*lub...

dub.* 

The faint, almost inaudible sound, one Nyx found tantalisingly familiar, resonated in the strange not-quite-jet-black world he suddenly found himself. Simultaneously, a volatile mixture of confusion, excitement, fear, hope and desire came together in a nauseating concoction slightly distracting him from the familiar, yet forgotten, shade before him. 

It had been a long time since Nyx had to think or process much more than his emotions. His bleak future seemingly set in stone in which he was just along for the ride. The feeling that anything could happen, bad or good, was almost overwhelmingly daunting.

Nyx felt his soul tremble with anticipation as he began to investigate his surroundings. The dark red, almost black tint, not the same darkness as the transitions between each cycle nor the pitch-blackness he subconsciously craved, contained smaller splashes of colour that seemed to move when he tried to focus on them. Something that quickly turned into a game as he tried to corral the colours in a particular direction.

It was only when a small pulse-like wave rippled from within, bringing with it an ominous, unsettling feeling that he stopped. The sensation that something was wrong only grew as he started to think about his strange situation. He had been summoned enough times, even reliving a few instances repeatedly in the sphere, to know that there should be a lot more than what he was experiencing. At the bare minimum, he should have a body that he could control.

"My name is Nyx." Trying to calm himself, Nyx repeated the mantra without thinking, barely registering that his projected voice was nothing more than a thought. However, it wasn't long before he noticed something else that was strange. 

While it had been easily ignorable at first, like he was being wrapped in a soft blanket, an uncomfortable pressure was steadily growing with each passing moment. It pressed in from all sides, quickly feeling like he was being crushed at the bottom of an ocean.

*-lub dub.* 

The pressure continued to increase as the drum-like sound of his heart stabilised and became more consistent. Yet Nyx didn't pay it any mind as the fear and anxiety overtook any excitement he still held. A vague concept, feeling as if he was being forced into something far too small and weak surfaced. While it felt that whatever it was, was moments away from exploding, there was also the hazy notion that it wasn't quite the right shape.

*lub dub.* 

A strange sensation, cold and unpleasant, caused Nyx to shudder as the urge to vomit grew. It wasn't the same ice-like coldness he somewhat enjoyed, but the chilling sensation of imminent doom that he remembered so well.

Death. 

It had been a long time since he had felt the sensation first hand, but unlike the other obscure memories or feelings, Nyx instantly recognised it. He, or at least his new body, was dying.

The image of a grey world filled with ash flicked across Nyx's mind's eye, calming him. Though it wasn't home, it was a safer place than the physical realms. That, and depending on where he appeared, he might be able to quickly make his way to the Abyss. A place where no one, not even other souls, would be able to touch him. Just thinking about it made him want to reach out and snuggle into the pitch-black veil.

...

Nyx's mind ground to a halt as the memory of the multiple attempts to summon him in the sphere appeared. The feeling as if he had just run headfirst into a wall returned his thoughts to a jumbled mess as the sense of doom increased.

Attempting to force his thoughts back on track, Nyx searched for an answer. Yet, no matter how hard he tried, he could only come up with one explanation. Someone had his soul crystal, an object that bound his soul to a physical realm, and knew how to use it. 

The fact that he had resisted its call a few times, something that he had never been able to do before, wasn't reassuring him in the slightest. He couldn't even begin to guess the countless possibilities of what could have caused it. It-

"Nyx~."

His thoughts froze at the recollection of the old woman's voice. With that, he felt all of his hopes crumble as the cold sensation grew.

"...Eternal Loop of Althernris."

His soul wavered as images of his tribulations flashed through his mind's eye. He had endured. He had even escaped. But... what would happen when his new body expired? When his soul was forcefully evicted from the world and sent back to the land of the dead. 

Would he find himself in the Ashy wasteland, the comforting void or... endless cycles of pain and torment? One that would, like dripping water on stone, eventually wear him down

*lub dub.* 

The heartbeat, his heartbeat, snapped Nyx out of his panicked thoughts. The pressure on his soul had stopped rising as quickly. However, it was still there. Occasionally, he could feel a painful, jerky shudder. 

