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It's been a few days since Kolanii and Paul arrived at the multiverse outpost, and two days since they've got limited in their own world. Kolanii didn't know it was possible to lose everything in the world he created for himself, let alone this fast. Paul didn't know how long he'd spent in this world, going through the time machine to bring valuable things that only he found interest in when his screen was turned off.
He looked at the device in his hand. Documenting everything in his life since this world was created, the communicator held contact with the audience that enjoyed watching his daily progress. He didn't use it all the time, only keeping it on for the tensest, most interesting moments. Luckily, the little dots that always said things about his creations didn't know how alone he felt at this specific moment.
Paul had gone to get the daily limit of wood, five damn logs. It's still insane how the citadel considers five logs a day sufficient. Thank god Paul could collect them too, the citadel was dumb enough to see him as a player despite his openly artificial nature.
"Kolanii? Are you feeling sleepy?"
Paul's voice shook him back to reality. He didn't realize he'd been slowly swaying back and forth while looking down at the empty communicator.
"What?" Kolanii mumbled, looking up at Paul with confused eyes. "The sun is still up. I can't sleep."
He was tired from not having enough food to eat. Going from eating golden carrots all the time to eating mushroom stew everyday does something to a person, does it not?
Paul sat down next to Kolanii, putting the wood they had gathered to the side so their hands would be free.
"The sun doesn't have to set to take a nap. Go inside and rest a bit, I'll take care of the wood." Paul advised, putting a hand on Kolanii's shoulder.
Kolanii's soft ears twitched for a moment when he heard a ping when Paul's computer interface changed to a small smile to comfort him. He couldn't help but smile back, placing his hand over Paul's and accepting their advice with a nod.
Paul helped him stand up, extending their metal arms to give support as Kolanii tried not to trip over his own feet. It was impressive how fast Paul realized how Kolanii's strength kept lowering because of the diet change. They couldn't really get other foods for him, so they just had to be there for him as support. Kolanii did have golden carrots in his inventory, but he saved them for important occasions, which was very fair on Paul's terms.
Paul watched as Kolanii ruffled his hair while walking inside of their little wood hut, barely lit up by a singular torch. He sat down on the bed with a loud sigh, falling over on the white blanket in disappointment. He noticed Paul looking at him from the corner of his eye, but he didn't look back. They stood in the entrance, hand on the doorway and head tilted to the side.
There were two things Kolanii didn't trust about Paul.
First was the statement Paul made when he asked them if they would hurt him.
Second was how similar his face was to the mask Nameless wore when he stepped foot into their world.
The same colors, same expression…
It's probably nothing important… Kolanii thought to himself as his eyes closed and his mind fell into the calm seas of sleep.
But not for long. --------------------
"I could've sworn we had more than six!"
Kolanii blinked in a panic, turning around to stabilize his vision. He wasn't in their cabin anymore. He wasn't on his bed, he wasn't in his world, and he didn't see Paul anywhere.
What was happening? What is this dream? Why is there a bunch of Lanii's around him? Why do they have six multiverse charges? How did they even get that many???
He opened his mouth to talk, but nothing came through his throat. It was horrifying, it was truly a nightmare.
His usual outfit was swapped into the white ponchos that the Lanii's wear, his communicator was shattered broken and his body wasn't his.
He wanted help.
He didn't want to admit it, but he wanted help.
Meanwhile, back in the world of the awake, Paul loomed over Kolanii, their oddly glowy screen interface shining down on his face half buried under his arms. They didn't say a word, listening to Kolanii breathing louder as his dream got more unsettling. They simply observed and analyzed, like they're made to be.
Kolanii spent no time in identifying his surroundings. But what he saw over in the ominously dark fog made him feel contrasting emotions at the same time, making his heart jump into a panic.
Tens of emerald bases looming in the darkness.
A wide pyramid, a small pyramid, a giant pyramid, an overgrown pyramid- he could see the silhouettes of many others behind them, too far to see the details.
He wanted to believe his eyes but he knew this was a nightmare. Surely it's a nightmare. There's no way he just turned into a Lanii somehow. There's no plausible reasoning to randomly turning into a Lanii.
Speaking of Lanii's, he turned to the group standing behind him, completely lost and confuddled at their situation. Although as far as Kolanii could understand, they didn't care about ending up in an entirely different dimension. They were just confused about the amount of charges.
Not surprising.
He quietly backed up, making sure his steps were as soft as possible when he climbed down the floating island the group was on. What he didn't realize, was how far from the ground he was. With a careless slip of the hand, he fell down with nothing to grab onto. He spun in place, trying to activate his elytra in instinct but met with a slap to the face with the cloth of the poncho.
