Chapter Text
It had been a day or so since Hercules had his little catch-up chat with Dream, and the sun was just cresting in the sky. Errō was sat below their willow tree, muttering to themselves and a framed picture in their hands, and Dream was watering the plants outside the home, but Kevin was looking for Hercules, as he needed to ask the dog when would be a good time to head into Gameverse for a look around.
It was slightly awkward bending down to stare into the back porch, but there Hercules was, sleeping soundly on the very big wooden swing, padded in cute, colorful cushions with a canopy keeping the elements away. The rings around Kevin's face shifted, and he gently stuck his arm through the poles of the back porch to poke Hercules in the side.
The big, fluffy dog let out a whine and pawed at the air slightly, rolling over onto his other side and going straight back to his nap. His fur was slightly damp, wet with morning dewdrops, but it didn't seem to bother him too much, given that he was right back to snoozing away, snoring slightly.
Kevin sighed and poked the dog several times in a row, before sticking another hand through a poking the dog with two arms now.
Hercules blearily blinked open an eye, lifting his head up and lolling his tongue out the side of his mouth, a slightly cross expression on his face. "Whassit?" He mumbled, blinking a few times before processing who exactly had poked him awake. "Kevin?"
“Yes. It is me." Kevin said, sounding very smug as he retracted his arms and stood back up, fanning out his wings to stare down at the dog with the eyeballs in the center of them. "Anyway. Gameverse, when would we be going?" He asked, the eyes on his wings slowly blinking...or that's what it looked like they were doing.
"Uh...." Hercules blinked slowly a few times, brain still booting up into functionality. "...Now?" The dog yawned and licked his lips before heaving himself to his feet and shaking like the wet dog he was. "I don't really care when, and you've already woken me up, so..."
"Great! Where would we be going first?" Kevin asked, taking a few steps backwards and folding his wings.
"The Neutral Lands. There isn't exactly much out there but it's a good introduction as to what most of Gameverse has become." Hercules stretched, popping his spine in a few places.
Kevin nodded his head, the rings around his face and neck spinning as a goopy black portal formed on his shoulder and Liquid dropped out of it. "I will be coming along, if that's fine." The cat said, flicking her tail in Kevin's direction. "Just to keep an eye on this one." She said, shaking her head.
A few of Kevin's eyes blinked at the cat on his shoulder. But he didn't say anything as there was no way that he'd win any type of argument with this cat.
Hercules shrugged. "It's fine with me. And it'll be...interesting to have more than one person to show around." He shook his head as a portal spun into existence next to him, black and white crackling magic ripping into reality to form a gateway. "Be warned though, Gameverse is not a nice place. Not anymore."
"That does not make a difference to me." Kevin said, shaking off his wings before stepping through the portal with Liquid sat on his shoulder.
The world they stepped into was...strange. Dead, in almost every sense of the word. There was no wind, the air still and stale, and there was no clouds in the faded, almost worn blue of the sky. Under their feet the ground was brown, cracked and worn with only a few sparse rocks. Looking around, they appeared to be in what was once a lively town, and had only ceased to be very recently, judging by the paint still stubbornly clinging to dusty siding, and the bones that littered the earth.
"Welcome to the Neutral Lands." Hercules drawled grimly. "A wasteland of worlds left abandoned after they served their purpose to the Creator."
Kevin looked around, an intrigued, but slightly disappointed air to him as he listened to Hercules' explanation of Gameverse's Neutral Lands.
"How disappointing." Kevin said, placing one pair of arms on his hips as his eyes searched around the barren lands. "Honestly, why leave aus to rot? Even the olds ones I made still serve their purpose and...lives to Dreamswap, or Dream, more specifically. Does not make much sense to me." Kevin said, catching a look of Liquid in the corner of one of his eyes, but chose to ignore her.
"Think of it like...a music box. One of the ones with the ballerina that spins with the music." Hercules began, padding forwards to lead the group into the town. "Almost every universe in Gameverse is made somewhat like one of those. To keep them functional, to keep the water flowing and air moving and day and night churning, the gods have to put power into it. They have to turn the crank to make the ballerina spin." They passed by buildings crumbled in on themselves, the remnants of some big fight. "But once they stop turning the crank? Once the gods get bored, once all they found useful has packed up and moved on, the music is left to run out. The ballerina stops spinning. Everything stops."
