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by BloodOfPhantoms
Chapter One
The air, the afternoon sky... was overcast. Chilly, and colder, and colder still. It felt this way, even to the abyssal monster that clawed his way up to the sacred tree, Natio. Such was not like any such creature seen before. He was a 7'6 foot lizardman when standing... but despite possessing a body capable of bipedal feats, he remained on all fours for the majority of his time. A purely black scaled lizardman with bright, yellow eyes that pierced the soul. He gave off a very ethereal... yet off vibe to his aura, like something dangerous— not to be trifled with. It was a very long trek, for a tree of most imposing height. Natio was around 620ft tall. The task would have been practically impossible for anyone normal to climb to the top... however, this being would have kept at it for a total of three days... avoiding detection until he made it to the very surface. His energy hardly wavered, but when he needed to stop and re-examine his path, he did. Along the many branches spanning outwards were large, green pods... each measuring about 60ft from top to bottom. They all hung upside down... below the branches, against the abundance of leaves... there was little place where one could look and they were not within sight. Each held something darker inside, like a pupae amidst the shadowy form. Faces could also be spotted around the entire tree in certain places, with slits for eyes, and varied expressions. Most of them were placed in a neutral state along their 'mouths'. Finally, the scaly male reached up with a grunt... lifting himself to the top of the tree at once. While there, something spotted him... a peculiar, reddish-brown furred dog that stood on his two legs with a wooden staff, and dim beige cloak and pulled down hood. "Oh, hello!" the young canine greeted, walking over to the stranger. "We have not had a visitor in quite some time... in fact, we never do really, heh." The lizardman just stared at the dog, to which the canine awkwardly cleared his throat, "...Apologies! My name is Zirgix. Who... might you be, sir?" Another silence crossed over them, leading Zirgix to just stare back at him, confused and scratching his head. Then, there is an answer. "I have once been called 'As Fault'... I believe that can be considered my name." the lizard replied, his voice deep as he stepped away from Zirgix with a calm gait, tail swaying occasionally from side to side. "Ahh... As... Fault... yeah, uh— hmm, you know we could change that!" Zirgix commented, as he turned back to the creature with a cheery laugh, "You see, the creatures of the modern world seem to have developed lots of things... including something called asphalt! Or well... so I've heard," he resumed, "I don't know if you'd want to keep that name... but it sounds almost identical to what you just said, and I think it blends in just right!" "Mhm..." As Fault growled, his tail striking against the wood with a loud bash as he eyed back to Zirgix, "The modern world... I have no business with the modern world; my interest is with the old world, which is precisely why I am here." "O-oh... well, as the new guardian *here* for about just ten years... after the old guardian, my father passed away not too long ago..." Zirgix sighed, glancing away for a bit before returning to his guest, "Well anyway, Natio is a tree that dates back to... well, I think it's as old as time, honestly! So yes, you luckily wouldn't find any modernity here— although the closest city to here is... umm, Imagia, I believe?" he stated, scratching his head again. "I too, have never been to the modern world, come to think of it... I was born down below, and was transported here through the usage of arcane magics!" he explained, "Such a ritual typically takes a lot of energy for my people to carry out... especially from such a distance like this! So uh- as the guardian... I'm pretty much stuck here alone, and—" Suddenly, As Fault laughed. His laughter, echoing, was as intensely mad as a song from a thousand dying birds, reverberating all at once. Zirgix's eyes simply widened, as he seemed a bit frightened... but attempted to remain calm and courageous within the creature's presence, as well as a welcoming host. "...Is there something wrong?" he asked, as the strange laughter died down, just as quickly as it had started. Asphalt then proceeded to get up, standing upon his two feet which elevated his height far over the canine's. The abyssal male stood within the center, his forked, red tongue idly prodded and probed at the rich air's lavish, green scent, taking it in. "I... do not care." As Fault said, not even eying back Zirgix whilst he stated this, "But the 'name'... I do believe that it does have a... ring to it, as they say. Something that... mmm... I quite like, actually." Zirgix's face was screwed up, as he just let out a nervous chuckle, "Haha... that's umm... great—" the rust canine said, rubbing at his neck anxiously, "I'm glad you enjoyed it, I just thought it- you know, suited you well, since you're black and all." Asphalt laughed again, as he turned to Zirgix and continues to chuckle. "You tell such funny jokes... guardian," he commented, "But I have one for *you*, and it's from the modern world." "...Hm?" Zirgix pondered, tapping his stick into the firm, wooden ground. "But didn't you say you haven't been to the modern world, uh... Asphalt?" "You told yourself that," Asphalt corrected, "I said I have no business with the modern world. It does not concern me, but I do contain within myself a wealth of knowledge." he admitted, almost sounding as if a hint of pride tinged his otherwise deep voice. "Oh... okay then, apologies," Zirgix bowed his head to the creature, who seemed to turn away from looking at him once more to stare around the area, "What would... um, be the joke t-then?" Zirgix laughs, awkwardly. ... After another bout of silence, Zirgix was about to speak up, "It—" "I am about to kill *two birds with one stone*." Asphalt said, calmly. ... "...W-what?" Zirgix asked, turning his head up to view the lizardman at his side. "I am about to kill *two birds with one