Down the magma hole I fall. (Void Quest)

[Makoto Yuki]

My trip was a lot smoother this time around, probably because I thought to include a saddle this time, rather than sitting directly on the flying mount's back. Although I can't imagine I'd be suffering much without the saddle either, the creature's abundant fur looked quite comfortable, but that was neither here nor there.

My second flight between Dalaran and the gate connecting Camelot to the Nexus was much less eventful than my first, with no encounters with any bandits this time, insectoid or otherwise. The only sound to be heard was the mighty flaps of the griffin's wings, and the whistling of the wind in my ears.

My newly acquired encyclopedia of the world proved to be extremely helpful in clearing up my initial confusion, explaining to me the difference between the primes and secondaries who inhabit this world, and the different verses in which they live out their lives. It was this part that worried me though, the writer sounded like they very much expected me to stick around for the foreseeable future. They listed off common methods of acquiring habitats, jobs, how to acclimate and integrate into the society already established.

Some more research later, and I realize they did that because, as of the moment of the book's writing, no prime has ever been recorded to leave the Omniverse. That we can only travel from verse to verse, some harder to reach or quite a bit smaller than others, but no one can leave Omni's jurisdiction.

There were rumors though, of verses other than the main ones. One which they called "The Void'', a mysterious verse more connected to the others than even the Nexus. And one by the name of "The Oververse", from the descriptions provided by the small handful of primes who've been there, and were willing to share any of their hard earned information, no less, it was a Heaven of sorts. White, fluffy clouds, golden cities, winged angels roaming about, you know the type.

This is supposedly Omni's private realm, and the only place you can speak to him. Omni kidnapped all primes to serve as his entertainment, if anyone at all is powerful enough to return us to our worlds, it'd be Omni.

I figured that I wouldn't beat around the bush. I want out. Omni is the only way out. To the Oververse I go.

To get there however, I'd need to pass through the Void first. And simply finding the gate to the void is no mean feat, there's supposedly a gate in every main verse that isn't Camelot or Crouscant. But each and every one is hidden away in the furthest reaches of their realm, protected by the extremely hostile nature of the untamed wilds, and with terrible beasts as guardians that would not allow a soul to pass through as long as they still live.

I cannot explain why, even to myself, but I felt the cavernous depths of the Ashen Steppes call out to me. I trusted my instincts, why wouldn't I? It'd never failed me before.

I was broken out of my musings when the my mount reached its destination, the Nexus gate. We lost a fair bit of altitude to be able to pass through the gate while still flying, the transition was as abrupt as the first time it happened, with the blue sky and earthen ground giving way to cold grey as far as the eye can see.

I jumped down from my seat, and proceeded to pet my simultaneously furry and feathered ride goodbye. I extracted my OM from the construct and used it to revive the motorcycle I know called my own.

I set my sight on the one portal that was smoking in the distance in set my path to it, passing by a great deal of odd looking people. A man with bleached hair was arguing with a sword, another group stood to the side, made of a woman, a humanoid bird, and.... a humanoid something with a talking wooden mask.

Well, Omni sure works quickly, if nothing else. There's no time for me to think about others right now, unfortunately. I had an entire world depending on me to make sure it never succumbed to it's grief and called forth its own Fall.

I made a beeline towards the gate I singled out earlier, and was not disappointed to see the smoke rising from the portal up close. This was definitely the gate leading to the Ashen Steppes. I couldn't chicken out now, even if I'd wanted to. I drove my bike at full speed through the smog that built up surrounding the portal.

You better watch your back, Omni.

[Makoto Yuki]

I realized that the verse would be abundant in heat and smoke, it was called "The Ashen Steppes" for a reason. That alone couldn't have adequately prepared me, unfortunately, as I almost coughed out a lung when I breathed in the uncomfortably hot air, laden with smoke and the rotten eggs-like scent of sulphur.

My less than composed reaction forced me to skid to a halt on my bike, lest I risk a collision, which would've been inevitable if I continued moving at full throttle while effectively blind. That caused a cloud of dust to rise up from the barren ground and surround me, which served only to fluster me further.

Right, I should've expected that. I took a few more moments to take my breath, slowly this time, until I was sure I could breath normally and not keel over every time my brain decided I need Oxygen. I'll just have to learn to deal with the ever-present smoke then.

I decided to take advantage of my unexpected stop, and survey the surroundings I found myself in. With an ominous blood red sky, craggy terrain, and surface pools of lava, this verse definitely looked very hospitable. Are those dragons I see flying over there? Very hospitable indeed.

Regardless, I'll be damned if I let some overgrown lizards stop me. I've faced much worse, and punched it right in its ugly, primordial face. Right, let's get down to business then.

As far as I could glean, the Gate in the Steppes was located at the very bottom of the verse, at a location that you can reach by following most cave systems down into the earth. It couldn't possibly be this easy, not without a catch, but it'll have to do for now.

I checked my surroundings, looking at all directions in an attempt to determine which one had the most stable ground and the least number of molten lava streams. I determined that direction to be... uh, I'm not sure which one of the cardinal directions that was actually, not like I could rely on the Sun in figuring that one out. A compass should help, it'd be useful for my spelunking adventure anyway. A few minutes of concentration later and I had a shiny new compass in my hand... which went haywire and started pointing every which way. Yay.