"Hm." Kevin said, following Hercules at a slow, lumbering pace. "That is an...interesting way of making worlds, and keeping them alive manually. I've never heard of such a thing, seems redundant and even more boring than simply watching them." He said, almost scoffing.
"Which is why you were taught to make worlds in the way you did." Liquid drawled, shifting to make herself comfortable on Kevin's shoulder. "While something like this is useful for Gameverse, and the way that the...Gods function and work, it absolutely would not work for Dreamswap for many different reasons." She paused, her claws grasping at the flowy fabric of Kevin's robe. "Which is also why each Creator has their own way and style of making things, manually keeping aus running or not."
Hercules snorted and chuckled slightly. "'Alive'" He shook his head. "Not much is truly alive here." The dog continued his walk up a slightly sloping hill. "And how I wish I just meant the Neutral Lands."
Finally, the dog crested the slope and his tail wagged slightly. "Anyways, I thought this might give some...insight." Hercules padded forwards and clambered up the roots of an utterly massive tree stump in order to lay on top of said stump. "Welcome, I should say, to Dreamtale."
Kevin slowed a bit to stand still, most of his eyes turning to focus on the tree stump. "Huh, well that's...different." He said, walking closer to get a better look at the tree.
"You think?" Liquid quipped, shifting to sit up on Kevin's shoulder.
"Shush you." Kevin said back, and Liquid laid back down on his shoulder with a smack of her tail. Kevin chuckled after a moment. "Hey, guess we know why Dreamswap is named that." He said reaching up to poke Liquid in the face, who smacked him, even though she clearly found it somewhat funny.
"In this world, Corvitus was the one who ate the negative apples, turning him into what you see today, and chopped down the Tree of Feelings." Hercules explained from atop the stump. It was about twenty or so feet in diameter, and looked as if it had had a couple of centuries of attempted continued growth before the life was, well, sucked out of it with the rest of the world. "With Aquilitarius and Corvitus both gone, it was only a matter of time before their home world was too, left to turn to dust."
If Kevin could visibly frown, he was, crossing two pairs of arms as he listened. "That is slightly concerning, considering what importance the Tree of Feelings had, and seeing a place like DreamTale simply...dust away, is somewhat strange." He said, his rings spinning slowly. "But it makes sense, looking at Corvitus."
"Corvitus has always been quite the interesting little guardian." A familiar voice drawled, causing Hercules to snap his head around. With a faint buzzing noise, Lokust faded into to view, his usual grin plastered over his face. The god drifted forwards from where he hovered unbound by gravity to pat the dog on the head. His eyelights though, were trained on Kevin and Liquid. "Oh, am I interrupting something?"
Kevin titled his head a bit, the rings around his face spinning and his eyes blinking to readjust to the new being floating in front of him. Liquid narrowed her eyes, crossing over to Kevin's other shoulder before flopping down. "Perhaps you are, but in a way, aren't we all. But maybe I am just the weird one for talking to a dog and a cat." Kevin replied, fanning out his wings and letting the eyes there take in the view before shutting them once more.
Lokust chuckled slightly, giving Hercules another pat before drifting up and doing a few lazy circles are Kevin, tilting his head to the side. "And here I was thinking that Dreamswap didn't have any gods." A few bugs buzzed around him as he touched back down on top of the stump. "I'm sure you've heard about me, but I have to say that I have not heard of you at all."
"I am DreamSwap's only native god. You may remember me as Nightmare's chicken, the small feathered thing I was trapped in after a...disagreement with my own maker." Kevin said, nodding his head a bit. "But now, I am not in that body anymore, and can proceed with my duties and work to DreamSwap as they once were."
"How interesting!" Lokust trilled, tilting his head from side to side as red eyelights glowed brightly at the new information. "Why, pray tell, are you in Gameverse then?" He asked before leaning down and scooping up some of the loose, sand-like soil. "And in the Neutral Lands no less? There's nothing of interest here. Just old drafts and Ended stories."
"How else would I be able to see what DreamSwap has been dealing with without going directly to the source and seeing what this world is made of?" Kevin asked, cracking the knuckles on his lower set of hands. "As per why I'm in the Neutral Lands, I did not pick the location. Though I find it interesting as a...what's the word...first time viewer."
"You shouldn't rely too much on what you see here for too long." Lokust replied, picking at one of his claws. "It's all going to be erased soon, like a rough draft." He shrugged and crossed his arms. "There's lots of fun bits and pieces left for the final act though, and lots to be done. The game hasn't finished."
