Chapter Text
The Deep End was dark.
Contrary to the belief of many explorers who had braved magical portals and strongholds aplenty in order to reach the shallowest point of the End dimension, there was more to discover beneath the treacherous void that no human ever dared venture into. Stars speckled across the sky in the Shallow End provided enough light for Overworld adventurers to navigate its islands, allowing for the discovery of cities long-since abandoned by any living creatures, inhabited now only by the golems originally created to protect them.
The Deep End held no stars, no cities. Only the darkness and the beings within it. No outside travellers could survive the trip, not even those born in the Shallows.
Thus, a creature born within it would only know itself and the dark, colorless expanse.
It would hear stories, of course. Soft whisperings of the universe drifting down from the Shallows. ' The cities lay empty of life, ' they would say in one moment, ' our islands are crumbling, ' uttered in the next. The creature would be no stranger to tales and rumors and facts, collected together in one continuous stream of speech.
Overworlders thought the Deep End silent, and heavy with the threat of death.
A creature born within it knew better.
In fact, as time went on, it would come to know a lot of things. After a few months, it would come to understand that its form was fluid, and that adversity was easy to overcome when it accepted change as its lifeblood. In a few years, it recognized the worth of a being's identity. A face, a soul, a name. It had none of these things, and understood their concepts only through the ponderings of the void, but it felt desire.
A creature of the Deep End felt desire, and somehow that moment of clarity gave it a sense of fulfillment — why was this familiar?
…
…It took a little over a decade for a creature born within the Deep to leave the borderless confines of its home. The Shallows were much easier to breathe in, after all. Less pressure, and more intrigue. There were cities laying abandoned in the sky, levitating ships, and above all else, living creatures . Yes, there were an abundance of Shallow End creatures wandering the islands, flicking in and out of the universe as they pleased, but those who came from the outside were infinitely more interesting to a being whose entire life beforehand had been compromised of a blank, colorless expanse.
These foreign creatures ( Overworlders , the void whispered and screamed all at once) seemed to have little regard for a single End dweller among hundreds more of its cousins, unaware of its origin resting miles beneath their feet. If they had known it to be from the Deep, they would have sought it out. That is what the universe warned, at least.
But the creature of the Deep End had as much regard for these Overworlders as they did for it: very little.
However, the Overworld itself? That may very well be a place worth seeking.
The End said otherwise. The End did not want to lose one of its few children to a blockade of bedrock and thick, dark slate; to a place where its voices could not reach. This child was a curious one, with its almost-memories and adventurous nature. Higher powers be damned if it was going to allow this dangerous mission without significant resistance. So it bargained, and it pleaded, and it threatened its spawn with unimaginable consequences were it to step foot into the Overworld.
The child cared little of the void's words now, too entranced by the idea of more . However, it did make an effort to convince its caretaker to allow this freedom.
It sat at the edge of a small, lonely island in the Shallows, and it stared into the abyss below.
' You cannot leave, ' the void said, a tone of finality clearly audible in its thousand voices, ' It is dangerous outside here, without us to reach you. You will perish, and you will return to us with everything lost. '
' I can lose nothing, there is only me and you. Neither are so easy to destroy. ' The End creature defended itself, its form bending and shifting as if to punctuate its point. ' I have no name, no face, but I know I have something out there. I have nothing to lose and everything to gain. '
' And if we are proven true? If there is nothing for you there but tragedy? '
' Then I will return to you. '
The universe laughed. ' The Overworld has only found us through virtue of ruins and half-finished magic older than the ground they walk upon. You will not return until they have claimed your life as their trophy; we will find you broken and formless here once again. '
' You will not! ' The child was indignant, raising itself from where it had rested in an attempt to give itself more of a presence. A needless tactic in the face of the world itself. ' I know I have lost things in that realm, I must retrieve them. I am capable! I will return. Please, allow me this. ' It lowered its form again, its tone quieting. It stared firmly downwards. ' You have taught me enough to figure out how to survive, surely? Allow me to put these pieces together. '
The void was silent for mere moments, but it was enough. The creature of the Deep End knew it had won. A thousand voices whispered incoherently, before finally coming together as one.
'... We will guide you to the Overworlders' gateway. '
The child bowed its form and turned away.
As promised, the void guided.
The journey was long. So long, in fact, that the End creature wondered how any Overworlders had gotten so far in the first place (' Using the wings they stole, ' hissed the void). The Shallow's islands grew further and further apart as the creature drew closer to this "gateway", and it could only imagine how dangerous the trip would be without the proper anatomy to fly between the gaps, or without the safety of the void beneath it, ready to catch it if it were to fall.
The Deep was deadly to outsiders, and yet some Overworlders still took this journey, risking their lives by gliding over it with only capes and packs of gunpowder. The End creature found this fascinating.
It was only more impressed when the void directed it to land on the next island to rest, and before it was only void as far as it could see. ' No islands, ' the universe said, ' Not until you reach their gateway. '
' Why? '
The universe did not answer.
And so, after a brief rest in preparation for the final stretch of travelling, the void child continued on. It took a leap from the last island, blind faith the only thing keeping it from turning back. It had to trust the voices of the universe, now. At worst, it would end up back where it had begun: as an ever-shifting form in the Deep End. It had no fears, but it did have hope.
If the void was to be believed, that would be enough.
Hope was what allowed Overworlders to make it so far from their gateways in the End, and they had the misfortune of a single, unchanging body. The void creature had so much more.
It had been wrong earlier, it realized, when it had said that it had nothing but itself and the thousand voices nurturing it. The being had life; it had the fortune of choosing the form it took, and the fortune of conscious thought. And now, it was gaining a semblance of purpose. The creature thought about voicing these thoughts, but was afraid that doing so would make the universe change its mind. This agreement was fragile, after all, and the being would have had to be a fool to have thought otherwise.
Instead, it made its gratitude known to its caretaker many times throughout the near-eternity that it soared through the skies of the Shallows. Not an island was yet in sight, even after what felt like a lifetime, but the creature of the Deep did not lose faith. The void coaxed it on regardless, whispers of ' soon, ' and ' almost, ' permeating the otherwise silent air.
Eventually, there was a ' here '.
And that is when the creature spotted a lone yellow island, not particularly interesting in terms of size or shape, but unique due solely to the several dark pillars that stretched as high and as low as the eye could see. They impaled the land quite brutally, and showed signs of damage from what the void creature assumed were Overworlders.
The universe was uneasy.
A shifting form perched on the highest dark pillar, unseen by the Overworlders below. It watched as several of them appeared and disappeared through an unfamiliar piece of void, leaning down with interest in a feeble attempt to see the object better.
' It's different. It's strange. ' The universe hissed in the face of it.
' It's new. ' The child retorted half-heartedly, still staring in awe.
' This is what you want? '
' Yes. '
A thousand voices sighed.
They waited until the island had fallen silent, and then instructed the young being to approach the Overworld gateway. It did as told, falling gently only a few feet from this new, mysterious not-void.
It felt a cold embrace.
' I'll come back to show you what I find. I will not be lost. ' It faced the void, letting its affection known as they spoke for what would not be the final time. ' I'll return with a gift for you. '
Swaddled in nothingness for the first time since it had entered the Shallows, the creature could hardly make out any one voice.
' We love you. '
' We'll miss you. '
' Come back. '
' Be safe. '
Only once the universe quieted to a subtle hum once more did it finally turn back, stepping into the unknown and closing its eyes.
The Deep End was dark.
When a creature born within its depths opens its eyes to the Overworld for the first time, it only just begins to understand how true that statement is.