The Immortal Stargazer

Grim Understanding

I opened my eyes. 'Fuck.' I thought. I didn't die. Of course. Still alive, even after trying to end it all. I knew it wasn't gonna be that easy, I knew it! Still, I tried anyway, hoping against hope that I'd somehow be wrong. I tried to move my arms, but they wouldn't budge. My body felt numb, as if my head had been cut off from it. My neck must've broke, and I was now paralyzed. All I could move were my eyes, so I scanned my surroundings. Just the same old white, the same empty space.

The Anti-Void.

My prison.

I used to hate it, here. I had been left here for whatever reason, unable to escape. I had been driven to madness by the voices that haunted me every step I took. I had been mocked and scolded for wanting so badly to leave, to escape the endless white, to not be alone anymore, and it hurt to recall how miserable I had been. Now, looking out at the endless white, it felt... calming. The silence. The predictability. The safety. No one has found me here since I had been trapped. No had seen what I had endured in this place, but I didn't mind. They might not have been able to get here. Believing that was the only thing holding my newfound and fragile sanity together. If they found out I had been stuck in here, they might pity me. I don't need it. If anybody wanted to pity me, they should have done it when I cared. When I was hoping someone would rescue me. Instead, I was left here to rot.

I don't know how long I hung there, staring out into the endless white, but I was eventually able to move again. I summoned a bone and cut myself free from my strings, falling painfully to the ground. Easing myself up from the ground and flinching as the voices screamed at me, I tried to tune them out as I did before.

'Stupid glitch!'

'Thought you could escape us?'

'You're dumber than we thought!'

'Go do your job, and don't stop this time!'

"But... I don't want to...." I muttered, my voice hollow and empty. I knew arguing wouldn't do anything, but I hoped they would be lenient just this once. Oh, who am I kidding? I don't get a choice, I don't get what I want, and they don't care-

'Error.'

My eyesockets widened. That voice....

'Go to Outertale.'

An image flashed before my vision, and I made a portal to the location. I checked the code, realizing I was in a copy. Surprisingly, the voices were silent. No nagging, no screaming, no 'destroy this waste of space.' Just... silence.

And this place.... I looked around me, taking in the swirling galaxies, the twinkling stars, the comets whizzing past. It was beautiful, breathtaking even. I was standing on a floating island, overlooking a brightly lit town. From the code, I learned it was Stardin, and I could smell cinnamon and sugar wafting up from the bakery in town. I sat down on the edge of the island, folding my hands in my lap and staring up at the stars. Once again, the unexplainable ache of... something, wrapped itself around my chest, constricting my breathing and forcing tears into my eyesockets. I studied the feeling, realizing I missed something, or someone. I longed to see them again, I yearned for something I couldn't remember. I wished I could understand why, why did I miss something I couldn't remember? What had I forgotten?!

I shook my head, resolving to enjoy the peace and quiet as long as I could. There was no telling when the voices would begin their incessant screeching, again.

In the Deity's world....

"That was risky, Destiny," Fate told his younger brother. They had been observing their creation from a window through the fabric of space and time, watching the destroyer and brainstorming ways to reign in Error's insanity. Destiny smiled.