Hero from the void, FULL Chapter one.

I'm traveling upon a path I know to some extent, even though I've traveled more times than I can count.

I live in the void, a place devoid of color, and what I’ve heard is water. I’ved lived here all my life. I’m known as what’s called a “Voidling”, a race that exists inside the void. We are created from a mysterious power most of us have only seen once we were created.

The people we are created with are our siblings, and they share some things in common with us, though mostly nothing is seen in looks, since everything is devoid of color. I have a few siblings, and right now I’m coming back from a trip to get food and supplies.

I like this trail in this part of the void the most, because even though the void is a pure white almost shadowless wasteland, It has some ways to enjoy the scenery at least.

I'm walking through a forest trail, watching the void alter my path. The void is tricky and likes to change space and time to alter the place around you. I know how to stay on course, but to untrained eyes I'm a walking compass. I've been traveling for quite some time, getting resources for my family to survive. I walk a few more steps, then I notice something... No, Someone in the distance.

Two people... are they fighting?

I rush over, the sack on my back filled with goods from another country far away no longer relevant in my mind. I rush over, one man on top of another. "It's mine! You can't have it!" The man being tackled yells. "It's ours to share! We have barely any left and you've eaten for the past week!"

I make it over before anything goes south, more than it already has, anyways. "What's going on?" The man on top looks at me, still trying to get to the man underneath him. "He's keeping all our food for himself! We don't have much and I'm starving!"

I realize what's going down. I've had to deal with starving people before. "Hey! Hey, I got food I can share! Please stop!" They topple over a couple of times, but once they hear this, they stop and look at me. The man that was on top looked hungrily at my bag. I pull out three loaves of bread and give them to the men. "What's your name, stranger?" The man that was on top asks me.

"I'm Extera. I come from Void's end."

"I'm Jalon, this here is Jacon, my brother." the man that was on top said.

Jacon looks at me. "Void's end? It's an edge city?" He looks at me skeptically.

"Yeah, It's a city at the edge of the void." Jalon, after a huge gulp of food says, "Those places are dangerous. Always on edge, and always in fear of destruction."

They seem nervous talking about this, which is justified. Void edge cities tend to be chaotic, filled with despair, anarchy, or sometimes look like a ghost town. Living at the edge of the void, right next to pure nothingness is tough, but we do so in order to survive.

I have to get home, so I say my goodbyes, pack up my stuff, and hit the road. I walk on and on, not caring about the time, for time shifts as easy as the wind here. What feels like some time after I found those people, I found a path. It looks like it was made by my kind, and I know this place well enough. I'm almost home. I follow the path, and soon the void starts to change from a white to light gray, with structures like trees and old structures fading out of view. The path changes to stone, then I know I made it to Void's end.

I look up, and see the town, tons of dark gray houses in jagged rows, cliffs with houses and shops above and below. away from all this, almost obscured by the giant wall protecting us, is a giant pitch black wall that stretches on for infinity. I walk not too far from it, towards a house on a cliff. The cliff looks like it might collapse any second, which is probably why it was so cheap. It was made of some stone like material, with two windows and a roof that held another floor. I walk up to the door, but before I can even get my hand on the handle, my sister opens the door, with an angry expression.

"You took too long! You know how long I've been waiting!"

I smile."It's good to see you too, Ann."

That's Antera, my sister. We were all created at the same time, but we all developed differently. She acts like an older sister to my other two brothers, and I try to look like an older brother. One of my brothers, Artera runs up, right along Bextra.

"Did anything exciting happen?"

"Did you bring anything cool?" Bextra and Artera say.

Bextra and Artera are very close, and have a lot in common. They developed a little slower due to time fluctuation and are seemingly younger than me and Ann.

"I got a lot to show y'all, but I'd like to relax for a bit.”

Everyone goes back to their own things in the house, and I sit down in a chair, relaxing my aching feet. Shoes were expensive, and only the rich could afford them, and we didn’t have a lot of money.

This walk felt longer...

I think to myself. Normally this walk doesn’t take that long on the normal route, but this time it felt twice as long. I relax for some time, then get up.

I don't want everyone to be waiting for a while...

I put my bag on the table and searched through it until I found what I was looking for. I pulled out the device and set it on our dining room table. My brothers flock up, looking at it.

