["A shock". This is far more than a simple shock. This is an earthquake, shifting plates, a movement of continents. This is the destruction of a world. Of his world.
The concept of multiple earths had already been explained to him. He understood, if just barely. But on those earths it had made sense to keep the same rules. The same structure. Two deities, one ruling, one exiled. The absence of night. The endless desert. The lack of trees, of oceans, of civilization-all of it had to be a constant. For it to not would mean futility. It would mean his world had been rejected. Punished. For what? What had they done to live in squalor, in a dying world, while others lived on in bounty?]
That-that can't be. [And yet, the answer fits. It explains the skepticism of the other responses. The disbelief, the mocking in their tones. They had lived with night, known it, felt the caress of cool air-what? Daily?
The mere thought makes him sick. Makes his skin crawl and his stomach shrink. He feels bile rise and shoves it down. Breathes in deep only to find he's short of breath.]
It can't be. Then why... [Why had they been forsaken? And how could night even exist outside of Nocta? It was her realm, it was what he believed. And now... He claps a hand over his mouth, falling back against the glass.] Then what I did... What I've done...
THANKS TEK
The concept of multiple earths had already been explained to him. He understood, if just barely. But on those earths it had made sense to keep the same rules. The same structure. Two deities, one ruling, one exiled. The absence of night. The endless desert. The lack of trees, of oceans, of civilization-all of it had to be a constant. For it to not would mean futility. It would mean his world had been rejected. Punished. For what? What had they done to live in squalor, in a dying world, while others lived on in bounty?]
That-that can't be. [And yet, the answer fits. It explains the skepticism of the other responses. The disbelief, the mocking in their tones. They had lived with night, known it, felt the caress of cool air-what? Daily?
The mere thought makes him sick. Makes his skin crawl and his stomach shrink. He feels bile rise and shoves it down. Breathes in deep only to find he's short of breath.]
It can't be. Then why... [Why had they been forsaken? And how could night even exist outside of Nocta? It was her realm, it was what he believed. And now... He claps a hand over his mouth, falling back against the glass.] Then what I did... What I've done...
[Did any of it matter?]