Part 2
Mira said nothing while they walked down the halls of the ruin, but one thing was for certain. This place wasn't just familiar, she recognized it. Realizing what that meant, she motioned for them to stop.
"There's a problem, me. This place isn't familiar. I recognize it." Mira said to Vordea.
"We have to leave." Vordea said immediately, to which Mira nodded.
"Why? What's going on?" Syndra asked.
"If I recognize this place, it means the real me is leaking into the mortal plane." Mira said, immediately turning around and heading toward the exit, Vordea and Syndra close behind. As they turned a corner, Mira came to a dead stop. The layout had already changed, they were too late. "Shit!"
"We're cut off." Vordea said. "Mira, I'll see you later."
Mira nodded, and hopped into a portal that appeared in the ground, which immediately closed behind her.
"Why did she leave?" Syndra asked.
"Because she's a memory, Syndra. The real Mira might use her as a conduit to leak into this world." Vordea explained. "I saw her do it once before and I don't want it again."
"You keep mentioning her name, who is Mira?" Syndra asked, as they continued to walk through the shifting ruin. "You also seem absolutely terrified of her."
"That obvious?" Vordea asked, as they came upon yet another dead end, and backtracked. "Do you want to know her full title?" Seeing a nod from Syndra, Vordea continued. "Mira Frost, the Last Lord of Carcosa. The Corpse King."
"The Corpse King? That means it's her Amulet, doesn't it?" Syndra asked.
"It is. It's a portion of her power made manifest. However, it also doesn't, or rather, can't exist. The fact you learned about it from this ruin proves that it doesn't exist."
"What do you mean?"
Reaching a fork in the hallways, Vordea stopped. "This ruin we're in right now is a place that last existed before I was born. Remember how I referred to the Mira you met a few minutes ago as a memory? This ruin itself is a memory of Mira's."
"So who is she? Really? What does the title Corpse King even mean?" Syndra asked as they chose a path to go down.
"It means a lot of things, elf." Vordea answered, running her hand along the wall. "Let's start with the first one, Mira has never been alive in this universe. Hence she's a corpse."
"Pretty lively for a dead body."
"The other part is king, Syndra. Mira is the Corpse King because she is the dead lord of this universe." Vordea finished, pausing to hit a hidden button on the wall, which caused a set of stairs to appear from the ceiling.
"That sounds ominous." Syndra said as she followed Vordea up the set of stairs.
"We're just getting started, Valmaris." Vordea said with a laugh, punching open a door at the top of the stairs. "The Last Lord of Carcosa is a far more ominous title than you might realize. Let's start with Carcosa. Of course, nothing I tell you here will ever be repeated. Understood?"
"Of course."
"Good. Carcosa is the corpse of the previous universe. Many countless ages ago, in a time span so long any mortal would go mad from comprehending it, this universe began, and I emerged screaming from Carcosa into a blank void. My very earliest memory was the death of Carcosa, and Mira Frost telling me from behind a closed door that it was all up to me now."
"What does that mean?" Syndra asked, as they entered a library and began to check the books.
"I don't know." Vordea said, as she pulled out books from the shelves and tossed them aside after glancing at the titles. "She called me a legacy of terror, one that would make sure that Carcosa would never be forgotten. But there's still more to Mira."
"Oh? Oh, I think this is the book, Vordea." Syndra said, handing a book over to her.
"Hmmm, sure looks like. Yes, Mira is the source of all divine powers." Vordea answered, taking the book and tucking it between her breasts. "Let's get out of here. Hold on tight."
Vordea curled a few tentacles around Syndra and leapt up, punching the ceiling. For nearly an hour, Vordea blasted through hundreds of walls, changing direction seemingly at random, before they emerged back outside in the cool autumn air.
"Free at last. What are we going to do about this ruin?" Syndra asked, panting.
"Feel privileged, Syndra. You are about to see me act in an official capacity for the first time in thousands of kalpas." Vordea stated as her tentacles and armour melted away to reveal a long black gown.
"Oh?"
Vordea cleared her throat, and held out her hand, in which a mace appeared. "By my right as the Supreme Goddess of Creation, I disavow this place. By the Winds of Change it is dissolved. In the name of the Last Lord of Carcosa Mira Frost, I excise this place from all planes!" Vordea shouted, the mace glowing bright white. "By the symbol of my station, by the power granted to me by Carcosa, you are destroyed!"
As Vordea finished speaking, the ruins simply winked out of existence, and left behind a black hole. Vordea flung the mace she was holding into it, and it was replaced by a patch of grass, leaving no evidence it ever existed.
"What just happened?" Syndra asked, amazed by what she saw.
"Divine providence, elf. Or rather, the lack of it. Everything you see around you exists because I allow it to." Vordea said, gesturing at the trees and meadow around them.
"Hang on, you said the source of all divine power comes from Mira."
"Indeed it does. In Mira's own words, we play pretend with powers beyond comprehension."
"Again I ask, what is Mira really?"
"She's a reality warper. The world changes around her as she thinks and speaks. The early universe was uncontrolled chaos due to this."
"So what did you do?"
"Mira currently sleeps the dreamless sleep of death beyond reality, but she stirs from time to time. One more thing. You noticed how Mira referred to me as 'me'?"
"I did, yes."
"Because I am her. I'm the dream of Mira Frost, and she's the dreamer."
"That doesn't make any sense."
"It's not supposed to. Things about Mira rarely do. Let's go back to Ammangoan and take a look at this intriguing little book."