Anomaly

(POV - Laura Cavendish)

Lost in her thoughts, Laura took a few moments to notice the small tugs on her white lab coat. Blinking softly before turning her head, she found herself met by the unblinking gaze of the small anomaly. With her head tilted slightly, Laura felt overcome by confusion. That behavior was unusual—so rare she could count on one hand the times the small anomaly had acted that way.

Surprisingly, the number of times this had happened didn’t even reach five. Of course, when they first met, something similar had occurred. However, reflecting on that moment, it didn’t seem like the anomaly had wanted anything specific from Laura. She simply appeared to want to follow her.

Still puzzled by the sudden behavior of the little anomaly, Laura hesitated for a moment before gently placing her hand on its head, softly stroking it. Then, she crouched to its eye level and asked: "What is it? Are you trying to tell me something?"

Of course, Laura didn’t expect an answer when she asked the question, but she simply couldn’t ignore the curious look the anomaly was giving her. Besides, as always, Laura found the way it stared at her adorable. That expression was a true visual relief, almost a small refuge amidst the recent wave of chaos and madness she had been forced to endure.

Laura couldn’t say situations like this were common in her daily life—or that she’d want to experience them more often. After all, she was a scientist, not a fighter. While it was rare for scientists to head into the field for on-site analysis, those moments did happen. Still, Laura was absolutely certain that most of the time, those occasions were much more peaceful.

She was sure those situations rarely included enigmatic symbols in caves or the emergence of anomalies capable of destabilizing the world as she knew it simply by existing. Sometimes, she seriously wondered if luck was truly on her side.

Lost in thought, Laura only returned to reality when she heard a noise beside her. She turned and found the anomaly staring at her, cheeks puffed up in clear protest. Laura couldn’t help but find the sight incredibly cute, almost making her want to hug the anomaly and bask in its adorable presence. However, to the anomaly’s fortune—or perhaps Laura’s misfortune—she knew full well the creature didn’t appreciate such close contact.

Laura grew even more confused when the anomaly suddenly turned and pointed in a direction. Perplexed, she followed the creature's gesture and realized it was pointing toward the cave entrance, now entirely blocked by the collapse of rocks. A chill ran down Laura’s spine as she imagined that, if not for the anomaly’s intervention, she might at that very moment be buried under dozens of those rocks.

(Uh... dying like that would definitely be a terribly painful experience, wouldn’t it?) Laura thought as her body trembled and her eyes squeezed shut.

For a moment, lost in her thoughts, Laura didn’t notice that the small anomaly had disappeared. Confused, she quickly scanned the area with her eyes, letting out a sigh of relief when she spotted it near the cave entrance. The small anomaly seemed curious about something, moving lightly back and forth and touching the large rocks that blocked the exit.

However, Laura's relief soon turned into confusion. She wondered why the small anomaly suddenly showed such interest in the rocks. No matter how hard she tried, Laura couldn't find a plausible reason for such behavior. Of course, there was the possibility that the anomaly's interest wasn't directed at the rocks themselves but at something else she had yet to notice.

(Is there something under the rocks?) With this thought, Laura approached cautiously, positioning herself behind the anomaly and watching it closely.@@novelbin@@

Suddenly, the anomaly raised one of its arms, causing Laura to raise an eyebrow in confusion. However, she wasn’t prepared for what happened next. The anomaly grabbed one of the rocks blocking the cave entrance and, with a surprising movement, crushed it as if it were paper.

Laura was stunned. She didn’t know what shocked her more: the fact that the anomaly was so focused on something she couldn’t comprehend, or the fact that a creature that looked like a ten-year-old girl could crush huge rocks with the ease of crumpling paper.

The strangely surreal scene made a thought cross Laura’s mind for an instant: (This will probably be an image etched into my memory for a long time)

The anomaly’s strange actions continued for a while, and soon Arthur and Victor also noticed the unusual behavior. Like Laura, they waited, watching in silence. For Laura, it was hard to believe the anomaly was doing this for fun or out of boredom. Normally, it acted indifferent to everything around it. Clearly, something had captured its attention, and Laura felt there was more to this behavior than met the eye.

Oddly, as he watched, Victor got the impression he heard something. Of course, he could have just been imagining it—this wouldn’t be the first time voices popped into his head from stress, and it probably wouldn’t be the last. However, he couldn’t dismiss the possibility of something real when the sound persisted. From what he could tell, it seemed to come from the cave entrance.

Victor commented with a skeptical and confused look, trying to pinpoint the sounds: “I think... I think I hear noises coming from the cave entrance” His words immediately caught Laura and Arthur’s attention.

Laura looked puzzled by Victor’s comment and tried to focus her hearing, but, as expected, she couldn’t hear anything. The only sound she picked up was the wind, which had inexplicably returned. Of course, she didn’t dismiss Victor’s words; his hearing was undoubtedly far sharper than hers.

Fortunately, it didn’t take long for everyone’s doubts to be resolved. The anomaly, crushing yet another rock with its incredible strength, finally opened a small hole in the cave entrance, which had been completely blocked by the rocks.

With that, the sounds from inside grew louder, soon becoming clear: cries for help. Realizing this, Laura, Victor, and Arthur quickly exchanged glances before rushing toward the anomaly.