"I think that history is always worth looking into, it's telling of the present, and a guide to the future, of what may come, or what may not." Kevin said, titling his head and blinking a few of his eyes as he fanned out his wings and held them there. "History is...such a useful tool for anything, as boring as it can be to look into, it's...telling of certain things.”
"Eh. Whatever you think I guess." Lokust rolled his eyes slightly, drifting backwards through the air. "Not much you can tell about history from just wandering around here though. You'd need someone to tell you it. Or to read a book or something."
"Different areas tell you different things, about different places. Talking to people helps, but there's simply so much they can say." Kevin replied. "Though, reading and talking to people is a preferred way of gaining information."
"Mhm. Sure." Lokust responded, not really paying that much attention to the words Kevin was speaking, having tuned him out the moment it stopped being interesting. "So what, are you just going to lurk around my multiverse for a bit staring at rocks?"
Kevin looked vaguely amused at the very familiar, almost teenage boredom Lokust was showing in this conversation. "Well it seems as though I am staring at a dead tree, not a rock." He said, his eyes glinting with amusem*nt as he spoke.
"Technically!" Lokust began, grinning wider slightly. "If you stare at it long enough it will carbonize and become a rock!" The creator got snickered at himself, drifting back in the air slightly with a smile that seemed a bit more genuine.
"So it's the prequel to a rock then, still a tree, needs some time to become a rock." Kevin said, uncrossing his arms and folding his wings.
"Exactly. Some people will argue that it's the superior one compared to the sequel." Lokust snickered.
Back up on Kevin's shoulder, Liquid was blocking out the odd chatter that Lokust and Kevin were partaking in, and lept off the god's shoulder onto the ground; trotting over to the tree stump and sitting on one of the massive roots close enough to Hercules. "Can I ask what you meant by nothing here being truly alive?" She asked, wide yellow eyes looking more curious than anything, with the blue orb above her head shrinking in size
Hercules snorted awake from where he'd dozed off at the sounds of his name, blinking for a few moments. "Ah, well." His eyesflicked over to where Lokust and Kevin were continuing to banter. "Why don't you ask him? He's the cause of it, after all." The dog suggested ominously, before going to the hard endeavor of nibbling on his toes to make sure they were there.
"Okay." Liquid said, jumping off the tree roots and taking a running leap to attach to Kevin's third pair of arms, and then claw her way back up to his shoulders, oddly, not leaving many scratch marks in Kevin's arms, whether that was because she didn't actually use her claws, or unless it was simply impossible for her claws to penetrate whatever it was Kevin was made from, was unclear, but it didn't seem to hurt Kevin, just pulled him from what he and Lokust were discussing.
"What do you want?" Kevin asked, a few of his eyes blinking over to the cat as she stood up on her hind legs to stare into Kevin's eyes, for no particular reason.
"You should ask him why everything in the Neutral Lands is dead." Liquid replied, flicking her tail in Lokust's direction.
If Kevin had eyebrows, he was rasing them. "And why would I do that?"
Liquid didn't reply, and just stared as the blue orb above her head expanded in what was perceived to be a threat by Kevin, and he grabbed her and passed her down to his fifth pair of arms to hold her out to Lokust like a limp noodle. "Liquid would like to ask a question, if that is alright." Kevin said, letting Liquid hang there as she stared at Lokust.
Lokust chuckled, looking rather intrigued, lounging in the air as he observed the two. "Sure. I'm in a good mood, so," The god drawled, before gesturing with a bit of a flourish. "Ask away, and I shall see if I may answer." He held that sort of fake-regal tone one tended to use when humorously speaking with more elaborate word choice.
Kevin's eyes blinked down to Liquid, who had turned her head backwards to stare at Kevin, who slowly looked away from her and back at Lokust as she began to kick her back paws in an attempt to be put somewhere else and was promptly set back on Kevin's shoulder, passed from one hand to the next. "She is curious about the state of the Neutral Lands."
"Why everything seems sort of dead." Liquid interjected with a loud meow, batting at a ring on Kevin's face, who then grabbed her in one hand and held her in the air, air jail, if you will.
Kevin had to take a small moment to rebalance himself before adding onto Liquid's question. "As in why nothing seems—alive, I suppose." He added on, an audible eyebrow raise as his eyes flicked over to the cat.
