Train of Events

Story by purringdrake on SoFurry

, , , ,

#3 of Chronicling Memew: Convergence


'Total order cannot exist in the company of chaos...'

Sef had woken in a strange place. At the moment he was staring up into the sky. It was tinted a dirty brownish color and there seemed to be a permanent haze. A sense of discomfort formed in his chest before he began to cough quite vigorously. It was painful enough that he may have been coughing quite frequently.

The air was stale and seemed to be dirty. He couldn't quite determine why it seemed to be dirty, but that was the impression he got with every inhalation. Turning his focus down to the ground he found that there wasn't a single plant in sight. Nothing green at all. Just stone and metals. Everywhere he looked he found this was true.

Sighing he found his bag nearby. Its contents scattered about nearby. He sighed and floated over to it to gather up his things. Returning them to the bag as his paws touched the strange stone. It felt smooth yet rough against his pawpads. It was unsettling to him and felt very unnatural.

Once he had reassembled his things into his bag he noticed there was a nearby ledge. This ledge had a curve to it and as he neared it he started to be able to see over it. Over the edge he could see white walls that were perfectly vertical. When he neared the edge he got a clearer look down. These cliffs as that was all he could really think of them. Dropped down an incredible distance.

There were these clear tubes that spanned the gap between these cliffs. Yet they weren't entirely clear. There was a solid material along the bottom sides of them and he could see strange creatures running through them. They seemed panicked and from his perspective they seemed to be strangely proportioned.

Looking to his hips and legs for a moment before he looked back to these strange creatures. They had much slimmer hips and their legs were skinny looking. He was rather fascinated with them. Especially those things they wore on themselves. The purpose of them was beyond Sef, but they were rather appealing to him.

However it was at this point that he realized that they seemed to be scared. Looking to the cliff across from the one he was looking down from the top of. He could see windows that had some of these strange creatures looking at him and pointing.

He watched them for some time as they returned the attention. After several seconds he hesitantly raised a hand in a slow wave. A little one waved back before what he assumed was its parent grabbed its wrist. Sef sighed and then turned around.

When he turned he found that there seemed to be a rift trying to open. At least Sef thought it may be a rift. A tear in the magical web that held everything together. He didn't know what this web was made of, but it had a close connection to mana. Sef also knew that this web was both connected to every other point in the web and separate from every other point.

From what he knew a rift was a tear in this webbing in two places. It doesn't like to have edges so if it gets torn or cut into it connects somewhere else and forms a pathway. Anyway this one here seemed as though something were trying to prevent it from opening.

"Is... something trying to keep it closed?" He verbally questioned himself while reaching out to the flickering point of orange light. The moment his fingers touched it he regretted his decision. It exploded open with a wave of orange energy. Throwing Sef back and away from it as the stone beneath the rift collapsed under the burst of energy.

Shrieks sounded out over the sound of crumbling stone. The rift glowed brightly with orange energy as Sef tumbled along the surface across the gap from it. Falling as he reached a second gap. He bounced off a clear tube before he managed to recover and halt his movement. A hand on his head as he tried to collect himself.

His legs and tail hung limply for a few moments before he kicked up his legs and lashed out his tail. Shaking his head before moving to get a look at the rift. However, once he reached the top of the cliff. What he found filled him with fear.

Mere seconds after her got a look at it the rift exploded. Bright light suddenly racing out from it in all directions. Sef barely had enough time to spin about and begin to flee before the blast reached him and he remembered no more...

Sef's head was spinning as he regained consciousness. He groaned and failed to notice how muffled the sound seemed. Bits of debris shifted as he made an effort to move. His body felt so very heavy and his senses didn't seem to be working right, but neither was his mind.

His consciousness seemed somewhat abstract as he drifted between awareness and dreams. Sometimes the two flipped and he dreamed while feeling his pain. At times he glanced around ignorant of his dire situation. His rather broken body struggling to maintain its weakening grip on life.

Then something changed. The dreams became swirling and shifting as he felt like a rag doll. Situations of himself trying to overcome something moving him flashed through his dreams. Yet regardless of his attempts this mysterious force easily overpowered him.