stone*." Asphalt repeated. All the while he said this, there was a mischievous smile... almost like a grin on his face, while Zirgix's expression was ever the more of bewilderment, and a growing sense of fear. "I-I'm sorry, but I'm not quite sure I follow..." "Look down." Asphalt ordered the guardian, and Zirgix became more concerned. So, he looked down... nothing but wood as far as the eye can see. Then, he realized that Asphalt likely meant from their height... and went over to one of the closest edges to peer down. "...I-I don't," Zirgix commented, circling around as he walked back, "I-I'm sorry, but I don't really see anything peculiar... is there something wrong?" Asphalt turned only his head to stare at him, "What is below is the first bird that has been slaughtered... mmm, quite easily, actually." There's a moment of silence as Zirgix is left to only think about what he could possibly mean. He assumed the creature was speaking in riddles, was crazy... or both. Asphalt then twisted his body about to view him properly, allowing his towering shadow to loom fully over the canine guardian. "Natio," Asphalt's static grin remained, as he spoke up, "*Natio*, is the first bird." Zirgix's face twisted in horror and disgust, as he stepped vaguely to the side, "Uhm... I still have no idea what you're saying... but if this is meant to be a 'sick joke', kindly stop." the male said, sternly. "Unfortunately for you," Asphalt laughed more, "There is no such thing as stopping." Zirgix growled, and is just about ready to cast a warding spell, when he realized that Asphalt is standing right up to him, moving virtually in an instant as he backed away a bit in shock. "H-how did you—" "This place, is a correspondent measure of life, to ensure that it continues as such. Everything grows here. The moss, the insects, the ferals— I have seen them upon branches, butchered them for food. Taken of their essence." Zirgix looks mortified. "I will spread my influence until there is nothing left but my influence... then, there will be nothing." he told the guardian. "It is simple," Asphalt continued, explaining, "Before I decided to climb up to this very peak... I examined the area around me. This tree is very large, yes... but I recalled that everything living tends to follow similar principles. They are... corruptable, malleable... especially at the source." "The s-source...?" Zirgix stammered, "What on earth could you mean by" The canine's eyes widened. "The- the roots?!" Zirgix shouted, angrily, "What did you do to the roots?!" Asphalt chuckled, "There you go... so you do have a brain, after all." The lizardman's tongue exited some more, tasting at Zirgix's building fear, and anxiety. Zirgix was stunned, almost at a loss for what to do. "But yes... that first bird... mmm... the death will take some time to fully kick in, yes... but I can assure you that it is *dead*." Asphalt hissed. "I am a reptilian being that exists in many manifestations. One such manifestation stands before you now, but we are as sure as time. As a result, we are thought forms made manifest... just like you and I... yet we seek the corruption of others to our own." Asphalt turned around, and raises his claws up slightly, gesturing towards the tree, "This... I like... this. I wanted to have this under my possession. My *domain*. So, I carefully allowed the dark worms that live within my scales to spread, and burrow deep into the ground... even before I started climbing." He turned to Zirgix, "It took a lot out of me, but... I honestly did not find myself needing many. Instead of letting them die, and rot gradually under the soil... I commanded them to burst, spreading their... mmm... essence." "The tree takes in life. It does not distinguish... but I do. Until everything becomes me, there will be no easy way of doing this. But in 100 years time, I predict these cocoons, and the rest of the tree to fully reflect the changes of this taint... I hope you can understand." Asphalt grins. ... ... ... "N-never in my life... *our* lives..." Zirgix leaned out, "Do you know how much time and energy was spent to preserve this tree?! Every timely sacrifice that was made?!" Zirgix erupted. "...Not enough, apparently." Asphalt chuckled, "...Considering how easy of a task this was." "...It's enough for us." Zirgix roared, raising his staff up before the top would ring out, and transmorph itself into millions of tiny, different branches... striking into Asphalt in the blink of an eye. "As the guardian of Natio... you will die here by my hands for the forbidden act of defiling this sacred ground!" ...But as the branches soon recoiled back into the staff, returning it to its regular form, there was no target. "...What?!" Zirgix frantically looked about, as he could only hear the faint, familiar chuckling coming from afar. "I have no time for your magic, *sorcerer*." As he said this, the abyssal scales upon his body seem to almost break open to reveal countless black worms writhing out from under the surfaces... ominous laughter coming from the male, who continued to play. "He's that fast?!" Zirgix thought in his head, "I could have sworn I saw him impaled and bleeding out!" Zirgix tensed, then relaxed with a sigh. He hit the bottom of his small staff into the ground, yet the entire tree felt like if it was shaking, all at once. "Awaken." Some of the faces nearby emerged, and forcefully broke out from the wood of the tree, taking bizarre shapes each that best resembled a form of golem, with different numbers of hands and legs, somewhat deformed. However... they were all deceptively fast... the ones at the precipice just launching out around Asphalt, while the ones, even at the very bottom... began climbing and leaping onto the neighboring branches towards the top at astonishing rates... each still having those same, slitted eyes with varying expressions. It was mere seconds before they had all surrounded him, some of them dragging their misshapen bodies along the floor with an absurdly fast haste. "Intriguing," Asphalt remained with that smirk on his face, never dropping it for a moment. Within about a dozen seconds, the almost innumerous wooden golems had