"Oh! That's simply really." The god responded, shifting around to sit upright in the air, his legs crossed over each other. "Nothing here is actually real!" He did jazz hands and gestured around. "The trees, the sky, the ground. It's all fake, considering none of these are actually true universes." Lokust reached down and grabbed onto one of the roots of the tree, and with the splintering of wood, yanked it off. "Like this? Was never actually a living tree. It has the composition of one, sure. It looks and functions like one, but that's only because I'm good at what I do. If you look at the code of this, it's just one big diorama I put together. And well, I got bored, stopped working on it, and they crumble to dust."
"Huh." Kevin said, appearing to be somewhat interested, if not a bit confused. "I was unaware that was something able to be done in the process of creating worlds. It seems like something more useful for a rough draft or something." He said, gently passing Liquid from hand to hand, like one would a ball.
"Right on the dot there!" Lokust chirped, drifting around in a spiral to float by Kevin's shoulder. "Except you're thinking much too small, my friend. This isn't just Dreamtale or one measly part of the multiverse, no. The god chuckled. "The entirety of Gameverse is completely made up!" He tilted his head to the side. "Just worlds upon worlds of rough drafts filled with fake people and fake plotlines and fake universes, one great big test run that I've been playing around with for millenia. All those little people there, the Nebula Council, the Circle of Shadows. None of them are real. Adaptive puppets that move around with the storyline. They think they're real, but they fall right apart with time."
The god leaned back, picking at his claw slightly. "Of course there are exceptions to this. Some of my favorites that started to break down after too long simply had to become real monsters, and it's just so funny to watch them live their lives absolutely unaware that everyone they know and love isn't even something alive."
Some of Kevin's eyes flicked around to continue their almost never-ending stare as Lokust floated around his shoulder. It almost disturbed him, just barely, a deep rooted sense of rejection and fear that bubbled up in the strange thing he called his soul. Every single part of the magical organ rejecting what Lokust was saying. It was...strange, but judging by how suddenly still Liquid was, staring at him with an uncanny expression—it was supposed to be that way.
Kevin didn't necessarily know how to reply, but it was interesting, he'll admit, even though every part of his being was rejecting the topic all together. "That is...interesting, in the grand scheme of things when it comes to your multiverse, it makes sense." He said, a few of his eyes blinking in thought. "And it is in your multiverse's name, so most things not being real does make sense...in a way."
"And it means that no matter what I do, I don't mess up the balances because none of it is real and therefore doesn't affect a balance!" Lokust snigg*red to himself. "I have to artificially fill everywhere with the right amount of emotional energy to keep up the charade of realism I have, the current guardians don't even realize they've been fighting over a balance that is entirely fabricated to their senses. The real emotional balance hasn't stirred much in centuries." He grinned, despite the horrific truths he was revealing, before doing a loopty-loop. "It's so fun! And sometimes the mortals get so convinced they're real that they challenge me in some way, and then I get to watch them go splat!"
"That is certainly interesting, I must say. Seems like a lot of work on your behalf, though I suppose good things don't come easily?" He stated this like a question, moving Liquid back onto his shoulder at her insistence so she could mess with the rings around his neck and claw at his robe while he talked.
"Sometimes, sure, but it's actually pretty easy when you can just..." Lokust raised a hand and snapped, and suddenly the universe they were in exploded in negativity. The dark energy practically oozed from the desolate landscape, feelable en masse to even those not usually sensitive to it. "See? This multiverse is my playground. It bends to my rule, and if I want to keep playing with something, then it will work. As. Intended."
The rings around Kevin's face spun, the eyes blinking, narrowing and staring at the sudden change in atmosphere, he fanned out his wings, and the eyes there began to look around as well, blinking around the melted faces that forever spun around his body that had decided to float closer to the eyes. Overall, he wasn't sure what he thought of it, that...feeling was getting in the way and he didn't like it. "Ah, interesting. This place is certainly...curious, though I suppose that this puts that curiousness to rest, or as restful as curiosity can be." He said, gently pulling Liquid's head away from his neck rings and she then proceeded to smack his hands and continue anyway.
