Alone in the Omniverse

A cool breeze blew over Rozmer as he walked down a silent New York sidewalk. Cupping a hand to his mouth he lit his last cigarette of the night, letting the smoke trail off in the wind. For the city that never sleeps it certainly was quiet out. Not that he minded. Most of Rozmer's time was spent crowded by so many different noises, sounds and people, it really was almost maddening. Even now, he was experiencing an infinity of possibilities in an innumerable number of realities. It was nice to have a quiet moment...but not here. The city street was grey and dull tonight, smoke rising from a nearby manhole cover. All the nearby shops were boarded up and the only other soul was a lone homeless man passed out in an alley. This simply wouldn't do, especially not as the place to enjoy the nights last cigarette. 

Ducking into the alley, Rozmer appeared immediately on the viewing deck on the 86th floor of the Empire State Building. That's more like it, he mused to himself, taking a drag from his cigarette. He had to admit it was a beautiful sight. It was this sort of thing, this peaceful beauty that kept someone like Rozmer going. The world was so complex and it was only one in an infinity. He had to step back from it every now and then and enjoy the beauty of a single world. Tonight, that beauty was a Marlboro atop the Empire State building. 

For a few minutes he stood there in silence, the embers from his cigarette finally dying into ash. Solemnly he let it drop, watching as the burn out remains drifted 86 floors down to the streets below. As it got about half way down he could swear it took the form of a man, clinging to his last seconds of life before hitting the pavement below. Rozmer had seen this man before. He was the one who had thrown him, from this very balcony in another dimension, his home dimension.  He missed it dearly. For all its faults, the pain it had caused him, it was still home. More importantly, it had been home to Shelby. Of all the things from his world, he missed her the most. After his accident, no one but her had cared or even reached out to the lonely Void. She was his friend, the only person who had tried for him. And thinking of her only reminded him of how alone he was. There was not another being like him, not only in this reality but in any he had encountered. I miss you Shelby, he spoke lifting his head to the stars. Some day I'll find you again, this time I'll keep you safe...I promise.

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends... John 15:13. Maybe it was something beyond comprehension. The reason that one sacrifices himself for the others, and the stability of the world around them, for their friends, their cherished ones. But to ask one why they did this is to ask why one truly cared and for THAT, was the question in which had no true answer. The caring of another, the selflessness that comes with love, compassion and comradery was something that had eluded the Archon for his entire existence. Regardless of where he went, he developed attachments, and then they fell to ashes, just as everything he touched. Perhaps it was most fitting, for someone like him. Weren't emotions the bane of his existence as they were? Then so it would perhaps be fitting for everything he loved, and everything he touched turned to ashes...so that it might simply fall through his hands and be happier... better off.

   Austyn quite literally experienced an event that changed his life entirely. It was called "The Awakening" in which his powers, and his existential transcendence had opened the "eyes of his soul" into the grand scheme of things. Believe it or not, it was more than he had planned, and so much more. An entire existence, and the cells of existence within the whole. A large body within the society of souls, and to them the entirety of everything and anything one could imagine. He had seen the Omniverse itself, though it was revealed under a different name, it was the name that perhaps suited most. His eyes opened as he sighed, the moisture of his breath visible, given a foggish form within the night-chilled air. He loosened the bow-tie until it was just a ribbon around his neck, hidden by the pristine white collar of his buttoned down shirt under his black vest. He decided tonight that he would go to his little get-away. The place he always went when life got tough, or when life was confusing him, he would go to the top of the good ol' ESB to clear his head. And after that Banquet fiasco...he desperately needed to "clear the mechanism" so to speak. The elevator dinged as he walked out, his nice tux made a total mess, his vest and under-shirt unbuttoned as he had a cell-phone in his hand, his hair was a mess and his eyes blood-shot from stress and the constant mauling over previous events.