swallowed him up completely, with nowhere else to go. ...Except up, that was. A tower of his black worms began to erect itself from the wooden mass, piling up with insane speed and precision, faster than it was being torn down by each of the collecting thirty-five and more golems. "KNOCK HIM DOWN!" Zirgix shouted out, as the pace between Asphalt's building and the destruction of his 'tower' appeared to remain the same... the rate of the worms piling up being still too much for the golems to strike down all at once, even as more came into the frey and even attempted to climb upon one another to reach farther up towards him. "T-there's no way..." Zirgix said, as he dropped to his knees with the staff falling to the floor, rattling. "I-I can't... I've— I've failed..." Soon, Asphalt reached about 50ft into the air at a breakneck pace, until he realized that he's about to reach his limit soon for how many of the worms could continue to drop out from his body. As a result, his production began to visibly slow down... and the golems seemed to be breaking it down much better... striking an ounce of hope in Zirgix's heart. "He's... trapped?" Zirgix smiled, thinking within his thoughts and resting assuredly with the secure feeling of an eventual victory, "I haven't failed you yet, father..." Very quickly, the tower descended. 45. 40. 35. 30 feet. Asphalt felt himself falling fast... and then laughed. His laughter surged, and echoed from the height... shaking both heaven and hell alike with its sinister temperament. "The second bird," he stated, as the topmost worms from the falling tower began to climb back onto his vessel... gathering and forming... *Wings*. Asphalt took flight, reaching up from the mass to push off with the newly formed wings dropping a few from their formation, but maintaining shape. "No, no, NO!" Zirgix growled, in sheer shock and disbelief of what he saw as he stood back up, regaining his staff. Asphalt flew straight upwards, blankly towards the heavens. His speed is sluggish, almost as if he hadn't flown before, or lacked the experience. Yet, it was enough to escape the golems on the ground before the tower soon quickly comes crashing down. There... he ascended, and ascended... until a *bolt* of lightning hit, and shocked his entire form. He let out a pained grunt, temporarily losing his focus and formation of the wings... yet quickly recovered. "...Damn it." Zirgix said, through only but an unheard whisper in stark pain and regret. He glanced down at the ground to see the conjurer once more... then only a dot within his vision, before attempting to regain his lost height flying. He climbed, and climbed... from the already established height, until he felt like he couldn't reach any higher, but still continued climbing. His makeshift 'wings' burn, and feel as if they're about to give out, until... He hit something. And there's a crack of a loud crash, which came from the very heights of the faded blue sky at the sheer altitude. He felt his head twist against a surface, almost cracking at his neck before his body wholly sunk into something deeper... and almost wet... as if submerging into a large pool or lake. "State your purpose." he thought, as he wiggled free into the new, cosmic waters like a snake, leaving only trails of the worms continually falling off in his new wake. "*State your intent.*"
Chapter Two
Asphalt's body drifted between the blue drifts beneath the water. Or rather, it was his form. His corporeal form had long since withered, ever since he entered this new plane of existence. This new mode of being. Asphalt was dead, but his "presence" lived on. That "presence"... was as light as a feather. The cosmic waters that he drifted into changed, until they became one with the ground, as if there were no distinguishable factors between them in the first place. Once, he was swimming through the waters... then, the liquid changed, and he could see that it was not liquid, but the essence which contained the stars. It was like he was swallowed up within a primordial soup. He could feel— sense— that this was the very start of this 'body', like a mouth. More stars, than the ones which hovered below the firmament. That guided Earth. An endless sea of spanning plethora, others floating between the blinding white amidst the darkness... and yet, only some of them had color. And some of the whites changed color, intermittently... flashing along their destinations. All in all, he had not a single idea what any of this was... but he was swallowed up within this starry sea, full of entities... and most of the entities *were* the stars. Curiously, he decided to choose a direction to drift to... before he was soon confronted by a large, green light. It was bright... and almost blinding, forcing him to block his yellow gaze along said shining glory. And it glowed. And glowed... "*Shit*," Asphalt grunted, as he blocked himself from an extremely thorough, blasting impact that sent him flying into one of the nearby, unmoving 'stars' among the motioning bunch. But as his body flew through countless city scape buildings, through an almost endless tumbling forth onto the pale, dusty floor... it eventually stopped, and he realized something. ...Pain. He could still feel pain... without a body? A haze of white dust, like long, large widespread spray of bleached rain, erupted from his crash landing. He eyed around, and the abyssal blackness around him within that starry space was less than anything compared to what he was witnessing. A ceaseless supply of little, blocky men... with some of the larger ones seen atop the skyscrapers and rooftops, lifting heavier material... stacking, and forming infinite buildings. Except... the entire area was still made of a pure white. Skyscrapers, city blocks, and even multiple layers of advanced machinery were being manifested out of nothing. And then carried over by others... including some that floated, and held the power of a seemed at ease telepathy. Even as Asphalt caught back his bearings, coughing up bits of blood... one of the little men drifted in front of him, and started to fill up the path he had made into the white "sand" with generating layers