"It's our own little slice of fun." Lokust grinned, before pulling up a window, looking to be checking on something. His grin fell into a bit of a frown. "What does it mean he's not..." A look of realization crossed his face, and then the skeleton bared his teeth in a veritable snarl at the screen. "I. Have to go..." His voice was tight with a barely contained anger, something that burned in his eyelights and made the air around him tense. Thankfully though, the god soon vanished, splashing down into a black puddle
Once more, if Kevin had eyebrows he'd be raising at least one of them, but then again he found himself not totally caring and shrugged his shoulders, clapping his two bottom hands together. "Welp, that was fun. Let's move on." He said, walking back over to Hercules.
Hercules looked up from where he had successfully nibbled at his toes until he was sure they were all there. "Alrighty then." He hefted himself up to his paws before stretching out and back. "All the negativity in the air has given me a tidbit of inspiration of where to head next." A portal spun itself open once more. "All aboard, we're headed to the Circle of Shadows."
Kevin's feathers puffed out and he nodded. "Oh this'll be...fun." He said, stepping through Hercules' portal as it opened.
The Circle of Shadows was quite the interesting territory, especially considering the area that Hercules had taken them to inside it. Looking around, it was almost like...a plateu made of sea stacks, except on land. These great big slabs of rock stretched up into the sky, and on top of the bloomed a vibrant rainforest. Birds chirped as they flew through the trees, a troop of monkeys swung by in the distance, and the sun cast dappled shadows through large leaves. Fog drifted past like a lazy river of clouds going by a few hundred feet under where they were standing. On this great, fractured plateus, great cities stretched up into the sky. Made of wood and stone and seemingly keeping a good balance with the nature around them, life in the Circle of Shadows was one built in the sky, with long, weaved bridges between the groups of buildings and paved streets that had been built on bridges so sturdy even the busy hustle and bustle of life didn't cause any cracks or wear.
There was, however, a feeling. A deeply disturbing, haunting feeling that settled deep in one's chest. It was the thrum of anxiety, screaming to not go into the shadows, to not be alone, to do as told lest the overwhelming weight of the negativity that had seeped into the very core of these worlds crush one beneath it's weight.
Kevin's eyes blinked around and he fanned out his wings to let them take a look around as well. It was rather pretty here, he could appreciate the setting and color that bloomed all around them. The creepiness of the shadows didn't affect him too much, after all, what would a little shadow do to him? And for one, he thinks it adds a nice touch to the place, a slightly creepy one, but it's a good one nonetheless.
"It's pretty here. I should convince Nightmare to move his house to a place like this." He mused, the rings that held his eyes spinning around to take in everything.
"Indeed." Hercules shook himself, looking rather uncomfortable at the heat and humidity that weighed down on him. "I could do without the heat though." He walked forwards, hopping up a few steps to lead Kevin up a path to a taller part of the plateu they were on.
Upon reaching the summit, Hercules gestured vaguely to something in the distance. It looked to be an utterly massive city, a large castle seeming to be the centerpoint. The purple banners of the Circle of Shadows were quite visible, even from where they stood, and the crowing jewel had to be the clock tower with an utterly gargantuan tree upon it, which would put even the largest of redwoods to shame at this point.
"Oh yes, I remember those banners." Kevin said with a chuckle. "Reminds me of the Justice Rein's base, just...more gothic in style." He said, an eye or two flicking over to Liquid as she sat up and looked out at the tree and clock tower.
"It does look like that, yes." Hercules responded, a layer of amusem*nt in his tone. "Considering those two take up the same role as the one who bit the apple, it makes sense that some things may be similar between them. Like tastes in propaganda." The dog paused. "Although, I feel like Dream using the same style as a murderous dictator may raise some questins that I do not know if I want answered."
Kevin chuckled a bit. "Oh you wouldn't believe how many people Dream has killed, though I think he's had good reason in the past." He paused. "Although he did call animal control me when I first challenged him to a fight and that's been the worst thing he's done ever, besides for giving me a look when Nightmare stole me from that farm." He said, looking just a bit bitter at that.
"It's always interesting to look at others and see what they see as heinous and alright." Hercules murmured, sitting down and staring out across the land. "I often find those like Dream to be the worst of hypocrites, believing themselves to be the best thing since sliced bread, while enacting twisted beliefs against those under their control. At the very least, Corvitus knows he's screwed up and accepts that."
"Oh yeah, Dream was definitely pretty hypothetical when he first started out, but he's changed how he deals with people and it's had a good effect on the people he rules over." Kevin said, crossing three pairs of his arms as he looked around. "People change and grow, realize what they did was maybe wrong and then fix it, or, at least Dream did, with some pushing but it happened."
