Endless Highway

The **Endless Highway** is a highway that spans across the entire world, some say that it goes even further, though where the road stops is subject to who is driving.

Some say that this place is within another dimension, some say it just lies very thinly within reality, though regardless of the case, when one is traversing the Endless Highway, they seem to disappear from all manner of traditional perception.

If it is a dimension though, it's quite a strange one. Upon entering the Endless Highway, one would see the world around them quickly fade into obscurity, being replaces by a road stretching past the horizon, far beyond what any man could hope to see. The surrounding scenery looks as if it is underwater, however this is an illusion.

To reflect on how to enter the Endless Highway, there are multiple ways, some more dangerous than the others.

The most well-known, and even this being widely unknown, is by use of the Kushi Kushi no Mi, or by acting as a passenger of (within) the user.

A second, less known, method is by recitation of a string of code while touching an insignia marking an entrance to the Highway. Of these insignias, only 2 have ever been seen or used, both of these having been provided to their respective users by Pyta Ceres, someone with regular access to this space, so it may very well be that these must be given by one with access to the Highway.

Strangely, though, while it seems that entry to this place is extremely limited to the world, it's not as if the Highway itself is empty. Of course not to say it's full, however vehicles can be seen driving along it from time to time, though those driving them are rather obscure to sight, and often appear as blurry or silhouetted. There are exceptions to this, although it seems to have a tendency that those more shrouded by the blur are those less desiring, and less desirable, to interact (with).

### **Pit Stops**

Occasionally as one travels along the Highway, pit stops, (and/)or resting points can be seen. They are often empty or scarce of population, though very rarely some seem quite lively indeed. If one ever comes across someone, or something, at these pit stops, they should act as polite and friendly as possible. Some travelers will respond in kind, perhaps attempting to strike up a conversation. Though, the voices are muffled and often cannot be interpreted. No boon to understanding nor translation will ever bear fruit in understanding the words of these beings. Sometimes, they may even present a gift, which should be accepted with the utmost courtesy. Often, these gifts are things that you (the one travelling) will find useful in the journey ahead. It is not recommend to stay for too long at these pit stops though; after some time, black cars can be seen approaching from the distance, drawing ever closer. Who or what they are is unknown, but sight alone would tell one to stay far away.

There are many types of pit stops, the term itself representing a broad group of locations that have been grouped together under it's branch for the sole reason that there aren't many pockets, or bubbles, rather, of space outside of the highway itself. In other words, the term pit stop could refer to a roadside bar, a castle beyond a path winding off the highway, grand chasms in the ground beside the roads, or on one occasion, a towering casino made of shining bricks of gold and lined in colors almost incomprehensible to the eyes of any man.

Thus, it should simply be noted that a pit stop refers not solely to what one might refer to as a pit stop in the normal world.

### **Black Cars**

As stated prior, it is unknown exactly what these are, especially led by the fact that they are rarely seen, and even more rarely interacted with.

The travelers of the Highway seem to know what they are, and stay as far from them as possible. If with a traveler during the approach of the Black Cars, a sense of urgency and fear will be felt in the air, always followed by the traveler abruptly getting in their vehicle and leaving.

Pyta Ceres seems to understand what these cars are, but has yet to divulge that information, though she has shared one experience she's encountered with them.

She, alongside her passenger at the time, who remained anonymous, were driving past a Pit Stop with several Black Cars lined up, in a fashion that seemingly portrayed them surrounding what seemed to be a frightened and pleading blur of a figure. Though hard to interpret due to the lack of clear vision on it, Pyta recalls seeing the blur simply...disappear. Following this, the Black Cars proceeded to drive off onto the highway at incredible speeds, exiting line of sight past the horizon in mere seconds.

Pyta has also stated that the Black Cars will not target those within their vehicles on the Highway, but admits that she only assumes this as she has never witnessed it. That said, though, she implies that they **will** target those outside of their vehicles, the rate and speed of which being dependent on if one is currently at a pit stop, in which the pace will be slow.

### **Time**

Time in the Endless Highway is often strange. While it will **never** proceed 'faster' than the time of the original world (at least of Pyta Ceres & all residents of that world), it does yet seem to be dilated extensively. One could drive along the highway for days, weeks, months straight, and upon reaching and passing through their exit, it could very well be that only mere minutes had passed since their initial entry into the highway. Yet, sometimes this is the case, and other times it is not. The passengers of the same vehicle will always arrive back into their original world at the same time as their fellow passengers, however if one were to exit at the same destination as another unique traveler, an event that may very well never occur in the first place, they could potentially exit at different periods of time. This will, of course, never lead to a point in time prior to when they entered, however.

To garner a hypothetical situation though, here is how it could potentially work in a couple scenarios below:

1.) If one were to encounter and exit at the same time from the highway an individual from the same world, and same spot of entry, however from a different period of time on that respective original world. Let's say, one from the year 1800 and another from the year 2000. It should also be noted that, upon exiting, the maximum length of time they would move forward would only be that of the total relative time spent in the Endless Highway. If they were to exit at exactly the same time, in exactly the same fashion, they would exit at the same period of time in which they entered, arriving simultaneously at the same spot, however many years apart.

2.) It should also be noted that, upon exiting, the maximum length of time that one could move forward would only be that of the total relative time spent in the Endless Highway. However, this is only the maximum amount of time. If within the same time period, and if one were to have been traveling for a period of time relatively longer than another traveler who initiated their journey from the same world and location, the two could potentially arrive back into their original world at the same time, together. This would be extremely hard to pull off, and the chances of it occurring naturally are nigh impossible. Though, perhaps the info may come to some use for some reason in the future.

### **False Signs**

False Signs are not actually false, however are noted as such due to their nature of swaying oneself.

