It is quiet, but not completely silent. The sound of running liquid soothingly echoes across the hard, rough and rocky walls of the massive space. A cavern of epic proportions, so wide you'd almost think it stretches to the horizon because of the red and white mist that hovers just above the ground. Walls towering, reaching for an unseen sky, some smooth like panes of glass, most rough and unworked like most normal cave walls. The roof stretches high giving ample room, enough to maybe even fit a castle's towers. It is very dark, not much light being offered from the few strange light sources scattered unevenly across the massive room, glowing an eerie red hue, having stayed lit for centuries only fueled by ambient mana in the air which has been enriched by something. The floor of the cavern is mostly covered by a red lake of pink and orange hues, its viscosity so similar to normal water yet still far from it. Strange structures and obelisks lay scattered all across the lake, some fallen, some standing, yet all give off the essence of trying to imitate something greater.

The greater Thing that yet stands straight with purpose in the middle of the cave, in the middle of the lake of red. A giant, imposing cross, painted a crimson red, slightly darker than thick blood yet still somehow seemingly shines pristinely in the low lighting. And upon that cross, rests a giant being exuding an aura of horror just as much as it demands reverence. A naked humanoid form lacking any major discerning gender attributes, its skin white as flour and doughy instead of fatty tissue and rigid muscles. The lower torso is missing, replaced by a bloated amalgamation of white flesh and small limbs and half bodies dangling. Its arms fastened to the cross by two nails piercing the flesh which instead has distorted in a way akin to shoving a plug through leather or fabric. The neck is long and upon it rests a bald head draped in loose skin and lacking ears. Its face is covered by a mask coloured a grape-like purple and depicting seven eyes over a triangle. Divided into two vertical rows, four on the left side, three on the right and lacking any discernible way for it to stay attached to the being's face. 

Strikingly, a red double forked spear pierces its chest, coloured an almost wine red and its form twisting like a screw. No blood flows from the front wounds upon the body but the spear pierces even through all the way to the backside of the cross where an eternal river of pink, almost orange liquid pools down into the lake below.

A crack resounds through the cavern, brutally tearing through the calm silence, deafeningly so if anything living capable of hearing was present. Then, as the echo quiets down the silence returns, the flowing river of blood leaking down into the lake undisturbed. The silence does not last long as another crack echoes once more, and then another. Red dust and rocks start to fall into the river of blood from high above creating small plopping sounds as the cracks quicken in succession. Larger pieces start to fall as the giant spear crumbles, the shaft finally breaking off and falling into the lake sending a red tsunami barreling towards the cave walls and rock beaches, even more parts breaking upon hitting the surface. Now only the fork remains, resolutely stuck piercing the body of the white giant but it does not long last before it suddenly crumbles to red dust in an instant. The two wounds with unnatural speed quickly seal up like how the water in a still lake swallows a stone after it's thrown in and the eternal bleeding from the being's back stops. Slowly, it begins to slide down the cross, the nailed hands only briefly holding its body up before the hands seemingly slide through the nails almost like putty. The tumor that is its under-torso bubble and writhe before a waist and legs regrow in a matter of seconds as the being now falls towards the lake's surface and with its impact the blood is sent spewing in water pillars massive enough to dwarf some of the mighties trees and some drops of  blood even reaching as high as the cave's roof. The being slowly sinks towards the lake's bottom as it awakes from a long slumber. Its body begins to wake, slowly and fluidly starting to move to try and reorient itself and swim back towards the surface. But then suddenly, a twitch of a pinky finger. The being looks perplexed at their hand with calm movements as if sinking in a river of their own blood is not a concern. Then another muscle spasms. This time a toe. Then a muscle in one of the legs twitches, and the being starts to panic. It steels its mind, trying to force and subjugate its body back in control.

