Tagline: "Sometimes silence is golden. Sometimes it's screaming in Morse code."
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There comes a moment in every hero's journey when they must face a great trial. A mountain, a beast, an ex-girlfriend with god powers. In this case, the trial arrived in the form of a mysterious sub-realm where the laws of sound had politely packed their bags and moved out.
Void didn't announce where they were going this time. He simply walked. Through trees that were partially conceptual. Over a field that whispered "don't trust the birds". And into a rift that split open with all the drama of a reality TV show reveal.
Ezekiel, now slightly more seasoned and only mildly traumatized, whispered to Frederick:
"If he says 'don't touch anything,' I'm touching nothing. If he says 'touch that,' I'm still touching nothing. I've learned."
"You say that every time," Frederick muttered, adjusting his hammer pack. "And then last week you tried to lick a spatial tear because it looked 'minty.'"
"It did look minty. That's entrapment."
Void stopped walking.
Before them loomed a jagged canyon, glowing with hues no mortal color wheel accounted for. On the far side stood a monolith, tilted sideways, humming with an unstable pitch.
Void turned, serious as death on a unicycle.
"This realm is governed by a fractured sound law. Speak sparingly. If you say the wrong thing, it might come true. Or explode."
Ezekiel's hand slowly rose. "So… what happens if you—"
Void held up a hand. "No. No questions. Not here. If your curiosity tries to escape your throat, swallow it. I'm not rebuilding you from sound fragments."
The wind blew. But it made no noise. Only a faint rhythm, like a heartbeat made of bad intentions.
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Entering the Silent Zone
The moment they stepped past the canyon's edge, everything changed.
Their footfalls made opposite sounds—Ezekiel's steps sounded like sloshing wine, while Frederick's echoed with distant sneezing. Void, naturally, made no sound at all, because physics feared him and didn't want trouble.
Then, it happened.
Ezekiel tripped.
Of course he did.
And as he flailed, arms pinwheeling like a drunken pigeon, he shouted:
"OH NO!"
Two words. Loud. Honest. Regretful.
The air twisted.
The rocks beneath them shivered.
Then—
"Oh no," the canyon repeated. Except now the words sounded like war drums and guilt.
And then the rocks detonated.
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They landed somewhere deeper in the realm. Not by choice, but through a portal made of regret and poor timing.
Void stood first, brushing imaginary dust off his cloak. He wasn't angry. He wasn't annoyed. But he looked at Ezekiel like someone reviewing a job application and finding glitter on it.
"Congratulations," Void said flatly. "You triggered a Reaction Echo. That sentence will now be permanently embedded in this plane."
"What… what does that mean?" Ezekiel asked nervously.
From somewhere in the distance, a deep, thunderous voice replied:
"OH NO!"
"Oh gods," Frederick muttered.
"Don't say that either," Void advised, pointing to a distant tree that immediately caught fire.
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Exploring the Unstable Core
They wandered through the labyrinth of inverted sound and accidental manifestation, watching their every breath. Literally—Ezekiel's exhale had once formed a sentient dust bunny that tried to unionize.
Eventually, they came to a dome-shaped structure made of vibrating crystal. Inside pulsed a sound node—the literal heart of the realm's fractured law.
Void paused before entering.
"This is the core," he said. "This realm was once a testing ground. Sound laws were cultivated here—refined, condensed, then abandoned. The echo of their misuse lingers."
Ezekiel blinked. "So this place is basically a divine audio dump?"
Void didn't answer. But his expression very clearly said: "You are correct. But also please stop speaking."
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The Trial of Voice
The core began to shimmer. A figure appeared—composed entirely of reverb and echoes. A guardian, but not of body. Of voice.
It spoke once, and the sound layered over itself, like dozens of versions of the same sentence arriving late to the same meeting.
"Speak only truth. Any falsehood will be absorbed and weaponized."
Ezekiel immediately backed up until he hit Frederick.
Void stepped forward.
"I accept the trial."
He placed one hand on the crystal altar.
The guardian nodded.
"Then speak your name."
Void hesitated for a blink.
Then spoke:
"Void."
The crystal pulsed. The realm shuddered. Somewhere in the distance, a confused rabbit exploded.
The guardian bowed.
"Truth acknowledged."
Void turned to Frederick.
"Your turn. Speak a truth. Not a fact—a truth. Something real to your soul."
Frederick stepped forward. Swallowed hard.
"I am afraid… that if I become powerful, I'll forget how to be kind."
The room was silent.
Then the crystal hummed.
"Acknowledged."
Void tilted his head. "Hm. Unexpectedly profound."
"Thanks. I was going to say 'I miss cheese' but I went with the soul thing."
Finally, all eyes turned to Ezekiel.
Who was shaking.
"I—uh—"
He looked at the guardian. Then at Void. Then at the air, which he was 60% sure was judging him.
"I… once forged a spoon… and called it 'The Eater of Stew'… and told the village it was blessed by a soup god."
The guardian paused.
The crystal glowed pink.
And then it laughed.
Not cruelly. Not loudly.
But in a soft, rippling way that filled the dome with warmth.
"Truth acknowledged."
Ezekiel exhaled so hard he nearly collapsed.
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And Then… the Real Test
The moment of peace was broken when the dome's walls began to shatter inward.
Void looked up calmly.
"Ah. Of course. This realm had a failsafe."
"Failsafe? Like… 'Congratulations, you win a cookie'? Or—"
"More like, 'Now that you've touched the core truth, the realm tries to rewrite you into it.'"
The sky turned red.
Sound returned.
Violent, unhinged sound. Screaming laws, clashing echoes, voices overlapping from a thousand would-be travelers.
The realm was imploding.
Void raised a single hand. And spoke.
One word.
"Silence."
The world froze.
Everything stilled.
And then—gently—began to unwind. Not in destruction. But in resolution.
The fractured realm accepted the truths given.
And began to dissolve, peacefully.
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Outside, After the Collapse
The trio stood on the plains, now restored, the sky calm above.
Ezekiel looked around.
"Did we just… fix an entire realm by telling it our embarrassing truths?"
Void glanced at him.
"Yes. Welcome to divine therapy."