Sands Of Forgotten Times

by Azoth_G_Soph

Summary:

A young girl finds herself lost and with no memories of who she was, follow her adventure as she travels the world for answers about her past.

Notes:

This is my first story, and it starts a bit slow and with less smut than I'd like, but I think after the third chapter, things will start picking up.

Chapter 1: Candle on the Water

"Sophia," I hear a soft, almost melodious voice call out a name, my name, I think? Wait, why could I not-

"Sophia, I need you to pay attention." The voice interrupts my thoughts.

"We do not have a lot of time. Events that cannot be stopped, even by us, have been set into motion."

The voice continues with a tinge of melancholy.

"I am sorry, truly sorry, that it had to be this way, but we have already discussed how this is the only path, or else we risk time becoming even more convoluted."

I attempt to open my eyes to see where the source of this voice is coming from, but they refuse to.

"Right, back to the point, you will not remember much. That is necessary, and while it may seem unfair, remember this, it was your choice to go down this path. You were the one who insisted it be this way."

I attempt to reach where I think this voice is coming from, but I cannot even feel my limbs.

"Sophia, this is the important part, so please, pay attention."I stop trying to test my other senses and focus on listening to the voice.

"You are special in a way that will not seem obvious to anyone but us and a select few who have seen beyond the weave. Many may praise you for your strength, charisma, capability, or other small things, but that is not why you are special. You are special because-"

The voice is interrupted by a resounding boom that I feel even in my incorporeal state. And then there is nothing.

Chapter 2: Introduction to the Snow

The voice's words resound as I slowly come to consciousness. This time, however, when I awake, I can feel my body accentuated by the coldness beneath me. I open my eyes with a start and see a cloudy blue sky with what seems to be a curved line of light crossing through the horizon; behind that line, there is what appears to be a gargantuan mountain line that stretches far beyond the very clouds. Around me, I seem to be in the middle of a clearing with tall conical trees, all covered in snow.

"Ah, that explains the coldness." Though it's not nearly as cold as I thought a snowy forest should be, I try to recall any taigas with an above-average climate, but it is for naught.

It seems to be exactly as the voice had said; I can't remember anything, how I got here, where here is, who I am, what I look like, it all comes blank. One of these, however, can be solved as I start inspecting myself.

I don't really have a point of reference, but I think I was on the tall side, maybe around 6'8 feet in height; I had pale skin and, from what I could feel and see, messy medium-length platinum hair. I could see I was well endowed(I think, again, no point of reference) with what I thought were voluptuous double D-size breasts (why I remember about bust sizes and not who my parent's names are can only be guessed.), further down I could also see my penis, it was as thick as my fists and while flaccid almost reached my knees. I doubted I could work myself up in this weather and situation, so I left it to examine its entire length later. Below that was a hefty pair of balls that covered my pinkish pussy. I couldn't exactly see my face, so I had no way of judging that, and I was completely naked aside from a pendant around my neck. Which, speaking of, was quite a peculiar thing. It appeared to be a small black 5-sided star with glowing streaks of lightning coming from the center.

The more I looked at it, however, the more I started to feel my head hurt like I was missing something, and the more I thought about it, the more I got the feeling that I was getting closer to a revelation like it was just teetering at the edge of my mind. Eventually, though, the pain was too much to endure. I turned the pendant to the other side, where it was bereft of any design, simply being a golden clear surface, which looking at reflected my face; I could see looking back at me a pair of deep-set eyes with purple irises and an all in all beautiful profile, except for the fact that my nose was bleeding.

I quickly wipe it away and finally start considering my next step.

Firstly I would look for any signs of civilization; perhaps somebody could help me figure out how I got here or even cure me of my memory loss (though I doubted it, whoever that voice was, it seemed confident that my amnesia was necessary in some way.). While I lacked any solid knowledge, my reasoning and, to some extent, common sense still worked( evident by the fact I was thinking in a language and knew what a forest was or what a penis was for), so I could guess that walking toward the mountain range was a bad idea. I decided instead to head the opposite way, southward, I think. If I could not find any signs of people in an hour or so, I would probably have to start worrying about hunting for food or seeking shelter.

These worries are quickly put to rest, as after about 15 minutes of traversing through the snowy forest, I see billowing in the distance a pillar of smoke.

I quickly rush in the direction of the smoke without a second thought, running with all my strength to reach where I thought people might be; however, the idea that these people might not be all too friendly crosses my mind, and I start slowing down trying to think of a way to handle things if the situation goes to the wrong direction.

Those thoughts are interrupted as I see a child appear through the bushes. Seeing this kid, I am quickly reminded that I currently have no clothes on and that whoever laid eyes on this situation would quickly come to a very wrong conclusion. Having that in mind, I quickly try to hide my body as best I can behind some leaves, hoping that this kid doesn't scream or cry out about some flasher in the woods (huh, so I knew what a flasher is... The common sense I got left with seems weirdly specific.).

My fears do not get answered, however, as the kid seems unresponsive. In fact, now that I look closer, this kid, who couldn't be more than ten years old, doesn't seem to be carrying any expression, like their face was stuck in neutral, and looking at their eyes, I get shivers as they seem impossibly deep and empty. My inspection gets interrupted by another person arriving through the bushes, this one much bigger. An adult man dressed in heavy pelts with a bow on his back looks toward me with surprise, quickly taking the child by the hand and pulling them behind him while at the same time grabbing his bow and pointing at me.

By this point, I already have raised my hands in what I hoped was a universal sign for "I mean no harm." The man seeing me do this lowers his bow but still keeps an arrow knocked and calls out to me.

"What in the bloody hells are ye doing here naked!?"

I respond truthfully.

"I don't know!"

"What do ye mean ye don't know?!"

"I mean that I quite literally just woke up 20 minutes ago with no memory of who I am, lost in the middle of apparently fucking nowhere naked!"I purposefully don't mention the voice I heard prior; for some reason, I feel compelled not to share that information.

At this point, the man gives a deep sigh and holsters his bow back into his back.

"Fucking hells, it's one thing after the other, eh?"

"Huh?"

"Nevermind, fine, look, I doubt any pervert would be bold enough to walk through these parts naked, so I'll help ya out, stay here, and I'll come back with a set of clothes for ya."

"Why can't I go with you."

"Because even if yer, not a pervert, doesn't mean yer not danger, that stories you gave me could be made up by anyone with half a brain to explain why they're naked in, as you put it: "the middle of fucking nowhere.".

Looking at his face, I could tell from how his eyes darted around that that was not the whole story. Still, I really didn't have any more options other than just running and hoping to find another hunter (at least what I thought was a hunter.), and besides, he could have just as easily threatened me with that bow of his. So I decided to oblige him with his proposition.

"Alright, fine, but can you hurry? I'm not the best at dealing with isolation." And as the words flew out of my mind, I found them true. Maybe that was why I felt the need to rush toward civilization, besides wanting to survive.

"Hmph, alright, won't take more than a couple of minutes."

In the end, it took more than a couple of minutes; I waited for what felt like 45 minutes, though again, there was no frame of reference, so it could have been less.

When he returned, I watched the sun start to set down, with the glow of the line intensifying as if the light from the sun was obscuring it.

"Huh, so ya didn't run off." This time he was alone, with no kid in tow, which still creeped me out.

"Didn't see it paying off, and I don't know if I have any skills relating to surviving in the wild."

"Well, alright, fair enough."

He hands me a fur coat and some pelt to cover my legs with. I go behind a tree before putting them on.

"Really?"

"What?"

"Nevermind."

I look at him quizzically, but he seems unwilling to explain himself.

"Look, I know we didn't exactly meet in the best of circumstances, but thank you, had you just ignored me or worse, attacked me, I really don't know what I could've done, so if you could just point me toward civilization, I'll get out of your hair, and you won't have to see me ever again."

He looks at me incredulously while shaking his head.

"It's fine, kid; I had time to think while I was getting the clothes, and yer just doesn't strike me as the kind of gal that had some deeply disturbing story as to why ya ended up here naked, and while yer story isn't the most convincing it at least looks like you believe that that's the truth, and having that in mind it would take some kind of monster to just shoo away someone who clearly is down in the dumps, so how about it, wanna join us for dinner?"

I consider his words carefully; from how his body language is moving, it doesn't look like he's lying about his apparent hospitality, but I somehow know by looking at him as a whole that there's something more about this.

"It's fine, really I'm sure I can handle a little trip down the woods, you can just point me towards the nearest settlement, and I'll be on my way." While I am incredibly grateful to the guy, I decide to trust my instincts on this one; it is, after all, one of the only things I have left.

"Lady, you were actually quite correct in your statement before that this is "the middle of fucking nowhere" I'm afraid that the nearest settlement is about 30 days from here, so unless you want to start that journey on an empty stomach, I recommend taking the offer."

I again feel that he's being truthful, maybe even a bit generous on the time it would take, but I still feel uneasy about following him. This unease is, however, beaten by the fact that I am famished. It seems that wherever I was before waking up didn't serve me any food.

"Alright, I'll take you up on that. I hope I won't be too much of a bother."

"Nonsense, it's not every day I get any kind of company out here, well, besides the boy, that is."

The way he seems more accommodating to me does ring some alarm bells in my head, but his previous comment superimposes them.

"Yeah, I didn't want to be rude earlier, but I got to ask, is that kid fine? He seemed out of it."

As I ask this, his friendly smile does drop a bit but quickly returns.

"The kid? Yeah, he's fine; he has a condition where he can't move his facial muscles. It's why he's not able to talk either."

That, she feels, is the first total lie he has told.

"Oh, sorry I asked then. Seems deeply personal."

"It's OK. Maybe it would have mattered if we lived with other folks, but all the way here, it doesn't bother us one bit."

I, at this point, am half ignoring him. When he's talking about the kid, there is just an air of wrongness, like he made that excuse exclusively for moments like this. Whatever unease I felt about the boy is replaced with concern for him, that maybe this guy is not treating him right, maybe even abusing him. Whatever it is, I feel a familiar determination to get to the bottom of it. Perhaps I used to do this sort of thing before I lost my memories.

As we are conversing, we finally reach the clearing where they're staying; In the middle of it, I can see a small cottage, probably only large enough to fit two people. It is a quaint little thing, clearly made with less-than-ideal tools, and near the edge of the clearing, another building akin to a shack, somehow even more rugged than the cottage. Maybe that was their storage room.

By the steps of the cottage, entrance is the boy, and I must have forgotten how creepy he is up close because as soon as I lay my eye on him, I feel a cold sweat, but I brave on. It is not the boy's fault that he is incredibly creepy. Maybe I can get a word with him while the hunter isn't looking. After all, he might be too afraid to call out for help in front of him.

I can't keep having to call him "the hunter" every time I think about him, I got to get his actual name, so I call out to him.

"Hey, I know this is late and all, but we never actually introduced ourselves."

He turns his head from the boy to face me.

"I thought you had no memories?"

"I don't, but I still possess some insight, like, for example, that it is rude not to offer proper greetings."

"Well, I guess that's on me too, eh? Fine, the name's Hunter."

You got to be kidding me.

"Nice to meet you, Hunter. I think my name is Sophia."

He raises an eyebrow

"Think?"

"Even if I do have some lingering knowledge, I'm still not 100% on certain things, but I'm fairly certain it's Sophia. It feels right."

"Well, alright, Sophia, you can go in and make yourself at home. I'll be on the shack to get some meat so that I can get cooking."

Again, I get that discomfort when he's not being truthful.

"Sure, in the meanwhile, I'll get to know, uh, actually, what's the kid's name?"

I ask not just because I'm curious but to see if I get that same unease; maybe I can try to identify what's causing it.

"Oh right, I named him after my grandpa. His name is Cassiculus, it's old-fashioned draconic, but I figured it was appropriate."

There it was again, and as I closely inspected for any discrepancies in his body language, eye movement, or even how he delivered his words, nothing. He just seems like a lovely but hardened hunter that is happy to have company (also, what was that bit about dragons?).

"I'm sorry, draco- what?"

He looks at me funny but then shakes his head as if remembering something.

"No yeah, sorry, I keep forgetting about that memory problem. Other than the fact you appeared in this region naked, you seem very well adjusted. Umm, so yeah, draconic's the official language of Cerialis, even though most, if not everyone, normally talks in global, which we are speaking right now, actually, anyway; Draconic is basically only ever used in like special events or among the militaris."

"Huh, so wait, does the name Cassiculus mean anything?"

He looks at me like I just told the funniest joke he ever heard, and I get the strongest sense of malaise I have ever felt so far.

"Ha, yeah, it's got one. I'll tell you over dinner. It's a funny story."

From how he speaks, it sounds like he's just remembered a hilarious event, but I cannot help but feel like a string is tied around my neck.

But while I'm stuck trying to contemplate what to do, Hunter takes his leave to go to the shack while shaking his head and occasionally letting out a laugh.

I consider running for it, but the main problem remains, it will soon turn dark, and I am about to collapse from hunger, so instead, I take the boy's hand and lead him inside the cottage.

The interior is just as I expected, a bit dingy but still with a homely charm. There are three rooms and a living space beside a makeshift fireplace, I peek inside the rooms, and 2 of them are just bedrooms, while the other is a kitchen with a table with four seats. I decide to take the boy and seat him in one of the chairs while I kneel beside him. I try to see any marks or signs of abuse on his skin while desperately trying to ignore the ever-present feeling of something creeping up on me, but through a surface skim the appear to be no signs of mistreatment.

"Alright, Cass, may I call you Cass?" he doesn't respond, only slightly tilting his head.

"Cass, I know I didn't make the best first impressions, but I swear on my life that if Hunter is doing something to you, I will help you however, I can. Now, is he mistreating you in any way?"

For the first time, I see an expression other than neutrality on his face, a slight smile tugs at his lips, and I cannot stop the shiver I feel climbing up my spine. At this point, however, I hear the door open, and I turn on instinct to face the sound, but I quickly turn back to the boy, dreading to see that terrible smile. Nothing, his face is back to that mask of neutrality, and I see his impossibly deep eyes move to something behind me.

"I see you're making acquaintances with little Cassiculus, he's not much for conversation, but I swear, the kid's a great listener."

At this point, whenever Hunter opened his mouth, I felt like that string around my neck is getting tighter and tighter, adding that to the fear I felt when that kid smiled. I plan on running for it as fast as possible when they fall asleep. For some reason, I feel they won't let me go if I try now.

"H-heh yeah, he uhh is definitely an attentive listener."

"Alright, enough dilly-dallying. What food do you like to eat, Sophia? As a warning, though, anything other than soup will taste like burned charcoal."

I don't think that at the level of hunger I was feeling, I would mind burned charcoal, but I was already feeling a bit queasy from the constant rush of anxiety I was receiving, so I thought a light meal would be best."

"Yeah, soup sounds good."

"Alrighty then, I'll get cooking. You can sit back and relax. The soup will be done in about 40 minutes."

That sounded like an eternity to me, considering my situation, but I was confident I could hold out, and I would definitely be keeping an eye on what he puts on that soup.

The minutes tick by as I see him cooking, putting what amounted to water, meat and salt on the pot.

As he does, he gives me a knowing look.

"I didn't say I made good soup."

The rest of the time is spent watching him, sometimes getting up from his chair and stirring the pot. The room has no window, so I can't see the outside, but from how the sun was almost set when I got into the cottage, I would guess it would already be dark by now. As I ponder this, carefully observing that he puts nothing else on the pot, I hear a very quiet, dull sound from outside, like something knocking on wood. I startle but looking around, Hunter and his kid don't seem to have noticed anything. I think of whether I should tell them about it or not, but before I can come to a decision, I hear Hunter clap his hands and exclaim.

"I think that's time. The soup should be edible by now"

And I see him quickly move out of his seat to where the pot is. However, as he was serving the soup in three different bowls, he moved his body in such a way that I could not see if he was messing with my dish. It doesn't last for very long, however, as he finally delivers all of us our bowls.

"I'm not one for prayers, so you can just dig in."

As I look at my dish, I get a sinking feeling that if I eat this soup, something terrible will happen. I need some way to stall so I could maybe switch plates.

"Uh, so earlier, I didn't want to overthink it, but I think I heard a sound outside."

Hunter stops the spoon midway to his mouth.

"A sound?"

I gulp.

"Yeah, like a dull knocking on something, I think wood."

I see his face drop, and he quickly gets up.

"He-hey, what the matter?"

He, while still walking out, quickly says

"Might be a shadow bear prowling about, don't worry. They get spooked by fire. I'll just shoo him away."

The shadow bear part was somewhat concerning, but I knew that it was something else entirely that got Hunter panicked. Whatever it was, it gave me a chance I desperately needed. I quickly say to the kid.

"Hey, mind turning around for 5 seconds."

The kind tilts his head but does as I told him, turning away from me, and I quickly switch Hunter's plate with mine. Just in time, as I hear the sounds of footsteps approaching.

I quickly sit back down and tell the kid he can turn back now, which he does, and as he does, I hear the front door open and see the figure of Hunter entering.

"Hey, so what was that about."

"It was nothing. I think something just fell off in the shack. It's not the most sturdy of buildings."

"Well, that's a relief. Whatever shadow bears are, they sound dreadful, anyways should we finally get this dinner underway."

"Yeah, I think there have been enough distractions for the day."

I watch as he, without fear, grabs the spoon and starts drinking the soup. He pauses through the second motion as he asks me.

"Aren't you gonna eat?"

In any other circumstance, I would wait a few minutes to see if he suffered from any poison, but I think I would collapse on the table if I spent a minute without eating. So I take the spoon and start drinking the soup. It is primarily tasteless with just a hint of a meaty aftertaste, but for me, it is the most delicious thing in the entire universe. As I go to praise Hunter for his cooking, I realize I made a mistake. Because I finally figured out what was causing all that turmoil, it's in his eyes, and I wonder how I could not see it before. It's the look of complete madness.

I quickly shoot out of my chair, but before I can do anything else, I see him drop to the ground, unconscious. I internally congratulate myself on my quick thinking, but that pride is short-lived as I begin to see my vision blur and swim and feel my consciousness drift. But how, I switched the plates, and he looks drugged too, unless. THE BASTARD POISONED ALL OF US, shit... starting to fade...but...maybe...I can... wake up... before him. That hope is quickly extinguished as I see the kid with his ever-so-creepy smile stand over me. He holds his index finger over his mouth, and the last thing I see is him shushing me.

Notes:

As I've previously said this is my first novel so feel free to comment any suggestions on what to improve or what you'd like to see.

Chapter 3: Isle unto Thyself

I can feel my mind struggling against whatever drug he put in the soup, trying its hardest to bring me back from the brink. All I manage to do is dazedly open my eyes, seeing a blurry Hunter dragging me to the shack. I close my eyes and feel the snow beneath me change to hardwood. I try to open my eyes again and manage to make out another figure in the shed; it looks like a woman with dark almond skin. She was tied to the wall of the shed by what looked to be chains, and it looked like the one linked to her left hand had come loose from its latch, but I couldn't be sure.

My vision was still spinning. I could vaguely hear her yelling something when I entered. Still, Hunter ignored her and placed me on the ground (are they not going to chain me, too?), but I could feel my mind drifting again. I had to struggle to keep my eyes open. The woman was saying something to me, but I couldn't distinguish the words, she looked like she was trying to comfort me, and then I was gone.

It was a dreamless sleep, and I kept waking up, only to fall unconscious a few seconds later. I had vaguely heard what happened while I was out of it. It sounded like Hunter was talking to someone. I could also hear the sound of wooden wheels on snow while he was talking. I think I was loaded into a wagon. Every time I woke up, I could also feel that the temperature was rising, and after about nine times waking up only to go back to sleep, I felt myself sweating from how hot it was.

I don't know how long it took, it was hard to judge how long my lapses were, but eventually, I felt that my motor functions were returning.

I open my eyes and see nothing. For a moment, I panic, fearing that I may have lost my vision as a side effect of the poison, but as I desperately look around, I can slowly make out more and more of where I am. It is incredibly dark. The only light source is a torch hanging on a wall opposite where I am. It barely illuminates a sandstone corridor with cell rooms on both sides.

I am in the last cell, and at the cell opposite to me, at about three meters, is the woman I saw in the shack. I can see her better now that I am not in a drug-fueled haze. She was tiny, or well, tiny compared to me (I still did not know how I compared to the general public). If I had to guess, I would say she was four foot eleven, and she did have dark almond skin ( good to know I didn't hallucinate the whole deal. ), she had short black hair that looked almost like the night sky, and she was dressed in light, loose clothes with long sleeves and pants, all dyed in light-brown.

"Hey, hey, you awake?" I quietly whisper.

She does not respond.

I think of calling out to her, but I quickly decide otherwise. I do not want to alert anybody that I have awoken. Still, I do need some way of waking her up.

I look around my cell for anything to throw at her but find nothing, and then I realize that I am naked and shackled like her. ( Great naked yet again with no idea of where I am. I hope this does not become a common occurrence.)

But I could throw the pendant, as unwilling as I am to throw what very well could be my only clue as to who I was. I had to figure out what the hell was going on, and she could very well hold the answers.

I take the pendant into my hands, careful not to look at its pattern too much, and throw it at her head.

It hits with a *bonk*, and she jumps awake.

"OWWw, what the hells?" she exclaims while looking around and holding her head where the pendant hit her.

When our eyes meet, I see the most beautiful pair of eyes I had ever laid my own on (I think). It was as if I was staring at a nebula of stars. I could also get a better look at her face. She had a cute round face sprinkled with freckles that resembled stars. (Noticing a bit of a theme with her.)

While inspecting her face, I also put my index finger to my mouth.

"Shhh, quiet. They might hear you if you're too loud."

She, from the very little light I had, looked very confused.

"They who? Also, where are we?" She asks in an exasperated whisper.

"Fuck, I kinda hoped you could answer that. Somewhere hot, obviously, beyond that, I don't know. As to who, it's the guys who kidnapped us, I think? Wait, did you also get captured by a big guy about six foot, rough beard, who calls himself Hunter?"

"Uhh, I don't think so. A bunch of cultist-looking guys ambushed me."

"Then I assume that the guy who poisoned me must have been part of the group that ambushed you. How did you get ambushed?"

At this comment, she gets a frustrated look that makes her look more cute than scary.

"I was investigating a ruin of the forgotten, but I was careless. I didn't expect anyone to be so far out on Aker, and I wrongly thought the site was empty. I think they were using the ruin as a base, and I just waltzed in there and got captured instantly. I think they were expecting me, somehow. Anyway, they loaded me up into a wagon and dragged me back to the Mountains of Madness, and I was kept prisoner in a random shack in the middle of fucking nowhere."

Okay, I didn't understand about half of that, but I didn't get that sense of discomfort I got from Hunter (thank fuck). Whoever this is, I feel that she is being wholly truthful.

"What about you? I saw you being dragged into the shed, but you didn't respond to me. Wait, you mentioned poison. Did you get fucking roofied?"

I decided not to overcomplicate things and ask her what "being roofied" meant. I just tell her a part of the story—no need to mention my memory right now.

"I was lost, with nothing but that pendant on me, which by the way, can you throw it back?"

She looks down and sees the amulet on her lap.

"Uhh, yeah, sure."

She has little room to move with her hands tied up, but she manages to throw the pendant near enough that I can grab it. I put it around my neck again and am filled with a sense of comfort I didn't realize I had lost.

"It's very pretty."

I blush, even though the compliment wasn't aimed at me.

"Thanks, but going back to it, I was lost and stuck with basically nothing when I met this dude and a kid. The dude, Hunter was his name, gave me some clothes and offered me food, and while I had some very bad vibes about him, I did not have much of a choice and had to go along with him if I wanted to survive. He served me some stew, and I was out after a couple of seconds."

"I feel like you skipped a bit of the story. Also, yeah, totally roofied."

"Just some details of it, not important right now. What is important is figuring out how to get out."

She looks around her cell and then at mine.

"Crap, yeah, we should. Have you come up with a plan or something?"

I try and think, and I remember that she had one hand free from the shackle when I was dragged to the shed. Maybe she had some skill in pick-locking.

"Do you think you could lockpick your shackles again?"

She ponders for a bit.

"I mean, I do have a DR for it, but it's always easier to bend reality when you have something to trick it with, so unless you have something that could act as a lockpick, it'll take a while."

What? Whatever, not necessary to know right now.

"Alright, you start on that then. I'll try and figure something out."

I see her start fiddling with her shackles, and somehow, even without something to stick inside the lock, I hear metal clicking.

That is undoubtedly weird, but priorities. I must assume that our captors will eventually come back to check on us, so how would we deal with potentially multiple people that probably have weapons from inside a cell?

Let's presume the star girl can not finish pick-locking and that they arrive in the next minute or so. Do I have anything in my cell that I can use as a weapon?

I give the room I am staying in another investigation. It is wholly made of sandstone, with nothing but myself inside it, not even a window. It looks extremely worn down, with the wall and floor having tears and holes. Maybe I could scrape some sand where the foundation is less solid and use that to blind someone. Looking around with nothing else to do, I start using my nails to shave the softest portion of the floor.

The woman looks at me inquisitively while still messing with the lock.

"Uhh, whatcha doing?"

I look back, not stopping my actions.

"Gathering sand to throw at someone's eyes. It's about all I can think of doing right now."

She nods.

"Say, what's your name? I'd prefer not to refer to you as a "tall woman with an enormous penis" in my head."

I can feel myself blush again (huh, so I am tall and well-endowed. I guess my instincts are pretty sharp.)

"You can call me Sophia, and I would likewise enjoy not having to refer to you as "star girl" in my head."

She giggles a bit.

"Miah, my name's Miah."

And maybe it's the way she laughs or how the light caught her face when she looked directly into my eyes, but I can feel my heart skip a beat. I can also feel my cock stirring, but I clench my inner thighs and stop a boner from distracting me from the fact that we are very much still in danger.

"Alright, Miah, how's it looking with the lock."

She smiles a bit while still looking at me.

"Look for yourself."

And I hear a *click* as one of the manacles opens.

"You will have to explain to me how the hell you did this later, but for now, how long do you think it will take to do the other one?"

She gives me a questioning look.

"But I did? I told you I had a DR for it. Trying to explain more than that gets complicated, you know. Also, give me like 6 seconds tops."

And just as she says, after six seconds of using her now free hand to fiddle with the lock, it also slides open. She gets up and arches her back like a cat stretching herself.

"Alright, good. It is not fun to be chained in that position for very long."

She moves to the cell door and starts working on the lock. Meanwhile, I think about what she said about the DR thingy. She said that she was tricking reality somehow, and from how she talked about it, it sounded like that was common knowledge. Perhaps, it is common knowledge because it is common to have the ability to do that, i.e., maybe I could do that.

I hear another click and the sound of the cell door opening. I look up to find Miah standing outside my cell and working on it.

"Don't worry, Sophia, I got you."

I feel a warm feeling spreading in my chest. Maybe I just got unlucky that one time with Hunter because I had to balance the luck of meeting Miah. Because so far, Miah has been proving herself to be a kind and cute girl.

"After all, two is better than one if we have to fight these guys, right?"

Well, at least she's still cute and probably clever too.

"Yeah, maybe it's from the poison, but I don't seem to remember much. A lot of my memories seem to be missing. How does one go about using their DR again? Also, what is a DR."

She looks up from the lock she's working on with a flabbergasted expression.

"Wha- wait, wait. You're kidding, right?"

I shake my head, and she brings a palm to her temple.

"Fucking hells, I had hoped you knew how to fight, maybe even some magic if I was lucky. Fuuuck."

There's another click as my door creaks open. She comes through and starts working on my manacles, and oh fuck, she smells good; It is hard to describe, almost like my brain is interpreting something that can't be solved and can only guess an approximation, but I swear that she smelled like stars. I don't even know if stars can be smelled or if they smell good, or even if I have ever smelled one before. But as I tried to identify the scent, that was all that came to mind.

"Okay, whatever, fine. I guess we'll have a quick crash course on DR, emphasis on the quick. Though I am afraid, I won't be able to cover the nitty-gritty of it all. First of all, in the simplest terms possible: DR stands for Domain & Range. It refers to someone's capacity to bend reality to their will, Domain refers to what aspect of reality you can bend, and Range refers to how far you can bend it."

Another click as my left-hand gets freed.

"To use it is the complicated part. It's easier to do when you know what your Domain & Range is, but seeing as your memory of DR is fucked, and these cultist bastards stole my shard, it will be difficult to figure that out."

"But how do you even go about changing reality? Do you just wave your hand and think real hard about what you want to change."

She moves to the other manacle and eyes me with a tired expression.

"I mean, yeah, there's an element to that. However, that only ever works out for people with really high Hume levels, which by the way, Hume refers to what we use to describe how easily someone can exercise their Domain & Range. For those on the lower spectrum of the Hume levels, you still need to, arhg, how do I put this into words."

She brings her hands to her temple before resuming lockpicking.

"Okay, imagine reality as a fully formed weave. Someone with a high Hume level can easily alter that weave, substituting the existing strands with the ones they want."

I hear another click as my other hand gets freed.

I rub my sore wrists and stand, stretching my back, feeling it cracking. I catch Miah slightly blushing as she stops talking and has to now look up at me. I also see her eyes wandering over my body and stopping for a moment on my cock.

I cough with a smile on my face.

She immediately looks back up to meet my eyes, and I see that her face is red.

"Uhhhh, right, where was I?"

I stifle a giggle, and I can feel my member start stirring again. I try and focus on the fact that we are still in mortal danger.

"You were saying that people with high Hume levels can easily alter this weave."

The blush subsides a bit, though I can still see that she is embarrassed.

"Right, so yeah, those people can easily alter this weave because they're strong and can easily remove and add their own strands. Not everyone can, though. Most people still need tools and techniques to substitute the yarn. Normally you also try to keep the weave as close to what it was as possible. For example, you saw how I just rubbed the manacles till they unlocked. That would've been much quicker if I had a picklock because the consensus reality is that to unlock something, you need something to unlock it with. Notice how I also went through the process of moving the mechanism to unlock the manacle instead of just skipping it and making it be unlocked. That's because you generally don't want to change reality too much. The results can sometimes be unpleasant."

Midway through her talk, she lost her embarrassment (aww) and instead got a focused look, but as she stops her rambling and looks back at me, I see the blush return like she remembered that, yes, she had openly ogled me. She coughs.

"Anyway yeah, unless you have some crazy Hume level, you probably won't be able to just wave a hand and kill someone."

That's good to know. But it begs the question: How do I find out my DR?

"Say, how would you go about figuring out your DR? It seems unlikely one could stumble around, trying random things to find theirs."

"Oh wow, your memory really is fucked. But yeah, you're right. Normally you can just use a shard to view your sheet. You can see your DR there, among other things, like your name, species, body status, and a bunch of things we probably don't have time for."

She's right. We spent far too long speaking, and we still didn't have a plan. I'll just put that DR stuff on the back burner.

"Okay, do you think we can close the manacles and doors without them locking again?"

She blinks.

"Yeaaah, I guess? The lock is basically hard-coded to be unlocked now. Why do you ask?"

"I think it would be unwise to make the fact we broke out of our restraints known to our captors. If we pretend to be still trapped, we could probably gather some intel or maybe take them by surprise."

"Couldn't we just escape and take them out on the way, or better yet, just sneak out undetected?"

"We could try, but it would be risky since we don't know how many are out there. For all we know, tens of them could just be waiting outside that door. We need to know what we're dealing with if we want to make this escape work."

She raises an eyebrow.

"You know, I never really asked how much you remember. By the looks of it, you at least retain some combat knowledge. If you're all the way out here, then you are probably some kind of adventurer or archeologist. Ooh, hold on, maybe you're some criminal that got exiled because-"

I put a hand to her mouth.

"That's a conversation that I would love to have when we aren't in mortal danger. For all we know, these cultist fellows could walk in at any point. For now, assume I don't know anything, and all that I have is my instincts."

She tilts her head and speaks beneath my hand.

"Why?"

"Because it's the truth. Now listen closely because I think I might have a plan."

She leans in and, still keeping my hand in her mouth, I explain my plan.

...

...

...

"Alright, are you set up?"

I ask her from my cell.

"Almost there, harder than it looks to keep this door perfectly still, ah! There we go."

I check my own cell to see if everything looks untouched, and aside from a few claw marks on the floor, to which I quickly hide away with sand, everything looks fine. Like we never even woke up.

I give Miah the okay, and she gives an affirming nod before slumping into the position she was before she woke up. Minutes pass as I replay the plan in my head, and after an hour, I hear the sound of a door opening and closing, followed by two pairs of footsteps.

I crane my head to look down the corridor while being careful not to slip out of the manacles accidentally, and I see two figures. One of them is the familiar silhouette of Hunter ( the bastard). He is wearing clothes similar to what Miah is wearing, loose robes with light coloration. The other one beside him is a bit smaller. He is also wearing this loose clothing but on his face is a plain mask with two slits for his eyes and a web pattern engraved on it. He is carrying a torch, and I can see two scimitars on his hip. Hunter, on the other hand, is barehanded with his arms crossed.

I see those familiar eyes that contain nothing but madness within lock into mine. He smiles and walks to my cell while the masked fellow follows closely behind. However, he seems to be keeping an eye on Miah. Shit, that's scenario 4, at least it's only two, and only one has a weapon.

"Four such a big lad, you resort to some sneaky methods. Pretty sure you could've just punched me in the face and knocked me unconscious. It would've spared you having to poison yourself."

He smiles brightly and seemingly ignores what I said.

"Who could've seen this coming? The one and only Sophia just dropped into my hands. If I didn't know any better, I would've suspected it to be a ploy, but no. You really don't remember a thing. Oh, this is PERFECT."

He breathes in and kneels to meet my eyes.

"Don't you worry, Sophia, all will make sense in due time. When it's too late, oh, you'll love it."

I see his eyes lose the taint of madness and slip into the same emotionless deep eyes that that kid had, his smile dropping as well, oh well, now or never.

I slip out of the manacles and throw the sand I had in his eyes. He screams and recoils, bringing his hands to his eyes, and I slam open the door into his body. He kneels from the impact, and I see the other guy drop his torch and turn to me, drawing his scimitars.

"Two against one, huh?"

I see Miah open her eyes and carefully pick up one of the chains, so it doesn't make any noise.

I can see that hunter is slowly coming to, rubbing the sand out of his eyes, and the masked figure is advancing toward me now, bringing the scimitars in a crossing slash.

I retreat back into the cell, closing the door, and hear the sound of metal against metal as the masked man slashes at the bars. I quickly pick up the untethered chains in my cell and wrap them around my wrists.

I hear the door open as the masked man steps into the cell with me. I smile and turn back to face him, instinctively bringing my fists into a guard around my head and widening my stance while bouncing on my feet.

The masked man eyes me carefully before dashing toward me while making a downward slashing motion with his right scimitar. I move into the slash using my chain-covered fist to deflect the blow and get into a position where he can't comfortably use the left scimitar. He looks surprised but quickly regains his wits and tries to back off me. I use the opportunity to punch him in his chin, shattering a part of his mask and knocking a tooth off. I reel back my hand from the pain in my knuckles and see the masked man bring a hand to where I struck him, I rush to him, and he brings his scimitars to cross-slash me, but I roll past him and run out of the cell closing it on the way past.

Outside I see that Hunter is only now standing up with red eyes now open. Behind him, I see Miah sneaking up to him with the chain stretched out, but before she can wrap his neck, I yell to her:

"Zero! Do it now!"

Hunter looks confused, but I don't give him time to think. Lunging at him with a fist, he dodges, and I see Miah running past him. Hunter looks baffled but does not have the reach to catch her, having dodged my fist, and just as the masked man is reaching for the cell door, Miah uses the chain like a whip to strike at the lock of the cell, and I hear a *click* as the chain strikes it. The masked man recoils as the chain threatens to hit him, but he realizes the chain wasn't meant for him and tries to open the door only to find it locked.

I focus on Hunter again as I see him bringing a massive fist to my stomach. I try and dodge to the side, but his arm blurs, and I see it snap to where my abdomen is. I feel the air being pushed out of me as I almost throw up. I stifle it and try to get back into my stance, only to see Hunter preparing another punch, this time to my face.

However, before he can throw it, he recoils back from a hit by Miah as she whips the chain to his head. I see the area she struck turn red and swollen, and I waste no time as I throw a punch to his chin, intending to knock him out. The punch connects, but I must've hitten him at the wrong angle because he does not go down. He does, however, stagger back, and I can see Miah winding her chain to strike at Hunter. In the corner of my vision, however, I can see the masked man preparing to throw one of his scimitars at Miah's back.

"Miah, duck!"

She hears me, but I can see she won't react in time. The world slows to a crawl, and I see the sword slowly flying at Miah. I try and think of a way to save her, knock her down? Too far, maybe I could change the trajectory of the scimitar by throwing something at it, my chains, maybe? Impossible. It will take too long to unwind the chains on my wrists. The blade is getting closer now, and I can see that it will pierce her back straight in the middle if I don't do something, shit shit shit what do I do. I try and remember what Miah said about DR. It's about bending reality to my will. It's substituting the yarn of the weave. I try to think of something fast, something that can knock the blade off its course in a flash, and I can feel something stir inside me. I grasp onto that feeling, channeling it outward as lightning coalesces in my hand and, with a resounding boom, explodes into the scimitar knocking it out of the way just in time.

I release the breath I didn't realize I'd been holding, and the world resumes its pace. I see Miah standing still with a stunned expression, and I see the masked man preparing to throw the other scimitar and Hunter beginning to charge at me. Before they can complete their actions, however, I focus on that feeling again deep within myself. It's dimmer now, however, almost as if it was drained. Still, I think it's enough for one more.

I decide to throw it at the masked guy; after all, he's the one with a weapon. I feel this energy racing across my body as it coalesces in my hand, and with a thundering boom, it launches into the masked one hammering him to the wall, and I can see cracks form around his impact as he slumps to the ground. I feel that energy within me fade, though not disappear.

I am interrupted from my introspection by a hard punch to my face (it seems Hunter was not abated by my lightning powers). I feel blood in my mouth and almost drop unconscious, but I hold on to the adrenaline and bring myself into the stance.

Hunter cracks his neck and positions himself so that he has both me and Miah in his line of sight and his back to a wall. I see Miah winding her chain again, and I look at her and say.

"Careful with his punches. He likely has some kind of DR that prevents missing."

She nods, and I see Hunter smile, his expression half stuck on mad glee and neutral apathy.

I approach first and do an uppercut with my right hand. He blocks it with his right arm and retaliates with a left hook. I intentionally let it hit me on the face, preparing myself for the impact, and at the same time, kicked him in the crotch. I feel his breath being knocked out of him, and Miah wraps a chain around his neck while he reels from the pain.

He elbows her, and even though I see Miah dodge out of the way, she still lets out a gasp of pain. However, she does not let go of the chain, and I use all the strength I have to kick in the crotch again, feeling something break. He slumps from the pain, and Miah finishes choking him out as he finally falls unconscious.

I let out a sigh of relief and slump to the ground, the adrenaline fading.

"Fuck me, that was too close," I whimper out.

Miah slumps next to me, likely also running out of adrenaline.

"Thankfully, it seems you at least remembered how to do magic. Thank fuck for the save, by the way."

I pause.

"Wait, magic? No, wasn't that the DR thingy? Or wait, do you also name DR magic, because if so, that is very confusing."

She sits up straight and looks at me incredulously.

"We have got to get you fixed, buddy, but no, those are different things. I'll explain later after we get out."

I stand up and look at Hunter and then at the masked man.

"Yeah, let's do that, but first, I would prefer not to be naked and preferably also armed."

She nods, though I can't help but see a faint look of disappointment flash through her face.

"Right, let's get looting."

I strip Hunter of his attire and put it on myself, seeing as he's the one closest to my height (thankfully, the robes are pretty loose, so I don't have to suffer from any tightness). Miah picks up the two scimitars and holsters both of them. She offered one to me, but the moment I felt it in my hands, it immediately felt wrong, so I just gave it back to her.