of specks filling the gaps... and his two hands shifting it back in place, leaning down. Asphalt growled, as the little creature bumped into him, and he swiped his sharpened claws over the being's form. It tore the creature into three parts... which then settled into white dust, whereby a new, similar entity spawned from the ground not too far from him. With a hiss, Asphalt realized that it was very unlikely for him to kill any of these things. They almost reminded him of clay, the way they did not bleed, either. Builders, as they were... constantly building... somethings? Technology he had never seen before. The white buildings themselves seemed to faintly glimmer, as if they were all technologically alive. Then, he could hear a loud whirring... almost like a moving ship... before looking up to see something green and fast motioning towards him at a very close rate... before stopping just above the sea of stars. "Incalculable being," she said, seeming to teleport down to the pathed road at which he laid, "You are misaligned... where did you come from? Answer me, *now*." Her voice boomed, and he could barely even make out her form, past all that glowing, green light amidst her body. She appeared almost... human, an archaic race, one that had been extinct for a very long time from his understanding of Earth due to a widespread illness, before the many creatures came along and took over. Along her green light, she possessed no face, but the outlines of one. She possessed no hair, but the outlines of one. Her entire body was just outlines, including her dress that parted into two, like a flower. She started to walk forward. "I am Asmaedia III, and you are an irregularity. Stay still, and I shall cleanse you." Asphalt growled,as his lurched, quadruped form allowed his black scales to break out into a wide array of loosely squirming worms again of the multitude. He pressed a claw into the ground, allowing some of the worms to surge under the sand, and grapple onto the recently spawned man, ripping him into two before tossing the two halves at the green entity walking towards him. They phased through, and landed on the ground in front of him, collapsing into dust again. "You trespass into the ocean of heavens... *the ocean of stars*, with a corporeal body... and do not expect *correction*?" she said, again, "*Answer me*." "The only thing you'll have as an answer... is this." the lizardman hissed, before allowing the worms along his body to take leaps along, back and forth like snakes... all striking in front of her like bounds of serpents. Without even a moment of hesitation, the star entity would dash away, before hitting into Asphalt again with her figure, sending him flying into the air like a ragdoll. Within split seconds, he was back on the ground, feet away from their original location... being choked by his neck within a hole of kicked up, white dust. "You will die here, and there will be no trace of you left. Goodbye." The lizardman struggled, before he could feel some of his worms falling from the sheer impact of her light based hits. With a loud growl, he clenched his claws together, and allowed the falling to burst open into an encompassing, black vapor. With shrieking cry, she screamed... backing away from him at once and falling down to the ground almost immediately. As the vapor subsided, he could see that her body was still covered by it... and he was quick to capitalize. Asphalt got back up, and allowed the other, falling worms to burst in a line from where she was, spraying her with more before he dug both of his claws into the ground, covering her up in a dome of them. "Die—" Asphalt self-detonated the enclosing around her, causing the vapor to spray out... and cover her screaming, green layerings. Now, she was shrieking... violently, as *all* the white creatures everywhere at once turned their attention to her. Her green light began to die under the haze of black, radiating the green all around and covering the buildings and walls with it... shifting there into reds, blues, shades of green... violets... she became imbued in all colors of the rainbow, as if trying to painfully regain her original essence. The black haze seemed to negate that, and leave her struggling while the buildings absorbed her dying color, as well as the blackened sky. The only thing her light did not shine through was the dirt... until she reached her hand out once more... wailing in agony, until— "...What?!" Asphalt attempted to dome himself, but was far too late. A shockwave of light, more powerful than a nuke, blew up the entire city and area with her dying breath. Enshrouding the entire area with light... before imploding in on itself with all spectra of color. Everything within the area was vaporized immediately, within radiant end.
Chapter Three
Nothing appeared to last for a very, long while. It was the experience of nothing, rather than nothing itself. Yet.. the self-referetial manifestation of the chaos being kicked in. In this form, drifting through both corporeal and non-corporeal existence... he appeared to slowly reemerge. Grouping back together from the tiniest smithereen... the tiniest thought of a worm, its head, citellium, and the rest of its body... into an all encompassing mass of what remained as a thought: Asphalt.
Now... his entire surroundings were white, but not an overwhelming white as he contrasted his black. Immediately, the sensation was a lot more peaceful... until he slowly gained back his sentience, remembering what happened through the manifested worm's shared memory. Soon... they would all slip under his scales again, as he looked around at the new landscapes. It was all so pale and random, like layers of mountain with certain browns, blacks and other colors spread across the seemingly infinite space.
Right... he thought. That bitch blew up.
"These must be the remnants of that city..." Then, he clutched his head a bit, as if feeling pain, attempting to recall how much time had passed. It was if the very concept of time had not existed. Each time he tried to recall it from the memory, it would pain him, like a sting that only increased in intensity the more he tried.