    Every time he closed his eyes he could see it, the same kid, the same young man using himself to sustain an entire place...and paying the price for it. The flash of heavenly yellows, the clashing of celestial greens and clarity unlike any he had ever known. But this clarity only baffled him. He pressed the button, and he was roof-top bound. Stopping at the top floor first obviously, but that aside it was a short flight up beyond that. The same images playing through his mind, being all he could think of. Slowly he began to understand them, but not quite yet... not quite yet. Little did he know upon the roof-top there was another being there, one that preceded him here this evening, and to that being a word would be spoken.

   The eyes are opened. Lead the way. To which that was all that was said, as Austyn began to walk upon the roof, looking at Rozmer for a second before nodding and walking over to the edge as he sat down and looked over the edge, looking to the street below.

The eyes are opened. Lead the way. The voice rang as if coming from nowhere and everywhere simultaneously. Rozmer jumped back, his eyes scanning the night sky frantically. He'd herd enough disembodied voices to know that they usually meant trouble. But this was so cryptic, so strange. Had he somehow accidentally tapped into the psychic projections of a telepath, intercepting their message. Or was this message meant for him. Worried, he stepped back, his eyes never leaving the sky. "Who are you" he yelled to the heavens above. "Show yourself!" he commanded, sternness in his voice. Taking another step back he prepared himself for a fight but instead stepped on something that hadn't been there before, the foot of some other creature. A second Rozmer halfway inside the first but facing in the opposite direction. At the same moment he reached out and grabbed at the collar of the possible assailant. "Who are you?!" he sneered, his teeth bearing as the first Rozmer vanished from sight. 

It wasn't until now that he'd actually gotten a look at the stranger. He was a boy, no more than a few years younger than himself. His clothes were disheveled, unbuttoned and hanging awkwardly from his body as though they'd been hastily adjusted and his eyes were those of a man who'd just gone through hell. Whatever this kid had been up to prior to arriving here, it had been anything but peaceful. Looking at the boy, he couldn't help but think of himself in the first few months after his transformation. The Omniverse had opened before him and he was overwhelmed with the sensory experience of a billion lifetimes every second. Those first few months had been the hardest, fighting to grasp sights and experiences that his mortal mind could never have comprehended. Granted, this boy certainly wasn't going through that but the look of stress was real and palpable. 

With a sigh he released the boy's collar and lightly dusted his shoulders. "Sorry kid" he said, his eyes communicating regret and sadness "got a little bit carried away there."  Trying to recover he took a few steps back towards the guard rail and leaned his back against it. Reaching for his back pocket he produced a lolipop and lazily ripped apart the wrapping before plopping the artificial cherry treat in his mouth. "Come up here to think? Clear your head? To get away from the buzz and hurry of city life?" He was trying to spark up conversation, determine the mental state of the worn down form before him. "I'd offer you a cigarette but I just burned through my last one" he laughed, tossing the wrapper over the edge of the rail to be carried off by the wind. "So tell me, what's got you so tightly wound?" The voice from earlier still echoed in Rozmer's head. Could it have come from this kid? It wasn't unlikely but it was an odd thing to project into someone's mind. The eyes are open. Lead the way. The words sparked a memory deep in his mind, one that brought with it both great pain and joy. 

Suddenly he felt a stirring in her body. Before his eyes it began to change, growing paler. Her hair shortening and becoming a pale blue. Roz couldn't believe his eyes, this was her Void form, it was unmistakable. he watched as the life flooded back into her body, trying to accustom to a space it had never known before. Her eyes flitted open and looked up at him as she reached for the crystal he had put around her neck. Joy, real joy flooded into Rozmer. His attempt to free her had worked. No longer was a she the Reaper who gave him a chance, a being that no matter what he had to fear. She was now like him, the idea was beautiful to Roz. Shelby then stirred again, struggling in her new form. "Yes of course I will help you, anything you need. These first few hours as you get used to your new body will be rough."He offered out a hand and helped her to her feet. She needed it, he could feel that her weight was barely supported by her feet. "Lean on me if you have to, and try to breath. I know its frightening but you must calm yourself. It will help as you grow accustomed to your new form." He chuckled slightly. "Don't worry Shelby, Ill be here to help."