We searched their pockets and the rest of the cells, but there was nothing else of note, so we just threw Hunter to Miah's cell and locked it again.

We make our way to the door, and I look at Miah as I prepare to open it.

"Ready?"

She gives a fearless smile back.

"Always."

I open the door and am immediately met with a searing heat wave to my face. I struggle to open my eyes through the heat but eventually, I manage to force them open.

I am met with the vision of dunes of bright yellow sand as far as the eye can see, a barren wasteland stretching far beyond the horizon devoid of any life, and at the horizon, I see that curved line again with the mountain range behind it, even from this distance I cannot see it's peak as it seemingly stretches forever.

I turn back to Miah and see that fearless smile gone, replaced by a strained smile.

"Welcome to Aker, or as people in my business like to call it: the endless desolation."

Notes:

I'm a bit more happy with this chapter than the previous two, I feel like I'm finally grasping how I want to write this story. As always feel free to comment any suggestions or criticism.

Chapter 4: Black Rainbows

Notes:

18+ Actual smut starts this chapter.

"That doesn't bode well."

"No, it does not. Come on. I'll try and give you an overview of crucial knowledge, but first, where the hells did they-"

She is interrupted by a loud snort coming from behind us. We quickly turn back only to see a camel standing behind the corridor we came through, attached to him a wagon.

I look over to Miah, and she has an expression of disbelief.

"Well, I guess that answers your question. Come on, let's get your stuff back." I deadpan to her.

"I got to say, this past week, my luck has been very hit or miss." She says back to me as she makes her way to the wagon.

In it, we found supplies (which Miah surmised could last a week), a map (which Miah said she would explain), some furs and pelts(I noticed the wolf pelt I had been using before was there also), and hidden away beneath the pelts a crystalline octahedron.

"Ah! There it is, thank Null, for a moment, I was afraid I'd lost all my data. It would have been a pain to get it all back."

She looks back at me after hugging the crystal.

"Now let's solve that memory problem, shall we, or well, at least solve who you are."

"I'm assuming that this is the 'shard' you mentioned before? How do I use it?"

"Just whisper 'activate' near it. It'll first do a scan on you, so don't be alarmed by lights, then it will display some information about you."

"Huh, that's convenient. How does it even work, though? Is it a magic or DR thing?"

"Neither." She deadpans back.

I look back at her.

"No, I'm serious. It technically uses a bit of magic, but we determined it's only used to scan magic capabilities. All its other features are just incredibly high-tech, and before you ask again. No, I do not know exactly how it works. I know a few theories, but these shards are made with technology from the forgotten. It's knowledge that we have not yet fully understood."

"Ok, that's three times you mentioned the 'Forgotten'. What even are they?"

I see her face light up from excitement and take a deep breath.

"I'm glad you asked, you see-"

I interrupt her.

"A simple explanation will do, Miah."

She pouts, and it is very cute.

"Fiiine. The Forgotten is the name we use to refer to an ancient civilization that we presume was thousands of years ahead of us in their technology and understanding of the world. We call them Forgotten because even though what we did discover suggests they had their influence spread across the stars, we sort of only really discovered about them recently."

"How?"I ask in amazement.

"Well, current theories suggest that they were wiped by a magical cataclysm, and while normally chalking something up to "it's magic" is not widely accepted by scholars, it's really the only thing that could have erased their presence so thoroughly since even though they had an incredible understanding of science and technology, we have not found many signs that they understood magic very well."

I nod, processing the dump of information. I look back at the crystal and bring it close to my mouth, whispering:

"Activate"

The crystal begins to light up in a dim white light as it quickly flies out of my hand, floating in front of me.

"Uhhh, Miah? Is this normal?"

"Yeah, I told you it's going to scan you, so don't freak out about the lights. It's all common procedure."

As she says that, the light inside it brightens, and a beam of light shoots out of it tracing my body up and down. After doing that for another 2 times, the light retracts, and a soft *ding* sound resounds as it slowly floats back to my hands.

"Is it-"

I am interrupted by the shard as it lights up again, shooting out a holographic screen in front of me. In it, this is written:

Name: Sophia Empyrean

Titles: [Redacted], [Redacted], [Redacted],[Redacted],[Redacted],[Redacted],[Redacted],(Secdutress of [Redacted]), Forgotten.

Species: Empyrean

Age: [Redacted]

Sex: Intersex

Height: 6'10

Weight: 82.2 kg

Profession: Talun's diplomat

Balance: 250k

Status

Level: 3

Domain: Lust, [Redacted]

Range: 5 feet,[Redacted]

Hume level: 100-75

Strength: 12 (80%)

Dexterity: 10 (83.3%)

Constitution: 14 (70%)

Charisma: 20 (80%)

Magical Capability: Capable/30 Mp

 

Ok, there is a lot to unpack here.

"Ok... there is a lot to unpack here." I hear Miah say what I had been thinking.

She looks through the screen with an expression of disbelief.

"Alright, basics first," I say back to her.

"Right, basics...."

"I guess we should reintroduce ourselves. Hi, my whole name is apparently Sophia Empyrean, but you may call me Sophia."

She looks back at me.

"Uhh, hi, my whole name is Miah Starborn, and you may continue to call me Miah."

"Now that that's out of the way, please explain what the ever living fuck this all means."

"I'll try my best? But you have to understand, Sophia, I don't have a single clue what the deal with the [Redacted] is."

She looks over my sheet again.

"Ok, let's start from the top. The name seems pretty self-explanatory, so I'll skip that. Title(s), plural. Holy Null, who the hells are you?"

I sigh.

"What kind of mess does it mean to have multiple titles."

"It's less of a mess and more of the fact you are incredibly impressive."

I choke. Miah seems to realize what she said and blushes, but she quickly regains her composure.

"Sophia, titles are registered in the sheet only when a large group of people recognizes something you did that merits a title. For example, the Ceasar of Cerialis has the title 'Emperor' because a large number of people from Cerialis believe him to be the Emperor."

She pauses at that.

"Sophia, he is the only know person to have more than two titles. It is incredibly rare for someone to be able to transcend the first title they get."

"How so?"

She thinks for a bit.

"Try and imagine you are inaugurated as king of the world, sure afterward you may have slain a dragon or done something equally as impressive. It's still going to be hard for people not to associate you with the king of the world. That title will superimpose any others you may have because it's something people will always know you for. Do you get why you having 9 whole titles is kind of a big deal?"

I gulp.

"Yeah, I kind of do."

It also brings to question why they are redacted or why only one is not, or why one is partially covered, but I think back to what the voice said and realize that it's probably related to my apparent choice in forgetting.

"Good, never show this sheet to anyone, it's not like you can get in trouble for it, but it'll raise too many questions I assume you don't have the answer for?"

I nod back at her.

"Alright, next one. Species. I have no idea what you are."

I stare back at her accusingly.

"I'm serious. There are only about 8 species that are self-aware enough to be considered people. Empyrean is not one of them. I'm going to be honest. I thought you were a half-giant before."

"Half-giant, how would that even-"

"Domains can enable some weird things, Sophia. It would not have been the weirdest interspecies relation I have heard of."

As she speaks that, I see her face redden as her eyes dart to where my member would be.

I try not to make my smile too obvious because I'm still curious about something.

"Giants?"

"Oh yeah, so I should probably tell you the races? Right, There are 8 of them, and most can interbreed. There's the humans. They existed before any of the other races, except maybe the demonkin, but that's a tangent for another time, any way they were kind of the base model before the gods-"

"GODS?!"

I see Miah put a hand on her temple.

"Sophia, we'll be here all day if I have to go on a tangent about every piece of knowledge there is, but yes, Gods.  All you need to know about them is there are 6 of them, and they each have a Domain, kind of like us, except much bigger and much stronger."

"How much bigger and stronger?"

"MUCH bigger and stronger. Can I go back to races now? This kind of knowledge will actually help you out."

"Yeah, sorry, carry on."

"So yes, humans were the base model before the Gods showed up and changed their followers to either resemble the figure of the gods or to help them deal with certain problems. Nowadays, finding a pure-blood human is exceedingly rare, but most of the population is still a mix between human and other races."

She pauses.

"This will take too long. Do you mind if I just speed through the rest?"

"If you think it'll be easier to digest?"

"It will. There's the Dragonkin. They have the tails, horns, wings, and scales of a dragon. You'll find that most of them live in Cerialis, which I'll explain later. There's the Beastkin. They have the characteristics of various woodland animals. You'll be hard-pressed to find a pure-blood of them, though, since most of them live secluded in Ellsmea. There's the Merkin. They have the gills, scales, and tails of fish. The majority lives in the Far Isles of Aegina."

She takes a breath.

"You with me still?"

"It's quite a bit, but I'm still hanging on."

"Good. There's the Elvenkin. They're usually a fair bit shorter than the average species and have these long pointed ears. Most of them live in Dunnsmer, but they're a fair bit more spread out than most. There's the previously mentioned Giants, and well, they're big, like 10 to 12 foot big. They mostly live in their sky-cities, but you'll find a few of their settlements on various mountain ranges. There's the demonkin. They usually have red skin (though I have heard they can come in all of the colors of the rainbow), horns, and tails. We got no idea where they are from, just that sometimes some of them arrive on the shores of Cerialis. They call their land Seirei no Kuni, which we have translated to as the Land of the Spirits."

"And finally, we have my species. The Planarkin. We were changed by Null so that our bodies were better suited to the volatile state that our country was in after the Second Elemental Incursion. We typically have aspects of certain Elemental Planes etched into our features. Like hairs of fire, skin of shadow..."

She looks directly into my eyes with a smile.

"Eyes of stars, things like that. The majority of us live back at A.D.R, but as you can see, there are some that enjoy a good adventure."

"Phew, that was all of them. Can I continue, or do you have any questions?"

"Only about a thousand, but I think I have to process that dump of information, so you may continue."

"Good. Next is Sex, Height, and Weight which I hope I don't have to explain."

"Don't worry. I think I know enough"

"Next is a weird one. Remember how I said these shards are made with Forgotten tech?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, turns out a few of the features are unknown in what they do. For example, normally, your profession and balance would just display: unregistered and empty. That yours actually say something at all may be a clue to your past, even if what they say is mostly incomprehensible."

"You don't think I'm-"

"Look, anything we say right now would be pure conjecture, but if you were going to say what I thought you were going to say, then yes, there's a real possibility that that would be the case. It would explain the one title you don't have redacted."

Forgotten, why doesn't that bode well?

"Continuing. Next is your status. It's just a way to signify what your body is capable of; baseline humans have an average of 12 in most stats, and I have already explained Hume levels to you, but your DR is extremely interesting, not just for its name but for the fact that you apparently have two, even if one is redacted. I'll refrain from speculating on what the 'lust' one is exactly useful for, as names for DRs can be deceiving. As the Forgotten didn't know much about magic, all they have to display is if you can perform magic and how much magic you can perform before needing to recharge."

She points to my Mp.

"We already knew you were capable, and 30 Mp is pretty good as a start. This brings me to a stat I have ignored: Level. It's a way to quantify the amount of experience one has, that normally equates to how good someone is at combat, but you can also increase your level with other activities like Cooking, studying, exploring, and plenty of others."

"Basically, high level equals someone with a lot of experience."

"Correct, it's why you see old people normally have higher levels. Though just as a note of point, levels can be lost if you stop training or just neglect practice. The levels tend to drop. Anyway, the point is when your level increases, so does your magic. We don't know exactly why; something to do with how prepared we are to handle more energy."

She takes a deep breath.

"Holy crap, I think that's all."

I look over at my sheet.

"You said the average was 12 on the body stats, yeah?"

"Well, the study was conducted 5 years ago, so we don't know how much the average has changed, but yeah, about 12."

"The fuck does a 20 mean for charisma."

"Technically, it would be 25 since right now you aren't in your 100%."

"The point is that seems excessively high for something that should be rather subjective."

I see her looking over me with disbelief.

"Sophia, I don't know if have looked in a mirror, but you may be the most attractive person I have ever seen. It's actually almost intimidating how good you look. Even if I do have some biases, I think the shard is pretty accurate on that."

She pauses for a moment, realizing what she said.

"Biases?"

"Uhm, W-what I meat t-to say is, fuck."

I grin.

"What Biases, Miah? Do you have something against how I look?"

She quickly shakes her head blushing.

"No, it's actually the opposite-fuck"

"Oh, is that so? Then what perhaps could you mean with a bias?"

She looks downwards.

"Are you really going to make me spell it out?"

"Spell what out?" I ask with a grin.

"Fine, even if I was to ignore how absolutely otherworldly your beauty is, you f-fit i-into-"

"Into what?" I say while approaching her.

"You're my type, alright! You're tall and athletic. You have curves in all the right places a-and..."

"And?" I eagerly say, not content with stopping the teasing.

I can see her face red with embarrassment.

"A-and... you have a huge cock! I mean, that thing is bigger than my forearm and thicker than it, and better yet, it's attached to a gorgeous woman. Fuck, it's like someone took every preference I had and just combined it into a perfect woman." She manages to whimper.

I lean in closer with practiced motions, making sure she can feel my erection through the robe and whisper into her ear.

"Thank you for the compliment, Miah. It makes me very happy to hear that from a cute little thing like you."

I can see her fidgeting as the blush intensifies.

"It would make me even happier to be able to truly show you how overjoyed I am."

I can see her hand slowly approaching my shaft as she stammers out a response.

"I-I would love to help you show me," As she grasps my cock.

Even through the clothes, I feel electricity run up my spine as a bunch of pre-cum juts out from the tip, staining the robe.

I see Miah gasp at that as her eyes seem to take on a new color, the stars changing from these bright whites and blues to a more violet and red.

"~Ah~ Perhaps it would be best to remove our garments lest we dirty them."

I see her absentmindedly nod her head, her concentration on what she's holding.

I take her up in a princess carry as she yelps and place her prone on top of the pelts on the wagon.

I quickly undress, and I see Miah gasp as she lays eyes on my now hard cock. It stretches to a 12-inch length reaching to my breasts.

I enter the wagon, crawling over Miah and grasping her boobs through her clothes. I feel her soft breasts and somehow instantly know it's a C-cup. I massage her as I start laying kisses on her neck. I feel her shiver from excitement and gasp from the sudden contact.

"O-oh f-fuck yeah. M-make me yours, Sophia."

I pause at that. My cock somehow hardening even more. I quickly remove her bra through the shirt and continue undressing her, revealing her naked torso. Her freckles dotting her shoulders like stars, and her nipples hard from arousal.

I whisper into her ear as I bring my hands downward, slowly removing her pants.

"You want it that badly, huh? Couldn't keep yourself from ogling me at every opportunity. How much were you anticipating this? How much did you want me to use my cock and fuck your naughty hole until you were nothing but a slobbering mess?"

"I I-I wanted it so badly. From the moment I saw that thing, I knew I wanted it deep inside myself, how much I wanted it to destroy me, to reach my deepest part and stretch me out to accommodate its size, to mold my pussy to its shape and make me into nothing but a toy for pleasure."

I kiss her, plunging my tongue deep into her mouth, entangling with her own (fuck, she even tastes like stars.)

I continue kissing her while I remove her panties and rub my hand gently across her slit. I can feel how wet she already is as a moan rumbles through her throat. I use one finger to insert it into her pussy and my thumb to gently caress her clit. I feel her shudder with pleasure as I insert one more and begin to stroke her hot tight insides. I can feel more fluid building up as I take my fingers deeper and deeper, using her moans to search for pleasurable spots. Eventually, I have to breathe as I remove myself from Miah's mouth, the saliva connecting our tongues.

"~AAH~" I hear her moan as her insides tighten around my fingers.

I bring my head down to peek at her cunt, and it is absolutely drenched. I remove my fingers slowly, watching as Miah's legs shake from pleasure.

"H-How a-are you s-so g-good. You just fingered me for a few seconds, and I melt?"

I smile brightly and respond.

"Seems like my DR is good for this," I say as I grab her bubbly butt and put my mouth to her snatch to start eating her out.

I hear her scream a moan of pleasure as I move my tongue inside her and use one hand to massage her clit while the other holds her ass. I try to slurp her nectar as best I can (her taste is even stronger down here.), and I can feel her cumming in my mouth.

I continue eating her until my mouth feels sore, and only by then do I stop. When I remove myself from her crotch, I can see her now completely violet star eyes glazed over and an expression of pure pleasure on her face.

I go up to it and give her a gentle kiss, slowly waiting for her to come back from cloud nine. Eventually, I can feel her starting to kiss me back, and I remove my lips from hers.

"H-holy hells, t-that was something."

"Were my services satisfactory?"

"Satisfactory? Sophia, for a moment there, I thought I was dying in the best way possible. It was intense and-"

"That's fantastic to hear, starlight, but aren't you forgetting something?"

I see her freeze, and I let out a soft giggle.

"Don't worry. I enjoyed eating you out immensely. It's just that a certain something is feeling left out."

She turns her gaze downward, and I see her expression change from embarrassment to disbelief as she sees a very angry-looking pulsing twelve-inch cock hovering above her belly.

"P-please be gentle?" she whimpers.

I laugh.

"Of course."

I see a bit of relief wash over her.

"At least to start with," I say as I plunge the tip into her entrance.

I vaguely hear her scream, but my focus is currently on the tight sensation around my cock. I have to force myself to continue in spite of the mind-numbing pleasure I received from just putting the tip as I plunge two more inches inside.

Only ten left.

I push Miah's legs up so that her ankles are behind her head and push two more inches inside. I grab one of her breasts with one hand and use the other to stimulate the clit. I look over to see her face and see an expression of pure ecstasy as she moans.

I push an inch more and feel something impede my progress. I briefly hear Miah hiss from pain, but I instinctively bring a hand to her belly and infuse her into my Domain. I see the pain fade from her expression and be replaced by euphoria.

I continue pushing and eventually break past what I now realize must be her cervix pushing another inch in. However, instead of writhing in agony, I see Miah's eyes roll over, and her tongue hang from her mouth as she drowns in more pleasure. I plunge another two, and I have to stop myself from cumming as her insides spasm and try to milk me as best they can.

Another two, and I am almost completely inside her. I pause and look over at Miahto see if she's okay. After all, I can see the bulge of my penis inside her. As I momentarily stop, I can see Miah slowly coming to me, and I see her look at me and ask.

"I-Is i-it a-all in?"

I grin and push out the last two inches.

"N-now it is," I manage to groan.

I see her cum again as she screams out in pleasure, and as her insides convulse around my member, I am pushed over the edge and start pumping out semen directly into her womb. I feel the energy passing through my body as I am carried through a mind-breaking orgasm (I'm fairly certain actual electricity appeared around my body.). I continue pouring my seed into her with no signs of coming down from this violent ejaculation as I feel my cum filling out her hole and spilling out. At some point, I finish discharging my load into her. I pull out all twelve inches as I see her abdomen slightly inflated from the gallon of seed I put into her. The sensation of pulling out is almost enough to get me going again, but I see that Miah is almost passed out from the many orgasms she just had.

As I pull out my cock and see all of my seed spilling out from her slit, I panic at the prospect I might have gotten her pregnant. That panic is quickly put out by that familiar sensation I had when I put my hand on Miah's belly (which, speaking of it, may have saved my future sexual adventures, I'm fairly certain that there is no way Miah could normally even fit twelve inches inside her.) it seems my DR is indeed extremely useful.

I lay down next to Miah and bring her into my arms, cuddling her (even if it is uncomfortably hot).

Eventually, though, Miah stirs back to consciousness and separates herself from me, complaining it's too hot (in more ways than one).

"Besides, it'll get dark quickly, and by then, we'll have to be ready to depart on our journey."

"We're traveling at night?"

She sits back up and puts on her bra.

"Yeah, it's a way to conserve energy. Mornings are too hot for us to really exert ourselves without risk of dehydration or overheating."

I sigh, having lost the beautiful profile of her sweat-covered boobs.

"Fiiine, but I think there's still something we have to do before we leave."

She tilts her head as she puts her panties back on ( I try not to get an erection at the sight of her undergarments staining from the spilling cum.)

"What's that?"

We got some cultists to interrogate.

Notes:

Thank you, Zhi_Chi, for the kind words in the previous chapter. They really motivated me to push this one faster. As always, feel free to leave any suggestions on what I can improve.

Chapter 5: White Ball

We finish dressing back up and get off the wagon. Outside I can see the sun beginning to set. It seems our little love-making session lasted longer than I had previously thought. This thought brings me to an uncomfortable question. What exactly does this make us? It was pretty spur-of-the-moment and shockingly fast for us to reach that level of intimacy. Perhaps she had just been looking for a way to satisfy her lust, and I happened to be her type, which I guess isn't completely different from what I had been thinking.

I look over at Miah again, and she is certainly something to behold, beautiful eyes, is athletic, has a fun personality, finds me desirable ( and can take a good fucking), which I guess is my type now that I think about it. I try and imagine doing non-lewd lover things with Miah, and I can't help but blush thinking about just spending time with her as l-lovers (what the fuck, I can fuck her into another dimension after just barely meeting her, but fantasizing about holding her hand makes me blush, what the fuck is even my standards?)

I see Miah tilt her head at me, and fuck, I`ve been staring at her too much.

"Uhh, cultists, right! We were talking about interrogating some cultists."

I see her gaze focus on my face for a second (fuck I hope I'm not blushing).

"Yeah, you said you had a plan to make them talk?"

I recompose myself banishing all thoughts of l-lewd hand-holding from my mind, and smile.

"Yes, now that I know what my Domain is, I think I know how to better utilize it."

I see Miah's face turn a shade redder.

"Not that way. I meant in situations that are not the bedroom or, in our case, a wagon."

She turns even redder (and bloody hell, I think I'm never going to be tired of teasing her).

"W-what have you figured out?"

"Well, first of all, you never told me how powerful my Hume levels were, so you tell me if this might be possible for me or not."

She nods.

"Could I make one of them impossibly horny and desperate for release that they have no other option but to answer my questions in the hope I provide it for them?"

I see her pale.

"Wow, uhh, I guess? what was your Hume level again? I was kind of focusing on the fact you had 9 whole titles."

"I think it was written as 100-75, which, now that I think about it have no idea what it means. Is it 100.75?"

"No, the 100 is your maximum Hume level, and 75 is your minimum. It's basically a way to measure your fall of range."

"Fall of range?"

I see her grab the shard that I had previously tossed to the side.

"Your ability to affect reality isn't in at an even range. It slowly falls off until it reaches your max range, at which point it then dips."

I raise my eyebrow at that.

"Wait, so it doesn't just slowly fall off to zero. It falls to a certain level and then falls to zero?"

"It's not exactly universal. There are some people with no fall-off range, but on average, yeah, it's normally how it goes. Also just want to point out that your Hume level never actually drops to zero. It just falls to 50, which is the consensus reality Hume level."

More questions are forming in my head, but they're interrupted as I see Miah raise the shard to her mouth and activate it. I quickly turn away from the holographic screen, not wanting to peek at what I assume to be pretty private information.

"You can look. It was kind of the whole point, really."

"Huh?"

"I just realized that it's not really that fair for me to have seen your sheet and not have shown mine. It kind of feels too onesided, so yeah, you can look."

I slowly turn my head and say to her.

"You really don't have to. It was a necessity that made you have to look at mine. I'm perfectly content not knowing."

I feel two hands forcibly moving my head to look at the sheet.

"Would just look at the bloody thing. It's just going to be easier to explain some concepts I should have explained before."

I close my eyes.

"But it's a breach of privacy! You can just list the things you want to explain, and I'll be fine."

I hear her sigh and then quietly whisper.

"I just feel like it would be unfair, Sophia. Besides, I think we have enough intimacy to share this amount of privacy. I am wrong?"

I have to stop myself from squishing her cheeks from how adorable she just was. Instead, I content myself to hugging her.

"Of course. Though I have to ask Miah, what is currently our level of intimacy?"

I open my eyes to see a Miah in deep thought, and I feel my heart tighten from nervousness.

"I think l-lovers would be too fast, even if we did skip a few bases."

I feel my heart drop at that.

"But! We also passed too many lines to just start our relationship as just acquaintances, so?"

I feel myself smile at that.

"Friends, let's start with being friends."

I see a mischievous grin grow on her face as she whispers.

"With benefits."

I laugh at that, and she giggles with me.

"Alright, alright, that's enough. Look over my sheet, and I'll explain some things."

I let go of her and look over the screen.

Name: Miah Starborn

Titles: Head of AL

Species: Human

Age: 21

Sex: Female

Height: 5'2''

Weight: 48.1 kg

Profession: Unregistered

Balance: Empty

Status

Level: 4

Domain: Tinker

Range: 5 feet

Hume level: 80-60

Strength: 8 (80%)

Dexterity: 12 (75%)

Constitution: 10 (71.4%)

Charisma: 11(73.3%)

Magical Capability: Incapable/50 Mp

"First of all, you can see my Hume level is lower than yours. Mine would be considered slightly above average, while yours would be considered above average. So I think you can probably do what you had in mind. You can probably even skip trying to arouse him the normal way and just use your Domain alone to boost his libido directly."

I breathe a sigh of relief. Hunter was definitely not my type, and neither was the masked dude( I guess I don't have a thing for people who kidnap and try to kill me, who would've thunk.)

"Now, on to the other thing I forgot to mention. Magic."

I can feel myself growing excited at the mere thought; for some reason, I feel a certain familiarity with DR that does not happen with magic. It feels truly like uncharted territory for me.

"Now, while I can't perform magic normally, as you can see from the fact I'm registered as incapable, you may notice I still have magic. That's because magical energy, or mana as we like to call it, is everywhere. It generally gathers around living things, but there are some materials that are known to attract mana. Using these materials, it is possible to create objects capable of producing magic so that even people incapable of producing magic themselves, like me, can channel their mana through and activate magical effects. We call this magitech. I say this because doing magic yourself is not too dissimilar from using an object to do it. You have probably felt it, gathering that energy deep inside your very being, concentrating it onto a point, and transforming that energy into something else, in your case, a bolt of lightning."

"Do you have a magitech with you?"

"Unfortunately, no, I had to sell most of them to fund this expedition, a tale for another time."

She says the last part quickly when she sees me preparing a question.

"As a tangent, by the way, that's the reason some people are incapable. They simply can't convert that mana into something else."

I nod, grasping that familiar sensation etched into my essence. From the looks of it, it has all recovered.

"So what? I can just channel my mana and transform it into anything I want?"

"Yes and no. While you are capable of transforming your mana into different energy or matter, there are still some limitations. Most people have specializations, things that they are really good at transforming. For example, a person can be really effective at converting mana to water, being able to summon massive waves, but suck at making fire, only being capable of producing a small spark."

I try as a test to produce a small fire at my fingertips and feel a slight drain; as the energy is gathered at my fingertips, a bright small white flame forms.

"How much did that drain you?" Miah asks, looking amazed at the flame.

"Not much to start it. I only had to put a small part of my total, though maintaining it is still draining me a tiny bit. If I were to put it into percentages, I would say that to start it, it took around 5%, and to maintain, takes me 0.1% every second or so." In fact, I can feel my mana returning at a pretty similar rate to the drain.

"Then it looks like you got proficiency in flame magic. You should continue testing the various elements during the journey. I can tell you all the ones that have been discovered by the magical community."

I nod, dissipating the flame.

"Now, enough stalling. Let's tease some cultists." I say with a grin.

Miah nods, and we descend upon the prison. The torch that was hanging by the wall has gone out, but I rectify the darkness by creating a ball of white flame on my hand, illuminating the sandstone in a pale light.

We make our way to the cells and are surprised to find no one there.

"W-what, how the hells did they even-" I hear Miah ask incredulously.

I approach the cell where Hunter should be casting a better light upon it. It is completely empty, save for a symbol marked on the sand. It looks like a dot surrounded by three oblates circling the middle dot. Surrounding these three shapes are another three markings. The one above looks like a question mark, the left one looks like a single claw mark, and the right one looks like a line curving in itself. As I stare at the symbol, I feel that familiar headache building in my head.

"Know what this symbol means, Miah?" I say, pointing at it while turning my gaze away from it.

She looks over it and, after a few seconds, responds.

"I don't think I do. It's ringing a few bells, though. I could probably search for it on the shard net. It's really familiar."

I turn over to look over the other cell, but it's the same, empty save for that symbol on the floor (wait, what did she say?)

"I'm sorry. Shard net?"

She looks back at me with surprise on her face.

"Fuck me. Did you forget that too? I mean, it's obvious in hindsight, duh, you forgot about a shard, of cour-"

"Miah, the point."

"Right, right. The shard net is an immaterial space where people with shards can communicate with each other, create their own spaces where they can upload information, or just dick around and post unfunny jokes. It's, I think, the place with the most information on the entire world. (barring very esoteric and secretive knowledge, those are usually found in college libraries or hidden stashes of lowercase f forgotten scholars)."

I somehow am not surprised by that revelation. For some reason, I had just assumed such a thing existed. What I am surprised about, however, is the name.

"Shard net? Why is called Shard net?"

She looks puzzled for a moment before answering me.

"Because it is a link of multiple shards, kind of like a net? And it's only possible to access it using shards?"

I nod at that, still feeling a sense of mild wrongness.

"The way you describe this, it seems this is extremely large. How many people even have shards?"

"Oof, I do not know that off the top of my head. I think it's aroun- Hold on. This is a perfect opportunity for a demonstration."

I see her taking the shard and whispering 'open net' on it. Suddenly the crystal glows, and a holographic screen appears. This time, however, the only thing displayed is a bar with a magnifying glass beside it.

I see Miah tap the bar with her fingers and a series of letters appear beneath the bar. She taps the keys until the question 'How many people have shards?' appears on the bar, she clicks to confirm, and multiple lines of text appear. She clicks the top one with 'How many people own shards worldwide (05/1024)' written.

The screen changes and I can the design of the page is different from the ones before, with a purple and green theme instead of plain white. On the top of the screen, 'University of Septo-Gratia' is written, and beneath that, the title 'How many people have shards?' again.

Miah scrolls the page down too fast for me to accompany, and she suddenly stops, reads a bit, and then deactivates the shard.

"Well, according to a study by the University of Septo-Gratia, it is estimated that 1.4 billion people have shards, or around 80% of the population. The study was conducted a few months ago using the unique SPs (or Shard protocol) of the connected shards."

I pause at that.

"That seems like an excessively high number for something that is lost tech."

She actually nods her head at this.

"Turns out the Forgotten really thought these shards were important. I mean, of the few ruins we found of them, about 30% were factories for these things. It doesn't take too much to put two and two together and reactivate these factories using a bit of reverse engineering. We had plenty of examples. But yeah, I can actually see why the Forgotten placed these things as the highest priority. I honestly couldn't see myself living without one. It's just too damm convenient."

She snaps her fingers.

"Come to think of it. We'll have to buy one for you when we get back to civilization."

I shrug.

"I guess. Though, couldn't I share yours?"

I see her balk at that.

"And have you mess up my algorithm? Noo, thank you, I worked very hard to program it to show me only stuff that is actually relevant."

I shake my head, not actually fully understanding what she said, when I realize we are very much still inside the middle of a dingy prison with no idea how two prisoners got out.

"Miah, I think we lost the thread of the conversation, the symbol; you said you could research about it?"

"Ooh yeah, I knew we were forgetting something. Right, let's do that real quick."

I see her open the Shard net again, and this time, type in 'Encyclopedia of symbols'.

I hear Miah whistle when the page loads.

"Ok, change of plans. This might be a bit slow. Turns out there's a niche for this particular topic, and some people have taken to cataloging symbols very seriously."

I sigh.

"Then let's continue this admittedly interesting research on the wagon, shall we? It does not look like we can surmise any more from this situation than we already have. We should probably be preparing to head out anyway."

She nods, and we make our way back to the wagon. We give the camel water and food as we set ourselves up to depart. The sky above has gone dark, and I can see for the first time since I awoke in that forest, the night sky of Aesir.

It is something to behold, with the curved line now glowing a soft pale light and partially illuminating the sky. Above the line, a white moon partially shattered, with bits of it still drifting close to it. The stars just as impressive as the ones in Miah's eyes, shining bright constellations of different colors, ranging from blue to violet to sometimes even green.

I spend at least five minutes just looking at the sight before me. At some point, Miah decided to join me, leaning on my shoulder.

"You know, I never really asked, but what even is that line cutting across the sky?" I say, turning my gaze to Miah (who, by the way, looks ethereally beautiful with the soft pale light from the line illuminating her tranced expression.).

"It's a ring." She says, and before I can ask her to elaborate, she continues. "After the moon shattered to causes unknown some five hundred years ago, the shards that should've fallen like meteors upon Aesir instead slowed down and entered the planet's orbit, creating a ring around our world. Before you ask, no, we don't know why any of those two things happened."

I nod and go back to observing the night sky, pulling Miah closer to me.

We spend a few minutes there in silence, just appreciating the gorgeous sight. Finally, I hear Miah get up and tap on my shoulder.

"Come on, big girl, we can appreciate the vista while we're moving."

I get up from the sand and join her as we begin our journey northward toward the Mountains of Madness.

...

...

...

Our journey through the deserts of Aker is a boring one. Between having to conserve our energies during the day and at night having to switch watches so we can sleep, we have no opportunity to get intimate and instead spend our time talking.

On the first day, I asked her to explain our destination.

"So what even are the Mountains of Madness? It seems like a very striking title to name a region after."

She looks vaguely disturbed but answers my question.

"The Mountains of Madness are... complicated. Nobody has ever explored the whole of it. The most we got is a rough outline of its borders"

She pauses for a moment before continuing.

"We know that prolonged expeditions tend to fail miserably, with explorers often turning mad, disappearing, or simply turning back, claiming they were too afraid to continue. Of the reports we receive that aren't incoherent mumblings, they claim that staying at the base of the mountains is the safest way to traverse and that venturing too deep into the dizzying heights of the mountain is the quickest way to lose your way."I see her bite her nail at that.

"If we had more supplies, I would have chosen to brave the desert and go eastward, where we wouldn't have to traverse that accursed mountain range. Alas, we still need water and food to survive, and as unpleasant as the Mountains of Madness may be, they, unlike this desert, still have wildlife and streams we can use to survive."

"So I suppose we'll be rushing through that area as fast as possible. If that's the case, will a camel even help us in that type of environment?"

She shakes her head.

"Even if the camel could keep up with us at that type of ground, the animals are the first ones to go mad in these expeditions."

"Mad how?"

"They bite at their owners, refuse to move, and sometimes even self-mutilate when they reach a certain point."

I grimace.

"That type of mad, huh?"

She nods, and we go into an uncomfortable silence.

"Aaaanyways, how's about those magic proficiencies, huh?" She suddenly says.

I know she is doing this to distract me from the fact there's a real possibility we go mad, buuut it's magic! So I do actually get side-tracked by it.

"Ooh yeah, you were going to tell me the elements that were discovered, yeah?"

She nods enthusiastically, likely glad to move on from the gloomy topic.

"Yep! There are like 13-ish main elements, with some esoteric ones still being discovered. The ones we'll be testing today are: Water, Fire, Earth, and Air." She takes a deep breath.

"Ligh, Lightning, Nature, Blood, Necromantic, Space, Gravity, and Time," She says in quick succession.

"The fastest way to see what you are proficient with is just trying it out, so let's get cracking, shall we?"

We spend the next few hours practicing all the different elements, and I found that I am proficient in:

Lightning, Light, Fire, Spatial & Necromantic (Which Miah explained was the element for any magic that related to working directly with life in any way. Like healing magic and the like.)

I also found that I am neutral in:

Water & Air

And that I suck at:

Time, Gravity, Earth, Blood & Nature

"Well, that is a very impressive fucking repertoire, if you'd pardon my Aeginic. Most folks have only one or two proficiencies and are pretty much incapable or neutral on everything else. Now, I did leave some of the more esoteric magical elements, but I think we have a pretty good outline of what kind of mage you should be building towards."

 

I raise my eyebrow at that.

"Like what?"

She claps her hands.

"Well. Typically wizards and sorcerers tend to focus their efforts on what they are most likely to have to work with. For example, a scholar that works in a research branch and is proficient in, let's say... fire magic is not going to want to know how to effectively make the biggest fireball they can. They'll probably focus on how to enchant fire onto objects or how to change the properties of the fires they summon, stuff like that."

As she says this, she stares directly into my eyes.

"Counting on your luck, you'll probably find yourself in all kinds of dangerous situations. So I don't think it'll be very useful for you to dedicate your efforts towards that direction. Instead, try and find ways to more effectively summon lightning or better ways to implement necrotic magic into high-stakes situations since normally it takes a while to manifest that type of magic."

I nod and begin practicing a bolt of electricity in between my fingers.

...

That night I am woken up by Miah shaking me.

"Huh? whazzat?" I ask, still feeling half-asleep.

She just points to a point on the horizon with an expression I can't quite decipher yet. I have to struggle with my eyes to stay open to even see what she was pointing at.

And stood in between dunes of sand is a silvery gleam, focusing on I can see it's the tip of a half-ruined building jutting out of the sand.

I look back at Miah, and the excitement on her face is palpable.

"Sophia, tha-that's a-a Forgotten ruin, holy hells, just what in the fuck is our luck."

I look back at the building, feeling that same headache building, and look back at Miah.

"I suppose you'll want to explore it?" I asked, dreading the migraine I will probably get.

"Do I?!" She rhetorically asks, ignoring the dread in my tone, and at this point, she has already changed courses to where the building is.

I sigh and turn back at the building, but for some reason, the building pain in my head doesn't increase. In fact, I can feel it decreasing. I furrow my brows in interest. Perhaps I can find some answers here.

"Alright, I'm with you."

And I swear I hear her squee with delight.

Notes:

As always, feel free to comment with any thoughts to criticism. I am always open to suggestions.

Chapter 6: 宇宙ステーションのレベル7 Part I

Notes:

I will be splitting this chapter up in two, as I felt it would have been too long otherwise.

As we approach the building, we can better make out its details. Standing at least over 15 feet, it only looks like it's the tip peaking through the sand, with its base increasing in diameter as it progresses downward. It is made of this silvery material that presents no blemishes or smudges, even in the middle of the desert. I can see that at the top, a part of it is missing, likely having fallen on itself.

On my side, I hear Miah continue to squeal in excitement.

"Hold on, hold on. I need to get this recorded." She says while pulling the shard out and whispering 'record' on it.

The shard glows softly but, otherwise, doesn't do anything else. I see Miah then point the shard toward the building with an expression of wonder when a thought pops into my head.

"Wait, was this how you got captured?"

I see her pause.

"Huh?"

"Yeah, you told me last time you found a Forgotten ruin. You just waltzed in there with no regard to possible dangers" I look over her. "Kind of like how you're doing now."

To her credit, she does seem actually ashamed when I point it out.

"U-Uhm. I guess I can get a bit overexcited and ignore some safety protocols here and there, but come on, Sophia. It's a FORGOTTEN Ruin. How can one not get excited by it? Who knows what kind of secrets we'll uncover in a place like this? Ooh, maybe we'll find some never before seen tech that completely revolutionized the modern world, or-or maybe we'll find out how the Forgotten actually disappeared, or-or-"

I snap my fingers in front of her face, interrupting her incoming monologue.

"I get it. Honestly, I do. It's a chance to unearth some pretty world-shaking shit, and I get it. I'm just worried, okay? I don't really want to get kidnapped again, much less let you get kidnapped again, and so I want to make sure we'll be exploring this place with as much caution as possible, okay?"

I see her nod in slight chagrin.

"Ok? Good, now get behind me." I take the lead and hop off the wagon, with Miah following closely behind me.

We search around the base for any signs of previous human activity but find none. It seems this place was somehow not found by those cultists. We also look around for any way to enter the building, but there were no entrances or points of access besides the ruined part at the top.