"What is it?"

"Why is it round? Is it a wheel?" Bextra then Artera says.

"It's something called a clock, apparently if I get something to power it then It can tell us the time."

Antera crosses her arms "But doesn't time fluctuate?"

"Yes, but I imagine that this could be our 'Home time' and that we could count 'Days' using this." I pull out dozens of papers, all with different names, numbers, and boxes.

"This is called a calendar, it's going to help us keep track of 'Days.' when the clock gets to the twelve on both of these rods, then we mark a new day. we can also mark it past the twelve, that's fine."

Bextra looks at it, somewhat amused, while Artera is amazed. I thought they would like it, since it’s something they can do while I’m gone.

Antera says "What else is in the bag?" I open up the bag and look inside. "There's stuff I'm going to sell for money, and stuff like food that we can use to survive." Antera smirks "So you're going to do the shopping this time?"

Bextra and Artera both say "I want to go with you!" at almost the same time.

"Let's all go."

Artera and Bextra run off to get ready, while Ann looks at me, arms crossed but smiling. “Nice one, Ex.”

“The least I could do to help you around here.” I replied as Bextra and Artera came running back.

We go to the store not too far from here, inside a little cave called “The haggler’s bargain cave”. It has almost everything we need, like new clothes and food. We stay in groups of two, me going with Bextra and Antera going with Artera. We do this so nothing bad happens to us while we get what we need. After I go and sell some things, I go and get clothes. An elderly lady is near us, getting some baby mittens. I don't pay her much attention, focusing on which pants would fit me until she lets out a gasp, and within seconds, she's gone. a crowd grows almost instantly. I get Bextra and we leave that spot quickly. When we meet up with Ann and Artera again, I tell her what happened. We go and buy our stuff, then we leave for home quickly. That night, people were talking about that old lady, and how she was 'chosen to leave the void.' Most was sad for her, taking care of a young voidling that just recently was constructed, while others were jealous that she got to leave the void to another reality.

You see, there were rumors around town that sometimes a Voidling would disappear. It was said that they were chosen by the same thing that created us to leave the void. No one really knew why it happened, and most weren’t sure, so I never thought anything of it until then.

The Days went on for a while. I believe it was ten, happy days with my family. I normally didn’t get much time with them, so this was a nice experience. I was at the park with them one day, Bextra looking at the gray wood of a tree examining some odd bug on it, Antera and Artera looking at a painting center, and then me sitting on the bench, enjoying spending time. Then we all hear a defending crunch, snapping and cracking of stone, and bangs of tons of stone hitting the ground, shattering.

We all know what to do, fear takes over us all.

The void is being turned into nothingness, The wall keeping us safe is breaking!

Ear splitting howls of an almost humane being can be heard, screaming, and panic. We hurry, trying to get the fastest route out of the city. Antera and I are trying to get Artera and Bextra out faster and faster, then all of the sudden, I see Antera vanish before my eyes with a gasp.

No no no no, NO!

She was chosen to leave the void at this exact time. Artera trips, and I look back far enough to notice what's behind him. The howl of the massive anomaly, it being made of a black substance that can somehow keep a form, but be dangerous. it looks over all of us, then it goes to swipe at Artera with its massive and long arm. Without thinking, I lunge, sweep Artera away, and get slashed in the back by the beast. Pain surges through my back. I can hear my brothers gasp, and I turn to them.

"Run! Get out of here, NOW!" They take off, crying but flying as fast as the wind. I turn to the Nothie, that’s the beast that lives inside Nothing. It's eye made of pure Nothingness dead set on me. It slashes but I dodge. I notice a pool of my silver blood start to form, and my vision is getting fuzzy in the corners, but I keep going.

I'll save them... I'll... keep it busy...

I fall to my knees, and It swings at me, then the world goes dark.

I'm not dead, and this feeling scares me. I've only heard about it in stories, but right now I'm traveling to another world. I was chosen right at the time I should have died.

My bleeding seems to stop, and My vision is going through a tunnel because of the travel, but I manage to stay awake. I fall to my knees as soon as it all stops, my heart is beating rapidly. I look around, and my heart seems to stop.