As the memory faded Rozmer snapped back to the hear and now. He wiped the last of it free from his eyes as he once more looked to the person in front of him, a new idea on the voice forming in his mind.

He had his little "Mishap" where there seemed to be another of the male that turned and grabbed ahold of him. Austyn was scared as all hell to be honest. There was a man, that literally just grew a whole new upper half that grappled onto him. Austyn blinked at the man, then looked to the bottle of beer in his hand, blinked to it and then his cheeks puffed up and he let out a deep and long exhale as he turned the bottle upside down and poured the golden liquid from the bottle, splattering it on the ground. The male let go of his collar and apologized to him. He sat down and chuckled, retracting his original thought that this man was a mutant from the "Brotherhood" sent to kill him like the others. "It's not problem. I shouldn't have been so quiet." He said, partially believing the problem was on his part. He was just glad the mutant (or so he believed) hadn't killed him... yet anyway.

    The man made the comment about offering him a cigarette. He believed this to be the man attempting to offer up some assistance, and he reasoned that it was quite possible that he looked distressed, perhaps even as distressed as he was. He let the offer pass with just a smile and a nod. Though it was a nice "gesture" he would have refused it anyway. While Asthma had not been an issue for him since he was five, he still held a form of resentment for the little cancer sticks. The man then asked the question: "So tell me, what's got you so tightly wound?" This question made Austyn turn his head to look at the man with an arched eyebrow. The man was obviously tall, taller than Austyn either way. He was a lean man too, how his mother would have stated "A bean pole" of a person with strange glasses covering his eyes and a rather stark blonde hair on his head. His overall look, save the sunglasses and the random lollipop was that of a more formal attire, he looked like one of the waiters that had just come from the banquet he had just come from. A form of hesitation and distrust overwhelmed him, but at this point it didn't matter anymore. If the man was truly sent to intercept or kill him, then it was a blessing. Not to say that Austyn had a death wish, but the pain and the overstimulation of the strange visions and knowledge overflowing within him was too much for him to process. He found himself breaking down in his "security" and simply spilling an answer to the man.

    "I won't bore ya with a self-pity party. I got life good. I'm eighteen and I'm probably the most well paid kid in the united states. I'm looking to get a nice house with my mutant twin brother at the end of the year and everything was going to be fine. But then life throws you a curveball, and you get hit in the eye. I just get....overstimulated I guess. It's like...I'm here, but for the past month or so...I'm not really here. I'm here, I think and do my job, but my mind is kinda... messy right now. I think I'm just stressed...so I came here." He said, against his better judgement, though he was under the influence of his own will. He just didn't know it yet. He quickly shook things off and looked to Rozmer and smiled slightly as if "yeah...that's it" was what he was trying to say, but not really saying it. "So...what brings you up here?" He'd ask, only slightly anticipating for the oh so clichéd "I'm here to kill you" or "To push you" to be the next words he heard. Granted, that was from his slight paranoia and the coincidence that they were dressed like they came form the same event. For all he knew the man frequently dressed up, but he was still oh so cautious.

Rozmer chuckled as he listened to the kid in front of him spill part of his life story to him. But for as open as it seemed he was willing to be, talking about a mutant brother, the house the wanted to buy and the like, he glossed over one aspect. "Life throws you a curve ball". Rozmer knew all too well about that, his first life had been taken in a freak accident, his afterlife ruined and his existence from then on spread across the Omniverse. He was all too familiar with the jarring twists and turns that life would spring on you. And this kid was just dealing through one of his own misfortunes. But what was it? That was the one detail he hadn't disclosed. "It's like I'm here but I'm not here" was the closest thing he got to a hint as to what was going on in the life of the individual before him. Maybe it was because he had felt the same way before. Rozmer had once been a mortal being with a single existence and then in an instant had a consciousnesses spread to the corners of reality. Not mentally being in the situation was a problem he still dealt with from time to time. Clearly that wasn't this kids problem but Rozmer couldn't help but be curious about just what had driven him to this point.