"Not here they don't. Change for the good, the is." Hercules shook his head grimly. "They just get worse and worse until they fall apart right at the seams in one big supernova." He looked up at Kevin, panting slightly and wagging his tail. "But it's nice to hear, to see how people can grow in change in so many ways in your world that they can't in ours."
Kevin nodded a bit, moving his wing to hover over Hercules slightly. "Our worlds are different, made for different things by different entities, which makes it poetic, in a way." He paused. "It's like waves destroying a sand castle, you can continue to make it near the sea, watch it get destroyed, or move further back. But it's like Gameverse will never get to the other side of the beach, not in their lifetime anyway."
"Gameverse is...a series of sketches drawn in the sand. Blueprints and doodles and funny little ideas drawn in the sand at low tide. We're far enough away from the sea, sure, but high tide always comes back in, washes everything away." Hercules mused. "I don't doubt that the time where Lokust erases all these fake worlds will come soon, not with the things he's doing and the words he's said."
"Yeah, I will...need to keep my eyes on that little bugger from now on, from what you've said and from speaking with him he seems...interesting, and not in a good way." Kevin said, before looking off to the side with some of his eyes narrowed. "Which...means I should find my sword."
Hercules appeared to find some part of that funny, chuckling to himself with a bit of a knowing look. 'Bugger'. How...funnily close to the truth. "Oh? What's this sword of yours do?" He asked, before shifting to scratch at his ear, panting a bit heavier as the heat wore at him.
Kevin thought on the question for a moment, all of his eyes blinking and looking around as he opened up a small portal to a colder au just behind Hercules so that the calm wind could blow in and keep the dog cool. "Well, seeing as I myself am the God of Chaos, that is what my sword also acts as. It's an old relic, containing the power to tear through anything and everything, including what makes aus, aus." He said, crossing a few of his arms as a few of his eyes looked down at Hercules. "It'll be incredibly useful in any situation it's in.”
Hercules leaned appreciatively into the cold air, the breeze providing welcome air conditioning to the fluffy dog. "It makes sense as to why you'd want it back then, such a powerful weapon would be quite useful to you, especially considering your opponents." He paused for a moment, mulling over his next words. "Not to mention, Lokust isn't the easiest to hit if he doesn't want to be hit."
"No one is the easiest to hit when they don't want to be, but I also just want the sword back, where ever it might be." Kevin said, fanning out his wings and closing them a few times. "I do think I know where it is, most likely deeper into DreamSwap, the areas that I made and have not been found."
"Well that sounds interesting." Hercules commented with a raised eyebrow, which looked quite funky considering he was a dog. "What's your plan to get it if it's so deep into the place?" He let out a yawn and scratched at his side.
"I can sense where it is; since the thing is made out chaotic energy, I can pin-point a general location, so I'll just go from au to au until I get closer to it." Kevin replied. "Although I might need to get through the monsters I made if they're still alive."
"'Get through?'" Hercules asked, tilting his head to the side. "Would these monsters being going against you, their creator, in your endeavor to take back what was yours once?"
"Well, for one, they're not monsters in the way that Gameverse monsters are. Two, they were never made to bend completely to my will, because that would simply sit wrong with me." Kevin paused. "And also their vision sucks most of the time, so they'd probably get all huffy when I first show up because they wouldn't recognize me as being me." He explained, listing out the reason on one of his hands.
"Interesting." The canine responded, tongue lolling out of his mouth as he panted. "It does make sense though, with free will and you're return being unexpected, it would make sense for there to be a bit of a problem with getting that sword back." He sighed and shook himself out. "Do you mind if we continue this conversation elsewhere? If I stay here much longer I am going to get heat stroke, I swear."
Kevin nodded his head. "Sure, it is very warm here." He said, shaking out his wings and holding them up above his head.
Hercules rose to his feet and practically bounded through one of his portals. The air on the other side was almost shockingly cold and crisp, a relief from the heat and humidity they had just come from. A few inches of snow covered the ground, with Hercules immediately started rolling around in, trying to cool down from his overheated state. The sky was full of stars and nebulae, asteroids drifting past, and a cursory glance around revealed that they had arrived on top of a floating asteroid, a few evergreen trees reaching up into the cold air of space. Which was a little contradictory, seeing as there should have been no air in space, but it was probably best to not point out the plot holes in Lokust's worldbuilding.
