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.

"Indeed you are." Mira said, her eyes glazing over. "This is an intriguing space you've found, elf. A place where I can pierce the veil."

Vordea instinctively wrapped up Syndra tight in her tentacles, and pulled her close. "You can't have her."

"I don't want her, me." Mira replied, annoyed.

"What's going on? Why isdid she acting different?leave?" Syndra asked.

"ThisBecause isshe's whoa I warned you about,memory, Syndra. MayThe Ireal presentMira might use her as a conduit to youleak Mirainto Frost,this the Corpse King.world." Vordea answered,explained. staying"I betweensaw Miraher do it once before and Syndra.

I

"Corpsedon't King?want Thenit that amulet is hers!" Syndra said worriedly.

"Amulet?" Mira demanded. "It's here, me?again."

"I'm afraid so." Vordea admitted.

Mira didn't say anything, but the ruins seemed to twist and change around them, until it resembled a library.

"Elf. You willkeep tellmentioning meher howname, youwho cameis across such a strong token of my power." Vordea said, in Mira's voice. "I will not harm you or Vordea, but you will tell me."

"Where's Lady Vordea?"

"Oh you don't get it do you?" Vordea said, releasing Syndra from the grasp of the tentacles. "I'm her, and she's me. Now. How did you find my amulet?"

"Let's sit, like civilized people, Miss Mira.Mira?" Syndra said,asked, walkingas overthey continued to onewalk through the shifting ruin. "You also seem absolutely terrified of the plush chairs, and motioning for Mira to do the same.

Once Vordea and Mira were both seated, Syndra began.

her."As I told Vordea previously, I discovered this ruin entirely by chance. The first time I was here, the front door was missing and it merely looked like a dilapidated castle. How does it keep warping and shifting like this?" Syndra started, gesturing around.

"That isobvious?" theVordea powerasked, ofas 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,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'Vordea answered, running her hand along the wall. "Let's bodystart replied,with smilingthe smugly.first one, Mira has never been alive in this universe. Hence she's a corpse."This

"Pretty lively for a dead body."

"The other part is king, Syndra. Mira is the powerCorpse 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 Demiurgestairs. "The Last Lord of allCarcosa reality!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?"

"ButOf whycourse."

"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 here?was all up to me now."

"What does that mean?" Syndra asked.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 admitted,is the source of all divine powers." Vordea answered, taking the book and tucking it between her expression changing.breasts. "SoLet'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 becausereplaced by a patch of thisgrass, ruin?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."

"Yes.Indeed Iit founddoes. aIn book,Mira's writtenown inwords, elvenwe noplay less,pretend tellingwith ofpowers abeyond wish granting amulet known as the Amulet of the Corpse King.comprehension."

"NotAgain quite.I ask, what is Mira really?"

"She's a reality warper. The Amuletworld 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 Corpsedream Kingof containsMira 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 portionlook ofat mythis power.intriguing little book." Mira in Vordea answered, still smiling.