It's so over. It's SO over.
He thought, before splashing onto a pool of freezing water.
It was shallow, but good enough to break the fall. When he got up from the water, shaking his entire body like an actual bear would to get the water off, he heard the Lanii's mumble down at the sound. But as he expected, their attention span didn't last 5 seconds, and they all changed their motive almost immediately after realizing the sound wasn't dangerous.
"Where the hell am I?" Kolanii whispered to himself, looking around at the fog spilling into the shallow water. His eyes followed the fog, leading up to the direction of the dozen emerald pyramids which now looked taller than before. He walked to a clear area to get a better view of the pyramids, wringing the last bit of water from his clothes as he climbed the gently broken hills.
"So…" He murmured, taking a good look at the pyramid right in front of him, his own pyramid. He'd recognize it anywhere. "This is where he puts them?"
His calculations seemed to be correct, but he was still not sure what that guy's motives were. If he had to find out, now is the chance. His steps quickened when he got close to the foot of the pyramid, arms automatically reaching over to lay on the shining cold emerald staircase. His whole body fell silently over the stairs as he hugged his valuable creation with a relieved smile.
"OH I missed ya. I missed this guy a lot. Sorry I tried to blow you up that one time while trying to kill myself. I'm sure that hurt. Sorry again. I missed you so so so so much. You did too, right Paul-?"
Paul isn't there, he realized. His smile vanished, the base didn't feel that important anymore.
"Oh, right. He's not here. "
Kolanii began to ascend up the staircase, his hand trailing up the railing, occasionally tracing the branches of the trees he'd planted on the edges. The water that used to run down like a cascading waterfall seemed to have dried out.
It felt like it took hours to get to the top of the base, but when he eventually did, he realized it was colder and darker than below. When he looked back down the path he came from, it was almost invisible in the fog. Too terrifying even for him to go back into.
"Hey there."
"WHAT THE-" Kolanii almost tripped back down the stairs when he saw who was standing in front of him. Nameless, he liked to call him. The guy that looked like him, wore all black and had black hair and ears… with no name. Nameless seemed like a fitting 'name'. "What are you- Where am- Where am I? What am I doing here?"
"You're even talking like a Lanii! Good disguise." Nameless said, a grin clearly audible in his voice despite having his face half obstructed by a cloth mask. Kolanii was really questioning if this was a dream or not now.
"Why am I here, you psycho?" Kolanii demanded, getting his sanity back together.
Nameless chuckled, his hands behind his back and his head tilted to the side.
"Psycho is an understatement, but we'll get to that later." he muttered, eyes glaring at Kolanii who struggled to keep a fearless face. "You're here because… well, I'm not sure!"
Kolanii blinked in disbelief. "Wha- What do you mean you're not sure?! You don't look like you're not sure!"
"That's true! That's true…" Nameless brought one hand to their face, imitating a thinking gesture by brushing their chin. "But really, I'm not sure how you have enough consciousness to stay in the body of a Lanii."
"This makes no sense." Kolanii grumbled, crossing his arms.
"I know! Even to me, it doesn't make sense." the other replied flailing his gloved arms around before suddenly stopping mid air, just beside his elbows. Kolanii's eyes darted rapidly from his hands to his face, trying to decode his actions.
"In simple terms, you're not supposed to be here."
Kolanii's heart skipped a beat again. The atmosphere around them certainly wasn't helping the tension.
"Okay look. I didn't ask to be here. Well- not technically. Like- I just wanted to sleep and get some rest. Not to come into an entirely different dimension or universe whatever this is." He said, his voice slightly trembling in a panic. "So it would be great if I can just go back to Paul and live normally, constantly interrupted by the Citadel. It's better than whatever this is, really-"
"Shut up."
"Okay."
Kolanii immediately surrendered, pursing his lips tight as Nameless squinted his eyes at him. He didn't want to say another word, letting Nameless observe him way too intently.
"You somehow intercepted your subconsciousness to a body of a aimless Lanii, giving you access to his entire functional systems. How in the world-"
"Can I go-"
"NO."
"OKAY JEEZ." Kolanii lifted his arms beside his shoulders, watching as Nameless only stared at him harder, walking closer and closer. The sound of his shoes hitting the emerald floor echoed in the fog, making it louder than it should be.
Kolanii's arms slowly fell down the closer Nameless walked, his torso moving back but his legs staying in place when Nameless was just an arms length away.
"How did you do that?"
"Mate, I don't have a clue. I just want to get out of here."
"You must've done something to come here. It's not easy."
"I swear on Wallace , I didn't do anything to be here except just going to bed."
Nameless finally stopped squinting at him, but kept his gaze locked on him.
