Existence is a layered thing. Think of it like layers of paper, and each individual paper is a full universe. Reality sits atop reality, which in turn sits atop another reality. This continues forever, creating more realities than any being can possibly imagine. Every new choice made is a new reality formed, stacked upon the ever-growing pile, forming a giant tower. Between each reality sits a thin – much thinner than even the paper – yet extremely durable mesh of nonexistence, preventing any two realities from touching. And this is good, for if two realities ever collided in full, the resulting duplicity, felt on a universal scale, would cause unbreakable madness in each of those two reality's inhabitants.
While no two realities have ever bled into each other fully, it is a somewhat rare, yet still extant, occurrence for glitches to appear in the mesh between two existences. This author can claim to know and understand all of the above because I am privy to such a bleeding point between the worlds. Through it, I have found an amazing world, where every man and woman in this reality exists as an adventurous, heroic version of themselves. All normal events in this world tend to take a decidedly epic twist in the other.
I have taken it upon myself to chronicle the stories and happenings I observe through this glitched section of mesh. You will find these chronicles here, in this section. By coincidental placing of the glitch, they follow my alternate self, and those he happens to come in contact with. Welcome, readers, to the Epic Journal Entries.
- - -
His feet pounded paved walkways built inside a small forest. Tyros walked quietly alongside D, his mind occupied and his voice silent. D kept pace almost perfectly, sometimes slipping a bit ahead, sometimes falling slightly behind. Tyros' mind kept returning, oddly, to something he hadn't truly thought about in quite some time – his days in the nation of Armstrong out on the Savannah far in the east. His mind wandered over his friends from those days. Great men and women alongside whom he no longer adventured quite as often: Inky, Zook, Row, Tono, and plenty more. He sighed, wondering why his mind lingered on such memories today, as opposed to any other day previous. Never once did he suspect that it was because his journeys approached an all new season, and in another world, an alternate version of him was thinking about those particular adventures from the past.
A glance around brought his gaze over the forest that surrounded the two travelers. Vibrant green no longer really existed in the treetops, the season lending itself more to shades of red, orange, and even brown. On the ground, underneath rapidly baring branches, piles of crinkled brown leaves were already forming, despite Fall having only begun a few weeks ago. Stretching forward, the path continued through the woods, but Tyros could see where the woods ended, and where the path took a turn to complete its circuit.
“What were we doing here again, D?” Tyros asked the older man.
“Power and endurance.” D responded, a man of few words but plenty of wisdom. Tyros' eyes lit up as he snapped his fingers.
“Ah, of course!” He'd remembered hearing tales of this place, which really wasn't too far from where he lived, between the small town of Cadalu and the Villa D'Lawrence. Walking its small, circling path was said to augment your abilities, focusing mainly on your endurance, and lightly touching up your strength. Tyros nodded, and continued walking. That's when his gaze fell upon the strange plant out in the wilderness.
It was mostly just a vine, with a couple leaves. It was short, curled in on itself, and more importantly, was colored a deep shade of crimson. Tyros' eyes narrowed, but he continued his walk, although the image stuck in his mind. The path was short, so a second lap would bring him opportunity for another look.
It felt like the final slope slanted upward over ninety degrees, but they trudged up it, finishing the first hike around. Upon crossing the first lap's endpoint, Tyros stood tall and took a deep breath, the track's magic filling him. Letting it out, he glanced over at D, who looked at him, a knowing smile on his lips.
“You certainly know what you're talking about.” Tyros smiled back.
“Yup.” D answered simply, “Another?”
“Yeah. And this time, I want to stop somewhere. I saw something strange...”
“Sure.” They continued their journey, Tyros taking in the entrance to the small forest once more. This time, his eyes fell over the bottom of the trunks, stopping upon noticing a bit of deep red starting in the trunk's roots and creeping up its base. At first he thought he saw another vine like before, growing a snaking path up the trunk, but the more he looked, the more he realized: the trunk itself was red, and the color slowly crept upward. Tyros' eyes narrowed for a second time.
“See that?”
“Yeah.” D responded, picking up his pace, Tyros following at the same speed, “Where do we stop?”
“It was a little further up, a vine of red, standing in stark contrast to the forest.”
“That?” Tyros followed D's pointing finger, his attention falling on a curled, blood red vine. But something was wrong.
“Yeah, but... We're too early in. Way too early. I would have noticed this one, if we'd passed it before, too. That one's new.” Tyros narrowed his eyes, taking a new look around the forest, noticing more and more red vines throughout. Before his eyes, soil stirred as another vine pushed its way above the soil. All around, he noticed the process repeating itself throughout the forest. Meanwhile that unsettling red color continue creeping into the trunks of every tree he could find. Furrowing his brow, Tyros turned to look down the path, “Come on.” D nodded, and picked up the pace beside him.
Before long they arrived at the exact spot Tyros had spotted the first vine. He stared, frozen in place, at what they found there. Before the two, a huge vine stood, growing well over the trees in the area. Surrounding it were at least twenty smaller vines, nearly identical to the many they'd already seen sprouting around the area. Would they all reach this size, too? Tyros couldn't shake a confirmatory feeling that, yes, yes they would.
Lowering himself into a fighting stance, Tyros reached behind him and placed his hand on a sword hilt. He never went anywhere without the blade on his back. Drawing it, he nodded to D, “Keep me covered.”
“No harm shall come to you.” D responded, closing his eyes and tapping into his healing abilities. Tyros smiled, knowing he'd be safe. He took his first step off the path, and it elicited an immediate response. Each vine suddenly snapped its tip in his direction, and he couldn't help but feel they were looking at him. He looked down at the soil he now stood on. Could they see through it? Had they known they were there in the first place, when they were standing on the paved path? As a vine swung at him, he stepped to the side, reflecting on the sudden hostility. No, they probably hadn't, if this was their first reaction to intruders.
