Magical Soul Parade

The words hadn't even left his mouth fully when, from nowhere, they were cut short by a mouthful of blood spewing from his throat.

He doubled over in his seat, gurgling and gasping for air as he choked on his own blood.

Finn and Althea were stunned. They had both gone rigid in fear when the figure had abruptly made to cast a spell, but seeing this now shocked them even further.

Is this the work of the Ossuarist's clause? That Egon Callahan guy? Finn watched tensely, hoping the Ossuarist could win the wrestle for control that was happening before their eyes. It seemed the Arcanist soul had overstepped some boundaries he wasn't supposed to, and this now gave Egon Callahan the leeway to try and regain control.

Finn could barely breathe because of the tension. The Ossuarist needed to win, or else they were not leaving here alive. Egon Callahan was their only hope for survival now.

Finn watched as the figure's body twitched and spasmed like he was possessed. His neck snapped sharply at unnatural angles, his fingers twitched and squirmed spasmodically, a guttural roar that sounded alien and chilling, as if two voices were struggling to speak over each other, echoed through the temple.

Until suddenly, with a final rapid spasm, the figure's head snapped backwards, facing the distant ceiling, then slowly lowered to a bow.

His eyes cracked open, and he stared at Finn and Althea.

He's different. Finn immediately noticed. The feeling of danger he felt earlier was no longer there, rather it had been replaced by… nothing? Absolutely nothing. Finn could not feel the slightest trace of danger, or malice, or even goodwill. He couldn't feel anything at all from the figure. Almost like he was looking at a corpse or an inanimate object. But he could clearly see that the figure was alive. He could see his eyes move and take in the surroundings slowly.

The feeling threw Finn off guard. He didn't know whether to be afraid, or to feel relieved. Were they saved, or had they escaped a boiling pot only to jump into a blazing fire?

He glanced at Althea quickly to gauge her reaction, and immediately he did, his eyes widened in shock. Her face was rigid with utter terror and confusion, unlike anything Finn had ever seen her display. She was frozen in fear and disbelief.

Finn's head snapped back to the throne sharply, and the hair on his skin rose in caution. This time, he readied himself for anything that might happen. No matter how futile his efforts may be, he wasn't simply going down without a fight. He had Syf on the ready, and strength began to fill his body from the Crimson Fist Baboon he slowly manifested.

After observing the surroundings, the figure on the throne finally sighed softly and spoke with an ancient voice, "So, it is time…"

He stood up regally, walking down the steps with a graceful, yet gallant air. As he did, his previously unreadable and practically non-existent aura began to rise. Each of his steps felt like a death knell in Finn's mind. He still did not feel any danger from the figure directed towards them, in fact, the figure's eyes were trained forward as if peering at some distant thing. He paid them no mind at all.

But when the figure finally reached the ground level where Finn and Althea both stood, his aura had soared so much that they dared not move at all. All previous thoughts of fighting to the death had disappeared from Finn's mind. Instead, it had been replaced by one single, unexpected thought:

Space.

The figure walking past them was the literal personification of 'Space' itself.

Earlier, when they had first arrived inside the temple, Finn had felt like he was gazing at a literal concept when he looked at the figure. But that concept had been vague, and he had even forgotten the feeling the more the figure spoke.

But right now, the concept was clear as day: This person was Space itself. And there was nothing remotely human about them whatsoever. Egon Callahan? No. This was definitely not Egon Callahan. Finn didn't know how he knew any of this, but he could tell with absolute certainty that this was not the Ossuarist Althea had spoken of earlier.

The figure continued to walk with purpose, even after walking past Finn and Althea. They both shakily turned their heads to look back at the figure, curious about what he wanted to do, but also fearful that their curiosity might cost them.

But again, the figure paid them no mind. He walked straight to the darkness that lay at the edges of the temple like an inky veil. And as he stepped forward, the darkness receded. Rapidly, it was devoured by his presence, revealing the entirety of the temple fully.

The large doorway where they had entered from was visible again, opening up to the outside world of the pocket space. The sepia-toned light from the sky shone through the doorway, casting its glow on the temple's interior.

Finn should have been happy at the current development. The path out of the temple had been revealed, at least giving them a better chance to find a way out of the pocket space. The figure didn't seem to pay them any attention at all, as if they were nothing but air. They had basically been giving another lease at life again. All they had to do now was leave the temple and try to find their way out of this world…

But it seemed they couldn't do even that.

Finn and Althea walked out of the temple, looking up at the sky in the distance. The world around was coming apart, folding in on itself from the edges as if it was being devoured.

The laws that held the space together was coming apart at its seam. Earth and debris floated up into the sky, black, spatial cracks like shattered glass on the fabric of reality sucked in every bit of matter that got close to them.

"The space is coming apart…" Finn muttered. "We need to get out of here," he said with a louder voice. "Althea! We need to get out of here!" He jolted Althea by the shoulders, snapping her out of her dazed state. Her eyes were trained on the white-haired figure, who had now taken to the skies like a god who was ascending. His truth of his presence as Space itself became more corporeal as he rose higher. But Finn couldn't care less.

Now that he was certain they were of no concern to the figure, all that filled his mind was survival.

He dragged her by the wrist and scanned the unravelling surroundings for anything that could be of help, any place at all that they could escape from. "Fuck! Are we gonna die here just like that?! " Finn cursed after failing to find anything at all. Everywhere at the edges was pure spatial chaos.

Suddenly, as his eyes flitted about, he spotted an area to his west that felt different from everywhere else. Chaos reigned everywhere, but the chaos in that section gave him a different feeling than the rest. And without wasting time to think about whether he was wrong or not, or to analyze why he felt that way about that particular spot, he dragged Althea by the wrist and dashed down the temple's steps and towards the anomaly.