Shifting him and moving him about until suddenly he felt as though he were drowning. The moment quickly passed and Sef's dreams quickly settled down. Comfort and relaxation overtaking him as his dreams faded. He was just floating in a relaxing sea of warmth.

It was with a harsh coughing fit that Sef woke. Bits of broken glass digging into his hands and knees as he coughed up some strange light blue fluid. There was a lot of it and as he kept coughing his lungs flared with pain. This pain brought him to full awareness.

He began to scan his surroundings wild-eyed as he struggled to regulate his breathing. Violent coughing and sharp gasps threatened to make him pass out. As his vision began to darken the coughing began to subside. Allowing him to breathe properly and relax.

Now that he could breathe he was able to properly take in his surroundings. The floor was some kind of metal and was covered in a thick blue fluid. This fluid while on the floor also covered his body. It was like a thick slime as he lifted a hand and wiped his mouth.

He could taste it. It was sweet, too sweet. Spitting a bit he moved to stand up when a wave of vertigo overtook him and he toppled over. Gasping sharply as glass dug into him. He lay there and whimpered. Half his face resting in the thick slime oozing along the floor.

He just laid there as he was overcome with sadness. His mind dwelling on thoughts of where he could be, how he got here, and why he was here as pain stabbed at his weakened form. It was over a minute before he tried to get up again. Base drives to survive beginning to kick in as he moved much slower. Carefully plucking bits of glass from himself.

As he pulled out a particularly large piece he noticed the slime seemed to be helping the wound close amazingly quickly. This realization helped distract him from his situation. Looking around he found himself in some sorta long loom. The walls were covered in numerous large glass jars.

Many of them were filled with the same blue slime, but they also had dark shadows in them. Taking his paws from the floor he opted to move closer to one, but as he began to float the room seemed to move without him.

Startled, he touched his paws back down on the floor and lightly stumbled as he was thrown off balance by the phenomenon. Looking around a bit stunned by what he'd just experienced as he grabbed onto a shelf. Holding himself steady as he collected himself.

He softly gasped as he remembered being in the temple and Memew having been there too. "Gah, Memew!" However he'd gotten to this world might have brought her here too. Sef looked around for a moment. Focusing on the slime on the floor as he remembered that it was good at healing.

Starting to think about how he might be able to bring some with him. He soon realized that he probably wouldn't be able to take any. If he found a jar to carry some in. He'd have to carry the jar since he didn't have his bag with him...

Looking to either end of the room. He saw there was a door on each end. Glancing back and forth for a few moments as he worked to choose one. After a few moments he opted for the one that he had drifted away from when he tried to float earlier.

This time he was more prepared for the strange sensation of being tugged on as he levitated. It made him rather dizzy as he worked his way towards his chosen door. Not making it too far before he had to return to the ground. His head spun as he leaned against the shelves along one side of the room.

He figured this place must be moving. What he knew of how his kind levitated was that they used the worlds webbing to suspend themselves. He had a difficult time completely understanding it, but from what he knew this webbing was distorted by things. So if this place was moving it would give some explanation as to why he felt like we was being pulled between to places when he levitated.

It was all guesswork though. He shook his head as he had more important things to focus on. Walking his way closer to the door he eventually made his way up to it. Looking up he began to examine this door.

He couldn't make it move regardless of how he pushed on it. Grumbling a bit he noticed something beside the door. It was some kind of box that had squares on it. He touched it and flinched as it made a small pinging sound.

Though nothing seemed to happen and Sef stared at it for a moment before he touched it again. The soft sound repeated. He took a small step back and noticed that the symbols on the squares he'd touched were in a space above them. Curiously touching a few more squares he was unprepared when it buzzed.

Stumbling a couple steps back as it startled him. His fur was fluffed up in fear as he took a couple quick breaths. Calming down as nothing seemed to happen as a result. He took one deep breath to finish calming down and looked over the box more closely. Unable to read the symbols on it he looked for how it worked.