Every time it did, the pressure would ease off slightly. However, it was always accompanied by the sense of impending doom significantly increasing.

"I... this body... can't die. I... can't die."

The thoughts of him being forced into a tiny container returned as Nyx imagined an item that was like a plastic bottle. It was starting to bloat outwards as small, crack-like lines appeared at the weakest points. He didn't understand where or why he thought that, but once Nyx had he couldn't push the nagging sensation aside.

"I... my soul... too powerful? Not... possible." Having only spoken his mantra-like chants for so long and experiencing emotions in their purest form, Nyx struggled to find words to express his thoughts coherently. He knew that souls only grew when they absorbed another, either entirely or the small amounts of energy released when they were involved in another's death. There was even a rumour that belief could grant those similar to him power. Some thought that was how the gods got theirs, but none of that seemed to make sense for Nyx. He had been trapped with no form of substance for... He didn't know how long. Still, the thoughts were quickly pushed aside as his instincts took over.

Survive no matter the cost.

The single thought flashed through Nyx's mind as he spread his awareness. He quickly discovered he had no control over the container, or much for that matter. Yet he knew there was one thing he could control. The one thing that they could never take from him.

Himself.

Without really knowing what he was doing, the image of a pitch-black humanoid made of swirling gas appeared in Nyx's mind's eye as he focused on compressing it. At first, it didn't seem to budge, causing the panic he felt to increase. But, just as Nyx was about to give up, it abruptly shrunk in a jerky, unstable motion.

Nyx felt agonising pain without any source as the mental image slowly stabilised. Without any way to express what he was feeling, his thoughts and senses becoming muddled for a few moments, Nyx repeated his mantra as he held onto consciousness. 

Only after his thoughts cleared that he realised that the pressure wasn't as intense as it had been, yet, the ice-cold sensation that bombarded his soul hadn't vanished. 

"More."

Nyx's soul shuddered for a few moments before it once again compressed. As he tried to gather his scattered thoughts in the aftermath, he was vaguely aware that there might have been a few pops and faint thumps this time.

"More~."

During his tribulations in the sphere, Nyx had learnt a depressing fact. That pain wasn't something one could get used to no matter how times you experienced it. Yes, the tolerance of a particular type could be temporarily increased if endured repeatedly during a short time. Yet that only allowed him to function at a basic level. 

"My name is Nyx."

The pain slowly subsided as Nyx internally hissed at the concept and let himself recover for a few moments before continuing. Just as the thought of giving up appeared, he brutally smashed it down.

"Mo-" 

Finding that his willpower was starting to crumble, Nyx didn't give himself time to think as he continued to compress his soul at an alarming rate. At the recess of his consciousness, fears and doubts about what he was doing raged. For all he knew, he could be irreversibly damaging his soul, but the potential alternative seemed far worse. 

He vaguely felt that he understood how a wolf, mauling its leg to remove it from a bear trap, might feel. There was even the stray thought that maybe he was still stuck in his eternal prison, enduring its latest attempt at destroying the last of his sanity and sense of self.

Soon everything but the need to survive and the relentless pain faded into obscurity as Nyx's consciousness flickered like a candle in the wind. It was only when an enormous, dull thud shook his awareness from its numbed state that he finally stopped. 

Unable to stop himself, Nyx basked in the mindless relief caused by the lack of pain and feeling of dread. It was only as his senses slowly expanded outwards, connecting to flesh, bone and muscle, that he was able to reformulate coherent thought.

The urge to smile bubbled up from the depths as Nyx thought that he had cheated death and his supposed fate once again. That they only held a tentative hold over him, one that he would someday shatter. 

Slowly, his senses connected and integrated with his new body, bringing the strange notion that his muscles were spasming. The idea was only furthered as he started to feel faint, pressure-like impacts across the back of his body and head. It was almost as if his body was violently thrashing around and hitting unknown objects.

Nyx wanted to gasp as the sensation of pins and needles exploded across his body. While it couldn't be compared to the pain he had experienced, the feeling was so uncomfortable that Nyx momentarily wondered which would have been more preferable.