More muscles move erratically, twitching as if in panic or distress and the being tries to fight back, but it does not take long for them to start to lose control of the body. It screams and wails, sending psychic shockwaves through the blood river. Screams of fear, anger and hopelessness as more and more control is lost. It shrinks from a giant human akin to giants of legend to just an abnormally tall human instead, as the flesh seemingly floats off like oil in water, revealing old clothes and robes worn before the transformation took place. White hair, first as white as the skin and the same texture as the being's flesh sprouts before changing texture to something more akin to normal hair and the color slightly changes to give off an almost ethereal shine. The being stills for a moment before suddenly coming to new life and in a hurry swiftly swims to the surface, if a little clumsily. The being breaks the surface, taking heavy breaths that unknowingly are unnecessary as its body doesn't need to breathe. after some time it reaches the shore and claws up onto a rocky beach on all fours with labored breaths, still unneeded as the being, now person, tries to calm down. Still on all fours they breathe through non-existent lungs in an attempt to calm down. They succeed after some time and look around trying to recollect their thoughts and memories. They stand up, first with a bent posture before straightening their back. With a melancholic sigh they think for a second and speak in a hoarse and rough voice.

"I'm back... I-I'm back..."

The person looked down once more to the ground before realizing a feeling. A stinging pain from their abdomen akin to a long nail or needle showed into one's gut. They completely overlook the fact that their form was moments ago naked before being covered in clothes as they move their robes and shirt out of the way revealing a small double forked spear piercing their stomach. A gasp rings out as they carefully reach down and pull out the miniature from their body, the doughy white flesh seemingly moving along to cover up like liquid. When the spear has completely left the body it instantly expands into the size of a red, large, double forked spear with a mighty thrumming sound. A sound you'd imagine coming from space churning and bending unnaturally in short notice. It weighs nothing in the person's right hand as they look over the spear, spinning it around skillfully so fast it becomes merely a crimson blur before stopping and resting it upon their shoulder with ease more akin to muscle memory than conscious effort. Another memory resurface with a startle as they carefully move their left hand towards their face, slowly touching the grape purple mask covering their face. If they didn't check with their hand they wouldn't even notice it still being there since their sight and any other senses are not hindered by it. The hand drops as another heavy sigh escapes them before they slowly start to walk, the rough black sand painted a wine red hue by the lake parting between their toes and bare feet, just as pale as the rest of the body.

They walk up the black beach and quickly reach large pieces of rock which they climb with ease, their hands seemingly sticking to the rough surfaces like bread dough to your hands as you bake and jumping over gaps several meters wide as if they just took a small step over an exposed root in the forest, not making a single stumble or misstep as if they can see through the darkness. 

Soon after some climbing over the tar black rocks they reach a pathway that one way goes down a pier overlooking the expansive blood lake and the other way leading straight towards the cavern's walls. The person follows the path towards the walls and after a surprisingly long while they reach the wall and is met by what appears to be a doorway, blocked by debris and collapsed rock.With a thinking "Hmmm" the person lowers the their red spear from the shoulder and stabs the back end into the rock floor. A loud thud echoes through the chambers as if the spear just hit metal yet still it stands up right and firmly after the person lets the spear go. They move their arms and torso left and right as if stretching. The bend down touching their toes and then up again to a series of six cracks coming from their back before lightly massaging their right arm as if preparing or winding it up. Then slowly it turns from a dough white hue to a deep sky-blue one and gains a glass-like texture, reflecting the dim light as if it's turned to class. The arm then starts to twist unnaturally into a screw shape but it also expands in size, the screw's diameter becoming almost as tall as the person as they slowly walk forwards towards the rubble. Slowly the rubble breaks and part as a strange iridescent glowing field surrounds the now blue drill-like appendage pushing the material away digging a way for the person to move through. They dig for what feels like hundreds of meters at a quick pace before finally the pressure lets out and blinding light seeps through the cracks and edges around the drill. With a rumble the final rocks fall out of the way. The drill quickly morphs back to a pale white arm as they lift their left one to briefly shield their eyes from the new bright light as they look around. Tall fir trees and pines with thick bark make up the forest he's faced with with plenty room between each trunk. The grass and mosses present in the open gaps between the trees where the sun shines through are lush with morning dew and a healthy green as if in mid summer.

The person takes a deep breath through their nose. Not to breathe, they've finally remembered they don't need to breathe, but to smell the air. A perfect middle ground between the dry of summers apex and moist like the first signs of fall, filled with the iconic smells of forest and nature, almost forgotten. Feelings threaten to bubble out of control as they speak with a shaky voice.

"Echidna... Are you still waiting?"

End of Chapter.