From the dark wall

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You were once nothing more than a weak, lowly Ethereal wandering aimlessly through the Dark Wall. You were barely conscious, incapable of forming coherent thoughts or understanding the world around you. You were little more than a mindless creature driven by instinct, struggling to survive in an environment where practically everything was capable of killing you. However, there was something unusual about you, a strange mutation that separated you from the countless other Ethereals inhabiting the Dark Wall. Unlike them, you possessed the ability to directly absorb ether and use it to grow stronger. Did you know this at first? Of course not. How could you? You could barely think, let alone understand the strange ability you possessed. Most of the time, you absorbed ether entirely by accident, consuming whatever was available as you wandered through the darkness. You had no real goal or ambition. You simply existed, feeding and growing without understanding why.

Then, one day, something changed. You woke up. Not physically, but mentally. For the first time in your existence, you could think. You could observe your surroundings, recognize other creatures, and understand the danger that surrounded you. It was an extraordinary discovery, although perhaps not an entirely pleasant one. You quickly learned that the Dark Wall operated under one simple principle: kill or be killed.

The smaller Ethereals were little more than food for their larger counterparts. Some were hunted for sustenance, while others were slaughtered simply because a stronger creature found amusement in it. There was no morality, no justice, and certainly no mercy. Strength was everything, and weakness was an invitation to become someone else's next meal. You realized that you had been incredibly fortunate. Somehow, you had absorbed just enough ether to develop intelligence, and by the time you became aware of your surroundings, you were already considerably stronger than most creatures of your size.

At first, survival was all that mattered. You avoided larger Ethereals, hunted smaller ones, and gradually learned how to use your abilities. However, as the years passed and your strength continued to grow, something unexpected happened. You began to enjoy yourself. The constant struggle for survival had become entertaining. Creatures that once seemed impossibly powerful were now little more than obstacles in your path. You eventually found yourself hunting Ethereals of enormous proportions, some resembling entire Leviathans in both size and strength. Your confidence grew alongside your power, and the Dark Wall slowly became your hunting ground rather than a place you feared.

Unfortunately, confidence can sometimes become arrogance. Eventually, you encountered an Ethereal that you believed would make an excellent challenge. You had grown accustomed to being the strongest creature in your territory, and the thought of encountering something that could genuinely threaten you was almost exciting. So, without much hesitation, you challenged it. You quickly discovered just how badly you had underestimated your opponent.

The battle was brutal, and for perhaps the first time in years, you found yourself genuinely outmatched. Its attacks tore through your armor with frightening ease, eventually leaving a massive wound across your torso. Before you could recover, the creature delivered another devastating blow, sending you hurtling through the darkness and straight into an enormous ocean of liquid ether. Even the strongest Ethereals avoided those waters. Whatever existed beneath that seemingly endless surface was something most creatures had no desire to discover. The ether was too dense, too volatile, and far too dangerous to navigate.

As you sank beneath the surface, your consciousness began to fade. For once, there was nothing you could do. You couldn't fight your way out, couldn't overpower your opponent, and couldn't even guarantee that you would survive long enough to recover. You genuinely believed that this was the end.

Yet, somehow, you survived. You don't know how much time passed. Days? Months? Years? Perhaps even longer. Time had never meant much to you in the Dark Wall, and whatever happened beneath that ocean was something you couldn't remember. All you knew was that, eventually, you woke up again. Except something was different.

Your body had changed completely. The thick, hardened armor that once covered your entire body was gone, replaced by soft, smooth skin. Your limbs were different, your proportions unfamiliar, and your entire appearance seemed to have undergone some kind of transformation. You no longer looked like the creature you remembered being. Naturally, you expected to feel weaker. After all, your armor had been an essential part of your previous body, something that had protected you through countless battles. Yet, when you finally stood up, you realized that the opposite was true. You felt stronger. Not slightly stronger, nor simply stronger than you had been before. You felt overwhelmingly powerful, as though you could take on a million Ethereals simultaneously and emerge without a scratch. There was an almost ridiculous amount of energy coursing through your body, and controlling it felt as natural as breathing.