The world is full of so many colors, and so much technology, I can't process a lot of things, but it seems that shadows as pure black as nothing itself are everywhere, Edges seem more sharp and colorful. My clothes are still pure white, but I noticed that I also seemed to have gained color. I move to another room, trying to make sense of everything I’m seeing, but still dumbfounded and amazed, when I see something moving in the corner of my eye. I jump up, a little woozy, but fear overtaking me. The man is wearing colorful clothes that could only look like they are for the rich, with some odd colors here and there, like on the pants. He takes some steps towards me, and I back up quickly. I don't know who or what this man is, and I don't know if he's friendly. I back up even more, and I notice a door close to me. The man notices what I want to do, and tries to stop me, rushing a little, but I'm faster. I rush to the door, twist what I think is the handle and I'm out. some liquid is falling from the sky, and I rush into the stuff, getting a sensation I can only imagine is called being wet, but I make my way away. The man is still chasing me, Yelling something at me, and I run faster. Then, I trip, Having stepped in a patch of stuff that was wet, maybe mud…? I landed on something hard, right on my head. Then the world goes black for yet another time…



My name is Anti. I never really needed a last name. I was sitting in my lab, looking at more studies, trying to figure out something, I can't really recall, when a silent buzzer goes off. I leap to the camera system.

This is unusual...

Most people can't even get inside this house even if they wanted to. The only reason that alarm goes off is if someone teleports in, or does something else along those lines. The camera shows a kid around my age. His clothing is pure white. He looks humanoid, but he has red eyes with pure black pupils. His hair is a kind of scarlet color. He looks scared and lost, and I can tell what he is and where he came from.

I need to make this quick, but to not alarm him... How will I do this?

I walk in the next room and find him there. He moved somewhat fast... I try to get his attention. He turns around, scared out of his mind it looks like. "It's fine, I'm only here to-" He then notices the door and bolts. I chase after him, calling for him. It's raining and rather dangerous in the town right now, If anything were to happen to someone who recently came out of the void, who knows what-

He then falls, landing on his head, out cold.

Or that could happen... I need to get him back quickly.

I rushed him back to my house. his clothing, being made of a void material, will only last so long before it deteriorates. I get him cleaned up and put some spare clothes on him. I've been wondering what to say to him for some time... I don't really have visitors, I prefer to be left alone. I decide to at least do him a favor. I take out one of my devices from my lab. It re-wires a part of your brain to make any language written or said to be understood as your base language.

I use it on him before he wakes up, and also do a few tests. He's about the age of 15. The void fluctuates in time, so I have no way of being sure just how old he actually is. I also detect hints of a power starting to form inside him. I gather what I'm going to say, and he awakes. I get to him as he starts up "Hey hey, It's okay, I'm here to help you. you're safe." he looks at me, still somewhat shocked and scared but understanding of the situation.

"Where... am I? and who are you?"

"I'm anti, a world famous scientist who has studied many things. You're in a universe called Ethiopia. The world you're in is Etheria. this is the travel point for any and all dimensions."

He looks around "This is all very new to me..."

"I can help you get some knowledge. bear with me."

I tell him about standard things like colors. I also find it amusing he knows some things about time, because there is almost no way of knowing time in the void. I tell him about the kingdoms of Etheria, and how they're all at war.

"We are in Monstrosia, the monster kingdom. Right now most of the kingdoms are fighting. Monstrosia is fighting with Monoica and Anthalia, the old and human kingdoms. Animalia and Futaria are not part of this, while Heltic, the Hell kingdom, has been unusually silent."

He takes everything in for a second. "Why can't everyone just get along?"

I almost laughed at that. That hasn't happened ever since I've been here. "Humans hate monsters. They think they are better than even people with horns, and we've been beaten for so long, we're finally pushing back."

He doesn't seem to understand this, and I don't blame him. living in the void gives you a false sense of security and tranquility, even in places like his. Most people in the void only fight about safety and food, not power or religion. I continue to tell him some things, like the Beastmen and Avians, or the Dwellers and Naiads. He takes it all up like a dry sponge.

"It's raining today, so get some rest and I'll take you out tomorrow." I say, getting up. I led him to a room where he could sleep, before I set out back to the lab. I begin to study and learn yet again, taking something to help stay awake. Clicking at the keyboard, I talk to myself.

