Arthur's Point of View

Hollow Forest

“You got a flower that you can stay in contact with or something?”

In response, another flower bloomed in her hand, but was white this time. “Will this do?”

I nodded. “Perfect. Just… Set it down away from you…”

She quirked a brow but did as I said. “Very well.” It fluttered to the ground and took root in the soil below. “What do you plan to do?”

Immediately, the flower stood upright before bending to the right, and then evened out again. “I want to see what happens if you use enough gravity that’s focused on one central point from every direction.”

“Gravity?” She repeated confused.

“Sir Isaac Newton is displeased.”

“I would feel offended if I knew who that was.”

Waving a dismissive hand, I focused on the flower. “The man wore a wig. Not much else to be said.”

Camoa was confused. “I-What?”

Rolling my eyes, I continued. “Gravity is what keeps you on the ground. Without it, you’d float into the sky and then space. Think of it like a harness that keeps you tethered to Crevalis. A Crevalis lifeline if you will.”

“I have never heard of such a thing.” Typhon chimed in from the other side of the clearing.

Camoa and I were no longer whispering as I quickly pointed at him. “Punch the tree or go home!”

He immediately went back to punching the tree. “How do you know about this ‘gravity’ as you call it?”

Creating a pillar directly under her, she started to float. “Because I can control it. It just so happens,” I let her down and finally finished my experiment around the flower. “Gravity can affect many other things as well.”

Moving the pillars away from the flower to create a perfect sphere around it, it completely disappeared as I continued to increase the surrounding gravity. It was an odd thing to look at. Light appeared to be bouncing off it entirely while the inside was so black it looked like someone cut a hole in reality. That someone just so happened to be me. Warping the space directly in front of me made me grin widely while Camoa stood in shock. She kept a cautious distance while she watched closely.

Dropping the field around the flower, I fully expected it to reappear. “Uh…” Was all I said when it didn’t, and my gaze drifted to the Druid. “Any chance your flower is talking to you?”

She shook her head. “The flower’s voice has gone silent, but it doesn’t appear to have died. What happened?”

Scratching the side of my head as I crouched down and waved my hand through the area, I shrugged. “That is a really good question.” Standing up quickly, I smirked. “Only one way to find out!”

Instantly, I began to do the exact same thing but with me as the focal point. “What’re you doing!?” Camoa’s concerned tone grabbed Ty’s attention.

“Gonna find out what happened to your flower!” I replied simply before I grunted from the force surrounding me. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

“You could die!” The Druid said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Fingers crossed. “Doubtful! Like you said, your flower isn’t dead.” The pillars began to pull away until they formed a perfect sphere, and the light began to bend all around me. “Hopefully, I’ll be back in a minute!”

Ty and Camoa could be heard for an instant before everything went silent and I was no longer in the Hollow Forest. You know those paintings of the sky over a still lake or ocean, and it looks like a perfect reflection? This wasn’t anything like that. There was no wind, no light, no smell, and no form of touch. I was just floating in a black void.

My mind began to race as I screamed out as memories of the blackhole surfaced. However, it was from my own screams that I was able to center myself. Unlike the void of the blackhole, there was nothing. Here, I could see my arms, body, legs, and I could hear my own voice. It helped me come under control after a bit longer than I’d care to admit.

“Fuckin…” I began before leaning back and floating slightly with my hands on my face. “This was the worst thing that could’ve happened to me.” My big fucking mouth.

Running my hands down my face, I sighed in an exasperated tone as my breathing steadied. The sweat that poured down my face began to dissipate as I noticed something floating in front of me. Camoa’s flower. Reaching out and grabbing it tenderly, I twisted its stem back and forth in my fingers.

“I’d appreciate it if you kept this between us.” Obviously, the flower didn’t respond since I’m not as special as everyone thinks I am. “Also don’t mention the fact that I tried talking to you.” Letting it go, it floated directly in front of me, and I sighed. “Now we just need to figure out how to get back.” I looked around for a moment before my eyes settled on the white flower. “Any ideas?”

The first thing that popped into my head was to do the exact same thing. Surround myself with the gravity pillars and form a perfect sphere around me before increasing the force. Not too surprising, it didn’t work as the sphere dropped and I was in the same place with the flower floating just a few feet away.

“Oh no… I fucked up…”