Lancelot stood before Gareth, his form flickering like a flame in the wind. The blood-red sand of Gareth's mental plane stretched endlessly around them, but it was beginning to shift, to change, to respond to the presence of the transformed knight.
He spoke.
"When you wake up," Lancelot said, his voice calm and steady, "your entire body will be fully healed. Back to normal."
He paused, letting the words sink in.
"Not just that." He raised his hand, and a faint pulse of darkness emanated from his palm. "Using the power of malice, you will gain a mental boost. On a normal occasion, it would go far. But seeing the situation now..."
His hand dropped.
"It won't even go far. It would make a clear and great difference for your battles."
He met Gareth's eyes.
"In order to maintain that boost, you have to use me as something similar to a conductor." His voice hardened. "If my body is not near yours, you won't be able to use that power."
He paused.
"And also..." His voice dropped. "...you won't be able to communicate with that god."
Gareth's brow furrowed, but he said nothing.
Lancelot continued.
"It seems I can't stay in your mental realm for long enough. My being here will have some effects." He paused. "They might be negative."
He smiled a thin, tired expression.
"But I believe that two negatives can cause something good to happen."
He raised his hand.
"Now go."
Gareth's mental world slowly turned to dust.
The blood-red sand that stretched to every horizon began to crumble, to fade, to disintegrate. The sky colorless and still cracked like glass, pieces falling into the void below. The throne that had once held him was gone, scattered across the ground like a memory that had finally been released.
Everything around him was disintegrated.
Turning into pitch-black sand.
Lancelot's form began to fade his edges blurring, his presence diminishing, his essence scattering across the crumbling world. He looked at Gareth one last time, his eyes holding something that might have been hope.
Then he disintegrated along with the mental world.
His form turned to ash scattering across the void, mixing with the darkness, becoming one with the nothing.
Gareth's mental world turned to ash.
And he was alone.
in the space between the healing and the awakening, between the conductor's promise and the void that waited.
Gareth's mental plane was gone.
All that remained was ash.
And the darkness waited.