Submission (#6452) Approved

“What are you doing?” River was confused as he watched Mio. They had finally mustered the courage to continue their journey when Mio suddenly stepped aside to examine the anima shards.

"... I'm not sure. But what if we learn something if we investigate it more closely?" The Nestling was determined to get answers. Why had he been trapped in the Pocket Dimension? How did he even end up there in the first place? And why were Daeva haunting him in his dreams? There had to be a reason for this. Any reason. Surely.

Mio looked at the anima shard more closely and still found it unsettling. The color seemed too intense, too dark, and the black halo around it... did it really belong to Eyre? Carefully, he reached out his paw to put the shard into a small bag.

Callisto, who was securing the surroundings, realized too late what Mio was about to do. Just as she turned around, she witnessed the disaster and screamed, "Don't touch it!"

But it was too late.

Mio felt a sudden disorientation as the world around him shifted. It was as if space itself was tearing apart before his eyes, revealing a nightmarish realm beyond the veil. The tearing of space manifested in grotesque rifts, resembling scars on the fabric of reality.
Through these openings, a gray and dreary landscape emerged, tainted by the ominous presence of dark purple shards. The once vibrant and alive surroundings were now twisted and corrupted, mirroring the desolate scenery associated with Vahl D'sari or Dusk - lands consumed by the malevolent forces that haunted the elnin world. The ground turned ashen, and the air was heavy with an eerie stillness. The corrupted nightmare lands stretched endlessly, with jagged rocks and twisted trees seemed to moan under the oppressive weight of the dark energy. The sky above was a distorted canvas, portraying a perpetual dusk that cast an unsettling gloom over the entire landscape. Terrifying visions of monstrous shadows moved through the corrupted landscape, their forms distorted and nightmarish and once they seemed to lock eyes with Mio, he screamed and stumbled backwards.

He didn’t realize that River finally managed to break him free from the anima splinter he was holding; the splinter swirled through the air, before finally settling again, hovering a few inches above the ground.
Mio was on the floor, breathing heavily, feeling cold and desperate. Whatever he had felt in the pocket dimension and the nightmares was nothing compared to seeing these visions.

“Mio!? Mio! Can you hear me?” River was kneeling beside him, gently holding Mios cheeks and turning Mios head towards him. “Look at me, please. Are you okay? You scared me- You were just spacing out for minutes and not moving at all and shivering -”

Mio shook his head a little. “I..I don’t know-”, he mumbled. Time and space seemed irrelevant. Everything seemed suddenly irrelevant. How could anything be okay if lands like these existed? How could he feel happy ever again?
He felt weak and unsteady, while River slowly helped him to get up again.

“That was very irresponsible …”, Callisto scolded Mio softly and looked over the Nestling. “If you really want to take one of these with you, you need to ask your Pomu to carry it. It is not safe for you to touch these splinters directly, please, do not do that again.”

The youngest nodded softly, and called for his Pomu and politely asked it to retrieve the anima splintered. The Pomu chirped, looked around and then waddled off to grab the anima shard.
River was bewildered. “Are you really sure about this!?” He couldn’t believe Mio would take such a risk, but the Nestling was determined.
Something new had awakened in him.
A dark urge, a thirst for more knowledge. To understand what he had seen.
“Yes. I want to know more.”, he answered, but something in his tone made River wary; he didn’t like how his friend suddenly behaved.

And then Mios Pomu turned to stone, holding the corrupted anima shard.

“What the fluff!?” River was shocked to see, and even more shocked when he realized that Mio didn’t seem to care and went to collect his Pomu.
“Don’t worry… it’s normal. When you bring the Pomu to a shrine, it will return to normal.” Callisto explained, standing next to the purple elnin.
“Yeah…but… “ River hesitated. Mio hadn’t known that. And yet, he was willing to risk his Pomu? Something felt off.

In the meantime, Mio carefully held his Pomu, fascinated by its current form. The anima shard in its little claws was still reflecting its deep purple hue and the shining halo around it didn’t change. “No visions now…”, he said to himself, carefully examining the anima splinter. He then grabbed one of their bags and wrapped his Pomu in his scarf, before gently placing it between food rations and books. “This should work~”

River exchanged a nervous glance with Callisto, who was deeply concerned and furrowed her eyebrows. This was an unexpected turn of events.

“Alright. All ready to go.”, Mio smiled, not realizing how unsettling his behavior was for the other two, but Callisto agreed. The sooner they got out of these woods, the better.

“Good. Follow me then. If we get lucky and pick up the pace a bit, we could reach Eiloen by nightfall.”