“This will be interesting… Very much so.”





I wake up in the morning, or, I think it's morning. Everything is still too dark for my liking, and I'm still getting used to seeing a lot of colors. I found a nice yellow tee shirt and some tan pants and put them on. I look in the mirror to check my hair, and fix it before heading down to the main room. Anti is already there, sipping some sort of drink.

"Hey, you're up."

"Yeah... I don't like nighttime."

I was so scared last night, waking up to everything being pitch black. for a second I thought I was in nothing, about to be erased from existence. I sat down with him and let him finish his drink. He sets another drink like it down and says, "So, do you know about secret powers?"

I stare for a bit, a little confused. "No? what are they?"

"A secret power is something that Voidlings get at a random time once leaving the Void. The power is random, but you also get a secret weakness. This weakness isn't random and corresponds to your power. It's very deadly to you, and acts differently to all Voidlings."

"Have you met other Voidlings?" I say, suddenly intrigued.

"Yes, actually. I have met two others. The first one is the queen of the kingdom we are in, Monstrosia. She's been around for longer than me, about seven years. Then we had another guy, but no one knew what happened to him. He seemingly vanished."

I hold my breath. The chances are low but I feel like one of them is someone I know. I just hope it wasn't the guy who vanished…

Anti gets up just after I finish my cup, which had some property that now made me fully awake. "So, let's go out and explore the town. You need to know more if you're staying here."

He and I both go out. It's a bustling day, people are opening their street side shops, some people have shops in buildings, and many people are out shopping and going from one place to another. I'm amazed by how many people are out and about, since we didn't have that many people out in the Void. People are acting generally cheerful, and some say hello to Anti as we pass them, some even offering food or drink to the both of us. People ask him questions, some easy, and some so hard I'm not sure most people would even know, but he gets it right.

"You're rather famous around here, Anti."

"I'm a famed scientist, even though I'm only about 17. I've done so many ground breaking things in the past five years that people trust me."

“Seems like it’s a good thing.” I say, looking at him.

“Sometimes it is. Other times it gets in the way.”

I walk with him to a lot of places, like a hair shop, a cafe, and many other places bustling with different types of people. We finally end by going to a bar, and we eat lunch. The people behind us are whispering to each other, obviously telling themselves some bizarre story. I'm almost done with my lunch when one of them taps Anti on the shoulder.

"Hey, your Anti, right?" the man says.

"Yes, that would be me." Anti says with a curious look.

They look at each other nervously before continuing.

"We are from the hero agency, scouting division, and we found something bizarre. we need your help."

We pay our tab, then Anti and I follow them to a little stone building. Inside is a jail cell and a table. I realize this is a holding base for prisoners based on what Anti told me. In one holding cell is some crazed person, gone mad, rambling on and on about the end of this world. The thing that bothers me is that a black liquid is coming from their eyes, nose, and mouth. They are chanting something about the invasion coming. Anti looks amused.

"This is rather something. give me a minute to collect some samples and such. I'll get to work at my lab and give you an answer on this by tomorrow." Anti says while pulling out a dark suitcase lined with gold.

Anti opens the suitcase, and inside is an assortment of items and gadgets I don’t know would be used for, and he collects some of the liquid, then takes a device and scans their head, all while avoiding the man's arms, flailing at him while he spits the liquid at Anti. We leave and head back home, where Anti goes to a room and gets to work. He samples the liquid and it turns out to be ink. The scan on his head also shows data I can't understand. Anti looks at this data with a worried look.

"It can't be true. I need to go to the study room. Come with me please."

We head to the study room, and It's filled with books from ceiling to floor, with rows upon rows of bookshelfs, and in the corner is a small desk with two chairs and a lamp. Anti grabs a handful of books, goes to the desk and turns on the lamp, flipping through the books and stopping at random pages.

He gets to a book called "Incarnations and Godlikes" before he stops at one page for the longest time. The book has an Inky looking guy on it, with the name "Shuxle, Ink demon, Godlike of chaos."

"T-This is as I feared." Anti says with a worried look on his face, closing the book.

"What... What is it?" I say, worry creeping in.

Anti looks at me, worry on his face. "The Ink demon Shuxle is planning an invasion to take over the whole world."