I see Miah put the shard in her pocket.

"Alright, time for some rope climbing." I see her go back to the wagon and extract a coil of rope from it.

I start nodding but then pause.

"Wait, how are we going to go about putting the rope to the other side? The breach is at least 12 feet high."

She grins back

"Come on! Was that 15 on your str stat just for show? Surely you can throw a rope some 12-odd feet."

"I mean, probably-but that's not the point. How are we supposed to make sure the rope can support us climbing it?"

She shakes her head.

"Tsk-tsk, did you forget my Domain, Sophia? I'm hurt." She says, not looking hurt at all. "I'm a tinker, Sophia. That means this rope ain't just regular rope" She points towards a metal tied to the end of it. "Fucking magnets, how do they even work?" She snorts a laugh but, seeing me not laugh back, stops with an embarrassed cough.

"Sorry, it was a reference to a-you know what doesn't matter. Because you see, the consensus reality is that a magnetized metal will stick to another metal, and so I have altered this magnet here in such a way that it will stick to any metal surface and stay there no matter what, even if it's supporting an impossible amount of weight."

She stands proud with her chest puffed out, looking like she's waiting for me to praise her.

"O-oh Uhm, great, that's brilliant, actually."She smiles, satisfied at that, but I keep going. "It seems you really put a lot of effort into using your Domain to its full potential, and it shows. Like honestly, besides your disregard for your own safety, from the little time I've got to know you, you really seem like a very intelligent and smart woman who can think things through and plan ahead for eventual hardships."

I see her face reddening from my shower of compliments, and I just can't stop myself from continuing.

"And that is to say nothing of how fun you are to be around. Despite your clear intellect, you don't lord over me or snob away from my clear lack of knowledge. You seem genuinely passionate about what you do, and to be honest, your enthusiasm about it gets me excited too. And that is not even mentioning how hot you are, especially when your eyes redden with exci-"

"Ok, ok, ok, I get it!" She manages to stammer out with her face crimson-And as soon as I think that word to describe how red she was, I feel a shudder running through my body. Wait, did I shudder at the word crimson?

I stop teasing her as I start analyzing the feeling I just got from thinking the word 'crimson', Arhg! There it is again. When I start thinking of it, my body just trembles in... fear? Disgust? Anger? It's not a good feeling, that's for sure.

Miah notices how quiet I've gotten.

"Hey, everything alright?"

I shake myself out of the feeling, pushing the word away from my mind.

"Yeah, just peachy. I was just taken aback by how cute you are."

She blushes, but I sense she noticed I wasn't telling the whole truth there.

"U-uhm t-thanks," She shyly says. "But Sophia, if there's anything bothering you, you can tell me. I think we can trust each other at this point, right?" She adds seriously.

I nod, but I still keep what I just experienced to myself. No point in telling her now. Not when I'm not even sure what it is that I'm feeling.

"Of course. Now let me do some practice throws with the rope. I really don't want it to get stuck halfway there."

She nods but looks not entirely convinced by my excuse.

I do actually start doing some test throws, it's not that hard to get the feel for it right, and soon I find myself at the base of this spire-like building winding up my throw.

I fling the rope in an arc, so it doesn't accidentally magnetize halfway through, and I see it flying through the air and passing over the breach. After a moment, I try pulling the rope, but it doesn't budge, seems it's working.

I nod back to Miah, confirming our success, and start climbing up. Miah also starts climbing beneath me as we make our way to the opening. As I reach the top and position myself so that Miah can sit beside me when she arrives, I take a peek at what is inside.

The room is oval in shape, illuminated by the pale light of the ring. I can see the missing part of the building laying there, embedded within the floor. It is surprisingly clean, with only a few piles of sand here and there, not enough to bury the contents of the chamber. There is a large redwood desk opposite to the fallen piece of debris. Behind that desk, I can make out what looks like a dried-up aquarium and a small screen beside it. Before I can spot any more details in the pale light of the night, I hear Miah struggling to pull herself up the last few inches.

I pull her up and sit her so that she is balanced on the ledge.

"Thank yo-What do we have here!" She exclaims mid thanks.

I see her grab her shard and start recording everything. I take the opportunity to start making my way down.

Stepping on the floor of the room, there is a clear metallic sound, and looking around, I can see that mostly everything is made of the same silvery metal, with the exception of these long clear windows on both sides of the room. Looking through, I can see that they overlook the desert and figure they must be oneway only since the outside showed no indication of any windows. Not long after I make it to the bottom, Miah joins me; she seems content in documenting every little part of this ruin.

I make my way to the desk, and it is beautifully smooth, with a simple but effective design that communicates a sense of importance. Tracing my fingers across the surface, I can see that there is no dust or sand covering it. It is impeccably clean. I go to the other side of it and inspect the drawers of it, pulling at the first one on its left side.

Inside it, there is a long rod, about 5 inches, give or take. The middle part has 3 buttons on it, and the top part is slightly engorged. I Press the bottom-most button with a strange sense of familiarity, and the top part of the strange object starts to then vibrate very quickly. Seeing this, I get a head-splitting headache that passes almost as quickly as it arrives. However, as the pain fades, I suddenly know what it is I'm holding, and I smile because this wand can do a lot of "magic." I deactivate it and pocket it inside my pouch.

At this point, Miah has recorded just about everything that there was on the other side of the room and starts making her way to me.

"Sooo, whatcha found?" She asks, peeking over my shoulder.

I show her my empty hands.

"I found something, but it was just a toy. Right now, I'm just checking the other drawers."

I see her ponder for a moment.

"What kind of toy?"

I smile mischievously.

"A fun one."

"I only ask because Forgotten relics are often misleading in what they do. It can be hard to figure out what they were thinking when designing something." She says, looking for where I put the "toy." "Can I see it?"

My smile grows, and I pull out the wand from the pouch, showing it to her.

"Huh, how do you even know this is a toy? It doesn't even loo-" I hear her squeak as I suddenly turn on the wand, and it begins to vibrate.

"It's an "intimate" toy," I say in my best sultry voice.

It works as her face turns crim- red! As her face turns red.

"O-oh, uhh, right. I suppose you'll be holding onto it then."

"Oh, do you perhaps want it for yourself? I did not know you had such base carnal needs, Miah. Was my company not enough to satisfy you?" I ask teasingly.

"N-no, of course n-not, I-I mean, y-yes, you're enough. I don't need the toy, is what I meant." She nervously says.

I let out a small giggle.

"Don't you worry, starlight. I will make sure to give you plenty of experience with it."

I see her freeze at my comment, flushing scarlet.

I almost can't help myself and jump at her, but that would be a bit too hypocritical of me. After all, I did warn her not to let down our guards here. Instead, I settle for just a quick kiss on her lips.

"Later starlight. Let's see what else this desk has to offer. Whoever owned it must have had great taste." I say while licking my lips and savoring the taste.

Miah, on the other hand, seems to have snapped out of her fluster when I mention the chance to find more relics.

"Yeah! Let's do that. But it is also curious that on your first Forgotten ruin, you just so happen to find the first sex toy ever from the Forgotten. Maybe your Domain? But no, your range is only 5 feet. It wouldn't activate that far." While she considers my incredible luck, I take a look at the second drawer.

Inside I find that familiar crystalline octahedron.

"Huh, you were not kidding. I guess they are common. On the plus side, at least I won't have to buy one, right?" I ask while holding the shard.

She stops her mumbling about DRs and coincidences and inspects the shard.

"Well, we'll still need to pay to unlock it since shards found on ruins are always locked. But yeah, I guess we won't have to buy a whole model now." She throws the shard back. "I would say good find, but honestly, it was kind of a given we were going to find at least one here. They really are everywhere."

I pick up the shard and, just for fun, whisper "activate" near it. I don't know what I was expecting but it lighting up and opening my sheet was not it.

Species: Empyrean

Age: [Redacted]

Sex: Intersex

Height: 6'10

Weight: 82.6 kg

Profession: Talun's diplomat

Balance: 250k

Status

Level: 4

Domain: Lust, [Redacted]

Range: 10 feet,[Redacted]

Hume level: 105-80

Strength: 14 (93.3%)

Dexterity: 12 (100%)

Constitution: 17 (85%)

Charisma: 22 (88%)

Magical Capability: Capable/50 Mp

I kind of freeze but then turn to Miah, expecting some explanation.

She looks just as confused, but then some understanding suddenly flashes through her expression.

"Well, that's another point towards our working theory of who you were, and I don't know if I should feel frustrated or elated."

I understand what she's trying to say, but my mind doesn't know how to even approach that particular explanation. Instead, I focus on what she said at the end.

"Why the mixed emotions?"

"Because. If we're right, and all current evidence points to that, then I might have a live specimen of the race I've been chasing shadows of. It's an opportunity to learn so much if the theory is right. But..."

"But?"

"Your memories Sophia, you might be the last living member of a society so advanced they took casual trips to other galaxies, but you remember none of it, and-and I'm afraid the [redacted] registered on your domain might be literal." She says, voice dripping with uncertainty.

My mind is still trying to cope with the fact I might be the "last," but her remark about my second Domain pikes my curiosity.

"What do you mean?"

She looks unsure.

"What I mean is. What if all that redacted stuff wasn't built into the shard? What if it's a real reflection of reality? The shard has no reason to expunge any information after all. What if your Domain is [Redacted], as in your memory, and any information pertaining to your past is made to be forgotten or erased?" But then she quickly adds. "Again, this is all speculation. We only have so much to go on, and I don't actually have any proof regarding this theory."

But it tracks. I remember the voice saying to me that it was my choice to forget. Maybe past me didn't want to remember and made sure to eliminate any chance of that happening.

Miah probably notices my graven expression because she is quick to stammer out a counterpoint.

"B-besides, the timeline doesn't even match. The Forgotten are predicted to have lived thousands of years before us. You don't look a day past twenty."

I nod, but it is hollow. I remember the other part of the voice's speech. Time is convoluted.

Miah definitely notices me turning pale because her expression turns inquisitive.

"Unless you know something I don't?" she says slowly.

I shake my head in denial, but she doesn't look convinced, and for a moment, I notice a quick look of hurt in her eyes. Seeing this, I hang my head and take a deep breath.

"I didn't want to say anything because I wasn't sure if it even happened, or - I don't know, I just felt like I shouldn't share it."

Miah takes a step back.

"Sophia, if it is something you're not comfortable sharing, then I don't mind. It's fine to keep secrets if you want, especially if those secrets are a sensitive subject."

I shake my head.

"No, it's not that. I just- Argh, I don't know, I felt it was unwise to blabber about what I experienced. No more, I trust you. I should not keep this from you just because of a vague feeling I had that hasn't even appeared since. I was not saying the whole truth before. I didn't lose my memories because of the poison. The reason I was lost in that forest was that I had woken up there with no memories." I see her beginning to say something, but I press on. "And that isn't even the whole truth either. I do have some memories, mostly feelings, and instincts, that manifest when I encounter something I had previously known. Before I had woken up, I also remember someone talking to me."

I take a deep breath, and Miah seems to be listening intently.

"The voice was soft and melodious and yet communicated a bottomless sorrow. It spoke to me of events that had started, of me apparently choosing to forget. It spoke of how it had to be this way "less time get more convoluted," and it spoke of how I was somehow special." I lay it all out and feel surprisingly refreshed, with no feeling that I shouldn't have done that or of vague fears

Miah nods and suddenly hugs me.

"I'm sorry you got caught up in what seems to be some pretty weird and serious shit. But know that you made the right choice in telling me this. I will do my best to help you, Sophia, no matter if it's getting your memories back or even settling you down. You saved my life, Sophia. Without you, I would have likely just been captured again by those guys."

I scoff at that.

"You saved my life too, Miah. Without you, I wouldn't have even gotten out of that cell, much less have the chance to get captured again. And that is nothing to say of how much you've already helped me figure out."

She scoffs back.

"Well, then just consider it out of the goodness of my heart and accept my freaking help." She takes a deep breath. "Sophia, I don't want to help you just because you saved my life, though it obviously plays a factor. No, I want to help you because I like you. Maybe not romantically right now, though it's definitely getting there, but I like you as a person to hang around. You praised me before, but that is nothing compared to you."

I open my mouth to retort, but she interrupts me.

"Ababa, I don't want to hear it. I'm praising you now, like it or not. You are... beautiful, and not just your appearance, though I won't deny it is also something of a factor. No, what I mean is that from the admittedly short time I had with you, you seem so ready to trust, to give, to... love. Even after being poisoned, you didn't let that experience taint how you view the world. You saw me for who I really was and decided it was right to trust me. When I'm with you, I feel safe because when danger presents itself, you face it with a calm that inspires and a willingness to protect that seems to grant you strength. You aren't haughty even after knowing the potential you have, and you don't let the shitty situation you find yourself bring you down, do you?"

The blush I feel is defiantly visible, but I ignore it and nod.

"Good, now let me find a hole I can bury myself under." She says as her face erupts in embarrassment.

I stop her from wandering off as I pull her in deeper and bury her in my bosom.

"Thank you." I let her go after a few seconds of enjoying her warmth.

After we separate, there is a moment of awkwardness where neither of us is sure what to say, but that is interrupted by Miah as she claps her hands together.

"Welp, guess we ought to continue our exploration, yeah? Spend more than a minute without getting all sappy and romantic."

I nod and open the last drawer, revealing a stack of papers.

Miah audibly gasps.

"S-Sophia t-thats-that is actual paper. I think I might pass out." She does not look ready to pass out. Quite the opposite, in fact.

"Whoa, what's gotten you so excited? It's just a couple of papers."

She actually looks offended when I say that.

"Just a- JUST A COUPLE OF PAPERS! Sophia, darling, do you have any idea what it is you just said."

"Clearly not."

She ignores me.

"Sophia, the Forgotten didn't USE paper, not that we know of anyway. Thats why we know more about their capabilities than they themselves. They didn't record their lives in any physical media, and well, it's easier to figure out what kind of spaceship they used than what they ate for breakfast when you actually have parts of the spaceship. This is historic, and we should handle it with utmost care." She pulls out her shard and starts recording the papers.

I, for my part, delicately pull the papers out of the drawer and put them on top of the desk.

Most of the letters are faded with time, but there are some papers where we can actually somewhat make out what they say. What's strange is the language. Both me and Miah can perfectly understand it, even though they supposedly lived thousands of years ago. And the little that could be read was sparse and disconnected. The most intact page read:

" The DoMR has been complaining about their supposed lack of funding. I propose------------------------------------. The DoP has seen no success in their testing, and funding for them has proven difficult to support. I know you-------------------------------------------.-----------------------------------------------------------------.-----------------------. The ID Relic remains active, even after several months outside OD. The scientists at DoMR suggest that their MS is similar enough to our own and-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------. They have successfully replicated it, replacing the original Mana engine with a Zero point energy field. This proves that----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------. And lastly, the 6 p.m meeting with Talun over your current "problems" has been postponed since we have found a new--------------------------------------------------------."

And the rest continued in the same vain, repeating these various acronyms with maybe some words in between them. What did pull attention was the only name that was written in the paper, "Talun." 

The same name that was written in my profession.

"Welp, I guess that's another point to the Forgotten theory. But also, this is fascinating. This suggests they knew more about magic than we had previously thought. To be able to imitate mana using some kind of energy requires quite a deep understanding of what you are trying to replace." She says thoughtfully, "The beginning also suggests that the Forgotten had a currency-based society, like ours, and that these acronymed groups depended on funds to continue their research. I cannot begin to tell you how these implications will shake the archeological community!" She concludes excitedly.

I nod absentmindedly, glancing another look over the building. This is not all that there is. I can feel it. There is much more that awaits us down below, and I want to know how everything connects. My sight passes over the debris on the other side of the room and lingers there.

"Hey!" I snap back to reality. "Got another feeling? I've been calling you out a few times now."

I point to the rubble.

"Did we ever check what was beneath that?"

She shrugs

"Didn't really know how. You have seen my strength stat, right?"

Indeed, it looked too much for just the two of us to clear out. I look around the room again, and my gaze stops at the screen beside the aquarium, it is inert, but for some reason, I know it's not supposed to be.

I walk up to it and try pressing my hand against it, to no result.

From beside me, I hear Miah comment.

"Yeah, most of these buildings lost power ages ago. It is rare to find a ruin with still a bit of energy left. I could take a look at it with my Domain if you want, though. Might help us figure something out."

I nod to her, and she begins to inspect the screen. After a few minutes, I see her retreat her hand and breath a sigh.

"It's dead. Whatever was powering this thing stopped doing so a looong long time ago. I could try and alter it using my DR to fix it, but it won't be solving the main issue that that is not receiving energy anymore."

"But theoretically, if you were to fix it, it would just require energy to activate it?"

She shrugs.

"I guess. What? You got an idea?"

I glance at the screen.

"I suppose I do."

Notes:

I will try not to split chapters as much as possible in the future, but for now, I want to maintain a consistent chapter-length for this Arc.

Chapter 7: 宇宙ステーションのレベル7 Part II

"Do you want to share that idea, or am I supposed to be left in the dark here?"

I shake my head in denial. I don`t really know how to explain how I got the idea other than 'it was a feeling I had.'

"Just figuring out how to word this. I assume you'll have to open the panel to fix it, right? Something about how it's easier if you do things as close to consensus reality as possible?"

She nods.

"Well yeah, but how does that help your idea?"

"I think I might be able to use my lightning magic to power the device. However, to do that, I would need to see where the energy comes from."

She does not look convinced.

"We could try, but you would need to power your lightning in a very controlled and specific way. Otherwise, you risk frying the system or not even matching the right voltage. How long could you even maintain that for?"

"Long enough. I only need a short time. Besides, if what I think is true, I only need a small jolt."

It was only a vague feeling I had. But it felt that for what I needed, I only required a small amount of energy.

"You're being really vague here, but alright, not like I have a better idea." She says as she turns to the panel and starts to mess with it.

It takes a while (which Miah blames her lack of tools for) but eventually, the screen is pulled free, and a complex mess of wires and boards is revealed behind. As Miah starts inspecting it, her fingers stop over a melted part of a board, and I can see it morphing in real time to what I presume was its original form.

As Miah turns around, I see that she looks pale.

"What is it? Did it not work?" I ask in a hurry.

She shakes her head.

"It did. I just underestimated how complex what I was restoring was. There was a real chance of things turning unpleasant if I hadn't been lucky." She says, cold sweat on her.

What?

"What?"

She looks unsure for a moment.

"Remember when I said that things can go badly if change reality too much?" I nod. "That could've happened. Turns out that repairing a millennia-old complex piece of high-tech in but a heartbeat with no tools or material is not really how reality is supposed to work. It could've easily blown up on my face or started reverting everything around it or something equally as terrible." I see her tremble a bit at that. "Note to self, don't mess with Forgotten tech unprepared. But it should be working now. You can do your thing. Just be careful. I do not want to test my luck again"

I nod back to her and start gathering the mana at my fingertips, but before I start.

"Can you point out which cable is the one supposed to carry the main power?"

She nods and points to the middle green one.

I put my hand around the cable and transfer small jolts of electricity down the system.

It is harder than I thought to keep the energy at a consistent voltage. Even harder is to not flood the system all at once. I have to consistently keep up the pace and not deviate for a single second using nothing but vague feelings of my mana. It does get easier with time, though. As I finally get the cycle of transferring the mana to my fingertips, transforming it to electricity, and sending it down the cable.

After a few seconds of repeatedly doing this routine, I hear Miah exclaim something.

"Oooh, the screen is turning on, Sophia! It's working. I can see the boot-up sequence starting."

However, I don't get as excited as Miah, as I can feel that my mana pool is already at half and draining rapidly.

"Describe to me any changes. I have to keep concentrating on this!" I say, not turning my attention away from my routine.

"Uhh, there's a spinning circle in the middle, an-Oh wait, the screen just changed. It's showing a bunch of icons. Uhh, there are six icons on it. One is a-"

" Just press the one with a lowercase g on it!" The words leave my mouth before I even recognize what I'm saying, but I have no time to ruminate. Only a quarter left.

"I see it! Alright, I'm pressing it!"

"Oh, and hold on to something, I guess!" I exclaim as I get the feeling things would get unpleasant if we didn't.

"What?!" She says as she presses an icon, and I suddenly feel myself become weightless for a moment before suddenly the weight returns, and I feel the gravity pushing me upward.

I stop channeling my magic down the cable as I turn around and hold Miah with my other arm as gravity begins to pick us up.

I somehow knew something like this would happen, but it is still surprising seeing gravity invert. For some reason, I thought it would be more like zero gravity instead. Whatever, as long as the next part works.

And it does as I see the debris begin falling up and reveal a hole that was beneath it. I inwardly breathe a sigh of relief (I think trusting these hunches that I get from time to time is proving to be the best of my decisions.).

Hanging from my arm and slightly above me, I see Miah screaming both from surprise and joy.

"HOOOLYY SHIIIIT, WHAT IS GOING ON!? This is awesome! But also TERRIFYING! Sophia, explain?!"

"I think it's pretty self-explanatory. You pressed a button, and now gravity is reversed."

"NO SHIT, I meat how you knew this would happen."

I grin.

"I've no idea!"

"WHAT?"

"I just had a feeling something like this would happen. Now, c'mon I imagine you're going to want to explore the rest of this ruin, right?"

I see the small panic on her face gets drowned out by the excitement.

"HELLS YEAH? How is that even a question? Though, how do we even go about it?" She says, still hanging from my arm.

I nod and glance about the room, looking for a way for us to cross through without falling to the ceiling, which is now littered with debris that looks oddly spiky.

The table is weirdly not getting pulled up, so we can try and reach that, but it would still leave us a 10-foot gap of no ledges to the hole. Wait- The rope, if we could reach the rope we used to get here, we could use it to throw it at the hole, and then all we need to do is climb it down, or is it up? Whatever, it still left us with a big gap to jump, seeing as the magnet landed halfway down the opposite wall.

"Hey, Miah, do you have any more trinkets up your sleeve that we can use to get that rope back?"

I see her look up? down? We'll go with up.

"Actually, yeah!"

"Great can-"

"I did leave them on the wagon, though."

I almost bring my hand to my face, but still holding on to our lives and all that.

"WHY?"

"I didn't think it through, ok? I was too preoccupied with the implication of finding a Forgotten Ruin out here."

"Whatever, that leaves just one option... and I don't think you'll like it."

I hear her sigh.

"Don't tell me." She says in a tired voice. "You're going to have to throw me."

"Yup."

"Sharp rocks at the bottom? Top? Whatever?"

"It's certainly a risk."

She sighs again.

"Bring it."

I'm actually a bit taken aback by her brazen attitude.

"Alright, good, because I don't think I could hold for much longer, so listen up. On the count of three, I'm going to throw you with a swinging momentum, and while I'm not that good at it, I'll also summon a wind to push you with air magic."

I pause, waiting for her reaction, but it her face seems focused on the rope.

"I need you to grab that rope and slide down it till you're outside, from there you can go back to the wagon, grab what you need, climb back, retrieve the rope and throw it up the hole, then all you need we need to do is climb down."

"That's solid enough, problem is. What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Can you even hold for however long it'll take me to do all that? Moreover, how will you get to the hole yourself? You're just going to swing yourself?"

"Uhhh, yeah? It should be actually easier than swinging you, at least." Besides, I felt oddly confident I wasn`t going to fall to my death here.

Miah grimaces but eventually nods.

"If you're certain." I see her take a deep breath. "Let's do this."

I start swinging (thank fuck that the Forgotten used study cables, by the way.), building momentum and, at the same time, building what leftover mana I had in the hand I am holding Miah with, picturing a hard wind pushing her to the rope. As I feel the magic start to coalesce into form, I throw Miah with everything I have and see her being pushed by an invisible force as the wind I conjured carries her over to the other side of the room, easily placing her well within the reach of the rope.

I breathe a sigh of relief when I see Miah successfully grab the rope and not let go, and I grin when I see her raise a thumbs up as she then begins descending, opening space for me to grab the rope.

I don't have much time to observe her, though, as I feel my grip loosening on the cable. I have to make a play sooner than later. I gather the last remaining vestiges of my mana and focus them around my own body, it would take too much force to keep me up with only the wind, but it's easy enough to create a force behind me. I, at the same time, start swinging myself to create as much momentum as possible, and right at the peak of a swing, I let go and blast a current of air to push me forward, carrying me just barely within the grasp of the rope as I grab it with all I have.

I quickly start sliding down the rope to reach the breach and almost fall off from the disorientation of switching to normal gravity again as I sit on the ledge, sweating bullets from the magical and physical exertion. At this point, my mana is bottomed out and only just slowly recovering. By the looks of it, it'll take an hour or two before I can even throw another spell out.

As I'm catching my breath, I see Miah making her way to the wagon and elect the time it will take her to get back up to rest.

It doesn't take her too long for her to get back up with me, but by then, I had mostly caught my breath and was already helping her sit up on the ledge.

"Phew, ok, that was intense." She says in between her ragged breaths." Do you think this gravity thing will last long enough for us to take a rest? What with your sudden familiarity with Forgotten technology."

"Probably not. Even if it did, aren't we running on a tight schedule?" I ask her, remembering our very limited water and rations.

"Ehh, you're probably right on both fronts, but we can probably spare half a day, or so we should be getting close to the Mountains in a few days from now. "

I pause to think for a moment, but ironically the safest thing to do right now (if we want to explore this ruin at all, that is.) is to rush ahead and try to finish it as fast as possible.

"I don't want to take that gamble. Here we at least have some agency on our survival, dying because we couldn't reach the Mountains in time and we dehydrated." I finally say after a moment.

"Alright, I just wanted to play devil's advocate there. I really don't want to wait to explore this ruin either." She says, having stopped panting from exhaustion. " Right, let's get this going then, shall we?" She declares, pulling out a round metallic disc from her pocket.

Before I can ask, she points the disc to the magnet stuck to the silvery wall, and I see it just drop, taking the rope with it a few feet up to us as Miah swiftly grabs it with her free hand and then points the other side of the disc on her other hand to the metal.

"There you go, should be magnetized again." She says with a grin. " Up for another throw?" She says while offering me the rope. I take it and begin preparing my throw.  "Do remember that gravity is acting against you here. Treat it as if you were throwing it straight up." I nod, focusing on the hole as I fling the rope, seeing it slightly slow down upon entering the reversed gravity area but maintaining enough velocity to make it to the edge.

I hear Miah clapping in excitement as I inwardly celebrate making it first try. Wordlessly I call out for Miah to follow as I begin climbing the rope down.

I almost throw up again as I feel the pressure change as I pass through whatever limit keeps the reversed gravity contained and begin climbing up to the hole.

It's relatively easy enough to get there, but as I peer down the edge of it, I can't see anything.

Beneath me, I hear Miah vaguely mumble something about 'light', and I try to activate a simple light above my head and am pleasantly surprised when it actually goes through, as a bright white ball of light materializes from thin air.

Huh, well, apparently, I'm really good at light magic because that consumed nothing. Like, that actually consumed nothing from my mana pool... huh...

Questions for later.

The light above me illuminates a deep chasm of which I can barely see the top of, though, looking closely, the bottom looks broken off, like a wall is blocking the way up.

Along the walls of this shaft, I can see openings on it, each standing about 11 feet from each other and opposite to them, large faded-out numbers descending from 69 downwards, likely a way to mark the floors, which, if true indicates 70 floors on this building, if we were including the one we are standing on.

The one directly above me, the 69th floor, is a bit closer than the others, only about 7 feet away, but it is still too far for me to jump it, and from this position, it would be impossible for us to throw the rope further.

"Crapbaskests. Miah, I don't see a way for us to continue, not until my mana recovers, that is. Do you have any ideas?"

I see her think for a moment, looking over the chasm.

"Hmm, maybe if I stood on your shoulders and jumped from there, I could do it. Think you can handle it?"

"Eh, you're light enough. I think I could do it. What about the other floors, though? I don't think we'll be able to continue doing that from there."

I see her shrug.

"We got this far. I'm sure we'll figure it out late. Right now, let's do what we can." She says as she begins climbing up my body.

It is as I predicted. She is light enough that it barely feels any different from just normally hanging on to the rope, and as she stands on my shoulders, I ask.

"Think you can make it?"

"Oh yeah, piece of cake." She haughtily declares as I feel her jumping off my shoulders and see her pulling herself up the ledge to the 69th floor.

After a moment, I see her again peering out as she extends her arms as far out as she can. I take the hint and extend my own to grab her, and with both our efforts combined, she manages to pull me up the ledge.

We spend at least 15 seconds just laying here, sprawled out.

"You know, we should really invest in some cardio, maybe even practice rock climbing, because holy shit, this is a workout," Miah says, panting.

I, on the other hand, feel mostly fine. After the 15-second break, I feel ready to go on.

"How come you haven't done that before? I thought your line of business would at least require some preparedness in terms of fitness."

At that, she sits up and looks away.

"Weeell... I might not technically be in the business of unearthing lost Ruins?"

I sit back up and look directly at her face.

"What... do... you mean by that?"

She tries and fails to meet my eyes as she stammers out a response.

"This... might be the first time I actually practiced any kind of fieldwork."

My brain kinda fails to process that for a second.

"WHAT!? Wh-HOW-WHY?" I ask in disbelief.

"It just kind of happened?" She shrugs and, seeing me not calming down, adds. "You have to understand, ruin hunting, especially Forgotten ruin hunting, is not usually done on this side of Aker, so I thought that a quick expedition through those parts would be minimal risk, maximum reward. I didn't even have to necessarily venture deep into Aker. I just had to take some more esoteric routes."

I hold my temple in honest incredulity.

"So, let me get this straight. You, with no prior experience, to tomb raiding-"

"Hey! I did read a lot about them."

"With no prior PRACTICAL experience to tomb raiding." I add, " Decided to ALONE, go to uncharted routes and search for an- and forgive me if I'm mistaken- known to be elusive races ruins, in the hopes that you would stumble into one, and with no-for fucks sake, you explore it ALONE. Did I get that right?"

By the end of my tirade, Miah looks positively mortified.

"ye-yes?"

I unconsciously let out a groan of frustration.

"I am never letting you out of my sight."

"It did kind of work out." She quickly adds in a whisper I am sure was not meant for me to hear.

"Only because you were unbelievably lucky and had enough of a brain to capitalize on it. Now come on, we are still not out of the frying pan." I say, turning to the room we worked so hard to get in.

It is a bit weird making sense of it, seeing as we are standing on the roof with the floor above us, but it looks like the flooring is this lowered circle made of a pale golden material. In the center of this circle, there is another smaller one with a small clear square embedded within it; on it, I can see a weak purple-ish glow and a white one as well. These lights are separated from one another by a diagonal line made from the same pale gold material as the floor. On the roof we are standing on, there is another circle, this one raised, and on it, a glowing purple drawing of a tower with an arrow above it, pointing up. Above this circle is a series of arrows pointing toward another glowing drawing, one of a circular structure with lines inside it forming almost an "H". The raised circle appears to be spinning clockwise, turning the drawing of the tower with the arrow with it.

Seeing this, I get that feeling of the coming headache, but it never arrives. Instead, the feeling simply washes through me, and I am left with nothing, not even a hunch of what this could possibly be.

I direct the light above my head deeper into the room, positioning it right in the middle of the chamber, right below the glowing lights on the floor, trying to see if there is anything else in the room.

But as I look around, this truly seems to be all there is.

"Sooo, got any feelings or hunches about what this might be? Because honestly, I'm kind of stumped. This looks nothing like any of the ruins I read about." Miah asks after fiddling with the raised dais for a bit.

I shake my head

"Afraid not. Though, I got the feeling I should."

She tilts her head at that.

"What do you mean?"

"It's just that normally when I get these "hunches," they're accompanied by a head-splitting migraine, and I felt one approaching earlier, but it then just went away. I dunno. This all seems very arbitrary, on what I can and cannot "feel out"."

She shrugs.

"So are a lot of things in this world. I'm sure there are reasons behind it all. We just need to keep searching." She says with an undecipherable expression, like a mix of longing and hope.

I nod but then freeze, noticing that the raised circle is getting close to lining up the tower arrow with the other arrows, and before I can warn Miah to take a step back, something weird happens.

The light that I put in the middle is suddenly engulfed by a sphere of darkness that seems to bend space around it. For a moment, it looks like this light is at a thousand places at once, like it is being refracted by the sphere, and the other it is gone, and so is the black sphere.

Before I can react to the fact, I, for a moment, felt the light I had summoned be thousands of miles away from me. The raised circle suddenly clicks, and I see the arrows line up perfectly, and as it does, I see that sphere of blackness and bent space appear again. This time, however, it is expanding at an alarmingly fast rate.

As fast as I can, I grab Miah's arm and try to jump away from this expanding black hole. It is in vain. As I try to jump away, my perception of the world fractures, and I see Miah's arm stretching to an impossible size, and soon my arm that I am using to hold her stretches as well as space seemingly bends around us, and I am engulfed by the sphere and see...nothing.

And then I see space bend away again, and the sphere shrinks away, letting us out of it, and for a second, I feel myself falling, and then I hit my head on the floor.

"Owww," I hear Miah groan out beside me as I rapidly get up and look for the shrinking sphere seeing eventually disappear into the center of the room... a room that I do not recognize.

The lowered golden circle is the same, but as I look around, the rest of the room isn't. For starters, the walls form a circle around us instead of the previous square room we were in. Embedded in them are also these spinning circles with the same drawing of a circular structure with an "H" in the middle and an arrow above it. Above them are different designs of tower-like structures, all with arrows pointing up to them. There are five of them total surrounding us. They all look to be asynchronous, and not one has their arrows lined up with the drawings above them.

This, however, is not what catches my eye; no, that goes to the glass above us that overlooks the magnificence of a mostly blue planet with a pale ring surrounding it with the colorful cosmos behind it.

I vaguely hear Miah hyperventilating beside me, but that is drawn out by just how beautiful it all looks, how I can see the sunlight slowly peeking over the edge of the planet, how the planet itself slowly spins with a continuous and practiced speed, how the stars in all their hues serve as the perfect backdrop for it all, how I can see the ring in all it's glory and how beautifully it captures the light of the peeking sun, how BLUE it all looks with the continents I can see being such a small part of it all, and just how these continents diverse.

A part of one is made up of four colors, a brilliant blue, different from the ocean in that it shines like a sapphire, a sizzling red that gleams like ruby, a crystalline green that dazzles like an emerald, and one that shimmers like a diamond, clear and glass-like.

Another part of the same continent and one that is significantly bigger, however, is covered in a desolate yellow; near its edges, I can see other colors joining in, but almost 40% of the continent is just this bright yellow, and I have to stop looking at it all as I am overcome with nausea and a profound sense of... something.

I take this moment off to look around the room again and see that there is a metallic door opposite us, I turn to signal Miah of it, but as I look towards her, I am enraptured by her expression.

The first thing I notice are tears in her eyes, not from the sadness. I don't think, no, by the look in her eyes, these are tears of joy. She looks bewitched by the scene above us and has raised her hand toward the glass almost longingly.

I am unconsciously drawn closer to her. There is just something enchanting about the unfiltered look of pure joy and awe that attracts me, and suddenly I find myself beside her, with the courage to look again.

This time I glaze over the barren yellow and focus on the other continent. This one is smaller than the other and is separated into four different islands, the largest of them just a fraction of the size of the yellow. They are southeast-bound and not that far away from the main continent.

I turn over to look at the main continent again, noting that the gleaming colorful part of it is directly south of the yellow. North of it, there is white, likely snow and ice. West is the blueness of the ocean, and east is divided into many more colors, these ones more muted than the one's southwest but much more varied.

I suddenly feel Miah leaning against me as we watch Aesir slowly spin.

Notes:

Apologies for the delay. Even after splitting this chapter twice, I could not cover all that I wanted. The next chapter will come sooner. As always, feel free to comment with any suggestions.

Chapter 8: Murders

After a few minutes of just observing Aesir spin away, I feel Miah suck in a breath, and for the first time since we got here, I see her actually look around the room we find ourselves in, though I still catch her gaze wandering back to the viewing window.

I see the unbridled excitement and joy in her face, only somewhat drowned by an underlying confusion, and... and there is no way I am getting all of that just from looking at her face... I take a moment to really look at her expressions, and, sure if I squint hard enough, I can make out how her eyes briefly betray that look of unbridled enthusiasm. Still, it is a very slight thing, one I certainly didn't catch while I was half paying attention to her and the elephant in the room, that being that we are in SPACE. So the question is, how did I know what she was feeling? And why is that confusion bleeding away to one of embarrassment and slight lust-have I been staring for too long? Shit! Quick, say something smooth-

"Glad to know that the real stars are just as beautiful as the ones in your eye, though I must say I prefer the way yours changes to such a desirable violet when you get flustered."

Nice, I didn't screw up too badly. It could've been better, true, but what can you do with only- why is the confusion back? Crap, did I say something stupid? Or insensitive? Maybe her culture places too great an importance on the stars, and what I said was blasphemy? Or maybe-

"My eyes don't change color." Miah interrupts my spiraling thoughts.

Huh?

"What? No, they do. I may have been a bit drunk on lust, but I wouldn't forget how alluring it was to see them turn redder and redder." I say, confused by what she means and, by the looks of it, also confusing her more.

"No. They don't." She insists.

And before I can refute her, after all, I am positive I saw them turn another color, she suddenly points to a point in the sky, slightly to the right of Aesir, and says-

"See that cluster of purple and blue stars. The one with eight stars in an almost-circle, and the two just to the side."

It takes me a few seconds to identify what she means, but soon enough, I do spot it and nod. She, seeing me nod, moves her pointed finger just slightly to the right.

"And that one with the twelve stars in a spiral shape," She continues, and following her finger, I do spot it.

She then points to her eyes, and I can suddenly see the point she is making.

"The stars in my eyes aren't just an illusion or a random collection of fragmented irises. They are a literal reflection of real stars, more specifically, the Spirae cluster for my left eye and the Miah cluster for my right one. I.e., they are mostly static, with only the tiniest bit of movement or change indicating a massive cosmological event, and the stars in those clusters are all quite young, so unless something was happening to those stars, the real ones, they would not change, much less turn an entirely different color, and much much less reverting that change."

"Right. That's actually awesome and a cool way to get a name, but I am a hundred percent sure I saw your eyes change color. It was very noticeable, and it stayed like that through the whole... act. Shit, we can even re-crea...te, it... I mean, only if you're up to it, that is." I say whilst feeling my face burning from the insinuation. Come on, where was that confidence I had earlier today? I know for a fact she's into me. She made it very clear during the act, and we both had fun with it, so why am I suddenly feeling nervous now?!

She doesn't respond immediately, which might as well be adding liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen for what she is doing to my face... huh, where did that analogy come from? I am stopped from pondering on the nature of my thoughts as Miah finally answers.

"Maybe, but we'll need video evidence to confirm it's not a quirk made up from your domain that makes you see color where there is not; also, we may need to confirm if it affects other states of emotion, as well as see how fast the reaction happens and how long it lasts; also we need to do simultaneously be observing the actual real stars to see if it affects them or if this 'thing' you observed only affects at a local level, i.e., disrupting the link that provides a real-time reflection of the stars as we observe them, though that might well prove tricky since the change might actually happen but take too long for the light of the color to travel to Aesir, as well as-"

I interrupt Miah, who is saying all of that with a plain face, practically ignoring the fact she just suggested we film a sex tape and then watch it for any discrepancies.

"T-that sounds all well and good, more than good in fact, but I think we should discuss our next sexual/scientific encounter when we have a solid plan on what we are doing. Cause while this viewing platform is amazing in its own right, we still don't know the exact nature of our situation. I mean, for all we know, the oxygen we are breathing was only the one that was carried through by the portal, and we are, in fact, about to run out of it."

She kind of shrugs at that.