Worse yet... there was a very strange presence he could clearly *feel*, as indicated by the slight shiver he felt along his back. Asphalt looked over to where it was, and could only see a white looking creature down below. He hesitated for a moment, but not before dropping down.
His landing proved subtle, but calm amidst the lightness of the space along the area surrounding them.
"Hello." she smiled, with blue eyes.
As far as he could see, this creature... as best as he could call it that, not too far from where he presented on all fours... was also, on all fours. Its body was a pure white, with scales... and lizard-like, similar to his own. *"She"* possessed white tufts that could have been mistaken for fur amongst the scales, but were actually bits and pieces of a strange, pale grass. Her silver, frayed hair could only be seen like that of an unkempt witch's, quiet and flowing down to her feet. The outline of grey branches could be seen magically shadowed inwards, followed by sticks and leaves presented outwardly. All of this adorned and made up the whole of her character.
Their proportions were practically all the same... except her build seemed a bit wider, but still lean as his own, and that she was slightly shorter. Asphalt felt that shiver again, and it was a very "peculiar" feeling.
"You look handsome today," she complimented, sweetly, "But we've never actually met before, have we?"
Asphalt froze in place, as she walked closer. When she circled, with singular white tail of similar length... all he could see underneath those white scales were the soon popping of pale flowers, and more of that odd grass.
"My name is Z Aedir. I am also called The Aider, sometimes. While you were in the physical world, destroying the sanctity of trees... namely the one referred to as 'Natio'... I was here, waiting for you, as always."
"Oh— But you can just call me Aedir, by the way—" she blushed.
Asphalt lunged. His claw strike leaves a blow to the white ground around them, and he followed the strike up with another, and another... before she would leap, and land to the side gracefully, untouched.
"I can see what you are, foul spit." he referenced, "You... are meant to be my splitting image. My opposite... I am not stupid."
Aedir chuckled. She stands up for a moment, and gave him a clap. "Round of applause for you~" she laughed, "You really figured it out in no time flat!"
The blackened being growled, as she got back down on her fours eventually.
"Oh come on, I was only kidding. But yes... I have been awaiting your presence from the material world, here, in the 'spiritual', as they call it. The upper spiritual, I should say."
Asphalt just continued growling, walking while she remained still until his growls began to resemble snarls, "You are nothing but an illusion. Even as everything manifests itself, there is no being like me. You are just some sick clone, pretending... you couldn't even get the color right."
Aedir laughed, "As if I needed to!" she continued, "Black doesn't really suit you... I think it suits me more, actually~"
At this point, Asphalt stopped in his tracks. He was simply beginning to feel... uncomfortable. Very, *very* uncomfortable. He had never felt the feeling of such vertigo, such vulnerability, and the feeling of throwing up in a very, *very* long time... with more 'very's to potentially ensue. But for the time being, he managed to struggle enough, and hold it down.
"You... I was close to hitting you each time, and you manage to dodge at the very last second. How?"
She tilted her head, "I think you know how—" Aedir comments, her voice calm, cool and collected.
"In fact, there is little knowledge we don't share, or cannot figure out simultaneously, or close to simultaneously. In other words, there is little you know that I don't. We are both knowledgeable, but our expertise lies in different things. I... create life. You do *not*... or rather, you do, but you do it in the same way my life can also wilt. You do it... for destruction."
"So you're here to stop me, as opposition," Asphalt hissed, "Is that it, then?"
"Hasty, as always." Aedir sighed, as she looked up into the pure plain nothing. "I've had to watch you. Feel you... wait for you. It's not been an easy task, but the time hasn't felt too long, from my perspective. You've just *showed* up."
She paused, gauging his reaction... and his frown.
"Not saying anything in response, hm?"
...
"*O-kay then.*" Aedir smirked, faintly, "Well... to tell you the truth, no, I'm not here to stop you. Someone else... and other forces are already sort of doing that within the timeline."
She shrugged, "As much as you know already... nothing really matters, per say. The systematic preservation of all beings in existence *is* important... that falls under my role, opposite to your systematic... extinction, wishing to turn everything into your own essence."
"In other words... I don't have to stop you, my dear Asphalt," Smiling, she continued, "Our dance is simple. You get your role eventually... and I get mine. Everyone is 'unique' at one point... and then everyone... sort of 'isn't'. In that sense, we are both just dancing *illusions* in the scheme of *'time'*. You called me an illusion— I think that's the right word— but for both of us... everything, really."
Asphalt did not say a word. But he could feel his yellow eyes twitch a little, and his claws began to sink deeply into the sand. Aedir's tail swayed lightly.
She raised a claw, "Oh, there's a lot more, but that's the gist of it," the white lizardman smiled, "Still, I find a great joy in our bond. In knowing we both exist. You wouldn't of course, it's not in your programming. You're not meant to feel that way, even if you tried... you would be acting. But I do love you deep down, and I know it's hard for you to understand that the—"
Asphalt bit into something soft, as it oozed red blood and his worms flared. They mangled over her body... writhed... beginning to devour... until he grunted late.