After the kids slightly vague explanation, he turned Rozmer's question back on him. "I needed to get away. I deal with more than my fair share of noise and chaos during any given day, sometimes you've just got to step back and decompress. So I come up here, you've got to admit its a beautiful sight." As he spoke Rozmer turned to once more take in the view of city. It was breathtaking and Rozmer sighed as he gazed out on the night. But his tranquility was once more interrupted by the thought of the voice in his head. He needed to know if it was the kid. Not knowing how to confront the issue Rozmer allowed a few minutes to pass before speaking up again. In that time he began to connect a few dots in his own mind. The kid said he'd been overstimulated and he'd just heard a voice in his own head. Perhaps the kid was a telepath, it made sense. Rozmer had known a telepath or two and knew that being overwhelmed by the thoughts of those around them could be a big issue when they first obtained their abilities. Once he'd decided that this was the case Rozmer rather bluntly spoke up. "So, how long have you been able to read people's thoughts? Don't worry I'm not going to out you I'm just curious. And what did you mean by, The eyes are opened. Lead the way?"

The look on Austyn's face as he slowly turned and looked to Rozmer, as if he had been the one drinking was the part where a terrible Sit-com like Seinfeld would have but in the laugh track. Austyn just shook his head. "What?" He asked, as if he didn't hear the man, or more along the lines of the idea being preposterous. Austyn was no telepath, he was something else entirely. He didn't even know what it was. "I'm not even a mutant... I'm worse than a mutant... but I'm just a plain person." He said as he began to recall the days of when his mom was so proud of her little strong-man. A little growl escaped. His brother was the object of his mother's eye, and it bothered him. The mutation made her favor Ryan, it made her love him more. Where was his father, who was going to even give Austyn any heed. He realized the alcohol had taken to him a lot worse than he imagined and he set it down.

"I hate Telepaths. One of them was messing with me earlier." He said, trying to distract himself from the previous thoughts which drove his anger to burn hotter. He took a deep breath in and was careful not to say too much more. He already vented and gave a stranger more than he needed to know. Risky move, but what's done is done. "The view is alright. Not bad for something two or so years old."

Interesting. The kid seemed genuinely confused at Rozmer's question even going as far to protest that he was no mutant at all but something worse. It was a confusing statement, one that left Rozmer puzzled. Either this kid was lying and was truly afraid to reveal his nature, or the more sinister possibility, he wasn't a mutant at all and the voice had come from some other source. Unless this kid was that good of a liar, the telepath theory was starting to slip and the idea that some other being had put thoughts in his head was creeping chills up his spine.

Rozmer turned once more where he stood looking calmly about the balcony for an additional occupant. There was none, not a soul other than himself and the boy. Then the kid spoke in response to Rozmer's answer to an earlier question. His face turned pale as he slowly looked to the face of his company in utter shock. By the timeline established in the minds and happenings of this reality the building was just over 80 years old but by the actual creation of this universe, the building, all its inhabitants and literally everything else that comprised this reality was no more than 2 years old. No one, no man, woman, child or otherwise should have any idea as to the age of creation. Rozmer in this aspect was one of a kind, the only being he had ever known in an infinite existence that knew this sort of information. He was alone in the Omniverse, a stranger in all worlds and granted his insight entirely because of his unique being. And he hadn't been thinking about the age of this building or this reality at all while in the presence of the boy, so he hadn't gained the knowledge from his mind. "I'm sorry...it sounded like you said the view was two years old" Rozmer spoke in total disbelief, even shaking his head trying to convince himself he'd heard wrong. Then a grim look came over his face, a seriousness that could have chilled the air about him. Never breaking eye contact with his companion on the balcony Rozmer appeared before him, their faces now only a foot apart. "Surely you meant that the One World Trade Center right?" He nodded off in the direction of the rather large glass structure that rose in the place of national tragedy. Rozmer did not want to scare the boy but he had been deeply disturbed by his off hand comment. He needed to ensure that he was not face to face now with another being of the Omniverse.