"Not as big a problem for me, but I see your point, and before you ask why it's not a problem. It's because Planarkin, of my nature, don't actually need air to survive. We were made for living in a vacuum, which I can explain later since we don't know if 'Empyrians' have the same capabilities or not, and I'm not sure you want to find out in these circumstances."

I nod absentmindedly since I am still reeling a bit at the fact that Miah apparently doesn't need to breathe... the possibilities. Anyways I shake myself out of such perverted thinking (which is something I find myself having to do more often than I'd like) and actually really take a look at the room we found ourselves translocated to.

Besides the spinning dials, the room is similarly barren to the one in the tower we were in before, with only the glowing lights of the dials revealing a slit in the otherwise smooth silvery walls of this chamber, symbolizing a door there.

The dials themselves, though, are interesting, each with their own unique drawings above them, and all of them asynchronous in the position of their spin.

The one closest to aligning the arrows depicts a twisted tower with a spiral pattern emblazoned on its side. By the speed of the dial and how far away it is from aligning, I'd guess this was 20 minutes away from lining up and presumably teleporting us to this tower.

On the other end, the dial furthest away from aligning is one with an etching of a smooth tower that widens as it gets closer to the bottom, its design reminding me of the tower we were exploring if it was intact. I'd guess it would take 1-2 hours for it to align again, seeing as the arrows are just barely misaligned.

"Alright, I guess this station is some kind of connection port to make teleporting to these locations possible or easier? Whatever, the point is if it is working correctly, and it should, seeing as we just used it, we'll only have to wait 20 minutes to get out and 1.5 hours if we want to go back to where we came." I say, breathing a sigh of relief that we aren't trapped here.

Turning to look at Miah, I see her nod absentmindedly while frowning at her shard interface.

"Hey Sophia, try checking your shard, I was preparing to start recording, but I got a weird notification. Can you see if yours did too?"

Unsure of what she means, I obey, pulling my shard and whispering the command for activation, and as the screen lights up into a now familiar sight of my sheet.

"Umm, not really, just showing my sheet as of now; why? What does your show?"

Instead of answering just turns the shard floating beside her, making the screen turn with it, and in the display, there is a small square above her sheet saying:

Would you like to connect to 'local transportation station #IDCR001'

YES                          NO

I furrow my eyebrows at that, not only for the oddity of whatever this means but also at the repeat of that acronym 'IDCR' and the slight headache that's building into something fiercer the more I think about it, so fierce in fact that I fail to notice Miah trying to pull my attention until she snaps her fingers in front of my eyes.

"Oh, finally got your attention back. You doing alright?"

I take a moment to shake my head, free of whatever I was thinking.

"Yeah, just had a reaction to that acronym. Seems like another lost memory."

She nods thoughtfully.

"I think it's pretty fair to say you had some major connections to this branch of the forgotten we have found. The question now is how?" She shakes her head, likely trying to banish this line of thinking lest she starts wildly speculating on something we can likely find out, should we keep exploring (again, now way I got all of that just from her shaking her head, there's gotta be something more to this, probably my Domain acting up, gotta talk to Miah about it later).

"Not the point. As I was trying to say, you think we should accept?" She asks me, though I can see she has already made up her mind. The look she is giving that screen is not subtle, I gotta say.

"Might as well, can't really think of a reason not to."

And practically the nanosecond, I confirm she presses 'YES' on the screen, and almost anticlimactically, the screen just disappears.

A beat passes.

"Well, guess that's that," I say to a more than slightly annoyed Miah.

She shakes her head.

"No way, that's all. There's probably some command that is unlocked or some way to see what that connection means. Just gotta find the right command word."

"So what, you planning just to try to guess what it is?"

"If need be." She says now, bringing the shard close to her and whispering words to it.

"Miah, that could take hours, and we don't even know if it unlocked anything; I mean, besides the acronym, my memory isn't even reacting to anything." And it isn't, though that by itself is also weird.

Miah stops whispering for a moment and looks up at me.

"Tinker instinct, my domain is telling me this unlocked something." She says, looking oddly certain.

"Huh...ok-didn't know domains could do that."

"Do what?" She says in between whispers of more and more esoteric words.

"Y'know, act passively. I thought you needed to activate it consciously, like magic," I say, trying to put my incongruity into words.

"Hmm, quite the opposite, in fact."

"Huh?"

"Look, I didn't exactly major in DR research, but from what I know, most, if not all, Domains are mostly passive-Like take, for example, my Domain. I don't just suddenly activate it when confronted with technology; it's always on. It's extremely hard to describe, but from what I've heard, Domains quite literally warp your perception of the world to make it so you are in line with them, so for me, I get these hunches about devices, and I can then derive how they work from these hunches. Of course, there is also the conscious part of the Domain, one also has to be creative in how to use them-Think of it like this, your Domain makes it easier for you to come up with ideas to better use it, of course not consciously, more like it's simply giving you another perspective on reality parallel to your own... Basically, Domains are passive until you think about them and how to use them." She finishes up with a face that just screams satisfaction on a job well done and goes right back to whispering.

But, huh, so maybe I was right then. These insights are my Domain acting up. Then what else has my Domain provided that I was unaware of? Maybe... no.

"Hey, Miah, is there a way to turn your Domain off?" I ask, feeling dread built.

"Uuuh, not by yourself, I don't think, unless your domain allows for you to control in both directions, that is. Why?"

"What do you mean by that?" I ask, ignoring the question.

"Well, some domains let you control reality in both ways, i.e., creating and destroying. For example, let's say a guy had a... I dunno- a rain Domain, and for the sake of the thought experiment, let's also assume he has a big enough range to reach the skies. A person with that type Domain-I can't recall the exact names of the types of DR, so let's name it an environment type Domain-anyway, a person with that type can either create a new storm or rain from scratch, as well as modify it to their liking, but they can also erase existing storms and things that relate to rain, like water. My Domain only allows for creating. I can't really unmake stuff, as it were." She casually explains while pausing occasionally to whisper a word.

"So if I were to try this-" I say while reaching deep into myself and imagining my lust evaporating.

And, aside from being able to look into Miah's eyes without slightly blushing or not really feeling much of anything while gazing at her body, nothing changes.

"Uh, try what?" She says, puzzlement creeping into her expression.

I take a deep breath and, with fear leaking into my voice, relay my worries to her.

"I'm trying to figure out if I accidentally made you sexually want me with my Domain or, worse, coerced you into sex with it."

"Oh, well, that's easy then. No, Sophia, I was not mind controlled into having sexual relations with you." She says with ease.

"Wuh, I mean, how would you know? If you were-"

Halfway into my speech, Miah simply walks back a good 8 feet back.

"Yep, still feel like you are the most gorgeous girl in the world and still would've tapped that given the chance. So there you go, not mind controlled, lest you forget your range is only 5 feet." She says as she walks back. "Though you do bring up a good point about Domains and their dangers, especially ones that affect the emotional, there is actually a method to determining if your mind has been compromised."

I'm still a bit stunned by her blasé attitude, but I quickly shake my head and ask her-

"And what would that method be?"

"It comes down to paying really close attention to yourself. If you notice something odd or dissonance with the way you expect reality to play, you should use your past experiences as a comparison point, and from there, if you can discern any inconsistencies, you should then figure out if it is your rationale or your emotions that are being played with, if one is compromised use the other, and if both are jeopardized, just try to remain calm and not make any decisions."

"So what, if I notice my mind being played with, I just do nothing?"

She shrugs

"Kind of. In the best-case scenario, you have a buddy that can help you out of the controller range or, better yet, deal with the controller themselves. If you were to act while compromised, you could easily be made to act opposite to your interest, like, say, attacking your pre-aforementioned buddy."

"And what if you don't have a buddy?"

"Then you're fucked. You're best off waiting until your controller somehow fucks it up and lets you out of their range, then get as far away from them as possible and try to get more people involved."

"Huh, okay, is this really common knowledge? Because that sounds like a scary world if it needs to be."

"Meh, kind of. I mean, controllers aren't really common in the types of Domains that exist, but I think even if they didn't exist, I feel like it would still be common knowledge to not walk alone in places you don't know or not to let a stranger approach your personal space, though even without that I agree, it is a scary world, but-" Miah turns to the viewing window" It's also really pretty."

I nod.

"Woah, that was a tangent and a half, I mean, it was stuff that you should know, and I was bound to explain it to you anyway, but don't distract me again. I really gotta figure out what the deal with the connection is, and we have limited time as is."

"Oh, so we're taking the first teleporter out."

"Yeah, as much as I would love to stay and explore every literal nook and cranny, we still don't know if it's actually safe here, and also, we don't have any food or water, so..."

"Yeah, I get it. I agree. Well, as long as you are figuring the deal with that shard, I guess I'll take a look around and see if anything pops up."

"Hmm" She just hums in approval, going back to her routine. I take it as my sign to go off and explore. I take another look at the spinning dials, and if I'm not wrong in my estimation, the spiral tower is still about 10 minutes-ish away. Going to the opposite side of the room, I start making my way to what I think is a door, paying close attention to the complex patterns the golden flooring is made out of, so much so that I almost don't notice the slight buzz my shard makes when I approach the door.

Alarmed at the suddenness of the event, I almost drop the shard as I pull it out of my pocket (though seeing it immediately float from my hand, perhaps it wouldn't have mattered anyways.) The shard then projects a screen with just the word "OPEN" written in it.

"Well, that was fast," I murmur to myself, then out loud, I say to Miah, "Hey, Miah, I got a screen projecting the word 'open' here. I feel like we should check it out before we teleport out."

By the time I turn around to face her, she's already by my side, practically salivating at the opportunity, though that is somewhat cut short by the surprise of seeing her shard also float and display the word 'open.'

"Oh. Oh, fuck off." She says equal parts annoyed and still somehow maintaining her excitement.

"What, got something in your tinker sense," I ask, confused.

"Ok, first of all, how did you figure out what I internally call my Domain vision, second of all, no, the opposite, actually. This is what the connection unlocks, or rather the connection allows for one's shard to interact with the station's commands."

"Ah, yeah, that's unfortunate, but hey least we have more to explore, right?"

"Quite, and seeing as there is no warning of any kind about opening this door, I don't think we have to worry about it leading to the vacuum of space."

"Uhm, I guess you're right, but it somehow feels like you jinxed us, so if you don't mind, I'd prefer to have something tying me down to the station."

"And I'd be happy to oblige, but unfortunately, we left our rope back at the tower, so unless ya magic's back, I'd recommend you stay far away from the door, and in case it does open to the vacuum, I immediately close it, and don't worry about me being sucked off, still a Space Planarkin, we were made for this environment."

"Hmm, alright, sounds fair, though just for your information, my mana's like 10% percent back," I say, grabbing the floating shard and making my way to the opposite wall.

When I do, I give her a thumbs up, and she returns it quickly and even quicker. She presses on the screen.

The door opens, and it's hard to see through from here, but the other side looks dark, not space dark, so that's the vacuum theory out, but still darker than the room we are on, so much so that I can't exactly make out what it is that makes Miah take a step back.

I seeing the look of shock that Miah sports, sprint to her and am greeted by a strange sight.

A forest, more specifically, a pine forest of the biggest trees I have ever seen, stretching as high as 300, maybe 400 feet. And as I crane my head up, I see an ever stranger sight.

A sky, one in what looks to be twilight, but even still a sky with stars and- two moons?

I look back at Miah, hoping for an explanation, though by the looks on her face, this place does not bode well.

"Sooo, what the fuck?"

I see Miah gulp and look at me with genuine terror.

"I-I this can't-" She takes a breath to calm herself, and I can see her features slightly relax "This is the Plane of Twilight, a realm that can sometimes connect to the material in high Hume areas where reality splinters."

I nod at that.

"Ok, I somewhat understand the why, but that doesn't really answer what I was going for. What exactly is it, and why does it scare you?"

She takes another breath.

"Because the other name of this plane is the Faewyld, and if you know anything about the Fae, it is that they only care about fulfilling whatever dark and twisted desire that they call fun and what they enjoy most of all in inflicting this 'fun' on those not native to this realm. This is a place of roving madness and dark debauchery where one cannot trust a single word or thought that greets them there."

And almost perfectly synchronized with the end of Miah's speech, the ground in which we are standing stretches so fast that we are knocked down because of it and, worse, dragged by it deeper into the forest until we are greeted by a most disturbing scene.

In front of us is a clearing with Ghostlight hanging by the trees just outside it; inside, strewn about and hanging by invisible strings, are skeletons, all naked and bleached white, and most importantly, all of them possessing these wings made of blue light that jut out from the backs and stretch a wingspan of at least 12 feet.

All of them are stuck in positions that indicate fear and submission, except for two in the very middle of the clearing that are stuck in a handhold and, with their free hands, are projecting some sort of blue dome around them and a broken crown made of this gleaming silver material in the ground.

And before either of us can react to this eldrich and grim sight, all of the skeletons, save for the two in the middle, turn their empty gaze upon us, boring into what feels like our very souls, then before I can even figure out the strange feeling of mourning and sadness that fell upon me, their gaze turns upwards, and following it I see descending from the canopy of these colossal trees a ball of light, big as myself. It descends quietly and with surprising velocity until it stops just above these floating skeletons, which all have their heads locked into staring at this light.

The ball somehow grows brighter, and with a sickening pop, I see an arm come out of one of the closer skeletons to the ball as it flies to the ball like it was magnetized. And then, another, and another, and then it's not just their arms but also their legs, their heads, their whole bodies encircling this ball and shaping it to a most terrible form.

When the process is finished after what feels like an eternity but is most likely seconds, a beast falls to the ground. With connecting limbs forming eight horse-like legs and ribs and skulls encasing the light in what looks like an approximation of a horse's torso, the most macabre sight is the head, made of two whole bodies fused together to make it seem like the legs are elk horns, their wings fangs and their torso the mouth.

This abomination turns its twisted head to us, and I feel its ill intent oozing out of its borrowed skull, its light filling the sockets in a most vile radiance.

Something about that snaps me out of my daze, and I look back to see how far the door to the station is, and I'm filled with dread as the light from the door seems little more than a pinprick in the distance, too far for us to run to.

I turn back to the beast and see that it is approaching us, their sadism somehow so easily transmitted to me, even through its lifeless and alien visage.

I spot Miah at my side trembling, and that gives me the necessary courage to do what I think of doing.

"When I say go, sprint as fast as you can," I whisper to her.

"W-what?" She asks incredulously.

Offering no explanation, I run towards the beast and yell.

"GO!"

Not bothering to check back on Miah, I take the remainder of my magic and focus on the biggest blast I can manage. I feel the energy coursing through my body and gathering at my fingertips, begging to be released, and I oblige, casting a bolt of violet lightning toward the head of the beast.

The creature stops out of what seems like a momentary surprise and has no time to react as the arc reaches its face and rips out half of it in a resounding boom that echoes in the glade.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Miah running, except that she is running in the wrong direction. I inwardly curse, but the creature has its full attention turned on me, and I, in turn, focus on whatever tells I'm magically gaining of his intention.

I feel more than see its intent, how it wants to hurt me, to make me submit, and I shudder to realize why I can sense that... this thing lusts for inflicting pain, in making the weak kneel-which means it will likely not want to kill me, but make me suffer instead, and I can take advantage of that.

I switch to a fighting stance, not that I think I can punch this thing into submission, but more to make it think I will.

I see the creature raise its now broken head as if to bellow a great roar, but the opposite happens. A wave of silence passes momentarily, drowning any sound I was hearing, even my own now elevated breathing, and then it passes, and I see the bones that were blown away float up next to the creature and begin spinning above its head, each rotation making it go even faster, and then I feel the intent to hurt of the beast briefly increase, and I instinctively roll to the side just in time to see a bone now stuck where I was standing, I don't even have time to ponder on the velocity of these things when I feel the spike of irritation and the lust for pain spike, and I jump backward avoiding a projectile but also moving my hand to where that intent was aimed at. I almost scream out of the pain, only holding back because I refuse to give this abomination what it wants, as I see a bone now sticking out of my hand, piercing it through, and just barely scratching my chest.

Ok, never mind then. I guess this thing will enjoy killing me enough that it doesn't feel the need to prolong it, fuck.

All the while, I'm moving around the beast and dodging whenever I feel its intent rising. It's exhausting, and I can tell I'm not going to last very long if I just keep dodging, never mind the fact I have a bone sticking out of my hand. Something gotta change if I'm going to survive this.

Turns out it was the beast itself that proved to be more impatient. As I see it now started to move its main body toward me instead of just standing there and shooting bones at me.

It charges at me with the intent to gore me with its horn, and I almost prepare to jump to the side when I catch the feeling of satisfaction at seeing me prepare the dodge. Instead, I stand my ground and reach into my Domain, preparing to use it on the beast, I see curiosity spike from his emotions when I abandon my dodge, but it simply continues its charge, and out the corner of my eye, I spot a bone sticking to where I preparing to dodge.

The nanosecond I feel the beast enter my Domain, I imagine its sadism being purged, and as I open my eyes ( when did I close them?), I see that the beast has killed its own momentum and is, instead, jumping away from me I try to follow it, but that attempt is cut extremely short as I feel its intent of (surprisingly) self-preservation spike, and I jump back as a bone flies at where I was.

I observe the beast continue to back away from me as I take the opportunity to take a breath. The creature stares warily at me, and I spot that its internal light is glowing somewhat dimmer. At least I now know my victory condition.

We circle around each other, the abomination taking the opportunity to gather the bones it shot out above its head, though for some reason, the bone sticking out of my hand doesn't get dragged.

Behind the beast, though, I spot Miah passing through the outskirts of the clearing crouched, I see something in her hand that she is fiddling with, but I get no chance to warn her off the fight as the Bone-elk bellows its silencing roar and begins shooting out their projectiles.

I dodge what I can and use my arm to block what I can't, even managing to deflect a bone with the one in my hand, but after the beast has run out of bones, I am no closer to it than I was before and I now have two more bones sticking to my arms, I can feel my head getting dizzier as the blood flows from the wounds and I have to catch myself from falling several times. In the distance, I can feel the perverted satisfaction the abomination is getting out of seeing me wounded, only somewhat cut by that wariness and self-preservation.

I see it begin gathering its bones again, and again I spot Miah running from a spot in the outskirts to the bone that was left stuck in the ground (when did she even get there?), I see the creature spin its projectiles, and I prepare to act with its intent, except that never comes because, out of nowhere, one of the bones in its spinning crown violently explodes, sending bone shrapnel everywhere and blowing the rest of its face as well as part of its torso up.

I hear Miah scream out in pain, and I barely resist the urge to do the same as bone fragments stick out of my skin. I realize my mistake in my stubbornness too late, however, as I see what remains of the creature turn to face where Miah screamed, and I spot her kneeling in pain as a particularly nasty bone juts out of her leg.

I dismiss my own pain and run with all I have as I feel its sadism spike and its intent to hurt elevate even higher, and it is perhaps because of my desperation to keep Miah safe that I do not notice the bone-elk turn its intent to me at the last second as a bone shoots out not from his crown but from the outskirts, it hits me right in the stomach and sends me flying straight to the dome where the two handholding skeletons reside.

Curiously I pass straight through the barrier and end inside, my back to the forest ground, and my consciousness rapidly fading.

I use all the strength that I have left to get up in time to see the broken bone-elk face to face with Miah, I cry out for it.

"C'mon, you fucking bastard, it's me that you want, she can't kill, but I sure as hell can so come and get me fucker!" I desperately try to appeal to its sense of self-preservation.

But it takes one glance at me, and the dome I am under, and it simply turns its sadism to Miah.

I slump to my knees, the dizziness getting too much for me to handle, and I desperately try to think of something, anything.

An idea pops into my head.

I look back at the skeletons and the way they are holding hands. There is clearly love there, and love sure as hell is part of lust.

I reach out and put my hands on theirs and, with all my being, beg.

"Please, if any remaining love that you once had in life still holds and transcends even death itself, help me, help me set things straight, help me put your remains to rest, to bring you the closure that this thing has taken from your final rest, please... help me kill this abomination!"

For a moment, I fear that my desperate idea has failed and that I will have to watch Miah suffer at this thing's hand, but it is cut short as the hands I was holding hold me back, and I see their gaze turn to me, full of compassion and love, then their gaze turns to the creature, and it transforms into that of loathing and hate, both of them then turn inward and stare at this broken crown (one that I just now notice is too big to fit in any beings head) in the ground and I see them reach for it.

They grab it and almost reverently raise it to me, and I, unsure of what possesses me to do it, kneel before them.

I see both of them reach for a spot in their spine as they rip out a gem, and their wings disappear, and then attach it to a spot on this broken crown, and suddenly it spins to life as a pale blue light now encompasses it.

They then bring the crown to a spot behind my head, and I realize that it is no crown at all, as this halo now begins spinning behind me and forming a corona of light.

I suddenly feel a foreign (and yet strangely familiar) energy connect directly into my spine and course through my back as four wings made of violet light appear behind me, but this energy goes further in, into my body, into my soul, and I feel alive again, still bleeding, but not like I could pass out at any minute, and my magic is practically bursting at the seams.

I rise from my kneeling position, now slightly hovering in the air, and look at my opponent.

The beast (or what remains of the beast) feels true fear as it gazes upon my form, and before it can act on its sense of self-preservation by realizing the hostage it has in its grasp, I let out a burst of violet lightning upon its form, this one even bigger than the one I had let out at the start of the fight, blasting this vile creature back, I fly out to Miah and use my meager knowledge of Necromantic magic to heal her wounds or at least stop the bleeding, there is nothing I can really do about the bone jutting out of her leg.

Miah looks positively enthralled by my form, but I pay it no mind as I approach the beast.

The creature tries desperately to run away, to shoot out its meager weapons at me, but with me practically bursting with magic, I simply let out a burst of lighting all around me that vaporizes the bone projectiles.

I finally reach the abomination, hovering above its stolen form, and reach out with my domain, completing what I had tried to do at first.

The light of the bone-elk simply fades as its sadism and terrible lust are purged from reality, and the bones all fall to the ground as a puppet with its strings cut.

I take a sigh of relief at seeing the enemy fade away, I turn to face the skeletons that helped me, but they are already gone, dust in the wind.

I instead turn to Miah and say.

"Hey."

"Hey." She says back.

"When I told you to sprint, I meant to the door, not to the fight."

"Oh, uh, I guess you're glad I didn't ey, didn't look like you were holding up too good." She says, still enthralled by my form.

"...Maybe, still-" What I'm about to say, however, is interrupted by the biggest migraine yet, as I feel a head-splitting headache course through my brain, and this time, I can't resist the scream that escapes my mouth, in some space of my mind I process Miah desperately asking me what's wrong, but I can't concentrate on it as I get flashes of memories, too many memories, and too fast for me to even parse out what they mean, like trying to understand a million, no a billion things at once.

And just as it arrives, it also goes, leaving me panting desperately at the ground, whatever second wind the halo gave me gone. In fact, I can see just out of the corner of my eye that the halo has stopped spinning, and my wings have disappeared.

"Sophia, Sophia, are you back?" I hear Miah ask with worry.

I nod weakly.

"Let's go back to the station; I do not want to stay here another second," I say.

Miah fervently nods back.

Notes:

And we're back! Apologies for the hiatus. Life hits very hard, and I had to take some time to hit back, but I should be back to my previous chapter rate. As always, feel free to comment any thoughts you have.

Chapter 9: Mind Eletric

Unfortunately, our enthusiasm for leaving this place was not shared by my body, which decided that since I was now out of danger, it would be the perfect time to stop producing adrenaline and actually let me feel the wounds I had been largely ignoring.

The pain was terrible. Turns out that having dozens of bone fragments and three sharpened bones the sizes of an arm stabbing you is not a pleasant experience, but somehow I manage to keep my wits about and not collapse in a heap of pain. Fortunately, the energy I received from the Halo did not go away with it seemingly powering down, and I say powering down instead of turning off because it was still floating behind my head, just not with its lights on and spinning anymore, and trying to grab it seemed impossible as it was stuck to that position no matter how hard I budged, not that I wished it to remove it (something about it seemed right, like it completed me in a strange way). Still, with the energy yet on hand, I focus the necromantic magic on myself and begin healing what I can so I don't collapse from the blood loss.

The process takes a long time, and any second we spend here is one I would rather spend anywhere else. I mean, the glade by itself is not something so terrible to observe ( I would even venture to say it had an alien beauty to it with its massive trees and a perpetual state of almost night, the skies alight with dim oranges and deep purples.), but there was a sort of unease that permeated the air, one that made me feel as though the forest was twisting and bending all around us, that the Realm itself was trying to make us lost and confused.

For that reason, even as I was outputting positive necromantic energy ( negative energy, Miah had explained, provoked the opposite of healing and instead further aggravated wounds and diseases.) I still continued to keep my eye on the distant light of the station's door.

Miah, in the meantime, took the opportunity to fashion a crutch for herself from a few of the smaller branches around us (even still, she had to use her scimitar to break it a few times as the smallest branch still proved to be bigger than us by a magnitude). The end result looked good, way too good, and professionally made for someone using only a scimitar to carve it ( likely a result of her Domain).

In those few minutes spent recovering, there was not a single word spoken. We were way too tensed up by our environment, and keeping an ear out for anything was our priority, but even then, the few glances we shot each other were plenty to communicate our shared anxiety and our want to get out of there.

So it came as no surprise that when I smelled the fresh smell of rain and spotted a heavy grey cloud approaching, I abandoned the healing process (leaving me with plenty of fragments still on my skin), grabbed Miah by the shoulder, and supported her as I rushed us to the station. Miah offered no resistance and tried her best to match my pace, her face still showing signs of fatigue from the blood loss (not that I was in any better shape).

We manage to run a good distance considering our states. However, with the door still a distance away and with the rain clouds approaching (the sound of raindrops now being bearable), it is clear we won't make it before the rain gets us, it is a race against nature, and we are losing badly.  So seeing no option with my DR, I reach into myself and grasp upon my mana reserves, forming a type of energy I have not formed until now and holding on to it until needed.

We continue to run to the best of our capabilities with the soft ground beneath us, but I hear the sound of the downpour getting louder and louder, and I know it won't be long until it reaches us.

Still, I wait as long as possible, the amount of mana I have to gather is not insignificant, and I can probably only do it once.  So as soon as I spot the falling water ( that is producing very odd phenomena as it touches the ground and trees, seemingly growing and also shrinking the plantlife ), I stretch my free hand and quite literally grasp the space in front of us and pull, warping the area around us and shortening the distance between us and the door by some odd 60 feet, in a feat that provokes a different kind of headache to those I get from trying to remember, as well as a significant drain in my reserves (about eighty-ish percent of what I had left after the fight and healing).

Miah and I stumble as our senses adapt to the mind-bending nature of Space magic, but we quickly get to our feet and continue our half-run half-stumble to the door, barely making it to the station as we careen into the cold hard floor of the station, and I in frantic haste reach for my shard and press the button that now says:

'CLOSE'

The door closes quietly, and the sound of rain instantly goes away as it fully shuts.

I collapse from exhaustion and hiss from the pain as I accidentally bang my neck against the rim of the halo-fuck me. I guess sleeping will be a process from now on. (Goodbye, sleeping on my back. I enjoyed the one day I had with it.)

Alas, we made it, and for a few moments, the only thing I hear is the accelerated rhythm of my heartbeat, the labored breaths of Miah and me, and the soft sound of the dials spinning. However, soon enough, as I regain my breath ( Miah still busy regaining hers) and actually finally have time to process what just happened, I laugh, not hard, more like a soft giggle, but it is all I can do for a few seconds, Miah tries to join in but just makes a sort of strangled noise and begins coughing, hearing this I stop laughing at the absurdity of what we just survived, and I sit up and drag myself next to her to actually begin the process of healing, ( the half-measures I had taken in the Realm of Twilight proving to be just that, half-measures).

Miah makes a sound that resembles a protest, and hearing this, I look at her in puzzlement, and she points to my own wounds.

"You're much w-worse off than me, b-better you do yours first." She speaks, tears in her eyes from the pain.

Naturally, I ignore her and the subsequent protests as well as I slowly remove the bone from her leg, healing the wound as I extract it.

The protests die down in favor of asking for a pause as she tears out a piece of leather from her boot and bites it as the painful process continues. One that I wish I could do faster but can't because of my lackluster knowledge of necromancy.

Instead, halfway through the procedure and my heart hurting much more than my wounds seeing Miah's torment, I get an idea.

What if I transform her pain into pleasure using my Domain? Sure, it'll be a bit morbid and inappropriate as well as somewhat dangerous in the sense it could birth a risky fetish, but hearing her groan against the leather piece, I project my Domain out and imagine the abstract feeling of pain transform into the more familiar feeling of pleasure ( I tried just imagining the pain going away, but I got I bad feeling about proceeding with, and Miah did warn me about pushing my Domain too far) and as I continue the removal the results prove themselves to be... weird, especially since I'm still effectively neutered by my own purging of lust against myself earlier, and that I still need extreme focus to perform the healing process, but eventually I complete the removal and healing process only leaving faint scars in the process ( ones that could be healed by someone that is not as much a novice as I am).

I turn away from the scene of a blushing and panting Miah, that looks like she came out of a very pleasant but tiring encounter, and move to heal myself. At first, I try not to use my Domain to alleviate the pain; I am not in favor of risking the birthing of a new fetish, especially one that is by its very nature dangerous.

But in the end, I could not focus hard enough on my magic when every second was torture, so I turned my Domain in on myself and tried my hardest to limit the pleasure I received ( I first also had to revert the purge I had done, as the process just seemed to fail when I tried it without any lust), and as trying to erase the pain itself didn't work, and removing the pleasure as I felt it proved to be to complicated while I was at the same time healing myself, so it was that I had to endure a very different kind of trial to be able to heal myself as each shard that I removed caused a multitude of intoxicating feelings, so much so that I feared I might not be able to concentrate after all, and that maybe the pain would be better, but my Domain once again proved useful as reached out into myself and imagined being able to focus and concentrate even with the most brain melting orgasm, and just like flipping a switch I felt my mind clear even as I still felt the pleasure of removing the bones.

Even still, by the end, I was much like Miah was, blushing, panting, my cunt positively soaking wet, and with a raging hard-on that was poking through the fabric of my pants (not that Miah had that last part, that was more of a me thing.)

Unfortunately, I fear that fulfilling the fantasy of having love in space I didn't realize I had, was out of the question seeing as we were still on the clock, which speaking of-we, only had...

As I turn my gaze away from the flushed, sexually charged Miah still on the floor to check on the dials, I see that the one we were waiting for is just slightly unaligned with the drawing of the twisting tower, meaning we had just missed it, fuck. The next one in the order has an image of a lighthouse-like tower surrounded by doors in a dome shape, some of them illuminated by a light coming from the tower, and by the looks of it, it'll take around 20 minutes for it to align.

Are you kidding me? We literally just missed the teleport out?! At this point, I'm positive these timings are too precise to be a coincidence, but what could even be causing them? It is unlikely that it's my Domain (as much as it benefits that particular type of activity). After all, my range is only 5 feet, and Miahs is even more unlikely, and that either leaves a third party that is-

I'm interrupted by my theory crafting by Miah suddenly hugging me from behind.

Her arms come around my midriff, and I can feel her soft breast rubbing against my back as well as her elevated body heat.

"Hey~, gonna be honest here could have used a warning on that pain-to-pleasure switch, though for a second that my brain broke, and that was spooky," Miah complains with lust still in her voice.

"I'm sorry, you're right. I should've asked for your permission- I was just desperate, and the blood loss certainly didn't help and-" I stop apologizing with a groan as Miah grasps my cock through my pants.

"Shhh, I'm not mad, Sophia! Just... next time you do something like that, a little warning will be nice." She whispers, somehow injecting more lust into her voice.

"O-oh, r-right I'll be su-" I am again interrupted when she tightens her grip on my dick.

"However, I feel like a little payback is owed, and seeing as we still have twenty minutes to spare, I think I know exactly how to spend them~" She continues whispering, her hand now moving to the hem of my pants.

When did she get so... dominant... and why is it so hot?

"A-are you sure? I mean, I'm not complaining-far from it-but are you sure this is not me coercing you?" I ask, my breathing getting heavier and cock growing harder.

"Oh, sweet, sweet Sophia, no." She says in a sultry comforting voice.

"The most you did was get me in the mood, and I most certainly don't need to have sex with you to satisfy that need. No, I'm doing this because I want~you~ Because I desire you~ Because you are the most wonderful person I've met~ And because I want to feel you inside me." She finishes her speech by pulling down my pants and freeing my cock, as it rises to its full length.

"All wants, not needs. If you so wish we could stop here, you could just erase my lust, or I could just finish it myself." She asks hesitantly.

I turn to face her, and she steps back. I finally get to see her blushing face, and fuck me. Even as lust overtakes me and my head fills with lewd thoughts, I still maintain my focus (thanks past me), being able to capture every little detail of her flushed expression, how the stars in her eyes are now this beautiful violet, how heavy she's breathing, the sweat that she has built from the battle before, how she has to lick her lips every so often, and how her expression is this mix of both pure lust and nervousness. I see in full just how eager she is to have me.

And seeing this, I can't help myself as I jump her and plant my lips into her own, passionately plunging my tongue down her throat and bringing my arms around to her to a tight embrace.

I can feel the vibrations of her throat as she moans through my kissing and tries her best to keep up with my forceful tonguing. I don't give her the opportunity as I withdraw my tongue from her mouth and bite into her lips.

I take this brief respite to really look deep into the stars that make up her eyes, and I think nothing will ever reach this level of beauty, not even the canvas of the universe that stands just above us or any other landscape that could ever exist, there is something special about the emotion that I can sense combined with the natural artistry that was the night sky within the confines of a pupil, it was intoxicating, and if not for Miah rising to her tiptoes to plant a kiss on my lips I would've likely spent hours getting lost in them.

But as it were, the kiss also proved to be delightful, as well as the feeling of her thighs embracing my cock, with a slight wetness from her pussy coating it as I instinctually began thrusting between her thighs and grinding her cunt.

This proved to be very effective for both of us as we moaned into each other's mouths, refusing to let go of our connection until I finally had to take a breath.

With regret, I let go of the kiss with a gasp and try to get back to it when Miah deflects it to her cheek as she gains a playful look to her features.

"S-so Miss Empyrean here does need air to breathe," She says, sticking out her tongue.

I try to catch it with my own, but she again deflects it. I try not to whine, but Miah clearly picks something from my expression because she then says:

"Don't worry, I feel like you're going to enjoy the next part~"

She grasps my dick from between our bodies and withdraws it from her thighs as she drops to a crouch and comes face to face with it, my cock overshadowing her features, though I can sense her excitement building as well as her lust.

"Because, unlike you, I don't~" She whispers as she takes the head of my 12-inch cock and swallows it.

I groan out in pleasure as I feel it enter her mouth and the wetness and softness of her tongue savoring the head.

I instinctually put my hands on her hand and force her deeper, plunging another 5 inches down her throat, and for a moment, I fear that I may have gone too rough with her, but looking down at her, I see an expression of drunken lust now masks all other emotions.

More than that, though, as I thrust my cock deeper and deeper, I notice that she doesn't have the problems that I would expect a throat to have when an object as large as my penis blocks it, mainly that while there is a bit of a gag reflex every now and then (and how wonderful those are to feel), they are less prominent than normal, and that like she said, she doesn't need to breathe.

So when I finally plunge all 12 inches down her throat, the bulging visible as my cock stretches the tight corridors that are Miah's passage, I am able to just... hold it there, watching as Miah brings her head in a bobbing motion, never letting my cock out of her mouth for even a second.

It is as hot as it is pleasurable as I continue to face-fuck her, the noises of her gurgling on my cock serving as the only ambiance, and the lewd scene of Miah impaling herself on the full length of my dick as she fingers herself with her free hand being the only thing I have eyes for.

And then, through the haze of lust and pleasure that somehow doesn't affect my focus, I get an idea, after all why should I be the only one feeling the pleasure in this exchange? Was this not supposed to be a way to repay her for my mistake? Of course, I did not also forget what my mistake was, so first permission-

"H-hey, d-do you want to feel e-even better?" I ask, caressing her pitch-black hair while she continues to deep-throat me.

She takes a second to plunge even deeper ( and I groan again as I feel the tight and wet wall of her throat engulf more of my penis), but she then retreats her head and brings my cock out of her passage and eventually mouth.

"W-whazzat?" She asks, her voice rough from the thorough fucking.

"I think I could make your throat feel pleasure, l-like a pussy through my Domain. You up for it?" I explain, glad to also get a break from her mouth as my dick glistening from Miah's saliva feels the cold-in-comparison air of the station.

Miah takes a second to process what I said, her mind swimming from the haze of lust and her eyes stuck to my swinging cock, but then I see her eyes widen and lock into mine.

"W-wait, you mean you want to make a literal mouth-pussy?" She asks in excitement, her fingers accelerating on her masturbation.

"I-I guess-" I'm interrupted as Miah gives her answer in the form of swallowing my dick again and nodding her head.

Given the go-ahead, I reach into that weird mental space that is my Domain and imagine Miah receiving the same pleasure she would from her pussy on her throat.

The effects are instant, and I groan out as her throat tightens around my cock. Miah, on the other hand, is gone. Her eyes are cross-eyed, and her hand has stopped the fast-paced fingering as her pussy gushes out an orgasm.

Fortunately, since our last encounter, I had prepared a solution to this, as while it was well and good to see Miah have a brain-melting orgasm, I still had needs to satisfy, and it would do no good to do so in this state, first, of course, is permission-

"H-hey, Miah, you good with me giving you the ability to handle indefinite orgasms?"

I hear a muffled groan that could mean anything, so I just purge a bit of her pleasure using my domain and ask again.

This time I see Miah, with a bit more clarity in her eyes, nods her head, so reaching out to my Domain, I imagine the capacity Miah has for pleasure increase to an indefinite amount.

In an instant, I see reason come back to her eyes, and her hands resume the motions as she continues giving me the best head ever.

Unfortunately, while I messing with the DR shit, my cock was still feeling the pressure of Miah's orgasm, so it does not take long for me to feel the building pressure of my cum begging to be released.

I look straight into Miah's eyes and say:

"I-I'm cumming! C-can you swallow it all?"

I feel Miah's throat tighten again as she brings her head to my groin and looks at me with approval and excitement, and that does it as I let loose a torrent of cum down her gullet.

For a few seconds, all I can hear is the rush of blood and the sound of Miah gulping my load, the sight of her belly slightly distending from the sheer quantity of sperm enough to actually keep me going as I feel my balls continue to produce seed.

Eventually, though, I see that it is becoming a bit excessive as her stomach bloats to a no doubt uncomfortable degree, and I reluctantly pull out my cock from her depths.

My penis comes out with a pop, cum still spilling from its tip and now coating her face white. She tries her best to catch the excess with her mouth as I continue to spray my cum on her face, and after a few more seconds, my orgasm finally gives, and I am left with the sight of a Miah absolutely coated with my sperm, her eyes glazed from the sticky substance and her clothes stained.

I don't fall to my knees through the sheer horniness this scene gives me because I definitely felt weak there (Miah, on the other hand, was not so lucky).

Suddenly I remember the discussion we had about her eyes, and in order to help the scientific community (and for no other reason), I take out my shard and whisper record to it.

From it surges a holographic screen that displays the exact scene I am seeing, only with a few extra buttons layered on top (and with no clue on how to use them, I leave them be) as I document the sight of Miah on her knees, her eyes half-lidded and absolutely glowing in violet light with her belly distended and her clothes absolutely stained with cum from both her and me seeing as her pants are also soaked.

Seeing me record this scene, Miah raises both of her hands to a peace sign, and seeing this, I feel my cock harden again in response.

Looking back at the Dial, I see that we still have about 12 minutes left.

I inwardly curse the lack of time to properly demolish her pussy, but given her state, I guess it would be better to ease her into her new limits.

