The Purpose

Maya made her way out of the town of Kiselt after getting all the information that Mihas had got together for her. There was quite a bit more than she had initially thought, more than had been in a while. But that wasn't that surprising, the domes had kicked everyone into high gear. Their greed and depravity was pulled into open for all to see, and yet... The people ignored it, they saw those above them fighting and gnawing at each other's heels all for a chance to gain more power, and they looked away. Maya didn't hold it against them too much. She too had once been under another's boot, unable to see a way out, married off as nothing but a prize, a tribute to appease a tyrant.

The memories of that time made her disgusted at herself, at how weak she was. She hated that Maya, the one that kept her eyes firmly on the ground, the one that surrendered herself to a violation upon violation, just to satisfy another's desire to feel strong.

But she also valued those memories, they were the fuel that kept her moving forward, that gave her a purpose. It was the first time she had seen the horror that the Framework pushed on them. It was a ladder that was inherently designed to create such monsters as her former husband, the King in the East. A petty man, who had gained his power through exploitation of those serving under him.

The Framework was in many ways a god, a system that gave them their power. Some of the others believed that it wasn't malevolent on its own, that it was the way that others used their power that was wrong. People like Berion believed that there was still good in the world, but Maya had seen only evil. The Framework could never be good in her eyes. Not since the moment when she realized what such great power meant. The Kings of the East gained their power through sacrifice, through the blood of others. Every kingdom they conquered, every faction they pressured into submitting paid a price. Innocent lives to fuel their rituals and increase the powers of the Kings.

When she had learned the truth, when she had seen how much blood and horror that power required, when she had learned that her parents sent her own people to be slaughtered, that they sent her as a symbol of submission... It broke something inside of her. She had seen the darkness that the world was built on, and she realized that there wasn't enough good in the world to fight against what had taken root at the core of the Infinite Realm.

When Kael came for the King in the East, when he freed her, it was the first time she saw someone doing something with a greater goal in mind. She wasn't an idiot, she knew that they were doing the same thing in a way. That the Unchained had spilled blood, that they had caused the deaths of innocents too, but they didn't do it get more power. No, they wanted to change the world, to force the Framework itself to fix the Infinite Realm.

They knew the secrets behind the stage. Kael had pieced things together from the sparse records that survived from the Old Worlds into the Infinite Realm, from the stories spoken by monsters. The writing in dungeons and item descriptions.

There once were the Three--Gods, Creators, ultimate beings that had created everything, even the Framework. The Three were something that many knew about, but they didn't truly understand. How could they? It was beyond their comprehension, it was beyond Maya's too. But the Unchained knew one thing, and that was that if they wanted a different world, they had to change the rules. Destroy the old, and let something new be born. Kill those who had twisted the Framework into a tool to just grow strong and oppress the weak.

Or, if they caused enough damage, if they distorted the plans enough, perhaps the will behind it all would interfere. They had done so before, Kael knew that there were other iterations of Reality. They hoped that they could force another change, another exodus to a new reality, as the Rankers of the Old Worlds had been given the chance to reach the Infinite Realm, as the Monsters of the realities before had given a chance to exist now.

It was the only way to excise the cancer that had spread too far to ever be cured.

With the arrival of Ra'azel, they now had all grown much more powerful, and would only grow more powerful with time. They might not know what all of the yeti's motives were, but they were certainly aligned. The yeti hated the Framework too. He might not be willing to reveal all about his plans, but they didn't need to know. He had helped them more than enough, he had given them the tools to fight against anyone. The knowledge of Runes and the gear he had crafted for them was the proof enough. Maya had never been more powerful than she was now.

Soon, they would finally be able to put into motion their plan and open all the remaining Domes at once. Their information network had given them the locations of most of them, and as soon as Ra'azel finished the upgrades on their gear, they would change the world forever.

She almost felt giddy at the thought, soon the nightmare would end. She was certain of it. They would rip the curtain down completely, reveal the stage and chop it down to pieces. There was a script, a loose script that the Framework made them all dance to. The Domes were the proof of it, they weren't intended to be opened yet, and who knew just how far they had accelerated whatever timeline the Framework was supposed to operate on.

They were close, Maya just knew it, Kael was certain of it too. Events were starting to accelerate, and sooner or later, they would hit something that would throw everything out of balance. Give them a chance to wipe the slate clean and open a way to a new world. A world where there would be a chance for all those who are abused, who are pushed down and exploited. Who are slaughtered in the name of others growing stronger. A world where strength was not just a reward for those willing to compromise, who were willing to descend into depravity or turn their eyes away from it.