Austyn rubbed the bridge of his nose and chuckled as if he lost his mind. He shook his head as he wiped his eyes with the bloody handkerchief before he held it out and let it go, letting the wind take it away. He took a gulp before sighing and looking out and about at the city. He shook his head, as if he were dismissing what the man had said. His head ached as he heard whispers, thoughts that were his own, but not of the moment. He thought for a moment there was someone else there talking to him, but they were in a dungeon about to be devoured by a demon...well...the man talking to him was, he was quite fine. At a second look around he was quite safe, far away from harm. This world was still so young. He began to tremor as he looked at the city. He didn't care if anyone thought he was crazy. As far as he was concerned he was the only sane one left.

    "No...this place. All of it." He said plainly, it might have been confused for him being drunk. He smiled and he looked around, normal clear tears forming. "It's depressing man... My mom was never born man. I remember my grandmother giving me a dog...and...it never happened.-hehehe-hhhuuu hahaha." He began laughing at the end. The previous statement was to be amended now he WAS laughing like a hysterical crazy person. He stopped before catching his breath, laughing as if it were all some form of far-fetched comedy tale. "I'm nuts...uuhh... dude... this Telepath is killing me. You...you aren't the telepath are you? You aren't showing me all the different visions, talking to me in cryptic speech and telling me that my world is only two years old or all that right?" He asked. Despite one might think, he was genuinely hoping that the person had a "yes" to respond. Austyn feared for his mental stability but somehow he knew this was all true.

The child may not have been of the Omniverse but something sinister from the vast plains of all reality was in his head, filling his mortal mind with truths he was not prepared for. And clearly the boy before him wasn't the only one under the effect of this mysterious being, When he spoke of cryptic speech and voices it chilled Rozmer to the core. There was a being out there, aware of his existence was trying to mess with him in the same way it had attacked the boy. Rozmer had to do something, something to save not only the boy but himself from whatever this creature of the void was. He calmed himself as best as he could, though he was clearly still visibly shaken by his realization, and tried to speak to the boy. "I'm sorry but I am no telepath, nor are you crazy. Something is assaulting your mind with ideas that I'm not sure its ready for." Then finally while he was speaking it clicked. His expression went blank as the wheels spun in his mind. "The eyes are opened, lead the way". Whatever this Omnversal being was, it wanted Rozmer to lead this boy into the infinity of the Omniverse, to teach him its ways and the truths that bound all of reality. He wasn't sure if he should be relieved or even more unsettled by this fact. Why had this boy been chosen? What made him ready for the Omniverse? Rozmer knew that he had not been ready for it himself when eternity was thrust upon him. But his conception was an accident, something that if he were faced with now he would more than likely stop before it could become a threat to countless worlds. But this was planned, an earthly boy was being somehow pruned and molded for Ominversal pusposes. The problem was, Rozmer didn't know what those purposes were. For all he knew, he was being led by a being hell bent on the death of this reality who was using him simply for the ironic twist it would bring upon his purpose. A scowl crossed his lips at the thought as he glared into the eyes of the boy. He didn't have any option, a position he could not stand to be in. He had to teach this being how to respect the balance of reality and tame whatever abilities he possessed. Regardless of the purpose of this other being he had to raise this individual and teach him all the things he had needed to learn on his own.

Coming back to the here and now Rozmer's scowl faded once more to a look of unflinching determination and a hint of contempt. He stood purposefully to his feet and offered a hand to the hysterical boy in front of him. "You have been targeted by a being beyond this reality for purposes that I have yet to determine." Rozmer's tone was serious, demanding. "If you value your very existence I suggest that you take my hand now so that I can take you to safety. This is no game and this is not a joke. You are on the precipice of something I doubt any entity in this universe can comprehend. Take my hand, and I will guide you through the infinity that I call the Ominverse."