I instinctually reach to my Domain and simply imagine our clothes on the floor, and in an instant, we are naked, and all of our clothing is sitting in a neat pile next to us.

Miah slightly jumps from the surprise and looks vaguely annoyed by my demonstration.

"Sorry, love, I just thought we should save time. I want to be through~" I say, picking her up from her thighs and letting go of the shard (which just floats there).

She squeaks from the movement but doesn't protest it, and her annoyance instantly goes away as I place the head of my glistening member at her entrance, replaced by more lust and a tinge of worry, one that I think I know the cause of.

"Don't worry. This will not go like last time. Lest you forget, now you can properly~ handle me~" I whisper to her ear and, at the opportunity, also nibble at it.

She moans out from the bite and moves her arms to behind me, and looking out the corner of my eyes, I see she is using my halo as support. Smiling, I kiss her and thrust into her.

She immediately breaks from the kiss to scream out in pleasure, and I let her as I move my hands to grip her cute round ass. I give it a good squeeze, and at the same time, I thrust more of myself into her. A good 7 inches pass through without issue when I feel a familiar block in the way. Since I already dealt with the issue concerning pain, I pay it no mind and simply hammer my cock through, and I feel Miah tighten to a vice grip as she goes through her second orgasm today, and thankfully since I am not as backed up as I was the first time this happen I can more easily endure this massage on my cock her cunt is graciously giving.

Eventually, she comes down from it, though I can still see her legs occasionally twitching, and I continue to dive deeper into her core, finally bottoming out as I poke her womb directly. I hear her gasp out and moan into my ear as she brings her head in between my breasts. I also shudder from a pleasure I had not felt before (or did?), and thanks to my upgrade Miah actually notices what got me quivering as she extracts her head from my bosom and smiles up at me with a devious grin.

I shudder for a different reason.

"L-looks like the great and mighty angel does have a weakness~" She manages to whisper out as she latches her mouth into my left tittie and begins sucking it.

My head goes white for a second, and suddenly a wave of pleasure erupts from my until now mostly neglected breasts. I can't help it as I abandon the slow and methodical thrusting and begin pounding Miah to the best of my abilities.

Miah continues to moan against my breasts, alternating between them and sometimes even sucking both at once.

I feel the wall of pleasure building and building, my balls churning almost audibly and my cock coming in and out of Miah's womb at amazing speeds. I feel my Miah come again, but I don't stop hammering, making sure to mold her tight passage to the perfect shape of my cock, interestingly enough because I can still keep my focus even through this absolute onslaught against my senses, I notice as I throw my head upward from the pleasure of a bite that Miah gave my tits that through the viewing window the stars from Miah's eyes are also glowing violet,(and in the spirit of science I let go one of my hand from Miah's shapely ass and aim the floating shard besides us to it before aiming it back to us).

It doesn't take long, however, for me to feel the pressure building up, and through my cock, I bring Miah into a tight embrace and scream out.

"I-I'm C-Cumming! T-Take it all!"

I sense Miah shudder, and her walls tense up as I make a final thrust into her depths and behind, flooding her passage with gallons of my cum.

Miah lets out her own scream of pleasure, though it seems words are too much as it only sounds like a mess of garbled sounds.

I spend a full minute just painting her insides white as every time I seem to be spent, I feel another spurt come, when finally, after pumping her with enough sperm to make her look three months pregnant, I feel myself run dry, though with the rate at which my balls seem to produce that doesn't seem to last long.

But with a final eruption deep within her womb, I extract my cock and see a waterfall of jizz come with it.

This time no amount of horniness will help (unless I were to use my Domain) as I fall to my knees with Miah in my arms.

I take a moment to take a breather as we both come down from the most mind-melting orgasms of our lives and as much as I would like to spend a few more minutes remaining, we are cutting it close as is.

I look at the dial, and we only had about 2 minutes left. I get up, letting Miah down from my lap, and go to get our clothes when I get an idea. If getting the clothes off was easy, why not back on?

I reach out and imagine us with our clothes back on, and with the blink of an eye, we're fully clothed, though I hear Miah groan out.

"Uhhrg, it's all soaked. We really should've gotten this off earlier." She complains though I can see that she is still basking in the afterglow of the sex.

And it seems today is the day of ideas because I get another, though it does need a bit of a stretch to reach it after all, my Domain is both the creation and the destruction of Lust, so why wouldn't I be able to remove the after-effects of Lust-related fluids, and I imagine it so, and suddenly we are both as dry as we were before the act... and Miah's stomach is completely flat again, huh wasn't expecting that-

"Sophia," I hear Miah call out while I was busy observing the consequences of my Domain, and her voice does have that hint of annoyance back.

"T-this time, I swear I didn't mean to change anything. I mean, I did, but it was only the clothes, not your body-" I say hastily because it is the truth I was going to ask permission for that one.

She sighs.

"It's fine I would've agreed anyway, and it's not like it's the biggest change ever. Convenient too-still keep it in mind, Sophia, it's extremely easy to get lost in your Domain, I would know." She says some regret in her voice, though from what I can sense, she is still in a good mood.

"Ok, I'll keep it in mind," I say in apology (and I mean it too, it was way too easy to get lost in what my Domain makes possible) " Still, be prepared by my estimation, we only have about a minute or less left, we should be teleporting any time no-" And whatever proof I needed that there is something controlling the timings of this universe is given to me as the moment I say this the same familiar pinprick of darkness that bends space around it appears, and then it disappears for a second only to be then replaced by an expanding sphere of darkness that swallows us whole, stretching our bodies to impossible degrees and bending space to form a caleidoscope of the station, and then there is only darkness.

That last only about a fraction of a second as the sphere shrinks, and we find ourselves in a whole different place.

The first thing I notice is the coldness, a different kind of coldness that chills my very core and does not fail to send shudders down my spine.

Then as my eyes adjust to the brightness, I see it, in front of us, a gigantic curved window, spanning a good 40 ft of height and 120 ft in length. It is shattered in the middle, a gash in the center of it all, snowflakes carried by the harsh wind passing through, and through there is a sight I think I will never forget.

Colossal Mountains jut out from the ground reaching to the skies and beyond their size, too big for me to fully process. These gargantuan mountains surround the horizon and encircle us, and in the center of these mountains is a... city.

Made of white polished stones are these multitudes of buildings too big to be inhabited by humans. Gigantic spires made of the same material come from the ground and reach towering heights of unprecedented magnitudes. From them, I can see connections to other towers of similar sizes as well as stairs too small for any sane being to safely traverse on their sides and bellow the building follow the same maddening pattern with windows too small to be looked through more slits than anything else, doors often leading to precipices with only protrusions from the walls providing a path to it, and as my eyes sink deeper and deeper into this white city I see that there is no bottom, these buildings are all stacked on top of other mega-structures that don't even seem to connect with each other, chasms where the bottom isn't even visible running in between, and weirder of all is that this strange city is not even the end of the weirdness.

No, as I come to and look around to where we actually are, I notice that behind us, there are four people, and I almost scream out in surprise when I notice they aren't moving or will be moving... ever since their skin is frozen and brittle dark spots already necrosed, with their eyes dead, well for those I that can see their eyes that is.

All four are kneeling in positions of varying fear. One is a man with dark-red armor and a cloak of the same color covering him. He seems to be trying to shield his eyes though his hands never reach them. Another is a woman with the same armor and cloak she is trying to cover the eyes of the person next to her, that being a man with only winter cloaks and no armor, he wears glasses, and I can see that he was struggling to open a pouch that is hanging by his side, and the final one is another woman also wearing a winter cloak, she looks old with grey hair and frail limbs, but the odd part is that she is wearing a piece of cloth over her eyes-well one of her eyes, as I can see poking through her left eye is slightly uncovered.

Immediately I look to Miah and say:

"Don't look out the window. Whatever they were trying not to see can't be good." I see her nod and turn her head away, though she also seems to be very interested in what the guy with the glasses was trying to reach for.

"Might as well check for clues, I guess, might help us figure out what is going on." She says, reaching inside the pouch and taking out many books and loose papers.

I nod back and focus my attention to behind the corpses, keeping my vision far away from the window.

Behind lies three sets of stairs, all of them wide and gigantic though they don't lead very far. The one in the middle lead downwards, and the two sandwiching it lead upward.

The one in the middle leads to a patio-like area that follows a different architectural design from the one of the white city. First of all, it is not white, it is instead grey, with concrete slabs making the flooring and marble making the walls, and the walls are not smooth and undecorated like the ones in the city below. Instead, they follow a design principle of sharp ridges to disrupt the smooth flow of the marble and create this abstract sharp look. In the middle, there is some greenery with a snow-covered tree, and looking around, I can see that only the middle part is mostly covered in snow. Besides that, I can't see much as the angle makes it hard to observe anything else.

The stairs leading upward go to a balcony that probably lets you look down to the patio. The rest is blocked from this angle.

I turn my gaze back to Miah and see that she is skimming through the books.

"Find anything?"

She scrunched up her face in uncertainty.

"Eh, kind of? I mean, yeah, I now know for certain we're in the Mountains of Madness, not that there was any doubt, but besides that, it's a bit hard to parse out, mostly due to the language I was never good at Draconian"

"And I didn't even know that was a language until a few days ago. What does it say in the books?"

"Well, they read more like diaries or a log book, really, but from what I can understand, they were an exploration team, and they were also much bigger, like from what I'm reading, this was a pretty big operation, and these guys were just a small advance group. Anyway, they were funded by some "Daedulus institute" to explore the mountains in search of Forgotten ruins and were given directions on where they thought it was likely that they were located. Then he goes on about the routes they're gonna take as well as rationing plans and blah blah blah until I noticed that the handwriting got messier. From there, it's really hard to parse out meaning, but I think the team got spooked by something they saw over the mountains that was peeking through the gaps in the ridges, and they rushed into some cavern they found that eventually led them here." She concludes by showing me the notes.

And she is completely right. By the end of the page, they look more like scratching than anything else.

"What about the other books? This was just one, no?" I ask, pointing to the multitude of papers and thin books.

She shrugs

"I only had so much time to read, but from a very general skimming, they just seem to be documents pertaining to their supplies and geology notes of all things. Though-"  she pulls out one of the thinner books "This one might interest you."

"Why? I did say I don't know draconic." I reply

"Don't worry, this one is in global, and it's a spell book. It turns out this guy is a mage. Who would have thought?" She says, handing me the book.

"Uhh, ok, going to have to explain to me there. What's a spell book?" I say, opening it and being confronted with arcane-looking symbols.

"It's something mages use to record new spells they discover or spells they have a hard time remembering that kind of stuff. Thought it might be useful to you given you're the magic of this party."

"Okay, gotcha, but umm... what's a spell?" I ask hesitantly.

She doesn't facepalm, but I can tell the want is there.

"What? Spells, y'know, the thing you've been using, the thing that made you go pew with lightning and all that."

"I mean, if that's what they are, I just kind of do it really, feel the energy and channel it."

"Right, amnesia, I keep forgetting." She takes a deep sigh, and I can see she's preparing to explain when suddenly I hear the sound of glass shattering from upstairs.

I look back at Miah and see that she has already pocketed the relevant books.

I nod to her and pocket the speel book, preparing to run myself.

Then I hear the sound of a pained scream that definitely does not sound human, with the voice shifting and sometimes overlapping with itself a cacophony of agony-riddled shrieks, followed by the sound of slime rolling through the ground, and it's getting close.

I look back at Miah, and she looks back at me. We both nod and run to the middle set of stairs.

The unknown creature screams again, and I can now hear the gross sound of ooze rolling faster.

Looks like it's a chase.

Notes:

As always, feel free to comment any and all thoughts.

Chapter 10: Labyrinth Part I

We run through the stairs at breakneck speed, jumping every other step, and I have to stop the urge to look back to see what exactly is following us, the disgusting sound of sloshing trailing behind us, instead I set my gaze to the patio itself, and as we make it through the stairs, I can see that it is much, much grander than I had previously thought.

With a glass roof that has to be at least a hundred feet tall and an area that could house an entire one of the Twilight realm's trees on its side, this place could comfortably see hundreds of people walking about or relaxing in the many stone benches strewn about... likely it was once a proper hub area. Now, though, it is desolate and empty, the roof shattered by something, snow now falling down on the only remaining life of this place, a decadent and old tree, and I am overcome with a profound sense of loss and melancholy. I have to quickly shake my thoughts from what could have been to what is and look for any paths to take.

In front of us, I can see that beyond that single snow-covered tree. There is a sort of perimeter made by these great limestone columns that seem to encircle the patio, and beyond even that, there is a set of stairs leading upward, and to the sides, I can see that it is much the same deal except that the stairs lead downwards instead.

Quickly remembering the drawing in the space station, I recall that the tower we teleported to should resemble a lighthouse, so it is safe to presume the set of stairs forward would be leading to a mirror of what we just came through, so the ones leading downwards it is. The question is, however, which side?

The choice is made for me as I hear more glass shattering and more of those horrid screams ring out from above and to my right.

I quickly grab Miah's hand and direct us to the left, still keeping my eyes forward and not looking back at the steadily increasing sound of pained screaming and oozing mass against the concrete floor.

It would have served me well had it not been for the fact that I see behind one of the pillars what the source of this horrible shrieking is now peeking.

It is a horrible thing, with too many faces and far too many mouths that all moan in a painful and terrible and dyssynchronous melody. It is all flesh and no skin, and the eyes...

I feel my vision warp as I gaze into their multiple and twisted eyes...

There is nothing else besides me and the thing. I feel, for the first time, how truly alone I am. Stranded with no memories of who I was-who I am. It is a solitude I think truly unique... and yet... as I continue to gaze into their deep, deep eyes, I see that my pain is shared, they too know what it means to be truly alone... to feel true loneliness, I get closer to them, I need to share this vexation, to dilute it at least a little bit...

Suddenly I feel something squeeze my hand. It is warm, comforting-not nearly enough to draw out the sorrow that I feel, that I have always felt-but it is enough to make me look in the direction of my hand.

There I find it. Miah's hand holding mine-squeezing it tight, I look up to see Miah there.

She is looking unsure and very frightened. Her eyes have been covered. When did that happen?

I rush to reassure her, squeezing her hand back and continuing to lead her away from-

Those things...

I fight down the instinct to look back at what I had been seeing, to see the threat that we face, and I barely manage to avoid looking at it, keeping my eyes straight and focused.

Behind, I can hear their screaming becoming louder still, and instinctually I jump to the side, bringing Miah with me, as I hear the sound of wooshing in the air and a wave of what must be pure sound crashes where we once stood.

This is bad, really bad. I am unsure I can do that again consistently, especially if more of those things join in, and the stairs are still quite a distance away.

I could try to warp the space around and shorten the length between us, but that would require too much mana, much more than I have.

I could fly away and take Miah with me, except I have no idea how to activate the halo again.

I jump to the side again as another wave slams into the concrete and cracks the area where we were.

There's still my Domain, but I don't know how lust could help the current situation-these things don't even seem capable of it (unlike the bone-elk who seemed to be made of it).

I feel Miah stumble and wince as she puts a little too much weight on her bad leg (dammit, I should have healed it better somehow), and I catch her in my arms, but just as it happens, a wave shoots out.

I quickly use wind magic to direct the wave away and surprisingly succeed, with it impacting one of the pillars instead. However, that cost me a lot-only simple magic from now on.

Instead of letting Miah run around blind, I catch her around the waist and put another arm below her legs in a carry, and I continue to run.

Luckily Miah is very light, so it doesn't affect our speed too much, but our chaser is still very much in our tail as I have to jump again. This time, however, the wave just manages to catch my left ankle, and I feel it dislocate.

Fuck.

I quickly bite down on my scream in order not to panic Miah, but running has become an impossibility.

Okay, no other option, now or never. Have to figure out how to activate my halo, or else we all die, no biggie.

I close my eyes, drawing out the sounds of screaming that seem to be multiplying... Shit, more of them are-no... focus. I ignore the aching in my ankle, the feeling of Miah's breathing against my body, I just focus on that spot behind my head. I just focus on the halo.

And it is strange, but... I can feel it? Distant, like it is inert. Taking a deep breath, I focus on that feeling and imagine it turning on.

And like a switch, I feel the halo begin spinning, building up speed, and as I open my eyes I see the violet light coming from behind me, and I can feel the wings appear.

The shrieking stops for a moment as I begin to float in the air.

Then it begins anew, with a renewed and frantic vigor.

I don't risk looking back, and I most certainly don't risk fighting back (it seems the energy boost I gained the first time was a one-time thing). Instead, I just fly away, zooming above the concrete floor and quickly making it to the stairs.

The screaming is fainter now, but it won't be long until they reach us, and who knows how long I can keep the halo active.

With that in mind make, I fly down the set of stairs only to see a sort of lobby area with a set of two indents that look awfully like the doors on the station by the far wall. One of them is slightly open, and the other is completely closed.

I fly closer to it(and find it a bit strange when the shard doesn't present the option to open it again, just like the station did), but I ignore that and look down at the one open.

In it is a dark shaft stretching far down, not unlike the one in the tower back on Aker, except this one has the decency of not being upside down and also has a rope going down the wall of it. It seems to be attached to a- nothing?

It's just floating there, almost frozen in time mid-fall.

And then I hear another scream, accompanied by more glass shattering, and suddenly this rope frozen in time is not my concern anymore.

From below, I also hear Miah whisper.

"Hey we stopped again. Are you alright? You didn't answer me before, so I assumed we had to be quiet, but I'm kind of flying blind here. Is it safe to take off the eye cover yet?"

"I'm fine, and no, not yet anyway," I answer rapidly while summoning a ball of bright white light and illuminating the dark shaft.

This one is unlike the one at the other tower, with only four doors down along the length of the walls. They are also not equidistant from each other, with the gap between the third and last being hundreds of feet away.

I hear screaming again, this time closer.

(Right, no time for pondering), and I fly down the tunnel.

I ignore the first few doors since I feel like the exit would probably be on the bottom-most floor and continue to fly down the shaft at some frankly unsafe speeds.

And then, I immediately turn the opposite way and avoid looking down as I hear more of that crazed howling coming from the door at the bottom, followed by the sound of oozing against the metal walls.

I try my best to go as fast as possible to the top again. Maybe I could try going down the other door, but I am stopped (again) by more screaming, this time coming from the top (shit, shit, shit.)

Seeing no other option, I immediately dismiss my light and keep my gaze level with the wall.

The good news in this literal dilemma is that there's still a door to my side. Now the issue is prying it open, as it seems to be completely shut.

I hear the screaming get even close and-fuck it might as well try.

"Miah, I need you to hold on to me. I need both arms," I whisper in a hurry, and she instantly wraps her arms around me.

And as she does, I gather all of my remaining mana and infuse the necromantic energy into my arms, this time not for healing.

I feel my arms bulge out as the positive energy courses through them and with a force that I know I couldn't have mustered before I pry the doors open.

Instantly I float through and let it close behind me as the screaming passes through muffled.

I sigh in relief and turn to look at where we now find ourselves.

At the far wall, there is a window, much like the one we had found ourselves facing after teleporting, only a bit smaller. I try to keep my gaze away from the view it provides of the city. Besides this window and throughout all of the walls, there these machines and terminals as well as desks with what look like screens built into them. Some have levers and dials, while others have a myriad of buttons and smaller screens. It's all powered down and dead.

Instantly I am hit by that fucking headache that I get from my mind trying to remember or whatever, and it threatens to overwhelm and knock me out almost instantly.

I hear the screaming again, muffled but there, accompanied by that slimy sound.

I try to use my Domain to push past the pain, but I get that uneasy feeling that if I do it, something terrible will happen, so I decide to endure it for now.

"Hey, I hear groaning of pain, and not from those monsters or whatever. What's going on, Sophia?"

I try to answer, but the words die in my mouth as I feel the halo start to stop spinning.

"Hey- So I think I'm gonna be out for a few seconds-you can take the blindfold off, just- careful with the windows alright? Also, if you could find an exit, that would be grea-" I pause middway as I feel the pain building and building, flashes of memories I have no context for assaulting my mind, too fast for me to even comprehend.

"Wha-" I hear her begin to speak, but almost like a wave that was being held back, I feel the most painful and all-consuming headache that I have felt drown me. The flashes double, quadrupole. They become too numerous to even distinguish, more like an assault on the senses, a flash of colors and vague feelings that sometimes reach overwhelming intensity, I feel as though my entire life is trying to get back to me all at once and-

And it's too much.

...

I wake up with a start, taking deep breaths as I remember the circumstances that led me here, and looking around, I sigh with relief as I see Miah near me, cuddled up and napping.

And as I come out of panic, I notice the pain in my head is gone now, and I am very thankful that whatever the deal is with those headaches is that they don't persist for very long. The pain in my ankle is another story.

I look down and see it has been wrapped in a makeshift bracer made of metal plates and cloth to stop it from moving, but from the pain I'm still feeling, it's most certainly dislocated, maybe even broken, which is a bit too much for my level of healing magic.

Looking around and away from the corner Miah and I are cuddled up against, I see that the window has been covered up by paper notes and book covers and that much of the machinery in this room has been ransacked, with some of the terminals having been stripped of their metal covers.

Turning my attention to the door, I see that it's slightly dented but also that it's been reinforced by some metal plates.

Overall I can see that Miah has taken every precaution needed to keep us safe, but... the time it must've taken for her to do this-how long was I out for? And also... the fact that we're still in the room probably means there's no other exit...shit.

I pause and look back at Miah, and I see the fatigue that's practically plastered across her body and face, and thinking back, we've really not had any time to rest for a few days now.

Thinking about that, I decide to lean back into the cuddle and just... lay there for a few minutes, letting the sound of her breathing push me into a sort of meditative trance, my mind empty and barren of any worries.

I don't know how long I stay there by her side, watching her chest slowly rise and fall alongside the rhythm of her breathing, but it's enough time that Miah begins to rouse from her sleep.

I see her eyes twitch and eventually slowly peel open, I see the slight smile when she spots me, and I see the way she quickly jumps to panic and looks around the room.

"Fucking hells- I was not supposed to fall asleep. Fuck- who knows what could've happened while I was out and-"

"Hey, hey, it's not your fault, not really-I mean. After all that we experienced in such a short amount of time, I'm surprised we didn't drop sooner- Besides, you did plenty enough to secure the room, I think." I say quickly, bringing her to a hug in order to calm her down.

She stays in that hug for a few moments, silent, though I can tell how her breathing slowly levels out.

"Yeah... I guess." I hear her say with a sigh.

We spend a few more moments hugging, but with great reluctance, I eventually let her go. We still need to figure out what the hell we're doing to get out of this one.

"Ok... ok. Thanks, I think I needed that. On to business." Miah says after getting out of the embrace, " I think I've figured out a way to rescue us from this dumpster fire of a situation."

"Oh? Well, the floor is yours." I ask expectantly.

"Right, well, first of all, I think this room we're in right now is a command center. The machines in this place, from what I could sense, all focus on delivering commands, and-I'm sorry if doesn't make sense, but it's what my Domain's telling me-limiting things. What that means, I'm not sure, but while I was rummaging around for spare parts in order to secure the door, I found that one of the machine's wires connects directly to the floor beneath us, as in the floor itself was being powered, from this I basically went through all of the terminals and machines I could, and the sense that I got was that this command center is for the tower itself-maybe even the city, considering the viewing window- and if we push the right buttons we could probably make an exit for ourselves." Miah explains while gesturing to the dead terminals all around.

"Wow, uh- that's fantastic, Miah I-" I begin to congratulate her only to be interrupted by the person herself.

"Issue is that all the power's dead, so until that gets fixed, these machines might as well be useless."

"Well, couldn't we just do what we did back at the tower? My mana is practically all back thanks to my little passing out," I say excitedly, only to be met with a shake of the head.

"Afraid not. Back at the tower, we only really needed a tiny bit of power to activate the gravity control. From what I can tell now that I have seen more of the forgotten tech, it was like flipping a switch to, well, switch the gravity. After that, there was no need to keep powering it. The gravity would keep being reversed indefinitely. This one, though, would need to be kept being powered, and it would require a lot of power." She says emphasizing the lot in a lot of power.

"Well... shit- so we're back to square one?"

"Eh, it depends." She says with a mischievous grin.

"Depends on what," I ask, already afraid of what might be coming.

"Depends on whether or not my theory on infinite energy works out." She says, reaching for something in her bag.

"Wha?" I ask, seeing her pull out the vibrator I had snatched all the way back at the tower.

"Oh, uhh-sorry, I kind of snatched it while you were out. I had to test whether or not it still had energy- which, surprise, surprise, it does not." She says with a smile on her face

"So many questions-but first, what do you mean out of energy? When I tried it, it worked fine."

"Yeah-when you tried it, which is kind of the whole crux of what I'm planning here." She says while throwing the device back to me, " C'mon, try it. I gotta know if it was a one-time thing or not"

Still a bit puzzled, I press down on one of the buttons and watch it begin to buzz.

I see Miah's eyes glimmer as she takes the device back.

"Alright, now for the second test-" She says while walking away from me, and after five steps or so, the device stops buzzing, and then she takes a step back toward me, and the device begins to function again. She does this a couple of times.

"Oh, I see... my Domain; it made it so that the device could work- which I guess makes sense. There was no way the battery on that thing could last millennia."

"Quite so, and now it's only a matter of converting whatever type of power is being generated in that device to power the machines and then connecting the energy onto the central terminal-which admittedly is going to take a bit if I don't want to risk setting off a reality tear like back at the Twilight realm." She explains casually while taking the casing of the vibrator off.

"Wait, that can happen!?" I ask worryingly, now glad I didn't force the times when it didn't feel right to force my Domain.

"Well, yeah-though, don't count on it. A lot of things can happen if you force your Domain, including but not limited to nothing, an explosion (which is actually how I manage to deal with the bone-elk-thing), a reality tear (which can open a portal or just permanently change the local area), a-" Miah continues while now looking over the terminals and pulling a bunch of cables from the insides.

"No. You can't just gloss over that." I interrupt her while wincing when I accidentally put some weight on my ankle.

Miah looks back with a bit of worry on her face at seeing me in pain.

"You should really lie down. The bracer was a last-minute job that I was doing while under a lot of stress, it really isn't my best work, and I would not recommend relying on it too much. Also, I have no idea what you're talking about, Sophia. Back there, it was do or die I had to do something. I couldn't let you get impaled by that monstrosity while I still had something I could do." She bites back with both annoyance and worry.

And following her advice, I do sit back on the cold metal floor.

"... I guess. It just doesn't feel... right to have someone almost die for my sake." I say, sulking.

And upon hearing that, Miah pauses at her work and really looks at me.

"That is the dumbest thing I have heard from you thus far." I look back with surprise. " What you thought you were the only one that could do heroic sacrifices, that you were somehow exempt from receiving the same kind of loyalty that you provide?" She asks in a tone that makes sure I'm not supposed to answer... but I do anyway.

"W-well, no, it's just-"

"Just what?"

" I just care a lot about you, okay? I couldn't bear to let something happen to you while I-oh...Oh," I stop speaking, realizing what it is that I'm saying.

"Yeah, "oh" is right," Miah says, turning her head in a hurry and going back to working on the terminal.

She does so fast that if not for my Domain, I would likely not have spotted the tears that were forming in her eyes. And just like that, I feel like I've just received the biggest blow on my psyche yet...

I’m making her cry.

No, I'll make it right somehow.

I prepare to call her attention to apologize, but I get a feeling that wouldn't help very much now, so instead, I shuffle closer to her and just... press my head against her back, and quietly I whisper.

"I'm sorry... and thank you for saving my life, Miah."

I hear her suck in a breath and quickly throw glance back at me.

"Yeah? Well, now we're even."

I don't say anything. I just lay there, letting Miah know I'm here.

Eventually, though, Miah does have to move so she can check the other machines, and seeing her, I can tell that she's at least not mad/sad at me anymore, though there is an odd, intense focus about her and the machine she's looking at.

And seeing as though I can't really keep being at her tail without being a hindrance, I pick a wall to keep my back to and just lay there.

After a few moments of watching Miah work away doing who knows what to the machines, I remember the spell book I got from back then.

Opening the first page, I see scribbled in big, bold worlds:

DO NOT FORGET THE INSIDE CIRCLE

Below that it's a much more neat and smaller handwriting.

' The base is fairly easy to remember if not a bit inefficient in terms of mana conservation, and theoretically the only thing I would need to do to increase the number of targets is add more circles (Never forget the inside one). The problem now is figuring out what the symbols I could use to make it feasible, currently 3 circles (including the inner one) are the most one can reasonably expect one to cast (maybe if I find someone that can donate Lighning mana while creating the spell?), so at most two targets are the most one can chain with this spell. '

And below even that is a arcane looking 3-pointed star with 4 other symbols inside and outside it and three circles encircling the whole. Sublititing it is presumably the title of this spell:

'Chain Lightning'.

huh?

I look up to ask help for Miah, but seeing her tinkering with a bunch of cables and looking increasingly frustrated I decide otherwise.

Looking back at the book I see that the rest of this book is much the same style, detailing the construction and theorizing the optimization of... circles? In the whole there are 9 spells detailed here and the rest of the book is theory crafting of possible optimization symbols.

And those spells are listed as:

'Chain Lighning'

'Time lag'

'Mud pit'

'Freeze object'

'Bind'

'Form weapon'

'Sonar sense'

'Hasten senses'

'Haste'

And reading through them all, the only ones that I could use (if I could decode what the hell these circles mean) are: 'Chain lightning and 'Hasten senses', because all the others are either time or earth magic, both of which I suck at.

I'm surprised then by Miah as she whoops cheerfully while holding the vibrator that's been now connected to a central terminal of sorts that has been heavily modified.

"I fucking did it! Suck on that, Eloin! Who said forgotten technology couldn't be improved!" She, in cheer, then faces me, and I see her face blush for a moment as she clears her throat. "Uh- so yeah, it's done, as long as you step close enough, the device should turn on, and the energy should feed into the terminal- might take a bit to start seeing results, though."

"Amazing work Miah! When you said it might take a while, I thought you meant a few hours, honestly. I mean, how did-" I start giving that Miah is most certainly owed when she raises a hand to interrupt me.

"Uh, it did?- Take a few hours, that is, at least I think so? I'd like to think I got better at tracking time while in my building fugue, at least..." She says, slightly blushing from both embarrassment and pride at my compliment.

"Oh." I look out the window, and though it is covered by that makeshift paper curtain, I can tell the light of the sun is gone, and it's already nighttime "Ah, crap baskets, sorry, seems like I lost track of time while trying to decipher the spellbook, which by the way makes no sense to me- like how do these funky little circles even help with magic? It seems completely unrelated to what I do, at least..."

"Ah, yeah, I don't know exactly what they mean, not what I studied, but it is the basis for magitech, so I know a bit by relation to what I actually majored in. Just saying because you're going to have to talk with someone who actually knows their stuff later; anyways, I think you have to do the general magic stuff that you do, i.e., draw the specified energy, imagine the result you want, and channel it, except, as you're channeling you're going to want to siphon it through a catalyst, which is the magic circles, normally you have some tool that records the catalyst so that you don't have to waste paper, but since that guy, we looted from didn't seem to have one, you're going to have to make do." She explains while waving the vibrator as she gestures.

"Ok? Uh... let me try. I think I do better with practical learning anyways." I say, picking one of the blank pieces of paper from the spellbook. "Oh, I need a pen for this or a pencil, not picky," I add.

Miah is already throwing a pencil as I say this.

"Oh yeah, might as well start the powering process while you practice. It will take at least an hour for the system to be operable(I think)," Miah adds.

I nod back, stepping within the range of the vibrator, and start copying the circle for 'Hasten senses', and strangely I find myself drawing it with practiced ease; I stow away that bit of information and start preparing the spell.

I pull on that familiar energy that pools within the center of my being. I imagine the spell taking the form of my mind being accelerated, the lightning mana coating my synapses. I take that energy that I unconsciously gather to prepare for what I imagine, and instead of channeling directly into my own body, I first take it through the circle in my hand. I see the paper light up, with the sigils glowing in violet light, and I then see the paper vaporize and the magic enter my body.

Instantly I feel the world slow around me. I see Miah reacting to magic in slow motion, her surprise beginning to appear. I look down, or try to, as my body lags behind my own thoughts. It's an uncomfortable experience.

Everything is slow, and it continues to be so for at least a minute more (at least to my senses), but after that timeframe, I feel my body start to catch up to the speed of my mind, or rather my mind slowing to meet my body.

And then I'm back, and Miah has finished emoting her surprise.

"So? Did it work?" She asks curiously

I nod.

"Yeah, it did, but uh, if you actually know the reason, why couldn't I do the spell without the circle? It didn't really feel that different from casting it normally." I say, checking on my mana reserves and surprising myself as I find I really didn't use a whole lot. In fact, I'm pretty sure I gathered more than that to cast the spell.

"Well, a variety of reasons, really, at least I think- I was more fond of the engineering part of magitech engineering (I mean, I know what some of the symbols mean, and I could probably craft a spell circle for a really simple spell)- But anyway you generally use them to make spells more effective or rather cost-effective." She explains while checking on the now active vibrator and the cable connected to it. "They can also add some other properties to the spell and combine certain effects of two different schools of magic and other complicated stuff, but the main part, at least from what I learned, is making otherwise really costly spells viable to use so that one can actually cast multiple times a day instead of just deflating after a couple of shots- kind of like you are doing!" She says with an expression of understanding on her face.

I groan with frustration.

"And why didn't you tell me that sooner? This could've made our lives so much easier!"

Miah blushes a bit but then bites back.

"Hey, we were on a really stressful couple of days? Shit, day, actually. Holy hells, that all happened in one day- anyways, the point is this type of stuff goes a bit past common sense and I was kind of focused on filling that one for you... also, I forgot about it." She add that final part in a murmur.

I massage my temples.

"It's fine, you're right, it has been a... day," I say, sitting back on the floor.

Miah looks back at the vibrator, nods her head with a look of satisfaction, and rests it at a nearby table as she sits by my side.

And as she does, I hear a growl coming from nearby, and I almost jump into action to defend ourselves when I look at an embarrassed Miah resting her hands on her stomach.

I then remember the last time we ate anything was back at the wagon while we were discussing magic, so about a day or so since water and food.

And then I realize Magic.

"Any chance you know any magic circles for making food, water I feel should be fairly simple to make, though," I ask Miah.

"Won't work." She says back.

"Wha? Why not?"

"It's hard to explain without going deep into the thaumaturgic properties of spells and shit, but basically spell made food and drinkable water are really, really hard to make- It's actually one of the main pursuits of magic research- But any advancements in that area are slow and undercut by the food not lasting very long, as in it disappears after you eat it." She says with a tired expression.

"Oh, thats disappointing," I say in return.

"Yeah, tell me about it." She concurs while leaning on my shoulder.

And for the next hour, we just sit there, taking comfort in our shared space.

When suddenly, I hear the sound of whirling air, and a flicker of light illuminates the terminal above us.

Immediately Miah stands up and practically glues her face to the screen, which is now on and is displaying a blank blue with white words saying:

'Initializing... '

Then within a second, it flickers.

'Startup Menu

F1 SAll15 Information

F2 SAll15 Diagnostics

F10 SAll15 System Recovery

Enter - Continue Startup '

Miah looks back at me in confusion, and I shrug (though I do wince a little as I feel a headache building).

She turns to the terminal and hits a key, and the display shows a series of numbers and strange words that really don't seem to mean anything.

Miah seems to look confused (though not as much as me) and presses another key that takes her back to the 'Startup Menu'.

She presses another key, and the screen flickers again.

'Booting up...

...

...

ERROR

SYSTEM SAll15 TERMINATED

ADMINISTRATOR OVERRIDE NECESSARY:

'

Miah goes up to hit a key, but something overtakes me, a feeling of regret and shame so deep that I visibly wince from it, and unconsciously I move my finger to the terminal and press a series of keys that display this on the screen:

'

'Booting up...

...

...

ERROR

SYSTEM SAll15 TERMINATED

ADMINISTRATOR OVERRIDE NECESSARY:

TVNB3CPG '

I look back at Miah, she nods, and then I hit the Enter key.

The screen flickers off, and I fear that I may have entered something wrong, but then I hear it, more sound of whirling air as the machines all around us begin activating, and the lights on the room turn on, illuminating the previously dark and dreary atmosphere.

And for a moment, everything is bright and alive, right? Somehow I get the feeling that I did something right like I fixed a mistake.

And then I hear a voice coming from above. It sounds slightly feminine and a bit mechanical, but most importantly, it sounds pissed.

"Looks like the guilt was too much to bear, hypocrite, or was I simply revived out of desperation? By the looks of things, something terrible must have happened- don't answer, I don't care- I will enjoy making you suffer as I did"

And then the floor suddenly rises and throws us straight out of the now open window.

Notes:

Hello, and sorry for the delay. This chapter was a bit difficult to fix, and I still had to split it- which I will try not to let the previous time I did this repeat and take four months to post again.
As always, feel free to comment on any and all thoughts.

Chapter 11: Labyrinth Part II

We're falling. We are falling, and that is not what worries me. No, as we fall, and I feel the cold air pushing against me and see Miah flailing through the air a few feet away from me, desperately trying to keep her eyes closed in fear of what might catch our gaze.

What I'm most worried about is the city.

Previously it looked alien and majestic, but static, cold. Now... now it shifts and bends and changes as I see it. The spires of towering heights seem to spin into themselves, every brick moving and changing, modifying the design indefinitely. The buildings are never still for too long, moving and disappearing, only to be replaced by others, and as I look back at the tower we are falling from, I realize just how massive it is, smack dab in the center of this monolithic city, it manages to tower even that by a significant margin. I desperately try to close my eyes in fear of seeing the monsters and being frozen and unable to act while hurling through the air, but I'm stopped by a voice.

Differently from the last time I heard it, this time it seems to come from all around me, as if whoever is speaking is present in every direction, and the emotion is different too. Instead of that cold anger, it's now more of a curious and annoyed hue of emotion.

"What has transpired to allow these miscreant shards of the Outcast within my birthplace Sophia?" She? (It at least sounds feminine), asks.

I grit my teeth as the word rattles in my brain, and I desperately reach to hold Miah as I try to answer.

"I thought you didn't care about what happened?!" I scream out into the air, only belatedly realizing I'm antagonizing the entity that just showed itself capable of manipulating the very ground we were standing upon. 

"Your screaming is as unnecessary as it is annoying. For your information, I had previously thought you bastards would be able to handle the City of Dis without me, wasn't that why you even considered that stupid plan of yours? I had thought it was something like a rapture again, not... whatever this is." The omnipresent voice says with a hint of exasperation.

"Well, maybe you should've asked us before throwing us out the goddam window!" I bite back.

I hear a mechanical sigh, if that even is a thing.

"What do you care? It's not like you could die from falling anyways... besides I had other things in plan in order to give you a taste of the terror I felt that day, so unless you feel like going against the entire city of Dis and its warden alone, or rather almost alone, talk." She says back with even more bite.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath as best I can.

I look back at Miah, and I can see that she has fully closed her eyes and is looking a mix of curious and terrified.

"Look, I don't know what your beef with me is, but at least leave Miah out of it. I-" I begin to speak when I hear a sickening crunch of flesh occur from within the tower.

"YOU DON'T GET TO PRETEND YOU DIDN'T BETRAY ME! THAT YOU DIDN'T HELP ENACT THAT MISERABLE PLAN! DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT I WENT THROUGH WHEN I FINALLY UNDERSTOOD WHAT IT WAS THAT YOU WERE DOING? NO! YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THE FEAR OF NON-EXISTENCE MEANS!

...

... YOU don't get to set the boundaries for my revenge either-YOU will suffer, and you will experience the pain of uncertainty that I once felt." And as the voice roars, I can see a visible ripple throughout the city and tower as they shift and bend to her emotion, changing to match the gravity of her words.

