"I promise I'll be back, little sis! I'd never leave you alone..."
~
"I... Need to... Get out of- AGH!"
Eli was awfully injured from the crash and fall he had just suffered. He tried to walk, but he was too weak to even move. He put all his remaining force in trying to stand up, but it was useless. He dropped to the ground in the attempt, his breathing slowly intensifying and his hands shaking. His eyes started to close, and he couldn't take the pain anymore.
"This can't be the end... IT CAN'T BE!" He screamed from the top of his lungs. "DIIRAN! IRIS! SOMEONE! I can't die here, not with all this happening..."
He shed a tear in despair, letting all of his fear rush out. It rolled down his face, and it dropped on the bandage on his hand. He closed his eyes as a sign of surrender, but a strange light made him open them up again.
"What the... Huh?"
The bandage was now glowing, and Eli was pretty confused by what he was witnessing. He thought that maybe his tear had made an effect on the bandage, so he looked for water around him to make that happen again. He crawled around the place, barely getting a grip on the sand, still really hurt and tired.
"Maybe this bandage can help me... Did Iris know I'd eventually need this?" He thought as he still moved around. "Either or, thank god I have this with me right now..."
He kept crawling, finally being able to spot a small pond from afar. He started to limit all his movements, for the pain started to intensify. He was screaming in pain, but he was finally close enough to drench the bandage in the pond.
"Please work..." He whispered with a tone of despair.
He put the bandage in the water, and to his luck, it started glowing again. He quickly unwrapped it from his hand, and he started wrapping it around his ankle. He could feel the bandage emitting some heat, which was a sting at first but was pretty tolerable afterwards. He took a deep breath, and as soon as he looked back at his foot he could move it again with ease. His entire leg felt better, so he did the same with the other leg. He used the bandage to heal his entire body, and the pain slowly faded away from his body and soul. He felt stable again, and that was a big step for him in this situation.
"Thank you, Iris..." He said as he closed his eyes.
As he closed them, he had a few flashbacks of the things she had said to him before. He remembered the last time he saw her, and every word that came along with that moment.
"You're my... what? What was she going to say? Why did I have to interrupt her!?" Eli said with anger in his voice. "I better ask her next time I see her. But I need to get out of here first."
He now had the strength to stand up, and walked around the place a little. He looked up, and he could barely see the sky above. He wondered how he was still not dead after such a long fall, but now was not the time to worry about that. Eli had to find Mara and stop her from harming Penny.
"I'm coming for you, Mara! This isn't over yet!" He screamed.
He jumped and tried to fly, only to leave his face engraved on the sand below him. He didn't have the energy to fly, which was yet another obstacle for him.
"Well, that's not good..." Eli said as he sighed. "There's no light sources here! What the heck am I supposed to do?"
He tried to create fire, but all he could create was a spark. There was no way he would find a way out if he stayed still, so he kept walking around. The place was really eerie, everything was dark, and there was no noise other than the one Eli did as he walked. Even though he felt it would be useless, he tried to call for help.
"Diiran? Iris? Anyone around here?" He yelled. "Come on, I need to get out of this place! An extra hand would come in handy!"
As soon as he went quiet, he heard a strange noise. He couldn't recognize it at first, but he soon enough understood what it was. Something was howling from afar, and the sound got closer and closer at a quick pace. Eli looked around, but there was nothing near. But as soon as he left his guard down, he got tackled by a white furry beast. He got scared to death for a moment, but then he realized who it was.
"... Or paw! I guess an extra paw could help!"
It had been ages since the last time Eli had seen Echo. He was wagging his tail in excitement, and Eli couldn't help but smile.
"Long time no see, buddy!" Eli said, receiving a bark in return. "I've missed you a lot! But, wait... How did you get here?"
"I thought it was about time I let him in here!" A familiar voice said.
"Wait! DIIRAN! Where the hell are you?" Eli screamed.
"In your thoughts! I can see why Demille could make his way here, getting to your mind is pretty easy!" Diiran replied.
"... Should I be offended or flattered?"
"It means you're able to think about a lot of things at the same time! It's good when you don't have any gods near you, I guess."
"Um, yeah! Great! Now, HOW THE FUCK DO I GET OUT OF HERE?"
"Losing your sanity isn't the best thing to do right now, Eli! Calm down, take a deep breath, and focus..."
Eli inhaled deeper than he had ever done before. He could feel the cold air fill his lungs, and he was able to relax. He caught a smirk, and he was ready to escape with his furry friend.
"Alright, there's no sources of light nearby and I can't create my own. Any alternatives?"