"Hah... you know what? Screw it man. I've been targeted by brotherhood since I took the damn job. Gimmie a sec." He said as he sighed, standing up and brushing himself off and sighing. This was absolutely crazy. He placed his hand in Rozmer's "I'm going to be okay..." He said with a sigh, his tattoo under his arm glowing, still concealed under the clothing. He sighed and wondered many things to himself. He closed his eyes and suddenly he was most certainly not in his right mind. He felt as if he had just run a thousand miles. He felt himself standing there, yet in his mind he was holding a sword, in the other one he was sitting on a throne, on another he was behind barbed wire with a shaved head and a scar marking his face. He felt himself getting shot in the arm and fury overhwmelming him. He felt his heart break as he let go of her hand... whose hand he hadn't the foggiest, all he knew was that when she let go of his hand...he broke inside. When she let go... he turned into a little bitch. He felt every moment with her, he knew her! But he'd never seen her. But he had seen her all along. He had said goodbye for the last time to her after seventy three years.

"W-what are you doing?" He asked, he wanted to pull his hand away. How quickly a second was...yet how horribly long a second was as well. What was a second anymore? In this past moment he just lived...felt and experienced more than any and all others did in an entire life-time. Their sorrow, their regret. Anguish, suffering, love, defeat...though for every second he had a victory, a sense of accomplishment. He didn't fail...but what was he failing? He began to panic. "Let me go...Stop, I don't want to...." He said as he had silenced himself, looking around, shocked...scared and unsure. What had this man...what had Rozmer done to him? The infinity called the Omniverse? He began to shake in his breathing, looking around and being so trapped. he calmed himself down, sobriety taking hold of his personality, inroxication not having a hold any longer.

"Omniverse? No no no no...I need to go home...I've got to save Seranna. I mean I have to stop Eros. Goddamnit! I need to be there for Ryan!" He said, mixing himself up as he tripped and stumbles over his tongue. "I need to get back to my brother..." he said as he tried to fight and calm himself down.

The boy stood, placing his hand in Rozmer's. Thank you, he tought with a sigh of relief. This was going to be quiet confusing for the boy but it was necessary. Rozmer was going to take him to the only place he could think of that would be safe...The Void. "I'm going to be okay..." was all the confirmation he needed. Rozmer would pull the boy in by his arm so that his back would be against Rozmer's stomach. He then would wrap his arms tightly around the boy so as not to lose him during the trip. Closing his eyes softly he began the trek. To him it took only an instant but for the uninitiated mind he could not be certain what a trip through the Omniverse would do. Perhaps it would appear as a flash, maybe he'd experience himself in other realities, maybe nothing he could not be sure. What he did know was that they'd be safe in the Void. There he could see, there he would know the threat before it came and there he could be alone to discern just what was going on in the boy's mind.

And just like that Rozmer, now wearing a prism necklace, was holding on to the boy floating in the absolute nothingness of the Void. Around them weaving amongst themselves were all the realities in existence, self contained universes entirely unaware of the existence of others. The boy struggled in his arms, possibly unaware of where they now were or believing they were still on the balcony of the empire state building. "I need you to relax. We are where we need to be. Seranna, Eros, Ryan whoever they are and wherever they are they can wait. You are dealing through something not of your reality. That's why I've brought you here. Welcome the closest thing I have to a home child...welcome to the Void."

Austyn was within nothingness, looking around and seeing absolute nothingness. There were whispers coming form all directions, echoing and reverbing from the worlds around. The man who brought him here was introducing him to the only place he knew as home "The Void" apparently was it's name. Austyn felt himself calm instantly, as if he knew exactly where he was, and as if he was perfectly safe. He wanted to freak out, to believe he had died, yet somehow he knew. "The Void..." Austyn said as he looked around. Realities all surrounded him, but there within he saw something that Rozmer could not. He could see unique lights glimmering around, some dim and fading, some with a darkness within them, and others burning brightly. He could see the invisible strands that tied the omniverse together, the tethering's and the happenings that linked all worlds, cluttering the nothingness with usually imperceptible connections. Each connection was a similarity, an idea he had had in the conception of a realm. He froze, a terrified look on his face as he looked through them all. He had to be Schizophrenic, he was believing he created realms and universes now... this was impossible.

