After the blinding light clouded Fayde’s sight, he had a sudden feeling of weightlessness. It felt as if he were floating aimlessly, but there were no sights or sounds. Images flashed in his mind and information flooded his thoughts filling his head with a numbing pain.

He couldn’t stop the flood of information, or the images from entering his mind. All he could do was grit his teeth and bear the pain in silence.

The images and information were varied and scattered. Fayde was having difficulty sifting through them. They were confusing and muddled, but as the transfer of information and images continued, he began to make sense of it all.

It wasn’t clear why it was happening, but he realized it had much to do with the nature of this place. What he was receiving were memories, or perhaps some sort of data which had been stored and he had somehow connected with it without realizing it.

He saw a broken world, shattered into fragments each ruled over by someone with god-like powers. In each of these fragments existed various strange species which bore a very close resemblance to fantasy races he was familiar with through his memories of Peter Wright.

These species had evolved from Humans, changed in a manner that pleased each of the rulers of these fragments. There was one fragment which was different from the others. He recognized this one as the one he had come from. It was unstable and the power of the Void fluctuated violently around it.

The other fragments were much more orderly and balanced with strong foundations and more magically advanced civilizations. Although each fragment was different from the other with their own unique races and technology.

Fayde couldn’t believe it, but all of it closely resembled some of the PC fantasy strategy games he had played in the past, or perhaps something like an MMO with faction wars and unique civilizations.

The fragments warred against each other, each of the god-like rulers seeking to dominate the others.

One, giant, game world.

When light finally returned to his eyes, Fayde was surrounded by a darkened sky. In that darkened sky sat twinkling lights that blinked in sequence. A look of astonishment was plastered on his face as he looked around in amazement.

Beneath his feet was endless darkness and he felt as if he were floating somewhere among the starry skies. Fayde couldn’t see any planets or a sun, there was just the starry backdrop and a lone table with several seats. It looked like a conference table made of a smooth silver alloy.

After coming out of his temporary daze, Fayde felt a soft but firm pressure around his waist and he realized he was still being held onto tightly by Felicia.

“Felicia, you got transported with me too?”

She was whimpering and didn’t respond immediately.

“Felicia, are you okay?”

Fayde attempted to remove her arms from around his waist but she had him in a firm iron grip and her strength was incredible. She even gripped him hard enough to make it difficult for him to breathe.

“Felicia!! Wake up! Get off of me already!” Fayde yelled.

“Fayde…. I’m afraid of heights….” She whimpered.

“Relax, even though it looks like we are flying, our feet are clearly planted firmly on ground. Imagine we are in something like a room and just relax. Take a deep breath.”

Felicia was finally able to calm down and slowly removed her arms while standing up straight.

“Oh.. You’re right! Hehe…. “

Felicia appeared embarrassed and fixed her long blonde hair nervously. She usually acted quite aggressive and domineering around others. She was always different around Fayde however, and now she almost appeared somewhat girlish. Fayde couldn’t stop himself from chuckling.

He found her nature of sometimes acting like a tiger, while others like a cat, funny.

“I see you brought a pet…”

An ephemeral voice woke Fayde from his playful musing.

“That Glafandal is useless. I ordered him to bring only you to me.” The voice continued.

Despite hearing the voice twice, he still couldn’t tell whether the voice belonged to a man or a woman, it was strange and left no impression for him to draw any conclusions on. He had never heard such a strange and uncharacteristic voice.

“Well, at least he got you here, so I suppose that will need to be sufficient.”

The voice became more clear until a melodious and very feminine laughter clearly resounded throughout the strange and eerie space. The echoing laughter seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

Not far from where Fayde stood, the space trembled and a dark and foreboding rift opened, tearing through the space and visibly vibrating without any sound.

A long, pale white shimmering leg exited through the rift soon followed by a tall and majestic looking body. A woman stood proudly with her arms resting on her shapely hips.

She wore a revealing one piece with open leg slits showing much of her smooth pale legs. Her overexposed bosom was enticing and would easily draw the eye of any man. She was tall and lithe with long sharp ears and hair that cascaded down her back like a river, reaching all the way down her calves.

Her beauty was faelike, not the type of a beauty a human might have, but instead that of a mythical being similar to a fairy. To Fayde, she looked much like what he imagined a beautiful elven queen might look like.

“It seems we have been fated to meet for quite some time.” Said the mysterious and mesmerizing woman with a voice as soft as morning dew.

Her lips were curved in a welcoming smile that could cause flowers to bloom even in the dead of winter. Even her steps were as enchanting as the morning rain.

Despite this, Fayde couldn’t help but feel a chilling sensation creep down his neck. Much like one might feel having been enchanted by the most cunning of snakes, only to later be devources in its embrace.

For he knew that this was not her true appearance and was nothing but a fabrication, a wondrous but nonetheless venomous, lie.

“Mystra.”

One word was more than enough to express his intense hatred, as well as his intense fear.

Just when he thought her smile couldn’t be any more blinding, it truly bloomed displaying her perfect white teeth as she spoke, “That’s correct, I am the Divinity Mystra. Goddess of the Aelfwynne and guardian of Aergan.”

Fayde wasn’t moved in the slightest by her smile, “Why not show your true form? This facade of yours makes me sick.”

Mystra held her gentle white hand to her mouth and laughed gently, “Do you not like the way I look? I no longer remember what I once looked like. This is no mere illusion, this is who I am now.”

