Welt felt nothing, saw nothing, heard nothing. Strangest of all, he could smell nothing. The world was removed from his body. Maybe he was removed from his body, too?
Strange.
He had probably died. It would make sense: he had lost too much blood, and eating a monster's eye wasn't the smartest choice, even for someone with minutes left to live.
Welt was surprised to be thinking: He'd always assumed, as everyone does, that death was the end of all things, no thoughts, no seeing his ancestors or something like that.
Just nothing.
'Well, I guess we're pretty close to nothing.'
He could still think, though. So, maybe it wasn't nothing?
"Yes, well, you're right. This isn't nothing."
A voice rang through the empty world. Sound had reached Welt's ears, and with it came a small bang.
Again it came, and again. Soft, skin on skin.
Applause?
It was slow, almost sarcastic. With each clap, the world was revealed to Welt. It came together piece by piece, each star that, one by one, shone around him gave a clearer picture of the sky he was in.
The world was a mess of dark colours, wrapping around their neighbours in swirls and tendrils that intertwined like whispy knots. The applause continued, slow claps reverberating in space again and again. Long after Welt had lost count, and all the stars in the sky had been brought forth, the world beneath his feet began to take shape.
Underneath him, rocks painted with snow appeared one after another, as what seemed like a mountain rose around him. So did the hoirzon. Soon, or maybe an eternity later, an entire landscape was brought into being.
Individual flakes of snow were summoned, each bursting into the scene and gently falling towards the ground. Welt began to feel them hit his skin. Once the sky had been dotted with each flake, the wind was added. The wind was subtle, quiet, as if hardly there. Yet, the gentle noise drowned out the applause completely, as if it had never been there at all.
Eventually, Welt regained his sense of smell, the strong mossy scent of the moon came to him like a flood and, up above, the pale dot hung far closer than he'd ever seen it.
"She's lovely, right?"
By his side, a voice. Someone was there, but Welt couldn't see their form - he could only gague it by the way the snowflakes fell and disappeared around it, creating a snowless void in the surroundings.
They seemed to be a human of slender build, reaching tall in height, taller than Drun, and seemed male judging by the shape of the body. Welt couldn't be sure, however.
"Don't go ogling my love too much. Or I'll have to smack you."
"...The moon?"
"Who else, besides us, is present, young Truthful? Of course I mean her!"
Welt kept his gaze towards the figure, or at least the figure-shaped hole in the snowfall.
"Um... sorry?"
"Oh don't worry, she is beautiful, I don't blame you for stealing a glance, especially as close as we are."
The void spoke in short phrases with a quick pace. Each phrase hung in Welt's head as if echoing, and they touched deep parts of his mind, subconscious emotions and thoughts bubbled up with their touch.
The world contorted in on itself as the voice came. The colours in the sky swirled agressively, and Welt's surroundings pulled back from his vision. Everything became less... reasonable.
"I'll keep it brief, since my existence will tear this dream down soon. But, well, good job fighting to the end there."
"...Thank you?"
"You seem to be heading East, right? For your guardian?"
"My father."
"Sure, sure. Well, I won't press that subject. You did almost die there, in my Fog just now. Swallowing the eye of my beloved's starlet was not a good choice on paper. But, well, I was impressed enough with your struggles to bring you here for a while."
"And this place... is where?"
"A projection. Do you know what that means? No, I guess not. It's a... painting, would be the closest to your technological understanding. A painting in your head of a real place. A place far North from The Harvestlands, further than even the Bulwark that you dream of going to someday."
"I don't dream of that."
"...Yes, you do. You cannot hide dreams from me, Truthful. Dreams of heroism are common, if not a little one-note. It's cute, really. Anyways, your journey East is an interesting struggle. Your... 'father', why do you struggle to find him? Even at the beginning of your journey, you've brushed with my sister's embrace more than once. Why do you want to find him?"
Welt stood silent for a long time. He thought back on everything he'd dreamt about in the Fog, and what exactly it evoked in him.
Why was he so set on finding Drun? To make sure he's okay? Unlikely, Drun was stronger and tougher than anyone Welt had ever met, and his safety was in his own hands.
Then, did Welt just miss him? Obviously he did, but the emotions weren't intense enough to propel him forward.
Welt still felt like he had to find the man, though. To do something...
...Something he'd tried to do when he'd first been saved.
Welt looked at the void in the snow, and gave his answer firmly.
The void paused, and Welt could almost sense the surprised look on the invisible person's face. Then, he roared with laughter. For a while, Welt sunk slightly into himself, with an embarassed look on his face.
"Oh, don't get embarassed now, Truthful, you said it with so much resolve! I'm surprised you'd never done it already, honestly. And now you're going to cross the world just for the chance?"
The voice's laughter died down, and he calmed a little.
"Okay, okay, that's good. I can work with that."
Welt's arm twisted unnaturally, bones and muscles pulling and convulsing in a spiral.
He screamed from the enormous and sudden pain. Then, he saw the black that had painted his arm fading, or more accurately retreating.
He'd forgotten about the state of his arm from the whole ordeal - a different colour was the least of his concerns when being subjected to mind attacks and bleeding to death.
But, now the blackness that had covered his left arm receeded inwards - forming a straight line that ran from his tricep to the tip of his middle finger.
The twisting pain stopped, and Welt's arm returned to normal.
"What did you-"
Welt's question was interrupted as he felt his throat pulling up, taking something out of it.
"Sorry about the pain, but it would've hurt much more if you were awake, Truthful."
The black eye of the bird, the afforementioned starlet, fell from Welt's mouth covered in a pool of blood and vomit. The invisible man picked it up and did... something... to it. Welt had no idea what had happened, but afterwards, the eye was replaced with a helmet.
The helmet was a dark, glossy metal, with a single black feather protruding out of its top. It had a horizontal slit through its front for vision, and the front structure ended about halfway down where most helmets would - coming to about where Welt thought his mouth would be.
A veil of darkness danced under the metal, whispy and elusive but also impenetrable, shrouding the interior and uncovered bottom of the helm in black. The back of the helmet had a protrusion made of layers of the dark metal, interlocking and falling down into a point. Its purpose seemed to be protecting the neck of whoever wore it.
"This is yours, Truthful. It will protect you from all manner of blows to the head, and also protect your face from prying eyes, should you need to keep some anonymity."
The insivible man tossed the helmet to Welt, who studied it and tried wearing it. He'd been apprehensive of the use of such a helmet due to the visor, restricted vision wasn't great for his preferred line of work. But, to Welt's surprise, he could see perfectly fine through it. A little bit of his vision on the sides was cut but that was miniscule given the protection such a helmet could grant.
Strangely enough, having held the thing, Welt also learned its name. The phrase "Helm of The North" sank into his mind as if it had always been there.
"Oh, also, my love's bird will probably leave you alone if you wear it, so that might help you."
The invisible man put his hand on Welt's shoulder.
"When you fulfill that dream of yours, I'll be back."
Then, the world pulled away from Welt completely. Black enveloped him immediately, and he opened his eyes to a clear, Fogless sky.