Chapter 183: Episode 183 - Into the Heart of Regum

The void oppressed me, heavy and infinite. My scar burned more than ever, as if the star had branded me. I tried to breathe, but the air felt thick, like smoke. In the distance, I could hear a noise, a faint voice like a stifled cry, but it faded quickly. I forced my eyes open. The star was moving before me, its black waves rippling outward, bending the forest into impossible shapes. I leaned forward with difficulty, just enough to notice that everything around me was only shadows, formless shadows that represented nothing. Nothing had form at this moment except the star before me and me. It was just the two of us here, in a sepulchral void. Suddenly, my surroundings began to change. It became a forest, a normal, ordinary forest.

In front of me, a young girl with brown hair ran past, her breath ragged. She put her hands on her knees, panting rapidly, exhausted. She looked ahead, at the trees, then glanced around in circles, desperate, tears welling in her eyes, though not falling on her cheeks. Suddenly, she made a movement with her hands; without touching it, a nearby tree bent. The girl was startled and fell back, landing on her back, staring at the tree, then at her hands, incredulous.

Suddenly, a dull thud was heard. Behind where I was, a meteorite fell in the forest, directly above where the girl had been standing. But it wasn't a meteorite; it was a star. I covered my face because the light was too intense to even see clearly. When I finally managed to turn back toward the star, the girl was kneeling beside it, her hair slowly turning a deep black, while the ground beneath the star went completely dark, robbing the forest of its color and transforming it back into the forest we had seen just before.

Queen - This is the story. This is the stupidly glorious story of how Regum was born.

Ness - Pardon?

I spoke with difficulty, still feeling the sharp pain in my ribs.

Queen - You still don't understand?

She turned to me, her completely black eyes emanating a dark energy I never would have believed possible if I hadn't been seeing it with my own eyes.

Queen - The dark matter star... I shouldn't have been there.

Ness - What happened...?

Queen - When the star hit me, it created the first rift. I lived on Earth...

Ness - Huh?

Queen - Not the Earth you know, no. A different place... But let's just say I didn't belong to Regum. It was then that the star struck me, and as its darkness began to spread through the forest, not quite knowing what I was doing, not quite knowing what my powers were, I isolated the star. I left it in this cursed, dark forest. Forbidden.

Reality hit me hard. So if the queen wasn't from Regum, if she was from Earth, what made her different in the first place? Why was there so much drama in Regum?

Queen - There are so many things you can't... that no one can know. History is always like that; you always get only part of the story, while what no one wants to tell, what no one wants to remember, simply... fades away.

I remained silent, knowing that asking more questions wouldn't get me anywhere; she wasn't going to answer anything she didn't want to, and she had just told me that indirectly. Finally, she smiled.

Queen - This star became the heart of Regum, the source of the magic that is now the center of this kingdom. If that cursed imp manages to open that breach, he will destroy everything.

Ness - Are you going to help us?

She looked at me with a stern expression.

Queen - I am only a memory. You will never truly know me, except for the person I once was. Many centuries from now, when I return to life, you will no longer be in Regum.

At this point, I was getting fed up.

Ness - So what do we do?! I'm sick of all these riddles, of us having to guess where to go next. I just want to know what to do!

Queen - If I told you to sacrifice your life to close the portal, would you do it?

I remained silent, backing away, knowing full well that the jokes were over. The possibility of reviving after the universe strikes us was gone, second chances were over. I clenched my fists tightly, barely holding myself up. Then, I looked straight into his eyes.

Ness - if that's what I have to do, I'll do it.

The Queen's dark eyes softened for a moment, though her voice remained stern.

Queen - So you're ready. But remember: sacrifice isn't always death. It's surrender. It's giving up what you most want to keep. Just because Mercavian and Elowen are dead doesn't mean you have to be, not now.

Her figure flickered.

Ness - Wait.

Queen - What's wrong?

Ness - Are we going to die of old age?

She looked at me. She smiled. Then her figure dissolved into shadow, until only the star remained before me, beating like a living heart. The void trembled, and I felt the pull again: my scar burned, my body drew closer.

Behind me, Mixxi's laughter echoed, breathless and triumphant.

Mixxi - Yes! That's it! Surrender to the star. Let it consume you. Let the bridge open!

Joe's voice cut through the chaos, hoarse but defiant.

Joe - Ness, don't listen!

I smiled. I sighed once, twice. I started to laugh. I laughed with an intensity that didn't belong in the context we were in. Despite all the pain in my body and the burning in my leg, I stood up slowly, still laughing. I turned toward Mixxi, struggling to keep my balance. She was frightened, her hand pressed to the eye Mercavian had managed to injure. I took a difficult step, then another.

Finally, I reached Mercavian and knelt down beside him. I gently closed his eyes so he could rest. I felt a horrible pain in my soul, while faint memories of our life with Mercavian flashed through my mind. I stood up, a tear sliding down my cheek.

The burning sensation in my leg suddenly stopped being just a burning sensation; it was like when you have an open wound and ethyl alcohol falls on it. But this time I didn't give in, I didn't surrender to the pain. I persevered, remaining standing. Suddenly, the pain and burning subsided, transforming into a cool sensation unlike anything I'd ever felt. A feeling that rose from my legs to my thighs, then spread to my torso, extending up my arms. It made me feel different.

Suddenly, I felt as if someone had thrown a bucket of ice water on me. That time the snake bit me, it hurt me. From that moment on, something had been building inside me, something had been changing. That my temperature was now lower, that I could now freeze things without being aware of my magic, all of that...

To be continued..