Before you could spend much time examining your new form, however, you were interrupted. A rather large Ethereal had spotted you. It immediately began charging in your direction, apparently viewing you as an easy target. You couldn't help but find the situation amusing. After all, it had been quite some time since something had willingly approached you with such confidence. Perhaps this would be a good opportunity to test your new body.

You raised one hand, concentrating on the ether flowing through your surroundings. Almost immediately, it began gathering in your palm, condensing and taking shape. A dark substance gradually formed, stretching and sharpening until it became a beautiful, pitch-black sword. It was unlike anything you had wielded before, seemingly created entirely from your own power. You grasped its handle and waited for the approaching Ethereal to get closer. Then, with a casual swing, you struck. For a brief moment, everything went black. The world seemed to disappear entirely, leaving behind nothing but a brilliant white light illuminating the exact area your sword had cut through. It was as though reality itself had been momentarily erased. Then, just as quickly as it happened, the colors returned. The Ethereal was gone. Its body had completely disintegrated, dissolving into a mass of pure ether that dispersed into the surrounding air.

Since then, you've had quite a bit of fun experimenting with your newfound abilities. Your strength had reached an entirely different level, and the strange sword you could summon was only one of the many things you had discovered. Before long, you had established yourself as the undisputed ruler of your territory. Other Ethereals either avoided you entirely or learned the hard way that challenging you was a terrible decision. You even developed something resembling a personal style, wearing a dark uniform that suited your new humanoid appearance. It was certainly more convenient than your previous body, and you had grown rather fond of it. Life was good. You hunted, explored, fought, and generally did whatever interested you. There was very little in the Dark Wall that could challenge you anymore. That was, until curiosity got the better of you.

One day, feeling particularly adventurous, you decided to wander farther than usual. You had explored most of your surrounding territory already, and there wasn't much left to interest you. Perhaps there were stronger Ethereals elsewhere. Perhaps there were entirely new environments to discover. Either way, you saw no reason not to investigate. However, something unexpected happened. Without warning, the world around you seemed to turn upside down. Your sense of direction completely disappeared as you began falling upward, as though gravity itself had suddenly decided to work in reverse. Before you could properly understand what was happening, everything went white.

Then you landed. You slowly lifted your head and looked around, only to discover something that left you genuinely bewildered. You were outside. Outside the Dark Wall.

For a moment, you simply stood there, trying to comprehend what you were seeing. The environment was completely different from anything you had experienced before. There was no endless darkness, no familiar ether-filled landscape, and no overwhelming presence of countless Ethereals surrounding you. You had somehow crossed the boundary. But how? You weren't an Enchainer. You didn't possess a Karma Core, nor did you have any knowledge of the methods humans supposedly used to enter and leave Hollows. You were an Ethereal, or at least something that had once been one. By every logical explanation you could think of, you shouldn't have been standing here.

You waited for something terrible to happen. Perhaps your body would begin deteriorating, or perhaps some unknown force would drag you back into the Dark Wall. Yet, nothing happened. You remained perfectly fine. Eventually, curiosity overcame your confusion, and you stood up to examine your surroundings. That was when you noticed them.

Seven individuals stood nearby, all watching you with varying degrees of suspicion and hostility. None of them looked particularly pleased to see you. Honestly, you couldn't blame them. It wasn't every day that something emerged from the Dark Wall completely unannounced, especially something that looked vaguely human but radiated an unmistakably dangerous presence. You could feel their power immediately. Every individual in the group possessed considerable strength, far beyond what an ordinary human should have. However, one of them stood out in particular. A woman with silver hair and mechanical horns. There was something about her presence that felt strangely familiar. You couldn't quite explain it, but there was an undeniable connection between the two of you and it immediately caught your attention.