"You will let go of me." Austyn said. Rozmer's arms unraveled, against his own accord likely, and Austyn drifted back slightly as he began to breathe and look around. Austyn's tattoo no longer glowed and reseeded as he looked around and took a deep breath in, running his hands through his hair. "Oh God... it's just like the visions..." he said trying to calm his racing heart. The only thing he truly worried about right now...was one question. Am I going to die?

The boy began to relax in Rozmer's arms, his breathing slowing and a deep calm washing over him. He stared in awe at the beauty and terror that made up the void as he whispered its name. Good, with the boy's mind at ease it would be easier to talk him through whatever form of assault was being performed on his mind. Or so he thought. After a few moments the boy spoke and his words work their way into Rozmer's mind and body, unbinding his grip on the child. He had no choice no ability to control this action, no way of stopping it. That was not right. "I am not to be commanded!" he echoed through the Void at the boy now floating from him. "Tell me your name creature of the Void. Release your grip on this boy!" Rozmer was in a rage and appeared in a sphere around the mortal sealing him off entirely from any outside influence. The Rozmer wearing the pendant then appeared inside the sphere, taking a hold of his shoulders. "Look at me, what is it that you see? Who is in your head?" Rozmer needed answers now. This boy was a vessel for something powerful enough to command him with words alone. To his knowledge he had never been controlled in such a way. It wasn't mind control, it wasn't puppetry, it was as though the words he spoke were truth. With any luck he now had the boy sealed off from the sinister influences that wanted him for their purposes. But with a power such as that, how could he hold out long enough to save this boy?

The echoes of the void filled his mind, one above them all. He was not to be commanded? If that were true then how could he command him? He would have posed this question, however he was far more worried about his own self. Or he would have been if he had a cognitive thought. He just babbled, muttered incoherent thoughts. The person began to scream at him to release the grip on the boy. Who the hell was the boy? Austyn looked at him and then looked around, as if he were somehow managing to see several things at once. Every threat changing, turning, splitting and crating other threads and spanning out. In a moment, from within the Void he could see everything, anything and all things unseen to others normally. He heard the man suddenly ask him. "Look at me, what is it that you see? Who is in your head?" as he held Austyn by his shoulders. Austyn suddenly stopped and all the voices were silenced.

  "I...I don't know. Threads...I -I-I think." He said with a gasp. He was broken out into a full blown sweat, his eyes began to bleed with haemolacria. He looked around and his breathing became shallow. He brought an arm up and wiped his eyes again. "I...I-I don't know what I see..." he confessed again, mourning his own loss to an extent. He got jittery and turned pale as he looked around. He suddenly looked to the direction of their verse within the void. He saw two strings. One to him, and one to Rozmer...and then from them both...to every verse in between. He began to babble as the threads to his sanity unwound, he was talking about purple panda's or something when he finally looked back to Rozmer. "You will see that which I see...Until We know what it is..." He said. In that instant, The Archon's ecistence was known fully to Rozmer. His ability to se the tethering of every person...and even the connection to those people and every realm they were in. Suddenly they were thrusted through several of the Archon's current existences.

   The first one he was a cloaked figure as he walked through the streets. Everyone was in fear, terrified as the cobblestone streets were filled with women and children kneeling in prayer. They prayed to God, but there was no answer. The cloaked Archon moved with purpose until finally he walked through the two large doors, and there before him was a small unit of soldiers, and an army of over ten thousand at his twelve o'clock. The soldiers were not of human kind, they were a dark and tainted variant. They had a dark aura about them...it felt of the Void, yet different, estranged and warped. Whatever they were was no more. Before questions could be asked they were plunged into another one. This one the Archon wore the same old cloak, his face was covered by a masque however, a flat, featureless one which allowed his prying emerald orbs to shine through. In this place he began to float, shot up into the air three feet and took in a small breath. There was a darkness enveloping the realm, the lands turned black and liquid floated everywhere as it began to twist and curve like a cancer. The Archon remained still as it began to envelop him. Darkness recede! and at the command his eyes flashed and the darkness dissipated.

