Chapter 7 — Sentient vs Pre-sentient
In a space darker than darkness and blacker than black itself, the being came to. It had no definite form. It had no definite shape either and nor was its size constant. In a single word, it was darkness in and of itself. And like the surroundings it took in with its omni-directional perception, it was also the abyss, perfectly blending into the pitch-black void.
All of a sudden, the void expanded around it to reveal four beasts as well as their respective sovereignty.
To its front was Majestic Wolf with flaming white fur, the space around him twisting and turning as the ground underneath his proud limbs was literally a Sea of Azure Blaze.
To its back, seemingly at a height above it was an Elegant Panther with the most smooth coat of ice-blue fur, his surroundings the definition of a Tundra as he rested atop a Snow-capped Mountain peak.
Focusing to its sides, on the right of it was a Silver Tanuki with Black Streaks across his wide frame, his attention wholly focused on it from atop a Dodecahedral Dice.
And finally, to its left was a Nine-tailed Kitsune larger than all. Unlike the former three, his entire body resembled the Universe with Star-like specks pulsing within his Void-outline. His tails rhythmically slammed the Tiled, board-like ground upon which he stood.
By now it was clear that the five beings within this space were Yurei’s Concepts.
Ira.
Superbia.
Ludificor.
Lusio.
And finally ———
* * * * *
“GRAAAHHH!”
In this space devoid of any matter, Ira howled and pounced on it. His flames followed a beat later, turning pure white as they tried to burn the darkness in which it resided.
‘Wrath can use Resonance if I weaken too much.’
Unlike Ira who took a direct approach due to the circumstances outside, Superbia and the rest stayed where they were, slowly encroaching upon the horizons of its territory.
As it saw Ira advance towards itself, it felt nothing. Even as it saw its home being consumed, it felt nothing. No sort of negative emotion could be sensed from it. Only a single impression of being asked a question could be felt by the four Concepts.
W.h.y?
“GRAAAHHH!” “Grr.” “Tch.” “Guh.”
The Intensity of that thought was enough to stop the three from taking over any further as well as reduce the river of White flames in Ira’s wake to a mere stream as he bit down on it.
‘Cheh. Tastes just like he said it would.’
Not even after having a chunk of it being ripped out of itself made it feel any pain. The only thing that did was make it focus on Ira. Or more specifically, the weird undulating mass held between Ira’s jaws as he spewed out liquid fire to smoulder it to nothingness.
By focusing on Ira, the pressure the other three felt decreased, allowing them to advance again. Sadly, Ira was worse for the wear as the quantity within his jaws instead of being burnt, started to corrode him.
The flames around his body started to fade. His lustrous white fur lost its shine. And finally, his size decreased by an entire fold as he felt himself being swallowed up whole.
Slamming his jaw shut, Ira condensed his body to an even smaller size as his flames turned a shade of black. He knew that only he could face it right now and had to hold out till Superbia could engage yet he couldn’t help but hold back lest he misplaces his sanity and is consumed—
‘!!!’
It was then that things eventually took a turn for the better—
‘Finally!’
“ORRRRAAAAAA!”
A flame twice his size engulfed Ira in a black haze. He felt his entire body burn from within as he grew to almost double his former height. His eyes bloodshot, he pounced at it without any rationale. Unexpectedly, by losing his sanity, Ira managed to claw away at a sizeable amount of it, Wrath’s Malignant Black flames stopping said lumps from retreating and assimilating with it.
* * *
For what felt like an eternity, Ira thrashed about and lashed out at it in order to get a hold of what Wrath did to him. The power he received from Resonance was truly a double-edged sword. When he came to, he recollected what he did, and felt exhaustion wash over him despite his body evolving back to its actual size.
“Superbia!” Ira barked out in a rough tone, “How much longer!?”
At his question, Superbia focused his senses outwards, “She’s on the move. Hold out a little more.”
Hearing his reply, Lusio directed a probing glance at Ludificor, “Is it ready?”
“Of course it is. Any more and I’ll get a Three instead.”
“Alright. Superbia?”
“Tch. All that’s needed is Pride’s Resonance. More importantly…”
“Hmm?” Lusio tilted his head at Superbia’s glare.
“Grr. Forget it. He’ll deal with you,” he muttered before gazing at Ira’s struggle below.
“Lusio! You shit! FUCCKKK!” Ira shouted as a inferno of black flames erupted out of him.
“He’ll chew you out on this Lusio,” Ludificor followed with a calm tone yet the black streaks all across his body were all but calm.