Trying to find some mana crystal or switches or pulleys that could explain how this thing functioned. Yet it resisted his every attempt to look inside it. Slipping his claws into a gap he found. He pulled as hard as he could until the material gave and his claws scratched lines into it.

Frowning, he touched the symbols again. Watching them appear in the blank spot as he touched them. It then buzzed again and while he was expecting it. It still startled him a bit. Taking a breath he looked back across the room he was in. Focusing on the door at the opposite end of the room he debated whether to investigate it or continue trying the door he was at.

After trying the door one more time he decided to go investigate the other one. Turning away from the door he was at. He looked at the blue slime on the floor for a moment. Knowing there was glass in it as he focused on a particularly large shard.

Staring at it for several moments before he took a breath. Bracing himself for that strange pulling sensation as he hopped forwards and levitated towards the other door. However, it wasn't quite as bad this time. In fact it seemed to be completely gone, but the moment he reached that other door and stopped moving that direction it returned.

He dropped to the floor as that sensations sudden return broke his levitation. Leaning against the door as he closed his eyes. Trying to deal with the sudden knot in his stomach. He knew one thing now. If nothing else was true, he knew that he hated that feeling.

It took him several seconds to recover and once he had he looked towards the door he'd come from. Deciding that he wouldn't go back to it. He just didn't want to experience that feeling again. It was unnatural. He had been forced against the webbing before, but it had never felt the same as this. This just felt wrong.

He shook his head and looked at the door. Looking up and just realizing how big it was. It had to be at least twice as tall as he was. Whoever used these things must be giants. Sighing for a moment he then looked to the box beside the door. While it looked nearly identical to the other one. There were some differences. For one this one didn't have different squares with those strange symbols.

All this one had was a single box with those symbols. Shrugging a bit he went and touched the box fully expecting it to buzz, but it dinged instead and the door split apart and opened with a soft airy sound. This startled him and he stumbled a couple steps back with his hands half raised by the time he realized it wasn't anything bad.

He sighed before he realized there were now sounds that he couldn't hear before. A strange rumbling screeching noise. Then he noticed there was a second door in this strange little space. He blinked a bit as the door closed again.

A second door beyond this one greatly confused him. He couldn't really understand the purpose of it. There wasn't really much of a room beyond this first door and this door was pretty easy to make open.

Looking back to the box. He touched it and this time he knew what to expect. So when it opened it didn't startle him as much. Still the sound of the door and then the noise behind it caused him to flinch.

Shaking his head he stepped past the door. The flooring here rattled as his paws touched it. Drawing his gaze down to it as the vibrations tickled. He giggled a bit as he shuffled his paws. Trying to keep them up without having to levitate but it was a lost cause. He couldn't keep his paws up without reaching out to the web, but his current predicament was pushed to the back of his mind as something more urgent came up.

With a soft airy sound that easily went unnoticed the door behind Sef closed. Right on his rather long tail. This drew a loud shout from him as the pain signaled to him something had happened. Spinning around he cried out a second time as he only succeeded in harshly tugging on his tail.

He was breathing quickly as he panicked. Desperate to end the pain in his tail. The sharp tingling that shot through the rest of his tail on the other side of the door. It hurt so much more then anything he could ever remember. So very much more.

His panic clouded his mind and he became oblivious to everything but where his tail was pinched. He began to swing his arms back against the door. Pounding on it in his desperation to free himself. It felt like forever to him as the pain seemed to begin crawling up his tail. Like countless tiny little fingers were clawing at him from the inside.

He fell back against the door. The blow to his head dulled the pain in his tail just briefly as his head turned to the side. Unconsciously bracing his legs as his shoulders touched the door. Then he noticed the box by the door. Gasping sharply as he remembered how to open it. He struggled to regain control of his legs.

The pain beginning to return as he fought to get himself in a position that he could reach for the box without falling over. If he fell over it would make things so very much worse. So he placed his hands against the door. Using them to help him shift himself a bit higher against it.

