there'd be someone that actually lived here and didn't accidentally get lost in the valley from some other universe.
He sighed, deeply upset as he took few quick steps towards the ledge to take off and return to his home.
"Who's there?"
Aydan froze mid takeoff, his other foot still on the ground and hands on his sides. He comically stood still on his one foot for few breaths, before he landed fully, slowly turning his head back towards the large doors. For a moment, he was unsure what to do. Should he reply? He did get an answer.
"Etch."
"Etch who?"
"Bless you."
An awkwardly long silence followed after, only the sound of the passing air filling the space. Aydan took off his hood as he took few steps closer, taking a notice on the small stones that decorated the carving on the floor. They had started to glow, perhaps indicating of someone's presence. Or something's.
"Are you telling me the one who finally gets me out is a joke maker?"
"Well, I do try to accomplish both. Jokes are fun and opening giant doors with unknown magic are as well, but frankly, both are barely my forte." Aydan chuckled quietly, reaching the door and once again eyeing it up and down. It sounded like the voice wasn't that near the door, but rather a bit further away. The low, soothing voice echoed inside the door. It sounded like the voices were layered, like three of two people speaking in unison. But it still seemed to be only one thing inside. Or person. It could be just the door talking.
Aydan once again reached towards the door, feeling the cold stone under his fingers. The doors still wanted him to leave, the uneasy air still radiating from the whole area. Perhaps this isn't such a good idea after all. But he wasn't alone. Maybe the door person was friendly. Hopefully.
"Why can't you open my doors?"
The voice seemed curious, unsure why it took Aydan so long to just open the doors.
"I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"My magic doesn't work on this door. It seems like whatever I do, it only gets angrier."
"The door gets angrier? To you?"
"Yea, seems like the whole place doesn't like me." Aydan drops the lantern from his hand, backing away to see the door from a bit further away. The lantern stays on the same level which he carried it, floating by itself and lighting up the ledge. Aydan's focus went to the smaller ledge on top, sort of making a roof over half of the ledge he was on. The icicles under the roof shined in the lantern's light. Almost ominously. But it was ice, nothing too deadly. Although ice could make some serious damage.
"Why is that?"
"Good question, friend." Aydan said, deep in thought as he kept eyeing the icicles, slowly starting to float closer to inspect them. Well, it was still just ice.
"Friend? I don't even know you." The voice sounded unsure, confused by Aydan's statement.
"My name is Aydan. I'm no threat to you, I promise. I'm here simply by curiosity. And who might you be?"
Aydan asked cheerily, turning towards the door waiting for an answer. But once again, he was met with total silence.
"Uh. So no name?"
Silence.
"You don't remember it?"
Silence.
"It's something horribly stupid, like uhhhh let's see...Kaitlyn? That name is so bad, it never is written the way you think! Is it with a K or a C? Is the A E or both? Is the last Y doubled or is there none? Oh! Dean and Sean! Dean is spelled like "Deen" but Sean is like "Shawn". Why not Dawn? Why not Seen? Dick is a name! Must a hard thing to live with. I mean, I should know. I meant that I don't live with Dick, I don't know anyone named Dick. But you know. Sometimes Rick is short of Richard with extra K but what about Dichard? I once heard someone named Jacob but it was written "Jaykoub" and cit sounded so wrong I almost cried."
Even after his little rant, no answer was heard. Aydan frowned, slowly gliding down back to his lantern that stopped its floating as he took a hold of the rope handle.
"It's fine, no need to say anything to that."
"You're full of words."
"Yah, I learned to speak when I was a kid and I think it was a mistake."
"You were a child once?"
"Too long ago. I've lived longer as the age I died in, rather than the age I lived with."
"You're dead?"
"No. But I don't really live, either."
"I understand."
"You do?"
"Yes."
The voice was so quiet Aydan barely heard it. It just oozed with sadness. Perhaps he had met with a fellow immortal being. Aydan was able to die but not of old age. So as long as he kept his blue ass out of trouble, he should be fine. Hopefully. Who knows, maybe he had set himself in trouble already.
"I guess you've been here quite a while, huh."
The silence that was becoming rather familiar once again had fallen over them, making Aydan huff and scratch the back of his head, eyeing the floor.
"I'll just avoid the more personal questions then."
A low hum echoed behind the doors, seeming like the voice was agreeing with him.
"Are you a magician?"
"Sort of. I'm a mage."
"What does your magic feel like?"
Aydan looked at his lantern and then at his free hand, feeling the steady flow of the star under his skin form little sparks onto his palm. He turned his hand to look at the glimmering stars on the back of his hand. His hands were covered in blue pigment, all the way up to his elbows. Similar to the way his cheeks, nose, legs and back. It seemed like a piece of of the night sky was always stuck inside of him. Or rather on him. Actually both, he was blue inside out.
His whole outfit was blue. Cape, his vest, his pants. If it wasn't blue it was silver. Gold and red were two other colours he liked but they didn't suit him well.
"Cold."
"Cold?"
"Yeah. I can't do much with fire. Sometimes, I do feel like I could just shoot fire from my hands. It feels like a dream. But also like a reality. Like another reality."
"This is not reality?"
"Whatever this is, it is real to me. Reality is a wack concept."
"Wack?"
"Yeah. Weird. Out of this world. Just plain stupid. My job is to fuck around with space and time but at the same unfuck the fuckery it had gone through."
The voice chuckled, cold air flowing out from under the door. The floor shook lightly, most likely by something that moved behind the door. But the source of the shaking seemed to come from their left. The waterfall on the side of the mountains sometimes brought along large pieces of ice that fell down to the ravine instead of the river. Either way, it startled Aydan.
"Will your job include opening the door?"
"Er, perhaps. I still have no idea how to open it. Do you know?"
"Trust me, I have tried."
Something in that made Aydan question the whole rescuing thing. He still had no idea who he was dealing with. If it was some sort of Daniel leveled fuckery, he'd doom everything and everyone at once. But at the same time, he could try and get to know the voice at the same time as he was searching for possible ways to open the doors. The voice seemed kind, but who truly knows. Aydan would like to know, he'd like to befriend this stranger. Even if the voice was evil, it must know that Aydan was not here for a fight, he was here for a good time.
A friend, a lover, a guide or a guardian. But never an enemy, as he had said to Daniel. Aydan hated being unfriendly or rude to most, but being too kind had brought him lots of trouble. But it didn't stop him from being kind. Never did, never will.
Aydan looked up to the sky, seeing the sun starting to set. Night seemed to be approaching faster than he anticipated. Sighing, he tapped the door few times, eyeing it up and down for the last time.
"So, I guess I'll see you later then? I mean I cannot see you but like you know, I'll catch up with you soon I hope. If you want it, that is. I can just leave you alone like I told you, nothing personal."
"I don't mind it."
"Really?"
"Yes. Do visit."
The voice sounded reassuring, confident with the answer. It made Aydan smile a little, pulling back the hood of the cape. He turned away, taking few quick steps and jumped to the air, floating back up to the mountains with his cape flowing behind him. The light of the lantern left behind a slowly fading path, shimmering in the dark ravine.