"No, that does not produce this either, devouring leaves' absence, not this kind of layering, this kind of..." Leviathan was still trying to understand Alex's condition, truly fascinated by it.
"Odysseus."
The voice that filled the darkness was deeper than Alex's and heavier, carrying a resonance that had nothing to do with volume.
It filled the void the way water fills an empty vessel, completely and without effort, reaching every part of the space it occupied as though the space had simply been waiting for it.
"The strongest Hegemon of the Ancient Realm." There was a long pause. "He tried to replace my essence with his own."
"Not devour me. Not erase me. Replace. He wished to transfer the essence of his soul into mine, layering his memories, his personality, his nature, everything that constituted him across centuries of existence, over everything that constituted me. A complete overwriting. Patient and precise and very nearly successful."
A pause.