On his own body, she leaned down, and bit against his lower torso. He felt almost paralyzed... as if stuck in this locked position, as the flowers devoured the worms, and the worms devoured the flowers. It felt almost... nice.
Asphalt screamed.
Screeched, even.
He shook his head, and let go at once. As soon as he let go, she did too. His claws scrapped and scrabbled against the floor in a desperate attempt to escape. And he ran. Absolutely ran.
That was the only time in Asphalt's existence when he was genuinely afraid. So he ran away.
Leaping to another portion of the scattered land's large pieces of colourless debris, he could spot some workers still going at it...
And that thing—
He dashed; she followed.
She followed; he dashed.
"How are you doing that?!" he growled, hissing each time as he continued to try. Over, and over again.
Aedir was simply reappearing where he was, just as fast as he went... almost like a magic trick.
"I'm not even doing anything," she shrugged, "It's the more you try to escape your destiny, the more this happens. We're supposed to merge together, and then split once more. That's why I was waiting."
"For you." she continued.
Asphalt's eyes widened.
He didn't know what to say...
He attacked.
Leaping, every single one of his worms reached out, and struck, destroying the entirety of the debris within its wake.
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Asphalt found himself laid down in a pool of water with his yellow eyes already opened. He sensed the other's presence, right in front of him. Saw her, in the corner of his eye.
"*Ha*!" he got up, and shot his arm forward towards Aedir.
Nothing happened.
"Your powers won't work here, you know," she said, calmly and faintly, with a light chuckle.
Asphalt's eyes vaguely widened, before he would look about his terrain slowly.
Around him was a waterfall that made little to no noise... along with almost an entire jungle's worth of green bush against the surrounding rock. Despite this, the entire pool they were on was just a pure, flat layer of water. It was surrounded by an extremely tall, almost mountainous grey, rock wall of sorts. Blue, sunny, cloudy sky. There seemed to be an escape route at the farthest right, leading out into the forest's core.
"More sorcery..." Asphalt hissed, attempting to dip his hand into the water as he laid there.
It sunk in... but with a bit of exerted force. There was depth... yet their bodies did not sink to the depth, instead staying afloat atop the surface... leaving only ripples in movement.
"You probably want me to explain myself," Aedir spoke, "at the very end of our last exchange... you broke through the entire landform with your attack— I simply dodged, and latched onto one of your worms, forming a connection."
She continued, "This place, only exists between the mental boundaries between yourself, and I."
"I have only shared it with you... it is my safe spot. My safe zone... so really, even if you tried to kill me here, it wouldn't work, either—"
Asphalt suddenly lunged, and slashed. Aedir dodged gracefully, skidding over the water's top. Asphalt followed, continuing with three slashes in a row. Through her peered eyes, she dodged the first two, and caught the last in both of her hands as they both stood up.
"Why won't you listen to reason...?" she asked him, her tone vaguely saddened as their bodies twitched amongst one another through the skirmish.
"Is this why you had to resort to killing an angel? For no reason at all?"
Asphalt glared, and resorted to launching a kick against her lower torso, met with a block from her knee. Then, he grinned widely, laughing as his free hand is able to hit her opening, dead in the chest with a powerful jab.
Aedir grunted, as she was pushed back a bit. Asphalt's grin slowly began to fade.
"No blood..." he grumbled, "so, you are telling the truth."
"Of course I am..." she stated, with a slight hiss.
As they both stood, Asphalt would quickly reexamine the strange area again.
"Just a large, circular pool of water... the size of a lake," Asphalt pointed, "you're from Earth then, aren't you?"
Aedir sighed, "No... I just, well, monitor Earth, from time to time," she admitted, "that's probably why you assume the surroundings look the same... whereas you had no notion of Heaven."
"...Heaven?" Asphalt laughed.
"Is that what this is...?"
"Well, not here," she elaborated, "but on the outside of this area... yes."
"Where we were originally... and when you first came into the ocean of stars."
Asphalt took a moment to pause, and recall his encounter with the other being he destroyed. His memories...
"The merging of opposites," Aedir recalled, her gaze offcast, as if from a memory far, far away, "but you did something unique, Asphalt... or 'As Fault.'"
"You weren't supposed to be here, *yet*."
"When I saw you breaching the heavens... I was shocked, really."
Asphalt began to glare again.
"It doesn't match our fate, you were meant to be dead, when you came here... so the assimilation would be easy."
"Again... an illusion, but a powerful one."
"A... 'singularity', of sorts, to skip forward to the very end of time," she continued, "But here you are... somehow still alive... or something to that effect. Actually, I can't even tell what you are, anymore—"
*"WHY ARE YOU HERE?"* Asphalt shouted, his voice alone reverberating over the waters, causing it to splash and rise faintly around him.
"...What?" Aedir appeared confused, "I thought I just told you... but now?"
She held onto one of her arms, a bit anxious with a downcast gaze, "Now... I'm not so sure."
"This is supposed to be a natural process..." she pointed out, "I would have to kill you, or weaken you enough to get the merge to happen... but that isn't supposed to be the case normally, you see."
