The terrifying thing about emptiness is the absence.

~Ogma, God of Eloquence and Inspiration

Acco was using StarSlide, despite not being able to step into the Void. It took him a while to realize he was still bending space and even longer to figure out he was touching on concepts of time.

It took his understanding of Astrologer cultivation to a higher level, but not in a way that was visibly apparent. The significant change was his understanding of space, time, and the Void. He’d always forced himself into the Void, which limited his range when he only needed to slide through space most of the time. It was much more energy-efficient, and it didn’t necessarily require him to see the destination physically. It could allow him to reach a destination he’s been to before just by intent.

The only area he was lacking was his understanding of time. Acco wasn’t sure how much his StarSlide range would increase, but it wasn’t small.

The downsides were that it had to be in the same realm. Hopping realms meant stepping through the Void. Again, Acco had to have visited or seen the destination previously. And lastly, the movement was detectable. Since he wasn’t stepping outside of spacetime, anyone with sufficient power could track his energy signature. It also meant that he couldn’t use this method to get around formations.

The upsides were that he was sure he could go at least twice as far with his current state of cultivation and potentially much further as he grew. In battle, his energy usage would massively decrease. And, like now, he could use it as a movement ability which hardly used his Source.

While thinking all that, he arrived at the door. Staring into the empty room beyond, he felt exhausted. A nap sounded good, and he deserved one.

Looking at his hand, he saw the number 3 inside the gear.

“Three? What the hell?” He hissed. “Damn you, nemesis.”

Acco drug his tired body to the door and stepped through.

***

Mara failed her haste challenge seven times. Not that she didn’t get it, but as the sled’s speed increased, the turns became increasingly harder to navigate. The part that stumped her was the jumps. Each jump went through the Void, which disrupted her rhythm.

Entering was fine, but then she’d tumble out the other side and suffer several painful landings and tumbles. The Clocktower didn’t let her get seriously hurt, but she had to take her bruises. Shortly after, she exited in a heap. A few guards set to watch the Clocktower chuckled when they saw her again, but quickly helped her to her feet.

After the first failure, she discovered Crow had also reached the Clocktower. The guards had a deep impression of him, which sounded like Crow, constantly mixed up with random events. In hindsight, Mara should have told the innkeeper to give him a key to her room, but this worked too.

Every failure, she’d lay in her bed and take a nap. When she woke, she cultivated and contemplated what she learned the previous run. The oddest thing about the entire trial was the time difference. The first time she failed, only two days had passed, despite feeling like well over a month. Since then, five more days have passed in real-time.

During the past week, she hadn’t seen Crow or Acco once. However, other challengers finally started arriving. Knowing Crow, he stumbled across some Clocktower facet and got involved in some hijinks or another. Still, he should be somewhat safe in there. So she’d find some way to solve Torcail’s issue.

Thinking about Crow, she realized her method of conquering the Clocktower wasn’t working. So she took a page out of Crow’s book and walked into the Clocktower’s lobby. Instead of moving directly to her door, she approached the Clockwork woman.

“What is the Void?” Mara asked, not expecting an answer.

“The Void is the origin, sometimes called chaos. It is the birthplace of primordial existences. Balor, the Primordial God of Chaos, isn’t in control of the Void as most believe. At most, he is of equal power to Father Time and Aether, the Goddess of the Primordial Light.”

Mara froze, trying to understand what she had just heard. She’d never even heard of Aether before.

“Do not get stuck on their names. Every culture has its own names for the primordial gods and goddesses. The name isn’t as important as what they represent. Balor and Arianrhod are the two you should learn about, as their nature is in you.”

“The Goddess of Rebirth and Fate?”

“That is one of her titles, but she is also the Goddess of the Moon and Stars. Or, to make it less mysterious, she is the Goddess of Space. Space is like the Void but exists within the confines of time. Still, there is a lot of emptiness between worlds, and within that emptiness, or space, the barrier to the Void is very thin.”

“That…” Mara wasn’t as fast as Crow at picking up the contextual clues, but she wasn’t an idiot either. The Clockwork woman was attempting to help her, and so she thought about what was said. “If the barrier is weak, what happens if I were to cross through?”

“You think it is that easy to enter the Void? Your Source comes from this place. For a while, you might escape Heaven’s grasp, but it’ll bring you back, eventually. The difference is control. Do you return willingly, or do you let the Heaven’s wrench you back?”

Mara’s mouth dropped open, and because of Crow, she understood a few secrets that she probably shouldn’t. Only the gods could escape into the Void because they had the power to defy the Heavens. She didn’t understand time and space in the same way as Acco and Crow. Instead, she was more aware of the forces acting against spacetime. In this universe, everything existed under the Heavens, but what was existence like outside that?

“Then how does it all relate to my Source? I can enter the Void with my current ability, but then what happens? Does it just consume my Source until I’m brought back?”

“Yes. Once you deplete your Source, you will lack the power to resist Heaven’s pull, and as you know, the Heaven’s are vengeful against those that defy it. Traveling the Void has other risks.”

“Is that how we came to this place?”

“Yes. Acco’s connection to the Void connected with Crow’s vision of the events happening here. Subconsciously, he thought of this place but lacked the power to send you here. He ended up using the power of Crow’s vision, but as it depleted, he lost control of entering this plane. Which is why you were all divided. I’m afraid I cannot answer any more of your questions. The rest is up to you.” The Clockwork woman said and flipped through her book once more. Glancing at the book, Mara read a few paragraphs and questioned reality. Was this woman reading a romance novel?

Entering her chosen door, she shook off the messy thoughts and stood beside the sled, looking down the slope.

“Ahh! Dammit, it was that easy?” Mara exclaimed, rubbing her temples in frustration. She realized her mistake was misunderstanding how to use the Void. After all, it was chaos, and therefore lacked the Truths that existed in this universe. She tumbled going through the Void portals because she didn’t visualize how to exit them, so chaos did what it does—creates havoc.

She jumped on her sled and flew down the hill, taking the turns at breakneck speeds and laughing manically the entire way down. The ramps that sent her airborne and through the Void portals arrived. As she reached them, she looked ahead and visualized how to exit.

Thwoomp!

Mara shot through the Void and came out facing the right direction and landed on the slope in a near-perfect landing as she took the next turn. Five jumps later, she reached the bottom of the slope and saw the open door waiting for her.

Breathing a sigh of relief, she stepped through with a big smile on her face. Not because she completed the challenge, but because she gained something much more valuable. She now understood the thing inside her mind and knew it was the Astrologer’s cultivation method.

“Now, I just need to catch that little twerp, and this mommy will beat him until he tells me how to use this ability.” Mara laughed, and somewhere else in the Clocktower, Acco shivered in fear. “Pirate mommy is going to learn how to teleport!”

Across Oiche and the Basement, many victims of pirate mommy suddenly shivered in fear.