    The third realm they were in was a surprise. There was the Archon. His cloak still on, but his masque removed and his hood down. It looked exactly like Austyn, though his hair was a jet black and his eyes still a shifty emerald. He was in the rafters in a place where it was rather dark, his faintly lowing eyes not piercing the darkness. This world, Rozmer Frey was the one in trouble. Over-powered by a beast that the Archon knew was familiar. It was one of the generals that followed Eros, a name Rozmer had not yet known other than simply hear-say of Austyn's confusion. The creature was about to strike Rozmer, to take him down. The black haired Austyn held out his hand and slid it aside, as if wiping a stain off of a window and said: Death is not your destiny today... and just like that, mid swing and the creature dissipated to ashes. The Archon had saved his life in another universe... but then again, Rozmer would see the knowledge that Rozmer was now saving his life in the same way. Before Rozmer could see him though, The Archon was gone. Granted a Rozmer, the Original Rozmer saw this, so he would know instinctively. Rozmer could also see events of the past, the present and even a peak of things to come. Of these though they were brought to the past, a monumental event before the time of Rozmer Frey. This was it... Rozmer was granted insight. This was the First Archon...just as he was the First Rozmer.

   "ZELL!" The man called out. A black haired Austyn looked over to see others in battle wounds, looking out at him. The universe was fading, dying. It was collapsing... eroding around them as it began to fade away. Lives vanishing, millions of years...in seconds disappeared. This Archon looked to see a woman, silver hair, black lipstick and a defined jaw. A graceful and deadly walk that commanded respect...and she radiated with the energies of the Void. "Well now little Amuri. You made it difficult for me, but you still failed. I don't expect you to understand, nor do I need to explain myself to you. Just die knowing that you defended your reality with honor I have not seen in Millennia." She said her voice old, wisened and suave, nothing lady like, yet nothing at all manly. She stepped back and turned, her scaled armor train whipped around and she held out her hands. "This could be it...the final Verse that must crumble... let us find OUT!" She shouted, her hands began to glow and the sight was horrifying. The void literally was commanded, thrusting itself into this realm, breaking the barriers, the walls that were considered impenetrable. The Void had claimed a reality. The world began to fade away...all but this woman, Eros...and Zell Amuri..the First Archon. Zell looked down to his sword and time froze for a moment. The world had been erased...consumed by the void. All of it except for a pillar of energy, celestial greens and heavenly yellows playing at a bright white life. This was it...the source of a reality, the driving energy. The primal essence of creation...and it was exposed when the world around it was destroyed.

   And as it opened the final seal, I stood alone upon crumbled ground. The stars had fallen, and the sun turned cold. This world had never been... only to the seen could it be seen. I was granted the Seal, and the Key... and I had kept them. Until. I died. The voice said. Zell Amuri stood up and began walking, the sword glowing and transforming as he walked towards the beam of light. The thoughts of Zell Amuri ran through their heads. With a powerful artifact like Dracomourne sacrificed, it could power and refuel a slow regenerative process...but it was his life that was forfeit. Eros saw him and began to erase him. Slowly up his arm he began to fall to ashes, being consumed by the void. Erasing forever. She charged at him, but he made it.. he stepped into the light when only a sliver of him remained, and the sword had reached it's point. There was an explosion form this. The Primal energy of creation had fused with the first Archon... and in that moment... there was everything. The Void... the Omniverse. It had all been opened to him. When a realm was created, it was his breath that spoke it to life. It was the Archon who WAS each realm, each verse. And when it crumbled...it was part of him who died. He had watched Rozmer...watched him go to the void. Watched as his world collapsed...and he was there...powerless to intervene due to the crafty nature of Eros who wished the world to fall.

    He failed, both Rozmer, and his realm. Each soul hounded at his heartstrings because She who commanded the Void had the ability to stop his intervention...because Rozmer, the Void was created by random chance. In a flash they were in the void again... Austyn welcomed it. It felt like peace...it allowed him rest in a warring Omniverse.... he trembled and lay there, trying to breathe, knowing that Rozmer would likely have questions.... So did Austyn...