Luckily, it quickly died down as aches, pains, a cold airflow across his skin, and hard surface appeared. The feelings were so sudden that Nyx barely noticed that his body's spasms had increased to the point only a small portion of it touched the cold surface below.

His focus was pulled from the various sensations as he discovered a constrictive, burning feeling gradually building around his chest. He felt like he should know what it was, that he had experienced it many times, frustrated Nyx. Yet, just like before, he was quickly distracted as four patches of warm pressure appeared on his body.

The pressure, one on each shoulder and his upper legs, felt incredible even if a little painful. The warmth seemed to seep into his body, bringing with it a sense of comfort and yearning that shocked him.

"-ing hells!" 

Two faint pops preceded the booming, masculine voice that reverberated in Nyx's ears and made instinctively wince. Not only that, but his body had tensed for a few moments before whatever was causing it to shake regained control. 

Danger.

Nyx didn't even notice his body's involuntary movements as he was reminded that he had been summoned and, if the past was something to go by, would be quickly enslaved. His bodies struggle intensified, seemingly twisting and contorting far more than should be able for a human. 

His movements were locked down, his senses muddled or not working, and he was at his enemy's mercy.

He had no control.

A shiver ran through Nyx's new body as he desperately tried to look around. However, he could only see the same red-black colour, if a little lighter. Another difference was there were white dust-like spots at the peripheral that seemed to grow and shrink along with his heartbeat.

The panic steadily built up as he tried to manipulate the natural essence around him as he had done in the past. Only, instead of power, all he felt was an unnerving sensation similar to being suddenly dropped from a great height before coming to a sudden stop.

Nyx focused his senses towards his chest, noticing to his dismay that there was no sign of mana or body cultivation. The incorporeal core of the advance races or the beasts' heart-like crystal was nowhere to be found.

He was in what many called a mundane body, the weakest of lifeforms.

"No"

Nyx vaguely registered the sensation of clenching his jaw, there seemed to be something hard and dry stopping him from completely closing it, as he drew upon the power of his soul. While it was pretty useless in the physical realms, he would be able to momentarily stagger those with weaker souls and create a mental map of his surroundings if he released a concentrated pulse.

Yet, after gathering his energy to his chest, Nyx felt a sinking sensation akin to dispair as a tiny, tap-like sound rippled outwards. It wasn't even strong enough to escape the confines of his body.

...

Nyx was in disbelief. Yet he was brought out of his daze as the constricting, burning sensation wrapping his chest exploded as his heartbeat thundered in his ears. At the same time, he felt two lines of stinging, sharp pain running down each side of his lower abdomen coming together in what felt like a V shape. 

"By the maker, what's going on?" A different man spoke to Nyx's left, seemingly in sync with the increased pressure on his shoulder and leg on that side.

"Damn it, Hold her down. James hasn't finished closing her up." Another voice, sounding far rougher and older, appeared from somewhere near Nyx's legs. "David! Stop acting like a scared child and help us."

"O...okay." Another voice appeared, this one shaky and uncertain. It almost sounded like the person was about to bolt.

Two more warm spots appeared. The first pressed down at the centre of Nyx's chest while the other landed on his forehead, pinning him in place on what he now recognised to be cold stone. There was a hot, slightly thick liquid that trailed down his sides of his stomach and pooled at his sides. The further it ran up his body, the colder and stickier it felt.

"Forget closing her up. She's not breathing." The first voice returned. "If she dies, we are fucked."

"Oh, gods, dad's going to kill me." A new voice, sounding too young and panicked, appeared somewhere to Nyx's right. 

"Four." Without meaning to, Nyx counted the number of voices around him as well as their vague positions. If the warm spots where hands meant that three of them had him pinned while a fourth, the one worrying about his dad, was a little further away just out of striking distance. That was if he could move. However, that thought vanished as he focused on an important word. 

Breathing. 

The sudden realisation shocked him almost as much as it made him feel stupid. The constrictive, burning sensation that felt so familiar along with the white spots and his scrambled consciousness seemed so obvious now.

He wasn't breathing.