“Tch… You and the rest of the so called divinities are sick fucks. You play with the lives of people while living your twisted fantasies as superior beings. Every last one of you should die, only then will the people suffering know peace.” Fayde replied with disdain, not tempted in the least by her coy behavior or beautiful form.

“And what’s with that chest!? It doesn’t fit your body at all! Someone is clearly trying to compensate for something…” Growled Felicia unexpectedly from the side.

“Silence, pet.” Mystra said angrily while waving her hand towards Felicia, releasing an unknown spell.

The spell caused Felicia to freeze up, she could no longer move, speak or even hear. She was completely frozen in every way.

“And you! How dare you!? What do you know of me, of any of us? You aren’t even a Human being, you’re nothing more than a construct, a vessel for something that isn’t even truly alive. What do you understand of Human hardship and pain? Of losing everything you ever loved and seeing your world destroyed around you with no way to save it! You, who have lived a paltry short life living on borrowed memories and failed experiences, you haven’t even lived and yet deign to judge me?”

As she spoke, she stepped closer with increasingly violent steps. Her voice grew louder and filled with rage. She no longer put on any pretense of cordiality.

“I may not have lived long, but I know enough not to be like you.” Said Fayde firmly, standing his ground, his hand resting on the pommel of his sword.

“You. Know. Nothing!” Mystra replied while emphasizing each word strongly.

She was close now, almost a hair's breadth away. Her voice suddenly grew quiet and solemn, a look of pain marring her gentle brow.

“Our world was teetering on the brink of destruction, but it was not just our world that was in danger. No, you have no idea, do you? The Void is beyond anything you could ever imagine. It is formless and yet can take the form of anything. It is not alive and yet alive. It creates, and it also destroys. It is a miraculous and brilliant wonder, the likes of which have never been seen or heard of. If the Void had been left to its own devices, do you know what would have happened Fayde?”

Fayde gulped, suddenly struck by the strangeness of her tone. He didn’t answer, because deep down he feared what he already knew. Mystra took several steps back and then turned, no longer facing Fayde. Her body trembled, from what Fayde thought was fear, but he couldn’t see the expression on her face.

It was one of ecstasy and anticipation.

“The Void would have destroyed everything. Not just this world, not just this solar system, not even just the galaxy in which our solar system resides. Everything Fayde, the entire universe… gone. Can you imagine, untold worlds, incalculable lives… all gone?”

Her voice had almost dropped to a whisper and a strange smile adorned her lips as she licked them slowly and deliberately. She crossed her arms around her body as if she were hugging herself.

Fayde was baffled by her strange actions and remained silent as he watched her, ‘This is way too awkward….’

After several awkward moments of silence, Mystra’s arms finally loosened and fell to her side appearing seemingly defeated.

“What we did, was the only way. It would be a lie to say we didn’t benefit, gaining godlike powers. Perhaps we took things a bit too far, but we have lived for so many thousands of years, unable to die, unable to see our loved ones, our friends. Do you know what that is like? The memories are there… still. What you call living a fantasy… it’s the only way we can forget.”

Fayde considered her words and for a time was at a loss for words. Mystra turned to look at him after hearing no response. She had a look of deep pain which would have most likely fooled him if he hadn’t had such profound anger towards her. Not to mention she had already tried to kill him multiple times.

“What would you have done differently?” She finally asked.

“I don’t know, maybe there was no other way, but that doesn’t excuse the choices you all made afterwards. Creating and evolving people into different species and toying with life? Fracturing the world into fragments that you all rule over as gods while playing war games against each other for dominance? Killing untold millions of people for your own entertainment? What kind of crazy shit is that? It was bad enough that you all ruined the world you lived in originally, forsaking your lives for alternate reality games, but now you have even turned reality into some sick version of a game! What the hell is wrong with all of you!?”

No matter what she said, Fayde couldn’t help but feel appalled, he couldn’t accept what they had done.

“I suppose we will never see eye to eye. That’s fine. Initially, I wanted you dead Fayde, but it should be apparent to you that I have changed my mind. My concern was that you would become a pawn of the Void and if that happened, it really would be the end of all. You somehow resisted, although you can’t deny that the Void is still lurking in the depths of your heart. There is still a danger of this happening and as such I have summoned you here for a purpose.”

“I don’t care why you summoned me here, send me back immediately!” Fayde interrupted vehemently.

Mystra glowed, it was a cunning smile that Fayde couldn’t see through. He felt a cold chill and immediately put up his guard, but his power was sealed in this place and he felt especially vulnerable.

“It is time for you to go.”

Mystra waved elegantly to Fayde and before he could respond, he disappeared.

“Why didn’t you kill him?” A subtle voice asked.

Mystra stood in the space alone, but her eyes seemed to see off into the distance, staring at something unseen. Her voice became soft and gentle as if she were soothing someone she loved.

“He still has his uses. It is impossible for me to enter another fragment without alerting one of the others, but he can. His presence there alone will be of benefit to us.”

The subtle voice was silent for a moment before asking, “Do you think he believes what you told him?”

“Whether he believes or not doesn’t matter. I never expected that he would trust anything I told him. It’s the reason I let him access the core memory and game data. I let him see some of our ‘gaming’ sessions. Not everything I said was a lie.”

Mystra raised her arms as if she were embracing someone, but she was the only one who appeared to be present.

“Don’t worry my love… soon now. It won’t be long until it is only you and I among the stars.”