“Oh stop guilt-tripping me. You all know it’s necessary to maintain the power balance between us.”
“““I really fucking hate you!”””
“Hahahaha! You mean to say ‘love’ right?! Well, then. Let’s finish this game.”
All at once, the four Concepts extracted a portion of their very being, their Energies flaring up within the space as it blankly observed them.
* * * * *
‘Cheh. You better show some reaction after all of this you piece of shit!’
With Ira retreating to his own territory, the flames around him congealed into an enormous thick black chain with more growing out of the Azure ground. With each chain-link that emerged, Ira seemed to grow weaker and weaker until three entire sets of restraints were fully formed.
* * *
‘I really don’t like these perfect murders of yours, Lusio. It takes out all of the fun.’
With that thought bare to them, Ludificor poured his Self into the dice below. Slowly rotating, the dice and Ludificor’s positions swapped as the dice grew in size, rivalling his own as it now trembled above his head with an ever-increasing rotational speed.
* * *
‘It’s only natural Ludificor. He made this plan because he knew this would happen.’
Retorting to Ludificor, Superbia imbued his Self into the mountain upon which he rested. The air around the mountain grew eerily still as the snow on the peak and ground melted to form ice-cold water ready to lash out at a moment's notice.
* * *
‘Despite the fact that he knew, it’s amazing how meticulous he is. Even though he hates it, he left a plan detailing how much I should put in.’
Voicing his thoughts, Lusio looked at his tails to see one of them gradually losing its stability, the stars within dimming at an awfully rapid rate.
* * *
Having finished their preparations, all that was left was Superbia’s signal when Pride used Resonance. With that extra power, hopefully, they would be able to seal it long enough to rouse Yurei and ultimately regain control.
* * * * *
Eventually, the moment came when Superbia felt something far more powerful take control of him, filling him with an immeasurable sense of superiority which he quickly quelled.
“Now!”
“Hateful Chains of Self-loathing!”
“Arrogant Coffin of Vanity!”
“Two as expected. The Fool’s Ignorant Rise & The Fool’s Foolish Fall!”
“Oh, he’s gonna nag at me so much for this. Sacrificial Requiem — Game of Lost Emotions!”
Right after Superbia cried out, all of them launched their attacks. The three Fiery-black chains around Ira rushed forward to wrap around it as the Ice-cold water from Superbia’s mountain left a trail of frost. Being encased in a Globular Ice-Coffin, it watched as the Die above Ludificor stopped at two before being hit by a Giant Steel Mallet from below. Rising up into the void, its ascension stopped partway as Hammer made of Pure Black Lightning struck it from above.
Rapidly falling, it witnessed as the space below it split apart in a neat fold exactly like a trap door to reveal a Toxic-chemical vat containing a Whirlpool of Prismatic Colours.
Sinking into the maelstrom within, something seemed to stir inside of itself, a single distorted thought emerging from its pre-sentient mind.
W̴̪̬̦͊̓́ ̷̙̠͕̂h̴̝̒̈́̀ ̸̳̩͋̔ͅ ̵̹͒̂̎ ̶̲̣͌̽̏͂a̷̡͕̐͠͝ ̷̬͈͒͌ ̶̤̀̇̍͜ť̷͉̣͇?̷̰́̑̊͒͜
* * * * *
*poof*
*poof* *poof* *poof*
Having completely exhausted themselves, the four exploded into fire, ice, cards and dice to reveal their chibi forms. As the space around them undulated, they laid down on the regal-looking bed within a room made of ice. By the side on the sofa, they could see an unconscious Yurei with tendrils of darkness coiling around his arms and neck. These tendrils pulsed bestially as they jeopardized the structural integrity of the entire Palace.
“Kon!” Lusio cheekily let out a whisper. ‘See! It’s finally learning!’
“Gao~” Ira covered his ears with his paws. ‘Kay, it’s gaining Sentience so shut up, my ears hurt from that last thought of its.’
“Gan.” Ludificor flicked his tail, materializing headphones within their Mental World to Ira’s relief. ‘We’re all glad about it Lusio. But for now, we really need to rest.’
“nya.” Letting out a purr, Superbia lazily looked at Lusio before closing his eyes. ‘The sooner we recover the better. That spell of yours will truly sting him and I’d rather not have this place trashed because of his rampage.’
“gao.” “gan.”
Looking at the three of them that soon fell asleep, Lusio could only wryly shake his head. Peering through the Starless-sky outside the window, ‘Idiot’; Lusio found a spot on the bed and patted it a few times before laying down.
“kon.” ‘Good night.’