"I don't think you can find any light in this place... But there might be another way. You used to be a child of Darkness, right?"
"Heh, you've sure been checking on me since the beginning! Where are you trying to go with this?"
"I think you'll need to go back to your roots for this. You'll need to absorb darkness if you want to get energy."
"I guess that makes sense. Alright then, I better find a darkness source quickly."
"Wait! There's something you need to know! Try to not think about anything evil, this place can make your worst thoughts come true..."
"I'm guessing I'm not the first one to fall here then?"
"Correct, but hopefully you're the first one to actually make it out alive."
"... Shit."
Eli was scared now, but it was too late to go back. His hands balled up as fists, and he kept walking forward. He did his best to keep his mind clear, but trying was what led him to messing up.
"There better not be any dark dragons here... OH, FUCK!"
The ground instantly started to shake, a dark dragon emerging from such. Its eye instantly turned red as it spotted Eli and Echo, and Eli was ready to fight back. He wielded his sword, but he then remembered that he couldn't fly. He wasn't able to reach the dragon's weak spots from below, so he started to freak out.
"This isn't good... NOT GOOD AT ALL!" He screamed.
He tried to run, but he heard something that made him stop. He turned around, and he noticed that Echo was growling. He could see his fangs, and he was standing as if he was ready to attack.
"Echo...?" Eli said with amaze in his voice. Echo started to growl even more, and he then howled in a way the young god had never heard before. The white wolf rushed to attack the dark dragon, biting it in ways that were shocking to watch. He ripped lots of its scales off as it roared in pain, until it finally dropped to the floor and died. Eli couldn't even speak, and he even found it confusing how Echo passed from being an absolute feral monster to the cute loyal wolf he's always been.
"You... EH!? I never knew you could do that!" Eli screamed. Echo only wagged his tail and licked his shoe. "Heh! I guess dealing with the dangers here won't be the worst thing then."
Eli pat his powerful friend and he kept walking, still looking for a source of darkness he could get energy from. He tried to keep his mind blank, or at least try to think about positive things. He started talking to Echo, since he knew that he'd understand everything he would say.
"You know, Echo? I'm really worried about Penny..." He said. "Do you think she's ok?"
Echo replied with yet another growl, making Eli get a little confused. "Eh? Angry? Why would she be angry?" He realized that Echo wasn't looking forward, so he turned to the direction he was looking. The growling now made sense, for in front of them was a girl with short hair and crimson eyes, looking like she was thirsty for blood.
"Oh, right..." Eli said as he wielded his sword. The shadow rushed to try and attack Eli, but it was nothing that he couldn't handle. Even though he couldn't fly, he could still move around with ease, dodging and parrying every single attack. "Don't panic, Eli. It's just a shadow..." Eli said to himself as he started to land hits on what seemed to be the love of his life. At last, he thrusted the sword into the shadow's chest, making it vanish like fog.
"Ha! I might have no power, but that doesn't get rid of my fighting spirit!" Eli said as he took the sword back to its case. "Oh, how much I've grown..."
He smiled and kept looking around for a source of darkness. And at last, he found something that looked convincing. There was a pond full of tarr, and Eli looked at it with confidence.
"Jackpot!" Eli said as he felt a huge sensation of relief. "Well, here goes nothing..."
He placed his hand in the pond, feeling a little pain as he did. He focused on trying to absorb all its darkness, and he could see it slowly coming up through his arm. It got even more painful as the tarr rose, and something about it didn't feel right.
"Diiran..." Eli said with an unsteady voice. "Are you sure this is going to work? It hurts!"
"I honestly have no clue, but it must be part of the process. Come on, try to hang in there!" Diiran replied.
Eli's breathing intensified, his body gaining an even darker color than usual. He started to shake, his eyes losing their glow and the light in his chest slowly dissipating. He was too terrified to keep going, and he quickly took his hand off the pond before it got worse.
"AH! Diiran, this doesn't feel right!" Eli said. "Th- There must be another way! This is so painful!"
"Oh, Eli..." Diiran said with a worried tone. "I'm so sorry! I really thought it would work but I might have been wrong... I guess we can flip the page now, try looking for a light source!"
"Don't worry, it did make sense after all. But yeah, now I REALLY need to get my light back. I'll tell you if I can find anything."
"Hang in there, Eli. Flockya needs you..."
The voice disappeared after that phrase was spoken, leaving Eli and Echo alone yet another time. Echo was really close to Eli, making sure that he wouldn't get hurt. Eli was nearly limping from how weak he was now, but he had to keep going. The place they were in only got darker and darker, making Eli get a little worried.