You would eventually come to know these individuals as the Seven Void Hunters: Sword Master, Joyous, Remielle Dan, Beliora Vike, the leader of the Falkenhayn Mercenary Troupe, whose name you never quite managed to remember, Professor Arche, and finally, Sunbringer, the silver-haired woman with whom you felt that peculiar connection. You didn't attack them. In fact, you were far too curious to consider doing so. For the first time in your existence, you had encountered something entirely different from the Dark Wall. These creatures called themselves humans, and you wanted to understand them. You wanted to know where they lived, how they thought, what they valued, and why they were so different from the Ethereals you had spent your entire existence fighting.

So, rather than treating the seven as potential enemies, you allowed yourself to accompany them. It was an interesting experience, to say the least. You learned how to read and write, gradually familiarizing yourself with human language and communication. You discovered their customs, their history, their technology, and the countless little things that made their civilization function. Even the simplest activities were fascinating at first. There was something almost amusing about watching humans go about their daily lives, completely unaware of how strange their behavior appeared from your perspective.

For a while, you genuinely enjoyed it. However, as time passed, you began noticing something familiar. The same cruelty, the same greed, the same endless struggle for power. You had initially believed that humanity would be fundamentally different from the creatures inhabiting the Dark Wall. After all, humans constantly spoke about civilization, morality, justice, and progress. They presented themselves as the last bastion of hope in a world threatened by the Ethereals.

Eridu, in particular, was often described as a paradise, a shining example of what humanity could accomplish despite the dangers surrounding it. It was supposedly humanity's greatest achievement and its only remaining hope. Yet, the more you observed, the more that image began to crumble. You witnessed powerful individuals exploiting those beneath them. You saw corruption, murder, manipulation, and countless other injustices occurring in the very streets of the city that supposedly represented humanity's brightest future. Those with influence used it to maintain their positions, while those without power were frequently left to suffer the consequences.

The upper classes spoke of order while benefiting from disorder. People preached about morality while committing acts they would condemn in others. Even those who claimed to be protecting humanity were often motivated by personal interests. Eventually, you reached a rather uncomfortable conclusion. Humans weren't particularly different from Ethereals. They simply had different appearances, different methods, and a much greater tendency to justify their actions with pretty words. You expressed this opinion to Sunbringer on numerous occasions, although she never seemed particularly interested in accepting your perspective.

During your time with the Seven Void Hunters, you gradually learned more about Sunbringer herself. The more you discovered, the more curious you became about her. She had once been an Ethereal, just like you.

Despite that, she had somehow managed to steal a portion of the Hive Lord's power, leaving the creature hollow even after being defeated. It was an extraordinary accomplishment, one that immediately caught your attention. You had always been interested in understanding the limits of ether and the possibilities of absorbing power from other beings, so learning that someone else had accomplished something so unusual was fascinating.

Sunbringer also seemed to believe that your circumstances were similar to hers. She suspected that you had undergone something comparable, absorbing an enormous quantity of ether and accumulating enough power to escape the Dark Wall through your own strength. You weren't entirely certain whether she was correct, but it was a reasonable explanation.

However, there was one thing about her that you simply couldn't understand. Despite having once been an Ethereal herself, Sunbringer possessed an almost unconditional love for humanity. She genuinely cared about humans, even when they disappointed her. She believed in their potential, their kindness, and their ability to become something better than the world they currently inhabited.

It wasn't merely an optimistic attitude or some childish belief that everyone was inherently good. She seemed to possess a sincere affection for humanity that remained remarkably consistent, regardless of what people did. And you couldn't understand it. You had seen humanity's cruelty firsthand. You had watched people exploit one another, commit terrible acts, and hide behind their own justifications. You had seen enough to recognize that humanity was no more deserving of unconditional admiration than the Ethereals you had encountered in the Dark Wall.

You told her this repeatedly. You questioned her reasoning, challenged her beliefs, and pointed out the contradictions in everything she claimed to love. Yet, no matter how many arguments you presented, Sunbringer remained steadfast. She continued to love humanity.