Kevin followed Hercules, stopping once through his portal to take a glance around the world they had just stepped into, and Liquid jumped off his should to plop down in the snow.
If he had eyebrows he'd raise them at the trees swaying in the air. He hated plot holes, they were so annoying he just hoped Lokust had actually taken time to fill the plot hole instead of just leaving it unfilled. Like a pot-hole in the middle of a road. But for now it's none of his business, and he will keep his thoughts to himself. For now.
Hercules took a few more moments to half bury himself in the snow, before popping his head up and dragging himself into a more upright lay. "Well, this is one of the territories of the Nebula Council." He began, plopping one of his paws on top of the snow to make a paw print. "As you can see, all of these aus take place in, well, space. Hence the name. Some aus you can't really tell it because they're inside an asteroid, or the place you go to is on a large enough asteroid you don't even realize, but, it's space all the same."
Kevin nodded as he listened to Hercules' explanation of the world they were currently standing in. "How interesting. Having an au inside an asteroid seems like a somewhat bad idea, though if it works it work, I suppose." He said, tilting his head and opening his wings to let his eyes take in their surroundings.
"I'm pretty sure it was just created as it is for the, ah, 'vibe'." Hercules' voice was saturated with amusem*nt as he spoke. The dog heaved himself to his feet and turned in a few circles before stopping. "And it's...right, this way, about thirty feet is the edge of the asteroid we're on. Great view of the actual building of the organization called the Nebula Council. Or, well, buildings. It kinda got ripped in half."
A few of Kevin's eyes narrowed, seemingly in muted judgement. "Interesting. What caused the building to split in half?" He asked.
Hercules tilted his head slightly. "Do you remember that really big 'earthquake' that happened a...fair while ago by now? I don't know what Nightmare's group was doing during it, but you're bound to have felt it. Basically we call those Codequakes, and they happen when the Gameverse gods decide to delete a section of Gameverse in a moment. Basically creates a supernova and causes that shaking and a whole ton of viruses in the code." He sighed. "Well, during that, the asteroid that the building was on was split in half, and took the building with it. To be fair, the asteroid's intergrity had already been unknowingly compromised, but still."
Kevin thought for a moment before he nodded. "I do believe I remember it yes. We did not really feel it as severely as JR did though." He said. "Ah, that makes sense. The Codequake was the...final nail in the coffin for the asteroid it seems."
"Indeed, broke right apart that day, and instead of building a new base they just fixed up the two parts into two buildings." Hercules turned and walked in the direction he had been facing. "It's not the place it used to be, especially with the war preparations going on, but it's still quite interesting to see."
"I can imagine so," Kevin said, following Hercules with Liquid running so she could jump onto his shoulder. "Events like that are bound to effect and change the people impacted. It's an interesting change in events, and I'd say that the building breaking in half was a tell of the future to come for these people."
"For all it's positivity, this territory has always been full of ill omens." Hercules responded gravely as he led the way to the edge of the asteroid and gazed down.
It had to be what half a mile to a mile away, but the gargantuan building that had grown to be called the Nebula Council seemed almost right up in their faces. Twisted towers of stone grown over with snow-dusted foliage crested high into the sky, the twin buildings holding what had to be over a hundred floors each. Rings floated around them, golden and thin in comparison as they orbited the structure. Large veins of a black mineral ran through it all, a prismatic and foreboding sheen to it like a infection creeping along. Outside on the ground, the area around the building was swarmed with people, soldiers of the two factions of Gameverse milling about and going about their duties in preparation of what was to come.
"It's always been a tricky decision for most." The dog mused. "Try for the chaos of Omega Timeline, where your every move is always watched, the oppression of the Circle of Shadow's dictatorial government..." He swallowed. "Or live in an uneasy peace in the favorite stomping grounds of the Creator God."
The rings around Kevin's head spun, and the eyes now at the front stared down at the Nebula Council building, pupils dilating and glowing slightly to get a better, clearer view at the place.
"This place intrigues me at times, the people, or monsters, are an...interesting change of pace." Kevin said, cracking his knuckles one hand at a time. "It's oddly made, but for all its beauty the chaotic nature of this world is flourishing. So many people in different places, yet that live similar lives, which adds a feeling of security, understanding, yet, no one really, truly stands out. It's just very interesting."