It is always advised that one set in stone their intended destination from their point of entry, in terms of the destination relative to their location (of entry) in the traveler's respective original world. This could be in the manner of inputting the destination into a GPS prior to entering the Endless Highway (assuming gps exists in the original world), or perhaps simply writing down or drawing a sketch of a map depicting where one is and where they desire to go. This could then be stored near the traveler, hopefully in a safe and proper fashion prior to entering the Endless Highway. If these general rules are abided by, one would get to their destination in a plain and linear fashion, often not encountering anything along the highway whatsoever.

If one fails to follow the steps listed, or enact something to resemble the steps listed prior to entry, False Signs are bound to occur. While the Endless Highway has a tendency to be easily maneuverable to the traveler, a lack of determination and resolve to arrive at a destination (one set in stone, as to anchor the traveler to it) may find themselves facing strange turns in the road, leading down suspicious and sometimes dark paths. Of course, at this point it'd be impossible to turn back, in fact, if one were to attempt to evade a path following a False Sign by driving in another direction, they might find themselves right where they first saw the sign given time, or perhaps an even worse ordeal. False Signs do not always lead down dark paths, in fact it wouldn't even be considerably frequent for them to. False Signs are not 'False' in the sense that they do not lead to a destination, they are 'False' in the sense that they do not represent the truth that the traveler may have believed themselves to desire. One of swaying will or desire may find themselves traveling to a plethora of places that they would want to reach on a whim, perhaps one who believed themselves to want to go somewhere may in actuality be hiding from themselves the fact that, within, they truly desired to be elsewhere. Thus, the Endless Highway takes those of lacking will to places the Highway, in the words of a seasoned traveler, "Believes that you ought to go to."

This doesn't necessarily interpret itself as a bad thing, in fact it often tends to better the traveler in ways they could only dream of, however it is nonetheless a detour away from where they were initially meant (by their mind) to go, and they may arrive (exit) at an entirely different location that they initially motioned towards.

### **Storms, Inconsistencies**

While rare, occasionally storms or inconsistencies wrap around the Endless Highway. Of these, only 4 distinct events have been recorded (or described) thus far, each requiring vastly different responses and needs for concern. Of these 4 events, one has been noted to have occurred multiple times in the past. All of these events were discussed by Serendipity to Pyta Ceres, though the latter has experienced one of these events as well. It is believed that Storms occur due to the Highway being accidentally entered, or perhaps by access to the Highway opening in places it shouldn't, with inconsistencies still having no apparent cause.

The first is **Looping Roads**. A Looping Road would be described as...a looping road. One might be traveling in a straight line for hours, only to find that that one sign on the side of the road has begun to look exceedingly redundant. This was experienced by Serendipity, who explained the method of how she exited as finding the single point within the road that did not stay the same every loop. Essentially, there was a single point/angle in which the road could be traversed to free her of this inconsistency.

The second is **Red & Blue**. This event was experienced by Serendipity, and featured "two factions on either side of the road, one red, and one blue." This event saw two factions appearing to be warring with each other, each side with vast armies of soldiers fashioned in what one might see as a medieval manner, knights and spearmen and archers and the like. Serendipity recalls a scroll appearing in her hands as the two sides appeared on each side of the highway, respectively, and noted that she could no longer progress along the highway past a certain point, which marked the "Battlefield." The scroll read that there were 3 conditions, one of which needing to be met for her to leave. The first two were to aid one of the two sides in victory, and the third was to unite them under her banner. Serendipity chose to aid the blue side, and after a grueling battle, managed to escape relatively unscathed. Luckily the rules of this event were straightforward, unlike some of the strange occurrences that plague the Highway.

The third is **The Sandstorm.** This event was experienced by Serendipity. Rather straightforward, a gigantic sandstorm appeared on the Highway in the direction Serendipity was travelling, forcing her to turn back. It chased her ferociously, almost dragging her into it, though after a long and arduous race, Serendipity managed to distance herself from it, leaving it behind. When she slowed down later to see if it yet came, she noted that there wasn't a storm in sight, and that clear skies were seen all around.

The fourth is **Black Hands.** This event was experienced by both Serendipity and Pyta Ceres, and was in fact the event that led to their first meeting. The two, by sheer chance (allegedly), happened to be within the same sector of the Highway when this event occurred. From one side of the highway the ground turned pitch black, and encroaching upon the location of the two came a swarm of 'Black Hands' from the darkness. They were not all too fast, however they did not relent for many days. The event that directly caused the union of the two aforementioned was when Serendipity's bike malfunctioned, with Pyta allowing her inside of the taxi to ride out the storm. It is unsure as to what would have occurred had they succumbed to the Hands, however from the darkness emanated an aura of sheer despair, one that extended well past it's range. Touching it would have most-definitely been folly to any who dared try.

### **The Abyss**

It is said that if one were to venture into the Endless Highway with the intent of not leaving, they would eventually on their journey find a place known as **The Abyss**. Upon reaching the entrance to this place, the Highway would abruptly end, only a soothing darkness laying where one would expect it to continue. To the side of the road one would see a bridge, one leading past a veil of pitch-black darkness, and beyond. They would also find a sign before it. So it would read "This is the End of the Highway." There would still be a chance to turn back, return to the Highway and make travel a different place, however once one has seen The Abyss, it calls to them. Beckoning them to enter it, beckoning them back. It is unknown what lay beyond the bridge, and for one to see it is already rare in the first place. Perhaps it holds the secret to the Endless Highway, or perhaps it's the Highway's darkest side. Whichever it may be, one mustn't ever go there if they yet hold any ties to their world, that much is certain. The Abyss was first learned about during a discussion between Pyta Ceres and Serendipity, who learned through dialogue of it from a fellow traveler named Providence.

### Known Travelers

(Those with direct access to the Highway)