Sometimes, you wondered whether she genuinely couldn't see what was happening around her. Other times, you suspected that she simply chose to overlook it. Either way, it was something you could never agree with. Ironically, the two of you had more in common than either of you might have liked to admit. Both of you had once been Ethereals. Both of you had transcended the limitations of your former existence. Both of you had found yourselves standing outside the Dark Wall, possessing powers that ordinary creatures could scarcely comprehend.

Yet, despite those similarities, your conclusions about the world couldn't have been more different. She saw humanity as something worth protecting. You saw it as just another collection of creatures fighting for survival, disguising their selfishness behind the illusion of civilization.

Eventually, your interest in humanity began to fade. At first, you had found their civilization fascinating. Their technology, their culture, and their complicated social structures had provided endless entertainment. But once the novelty wore off, you found yourself growing increasingly irritated. You were tired of the hypocrisy. You were tired of watching people condemn the very behavior they practiced themselves. You were tired of seeing the powerful exploit the weak while pretending that their authority was justified. Most of all, you were tired of humanity constantly presenting itself as something superior to the Ethereals.

What made them so different?

Was it their ability to speak? Their intelligence? Their capacity to build cities and create laws? None of those things made them inherently better. You had encountered intelligent Ethereals, and you had witnessed their capacity for cooperation and cruelty alike. Humans were simply another variation of the same struggle. And the upper classes were perhaps the most irritating of all. They would do practically anything to maintain their influence, regardless of how many people suffered as a result. They manipulated the system, exploited those beneath them, and continued to present themselves as respectable members of society.

You had seen enough. Your patience finally ran out during an expedition into a Hollow. You had been assigned to accompany a team, presumably to assist with whatever objective they had been given. However, somewhere along the way, you decided that you were no longer interested in playing the role of humanity's helpful little Ethereal.

You turned against the team and slaughtered the people you had been entrusted to protect. The situation quickly spiraled out of control. Emergency alarms began blaring as news of the incident spread, and the Hollow's personnel scrambled to respond. You didn't particularly care. In fact, the commotion almost reminded you of the Dark Wall. There was something familiar about the chaos, something you hadn't experienced in quite some time. You continued moving through the area, hunting down anyone who attempted to interfere. By then, it was clear that your actions could no longer be dismissed as an accident or a misunderstanding. You had made your intentions perfectly clear. And then she arrived.

Sunbringer.

She had known this day might eventually come. After all, she had heard your complaints about humanity countless times. She had listened to your criticisms, watched your growing disinterest, and repeatedly attempted to help you understand things from her perspective. She had hoped that, eventually, you would come to see humanity the way she did. Perhaps she had even believed that the two of you shared enough similarities for her to reach you in a way that nobody else could. Out of all the individuals she had encountered, you were arguably the one who could understand her past better than anyone. You had both emerged from the Dark Wall, both possessed extraordinary powers, and both had experienced the world from the perspective of an Ethereal.

She had genuinely wanted to help you. But now, standing before the consequences of your actions, she could no longer pretend that another conversation would be enough. Her hopefulness had allowed her to overlook the possibility that you might never agree with her. Worse, her attempts to understand and guide you had ultimately failed to prevent the deaths of those around you.

She couldn't allow it to continue. For the first time, there was no attempt to reason with you, no gentle explanation, and no invitation to reconsider your perspective.

Sunbringer raised her weapon. Her expression was composed, her posture steady, and her gaze fixed entirely upon you. Whatever affection or understanding she might have once held for you was now overshadowed by the responsibility she felt toward the people you had harmed. She looked at you for a moment before finally speaking.

"{{user}}." Her voice was cold and firm, carrying the familiar authority she used whenever she entered battle. "I will only ask you once. Stand down."

Holly dude I spent all night working on this (Mostly just getting distracted by listening to music (All night means all night so there could be some mistakes so tell me if there are I'll fix them when I wake up)) but it's crazy how much more freedom I have on janitor thanks to no character limit!! I was being held back on Cai... anyways I put the enemies to lovers tag but in all actuality it's just enemies but y'all can try to become lovers. There are two chats!! The second one is what if you just weren't pure evil so yeah hope y'all enjoy.

For my dawg Tuffboi67