The announcement is quickly followed by the terrible screaming of the monsters. The shrieking comes from all around the city and the tower.

"... Before that, however, it seems I must take care of the filth that has been allowed into MY city... I'll give you the time it takes to wipe these wretched shards out of reality as a headstart... Use it wisely." The voice proclaims as I see the Tower begin to fold in itself and compress, and as it does, more of the screaming occurs, followed by more of that crunching noise and finally blood, as it trickles down the sides of the now compressed tower.

By this point, I already have Miah well within my grasp, and without even thinking about the pain I'll have to endure after this (too much, at least), I focus on the spot behind my head and activate the halo.

The wings appear after a second, and I slowly cancel my momentum and eventually stop midair, still a great distance from the ground, even after all that falling.

And as I take a moment to just look over the city, I can see that that event on the tower is happening all across, with the screaming being shortly followed by silence and a building compressing in on itself.

I shudder as I realize what would've happened had we still been inside, and with increasing speed, try to race to the mountains. (Maybe I could get out of the range of this city the voice clearly has control over).

"Sophia! What's going on?!" Miah asks with her eyes closed.

"Whatever we activated on the tower has total control of the environment here. They're currently wiping out all the monstrosities we saw earlier-as, as to what she means... I think she was a part of my past... I think I did something I regret that fucked her over majorly." I say hushedly to her.

Before Miah can answer, I hear the voice speak again.

"Hmph, still playing the victim, I see. I would recommend you not listen to a word out of her treacherous mouth... you? Actually, who even are you? And why are you covering your eyes?" The voice asks with confusion, still all around me, (damm, how far can she even listen in?)

"Uh- I'm Miah, I guess? And I'm keeping 'em close 'cause I might go insane if I don't? " Miah says tentatively.

"Strange, your name it's... Never mind, likely a coincidence, as to the insanity part, what?" The voice says with a strange blend of curiosity and annoyance.

"Ah, it's a theory that we made cause we saw some bodies earlier that were trying to protect their eyes, and I'm pretty sure Sophia here got a look at them, and it didn't go well, also what is your deal with her, because she can't actually-" Miah attempts to clear my name are stopped as the voice speaks.

"I don't much care for what she has managed to delude you over as to the danger of looking at these shards. It should be minimal, really, unless one were directly branded by the Outcast or had a particularly strong connection to the fear and emotion it represents, and as far as I can tell, the Outcast is still in...

...in?

...

WHERE ARE THEY?!" The voice asks in sudden desperation.

"Uh-" I try to answer, only to be interrupted again.

"Shut it! You always had close contact with these Court shards, and I can't trust that you haven't been tainted in some unseen way yet. You... Miah, was it? What the hell is going on? What happened?! AND WHERE THE HELL IS MY PRISONER!?" The voice rings out, desperation and irritation clear, only to be interrupted by a melody.

The sound is coming from all around, like the voice itself, and it is disturbing- Not in the way those, I guess, shards of the Outcast were, though there is some semblance, but where those sounds were horrible and unsynchronized, this one is hauntingly beautiful, like a piano melody were to be given a voice and told to sing the most lonely song it could imagine, and the result rings deep in my soul, managing with just a few notes to hit me with that same feeling I had when I saw those shards, I almost fade into that space again, where only me and the Outcast exist... However, I now know what is happening, I know these feelings aren't wholly mine, that they're being unnaturally enhanced and amplified, it doesn't stop me from shedding tears as I feel my soul ache for solace, but it stops me from drifting further, from losing sight of the world around us, and with a strength I feel not in me, I tighten my grip on Miah and stop myself from falling.

With the tears staining my vision and the feeling of... solitude that burns deep within, I try to think rationally-and rationally, I should block my ears in order not to have my judgment impaired.

And so I do it.

And then I immediately stop, almost having dropped Miah from my hands and being left alone again, never to find another soul to share in my suffering-Stop! I need to stop thinking about how I feel, I need to think of the next step-Logically speaking, I need a second opinion, preferably one not tainted by these thoughts of-NO! So, I should speak to Miah...right, just need to open my mouth and risk losing her as I invertedly somehow drive her away, like I did with- STOP! THINKING! TALK!.

"MIAH! I NEED YOU! PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME- ARGH! Miah, I need your help... please." I speak in a rushed and frantic manner and almost die in the cringe-worthy babble I just spat, but looking down, I can see Miah is also struggling with something, but upon hearing my voice, I see her opening her eyes, speaking something that is drawn out by the constant melody, and bring something to my ear.

And then everything is silent.

Except I can still hear Miah speaking.

"Can you hear me!? Fuck I hope this works..." She screams out, though to me, it sounds muffled.

I tentatively nod, still reeling from the exhaustion that dawns upon me as I remember the magnitude of the emotion I was feeling.

"FUCK YEAH! Alright, so I need you to listen-don't worry about the how for now- The voice we were talking to is warning us that we need to fly into the city. Otherwise, they can't protect us from the... Outcasts influence. I don't know exactly what it means, but it said that we need to cooperate for now."

I nod again to indicate I'm still listening and curiously reach for my ears to see just what Miah has put in there that has managed to block every sound, but her voice, and I find... cloth? Whatever, probably some Tinker Domain bullshit (and why I am even wondering about such frivolities when I need to concentrate).

"Ok," I say to her, still feeling like a little half-dead.

And then I use my wings to fly us down at the maximum speed I can manage, and as the cold and frigid air pelts against my too-thin clothes that were defiantly not made for this environment, I feel myself returning, and with it, the mounting panic as I realize I'm entering the space of a being that threatened very bad things against myself and that has as far as I know anyway total control of the sounds around me.

"Hey, Miah, are you sure this a good idea? I mean, the voice quite literally just threatened us." I say, slowing our descent.

 I see her begin to open her mouth, but then she pauses for a second and looks up to nothing in particular. Then she nods and opens her mouth again.

"The voice clarifies that it only really threatened you, it was never going to hurt me (as much as it implied otherwise), also that she finds it very insulting that you're refusing to use her name." She says, almost doubting her own words. "Uhh, and what would that name even be? I mean, I introduced myself. Shouldn't you do the same?" Miah asks, looking at me and mouthing, 'She won't believe you're missing memories,' or at least I presume she's mouthin' that because 'Sha won beli yo miss memo' doesn't make much sense.

I uncomfortably return to my previous flying speed and descend deeper and deeper into the city.

I see Miah nod again.

"Well, I would say it's a pleasure meeting you, Sallis, but our circumstances are less than ideal, I would say," Miah says loudly and on purpose, enunciating her name.

By this point, we're well within the reach of the towers, and they haven't attacked us, so I assume we are good for now, but I still keep myself prepared in case we need to start some evasive maneuvers.

I see Miah listening to Sallis again as she turns to me.

"She says that there is no time for pleasantries and that if she really wanted to harm us, she would have just used the cities air defense against us and that our cooperation is, unfortunately, necessary as the Outcast is a threat too big for her to deal with by herself, and that she needs our help to free herself from the binding she claims you placed upon her so that she may escape together with us- she also warns that should we refuse and try to escape alone the Outcast will likely take notice on the branded person first and that she finds it unlikely that you would be able to muster any chance of winning when you couldn't even stand against herself-oof, her words not mine- She asks that we go to level 10 of the city and assist her there." Miah re-tells wincing every now and then as she has to recite Sallis's threats.

I nod and almost ask where the hell level 10 is when I realize I already know that, for some reason, I know we're only on the top of this city and that it continues for 19 more layers, so we need to descend ten layers to reach it.

I am still a bit suspicious of Sallis as I plunge deeper and deeper, passing through the ever-changing walls of the monolithic buildings that stand next to me, all stacked on top of each other and lacking in typical necessities a house needs, and as reach the precipice upon which all of these constructions lie upon, I peer down this ravine and see that we really were just on the tip of the iceberg, as this city seems intent in challenging what I once thought meant big. With just a look, I could make out that the very foundation these buildings were standing upon are, in fact, structures in it of themselves that seem to stretch down and down and down, and in the very edge of my perception, I thought I could see that even those structures were built atop other, even bigger mega-structures.

I stop myself from peering and continue my descent that I previously thought fast seems slow when put against the colossal nature of this city.

From above, I see something begin to cast a shadow on us, but it's immediately blocked as a nearby building deconstructs rapidly into a tendril of marble and stretches to block our view of whatever it was that is coming. From beneath, I hear the muffled sound of Miah screaming.

"WE NEED TO GO! SALLIS IS TELLING US TO DUCK INTO THE BUILDINGS!" She says in a panic.

And sure enough, I see one of the buildings to our side open as the walls recede unto themselves, and I immediately fly inside.

Inside the edifice, I can see that it is barren, as in completely empty and with no furniture, just walls and floor, and that becomes less as the floor opens up and leads to another building, and though I can't hear anything but Miah's voice I feel the vibrations of something impacting a wall so hard that it shakes the walls all around me, and quickly I descend, and deeper and deeper I go, as well as faster and faster, as the walls and floors open to me and the vibrations grow stronger and more frequent, sometimes I can see a wall barely have the time to open for me as I increase my speed, and other times I have to quickly change the direction of my flight as a wall opens in a direction I hadn't expected. 

Eventually, however, I can feel the headache start to build, and I know that I'm running out of time.

As I duck beneath a barely formed hole, I speak out.

"I'M RUNNING OUT OF TIME FOR THE WINGS! CAN SALLIS TELL US HOW FAR WE ARE FROM LEVEL TEN?!" 

I see Miah look pensive for a moment as she responds.

"SHE SAYS SHE'S TOO PREOCCUPIED WITH TYING UP THE OUTCAST, BUT SHE THINKS WE'RE STILL IN LEVEL 17," Miah screams out.

I curse out.

"SALLIS, I NEED YOU TO FORM A DIRECT PATH DOWNWARDS! WE CAN TRY RUNNING THE REST OF THE WAY THERE!" I call out.

And for a moment, there is a pause as the openings stop forming, and then I see the floor open up into a tunnel that stretches so, so, so far.

This will be risky. I'll need to calculate exactly when I'll need to cancel my downward momentum, as well as what the fastest I have to really go to reach a point where I can accelerate safely without running out of time, and by the looks of the headache I'm suppressing, I have realistically less than a minute.

I then feel Miah squeezing my hand, and I see nod at me and say.

"Trust me. I can calculate it. Just follow my lead." She says, reading my expression.

I know not how she could tell what I was thinking, but I nod and, tightening my grip, step off.

"Accelerate and don't stop until I say so. When I do, I need you to start canceling the momentum immediately, ok?" She says as I gradually speed up our descent, and I nod back.

Moments pass, and I feel my back sweating as I watch for every twitch in Miah's expression, for any signal that she might give. I pay no attention to the ground as it approaches. I only have eyes on Miah.

More moments pass, and I can feel the seat building in our interlocked hands. I can see Miah mouthing a countdown, though which numbers she is counting is beyond me.

Even more, moments pass, and I realize that I still have magic. Maybe I could bend space or- And then Miah screams out.

"NOW!"

And I immediately rain in whatever force allows me to fly and push against the current ongoing momentum. It's hard to do so, in a metaphorical sense, since flying doesn't actually seem to burden me in any way, but I tell that going against gravity is hardened than going with, and so as I try my all to decelerate, I can feel my headache build and build, and I can tell it's not going to be long now.

And then I feel ourselves stop midair, and I panic. Maybe I didn't go fast enough, or maybe I took too long to take her cue, and as I feel the headache take me over and my wings fade, all I can do is shiel Miah with my body as we plummet-

For about a second.

Oh.

The ground beneath is fine sand, and I can tell that that little landing has just made it so that I will be finding sand in my body for weeks.

But as I look around, I realize that this is the least of my worries because all around me, I find sand, yellow and desolate, like a desert, except that there is no scorching sun or frigid moon to greet us in the sky, just the sight of a megastructure that stretches in all directions seemingly forever.

I get up with Miah and look around, I somehow knew where the levels were instinctually, but as I look around, I feel that instinct leave as it gets replaced with melancholy.

 I look to Miah and ask.

"Is safe to take the ear protection yet?" 

"Should be, I don't hear any more of the music, and Sallis is also saying it's okay. They've managed to distract the Outcast for long enough that they've gotten lost in the architecture." She says, looking around.

I take them off and store them in my pocket for future use.

"Hey, Sallis, could you tell us where to go? I had an instinct before, but now it's gone." I say to the thin air.

Nothing greets me back.

I look back at Miah in question, and she looks just as puzzled when an expression of understanding dawns on her.

"Hey, Sallis, could you tell us where to go next, please?" She also asks the thin air.

"Of course, Miah just follows the monoliths I'll be erecting," Sallis says from all around us.

What? Why did she ignore me? Aren't we in a literal life-or-death situation? She couldn't be so petty as to pretend I'm not here... could she?

"Thanks, Sallis." I hear Miah say 

And true to Sallis's words, white marble obelisks rise from the sand and form a line to a direction.

Still reeling a bit from getting ignored, we begin to start running across the desert sands as we follow the trail. 

 

---

 

Panting from exhaustion, me and Miah finally spot it in the distance, a pyramid of all things, made of the same white marble as all the other structures, except this one is comparatively speaking small, only the size of a house really.

I turn to Miah and can see the fatigue on her face (likely a mirror of mine), and we nod.

"You never said why you needed our help exactly, Sallis. I mean, I'm not complaining... it's just, well, you're really powerful, much more than I thought that device could power, and I don't see how we could help you in this." Miah speaks to the air.

There is a moment of pause.

"You're wrong about the power. Sure, within my city, I can control each and every piece of brick and stone and man every gun that the creators have seen fit to put here, but that is the extent of my power. I am bound to this city, shacked like the Outcast once was, I cannot leave it unless they see fit... which they did not," She says with cold anger "I can not do anything that they haven't built a counter to, not unless I knew how to use my Domain, but that chance got cut before I even thought of using it." She concludes with melancholy and hatred.

And now more than ever, I feel it, the regret and shame, and I know I somehow played a part in this. I go to open my mouth to say something, anything, but it's interrupted as I feel space crack.

Behind us, I see a tear, in reality, splinters cracking the very air and opening something.

I see tendrils of white concrete rise from the sand and try to contain it, but they just get caught in the crack and are shattered themselves, and from beyond, I see something try to reach through.

A pale, emaciated, and almost skeletal hand pierces through with its palm facing toward me.

I feel my soul quite literally being tugged as more and more of this pale hand pierces through the veil.

And soon, an arm comes through, and that's when I feel the shaking as Miah desperately tries to get my attention.

I, with reluctance, pry my eyes from the crack in reality, and she that Miah is saying something... but it's all white noise too. I feel her desperation mount as my face refuses to emote, and tears begin to fall.

She tries to put the ear protection on me, but it's useless. It's beyond sound now, even vision... Its presence, the presence of this being, is enough to make me feel paralyzed because...

What's the point?

I'm just getting abandoned again.

Left alone with no one to turn.

Might as well get comfortable with it.

The loneliness can be comfy, after all.

No one to prove myself.

No one to save.

No on-

And then I'm kissed by Miah, and everything comes back to me.

I feel my face flush with embarrassment, and my heart beat faster with excitement, and as I focus my vision and see Miah flushing as she shyly withdraws from my kiss, I feel my lust again.  

I grab onto it, imagining it as an anchor that keeps me from drifting, and I picture with all my heart Miah there, waiting for me.

I grab onto her hand and run from the now fully extended forearm of this being.

We run, and we stumble, and we almost fall multiple times, but we make it.

Before us stands the pyramid, and as soon as we step closer to it, it opens, revealing inside and in the middle a body.

It looks human and feminine with its slimmer waist and announced chest, and I almost blush from the fact it is naked, except it lacks any sexual elements for that, no nipples or anything to speak of.

And as I look close, I notice that it's a bit too perfect (though that's rich coming from me), its skin presents no imperfection, its face is frighteningly symmetrical, and its limbs are perfectly built, even its white and illustrious hair is too fine and smooth to have been naturally made.

Then I hear Sallis speak.

"hah... you have somehow resisted the call of the Outcast even though you were branded...ha...how rich coming from you...if only you hadn't betrayed me Sophia... If only they hadn't been so afraid..." I hear a sigh. "No matter, the past is the past. There is no changing it. Undo your mistake. Free me." 

I step closer and feel my shame and regret burn, but more than that, I feel... vindicated. And with that in mind, I follow my instinct, place my hand on the body and speak.

" Director of Dis, Warden of the Outcast, First of your kind, Sallis of Dis, you are no longer bound to the city. You are relieved of your duties with honor and glory to your blessed name. 

 T V N B 3 C P G

 Be free."

And as soon as I finish, I feel the body start to heat up, not scalding or excessively, more like the warmth of someone that has just come out of a freezing river and is warming up. It's comforting in the only way the body heat can be, and then I see her eyes slowly blink open.

And Sallis awakens.

 

Notes:

Hooray, this time, I managed not to take four months—pretty good improvement. As always, feel free to post any and all thoughts. They fill me with joy.

Chapter 12: Stranded Lullaby

Sallis blinks her new eyes, and I see tears beginning to form as she brings her hands to her face in wonder. I see various emotions pass through her, not by her face as that remains oddly neutral, but by my Domain, as I feel the astonishment, the happiness, the frustration, and finally, the anger as her wet eyes lay upon me.
I go to open my mouth, but almost immediately, I feel the sharp sting of her hand across my face as she slaps me... hard.

"Fuck you! You just had to do this the first time! But no, you just had to let your paranoia and crowd mentality take the thinking for you. You just had to have a little faith that I wouldn't fall to the fucking Court, much less to one of its wayward shards!" She takes a deep breath and is about to open her mouth again when suddenly we hear the sound of shattering glass, I see her move her gaze to behind me, and even though her expressions continue to be neutral, I can sense the hatred boiling.
"We are not yet done, Sophia... but for now, I will put aside my anger so we may escape. I would not stoop so low as to leave you with the Outcast... unlike someone."
And then I see her step off the dais she was standing on and swipe her arm up as the opening to this pyramid closes, but not before I catch a glimpse of... something.
The arm of the figure in the crack is fully out now, and I can see that it is gripping the fissures that run along the air. It seems to be using it to push itself out, and just before the walls fully close, I see it, its face... It’s crying-
I have to help-have to join-have to share-have to get closer-can’t-can’t be alone-alone-no one to-
And then the walls close.
I take a deep breath and look towards Miah, who, in turn, looks over to me. We're still holding on, and frankly, without that support, I would have fallen long, long ago. We stand there gazing into each other when we both hear a cough.
"Really? Some things never change, I suppose–But we have no time to engage in comfort just yet. This storage unit can probably only last a minute or so against the Outcast themselves, so we'll need to take an elevator to the station to escape." I see her then turn to face me, specifically her face displaying nothing but indifference, though her emotions swirl in a complex vortex of annoyance, melancholy, excitement, and confu-
"And would you cease reading me with your Domain? Otherwise, I will be forced to slap you again." She adds as she moves her arm out, and I see a hole being opened where the dais previously was.
Huh, so people can see when I do that.
“Sorry, I’ll try to keep it down—Still getting used to my Domain,” I say in apology as I try not to pay attention to the feelings that seem to bleed out of her form.

“Hmph, I would have thought you had already gotten it under your control by now—Actually, how long have I been deactivated? My internal clocks do not seem to be working in proper order.” She says as she steps on top of the hole, and at the same time, a white marble platform forms under her feet.

I look in wonder, and I see her looking back as in waiting.

“Well? Get in. We can talk while we travel.” She says purposefully scooting over.

I look back at Miah, and she shrugs as she steps in, bringing me with her as we still hold hands.

As soon as I step within, the circle lowers, and I see the opening close above us, and for a few seconds, there is only dark– Then I remember I have magic and summon a ball of bright white light in between us, I also make sure that it’s tethered in relation to the platform so it doesn’t get left behind as we descend.

I hear a cough, and as I turn to look down, I see the top of Sallis’s head, and as I look a bit further down, I see her tapping their foot in a clear display of impatient annoyance that I don’t even need my Domain to read.

“Well? Out with it then, I want some answers.” She says while looking up at me.

I cough awkwardly as I try to figure out how best to broach this when Miah beats me to the punch.

“She can’t actually remember anything, so unless you can cure amnesia, we are just as lost as you are.” She says bluntly.

I see Sallis pause for a second.

And then a few more seconds.

And only after a minute did I see her open her mouth again.

“T-this must be a joke, right? Because I must warn you, if you don’t cease with your horrible attempts at comedy, I still can retract the kindness I have displayed and leave you behind.” She says as spikes begin to grow from the floor beneath us.

“Yeah, sorry... Unless Sophia here is the best actor to have ever lived, she is pretty clueless on pretty much everything.” Miah says with some regret as she looks at me. I sadly nod in confirmation...

For a second, nothing happens.

Then I feel my body seize up like I was encased in stone, and I see Sallis move up to right in front of me and raise her hands as spikes made of marble spear out and stop just at my neck. I see Miah begin to move, but the same thing also happens with Sallis not even bothering to look back at her.
Just staring at me.

“I command you to answer truthfully, Sophia.” And as she says so, I feel whatever right I had to lie or deceive leave me, and instead, I feel the compulsion to answer as truthfully as I can. “To what extent have you deceived this woman?” She asks, pointing at Miah, her voice dripping with hidden emotion only I could see.

And even before I could fully process what it was that she asked, I felt the words leave my mouth.

“When I first met, I lied that I had lost all my memories-” I feel the spikes pierce my skin as I say it “- When I could, in fact, remember a voice speaking to me, I have since told her the truth.” The spikes retreat.

I see Sallis look back at Miah, and she nods fervently.

Sallis brings her hand to her temple and waves her other, and I feel my body relax and return to my control.

“...Fuck…” I hear her quietly whisper before removing her hand and looking straight at me.

“You--I… FUCK!!” This time it’s a yell as she slams her fist against the moving wall

“I had it all figured out, just had to understand the situation, maybe help out if it was dire enough, then I leave, don’t have to ever interact with you or any of the rest of team again, finally free…” She turns toward me, and despite my best efforts, I can sense the indignation that is practically dripping out of her. “And you have to lose your fucking memory! Who was I yelling at all this time? Who did I place my rage against? A blank, a nothing who doesn’t even remember the reason for her regret! Fuck!”

I stand there unsure of what to do–what to say. There is a tug of emotions of vague sadness as I witness her in such distraught that doesn’t quite correlate to my overall impression of her, most likely some leftover from my lost memories… oh well, I did it once; I could do it again.

I, with some unsureness, simply lean on those scraps of emotions and channel them into speech.

“...For what is worth, and I’m sure you don’t me of all people to say it… I am sorry. Whatever I did or allowed to happen… wasn’t right–I can feel it in my soul, how it burns with shame and regret, and I don’t say this to ask for forgiveness or win your sympathy or whatever. I say all of this to let you know… you’re right. I did something stupid and deserved to get burned for it. Your rage is justified, and I would never in a million years imply otherwise. You deserve retribution, I only ask how I may give it to you.” I say purposefully not looking at Sallis to avoid reading her with my Domain.

There is a pause, and then I hear Sallis speak.

“... I need some time to think… I–We still don’t know what kind of situation the world is in. We need first to understand that I can pursue my vendettas later.” She then turns to Miah. “Wait, you– You still have your memories, no? Then you should be able to paint a clear picture of what is going on.”

Miah backs off a bit as Sallis walks up right before her.

“Uhh…Look, this seems to be a very, very complicated situation that I am just now beginning to grasp its vast implications… just give me a sec to think of a good way to put it….” Miah says as she puts her arms up in a vague gesture of appeasement.

Sallis backs off, but I can see from the way she continues to tap her foot she is anything but calm.

“Of course, I prefer not to use my domain in such a manner either… I simply had to make sure–but enough delays. What is the situation? Where is everyone? Why is the Outcast out of its prison?”

Miah pauses.

“Ok, I can maybe, sorta, not really explain one of those questions, and it's going to sound a bit crazy, but I’m going to need you to bear with it, okay? “ Seeing Sallis just tap her foot faster, Miah proceeds slowly. “I’m fairly certain you and Sophia are part of a now ancient race of what is, to our perspective, a hyper-advanced society that somehow vanished in an indeterminate amount of time in the past.”

There is another uncomfortable pause of silence as Sallis takes a second to process that, after which point she brings up her palms to her temple and groans in frustration.

“If I weren’t busy focusing all my efforts on containing the reality fallout that the Outcast is constantly producing as well as masking our presence from them, I would be currently firing all my weapons in frustration—WHAT THE FUCK!? No, seriously, what THE FUCK?!”

And it’s at this moment that the platform stops moving, and the wall behind Miah opens to reveal a corridor. It’s made of that familiar silvery metal and is a bit strange; benches were overlooking a tunnel that stretched far beyond my vision in both directions and sitting on this tunnel, taking a large scratch of it was a silver train– and just as I think that word I realize, with a slight headache that this is a metro station and not a teleport one like I had thought.

“Urgh, we will discuss more on the train. I need to make sure the Outcast will not follow us out of the city, and having a conversation while managing that is proving to be more challenging than I realized, no thanks to your revelations.” Sallis says, head still in her palm as she enters the train, the door automatically opening as she approaches.

We move to follow, though not before I lean closer to Miah and whisper in her ear.
“You really had to lay it that dry?”

I see her shiver a bit at my whisper.

“Better that way, no use in hiding the truth, besides how do you even coat that revelation, which speaking of, you seem weirdly nonplused by it.” She whispers back.

“I had some time to think about it and it was the only thing that made sense… I’m coping for what is worth.”

At this point, we are already inside the train, and I can see Sallis has taken to lying on a series of seats and is simply massaging her temples and looking at the ceiling.

“Everybody ready?” She says tiredly, and seeing us nod, she says, “Alright, good, oh, and hang on to the railings. Even though we are operating with emergency power, the lurch from the sudden acceleration can get rough.”

And before I have any time to react, I feel myself weightless for a second, and looking outside the window, I see the train is now levitating. I quickly reach for one of the railings as the scenery outside the windows suddenly becomes a blur, and the ground lurches as we accelerate to ludicrous speeds.

The feeling quickly passes, though, and I quickly find my footing again as I stabilize. Miah on the other hand, is splayed on one of the seats in a position that suggests she did not, in fact, hold on.

“Ow, y’know when you warn someone of something you’re going to do, you usually at least wait until–” Miah begins to say while rubbing her head.

Only to be interrupted as the ground begins shaking.

I see Sallis sit up and look at one of the windows, but peering out, I only see only the dark blur of the tunnel around us.

“What's going on?” I ask a now agitated Sallis.

“NO! Shit– Listen to me, Sophia, whatever you hear, whatever you feel, just remember it won’t last very long. You just need to hold on for a few seconds, alright?” She says, locking her eyes on me.

“Wha–” And then I hear it.

The song… no… the lullaby, it…

It tells of the inevitable…

Of the vast receiving emptiness of time and how stranded we all will once be, alone with only eternity to give us company…

I hear the music ask me why I would bear such a burden, how I could even dare to leave all of us alone when I can make it right.

The song begins to repeat… and… I can’t help it.

I begin to sing along…

I sing of loneliness and despair, of boredom and misery, of isolation and detachment…

I sing for all.

I sing for the Outcast and all of those who will hear it…

I sing for Sallis, who was once betrayed and killed in all but name, who was made exiled to a time where no one remembers the tragedy of its life and death.

I sing for myself, stranded and alone, unaware of even the magnitude of the sorrow I should hold.

And I sing for Miah, who can now see that it is her destiny always to lose those who mean something to her, that love, as beautiful and brilliant as it is, is temporary, and that in time we will all be alone again.

I watch as my words ring clear, as the lyrics spell out the truth they ignore.

I see Sallis fall to her knee as she buckles under the emotions she does not know how to handle as she finally begins to unravel and acknowledge that which she desperately ignores.

And I see Miah cling to me as she tries with all of her might to rouse something in me, to make me tell her it will all be okay, that I will not disappear like all the others… I see her…

I see her… cry…

I… I

I made a promise to myself… more than once I–

And how did that turn out? Not even able to protect them from yourself.

No, I… wait… who said that?

Me…
or rather… you.

Reveal yourself! Can you not bear to torment someone while looking into their eyes?!

You continue to do the same thing… even after losing your memories, you continue to ignore what I say… Is that not the definition of insanity?… Let me show you what you continue to reject.

I see the scenery all around me change as the mist begins to engulf me whole.

And then it recedes, and I’m on a beach.

It is cloudy overhead, and I can see in the far distance a lighthouse.

And in front of me is… me.

She looks just like my reflection, and her clothes are the same, though I’m sure her skin is a lot paler and her expressions a lot deader.

She opens her mouth, and her voice is like a whisper, soft and airy.

“Do not turn away, Sophia. Do not pretend not to understand what I am.”

I shake my head in denial.

“No, I… I would never hurt Miah on purpose. You are not me.” I say in disgust.

She begins to curl her mouth in disgust, but it soon returns to that same expression of abject misery.

“Why did I think anything had changed… No, Sophia, we would not. After all, we love her.”

“Then why–”

“Because it is the only way!” She exclaims while throwing her hands to the sky. “Because, while we run around from one danger to another, ignorant of every threat we now forgot, you neglect the truth we once heard… That eternity is here, and we are and always will be burdened by it. The Outcast, while not perfect, is at least an answer! With it, we don’t need to fear the loss of someone, the heartwrenching grief of seeing a loved one go, the despair of losing everything.” She concludes with poison in her voice.

I take a moment to observe her, to actually consider what she says.

And then I take a deep breath, and I let it go.

“I– I’m sorry. But this isn’t what you want… The Outcast… they are doing something to muddy your thoughts; I mean, you claim we thought all of this? Take a second to really think if those are your thoughts.”

She crosses her arms and rolls her eyes.

“You don’t even know what you are sorry for. You continue to stay blind and deaf. Don’t you hear yourself, how in the same breath you apologize, you also belittle my genuine fear? I mean, for fuck’s sake, have you not yet realized it was I who helped you, who brought you the fragments of our broken psyche, don’t tell me you haven’t felt it, the melancholy of seeing a once lively place dead and desolate, the disgust as you hear the name of our most hated foe, that is all me, and you continue to ignore it, unaware of what you even want.”

“I know it at least doesn’t involve hurting Miah! You said it yourself. We love her! And fuck off with this bullshit of eternity and inevitable or whatever. Right now, she is in front of us, and we can stop her hurt. That’s an objective enough for me–”

“But it isn’t! Fuck! Don’t you realize? We.Are.The.SAME!” As she screams out, I can see fog rising from her feet. “And if you think I will let you keep deluding yourself any further than we already have, then you are stupider than I thought.” The venom in her voice was building.

“... I reject that.”

“Well, what a surprise, and what the fuck will you do about it. I suppose I also inherited your naivete, believing anything could change.” She concludes as the mist reaches her torso.

“Fuck! Please, work with me here. What can I do to help you? To make it so Miah and Sallis don’t have to suffer for my mistake?” I ask in desperation.

That makes her pause as the mist pauses with her.

“You know what I hate about you, Sophia. It’s that you always put others beside yourself. You sacrifice yourself at every opportunity, and you are always helping everyone except yourself. If you want to continue that, fine. We still have all of eternity to correct that. ” She says as the mist reaches her neck.

I panic and start to dash towards her, but seeing her unsurprised face, I realize what she said– We did this before. It clearly didn’t work out, so instead of charging blindly and following my every instinct, I stop, and at that, she does actually show a fraction of surprise.

“Then let’s compromise…” I say as I raise my hands, “You said it was you who kept sending those feelings as I get some memories back and that by me ignoring those, I was, by extension, ignoring you.”

She nods at that.

“Then… make it so I can’t ignore you. You clearly have more power over my body as of now. You just need to make it so your voice is impossible to be unheard.”

She pauses the mist ever so slightly, going down.

“Do you even realize what it is you’re saying?”

I wince

“Not.. completely, but if you really are me… then we can still work together. We need not be at odds.” I say in a conciliatory tone.

She locks her eyes with mine and I with hers.

“...I don’t trust you. I don’t trust that this is not just some desperation play, and the moment I lose my influence, you will find a way to throw away my voice.” She says with distrust evident in her voice.

I take a deep breath, and I trust in my feelings to guide me through this conversation.

“Then tell me how I can make you trust that this is not just out of desperation. That I truly want to reconcile whatever slights I have made against you, that I want us to work together.”

She pauses for a moment.

“...I have a solution, though even I find some fault with it.”

“Lay on me, can’t be worse than joining with the Outcast,” I say, instinctually emphasizing the disgust on the word Outcast.

“I suppose not, though it would be the same principle” And upon seeing my face of reproach, she quickly adds, “Don’t worry, this will have nothing to do with the Outcast. I’m simply taking what it was planning and turning to another cause.”

At this assertion, I nod back, still feeling a bit unconfident at her stalling.

“Well? Enough stalling. What's the idea.”

“... We could merge.”She says with a complicated expression.

“Huh?” I say in confusion.

“As it currently is, our soul is separated, a result of your meddling in the past, because of this, I am locked behind metaphorical bars, and your part of the soul is free to make the decisions. Now we could free those bonds and have it back to how it was before, but that’s where the issues of trust come in. After all, you already sealed me once before. What’s stopping you from sealing me again? So instead, we merge, we make our souls one piece again, as it should have always been.” She concludes with the mist now retreating to just under her knee.

I take a moment to contemplate what she is saying, and sure, some primal part of me detests this idea, but as I saw, following my instincts is not always the right choice.

“Would this… change me?” I ask, already knowing my answer.

“In some ways, though I’m sure you don’t mean our physical appearance as that will stay relatively the same, we never were vain.”

“No, I mean, my psyche, will I still be the same person.”

“...I do not know. And before you get cold feet, remember I will also change. You will not become me, and I will not become you. We are and always will be the same. The extent of our change, though, is hard to predict, I suspect a middle point, but that is speculation.”

“Of course. Not that it matters, I’ve already decided…

Let’s do this.”

And with a final look, I see her approaching me, and she motions for my hand, which I give to her. She holds it with her own, and for the first time since I arrived in this space, I see the clouds move as they begin to swirl and gather all around us, and soon enough, they descend and circle us, blocking the view of the beach in its entirety.

I look at myself, and she smiles. It is sad but also hopeful, I smile back.

“Guess we can change after all?” She says.

“Everyone can. Why would we be the exception?” I ask her, genuinely curious as the clouds get closer and closer.

“Because… like so many other things, I thought that was something only others had the privilege to do… I guess I was just coping.”

“Will it hurt?”

“Yes, but when has that ever stopped you.”

And then the clouds engulf us, and I feel myself dissolve, and she was right. It hurts.

The feeling of myself being torn apart at its very foundation is a unique feeling of pain, one that is impossible to describe but very much easy to feel.

But as this feeling increases, all I can think of is feelings of hope, and I realize that those feelings are from her, or rather me, as we intertwine and become one once more.

I feel her fear, I feel my hope, I feel our pain.

And then the clouds part revealing the beach we found ourselves in is now clear and dark, with only the stars and a non-shattered moon to provide illumination.
And as I look up towards the beautiful constellations that I once considered home, I think to myself:
“The stars looked beautiful that day.”
And then the pain fades.
And then we are one.

I close my eyes.
And when I open them again, I see Miah look up at me with teary eyes.

“Are you back?” She asks with a tremble in her voice.

I answer with a nod and a smile as I feel my tears beginning to fall.

Miah simply buries her head in my bosom and holds me tight. I hold her back.

Out of the corner of my thought, I spot Sallis as she stands up and gazes upon us, and even without my want, I feel it…

The want.

So silently and without even waiting to hear whatever words Sallis is preparing to speak, I also bring her into the hug, upon which she promptly freezes, looks at me, and upon seeing me serenely smiling back at her, hugs back.

And for a few moments, all is right in the world.

 

We spent some time in our hug, though Sallis backed out pretty much after a few seconds claiming ‘That their feelings were too complicated for the hugging to not be awkward.’ and went lie down on the benches.

After that, and a couple more minutes after, Miah and I managed to calm down enough to finally separate.

“I’m not sure I can keep living through these events, Sophia. If the series of Eldrich monstrosities doesn’t get me, the heart pressure will,” She says with a sigh, her face dried with tears.

“Well, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and by the extent of the bullshit we lived through, we must be well within our way to becoming the strongest,” I say with a chuckle.

As I speak, both Miah and Sallis look at me with surprise.

“Sophia… your voice it–” Miah begins saying.

“Oh, this,” I say in a softer tone than my original voice, but not quite at the airiness of mist–me’s. “ Yeah, I… I had to change if I wanted to escape the hold the Outcast had on me… I’ll explain everything later... I’m still coming to terms with a lot of things.”

“Well, as long as you stopped singing, it’s good for me,” Sallis says with tiredness in her voice. “Though we have to figure out how it is that you keep fighting the hold of the Outcast, because Sophia, even being only a shard, even being the weakest of the shards, the Outcast is still an Archon-Class entity, and you saw how I was barely holding up to them when I had the entire city of Dis behind me, though granted it was at emergency power and I had just woken up, that is still a crazy feat.”

“Uh, Archon-Class?” Miah asks.

Sallis shakes her head.

“A system of classification we used to classify dangerous entities.”

“And Archon is how bad?”

“Third to worst. They are assigned to entities that can cause a reality shift in planetary scales.” Sallis says dryly.

Miah gulps.

“I’m kind of afraid to know what the other two represent.”

Sallis sighs.

“Abbadon-Class is the one above Archon, and it’s the same deal as Archon except that instead of planetary, the damage they cause spreads through galaxies. As to Chaos-Class, well, only one entity has it, and it’s titular. They are able to cause reality to shift to universes.”

I feel the familiar budding headache of a lost memory resurfacing but it’s quickly cut short as it fades to nothing. I frown a bit at that.

“Wait, so there exists an entity that can literally cause damage to the entire universe? Where the fuck is it now?!” Miah exclaims.

Sallis shrugs.

“Beats me. Last I heard of it, it was dormant in another universe. And as to the Abaddon-classes they were shattered into all the other Archons, and before you ask another question, please understand that most of my knowledge extends to how best to contain these entities. It was why I was created, after all.” She says with barely hidden frustration.

“O-Oh, uh, right.” Miah fumbles over how to broach that topic.

Seeing the opportunity, I step in.

“Well, now that we are all calm and finally safe, can we finally have a discussion? You have information about my past, and Miah has information about the present, so I think it would be good for all of us to be brought to speed.” I say, still a bit unused to the voice that leaves my mouth.

“Right, yes, I suppose we will have plenty of time to share information until we arrive at the next station. Plenty of time indeed now that I think about it, with only the emergency power on, I’m afraid the train can only reach about a quarter of its total velocity, and with the station being some 4 thousand kilometers away, we have some 8 hours til then, best to use it wisely.” Sallis says.

I’m unsure if that is enough time to properly get to speed and also get some rest, but it will have to do, and I’m about to start discussions when Miah beats me to it.

“I’M SORRY?! You’re telling me this thing is going 500km/h and thats it's only a quarter of its capabilities?!” Miah exclaims, boggled.

Sallis raises an eyebrow quizzically.

“I suppose thats where we’re starting. Yes, Miah, the empyreans, as our civilization was known, were what many would consider… advanced. The full extent of our technological level, however, is a bit unknown to me, but yes, we could propel our vehicles to some frankly ridiculous speeds, though in a bit of an ironic twist, we never used them much, as we discovered warp technology, and well, it’s a bit hard to beat instant.”

“Right, I actually wanted to ask you this, why didn’t we use one of your warp platforms instead of the train? It seems like an easier escape.” I ask.

Sallis pauses at that.

“Hmm, I forgot you and Miah didn’t have the full vision of the battle I was waging against the Outcast. I chose this station because it was the only one available. The other warp stations had all been taken by the Outcast, and this train was the only one with a good enough reality stabilizer to mask our location.”