Tears soaked his cheek fur as he pushed himself to keep working towards his goal. The pain was now back in full force and even worse then before, but now Sef had a goal to focus on. His focus was wavering, and it was getting hard to keep himself from losing sight of his goal. Still, he managed to keep his sights on the box.

Then he made his move. Leaning over and swinging his hand for the box. His legs buckled as he made his move and there was a spike in the pain. What happened next was unclear for him. All he really remembered was coming back to awareness while lying on the floor. The vibrations were rather relaxing as he lay there.

There was still pain in his tail. Rather significant pain, but it was nothing compared to what he'd just escaped. It took him some time to mentally recover from the whole ordeal. The experience left his will drained and he had a difficult time finding the motivation to get up.

The vibrations traveling through him gradually lulled him into a shallow sleep. His injured tail plaguing his rest and what wisps of dreams he experienced.

Eventually in his semi-dreaming state something flashed in his head. An image of his sister. Of Memew. Sef's eyes shot open and he whispered, "Memew..." He grunted and pushed himself up. His arms felt weak and it took him a couple tries to get a paw under himself.

He couldn't let himself just lie here. His sister was likely in this strange place and while she could be inconsiderate at times. She was kind. Never ever meaning to actually cause harm. Most of the time she ended up hurting someone with her actions. She's always do her best to make it up to them. Memew must be suffering right now. Likely more then he was himself. It was his responsibility to look after her.

Now that he had found the motivation to go on. He got to his paws. Looking around the small and actually poorly lit area he worked to figure out which door he'd come from. Intending to gather up some of that slime that seemed to help heal.

In the end he opted to use the door closest to him. Touching the glowing part of the box he smiled just slightly as he saw the slime covering the floor near the middle of the room. He pulled the end of his tail close and then hurried through the doorway. Agitating his injured tail in the process, but his fear of getting it caught in the door again helped him tolerate the flare of pain.

When he was clear of the door and it had closed he dropped his tail and made his way to the blue slime. Still pretty numbed to the effects of pain. He ignored the feeling of glass piercing his paws. Needing relief from what just might be a broken tail.

He dropped to his knees as he reached the slime and scooped up as much as he could in his hands. Then splashed it onto the part of his tail that had been pinched in the door. The relief was nearly instant. It numbed nearly all the pain and Sef let out a long moan. The sudden lack of pain was so very pleasurable to him.

Once the rush of relief began to pass he started to pull the glass out of his paws. Touching some of the slime to the wounds as he got the glass out. Then he made sure his tail was alright and not kinked.

He giggled a bit as his tail seemed fine and he was a bit euphoric. But he soon remembered Memew and took a breath in an attempt to get a hold of himself. Calming himself down he looked back to the door he'd come from.

With a nod he became determined to go as far as he could in that direction. Getting back to his paws he hesitated only briefly before he levitated the distance to the door. Managing to touch back down close to it without feeling the pull.

Now he was a bit more familiar with the door and just touched the box. Rushing through the door and pulling his tail all the way through before he turned his attention to anything else. The moment the door closed and removed the threat to his tail. Sef visibly relaxed.

Looking around the small space he noticed that what he stood on seemed to have a square on it that didn't seem to really belong. He crouched down and then ran a claw along the edge of this square and then popped it loose. The fey cat blinked a bit as he then pulled the square away from where it had been.

Underneath it there seemed to be some sorta switch or handle. Unsure of what this switch or handle might be intended for. He put the square back into place and then focused on the door in front of him.

Focusing on its side he sighed in disappointment as he found that this box was different then both of the boxes he'd already come across. This one had the bunch of squares as the first one, but it also had some kinda slot. Sef stepped forwards and stood as tall as he could.

Trying to get as many angles on the box as he could. If it was like the first on then he probably wouldn't be able to get it to open for him. This frustrated him and he kicked the door a bit. Frowning he looked back to the square on the floor. The metallic sound filled the small space and Sef found himself unsure of what to do.

He stood there for a moment with his hands against his chest. Thinking of what he might be able to do next. A couple options came to mind as he thought. He could try and figure out that thing in the floor, go back to that first box and try and figure it out, or he could try to push pulses of mana into it and attempt to read what its insides were.