"And if I killed you?" Asphalt pointed out, with a wicked smirk on his face, "Because I do not desire to merge with anyone... especially not a disgusting entity like yourself."
Aedir remained silent, then let out another sigh.
"You'd have a hard time... we *both* would have a very hard time killing one another."
"But— your goals here are virtually meaningless. If you used your power to take over various parts of the heaven... there are so *many* parts, to a near infinite scaling that it simply wouldn't matter. At least on Earth you had a limited amount of resources... but here? Why come *here*?"
Silence settled in for but a moment.
"...To tell you the truth, I didn't *actually* expect what I did at Natio to work. It was an experiment... but a successful experiment, nevertheless." Asphalt smiled, "And yet... 'hard' is not 'impossible'."
"Earth is already mine... but the beings that just hide away here, keeping it as some form of sanctuary... I'd like to explore this a bit deeper."
"So, get out of my way." Asphalt said.
"I will not." Aedir replied.
Asphalt hissed, "Then..."
As black worms began to gather around his hand, Aedir gasped.
"Z Aedir... or *'Ze Aedir'*, I'm sure..." he chuckled.
"In some far-off section of my memories... my 'past lives', I'm beginning to recall you. This place... I remember."
"...We had fun, didn't we?"
"But as I'm sure you know, all things must come to an end," Asphalt spat, as more worms gathered around his body, *"AND I WOULD BE DAMNED IF I HAVE TO LIVE THROUGH ANOTHER CYCLE WITH YOU EVER AGAIN."*
Asphalt laughed insanely, as he pointed towards her with an outstretched claw.
"Those millions of lives... *every* one of them under *my* control... is *screaming* at me to wipe you out of existence."
"...Are you ready?"
Chapter Six
So much time had passed. The white landforms, streaked in dark and light blood grew heavy amidst the walls. Their trails... descending downwards. Coating. Answering.
'A CALL, AND AN ANSWER.'
Of what was...
*Paradise*. Unchanged. Unending...
It *never* was!
Asphalt skated across bleached, broken off horizontally floating skyscraper. Warm ichor dripped from his lean, muscular mass. The pale ground was tilted— relapsed.
A dragon...? Such species a serpent, and forced the other to block... it did not hold. Hazardous tendrilled abyssal worms clung and hung to the frame with a devouring precedence. It tackled her... a shriek, and slide. A long lunge, catching up to the standing opposition.
Continued...
Brutal strikes. None held back— serving only with the intent to kill.
Asphalt had never summoned so many. On his back, around his body... penetrating his bones. The worms dug, and bled, and oozed a putrid pus with each overexerted slash. Scunnered by her defense, he gets atop, using her body as a standstill, before ripping her neck clean off between his teeth.
Stray threads of flesh remained from the slight sliver of the supporting body part, leaving her head to sway limply to one side. Involuntarily, his two hind legs kicked, as he flipped back and knocked her off the platform.
Haste. There was to be no stopping— Asphalt quickly scurried over to the edge on all fours, his claws twisting grotesquely around their fibulae as if to crack.
The 'dragon' bellowed, following a high pitched shrill before disintegrating. It's a drop. To a supposedly bottomless, light grey depth. A pale almost white. He followed without question.
Even forgetting he can grow wings, he stacked the worms atop himself. Generating more and more... keeping them from flying away past his body.
The additional weight allowed him to catch up, where he opened his jaws to crunch, pull and sever the last strings attaching her head to her body. Then, he grabbed her head, and crushed it betwixt his adrenaline fueled grasps. The skull pulverized, followed by the imploding grey matter from the sheer pressure exuded.
Covered in his overwhelm of worms, he tossed the remnants with a connection to his body before remotely blowing the line clean in another black, powerfully lingering haze.
His attention shifted back to the main body... which he had not realized dug into his scales. He screeched, in surprise and shock, clutched by what he thought to be a dead, headless mass. The grip was deep— forcing him to rend off his own internals to get her off.
The body fell... he allowed the then building mass like ball on his back to grow into two wings while he panted, allowing his mid torso to regenerate.
Asphalt clung to the air, as he watched the other continue to fall... until disappearing into what seemed like an endless sky below.
The hellish realization of what had just happened caused him to race down after his target. He continued descending, for what felt like almost an eternity amidst the sky masses. Perhaps she had landed on one of the scattered, he thought...?
He paused immediately, realizing his mistake. He sent streams of worms to attack the floating mass at once. They turned white, and immediately dissipate into flora.
He flew up, and landed on a neighboring landmass above, inside something of an open grey cavern. Pearl-colored sigils enshrined her descent, holding it in place. The wounds made in her body closed up. The once headless mass swiftly regenerated, as if nothing had ever happened.
"I told you this wouldn't be easy for either of us." Aedir restated, "You thought *that* could get rid of me? That little *stunt* of yours?"
Asphalt grimaced. Yellow stood cold at an unwavering blue, as she slowly stood up atop the circles, expressionless. Upon her scales grew white furs, amidst spots of grass and a rainbowed plethora of flowers. As the energy flourished, it brought about strong winds... such that covered the once blank landmasses floating in void with her essence, spawning mixed green and white meadows with floral accompaniment.