"I'm not abandoning my friends... I can't die here..." Eli said. "Come on! Why is there nothing around here!? I LOSING MY PATIE-"
"Skye? Skye! Where are you?"
"Wha- What the..."
Eli heard a strange voice coming from behind him. He turned around, but there was nothing there. Echo started to growl, and Eli wielded his sword even though he was weak. He started to get closer to the sound, until he could finally see something. It was still blurry, but it was a cyan figure moving at the distance.
"Come on! I told you that wandering is dangerous around here! Skye!"
Eli was scared of getting too close, but he had to figure out why this person was screaming his friend's name. He began to run, and Echo ran by his side. Eli was ready to fight, but his sprinting came to an abrupt stop when he saw the person up close. His hair was really familiar, his cape a light blue color and wearing a mask with a line crossing one of his eyes.
"Come on, Skye! Please, this place is so- AGH!"
The person got scared and jumped in fear. Echo started to growl even more, but Eli placed his hand in front of him.
"Not now, buddy..." Eli said. Echo understood and stopped being aggressive, sitting down and staying still.
"Wh- Who are you!? Please don't hurt me!" The person said. "I promise I won't come back, please just let me go!"
"Relax, I'm not going to harm you!" Eli said with a calm voice. "I'm a god that's trying to escape this place. What is your name, kid?"
"How can I know that I can trust you, eh?" He said with a bold tone. Eli started to get a little confused, for the guy's way of reacting was exactly the same to what he would have done.
"Listen, we're both trying to find someone here. I promise I won't do anything to you. And if I do, you can take my sword." Eli said as he placed it on the floor. The guy looked at it for a moment, and then brought his eyes back to Eli.
"... Fine. My name's Eli. What about you, Mr. God?"
Eli couldn't believe it. It was actually a past version of him that he was talking to. He tried to act like he wasn't surprised, so he kept talking.
"Actually, how about you stick to that name?" Eli said. "As a matter of fact, I shouldn't be with you right now, so I wouldn't want to give you information that could potentially harm you."
"Heh, sounds fair enough. Well, in that case I better get going!"
"Wait! Considering that the rule's already broken, I might as well tell you a few things."
"Oh? What is it, Mr. God?"
Eli smiled behind his mask, and he turned around. He sat down, took a deep breath, and started talking.
"I'm a god, Eli. That means I know a lot of things! And luckily, I know your future..."
"Wait, what!? Tell me everything!" The clone said as he sat down next to him.
"Heh... Eli, you're a great guy. I know you haven't had the greatest of experiences here so far, but I know that's going to change. You are going to alter who you are and become a hero. You'll reach places that lots of children of the Light find impossible to reach. You'll grow, ascend, evolve... You'll become as strong as me one day!"
"WOW! Is there anything else I should know?"
"Hmmm... You know, the path won't be easy, kid. There will be enemies that you'll have to face, challenges that will make you feel like you can't continue anymore. But it's in those moments where you have to stand up and prove the world that you are worthy. You'll become more powerful than anyone will ever imagine! And..."
"Oh? Why'd you stop, Mr. God?"
"... You'll meet someone really special, Eli. Someone that'll show you what true love really feels like. You'll protect her, make her happy, help her escape the dark fate she's been trapped in against her will... You'll love her in ways not even I can explain..."
"So what you're saying is... I'll finally be happy?" The kid said as his emotions started to flow. Eli shed a tear from all the things he was feeling, dropping on the bandage and making it glow again. At last, he smiled and looked at the younger version of himself.
"You'll finally be happy, Eli. Now get going, a great adventure is waiting for you."
"Just one more thing, Mr. God..."
The young child of Light stood up and hugged Eli, and the god wrapped his arms around him in return. He felt a warmth in his heart, as if he was recovering his inner essence. And thus, he figured it out. Hugging himself made him recover the energy he needed to get out of here. His cape was glowing yet another time, and his eyes went back to shining the way they always did.
"Thank you for everything!" The youngling said. "I promise I won't let you down!"
"My pleasure, Eli!" The god said. "Now, it's about time I go do my thing. You keep being the great child of Light you've always been, okay? I'll be on my way!"
"Wait, Mr. God! If you don't mind me asking... What is your fate?"
"You know, Eli..." He said as he picked up his sword. "An enemy once told me something really wise. A god doesn't follow fate... They create one of their own."
Eli smiled and looked at himself for the last time. After that, he turned around and flew out of the place. Echo lively barked at the little version of his owner, and he climbed his way out of the dark pit.
"The key was to think about yourself... I'm happy it went that way." Eli said as he headed for the Eye of Eden.