Hollow

**"Something feels very wrong..."**

This article may contain **violent or triggering content.** Read at your own risk!

## First Appearances

### Characters

* Anna Croi
* Zielo
* Unnamed Sahog, Egypt echidnas
* Jonathan Hedgehog (pictured)
* Fox

**Hollow** is a side story in *The Murder of Me.* It reveals Anna Croi's deal with god, how she became a Soulless, and her life as one before encounter Sons of Heephis in Issue 11: Ambush. The story as well as the comic dub is told from a first person perspective from Anna herself.

The story is told in two separate parts, however only one voice acted and illustrated part is available.

## Hollow part 1

An eternity ago, I was met with a rebellious member of the family. I believe they were responding to my challenges, as I no longer had believed in the tall structures they had worshipped. They had tried trapping me inside the ground, hoping my chatter will slow. That I will rot away and die.

For they could not possibly understand.

When I had first heard HIS voice, it was but a small whisper. A trick of the mind, I had believed. I had dismissed it foolishly at first, believing it to be emotional impulses mixed with age. But it continuously persisted, growing more beautiful. The whispers were not coherent, as the feeling was more powerful than mere mortal speech.

It was clear, and full of promise.

I would spend many nights without rest speaking to the small voices, embracing the unique sensitivity. The intention was clear—if I were to serve, I would be gifted wholeness. Absolutely completeness. To escape my current boring reality, I eagerly accepted this offer.

The mere second I had welcomed the offer, everything screamed. The world had turned. Everything was nothing and everything was color without color, and pain so grand it was like being torn apart and set on fire. Memories are washed, identity is confused. The hidden emotions and thoughts become my dominant, my everything.

And then came the overwhelming sense of HIM. As if my insides were cleaned away of all things imperfect and filled with something so much more. Like filling a cup with purified water, overflowing and overwhelming. It was SO MUCH…

When it was done, I had awakened to new senses. I could see through HIS eyes, and now understood more than I ever could have as a meekly mortal. I distinctly remember, though, a small voice. One that was NOT his. It was screaming, confused and small seeds of doubt. His presence, however, had silenced the small voice over time.

His whispers were no longer present, and instead the overcoming need of fulfillment entered my ever need and desire. The intention was clearer than before—he wanted to spread his perfection. To increase and cleanse.

To awaken God.

I had spent much time following his bidding. Gifting him with sacrifices. I forget the faces of those I had been with before my cleansing. Perhaps I had given them to him, I am not sure. I do not believe I possess the ability to care.

I embraced the greatness that is him. For every sacrifice that was given, master would be that much more awake and his power that much stronger. And then, the time had come.

The time when God walked the universe.

When I had finished the final sacrifices, the existence held its breath for his majesty. The planet’s weather parted for him. The air itself turned cold. Energy was everywhere, threatening to consume.

And then, all was silent.

There he was.

The god was grander than I had imagined. For the form he has chosen was tall, 6’5 with quills decorating his already enormous figure. The deity had worn no restrictions such as clothing, and bare naked at his alter. His hands and feet (which closely resembled that of a human mortal) were adorned with longer nails. Gracious, large chest hair moved on its own, encircling his tan muzzle.

And then, he opened his eyes.

Cyan, bright light orbs focusing on nothing. The eyes themselves had glowed more brightly than my own, the cyan eyes interrupted by a slim snake-like pupil. The pupil itself was almost lost in the bright beauty his eyes. It seemed that the eyes themselves sparkled on its own. It was like looking to a moving, bright star.

I was overcome with joy. My savior, my everything, had finally risen. His thoughts were closed from me now, and it only caused me to be more anxious in his presence. Without his presence inside of me, I felt empty. I needed God to help me feel whole and complete.

And then, I made a terrible mistake.

Instead of staying down on my knees, I had run to embrace God. He did not seem to know I was even in the room, for the moment I touched him…

*…. Darkness. Empty. Vomit-inducing. Scattered. Shattered. So much. It was too much, but it was not enough. It was not enough. Everything needed to be fixed, but it was not enough. Consume. Absorb. Deplete. Devour. Dominate. Be one. All needs to be one. Needs to be nothing. Boredom. Needs to be--*

And then, before I realized, I was on the ground. I was shaking. It was so much—I felt like I would dissipate into non-existence at any moment. Turning into particles, become the nothing that is the vacuum of space. A voice rings.