I couldn’t believe the statement, but Anti had plenty of room to back himself up.

“You see, he’s an Ink demon, and that’s exactly what was in his body, Ink. Ink from an ink demon also has the properties to make someone go mad, and he was indeed mad. The things he was talking about and the fact that Heltic hasn’t been heard from in nine months leads me to believe this.”

Fear was in the air, and the darkness seemed like it was spreading, coming closer to me, but I felt a bit of courage, and I knew what we must have to do.

We went to sleep, but to be honest I couldn't sleep well, having nightmares of my old home in the void whenever I did fall asleep. I get up the next morning, And Anti gives me the same drink as before. He calls it 'Coffee'.

"It will help you stay awake." Anti said.

I drank it and moments later I felt better. I put on clean clothes, surprisingly the same color and fashion, then I headed out with Anti towards the castle house. It's raining very lightly, but I take it slowly, not wanting to trip and hurt myself yet again. We are almost there when A huge crunch is heard. I look up to see the door of the castle house fly off its hinges and land with a big thump right by our feet. The guy from last night who seemed crazed, with the ink pouring out of his eyes was standing in front of the doorway, having kicked it down. "I see you! I'll end you! For the cause of chaos, chaos for the cause!"

My instinct kicks in, and I rush to stop the man. He rushes to me at a speed seemingly inhuman, then kicks me backwards.

"Extera! Be careful not to let the ink get inside your body! you'll become just like him!"

Knowing this, I was careful to touch his head, If I could even get to it. He was faster than me, and seemingly stronger.

Anti tried helping get him too, but his devices didn’t work well in the rain.

Blasted... No matter what, I can't get to him... I need to stop him but it's almost impossible!

A burning feeling is starting to emerge deep within me, as I struggle to subdue and stop him. At first I think It's because of me getting slung around by the laughing madman, but as it starts to grow even more, I can tell it's not natural.

"You think your pathetic attempts to stop me will work, fool!? Me and you are both but a tool, a tool! I'll free you from this life and end both of our pain! Join me, we have so much to gain, hahaha!!"

I was really tired of this at this point. The man slings a huge glob of ink at me, and I raise my hands to try and stop it from hitting my face, when suddenly white hot fire erupts from my hands, lighting the ink aflame and burning it all up. The fire manages to get to the man, setting his whole face up in flames. He grabs at his face, hitting the ground, squirming. I feel sick.

I did that? How could I have?

Sharp pain starts to kick in after a bit of shock. I look at my hand, where a raindrop hit it, and the water is putting a gouging hole in my hand.

"Ah, what the-" I say, grabbing my hand as pain like needles hits me over and over.

Anti notices this, and me and him rush to the house in the rain. I try, but pain is flaring through my entire body. "The water! We need to get out of the rain-" That's all Anti got to say. I tripped, and fell face first into a small puddle.



I awoke, wrapped in bandages. Looking around, I'm at a hospital I've never seen. Anti is looking at me, noticing I'm awake.

"Hey! I got you to a hospital, since anything I tried to do wouldn't work. I managed to get you here safely, and they managed to save you." Anti says, relief in his voice.

"W... Where am I?" I managed to say.

"The best hospital. They are even known to heal illnesses that never had a cure. It's a miracle."

"Was it... bad?"

Anti shifts, a little nervous.

"Y-Yes... Your face is almost fine now, and your body is fine."

"Almost...?" I say, a little fearful.

"Your face is going to have a huge scar on your right eye and that general area. Expect that eye to have a little worse vision as well." A doctor said that as she walked in. "I'm Hospice. Please, rest. You are going to need a little bit of time before you’re better."

Hospice did a general checkup before deciding I get to leave after a little while of rest, then rushed off to check on the next patient. All I can think of is the invading army, how every second I'm resting is another second I've lost. I dare not think about the man who went mad, I don't want to remember what I did. Guilt is throbbing in my heart, the heart that wants to save people. Anti can tell I’m going through some stuff, and leaves me alone for a second.

After a few minutes, I get to leave, and It’s a blur leaving. The world outside is yet another bustling city. I look at Anti, and he looks at me.

“Where are we going next?” I say, a little anxious.

"We're going to see the queen of Monstrosia, she can help us." Anti says, looking into the horizon.