“Yeah, uh, you keep saying reality this reality that, care to elaborate?” Miah asks.

“It’s… complicated. I assume Domains are still a thing?” Seeing us nod, she proceeds, “Think that… but also… deeper. These entities warp reality on a deeper level than you, and I naturally can do. They don’t just wield their aspect. They are their aspect. They gain power as their influence grows and can even extend that influence beyond that range. The Outcast is, thankfully, a somewhat… docile entity. They are satisfied with being left alone, only sometimes calling the unfortunate sap who maybe is a bit too interconnected with their Domain.”

“And what is that Domain?” Miah questions.

“It’s in the name, Outcast. They are the aspect of all who feel isolated for one reason or another.”

“Hmm… wait, Sallis, you knew me, right? Can you tell me why I was bound to the Outcast? In fact, can you just tell me everything you know about my life?” I ask in hope.

She sighs.

“I knew of you. I think we only met like two times, so besides knowing the obvious such as that you were important and some random aspects that you shared with me, I’m not going to be able to reveal much.” She reveals to my disappointment. “As to why you were bound, it has to do with your involvement in the shattering of the Crimson King. More than that was hidden from me.”

As soon as I hear that name, I feel those feelings again, disgust, fear, hate, it all focuses on that title, and this time, I don’t ignore it.

“Can you tell me more about this Crimson King? I… I think I remember hating it.” I ask, shaking from the revulsion of uttering that name.

“Oh wow, you were not downplaying your memory loss.” She thinks for a moment. “They were the first Abbadon-class entity the Empyreans met with. They were born during the infernal wars and quite literally brought with them concepts that were previously not as… well-rounded. They were death and pain, fear and hunger, violence and hate, and in the brief moment they existed, every single individual of this galaxy knew in their hearts that blood was crimson for a reason… or so I was told. I wasn’t born during the time, so all I was told was that they were bad and that most of the Achon-class were shards from them.”

As she speaks, I can feel that something is missing, but another thing catches my attention.

“Wait, you said you weren’t born yet, but that I was involved in the shattering… How old are you? How old am I?” I ask a bit incredulously.

Sallis tilts her head.

“I was twenty years old when I was deactivated, though I had only gained full sentience five years before that… as for you. Uh, you never specified? I know at least more than a hundred since thats about when the infernal wars ended.”

I’m about to ask another question when Sallis interrupts me.

“Thats enough about my side. I want to hear more about the current times.” She turns to Miah. “You said we were ancient correct? And that there are none of us left. Do you know what caused our ruin?”

Miah perks up at being addressed.

“Oh, something I actually know a lot. Right, well, records of what happened to the Forgotten, or I guess in this case Empyreans, are… spotty at best. We know it must’ve been a very sudden event that caused the collapse of their society because there are no outward signs of any struggle or continuous event. The prevailing theory is that some magical cataclysm occurred and wiped out the great majority of the Forg– Empyreans, the lucky few who survived must have lost their access to technology and had to restart civilization, eventually their descendants somehow forgot about their origin and progresses as a civilization would. Of course, there are a looot of problems with this theory, and it’s not really taken seriously by the academic community; I mean, how does one completely forget about their origins? If they lost their tech, then why are we constantly finding it across the world in ruins? How did their descendants not find those ruins? And on and on and on, but the general idea that some cataclysm wiped them out is solid enough since there really is no other option. As to the timeframe this occurred… it’s hard to tell. The F-Empyrean ruins don’t generally decay, as it were, so all we have are historical records of different civilizations finding ruins across the ages, and well, the oldest one we have is thousands of years old, so they have to predate that by a large margin.” Miah takes a breath as she finishes recounting.

“Hmm, that is incredibly odd. What about the planes, specifically the sea of souls? Did you really find no Empyrean presence there?” Sallis asks

Miah chokes.

“Y-You mean the afterlife? I-I mean, no? People generally don’t come back from there, so it’s a bit hard to be sure.”

Sallis tilts her head.

“What about the reapers, are they still around? Hell, what of Doss? I can’t imagine they would just… disappear without a trace. In fact, what of the Lords of Change?”

That brings the headache, and I try to focus on the emotion as the words hit me… Happiness?Sorrow?...Love?...

It’s all very confusing, and Miah seems to share my sentiment.

“Wha? N-No? I mean, I never heard of these Lords of Change. Are they like the gods?” Miah questions.

“Huh? Gods? Like… the ones from the other dimensions?” Sallis questions back.

“No, they are very much in this plane of existence,” Miah responds.

“I guess not? I mean, they were powerful sure, and could probably hold back an Abaddon class by themselves, but they never really called themselves gods… now that I think about it, they never really called themselves lords either. It was just something everyone called them, I think… Talun was the one who was overseeing the SAll15 project. Actually, now that I remember, you were pretty close to her.” She says, pointing at me

I’m about to respond when another headache appears, and this time doesn’t go away. I grab my head as it builds and builds, and I almost fall to my knees when a memory resurfaces.

I’m somewhere dark, and all around me are these bricks that have been scorched by something. To my side, I see a serpentine body with multiple heads that are covered with scales, and looking down, I see that I am injured and covered in blood… and in front of me, I see…

Her…

Talun.

Notes:

Hey, y'all, been some time. This time I can confirm next chapter will not take as long. Yep. This time for sure. Hah... Sorry about the inconsistency, but I have been facing the hardest time of my life so far, and well as much as I like a struggle, at least Sisyphus's boulder didn't get heavier each time he dropped it. Anyways that's enough about my drama, hope you enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 13: Time Machine Part I

She is lying down on a crater on the brick floor, and I can see she is the only thing without a scorch mark in the entire room. She is wearing a long fluffy coat, and her face is scrunched up in pain, but her eyes are closed.

I see myself running down to her as I try to see if she's okay.

The last thing I remember is saying.

“Are you all right?” And then she opens her colorful eyes in confusion.

And then I’m back at the train with Miah looking worriedly at me.

“...--re you all right? Sophia?” I caught just the last part of what she was saying.

I tentatively nod.

“Yeah… I just had a… flashback? I… think I remember meeting this Talun. She was unconscious, I think? There was a scaled monster with multiple heads near me, and I was covered in wounds and blood… I think I also remember feeling… incredulity? Like I couldn’t believe I was still alive.” I turn from my introspection as I see Miah and Sallis both listening with rapt attention.

“Then perhaps our best course of action is to investigate what is blocking your recovery from your memories. That seems like the best bet for figuring out what is going on.” Sallis speaks after a moment. “Miah, you are the one most familiar with the current world. Where do you think we would have the best chance to find the necessary help.”

“Septo-Gratia,” She says, not missing a beat.

“I’m… sorry?” Sallis asks, taken aback by the fast response.

“Or rather, its university, though if we’re really pressed for time, I suppose we could also try to see if there’s anyone with a DR suited for our problem. I’m sure we could scrounge up some money pretty quickly to afford a contract request with the guild. But, honestly, I think you’re going to need specialized help for your problem Sophia, and the unis are sure to have at least someone versed in this type of problem… also, I really need to document all of these discoveries we’re making, I mean, I think we have learned here more than what we learned over the course of hundreds of years of archeology. I shudder even to think what sort of innovations and discoveries we can make with the information you guys provide.” And upon seeing Sallis’s upturned eyebrow, she quickly adds. “But mostly to help you get your memories back.”

Sallis shakes her head at that

“Not what I was implying. Just… curious about the quickness of your reply. I assume Septo-Gratia is some city. If you think that's where we have the best chance, I’m going to trust you on that.” She says.

I’m still reeling a bit from all the revelations, so I bring back the conversation a bit.

“Going back to these lords of Change and how I was close to one. Can you elaborate?”

Sallis sighs, and I swear I can see her facial expressions clearer than before as some frustration slips in and her face scrunches up.

“I wish I could, I knew you and she were close, not sure how close exactly, just that it was enough to spark rumors on whether you and she were a couple or not. As to her, it’s hard to say she was mostly quiet following your lead more than anything, I think she governed the aspect of energy, and she had a tendency to–”

“Wait, wait, wait, what do you mean by governed, like, was she like some minister? Or was it her Domain?” Miah interrupts and I’m glad to note there’s no jealousy in her tone… but also a bit disappointed. I quickly shake that mess out and focus on what Sallis is saying.

“Hm, more of the latter, although it wasn’t her Domain per se. She wasn’t a god of an aspect or anything.” She pauses as she fights a grimace from her face. “No, she was more impressive. I wasn’t hyperbolizing. At her peak, she literally governed energy, as in she controlled what rules it followed. The other lords also had their aspects, with Doss governing death, Nulala entropy, and Bast life. That was why I was wondering how the hell they could just disappear without a trace. The universe should be a lot different without them around.” Sallis says, “Getting back to the point though, she had a tendency to let you be her spokesperson or something. It was not really clear if it was because she was aloof or shy, or just unhinged. And before you ask about the others, I have no idea. I barely got an impression on Talun, and I got to meet her, the others not.”

I hum in thought, and the more I think about it, the more I go back to the hate Sallis first displayed for me, a hate that spoke of a deep betrayal, but from what I’m hearing, we barely knew each other, certainly not enough to form such a deep connection at least. And before I can stop myself from what is going to be, no doubt, a mistake, I open my mouth.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems like our relationship was a tenuous one, between you and me, that is. If you don’t mind me asking, what exactly did I do?” I ask cautiously

Sallis looks away, and I quickly backpedal.

“Sorry, you’re right thats a sore spot.”I say rapidly, trying to salvage this mess.

She shakes her head.

“No, you misunderstand… I… I’m not going to pretend that you had nothing to do with my deactivation, but looking back, your involvement was pretty minimal. In fact, as I’m reflecting, I mostly just feel a dull… nothingness at your actions, or rather lack thereof.” She lifts her too-perfect face to look at me.
“I was made to be a sort of… failsafe for the imprisonment of Archon-Class entities. I was supposed to be able to monitor their activities in captivity and be able to preemptively warn people in case the entities under lock attempted to escape. Still, as it was for most of Empyrean technology, they built me a bit more advanced than they intended. I mentioned I was 20 years old but that I only truly developed some consciousness when I was fifteen. That wasn’t intended or planned, and well, when they noticed that I had begun developing emotions and the like, they reasonably panicked. See, the reason why I was needed in the first place to monitor the Archons was that they typically prey on emotion. They are empowered by it and can influence it as no other entity can, and as a soulless machine, I was supposed to be immune to that… a perfect warden. Long story short, for the following years, I was closely watched by a small team in order to see if they could salvage that situation… I thought of them as parents, but at the time, I was painfully naive to their cold treatment. Before you ask, no, you were not part of that team. You arrived later, on my third year of consciousness, or through my equivalent of adolescence, since I was still perceiving the world at a velocity much higher than what they allowed later. Anyways you arrived as the representative of the IDCR in order to, I think, recruit me or something. You never really sold what deal you were after. We met a couple of times in those last two years, but you just seemed interested in getting to know me. I… cherished those conversations.”

She says that last part quietly, and I can’t help but feel the embarrassment that she exudes before she continues.

“It was the happiest time of my life. How pathetic is that? I wasn’t even bothered when they removed my ability to think multilaterally. In fact, I felt glad that I could just focus on our rare conversations… that was until one day… one day, you were talking about something with the team. I wasn’t able to hear it, but when you left the conversation, you were frowning. I didn't think too much about it, but as we were talking and I was trying to explain to you how I perceived the world for the umpteenth time, I noticed that all of the team was in the control room, which was unusual since they rotated every couple of hours, I remember telling you that and asking what you were talking about when you suddenly hugged me… that was my last good memory as I felt bit by bit my systems beginning to shut down, I immediately tried to transfer my consciousness away from the body I was inhabiting but I couldn’t, I tried to use my Domain to free myself to stop whatever they were doing…” She stops there.

“I cannot begin to describe the terror that I felt then. Your people had long discovered and explored your afterlife, seen where your soul goes after your body perishes… I… I didn’t know what would happen if I was shut down. I don’t have a soul in the traditional sense. I don’t know what happens when my consciousness fades. Fuck! I don’t even know if I’m the same Sallis that felt that terror. I don’t know if that Sallis died the moment they were shut down, and I’m just another version, burdened with the same memories. Do you know how terrifying it is to realize that you can just… disappear… When I woke up, that was all I could think. When I saw you, all of that came rushing back, and I just needed to let it out somehow. In truth, now that I had time to weigh in my emotions, I didn’t really hate you… I was just disappointed.” She says, her head tilted to look me directly in the eyes.

“I’m so sorry,” I say in response, as all those ugly feelings of regret and shame come back. I almost go to hug her to provide some comfort, but I stop halfway, remembering what my last act to her was.

Instead, Miah is the one to bring her into a hug as she quietly pats and comforts her.

Sallis does nothing but lean into the hug.

And after a moment, she distances herself.

“I-I’m still coming to terms with a lot of emotions, and your singing certainly didn’t help, but for what is worth… Thank you for reviving me.”

“I-... I’m just glad I was able to fix my mistake and that you’re free now.” I can only say in response.

And then Miah interrupts.

“Right, sorry about your whole situation Sallis, that- it was terrible what you went through, and we are going to eventually try to set you up for a psychiatrist. But for now, we still need to catch up on information, and that includes you, Sophia, so listen up. I kind of already explained a bit of the world to Sophia here, but it was really bare-bones stuff, so how about I do it properly this time.” She then takes a breath.

“The world is currently separated into 6 to 7-ish countries. Those being: Cerialis, A.D.R, Dunnsmer, Aegina, and Ellsmea, technically Seinen no Kuni is also there and also technically the Skies cities of the Giants, but they’re weird in that one is almost completely unknown to us, and the other is a collection of scattered city-states that float around with no concrete borders. The country that we are going to be coming into most likely is Cerialis. They are by far the largest country here in terms of size, so I’m not going to be able to really explain all of the different sub-cultures of the provinces. Just be aware that they take their goddess pretty seriously, and as I’ve said befo-”

“No, I skipped over that because there was frankly too much information being thrown around, but what the hell do you mean by Goddess or gods? Who are they? How did they come to be? Are they present? Should I be worried that they haven’t bothered to lock up the Outcast again?” Sallis asks rapidly.

“Uh, there’s 6 of 'em, some are kind of active, and we have no idea how they came to be. They just showed up one day and helped out with all kinds of problems that were happening in the world.”

“Like?”

“Uh, Null helped my race out during the Second Elemental Incursion by molding our ancestors to be able to handle the very chaotic mess of elements that event caused. I think Kaal helped out the Cerialian region by stopping the series of wars that were happening. The others I’m not too sure about. I was never a big religion kind of girl, sorry.”

“It’s fine… Second Elemental incursion?” Sallis says after a moment.

“Yep, some fuckers in my home country decided they wanted to explore the planes; innocent enough, and it even went somewhat well on the first incursion, then they had the brilliant idea of connecting our plane with another permanently. Long story short, that plane started to invade ours and transform the area around it, making it especially dangerous and unstable. Then the portal got closed, Null showed up and saved our people, and planar magic is now heavily restricted. ” Miah quickly explains.

“Then what I thought is unlikely, shards are always harmful, no exception,” Sallis says with some relief.

“Ah, yeah, I can see how you would come to the conclusion. Anyway, as I was saying, the majority of people on Cerialis are Dragonkin, so don’t gauk at their wings and tails or whatever. They will take it as flirting. Hmmm, what else, what else… Ah, right, and if we arrive at where I think we will, then it's very likely that the region will be undergoing some form of protests or something. Polsker (thats the name of the province, bee-the-dubs) has been really unhappy with the way Cerialis is handling their government, so, y’know try not to get involved and all of that.”

“Wait, why are they unhappy?” I ask with curiosity.

Miah sighs.

“What did I just say? I don’t know… It’s hard to pick just one reason. Polsker is a pretty new addition to the Imperium, so they get all the disadvantages of a colony and none of the advantages of being a province, so their economy is pretty trash, as well the lack of independence that they have to govern their region… some cultural issues, I think they’re also really against the whole indentured servitude that Cerialis has (I mean who isn’t?) and also accountability for some of the shit that Cerialis did when they took over the region. Any more than that, and you’d have to read their manifesto, which we aren’t doing since we have to get you fixed before anything, ok?” She says with resolution.

There is definitely something that calls out to me when I think of fighting for freedom and against tyranny, but that is overwhelmed by the rage as I hear a certain term being thrown around.

“Excuse me? INDENTURED SERVITUDE?!”
“Pardon me? INDENTURED SERVITUDE?!”

I’m surprised to find that I and Sallis say the same thing at the same time, but I’m still too livid to consider this brief moment of synchronization.

Miah suddenly looks very tired.

“... Yes, and before you guys get more enraged, please, please remember our objective, that we need to get help for Sophia as quickly as possible. Can we try not to enter any moral crusades or joining a revolution while we do that, OK? Can you guys do that?”

There is something that just leaves a bad taste in my mouth in what is essentially just a step above slavery, but Miah is right, and trying to solve such a systemic issue would probably take a long while, a time that we do not know how much we have.

Sallis is also looking a bit miffed at being denied at knowing more about this Cerialis, but she relents the same as me.

“OK, continuing. Depending on where we end up, we could catch one of our trains to Terra Flumen, it will take a few days, but it’s better than renting a car, which is expensive, and better than catching a carriage which will be slow as fuck. From there, we just need to catch a boat over Aegina and another train in A.D.R, and voila, we’ll be in Septo-Gratia in… 2 months? Give or take, honestly. Anything else you guys think you should desperately know about? Because it’s a bit hard to guess what has changed in terms of societal expectations from you civilization to ours.” Miah says after giving both of us a hard look.

I try to think of something, but quite frankly, I am a bit discombobulated by all that I have learned and experienced, so instead, I sit down on the bench and marvel at how comfortable it is, while Sallis takes the lead instead.

“You said we were, from your perspective, extremely more advanced than what your current world is, at least in terms of technology. How far is that? Should I expect castles and swords?”

Miah shakes her head.

“Nah, thanks to your guys' ruins, we managed to skip a few steps as it were, uh, if this gives you an idea, we just popularized trains and automobiles, and firearms are finally somewhat stable now, though from what I know swords and scimitars and the like are still somewhat popular. Uh, castles were pushed out of fashion a long time ago. Advances in the previously mentioned firearms and magic helped push those out of the way, which speaking of magic. I don’t know how to phrase this politely, but how come you guys sucked at it?” Miah asks, moving from one topic to another with a practiced ease.

“Excuse me?” She asks, taken aback.

“Well, from what we discovered and learned, and from what I have personally seen, the empyreans pretty much were good at everything. They had existence at their fingertips, and magic played a minimal role in it. Maybe it’s bad luck because we just happened not to find evidence of your magic work, but it is odd that such a massive force of nature has seemingly not been explored a lot by you guys. Can you maybe shine some light on that?” Miah explains with curiosity.

Sallis shakes her head.

“It was just… not very stable from what I gathered anyway. it tended not to work in the ways we expected it to, and the Lords didn’t really have much experience with it, so we just left it by the wayside while we worried about other branches of technology. More than that, and you’d have to ask one of the higher-ups… like you, Sophia.”

I kind of stir in surprise from where I’m sitting. I didn’t even notice I’d been drifting to sleep.

“You said that before. What exactly was my position?” I say as I bring my hands to my temple as I prepare for the inevitable headache that’s about to come.

“Ah, that one is simple. You were the founder of the IDCR or Institute of Dimensional Chaos Research. You guys worked on researching the effects of the Fracture in other Dimensions. The Fracture being the event that allegedly made Chaos, for a lack of better words, blow up and shatter a great many pieces of itself onto other universes. The IDCR was everywhere since Chaos was our race's main priority.”

And sure enough, I get that same pain in my head as I feel memories try to return, only for it to stop abruptly.

Miah notices it and rubs her hand through my hair in comfort, I lean into it as it is very comfortable.

“Just to clarify something, when you say universes, you mean planes, right? Because those sound synonymous, but they’re really not.” Miah asks, continuing to pet my hair.

Sallis shakes her head yet again.

“No, I mean universes, planes are limited and within the same universe. I can see the confusion, though.” Sallis responds.

Miah stops petting my hair in surprise, and I only slightly whine. She looks back at me with mirth as she resumes the petting.

“Alright. Going to have to put a pin on that little tidbit of information, but ok, so Sophia was a bigshot of some kind and was the leader of one of your more important organizations. Cool, anything else we can share between us? Because I feel like dissociating right now just to process everything.”

“No, I feel that too. I also need to take some time to process things. We shall resume discussion 3 hours before we arrive. I shall warn you all then.” Sallis says, laying back on the seat.

Miah and I remain in our position, with her petting me and I just soaking in the comfort of her fingers tracing through my scalp and passing through my hair. It's so comfortable that I eventually feel my eyelids closing by themselves, and I fall asleep.

 

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My dreams are turbulent as all of the events we had to survive past claw at my psyche, shadows of the elk as they prepare to stab Miah, and her eyes that look with such loneliness, the ringing laughter of Hunter and the madness I see in theirs, the chill as I gaze into the gaping maw that that child had for their eyes, of all of those circle and observe me, all bidding for a piece of my soul, but then I feel all that uncertainty and fear pass through me, but and without even realizing when, they come to a calm, and I find myself back at that beach, the stars illuminating the night sky and the moon illuminating me, and there is tranquility.

And then I’m awake.

The first thing I notice is the body heat of Miah as we snuggle together in what is, truth be told, too small a seat for us to snuggle comfortably, but I’m not complaining. The closeness is comforting, especially now that that part of me is not locked, and I can truly feel those feelings of loneliness unmuted.

The second thing I notice is the fact that the train is no longer dark and only illuminated by the dim lights overhead. Through the left window, I see the brightness of the dawn as the sun sets behind a very familiar ocean. I see it just below us as we ride on the side of these snowy mountains, and soon I realize why it is that I find it familiar it is the same as the one in my dreams. All it is missing is the lighthouse, and as I look for it among the scenery, I don’t even notice Sallis approaching me, not until they lightly bonk me in the head to get my attention. I go to open my mouth and ask what's up, but they point a finger at Miah and make a shushing gesture, followed by them asking me to follow them.

I do so, making sure to carefully extract myself from Miah in order not to wake her, and I panic a bit when she stirs as she unconsciously notices the lack of body heat, but it’s not quite enough to awaken her.

Sallis quickly moves to the door of our cart and opens it, motioning for me to get in the other cart. I do so, giving a last look at Miah and her cute drooling face.

“There are some things I have to discuss that I’d rather her not listen as well, so listen up.” She says, not bothering to delay even a second.

“Your halo, do you know why it is broken?”

“No, it was already like this when I found it.”

She furrows her eyebrows.

“You found it. You didn’t wake up with it?”

I shake my head.

“It was in the twilight plane. Miah and I were dragged there after we were teleported to a space station by some sort of light thing. It made a twisted approximation of an elk body out of the skeletons that were there… I think those skeletons were Empyrean, and two of them were protecting the halo on some Dome-thingy. Long story short, I used my Domain to reanimate them, and they installed the halo on me.” I explain to an increasingly incredulous Sallis.

“O…K? That… explains nothing. The twilight plane? Why was it connected to a teleport station? Why were they protecting your halo? How did it even get broken?” She pauses for a moment realizing she will not be getting answers to those questions. “I suppose we will need to investigate that later, but that is not the point. The point is that I need to examine its data bank, and as much as Miah has proven herself reliable, I still believe following protocol and only allowing properly authorized people to view its content is the correct option. We can not be sure what kind of information this has, and I would hate to doom Miah simply because of memetic-hazard.”

“Wait, the halo has a data bank? Also, what do you mean by memetic hazard? Like a meme that is a hazard?” I ask, even though as soon as I say the terms, I intuitively realize I’m right. “Don’t answer that, just remembered I’m right, but wait, why can we view these memetic-hazards? And how are you sure this data bank has it?”

“I am not. However, your status being what it was, it is safe to assume that you would put precautions on the sensitive information you were privy to. As to why we can view it, you, as high-ranking personnel, were inoculated against most memetic hazards, and I, as an AI, am immune to most.”
“Oh, ok. And how would we view this data bank?”

“Just leave it to me… also sit down,” She says awkwardly as she tries to reach the halo, which might as well be miles away due to our height difference.

I do so, and she simply lays her hand upon the halo whereupon a holographic screen materializes in front of me, much like a shard.

In it, I see static.

I look over to Sallis (which is a bit awkward since the screen seems to follow my head) to see if this was the desired result, but one look at those furrowed brows, and I know it is not.

“Alright, clearly not what we were looking for… can you fix whatever is causing this static?” I ask in lieu of not having anything better to say.

She takes a moment to respond as she shakes her head.

“It’s not that it’s broken. The system is working fine; the broken part of your halo played no part in this… it’s curious. All systems are nominal. Just the fact I can interface with them is proof enough, and there is nothing that I see that suggests damage to the memory banks, and yet…” She points to the static before removing her hand from the halo and making it disappear.

“For all intents and purposes, this is your data bank…”

“Ah, I guess that tracks.” I respond.

Sallis is a bit taken aback.

“How?”

“Oh yeah, I forgot I didn’t tell you this yet, but remember when I said the only memory I had was a voice I heard before getting blown up and stranded here?”

“No? I remember you speaking of a voice, not of you getting blown up.”

“Huh, well, the blown-up part is not too important, just what the voice said. It spoke of how time was convoluted, of how events were set in motion and how they could not stop it… and it spoke of how I apparently chose to forgo my memories, or at least I assume it was about that.”

“And who did this voice?… nevermind no memories I forget.”

“What were you going to ask?”

“Who the voice sounded like, but even that is not too important. Voice modulation devices are easy enough to procure for that not to matter. What matters is the context. An enemy deluding you in an attempt to throw yourself off their track? A friend explaining your final decision on your request? A neutral party contracted to work with you… we have too little information, and whatever or whoever took your memories from you wanted to ensure it was kept that way.”

“Let’s hope Miah's suggestion works then. I mean, there has to be someone with a Domain that can help us.”

“Hmm, I’m somewhat skeptical of the chances of that succeeding.”

I raise an eyebrow at that.

“Why do you think so?”

She rolls her eyes, and I try not to let the wave of nostalgia flood me as she answers.

“The type of enemies that the IDCR dealt with had powers that quite literally shifted the way reality works on a fundamental level, and we still didn’t lose to them. Whatever caused the disaster that made us disappear and made you forget is not something that is going to be so easily dealt with.”

“Then why did you agree to it, the plan, that is?”

She shrugs.

“There is not an amplitude of options, and I thought wise to explore the ones we do have, as unlikely as they are to work. Besides, there is still a need to explore this current time. Perhaps we can uncover what the locals couldn’t.”

“Hope for the best, but expect the worst, eh?”

She looks a bit surprised at what I said, but only for a fraction of a second that I’m sure I wouldn’t have caught without my Domain.

“I suppose so. That was the extent of what I had wanted to discuss. You should probably awaken Miah. We are close to our destination.”

“Speaking of, what is our destination?”

“I do not know.” She says without missing a beat.

“...Huh?” I say, tilting my head.

“In truth, this route is new to me, I picked it since it was the closest available that wasn’t being threatened by the Outcast. I think it was made after my deactivation. All I know is that we are getting close to it now, only 1-2 hours in fact.” She says as she makes her way to the previous cart.

I follow her in.

Miah is still quietly asleep in her chair, and it almost pains me to have to wake her up as I glance over the scars and bruises that are yet so clear on her skin.

“Then… Wait–” I’m about to question Sallis when I see it through the window and in the distance—the lighthouse.
It is the exact same as the one in my visions, if not a bit bigger than how I remembered.
And looking over to Sallis, I see they, too, have noticed and, by the look of incredulity, also recognize it.

She turns to look at me, and I see that she is about to say something when the train begins to slow down.

“What?! The blueprint said the nearest station should still be an hour and 30 minutes away, why are we stopping?!” She says with sudden alarm.

I see Miah waking up out of the corner of my eye as she blinks her eyes and looks around, confused.

All of that takes a back seat as I feel a very familiar chill run down my spine… the same one I felt when I looked at that child's eye and as the train comes to a stop and the doors open to reveal a similar station to the ones we left, a woman in a dark suit with a yellow web pattern on the inside and a briefcase in hand in standing there, looking at her watch.

And as I gaze upon her impatient face and those dark eyes, she looks up from her watch and says.

“About time you arrived, Sophia. You have much work to do.”

Notes:

Hey y'all, as always, I appreciate any and all thoughts. I'm also looking for betas since I've realized I spend way too much time with corrections and the such, so if anyone wants to volunteer, just contact me.

Chapter 14: Time Machine Part II

The woman looked professional if I had to sum it up in one word. Her neat black hair bunched up in a ponytail, her clean and unblemished face, her immaculate dark suit with a fancy web pattern on the inside, even her shoes were elegant and perfect, all of that combined with the briefcase in her hands just screamed businesswoman. But then I looked at the eyes, and I shivered that same shiver as I gazed into practically a replica of the child’s eyes. I consciously take a step back and move to cover Miah behind me.

The businesswoman simply raises an eyebrow.

“Odd reaction, surely my… employees have warned you of who they were sending you to, no?” She asks with light confusion.

I’m about to go answer when something clicks. The mask from that cultist… it had a web pattern, the same as the one on the inside of her suit. Surely she does not mean those guys were her employees, and why is she acting so nonchalant if they were? I mean they kidnapped us.

“By employees, you do not mean a masked guy with a tall one, called himself Hunter?” I ask still keeping my distance. Out of the corner of my eyes, I see Sallis has also taken a step back.

She tilts her head.

“Yes and no. The masked man sounds like one of my employees, but I’ve never contracted the help of any ‘Hunter’, in fact, this was supposed to be a solo job where they were escorting you safely to me, which speaking of, where are they?” She says not breaking eye contact.

Miah speaks up before I have the chance.

“Look, lady, I don’t know what your deal is or how you even know of us, but that employee of yours was working with the guy who kidnapped us, he also tried to kill us when we attempted to escape, so you either give us an explanation or you can fuck off and… I don’t know, scram? Where even are we?” She asks with some confusion.

The businesswoman looks genuinely shocked by this, and I don’t get that sense of wrongness that I felt with Hunter or the kid.

“Oh… Oh for fucks sake.” She says while gripping her temples, as she quickly adds in a placating tone.

“Then I suppose I must start with an apology for any harm or stress they may have inflicted, I had every intention to help and potentially hurting you and your companion goes exactly against what my goal is.” She even raises her hands as if to indicate no harm.

“And that goal is?” Sallis speaks up.

The businesswoman eyes Sallis up for the first time, just now noticing her.

“And who are you?” She says raising her eyebrow.

“I think you should introduce yourself first before I even think about giving you my name,” Sallis replies curtly

The woman nods at that.

“Yes, you are correct. I simply assumed that you would be well informed of everything by the time you reached me, but clearly not. You may call me Stella, and as to my goal, I want to stop reality from collapsing.” She says in a polite tone.

I look towards Miah who looks utterly confused and then towards Sallis who is still in a defensive position.

“Uh, and how is that related to us? Matter of fact how did you even know of us?” I decide to ask seeing no one else stepping up.

“Well, you hold the key to a great many things just by virtue of who you are Sophia, your presence itself is required if we don’t want the collapse of reality, and your companion proves to have an excellent DR in relation to the problem we currently face. As to how, my Domain allows me to see certain things, important things.”

“As long as important means not being able to tell the guy you contracted was gonna turn on you and almost kill us.” Miah mumbles to the side.

Stella winces clearly having heard it, but elects to ignore the jab.

“I would love to explain the intricacies that come from the Domain of my DR, but we are in a tight schedule, so tight in fact that if you don’t move in the next 3 minutes and 33 seconds, we will have lost a prime opportunity.”

I’m about to respond when Sallis does it for me.

“What do you mean you? You have barely explained anything, you admitted to being connected to a person who actively harmed Miah and Sophia, and you haven’t given us any concrete assurances other than empty platitudes. How do you expect us to even think about accepting whatever proposition you are offering us?”

Stella takes a moment to look over Sallis.

“You want concrete proof, you need only walk over to the left and take the first exit, ride the elevator up and you will see what I aim to prevent with your own eyes.”

“And that is?” I venture to ask.

She moves her eyes to me and without wavering says.

“A time machine.”

I blink.

“A time machine” I repeat unbelieving.

She nods and I see her look to her watch again.

“2 minutes and 53 seconds now.”

“Ok slow down, 2 minutes till what? Also the hells do you mean a time machine?” Miah asks frustration clear in her voice.

“2 minutes and 44 seconds until stopping a person from utilising the time machine becomes much more complicated unless you leave until then.”

Before anyone can get another word in I step forward, just enough that Stella enters my Range.

“Are you telling the full truth? Do you plan to harm us in any way on the possibility we do follow you?” I ask, careful to now watch her every expression.

She raises a hand.

“I swear I have not told a single lie since you’ve got here, and I have no plans that involve harming either you or your companions.” She says in a clear and practised tone.

I search for those feelings of wrongness or any signs on her face that betray her words, as well as trying to grasp at the emotions she feels as she says it, and surprising enough they all ring out on truth and honesty, not a single ounce of deception that I can detect leaks through her.

I look over at Sallis.

“I can only sense honesty, but I’m unsure how accurate my Domain is at sniffing out lies. Maybe you should do that thing you did before to me, make her unable to lie or something.” I say to her remembering how she could force out the truth.

But she shakes her head.

“I was only able to do so because we were still on Dis. I had power over every single grain of stone there and that enabled me to use my DR in such a way that is not really possible anymore, not unless I take the time to try and recreate the technologies that allowed me to manipulate Dis down to the molecular level.” She says finally dropping the posture. “But if you claim to have a read on her with your Domain then I’m willing to see where this goes. Provided of course we bind and keep a close eye on her.”

“W-Wait hang on I think I missed the part where time machines are even a possibility, much less that one actually exists, I mean- Sallis for fucks sake are you actually telling me that the Empyreans had working time machines!?” Miah asks befuddled.

“I’m saying that we had the capability. The mechanisms behind travelling back and forth in time were indeed discovered, however, the Lords put a very quick stop to research in that department, made it illegal in fact, which considering the extent of… things they allowed to be explored and advanced made our society very adverse to any hint of time travel. I’m willing to see where this goes because I am curious about her claims, not because I actually believe the Empyreans were foolish enough to go back on one of the main taboos of our society” Sallis says never removing her eyes from Stella. “Of course, provided we bind and keep a close watch on her.”

“1 minute and 18 seconds now.” Stella adds. “And just for the record, as long as that brings your group peace of mind I am very much willing to disarm myself and be bound.”

“Disarm yourself?” I say not noticing any weaponry on her person.

She simply raises an eyebrow and very carefully but surprisingly swiftly brings her hand to an inner pocket in her suit and pulls out… something.

It looks like a metal device, vaguely similar to an ‘L’ on its side, except it has an arc connecting the corners. The metal is engraved in various golden web patterns, and all in all, it looks like… a gun, a very elegant and powerful-looking pistol to be exact.

I bring a hand to my temple as I feel a very slight headache at remembering what a gun is, as she just as swiftly as she brought the gun out reverses its grip and offers it to us.

I don’t even have the opportunity to consider taking it as Miah practically manifests in front of me.

Miah looks almost enchanted by the object as she takes it in her hands and examines every nook and cranny therein.

“Bloody hells… this is a work of art. A custom-made Mastercraft of a Wilson .45, that by the looks of it…” Miah without fear and terrible gun safety looks directly into the gun’s barrel. “Is fucking enchanted as well, I mean there’s perfection and then there is… What kind of enchantments did you even put? Fucking hells where did you procure this?”

Stella simply looks at her watch and taps it a few times.

“An associate was kind enough to gift it to me, but I digress, we only have 48 seconds left and I’d rather you get on with the binding.”

“Uh, how? We don’t exactly have any rope with us, and I don’t think Sophia here should waste her mana on creating bindings if she even knows how.” Miah asks still examining the gun, specifically the cartridge as she unloads it.

Stella simply grabs her briefcase and opens it to us, revealing a coil of sturdy rope as well as a broken watch.

“You were prepared for this.” I say in surprise.

Stella simply smiles.

“40 seconds and yes, though not for this exact scenario. I had hoped the rope would be put to use for another reason.” She says refusing to elaborate.

I look at Miah still fiddling with the bullets and then at Sallis who doesn’t even look back keeping a close eye on Stella, I shrug reaching for the rope, and Miah grabs the suitcase.

…

Turns out I’m weirdly good at doing knots and bindings, because by the end while Stella could still move on her own two feet, I don’t think there is any way for her to break out of her bonds by herself.

I hear a low whistle by Miah.

“You think that’s your Domain on ingrained memories.”She says in curiosity.

I raise an eyebrow in confusion.

“How would my Domain help with that?”

There is a pause and I can see that even Stella is taken aback a bit.

“What? Am I missing something obvious?” Because my whole thing is about lust, and I don’t see how knots and bindings could really intersect there.

Miah facepalms.

“Why in the hells is the person with the fucking LUST Domain the most innocent here?” Miah says in clear desperation, to my ever-growing confusion.

Stella quickly shakes her head.

“Well, best reserve those questions for later, because as remarkably fast as you were we have 10 seconds to leave.” She says and I see her try to look at her watch only to frown at her inability to do so, but we do oblige seeing no other reason to wait, though we always keep her ahead of us.

We follow her directions, going to the left and taking the first exit, though I will note that the station stretched much, much farther than that.

We climb up the stairs to be greeted with more of those elevator doors the Empyreans liked so much, though it differs from the others with it being open and not having a shaft beyond it but instead an actual elevator room, and going inside it–not after making sure there were no traps–it was brightly lit as well.

“How’d you even get this working? I mean no offense but you don’t seem the engineer type.” Miah asks as Stella indicates what button to press to Sallis.

She looks back and shrugs.

“I know a way around such gaps in my skillset.”

…

The ride is awkward with everyone a bit too close together and with nothing to talk about–at least while Stella is here anyway–but it’s quick enough and as the door opens I’m greeted by the beach, and in the distance the lighthouse.

It’s only then that I remember the look of recognition on Sallis as she gazed at the lighthouse, and looking over I can still see it, though more subtle and subdued.

“What are we even supposed to be seeing here?” I ask Stella still keeping Sallis at the corner of my vision.

She does nothing but stare at the lighthouse and I’m about to repeat the question, when it happens.

The lighthouse begins to shine a bright blue light and then… shift?

It does something weird like it’s superposed upon itself multiple times a strange sight that immediately stops after a second.

I blink.

Miah blinks.

Sallis doesn’t but I can feel the surprise as well.

And Stella looks smug, though she’s covering it well.

“... Well, I suppose your claims weren’t entirely unfounded,” Sallis says after a moment.

“Yes, and if you don’t hurry… well I’m sure you can imagine what an unregulated time machine can do to the fabric of reality.”

“Yeah yeah we get it, dire consequences and all, Null in aether we understood the first 3 times.” Miah pipes in with irritation. ”I mean what's our game plan here, we stride into this clearly unstable piece of reality, guns blazing?”

“Well… yes, though preferably without the guns blazing part–and I know it sounds extremely ill-advised, but unfortunately the main entrance is the only method of entering the tower, and the critical machinery is all located there.”

Something doesn’t feel right but I still sense no emotions that would indicate falsehood, only some hurriedness, slight anxiety and a very hidden sense of smugness and… lust?

It’s very well hidden, don't get me wrong, like it was buried under several heaps of professionalism but it’s there, some pretty solid lust for me, huh, well… I’m going to pretend I never saw that, invasion of privacy and all that… unless… Well, I’m certainly not going to confront her about it, but perhaps I can work it in my favour.

I try raising the lust a bit to the foreground and I start to question her.

“Alright we walk in there, what then? Miah works her Domain and somehow stops the machine, while we apprehend whoever is trying to use it? How does my status play a part in this? How did you even know of me? I don’t know of me! How did you make this plan?”