That was what she wanted, that was the world that Maya pushed for every day even when faced with obstacles she had no chance of surmounting alone. But she wasn't alone. She remembered Kael's words from many years ago; “It will only get more difficult as we go on. The world will hate us, they will try to stop us. Some have been under their sway for so long that they can't imagine another way of life at all. We must accept the difficulties and do our best in spite of them or else they'll swallow us up.”

But for that, the Unchained had to pay a price. They had to accept they might lose their own lives, and they knew that any fight against the Framework might end in disaster. None of them wanted it this way, but they saw no other way out. If their efforts resulted in failure, then so be it—they would rather give every piece of themselves until there was nothing left than succumb to those who view strength as leverage over others' lives. To Maya and all members of the Unchained, death on their own terms held more honor than living day by day with quiet acceptance under someone else's thumb.

Slowly Maya approached the place where she had hidden her skiff, a small airship that she used to move around. She had to take precautions when returning to base, trackers had powers that could trace teleports, which meant that she couldn't just teleport directly there. Berion had set up a small network, but by the very nature of it needing to be a secret, they had only a few of them active. So most of the time she had to use the more mundane means of travel. She would make a roundabout trip, hitting a few other towns and territories along the coast to reduce any suspicion, then she would make her way to another town to switch her skiff for a more commercial airship which would bring her near to the teleporter. It was a bother, but they had to make the effort to keep their base safe. It was the most important thing they had, a safe place to call home, a refuge for all those who they had saved, who couldn't survive out in the Settled Territories. Slaves that would be hunted down, people who had come to the attention of those far more powerful.

She equipped the armor that Ra'azel had crafted for her, and then she focused on her perk, Air Pressure Sense, to do her routine surroundings check to make sure that she was alone before she entered the skiff. A rune on her chest flared up, boosting the effectiveness of her perk. The world around her blossomed inside her mind, a painting of different pressures in the air, currents of Wind moving in different directions.

She took a step toward the hidden skiff, and then paused. Using her perk was just a habit at this point. She had been very careful coming here, there was little chance that anyone had followed her from the town. Her |Danger Sense| skill hadn't triggered at all, nor had the formation on her belt that detected scrying powers.

There was something high above her that nagged at her sense. She couldn't quite feel what it is. It was more what she didn't feel. It was like there was a hole in the pressure map inside of her head. She put more of her willpower into her perception, leveraged a few of her Wind related skills, combining powers to get a better picture.

There was nothing there, nothing that she could detect at least. It was only its absence that had drawn her attention. It was almost a fluke that she had noticed it, if she hadn't boosted her perk with her armor she would've missed it, and she had just done that out of habit.

She turned her head to the sky, the armor's visor zooming in on the target of her vision. Up above her, so far as to almost be touching the border of the sky was a... Twist in space. She blinked, tried to look around it, and found that her mind almost tricked her into not seeing anything, but she knew that it was there.

Then the pressure around it changed, and she jumped back instantly. She tapped into the armor, her stats skyrocketing as the runes started to glow, she triggered her perks and the wind all around her answered her call, turning downwards to spin around her.

The currents of wind were cut through like they weren't even there, and then a person stood in the air in front of Maya. He was a short human, with chin length black hair and eyes that seemed to be devouring the light. He had lines over his eyes, filled with darkness, silver, and violet, tiny wisps of Essence flaked off into wisps from the cracks to evaporate in the air around him. He wore armor of overlapping scales of dark black-blue with spots of yellow that made it look like a night sky filled with stars, radiating with power in a stark contrast to its wearer, from whom Maya could feel nothing. In his hand he gripped a helmet. His eyes didn't have a pupil, so she couldn't tell where he was looking at, yet she was certain that he was looking straight at her.

Her heart started to beat inside her chest, faster and faster, her mind planning a way to escape. And then the man spoke.

A chill ran through her spine as she heard the words, "You know who I am," it was not a question. His voice captivated and terrified in equal measure. It was unnaturally even, the words whispered in a barely audible tone, yet somehow carrying perfectly to her ears with no noise of the world around her. It was as if with every word he stole the sound of the Wind passing by, of the grass swaying and the leaves rustling, leaving her in complete silence save for his voice.

She felt nothing, and yet it was as if there was something heavy pressing down upon her, draining the life out of her.

One thing was certain, she was screwed.