"Manifesting."
Kolanii raised his eyebrow in utter confusion. "Wha?"
"You wanted to find me, so your soul found a way."
The two remained silent for a moment, with Kolanii glancing around while processing what Nameless just said.
He finally spoke up. "I-… guess that makes sense?"
Nameless didn't make a sound for a few seconds, then his chuckle grew louder by the breath until he erupted into a loud laugh. Kolanii looked around in confusion, quietly joining the guffaw until Nameless suddenly stopped and slammed his hands on Kolanii's shoulders.
"OW-"
"Listen here, mister genius. You can run after me for however long you want, but you're not gonna catch me that easily. Do you seriously think you have a chance? Do ya?"
Kolanii gulped, frantically shaking his head no.
"That's what I thought. Now get out." Nameless said, letting go of Kolanii fast enough to make him tumble back a few steps.
Kolanii wanted to listen to Nameless and get out somehow, but something in his heart wanted to stay. Something made him want to find out more. He watched as Nameless turned around to walk to the middle of the Base, right under the beacon in the middle. When he reached the exact centre, Kolanii spoke.
"Why are you doing this?"
Nameless stopped. He didn't turn, he didn't move, he just stood there as he was, looking into the distance with his cloak swaying in the subtle wind that entered through the doors.
When he didn't answer, Kolanii asked again.
"Why are you stealing all of these bases? Genuinely, what is your motive?"
No answer again, he just stood there.
"Are you just gonna stand there and not answer me? ANSWER ME, YOU COWARD!"
That's when Nameless turned back. Halfway, just enough for Kolanii to see his eye glow between his dark hair strands.
"I have my reasons. You don't want to know everything at once."
Kolanii chuckled anxiously. "Yeah right. Ooooh, so mysterious! Guess what, you just sound stupid-"
A sharp swish sound surrounded Kolanii, and before he knew it, his whole body was tied up by a fishing line connected to a rod between Nameless's hands. Within a second, Nameless pulled the rod hard enough to pull Kolanii to the middle as fast as the string could retract.
It was way too fast for Kolanii to react and there he was, stumbling next to Nameless, hands and knees on the floor of his emerald base. He balanced his body quick enough to not roll far away from Nameless, managing to stay just a few steps away, still on all fours.
"Look…" Kolanii heard Nameless speak, but his voice sounded like a chiming bell under his ringing ears. His vision spun like a Ferris wheel out of control, his knees trembling from the impact on the hard crystal floor.
"You already know too much. Keep your pretty paws out of my way and you'll be fine, got that?"
Kolanii felt his hands grab his chin, making him look up from the disoriented mess. He couldn't focus his eyes to get a good look at Nameless, but he was sure he had his mask down.
He had his mask down.
There was a scar across his mouth. Was it a scar, or was it just his vision messing with him.
"Answer me. Did you understand what I said?"
Kolanii grunted, trying to bring his head to nod in desperation. The most he could do was a defeated mumble.
"Yes- I did-"
Nameless let go of his face as soon as he replied, making him fall to the floor with a thud. His head hit the floor, making the dizziness worse even if he was laying down.
Everything was loud. Everything was blurry and loud, yet he still heard Nameless's steps go farther away. Kolanii turned his head slightly to watch him walk into one of the gates, throwing the fishing rod away. The sound of the rod hitting the floor made Kolanii wince, but he kept his eyes on Nameless as he walked to the edge, too far away to see where his head was turned.
"You- You..-" Kolanii tried to say something before his vision gave out, but Nameless jumped off, disappearing into the fog.
He was alone again.
Kolanii breathed, hoping this mess of a concussion could bring him back to reality.
---------
And it did. After his eyes finally closed in the blurry headache, he woke up in a cold sweat, gasping for air and tears in his eyes.
"Whoa! Are you alright, Kolanii?-" As soon as he heard Paul's voice, he lunged onto their body, hugging him as tight as he could. Paul's hands hovered over Kolanii's back for a moment in confusion before lowering to give him a few pats on the back, their head leaning comfortably on his white hair.
The gentle hum of their machinery made Kolanii calm down a bit. But his sniffling tears were still there.
"Don't worry. It was just a nightmare." Paul said, dragging their hand up and down Kolanii's back, holding his person close and soft.
"It sure didn't feel like one. It didn't feel like a dream. It felt real." Kolanii mumbled, burying his face in Paul's cloak. "It wasn't a dream was it."
Paul didn't reply immediately.
When they did, a simple ping took the first syllable.
"Not sure. I didn't see your dream. But judging by how dreams and nightmares usually happen, it was likely just an act of your mind. Nothing real."