[...]

They reached the capital of Kyendi without any further issues and said Goodbye to Callisto at the outskirts of the forest. The pink elnin had business to attend elsewhere, she needed to inform the council of the Daeva this close to her outpost. Perimeter checks needed to be scheduled and the shrines in the area needed to be checked.

Mio and River checked in an Inn, and while River talked to the Elnin in charge at the inn, Mio wandered off, researching the nearest shrine area and looking for shops that would supply him with more information about corruption. It wasn’t that easy to find, he had to ask a few locals, most of them unsure and a bit unsettled by the topic, but Mio was charming and sweet, and eventually was pointed in the right direction.
But before he could set out, someone grabbed him and held him back. Surprised, he looked up and was astonished to see River next to him.
“What the hell, man-?” His friend seemed agitated and worried.
“I was looking all over for you, why are you running around? You should be resting at the Inn! I was talking to the Innkeeper, he recommended me to a healer and told me they have open appointments this evening, for urgent patients.”

Mio looked at him a bit puzzled, and didn’t understand Rivers’ urgency.
“But I’m fine? Thank you for your concern, but I don’t need a healer”, he smiled and wanted to move on.

“Thank- … thank me for my concern? What- Mio, Hey stop-” River couldn’t believe what he was hearing and grabbed Mio and nudged him to the side, to speak with him more in private, which the Nestling didn’t appreciate much. He glared at River, who raised an eyebrow in response - he did not expect Mio to be so hostile suddenly.
“Do you hear yourself? Just a few hours ago you were a wreck. Heck, the past week you were just a ball of anxiety and you couldn’t stay awake longer than a few hours. And now you’re acting like it all was nothing.”

“Well, things are different now. I don’t know what to tell you. Please let me go, I have somewhere I need to be.” Mio stared at his friend, waiting, almost patiently, but definitely a little threatening.
River backed up, confused and concerned. He didn’t recognize his friend at all, but he didn’t want to argue with the younger one.
“Do you want me to come with you?”

“No thanks, I can take care of this myself.”

And with that, Mio just left River standing there.

[...]

Mio wandered through the packed streets of the city and was on his way to the shrine on the outskirts. He had been talking to some guild members for hours and learned a lot about Daevas and corrupted areas. An older elnin even started to mention pocket dimensions and for once, Mio felt like he didn’t went crazy any longer. It felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders, it was so good to finally talk about it all - and being understood and met with experience and knowledge.
He shared his ordeal with the other elnins and even showed and handed them his pomu and the corrupted anima shard. A lot of information was exchanged and Mio learned all kinds of important things he had to keep in mind.

Upon reaching the shrine, the elnin carefully placed the stone pomu on the altar. The pomu would stay there for a day, contributing to the completion of the purification process. Mio had a few other things to do, including finding reading material about Daevas - but also, treats for his little friend. He appreciated his Pomu a lot, after all, without them, Mio wouldn’t have been able to do any of this. He did not want to repeat the incident from earlier today. Those visions were still haunting the back of his mind, but he slowly came to peace with it all.
Although he didn’t realize it yet, it would slowly turn into obsession and devour a good chunk of his waking hours in the future.

[...]

Time started to become weird for Mio. Sometimes it was as if minutes were stretched for hours, and then hours would go by in the blink of an eye. He spent the evening at the Inn with River, who noticed the odd behavior of his friend, but remained silent, as he didn’t want to repeat the argument from earlier today.
River himself had visited local elnins, and eventually learned that behavior changes were not unheard of after everything someone like Mio had gone through. Over time, it often got better and the elnins reversed back to normal. But sometimes… sometimes these changes were permanent and became even more severe.
Mio, lost between books and snacks near the fireplace, didn’t notice the concerned glances from River and continued his studies.

[...]

Mio arrived early at the shrine, his backpack filled with all kinds of sweets and even more books, but he didn’t want to miss the moment his Pomu returned back to life. River joined in, still feeling uneasy letting Mio roam around alone.
Once the purification was accomplished, the Pomu chirped lively and held up the anima shard; no longer dark purple but now a shining white.

“Welcome back, little one. Thank you so much.”

Mio placed a gentle kiss on his Pomus head, before softly grabbing it by the scruff and taking it to the picnic blanket he set up.
All the treats were displayed in front of them and the Pomu beamed at Mio, before hopping onto the blanket and running towards the first little cake, sitting in a cute decorated box.

“Yes, this is all for you. Dig in~”

And with that, Mios Pomu jumped face first into the cake.