Each of his ideas had a flaw to them that he was aware of. The thing in the floor could cause problems if he tried to mess with it as he didn't have a clue as to its purpose. For all he knew it could end up making things worse.

Trying to return to the first box he tried to work would involve him having to go against the web. Then he might not even get anywhere with that box. His final option was the one that he felt he should try. It was right here and while he couldn't understand the symbols on the box. He might be able to figure out how it worked on the inside, but he also wasn't actually that good at using mana to read things.

After further deliberation he decided to put pulses of mana into the box. Taking a breath he placed his hands onto the box and then sent in the first pulse of mana. It resulted in nothing like what he expected. The box crackled and popped beneath his hands. Then there was a loud snap and black smoke poured out from around the edges of the box. Sef stepped back as his ears lowered to his head. The box continued to crackle and smoke as the lighted surface flickered.

Sef's eyes were wide as he stared at it quite fearfully. He didn't know what was happening with it or what might be done to fix this. All he really ended up doing was staring at the box until it gave a final fizzle and the surface that had been glowing cracked.

The light of the room flickered a bit and Sef looked upwards. Watching the light as its flickering passed. He sighed and calmed down a bit before focusing upon the box again. It was blackened and the surface that had glowed no longer did. Touching the box Sef determined that sending pulses of mana into it was a bad idea.

He looked down to the square on the floor and stared at it. Finally deciding that was now his best bet. Though he was hesitant as his last likely option was rather catastrophic in its result. Still he didn't have many options. Trying to open the original door he had tried might never get him anywhere. He didn't understand the symbols and he didn't even really understand what needed to be done to make it open.

Not to mention that trying to read pulses of mana wasn't an option. Particularly with what happened with this one. He turned his attention to the nearby box. Staring at it for a few moments before he sighed and looked back down to the square on the floor.

Kneeling on the floor. He touched the square with a claw, hesitating. Still unsure whether or not he wanted to mess with it. He could make things go bad, or something he couldn't even imagine might happen.

Pulling off the cover he ended up staring at the handle thing. Watching it with uncertainty as he thought about what it could do. Then he got an idea. Standing back up he turned his attention to the door that he'd ruined the box to. With the way to open it broken. Maybe he should try to force the door open.

It sounded good in his mind and he didn't consider possible consequences as he was confident that he understood everything involved. So taking a steady stance he raised up his hands. Reaching out with his will as he'd been taught. When he touched the metal he worked to take a hold of a good portion of it.

Once he felt that he had a good enough grip. He reinforced his hold with his physical energy. His breathing slowed and deepened. Fingers twitching as he gathered a good amount of his energy together so it would be at the ready when he accessed the web to move the door.

Then he took hold of the web and the two halves of the door exploded away from him. A sudden stab of pain erupted inside his head. It was like using your mind to grab onto something anchored down as you swiftly rushed past it.

He dropped to the floor and grabbed his head while screaming out. His eyes tightly squeezed shut as blood dripped from his nose and the corner of an eye. He was on his knees and curled forwards. Physically trembling as his elbows rest against his knees.

Sef was unable to think as the pain in his head throbbed strongly. It was a mental wound that resulted from stretching his will further then he was prepared for. A small pool of his blood formed as his mind attempted to recover from it. Stuck in that position as he was unable to move or even conscious of his situation while his consciousness faded.

It was some time before he awoke again. His still wounded mind left him in a stupor. His eyes dull and unfocused as he stared ahead. He lay on his side where he had fallen at some point since he wounded his mind. Blood dried to the left side of his face. Dry streaks leading back to his nostrils and the inner corners of his eyes.

The door that his effort to open led to his current situation, was devastated. One half of it was half ripped free and even torn partway from the bottom. It was even partly twisted while the other half of the door had been entirely torn free.

That part of the door had flown into the room and buried itself into a machine at the end of the next room. The damaged section of the machine sparked a bit as black smoke wafted out of the gash. Then a screeching sounded out beneath where Sef lay. Everything then suddenly shifted.