Amidst their coughing, Laura, Arthur, and Victor heard faint voices coming from the cave entrance: "Cough, cough... Help, please! Somebody, help us! We have children and injured women with us! We can barely breathe! Cough, cough!"

Even after hearing those words, Laura felt there wasn’t much she could do. After all, she was just a human, and at least dozens of rocks blocked the cave’s exit, preventing those trapped inside from escaping.

Laura tried to think of an alternative, but all her ideas required time — something these people clearly didn’t have at that moment. However, her thoughts were interrupted when black smoke began to emanate from the small anomaly’s body.

Laura blinked in surprise. This wasn’t the first time something like this had happened. In the next instant, a being resembling the small anomaly but entirely dark and surrounded by a terrifying aura emerged from it. The being scanned the surroundings, briefly pausing its gaze on Laura before turning toward the cave’s entrance.

The next moment, pieces of shadow detached from the back of the being made entirely of smoldering darkness, moving as if they were alive. They floated slowly toward the cave’s entrance and, with precise movement, attached themselves to the rocks blocking the passage. Almost simultaneously, Laura’s eyes widened in surprise as she observed the unfolding situation.

The reason was simple: the shadow fragments that had detached from the smoky being emitted by the small anomaly suddenly began devouring the rocks blocking the entrance. At least, that’s what it seemed at first glance. However, Laura imagined a different scenario. To her, rather than being consumed, the engulfed rocks appeared to be merging, becoming part of the smoldering spheres of shadow.

Faced with this peculiar sight, Laura shifted her gaze between the small anomaly and the smoky being that had clearly originated from it. She had no idea how many other anomalous powers the small anomaly might be hiding. In truth, Laura didn’t even fully understand the abilities she was already aware of — and that alone was quite unsettling.

***

(POV - ???)

"Light... so much brightness... imagine... vision... never before..." murmured the being, its eyes fixed on the night sky, reflecting a mix of curiosity and surprise.

The being, in all its existence, had never imagined that a world as radiant as the one it now observed could exist. The sky wasn’t made of darkness, the ground wasn’t an endless void, and the air didn’t carry the scent of death. Wherever it looked, there was something new, something unique, something it had never seen or experienced before.

But that wasn’t the best part. The being could feel life — different types and forms, but life nonetheless. Something inside it buzzed with joy, an unprecedented sensation, something it had never experienced before. Even so, that wasn’t the true essence of its happiness.

The being had already explored countless dimensions and traversed the most diverse environments. It was as ancient as the very concept of time, existing even before it was created. Although it had learned about this place through "Her" words, it never imagined it could be so beautiful, nor that something like this could truly exist.

Even so, standing before such a dazzling reality, the being could hardly believe what it was seeing. Although everything around it was new, it was something the being had somehow known could exist because “She” had said it did. It just didn’t know where. But there was one detail, one particular factor, that genuinely brought happiness to its heart.

“White... here... fun...” the being murmured in a broken, drawn-out voice that still carried a hint of feminine innocence.

At the same time, an innocent smile spread across the being's face, and their eyes shimmered with a soft purplish hue. The being swung their feet back and forth, gently nodding their head, as if fully reflecting their growing happiness.

The being’s hair, now visible with its hood pulled back, shimmered in a fluorescent purple hue, like thousands of fireflies gathered in one place. Its strands danced with the wind as its eyes observed the world around it with attentiveness and curiosity. Yet, a persistent question swirled in its mind, unsettling it.

“White... I recognize... no... strange... why?” the being murmured, a contemplative look etched on its face as its eyes got lost in the radiant sky, illuminated by countless vibrant hues.

For a moment, the being blinked slowly, then touched its throat lightly with one hand, shaking its head softly from side to side. In a low, hesitant voice, it murmured: “Language... hard... still... white... know... seems... language... learn... fast... necessary...”

This wasn’t the only language the being knew — in fact, there was no language it didn’t know or couldn’t learn. A brief period was all it needed to fully master the language of the dimension it was in. Only then would it speak.

A faint smile appeared at the corner of its lips; for the first time in thousands of years, the being felt something close to happiness. Finally, something in the world seemed fun again.

Although, at first, the being had come to this dimension drawn by energy similar to its own, the reason it stayed, at least for a while, turned out to be entirely different. However, that didn’t bother it. It had been so long since the being felt so alive — an irony it found amusing, considering its own existence symbolized the exact opposite.

The dead need a passage; otherwise, they accumulate and give rise to distorted beings. Souls are nothing more than the true essence of beings, regardless of their form, power, or dimension — all souls are equal.

The being had been created with a clear purpose: to collect these souls to prevent their accumulation. Of course, at first, the being resented having been given such a tedious task by “Her” But over time, it accepted its role.

After all, the being loved “Her” — the one who gave it life and consciousness, who pulled it from the darkness and enveloped it with lights that shone around it, making even the darkness within it gleam.

Despite its essence being pure darkness, “She” also gave it warmth, something the being rarely felt. For a moment, it smiled genuinely, happily — something it hadn’t done in a long time in its own dimension, a cold, dark, and desolate place.