“Do not TOUCH your God.”

It was booming, and every word caused more and more pain. I screamed, begging for mercy. For him, his mere slight annoyance was enough for destroy me. I could feel it. I could feel everything of me being torn apart all over again. I looked at my hand once my vision started clearing.

My symbol had changed—a mark that crawled on my arm. It burned like a thousand stars, immeasurable amounts of pain and energy channeled through this symbol. It was just at this moment I had realized the point of this symbol.

This was to brand me—brand what is his.

God had disappeared long after I realized this. Now that God was active, I could feel him everywhere and nowhere. He had started devouring the limitless dimensions. His overwhelming empty boredom threaten to consume me once more.

But nothing had come close to the emptiness that had grown much worse the moment I dared make contact with God’s skin. As punishment, God had abandoned me.

Abandoned…and empty.

## Hollow part 2: Curiosity

Time passed and passed. Centuries are lost to me, as I lay onto the stone cold ground and stare up at the ceiling.

..

I was made into Master’s possession a long time ago. A time when he was sleeping, and his power did not make the soulless measly explode like it does now. Instead, I was made in a time where his followers were allured slowly. It was quiet, and calm.

It was when his power were tamer.

Sometimes, when I stare upon the walls, questions will appear within my mind. Things that the dead voice within me will bring up when it is the most quiet within the temple.

For the moment God had abandoned me, I began to stay within the corner confines of my very limited space.

And thought to the past.

Of the connective things my God links to me unwillingly. Things that I can not explain. Indescribable, terrifying things.

The infinity of his raw power would brush up against my very soul, making it rot further and my sanity lessen. He was so large compared to me. I am only an ant to his presence. As his mind would bounce through me...

Images that would sometimes leak would scar me farther than any knife could leave.

Things of the past.

His

Past.

…

Why was God asleep in the first place? Did something put him to sleep? The mere thought that anything could overpower something like God caused me to erupt in laughter. No no, that could not be it..

…

Was his sleeping just a game as well?

God fell asleep immediately after the Fall. Why?

Was it only a little game with existence?

A small, singular minor thing to pass the time before his final, grand game with Heephis’s little accidents.

…

I wonder if they will know the truth.

Do they know..

...What really happened?

What caused the Fall?

I doubt the children would know. They were made by Heephis. A God that wasn’t even responsible with creating life in the first place! He was so sloppy all the time.

I silently thanked God that he murdered Heephis  and Celios.

Who knows what life would be like if those terrible, disgusting beings were still alive.

…

Sometimes, God would make use for me unwillingly. I don’t know if he realized it.

But his energy-- the indescribable energy possesses me.

God is a master of all, Control included. He has no leakage of his emotions.

…

Most of the time.

But sometimes, I feel my body moves on its own. And when it does, it adds to the walls.

Things that are

Past.

Present.

And future.

The dead voice within me questions how this energy-- how God-- knows so much already. Does he know the outcome of his own games?

Does he already know how this story will end?

…

Before I know it, there are new visuals on my wall. New energies that were transferred to my images. I lay back down on the ground, and stare.

…

I wish I was as lucky as Bloodthroats.

They are so much stronger and useful to God. And so rare...

And I am only just…

..me.

…

...

There were footsteps.

For the first time in centuries, there was sound outside of the my breathing. I waited, as I heard voices.

“It’s nothing important. Let’s just get this over with!”

I felt the energy, as it came closer.

“Whoah! I’m getting the weirdest sense of Deja Vu right now!” One, young voice chirped. I can hear drips as they walked closer. Their voices continued, until the blue one touched one of my drawings.

He reeled back, suddenly screaming of Heephis’s name.

I was certain then, as I can finally assess their energies. It was yellow, like the bright sun.

The children had arrived.

I felt a tinge of God’s presence. Suddenly, for the first time in a thousand years, his beautiful voice drifted through me. It was clear, and filled with eerie precision.

It was time to play a game with God.