Thick smoke suddenly billowed from the damaged machine as it sparked more aggressively. Fizzling and crackling as a large glowing tube set into the machine began to flicker. A silhouette visible inside the tube as the light flickered.

Suddenly a shower of sparks rained out from the puncture before everything went dark. Nothing seemed to exist but the smell of smoke and the still fading screeching noise that led up to it. Then after several seconds a faint flicker of golden light flashed from the tube.

The screeching soon ended and the light flashed again more strongly. This time just long enough that a symbol could be identified. It was an hourglass shape and it vaguely illuminated the silhouette inside the tube.

Silence and darkness reined for several seconds. Then the orange gold light returned and brighter then ever. Accompanying it was a wave of force that blasted apart the tube. Glass and fluid flying throughout the room while the figure fell to the machine.

Memew blinked a bit as she grabbed her head. A bit woozy as she sat in the fluid that was still within what remained of the tube. She shook her head a bit as she tried to remember what had happened. Brief bits of memory returning to her as she tried to ignore her coughing and the foul smell in the air.

She remember the temple. Something happened and she had to take Sef through a portal. The female gasped as she remembered meeting Fayte. She didn't exactly recall what transpired during the meeting, but she knew that there had been an encounter!

Then the lights flickered back on and Memew could see the smoke floating in the air. She looked around before saying, "Oh... that's what that is..." Coughing a little bit more before she levitated herself up. Though she found this to be a rather bad idea as it put her in a thicker layer of smoke.

Gagging a bit as she she coughed quite aggressively. She dove for the floor. Finding it to be a bit better down there. She breathed for a moment before glancing around. Taking in the strange place she was in. The walls were white the floor was white. The ceiling... was hidden behind a layer of smoke.

She huffed and then began to crawl forwards. Her eyes focused on the ground in front of her as her rump swayed above her head level. Tail swaying behind her as she made her way forwards.

After several moments she came across an open square slot in the floor. Blinking a bit as she stared at it for a couple seconds. Then without a thought for the consequences. She grabbed the handle inside the slot and pulled on it.

It slid up nearly a foot as Memew pulled on it. Then she tried to twist it. Noticing Sef nearby she blinked and asked, "Sef?" Twisting the handle in the other direction as she looked at her brother. The handle clicked as she twisted it about and then there was a shift. The lights overhead flickered out and drew her attention.

The walls and ceiling in this space seemed to be splitting. A feeling of suddenly starting to slowly move backwards overcame her and instinctively she glanced over her shoulder. Though that yielded little as all she saw was darkness.

Light came into the space more as the split along the walls and ceiling spread apart further. Opening up as Memew looked up. Staring to the brownish sky as it came into view over a few seconds. Then the thing she was sitting on suddenly fell away.

Floating up she looked down and gasped as she watched Sef drop. Dropping down after him she sped as quickly as she could to catch him. Just barely managing to get a hold of him with enough space to slow down, but was unable to completely stop. So she hit the ground. The solid rocky ground.

"AGH!" She cried out as she grabbed at one of her legs. "Stupid ground..." She muttered as she rubbed her leg. Smiling a bit as it quickly began to feel better. Then she looked to Sef and then to something that was staring at her and him.

This thing was tall and it wore stuff. Memew stared at it for a few moments before she grabbed Sef and then dragged him. Lifting herself up as she continued to drag him along. Grunting as she muttered to him. Grumbling about how heavy he is and how he should help out.

After several more seconds she managed to pull him up off the ground. Getting airborne after a moment and settling back to the ground. Shifting about and getting him onto her back. Now she got into the air more successfully. Floating upwards as she traveled along some sorta canyon.

She didn't like how the air smelled, but she had to get to somewhere safe before she could complain. So she pressed on. Aiming to get up to the top of this strange canyon to find somewhere to rest. Though on her was she found a hollow along the side. It was beside a portion that jutted out and looking into it she found that there was space behind a big glowing picture.

Slipping inside she dropped Sef and settled down. Tired out she decided to go to sleep.

'...yet freedom generates chaos.'