The compass disappeared in a flash of blue fog as I stored it in my mind. It might be useless now, but it'll be nice to not have to waste as much time acquiring a new one if the need for it does arise. This is enough dawdling, I revved up my bike and set off for the direction I decided on. It quickly became apparent to me that the bike I was riding wasn't really meant for off-roading, as the uncomfortable tremors running through my body so helpfully proved to me. It was still a minor inconvenience at best, and I decided to ignore it for now.

There were plenty of fissures, ravines, and pitfalls scattered around the terrain, many of them glowing with the heat of the molten rock resting somewhere within them, none of them resembled a proper entrance to the earth, as was defined by my guide, unfortunately. I would've stopped to ask the locals, if they didn't look like they'd rather tear me to bits than provide any help, the local fauna looked entirely too willing to sink their fangs into flesh.

I was sure that there was a sentient species occupying this realm, the Gorons, I think their name was? But their habitat was Death Mountain, and i very much wanted to decrease my altitude, not increase it. Maybe I'll pay them a visit later on.

That train of thought crashed and burned when I saw my first clue, an enormous outcropping of rock that formed half a dome over an equally enormous hole in the ground. This was as much an "entrance into the earth itself" as anything's ever been. As I got closer, I realized that the 'hole' was actually more of a sloping entrance than a direct drop. That was much more reassuring, if nothing else.

I gently slowed down, until I was right at the start of the slope, then got rid of the bike seeing as it wouldn't be all that useful where I was going. I took the first few descending steps of my trek, it was much like walking downhill, the slope was neither very steep nor very slippery, thankfully. The, admittedly not that bright, ambient light started disappearing the deeper into the hole I walked, with the stone dome shading the space beneath it, until it was too dark for me to see where I was going too clearly. I needed to stop for a moment to let my eyes adjust to the darkness. I extended my arms in front of my face, and started feeling for a wall I could lean on while waiting for my eyesight to return to me. I'd only taken a few steps forward before I felt my foot sinking through thin air instead of resting solid ground as it should have.

My unexpected lapse in coordination threw the entire weight of my body forward, and I fell through the nearly invisible hole in the ground. I tumbled down the hole, and my stomach very much protested the sudden change in elevation and orientation.

Uggghh, I think I'm going to be sick. But that'd necessitate having an intact stomach to be sick, and I wasn't sure how my body would handle a collision with the ground after falling several stories' worth. Not too well, if I were to give an educated guess.

...is that a pool of magma I'm falling into? Shit.

[Makoto Yuki]

No, no, NO! I did NOT come all the way over here to this literal hellhole to take a dip in some magma pool! There were plenty of holes in the walls surrounding me, maybe I could push myself through one somehow? It doesn't matter where they lead to at this point, anything is more preferable right now.

I flailed my arms and legs about, trying to move my body through the air and into one of the openings in the wall. Unsurprisingly, that only served to make me look like a fool who was trying to swim through air. What's next? Think, brain, think.

Agidyne! Maybe I could use a small, controlled explosion to propel me? Definitely worth a shot. Anime physics, don't fail me now!

"Agidyne!" A blast of fire appeared a little bit below myself, just as planned. What was not planned however, was that very same blast very violently and very suddenly slamming me into the wall behind me. Also, one of my pant legs was on fire. Fucking A.

The bubbling sound of the molten rock reached me then, I was getting way too close for comfort. Right, once more, but with emphasis on the 'controlled' part. I tried my luck with another blast, trying to decrease its power to a more acceptable level, and maybe less actual fire too, that'd be nice.

"Agidyne!" There we go! I managed to make this one more of a forceful push than a raging inferno. Just in time to catch one of those fleeting exits too.

My body rolled around on the filthy floor of this tunnel I found myself in, coming to a stop at a wall on the far end of it. Damn, I'm getting slammed into walls left and right today, I need to step up my game a little. At least my pants aren't on fire anymore; think positive.

A pained groan escaped my throat as I pulled myself from the floor. I leaned on the wall as I brushed the dust off my clothes, and took a curious look at my surroundings. I was standing in a fork in a large tunnel, with one path leading to where I entered from, and two others at each of my two sides. The only illumination came from the reservoir of magma I just barely escaped falling into. Both directions looked like they stretched forward equally far, and got as dark after a certain point.

I had no idea where I was, and so decided that it didn't matter which direction I took either, as long as it eventually led downwards. I turned right, and started walking. There was still the problem of a light source though, the tunnel got darker and darker with every step. Hmm, maybe I could use Agidyne as a small, floating sphere to light the way? I was feeling pretty confident about this. I just had to provide the bare minimum power output, right?

I held up my hand as far away from my face as I could, and started concentrating. A small column of fire erupted from my palm, reaching what would've been my face if my arm wasn't outstretched as far as it could be. Safety first, kids. I tried again, this time holding the image of a sphere of light in my mind.

Bingo. Did someone order a miniature Sun? Well, too bad. It ended up looking more like a certain annoying as fuck fairy, except that it had no wings, was reddish-orange, and was decidedly less talkative. The orb floated to the stone ceiling, glowing enough to light up a comfortable few paces in front and behind me. This outcome was pretty favourable, all things considered.

There was something fishy about this tunnel though. It looked.. too smooth? Almost man-made? Could it be that it's meant to be a part of some mining operation? While the land of this verse was as far removed from fertile as you could possibly get, it was definitely overflowing with mineral resources.

I am a genius. The wooden supports and mining equipment in the distance verify this, completely accurate, claim. They look abandoned though, always a good omen. Well, only one way to find out what's happening over there.