The Early Hours

OBJECTIVE: ACQUIRE ALLIES

"...My Void?" Whisper's ghastly voice echoed through the space.

Void was sat on the foggy ground, legs crossed, spine ramrod straight, hand folded in his lap. He was faced away from Whisper, and hadn't moved even an inch at her presence.

He'd been like this for countless Night Cycles. Time was hard to tell in a continuously dark place. Whisper had stuck to Void's side as if glued. Until this point, they'd been discussing how to go about uncovering the locked memory that would either help them locate Whisper's body, or make it a new one.

News from Lotus was scarce, but she was still alive, and so there was hope.

At one point, while Whisper discussed how she could be of more use once she got a body, such as helping locate more conscious Monsters outside of the Dark Realms, Void suddenly stopped. They were staring straight ahead into the darkness, with nothing but a focused look on their face.

Whisper tried to reach him, but it seemed to not be heard. At some point, Void sat down. The slightest movement of their mouth allowed Whisper to put together that they had been chanting this entire time.

"Sir, you have not moved for a long time, I encourage you to take a breath and come back." Whisper tried, "I know there is a lot going on in there, but you won't even survive the first millennia if you let it all win. You might not even survive this next year."

Void continued to chant and stare. Just then, Whisper heard a shing! It was a common indication that something had entered a realm. At first, she saw nothing. Then, the unmistakable shine of Lotus' hair appeared. There was no exact light in the Dark Realms, but things that contrasted the vast emptiness stood out as if there were a light shining directly on it.

"Lotus, you're alive still! It's great to see you!" Whisper greeted.

The demon smiled and bowed, "I'm glad I can look you in the eyes now. It's great to see you too."

She walked up beside the apparition, looking toward their out-of-commission leader.

"How long has he been like this?"

"Since the last time you departed."

"What? That was like a year ago..." Lotus exclaimed, genuinely surprised.

"Really? It felt so short...like only a few Night Cycles..."

"I assume he does this a lot, then?"

"Yes, and time does pass slower in this sphere. I was placed here by Void, since he 'didn't want me tailing him when he was trying to sleep.'" Whisper said in mockery.

"I have to agree, you have been a bit...invasive of his space all the times I've showed up."

"I'm not...that bad..." Whisper denied.

Lotus laughed, "Have you tried shaking him out of it?"

Whisper feigned a gasp, "Oh, why didn't I think of that?!" It looked at the demon with a raised brow.

"Oh...right...no limbs..." Lotus' palm smacked her forehead, "Of course."

She walked over to Void, who hadn't moved even upon hearing their voices. She reached out a hand, stopping just before her fingers grazed their shoulder.

"Will this hurt?" Her skepticism stemmed from the fight with the rest of the demons.

"Again, not sure."

"Right, right."

Taking a shaky breath, Lotus closed her eyes and reached forward, grabbing Void's shoulder.