He kept still, pondering his next move. This magic was a complete unknown to him... yet he could comprehend its reach. Her regenerative abilities also outmatched his own with regards to speed and potency alike.
"...You're at an impasse," she said, as if reading his very mind, "I'm just like you... even if the tiniest shred of my being remains, I can return."
"Except... I can do it better~"
Before he began to notice, a myriad of roses, tulips, and other assortments spun across his feet amidst the mixed grass. Along it, she faded into view, quickly becoming opaque from a once translucence.
Asphalt struck on instinct, but quickly recoiled. He could feel his scales blister and burn as he shrieked in pain, leaping back. The worms that had strangled themselves along his arm turned that pale white as before... as atop the affected arm sizzled, and grew flowers.
Quickly, he slashed it off before it could grow any farther, allowing it to slowly regenerate. In doing so, he ducked away, shielding himself with one wing that he allowed to scatter, and burst in front of her all at once. She blocked, only with a slightly annoyed expression on her face.
With the other wing, he flew out and raced up to the nearest unaffected ground. He found an old court building adorned with white pillars to land atop. The rest of the surrounding landmasses became slowly eaten away by the engulfing meadows, surging towards a gradual completion.
Reappearing in the middle of said ground near his landing, she met his gaze once more.
"*This is the ultimate defense,*" she claimed, "I don't even have to hit you... but I can."
In the midst of regrowing his wing, he attempted to fly to the left as soon as the meadow's reach started to spread over the building's top. Upon retreat, she latched onto his arm and pulled him forward. Something pierced... and sporadically gushed out the back. The sharp ends of a branch spawned from her arm, which quickly grew into a very large, long willow tree.
"Now you get to feel what *my* heart felt after you bit my head off," she muttered, as the tree continued to grow... deepening the wound and carrying him upwards, off his feet.
Asphalt's limp jaw remained opened, stunned. He allowed the separate half of his torso that still remained covered in black worms to tear itself off from the white, and the wounded, blood dripping flesh... providing only a hole driven portion of himself to cling to the air with a slowly corrupted, white wing.
He floundered, gripping onto the air but falling. His mind was gone, acting only on the vestigial remnants in his brain to do something before he fell completely. When he inevitably did, he could feel the white worms counteractively eat away at his black.
As Aedir watched, she cut off her own arm and allowed the tree to grow out its roots atop the alabaster court's roofing, quickly overtaking it while her new arm emerged. Casually, she teleported over to the portion of the rich meadow where Asphalt fell, ready to deliver the finishing blow.
Only as she got there, would she halt... her tail sway changing from a calm, to agitated and confused.
Somewhere, distant, yet strangely nearby.
"Who were you born from?" the familiar, female voice asked.
"I just came into being."
"No parents?"
"...No."
"Must be lonely."
"Existence often is."
"Your purpose?"
"...To spread."
"To spread?"
"..."
"...Hey."
"Your purpose...?" she asked, again.
"...Reconfigure."
Asphalt convulsed. On the ground, he could see the white worms quickly beginning to engulf him... but relax, and slow.
"You..." she sputtered out, backing away slightly, "you're... *adapting* to my essence...?"
Quickly, the white would patch the massive hole in his chest, even as she struck with vines from her arm... not offering him a chance to reemerge.
"Good. Now you must kill the *'me'* that holds the *ego.*"
He held his head in his left hand.
A shot. One that spread past the ineffective vines. Wrapped around them. Coiled. Submerged, and peeled into the very essence. Past its 'surface', past its 'skin'.
The right arm, of both black and white worms alike stretched like song. It reached the far in time's absence, and an egg's shell cracked slowly with each minute piece.
Aider screamed out in agony at the counterattack, but she could not move. The coalescence of both black and white worms alike began to feed on her scales, flesh— being.
It happened too fast.
First from the chest, but all in a flash, moving upwards and along the down.
Everything ate. The worms *ate*, and got *fat*. Some became so engorged that they burst in a mere fraction of a second. Others... they continued eating.
Her voice withered away swiftly, yet to a crawl as her blue eyes rolled up into the back of her skull before it became the lack thereof. Too, bone was nothing.
*And 'Ze Aedir' was gone.*
Once the arm had thoroughly devoured its contents, it crept back like a limp slug. Leaving its residual writhing creatures upon the ground.
Fat, full...
satisfied.
'Asphalt' winced. His head, still held in his left, pained just like the rest of his body. Exorbitant, like a sponge. It was not a type of torture he was familiar with. The counteractive 'brain' turned into nothing. Like a pile of grey goop. Even so, it wanted to hold structure. Something clinging to an acid *boil*.
Then, he too, *screamed*. His claws covered the yellow of his eyes and dug directly into and along his nosebridge. It felt like he was being devoured by himself.
*It was him. And her. And him, and her.*
*And it repeated. Madly.*
And he fell.
Backwards—
Off the landform, and into the white void below.
There is no chapter.
Peace In Union
"It Was Never Meant To Be."