“D, stay on the path. They can't see you there.” Tyros called as he swung his blade through the vine he'd just dodged. It cut through easily, with a muffled thunk. The vine fell to the ground, thrashing a moment before laying still. Looking up, he noticed the giant vine thrashing in pain as well, “First vine's the main vine, huh? Understood.” He smiled as he approached, dodging and slashing attacking vines. As he approached about ten feet away from the giant main vine, his foot fell on unstable ground.
“What?” He muttered, as he picked his foot up again and hopped backward, ground falling out from under where he stood only a moment ago. The hole continued crumbling at the edges, revealing a cavern underneath the vine. Below, in quick glances as he dodged and slashed incoming attackers, he could see a bizarre plantlike playground. Children swung on swing sets made of vines, climbed across plants shaped like monkey bars and jungle gyms, and plenty more. Tyros growled, noticing one more detail – each had a vine tapering to a point at the back of their neck. It was living off their youthful energy, likely controlling their mind in the process, to keep them playing forever. It was a horrific parody of the joyful times a normal playground stood for. It had to end.
“Augh!” A strangled gasp came from behind him, and he whirled. D stood grasping at his neck, where a red vine threatened to choke him out. Glancing down as he dashed forward, he noticed D had accidentally stepped too far backward, just enough for his heel to rest off the path. Apparently even that little bit had been enough for the plant to see. Wasting no time, he was behind D, his sword swinging upward, severing the vine just as he noticed it was attempting to plunge itself into the back of D's neck. D stepped forward as the vine came free, rubbing at his throat with hands that glowed white, healing any lingering pain, “Thank you. Have to be more careful.”
“Yeah.” Tyros nodded, “It's keeping children hostage in a cavern underneath it, living off them. Not only that, but the cavern makes a convenient moat. I can't get to the vine. Do you still know the Path of Light?”
“I do.”
“Perfect, that'll get me across the gap. You ready?” Tyros leaned forward, prepared to charge.
“Tyros.”
“Hmm?”
“The children. If you kill the plant, will they be okay?” Tyros hesitated, standing upright again. He hadn't considered that possibility. Around them, the various vines thrashed around, searching desperately for their presence, finding nothing. Even the trees started twitching as the red color spread toward their top.
“I... Don't know.” He turned to D, “I can't very well risk that, can I?” D shook his head, “And yet it looks like we're running out of time.” He gestured to a tree, almost fully red from top to bottom. It started shivering as it gained the power of movement, “Before long, even the trees will be hammering around, trying to find us. And in the middle of a forest? We can't continually dodge that for long. I don't have time to go down and free every child.”
“You're right.” D nodded, “I have a plan.” Tyros raised his brow, “But it's dangerous. I can protect the kid's minds. Reaching out, I can feel them, and I can feel that I can throw a shield around them, stopping the vine's influence for a moment. The moment that it dies, for instance.”
“But?”
“But it's either keeping up Path of Light for you, or shielding the children.” Tyros closed his eyes and nodded. He could see where this was going.
“I can do it.” Tyros answered simply, “We'd better get started.”
D smiled, “Okay. Go.” Tyros ran forward, jumping over attacking vines, approaching the ground over the underground cavern. Before him, a white, transparent platform appeared in midair. Jumping onto it, he kept running. The plant was again blind to his presence. More platforms appeared ahead of him, forming a staircase of sorts up to the plant. Out of his periphery, he noticed a full tree begin to bend, flexible as a vine but likely still as solid as a tree trunk. Tyros smiled. It was swinging for where the plant guessed he was, based on where he stood a moment ago. Hardly accurate.
“Now!” He called to D as he leaped off the last platform, planning his trajectory for the oncoming tree. The Path vanished just as he left it, and he knew D had turned his attention to the children below. His foot touched just once on the trunk of the swinging tree, and he launched himself off it, his sword raised above him. It was now or never, this had to be the killing stroke. If he missed and fell into the pit, he'd be at the mercy of the vines down below, unable to call to D, unable to get out, and unable to kill the plant in time. He focused his attention on the center of the main vine, pushing thoughts of failure out of his head. Plants all around flailed widely, trying to intercepting but having no real idea where he was.
His blade cut deep into the plant. Juices flew everywhere, as deep red as the plant itself. With all of his strength, augmented even by the first pass around the path, Tyros still found trouble keeping his blade straight as it cut down the center of the plant. Still, largely thanks to the extra strength, it was straight enough, the slice only slightly wobbling. He reached the bottom, deep in the central pit, and withdrew his blade. The plant had stopped moving. He looked up and watched it fall in two pieces. The resounding thud of each hitting the ground brought a satisfied smile to his lips. He turned and surveyed the macabre playground. It had all fallen to the ground, returned to normal green colors. The children were rubbing their eyes and stretching, some holding their head, all acting as if coming from a dream. Behind each, a green vine lay on the ground, harmless remnants of what had once burrowed inside their neck.
Before long, a Path of Light appeared before him, and he glanced up to find D smiling down at them. Tyros grinned back up, “Your favorite trail is safe again.” He called, “And so are all these children. We've rid the world of a strange blight today.”
D nodded, “Yes.” He said simply and helped Tyros and the children out of the hole, “Now we return them to their normal lives.”
And that they did.
- - -
A day later, Tyros kicked back for a moment and smiled. It was good to be back. Sitting up, he quirked an eyebrow, confused by that thought. He wasn't sure where he'd been that warranted the phrase 'good to be back.' Oddly, it felt like none of his adventures between the Savannah and now had quite the same feel as yesterday's, or those on the Savannah. A content sigh escaped his mouth as he envisioned a season full of the many adventures that waiting inevitably on the horizon.
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