"They're a strange people, aren't they?" Hercules relaxed into a sit, watching as the people below went about like little ants. "Not truly people, yet they think and act and talk and live like ones. All they know is chaos, with any order being the one they've built themselves, and in places where they have survived, they share so much."
He tilted his head. "Those halls have run red with blood. Oftentimes, they still do. But yet, people still flock there, still protect it and adore it and live with it. One could say that it's loyalty, or hope, or some stubborn motive to plant their feet in the dirt and say that this is their home." Hercules snorted and shook his head. "In reality it's just programming. A script to keep the numbers up in the interesting places."
Kevin nodded, crossing his arms. "It's an...interesting style of creation, a style that shakes a part of me and them." He shook his head, a few of his eyes on the left side of his face looking to the ground. "It's disturbing, in a way—to know that DreamSwap are speaking to monsters who aren't even real, yet appear real to everyone eyes, except to the eyes of those who know their lack of...life."
"It's a false sort of creation, one just real enough to keep the multiverse expanding and healthy, but false enough that it won't truly affect anything. It is sensible in a way though, considering true Creation nearly ripped Lokust's predecessor to shreds." Hercules looked up at Kevin, an empathetic look to his face. "It's a sad thing, to realize just how fake this all is. How each of them you talk to and get to know are just...machines really. Utilizing a programmed set of memories and a programmed personality to develop a appropriate reaction." He expression drooped. "It's sadder when you realize that not all of them are fake. There's a slim few given true being, created fully into being, and deny it all they wish, they know everyone around them isn't real. You even know one of them."
Kevin hummed quietly, his eyes flicking around to land back on Hercules. "Which one would that be?" He asked with a quiet clinking of the rings around his neck bumping together.
"Leopyxnis." Hercules responded softly. "He's old, much older than he looks. I'm sure you've heard Nightmare or Ink ribbing at him about it. The fake beings in Gameverse they...come undone with age. Their programming breaks down and they stop working. A long time ago, Leopyxnis' programming broke, as was inevitable. But Lokust was...too attached. He didn't want to let him go. So he made him real, gave him life." The dog shook his head. "Sometimes I doubt whether that man is even mortal anymore."
Kevin almost looked surprised, but he nodded, fluffing out his wings. "Oh yes, I remember Leopyxnis. He has stuck out in comparison to others in Gameverse, both in age and sanity." He said, the rings around his face shifting around. "Attachment makes people do odd things, though I suppose it's a good thing Leopyxnis was granted that life, he's a good guy."
"I am pretty sure that Leopyxnis is the holder of the single braincell we residents of Gameverse collectively have left." The dog joked, before sighing and nodding. "He is, he just wants to help, just wants to care even though he knows that he's not truly helping a person." He looked down at his paws. "Even though he knows his best friend isn't real."
"He's good for that alone, helping anyone is a quality good monsters, people and animals hold in the right situation and context for their lives." Kevin said, falling silent for a moment before he decided to sit down next to Hercules. "He's a rather sad guy for that fact, I cannot imagine how difficult that must be for him at times."
"He's doing his best to make sure things go as smooth as they can, that the people around him...think that they are happy." The dog mused. "I think he mostly just...buries that knowledge. Let's the illusion of it all being real convince him that it is, like we all do." Hercules shook his head. "It'll catch up with him soon, as it starts coming to an end. I don't doubt he'll make it out alive, even if he dies a few more times before it's over, but all he's known, the person he loved...I'm almost entirely sure it will all be gone."
Turning his head, Hercules looked to Kevin for a few moments. "Well, besides the Omega Timeline, this is most of the notable parts of Gameverse and, well, you've learned a lot today." He blinked. "So, may I ask what you are going to do with this knowledge?"
Kevin was quiet for a moment. "I wanted to get a wider grasp on Gameverse, see what it's like and what I will most likely be dealing with in the future." He replied. "Just something to keep in my tunic when the time comes."
"It will be interesting to see how you will utilize it all when the 'time comes' that you are thinking of." Hercules responded. "I think that this may conclude our tour for today."
Kevin nodded his and stood up, letting Liquid drop down into a portal of hers before he stretched out his wings and cracked his knuckles once more. "Great! Thank you for showing me around, I appreciate it." He said, opening up a portal back to Errō's home.
Hercules waved at Kevin with a paw, settling down into the snow a bit more. He'd stay here for a bit, watch the world go by below him and think.