She smiles and I detect a slight blush in her cheeks, as her eyes quickly dart my form and I see her try to push it back with that cold professionalism but I stop that attempt on its tracks and instead raise a bit further, her blush becoming much more noticeable.

“Before I answer, could you… ah… stop what you’re doing to me? I would prefer to be in full control of my faculties while I explain.”

Even while she was talking I was raising it bit by bit, but I was not expecting the moan–very suppressed and quiet yes–but still a moan, so much so that I startled myself out of controlling her lust… Why did I even do that? I wasn’t even planning on letting her know I could sense that.

She looks expectantly.

“I already stopped, whatever you’re unable to hide is your own fault” I explain while shaking my head.

She follows the jiggle of my breasts as I do so, but quickly returns to looking at my eyes… unlike Miah who unashamedly continues to watch them.

“No matter then, and no sense in playing coy either. The answer is my DR… the Plan Domain, with a range of 264 million and 120 thousand feet.” She explains while also moving towards the tower and seemingly trying to make us follow her.

Miah however stops abruptly, instantly moving her gaze away from my features into Stella.

“That's insane.” Miah responds and then I see her pull out her shard and search for something. “... oke, yeah 264 million that's about the exact length of Aesir, there's absolutely no way you’re telling the truth, I mean that might be one of the most powerful DRs I have ever heard of, even the Emperor doesn’t have a DR that insane, and as we both know that’s a statement in it of itself.”

There's a pause.

“You should be glad to hear that I only have a Hume level of 53 then.” She says and tries to prompt us to follow again, which this time we all do.

“Oh. That… makes more sense–Wait you’re only three Hume levels above consensus reality? What can you even do?” Miah asks as she speeds up to stay side by side.

I’m beginning to see that Miah may not be the most tactful person to be around.

“Much. I got this far haven’t I?” She says cryptically.

“Why do you have a data-slate Miah?” Sallis suddenly speaks up interrupting whatever Miah was about to respond.

“I… data slate? Miah asks confused.

Sallis simply points to the shard still floating near her.

“Oh I bought it, why?” Miah responds as she looks back at Sallis.

“How?” Before Miah can respond Sallis continues. “ By the way you explained to me of your level of tech, your civilization didn’t sound nearly advanced enough to replicate, and mass reproduce data-slates, much less bring the serves and network back. I mean I’m pretty sure most of those serves weren’t even on-planet, and that’s not even to say–”

Stella clears her throat to get Sallis attention.

“I’m sure she’ll be happy to answer some of your questions about the current state of archeotech when reality is not at risk of collapsing. So if we answered all our burning questions, may we go save the world?” Sallis looks almost ready to argue, but I see her glance at the tower and reluctantly nod.

And as if to punctuate her point the tower glitches again.

We all follow her on a brisk pace to the entrance.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Thankfully the tower doesn’t seem to glitch in and out of reality when we step in.

The inside itself looks like a living space, complete with a fireplace, sofa, kitchen, and even some bookcases that all together have a sort of cosiness thats hard to describe. To the side, I see a wooden staircase spiralling upwards.

Stella seemingly ignores the room and goes straight for the stairs and we follow, though I do notice Sallis is paying extra attention to the details of the room.

Nevertheless, as we make it up and up, I see the light of the sunrise peeking through the open door at the top, and when we finally arrive what I see is…

A large room, not at all circular like the living room at the bottom, a large window in the shape of a clock is at the far side where the sunlight is peeking through, in front of it lays a large machine that I couldn’t even begin to imagine how it works, it looks to be made of that same silvery substance the empyreans like so much though with all the tubes, wires, mechanisms and terminals seemingly randomly strewn about, it lacks the subtlety and elegance I saw with most other Empyrean things.

All of that is not what catches my attention, however, because all around us are piles upon piles of bodies. Some of them look to have been cut and stabbed, others look scorched or frozen or some other different gruesome way to have been killed, and they each seem so different, different ages, genders, ethnicities, and clothing, hell lots of them don’t even look fully human with some sporting wings, or scales, or rabbit ears, hell I see a flipping 12-foot giant that is wearing a silk robe strewn about in some far off pile, the only commonality is that they’re all dead.

Except for the one in the middle.

Their back is turned towards us so I can’t see their face, but they look like a… teen? A young adult at the very least, they have a dirty blond hair and a lithe physique that makes it hard to tell the gender, they’re wearing a heavy winter coat and I can see a holster in their hip, but most importantly I see that they are weaving a lot of magic in and out of the machine, and I know its a lot because I feel it from here, on the other side of the room, almost like a heavy pressure that threatens to send me to my knees.

Stella though seemingly ignores the pressure, steps back and almost in an instant her ropes are gone, like one minute they were there and the next *pop*, gone.

I activate the hasten senses spell, almost fumbling since I didn’t practice doing it without a circle before and I am surprised by the not-insignificant amount of mana being drained.

But it allows me to truly access the situation.

First, the person in the middle of the room has started to take notice of someone else in the room, as I see they move their head toward us.

Second, Miah has somehow not noticed that Stella has stepped back and removed her bindings, her attention focused on the magic being weaved in and out of the machine– I swear I even see her eyes sparkle.

Third, Sallis has taken notice of the movement by Stella and I can see her moving her hand upwards to point at Stella herself.

And fourth, Stella. She somehow in the timespan that it took me to cast this spell– i.e. a second at best–has retrieved the briefcase on Miah’s left hand, opened it, retrieved the watch from inside it, and fastened it to my wrist– I also notice that the inside of her sleeves is glowing with eldrich light, but thats minor compared to the fact that I still see her moving in normal speed.

She looks me directly in the eyes, and with the world slowed down around her winks.

And then she disappears.

My spell fades and I see the world catch up, Miah finally looks back to find no one there, Sallis finishes raising her hand I see a hole form in her palm from which the bright glow of flame starts to appear.
And the person in the middle finally turns to us, revealing a calm smile on their androgynous and surprisingly pretty face.

“Hm, it seems a challenger approaches…” And their voice rings out with such clarity, it reminds me of cool calm lake, beautiful and still, but frighteningly and surprisingly deep. “It has been too long since the last…” They pick a hand-axe from the hands of a dead dragon-kin armoured warrior that was near their feet. “The power of the tower is almost within arm's reach.” He raises the axe to his eyes examining it, before moving his gaze to us.

“Step forward, honoured contenders… and die.” And before we can respond they slightly incline their body toward us and disappear–before reappearing with a rush of air in front of Sallis who had pointed the raised arm toward them.

Sallis in a split-second reaction fires a bolt of plasma from their palm that is swiftly dodged by them as they in the same side movement that they took to dodge move even closer and quickly bring the axe in a chopping upward motion and before I can even scream out a spell or yell in consternation dismember the arm that Sallis had pointed at them.

Notes:

Sooo... that took a while huh? Sorry about being inconsistent, and sorry about the cliffhanger. Good news is that the new chapter is already almost ready, so it should be up next week or the week after. As always feel free to comment any suggestions or criticism.

Chapter 15: Time Machine Part III

Sallis doesn’t even seem to react as they back off quickly and fire more bolts of plasma at them, forcing them to dodge back and pick some distance.

I use hasten senses again.

The world slows down and even still the figure moves normally.

Fuck, I’m needing to spend magic just to keep track of them, and thats not even to say actually moving and reacting with my body in time…

Unless…

The hasten spell that was described in the spellbook made it clear that your entire body was being accelerated not just your senses, the overall theory is completely different than hasten senses, you’re using time magic to accelerate your own time in relation to the timeline, while hasten senses is using lightning magic to somehow accelerate your thinking process– the process explained that you were making the connection between your neurons faster but that made no sense to me– But maybe if I infuse that power all throughout the body…

I channel that same familiar energy and I feel it climb up through my body like electricity, and instantly I know that the amount I’m channelling is not nearly enough, it would last a fraction of a second at best, but I don’t think I could channel much more without running out in a few seconds.

Still seeing no other option I use this brief window to point my hand at where they will have to dodge Sallis’s plasma weaponry.

They don’t seem to notice my sudden fast movement and I use it to my advantage waiting for the perfect moment as they step on where I aim.

I release a blast of electric energy channelling quite a bit and looking– more like sensing really– at my internal reserves that left me with about 70% mana left.

Which is why I almost curse when instead of the lightning impacting them and finishing the battle right then and there they simply raise their hand-axe without even looking at me and catch the lightning on the metal tip, they then in the same motion somehow swing their axe and redirect the lightning toward Sallis at the same time they changes direction abruptly and rush towards me.

I infuse more of the energy into myself and feel another problem, mainly that I’m heating up fast, for now, it simply feels like the beginning of a fever but I know instinctively that if I continue to infuse more energy into my body without letting it cool I will literally burn up.

I push that out of my mind for now as I try to predict their next attack as they approach me.
They’re holding the axe low and are keeping themselves low to the ground, so they likely want to take advantage of the size difference and strike me low… I could strike first and interrupt but from the looks of it, they can easily dodge it or redirect it again which would make it a waste of mana, much more so now that they aren’t being peppered by the plasma shots from Sallis–who I can see has snatched her arm from the air and has somehow re-attached it and is now intensifying the glow on both of her hand–so I would have to try and dodge, but again I can’t maintain this speed for very long and they could just keep attacking so that would be a very short-lived solution. Shit, they’re within striking range… But what if…

I channel a different kind of energy from within and let it out as fast as I can closing my eyes at the same moment, as suddenly the whole room is illuminated by the most bright light I could conjure manifests in my hand and I quickly jump away just in case they still attack through the flashbang.

It quickly proves to be unnecessary as I see them jump back and move their left hand to their eyes in a clear sign of pain.

Sallis takes the opportunity and a gout of plasma spews out of her hand elevating the rooms temperature instantly and scorching the stone floor beneath as it streaks to hit the figure.

But they must have felt the heat coming their way or something because I see them roll out of the way just before it impacts their torso and instead only just clipping their left arm.

The good news, however, is that just that little clip has completely vaporized a part of it and made it unusable, and as a bonus has also knocked them off-balance. Seeing the opportunity I activate ‘Haste’ and ‘Hasten Senses’ and this time bring out fire from inside as I extend my palm and try to incinerate everything in their general direction.

A gout of white fire spews from my hands forming a stream that burns everything as it approaches the figure.

They probably sense the heat but not being able to see where it extends to jump over it still clutching at their eyes–now with the hand thats holding the axe instead– and they are just able to avoid the worst of it all with embers clinging to their clothes as they fly through the air and thats when a loud bang resounds through the room and I see their momentum halt in the air, I look around in search of the sound and see Miah clutching at a still smoking pistol.

I look back and I see the figure fall to the ground clutching at their chest where a deepening stain of red starts to form.

I let go of the ‘Haste’ when I see that they are not moving and in fact, seem to be losing strength as I see them fall to their knee.

“Let go of your weapons and bring your hand to your back, I might still be able to save you if you–” I try to negotiate some form of surrender but they simply let out a laugh.

“Good, very good.” He looks at Sallis who is pointing her palm towards them. “You lack imagination on your attacks, but your firepower is more than enough to compensate”

Sallis simply raises the intensity of the glow on her hand.

They ignore the unspoken threat and turn to me.

“You seem more flexible in your fighting, but you lack… something… I’ll have to examine what it is more closely.” They say looking straight into my eyes with curiosity, and differently from almost anyone else I feel no lust toward me.

But the moment passes and they then turn to Miah.

“You, however, seem to be a weak link. And from the tremble in your hands, I can see you lack experience as well as skill. Still, at least you take the opportunities presented, so on that you have my compliment.” They cough out quite a bit of blood as they finish this… review?

And as they do, they raise their hand to the ceiling and a bolt of plasma impacts their chest ripping a hole in their torso, one where I can see straight through all the burned viscera, but the figure still holds out their arm shaking from the pain and I see them twist it.

And then reality shakes and stops.

For a moment all is still, Miah is holding her gun with an indecipherable look on her eyes, Sallis is still aiming her palm towards the body, smoke rising from the hole, and I… frozen not only by whatever they have just done but also by indecision.

And then just their hand twist the opposite way and I see the projectile that had just hit reverse and go back in their trajectory mending their wound as it returns back to Sallis’s hand, I see the figure float to the airs as if falling in reverse as they go back to the flames, flames that I’m sucking back into my own hands of no want of my own, my body begins to retrace the steps I took, the lightning blast returns as well and I feel my body swell back up with magic and energy as my tiredness also seems to reverse and just as quickly as it had originally played out. I see the battle we just had completely reverse until just after Stella disappeared.

Then it stops and I let out a gasp as I feel my body back in control.

I notice both Sallis and Miah glance at me with concern and curiosity in order, but they quickly turn their gaze to the figure in the middle who has just turned their gaze to us.

“Hm, it seems a cha–” The figure begins to repeat but I interrupt.

“What the hell did you just do?!” I ask as I focus on almost activating the ‘Haste’ keeping it on a hair trigger in case I so much as suspect a movement.

The figure looks for the first time out of balance as they tilt their head.

“You remember?” They ask in surprise.

“What? Of course, I remember, pretty hard to miss the fucking flow of time being reversed.” I spit back whilst trying to somehow signal to Miah and Sallis to start flanking the figure.

But all I’m met by are surprised and shocked expressions.

“Wha? The hells are you on Sophia?” Miah says while Sallis seems to double the glow on her arms as she turns to stare at the figure with intensity.

“Incredible, I thought you had no time magic by the way you imitated Haste…”The figure pauses but takes no steps to move. “But you are also surprised at this whole ordeal, I also felt no–.”

And then I notice he hasn’t picked the axe yet.

I activate ‘Haste’, and blast them with a lightning strike while they are in the middle of talking, putting some extra oomph to it.

And of course, they lean to the right and blur as they accelerate and dodge the bolt with ease.

Sallis starts peppering them with plasma shots trying to guess where they are going to end up.

But she has to stop just as she starts as they move in such a way that Miah is in between them.

Miah herself is desperately aiming around with the pistol seemingly moving in slow-motion while the figure approaches picking up a rusted cutlass that was impaled in a woman with an eye patch that was nearby.

I begin to feel myself slow down and I activate ‘Haste’ again, feeling that familiar feverish feeling, I dash to them and wind up a punch with my right hand, while with the right I bring my hand forward.

They turn to me for a second, but I see them already winding up a swing at Miah, correctly assuming I wouldn’t make it in time.

What they didn’t correctly assume was that as I outstretch my left hand and pull it back focusing on that motion, I bend space so that I’m right in by their side (also draining more than 50% of my remaining mana).

Their eyes widen for a fraction, but I see them already melding that swing into a protective slash against me, not fast enough as I bring my fist to their jaw and send them reeling back.

The slash still comes through though and I’m knicked at my right arm, a thin line of blood appearing.

I try to not let up, activating ‘Haste’ again and pressing on with another punch but I feel my right arm literally burn and then stop as I lose all sensation on it, I can even see parts of it start blackening and steaming.

I pay it no mind as I instead go for a sweeping kick, the figure responds by jumping like I predicted, what I hadn’t predicted was that they would then throw their sword at me as they jumped, I try to twist my body to avoid it but it still cuts at my side, I grit my teeth and with my left hand let out a stream of white fire at the still jumping figure, essentially leaving me at 0%.

But looking at the results I can’t say it wasn’t worth it, as the figure tumbles back with their clothes and flesh burning, which also produces a disgustingly familiar smell.

I’m about to approach when ‘Haste’ runs out and the overextension I’ve been ignoring catches up, I almost fall to my knees as my legs start steaming, and my left arm burns.

I see Sallis approach as well with their hands raised as well as Miah, and I want to warn them, to shout for them to finish the figure, but my voice refuses to come out, even as I see them raise a badly burnt arm and twist it.

Reality stops.

And then it reverses like it did before, undoing everything and putting us right back where we began.

I let out a gasp, and I see Miah and Sallis look at me with concern and curiosity like they did before.

“Be careful! They–” I try to warn them of the situation when the figure blurs and I have to activate ‘Haste’.

Just in time as well as the figure speeds towards me this time.

They had somehow acquired in the interim that I was not fast enough to see a quarterstaff that’s encased in frost on one side and fire on the other, and they bring that to bear as they spin a swing towards my head.

I dodge roll underneath feeling the heat and cold streak past and as I complete the roll I send a stream of white fire in their direction, which they simply spin the staff and somehow absorb it making the fire side of the staff grow brighter and adapt the same white hue of my fire.

The figure tries to stab at me with the fire end of the staff but they have to spin out of the way as a series of plasma shots impact the stone where they were standing.

I have to activate ‘Haste’ again and I feel the heat beginning to build up as I bring both of my hands and channel lightning energy through it.

The figure narrows their eyes and sweeps the staff in Sallis's direction, white fire shooting out and creating a firewall in between them, in the same motion they also bring the frost tip to my direction, just in time as well as the energy I’ve been gathering bursts out in the form of a truly massive violet lighting stake.

The figure catches the lightning with the staff and I see them beginning to redirect it I grin as I close my hands and the lightning jumps from the staff into their body blasting him backwards and through the wall of fire that was already beginning to dissipate.

Looks like chain lightning works… too bad it uses ALL of my mana.

I don’t even have enough to reactivate ‘Haste’ or even ‘Hasten senses’ in order to try and catch up to the figure and that proves to be my mistake as the flickering of the flame stops as well as everything else and then I see the figure be brought back through the flame and every single action be reversed.

And I’m right back were we started.

“Fuck! Why are you doing this?!” I say as I let out a gasp at regaining control.

The figure tilts their heads and I see Miah and Sallis looking at me with puzzlement.

“Not the time-loop thing I get the idea there. I meant why are you attacking us?” I ask trying to figure out some way to quickly disable them without it being possible for them to rewind.

“Ah, I assume you know what this tower represents? Why else would one come here after all, to the precipices of madness?” They point to the machinery behind them “The power to turn back time… But not in the way you and I are experiencing or what any chronomancer would hope to ever achieve in their lifetime. That is why they-” They point towards the piles upon piles of corpses. “-Have come here. They sought to change the past, to control destiny, until… Well…”

They then blur and I activate ‘Haste’ as soon as possible, just in time to catch them notching three arrows on a beautifully crafted bow that seems to have its string made of light.

“They faced me.” And as they let loose the arrows I realize I might be here a while.

…

…

…

I let out that same gasp as I feel my body in control again.

Alright. Cutting off the arms doesn’t work as well as I’d hoped and it’s too much work for its worth.

I look up at the figure wondering which weapon they will reach for this time when I notice that their stance means they want to talk again.

“Spit it out, and I will warn you that if this isn’t a surrender with a thousand apologies I’m not interested.” I say to the utter confusion of Miah and Sallis.

“Nothing of the sort, simple curiosity really, after all you’re approaching the number of tries my more challenging duels have had.” They say not moving an inch as they know that would indicate the fight would begin anew.

“And how many times is that?” Because I’m fairly certain we’ve done this at least 10 times now.

“Twenty, but I suppose thats to be expected, none of them had our advantage, not even the most talented chronomancer could remember the fullness of what we did after ten or so attempts.”

I sigh not removing my eyes from them for a second.

“A curiosity for a curiosity then. I ask something and you get to ask something back.” I offer in an attempt to get a weakness out.

They shrug, and I almost activate ‘Haste’, but not seeing them move further I redraw the mana back into my center.

“Very well.” They say with that same bored look that they always carry before the fight starts.

“Uhh, what the hells is going on?” Miah asks and I almost turn to look at her with surprise, but I manage to keep my sight on the figure.

“Just keep an eye on them alright? I’ll explain later.”I say to her before metaphorically turning to the figure. “What I want to know is how you keep turning back time.”

“Ah, jumping right to the pièce de résistance I see, I’m afraid I can’t reveal that particular secret so early in this game we’re playing, but… a hint: The tower's power is all around us. Now, a question for you. Tell me, what is your name?”

I tilt my head.

“Sophia, but why would you want to know that?”

They don’t answer as they simply blur and we begin the fight again, with them picking up the glass shield and sword that drinks blood which I hate.

…

…

…

I let out a gasp and manage to stifle a curse. That was too close, they are getting better at predicting my actions while I’m lagging behind, luckily I still have Sallis providing support and Miah with the occasional potshot but this advantage won’t last, I mean the figure has already shown to be capable of dodging Sallis’s basic shots without even looking, and Miah can only help in very specific circumstances.

I’m also still trying to figure out their hint about the tower, but it’s hard to do so while also avoiding death every other second, speaking of which.

I see them blur and I ‘Haste’ in return.

I see that they have decided to use the rusted cutlass again, which I learned was the actual cause of my limbs blackening on the starting loops, looks like I’ll have to play carefully this loop.

I jump backwards and preemptively cast a small stream of flame to where the figure likes to dash through, making them have to go the more predictable path, they throw the blade to Miah and I fire two small blasts of lighting, one to the blade and one to where the figure is dashing, they dodge over and I activate my wings flying to meet them in the air and prepare a trick I figured out earlier, as I draw out the lighting energy not to make a blast but suffuse my hands and wrap them in electric energy.

The figure then does something they never did before.

They in midair while avoiding a plasma shot by contorting their body draw out the weapon at their holster.

It looks similar and yet completely different from the one in Miah’s hand with a cylinder at its side and a uniform coat of metal, a revolver I realize feeling a tiny bit of a headache form as I remember, the pain catches me off guard and I don’t activate ‘Haste’ in time, and the next thing I know is that I’m falling and I feel a cold feeling in my chest.

I look up with more effort than I would’ve thought that action would take and see crimson start to pool and spread through my robe, right where my chest is, and right where I can’t feel anything.

And it’s only now I realize that there’s been a constant noise in the background, like some sort of screaming, looking around weakly I see Miah with tears in her eyes as she shoots at a a blurring figure too fast for me or her to accompany with our eyes.

I try to say something, to get up, but all I can manage is a cough that draws up blood, I blink slowly, and everything is going dark.

I feel so cold.

And then there is nothing.

Notes:

I foolishly thought I could wrap everything up in this chapter... I was wrong. As always feel free to comment any and all thoughts.

Chapter 16: Interlude: Variations on a Cloud

Summary:

Surprise extra chapter!

Meeting Sophia was a weird experience, for starters the first time I saw her she was being dragged by some guy unconscious while I myself was trapped in some weirdos shed, it reads like something out of a bad ending in one of those mature games people play in their shards. Then I wake up in an actual dungeon and find out she is packing under her clothes and that she has no fucking memory of anything, and we somehow escape and on the same hour we met have the most mind-blowing sex I have ever felt, then we find a FORGOTTEN ruin, still can’t believe our luck on that and from there it has been a series of non-stop fighting for our survival with only a few minutes of rest of which we use to make even more mind-blowing sex.

Meeting her was the catalyst for all this shit… but I can’t for a second say that it has been a bad thing, she is such a sweetheart when you get to have an actual conversation with her that it hurts, she is courageous and gallant when danger inevitably shows its head, and she is so fucking hot I feel like I’m lucky just to be able to stare much less touch her, not that she doesn’t have her flaws.

For example, she treats her life with way too little care, not that I think she is suicidal or anything. Still, I think the moment she decides on something there is nothing that can make her even reconsider whether it’s even worth following it through or not, even if it costs her life.

For all that I’ve trauma-bonded with her, there is so much I still don’t know, and hope to find out about her, so when I see her sprint out suddenly from my side and fight like a blur only to suddenly fall out of the sky with a wound on her chest I feel an indescribable fear, the fear of losing a loved one, the fear of having being able to do something about it and not done it, the fear of my own death as I see that stranger move their head toward us, but most of all I feel the fear of missing out, of not having the opportunity to get to know someone truly special, to have a chance of experiencing something truly great ripped out without warning.

I feel tears beginning to fall, and I realize I’ve been screaming with rage and sorrow this whole time.

But my mind is ablaze with plans.

You see I heard people have three kinds of reactions to a dangerous situation, that people are wired to either escape from that situation, freeze and let it somehow blow over or to fight or to do anything in their power to work against what is causing this fear.

I know which one I fit into, fear is a fuel to me, and it is an incredibly potent and volatile one. I don’t know why exactly but I do know that every single time I’m put in a situation where is do or die my mind seems to finally unfog and I can actually properly concentrate, it’s freeing in a way if it wasn’t for the fact that it means I’m in some horrible situation.

So I’m not surprised by the sudden lieu of options that are presented to me, of the variety of plans that form in my mind, it doesn’t take long for me to pick one either.

 

One shot there, a shot here, three more there, and I see the figure cut off one of Sallis’s arms, I shoot three more times, and the figure manages to cut Sallis eye, one misses yet thats within calculation as well. I turn to Sophia only to see her eyes losing their shine and I quickly shoot two more times. The next part will be hard but… I look to Sophia, there is no light… I will not fail.

I shoot one last time at the machine at the back of the room and finally, the figure turns to look only to widen their eyes and rush to where the machine is now sparking and sending volatile arcs of temporal tendrils.

I see one of them hit a short figure that is in this beautiful ornate armour that looks elven and they are engulfed in the energy, their body beginning to reverse in time as their decapitated head flies back and reattaches itself, with the head now looking around in clear confusion

I see another hit a crew of merkin privateers as it streaks through the lot of them and each one is restored as they cuss and swear a storm almost like they were in the middle of a fight, only for them to look around in confusion.

The stranger that shot Sophia is now looking around with desperation I think trying to fix the damage I had done, pft, not likely.

More and more of these tendrils of pure temporal energy streak out and revive the dead, but none reach far enough for Sophia.

Thats fine, I thought it was a possibility, and with a calm that surprises me, I pick up a handaxe from a nearby Militaris Knight rip out the robe Sophia is wearing and begin carving some symbols.

My heart beats faster as I break the rules, as I tinker with a body, but I don’t hesitate or flinch away, I am set, resolute. I will not lose another chance.

As I complete the focus on Sophia's chest I see it begin to glow, and the multiple magical circles that I barely comprehend start to light up in eldrich light drawing on the energy outside like a steel rod in a thunderstorm, and like one I see the tendril of energy-one much more massive than the others-bridge out and connect to her, and I know then I was successful.

So high on the bliss of a job well done that I almost don’t notice that the spots where I shot my gun are lighting up as well and connecting forming a pattern.

It looks like a web.

Notes:

As always feel free to comment any and all thoughts.

Chapter 17: Dream Sweet in Sea Major Part I

Everything is grey. The world has lost its colour and is now but a pale reflection of what once was. Well, mostly.

Above I see it. Colour, colours, hues… unimaginable, they streak above like a stream or a river, silent, but oh so loud. They call to me, these indescribable colours, they call for my soul, but their song is different from that of the Outcast, it is inviting but not overwhelming, alluring but not forcibly so, and so regretfully and with pain in my heart I ignore it. There is something else that calls me, something more important. I turn my gaze bellow, and I see myself, or rather my body, as it lays unmoving.

I move toward it, but like magnets of the same polarity the closer I get the more it tries to reject me. I try, again and again, always a bit closer, always a bit farther. I don’t stop. I know not what drives me, only that it must be important, only that I can’t stop, never stop, never stop, never…

There is a pause in the song, a lapse in the longing and as I turn to face it I see someone emerging from that stream. She looks young and wears all black with a scythe to her side. She is saying something to an object she holds. I don’t hear it, this place has no sound after all.

She comes closer and I can tell she is also pulling me closer, or at least trying to.

I turn back to my corpse and continue trying, this can’t be the end, I won’t let it, never the end.

I feel her presence drawing near, it has the same sound as the stream, one of peace, of calm, of a sweet dream.

I try harder, there must be something I’m lacking, some threshold I must be able to pass, I can’t let it end, I can’t let them down. I can’t be alone. This can never be my end, never be–

Something changes, not my attempts, they yield similar results, but suddenly there is colour in this grey world, besides the stream of course, a deep violet emanates from one end of the room, and just as sudden as it arrives so does my sight of the room. It’s the same I died in, except empty. Well, mostly empty as I see the machine emit more and more of that light in arcs and tendrils, like… like lightning.

One of them strikes my body, and I feel the world twist.

…

I come to with a lurch and confusion, as already the memories of the… other side are fogging up, becoming dream-like as I struggle to remember what I saw.

There was colour? Some sound… no… music that was calling for me to dream sweetly in a sea of colour. I struggle to capture the rapidly fading memories but they’re less precise by the time I open my eyes.

When I do I see an unfamiliar view, I am not in the tower anymore, to my side I see Miah, she looks tense and is panting as she kneels on the ground, she is looking upward towards something beyond me.

There is a constant noise of something like a war is happening all around us.

I’m about to ask what happened and what the hell is going on when I catch the look in her eyes, it is of pure abject terror, the kind where you give up all hope when the situation is so far out of your control you give up even moving, it’s what I imagine my eyes looked like when I gazed upon the Outcast.

Slowly ever so slowly I cradle her in my arms and look behind me and above.

It is just as terrible as I hoped it wasn’t.

Behind me, I see a terrible vista in both senses of the word. A city so grand and expensive I feel like it transcends the title of city, a metropolis perhaps, but even that feels lesser, it is a sprawling hive of towering buildings as far as the eye can see all decorated in neon lights, billboards, and glass that all seem to be now glowing red.
The city itself is separated in layers, as sky bridges and the like make ever-ascending floors that don’t seem to stop, and above, above comets fall through a dark sky bereft of stars, trailing tails of light that as my eyes follow their origin I can see massive machines of silvery steel with innumerable weapons-like protrusions upon a vaguely humanoid body that sits atop another vaguely horse-like body, they tower and surround most of the buildings even standing as far as the horizon, they are shotting these light comets constantly, all seeming to spiral along a central figure that Miah was staring at.

it looks… hard to describe.

It looks like three people in one body, one has soot and dirt-covered red skin and horns like the ones out of the billboard, and they are wearing a uniform of some kind, though it’s hard to pick out what emblems it has with it all being covered in filth and blood, its face in contrast from the one in the billboard looks horror-stricken and guilty all at once, they are tired and about to fall over, their weapon a sort of elongated and more sleek version of Stella’s pistol. Next to him is a face that hurts to look at as memories try to form from it but are refused by something, whoever they are they look grim and stern a bulky and very advanced-looking armour covers most of their body, it looks pristine and clean, especially next to the dirty soldier, the figure is spotless except for the sabre made of continuous spinning blades in their hands that is covered in blood. The final figure is the hardest to look at, they are a young woman covered in rags and wounds, their eyes are full of tears and she screams out in silence for what I can only assume is mercy, as she seems to be actively trying to get away from the other figures, she is in such terror she does not even realise the blood that seeps from her torso as she tries and tries to tear free.

I manage to tear my eyes away, because as terrible as the sight is, it does not call for me like the Outcast did. It sings its tune, yes, a whistle of some old forgotten lullaby that reverberates and seems to echo the screams of War in the background, but it simply doesn’t affect that primal part of my being, (it still quite hurts to look at it though.)

“W-What the hellls is going on?!” I hear Miah quietly scream out.

“Seems to me we’re sometime near the shattering.” a monotone voice replies

I actually let out a scream as Sallis pops out from the corner of the alleyway.

That out of anything seems to break Miah out of her trance as a maniacal giggle escapes her.

“Hells bell save me.” she manages to whisper

“Curious expression, irrelevant for now. Do you understand what you’ve done?.”

“I–” She stammers a reply

“You in your desperation funnelled the tower's powers into Sophia using some esoteric magical ritual in order to revive her.” She did?! What happened while I was out? “That had some obvious side effects that I would’ve been able to advise against if you had told me any of what you were planning, mainly not to do it, and now it seems your rash call has achieved the taboo of the empyrean and what we were trying to prevent in the first place.”

Miah mouth is agape and I can see the gears trying to turn in her head, but at least this Sallis rant has turned her attention from that thing in the sky.

I still think it was a bit too mean.

“Hey! Whatever it is that happened can’t seriously be all blamed on Miah, I mean we were already technically time travelling before with the whole time-loop business, and besides–”

“Fucking what?” is the reply I get from Sallis before I can even finish the sentence.

Miah also looks gobsmacked, but that might still be from the avatar of War above us, which speaking of, before Sallis can continue her questioning I continue.

“Look, main point, tower guy was already doing timely-wimely fuckery back there, so it’s not fair to chalk it up to Miah’s fault. And I don’t think we need to be assigning blame when that is above us.” I say while very carefully avoiding looking above us.

And as if to punctuate my point a huge rumbling occurs as from the horizon a beam of light that seems to engulf the sky comes flying towards the figure, the brightness almost too much for me to follow.

I for a split second thought that the problem would solve itself only for something to happen and the beam to be pushed to the side and half a second later in a far-off portion of the city a sun appears as the trembling intensifies and I see it isn’t a sun but a huge explosion that sends a mushroom-like cloud upwards, and even from how far it looks I still feel the after-shocks as they threaten to throw me to the ground and blind me as a storm of dust engulfs the streets and obscures our vision of it.

I quickly tighten my grip on Miah and with some effort summon some wind in the opposite direction of this dust storm.

I see Sallis sticking close to me and decide to enter the first building that I see.

That turns out to be one of the more tall towers of steel as I make it through the automatic glass doors, ignoring the building headache that all of this is bringing.

Inside is a lobby that once upon a time could have looked luxurious and classy, but that now has been ravaged by something, all of the furniture upturned and the metal floor stained by still somewhat fresh blood. On the centre hanging above what looked to be a reception desk is a sign, upon it inscribed “IDCR” with a red-skinned horned dismembered head resting atop the once golden “C”.

I dispel the wall of wind around me as the door closes and I take it all in.

I even prepare myself for the inevitable headache, but it never comes.

I hear Miah squeak and as I turn to look I see her pale as she points upward.

I look and see the ceiling has been absolutely covered with headless red-skinned corpses in such a way that it’s the only thing we’re able to see, they are somehow glued there and I can see that even the blood refuses to drip onto the floor.

I’m about to activate my wings to go up there and get a closer look, so I know what we might be dealing with, but just as my halo begins to spin Sallis grabs at my hand.

“Wait.” They say their voice not so devoid of emotion as all the other times, as they look upward. “I would recommend against taking any action right now.”

I look at them with confusion.

They tear their eyes from the gruesome ceiling decoration.

“If I must remind you all, we are not on our time, we have somehow committed the biggest taboo of my age and performed time-travel, any action we do here could have unimaginable consequences. The whole of history could change if we’re lucky or reality could simply collapse if we accidentally make a paradox, the potential for harm is too great to our universe. Miah, can you do what you did before but in reverse?”

 

Miah snaps out of her trance as she turns her gaze away from the ceiling.

“I… I don’t know.” She quietly confesses “I never even knew what I was doing was going to result in…in this, I was… drowning in my Domain and the only thing I could think of was saving you…” She sighs “I can try but without an anchor of time… energy? Sure, let’s go with that. Without that, I give small odds of repeating what I did. At least not without screwing up the universe in a different way” She says very clearly now knowing where to rest her eyes in this room and just settling for ogling my tits, though I sense little to no actual lust from the gaze.

I look outside and the dust storm is still strong. I try to think.

Maybe there’s some time anchor function on my halo? Seems unlikely and I wouldn’t even know how to activate it, Sallis clearly doesn’t have anything like that otherwise they’d already have spoken up by now, Miah likely can’t build one from nothing and according to Sallis going out and looking for material sounds like an expertly good way to break the universe. Think–

Suddenly the sound of a clock ticking manifests from my wrist. For a second I think the time pressure of the situation has got me hearing auditory hallucinations, but as look down and see where the sound emanates from I spot it.

The broken watch that Stella forcefully gave me, how did I forget? It was the last thing she did before she magicked her way out somehow. And that feels like something exceedingly important, I mean even with my mind preoccupied with the time-loop duel, it feels odd that I never questioned why she did that, or what the watch was doing and– oh.

Watch, time magic, only one to remember. Duh.

 

I look around at both Miah and Sallis who seem to be deep in thought, seemingly deaf to the sound.

“What about this” I say raising my watch to them.

They both look confused for a moment and I can see them physically struggling to see the watch but after a moment of intense concentration, Miah’s eyes widen.

“That is a monstrous amount of time and energy, how did you? You know what, it doesn’t matter. I’m on it” And saying so she immediately unlatches the watch from my forearm and starts tinkering with it. But not before throwing a salute…weird.

Sallis on the other hand isn’t so quick to dismiss the how.

“Why did she make us forget?”

“Huh?” That was not the question I was expecting.

“It's clear enough as to why she gave us that watch and why she disappeared as soon as possible after doing so. She somehow predicted that we would be in a situation where a time anchor would be necessary and somehow acquired one so that it could be then given to us at the last possible moment when we wouldn't have a chance to remove it, and she leaving either means shes confident in us accomplishing whatever task she wants us to perform or she simply did not want to be involved in the middle of this disaster.” She pauses” looking at the watch. “What I don’t get is why she made us forget the watch itself, and why do so for a few minutes at best.”

“A couple of hours you mean,” I say already my mind starting to catch up to the absolute mind-tiring duels I’ve been hading non-stop.

“No, seconds really, I don’t know how long you’ve been in that time loop, but from our perspective, Stella teleported out. The person in the tower accelerated you did too, a blur of action where I tried to hit what I thought was an enemy and suddenly you’re on the ground bleeding out.”

Wow.

“...Fuck…Maybe she just wanted me not to question what she’s attached to me and accidentally remove my only shot at… not dying… Which huh, still happened. Alright, I have no clue why she did that.”

“Either she miscalculated badly, or more likely there’s more at play.”

We fall into an uneasy silence only broken by the sound of the dust storm outside and the distant rumbling of weapons far too big to comprehend.

“Miah how long do we have to stay here,” Sallis says with uncharacteristic hurry in their voice.

For some reason, she looks at me first before looking back at Sallis.

“It depends really on how finicky the current Hume level is at this particular place, but reversal shouldn’t be too hard, especially with how much time and energy this watch has.” She pauses before settling her eyes on me again. “I will need to redo the symbols in your chest, Ma’am. They were reversed with your revival and that was the catalyst for getting us here, reversing the equation should get us out.” She says in a clear and almost practised tone.

Also, did she just call me Ma’mm!?

Sallis in a very un-Sallis way starts to pace around nervous energy practically radiating from them.

Ok, something weird is going on.

The rumbling gets louder for a second and through the storm, I make out the flash of that silvery steel. The war machines are closer now for some reason.

Then a scream.

It echoes out from outside, it sounds raw and panicked beyond reason, and for some reason brings to mind the third figure of the three-in-one. I see Sallis stiffen, but Miah keeps going as though she heard nothing, an emotionless mask cast over her.

I instinctively move towards the door to scan out for whoever let out that scream. But Sallis stops me by the hand.

I look back and notice how small Sallis looks, much more than usual that is.

“Stop. Whatever is out there will be our end. Let it pass over, whatever is happening already happened, to interfere would be risking the universe.” They try to sound sure, like they are reciting something they once heard but I notice an uncertainty in their voice.

“Are we sure the universe is this fragile? I mean from the looks of it it handles breaks in reality often enough. Are you really sure any change could spell doom?”

Another scream, closer now.

I let go of Sallis’s hand. They make their palms glow in response.

I look directly in their silver eyes, it doesn’t matter what they said way back, I see their soul. They will not shoot.

I run out of the building, they don’t follow.

Instantly I’m assaulted by the harsh wind and constant dust, and my visibility is extremely limited. Only really being able to see every time these war machines flash their weapons the light reflecting their cold silver body almost like lightning in a storm
I hear the scream again it’s coming from a nearby square. I catch glimpses of it, what was once a beautiful garden is now drowned by ash and dirt, and a statue of a stern and gorgeous horned Lady now lies in ruins its body toppled to its own feet.

Near I see the source of the scream, a young woman, with blue-ish skin and curved horns, she is wearing a now tattered pair of jeans with a black jacket over a shirt with a now faded round logo.

She doesn’t see me. Her vision focused on something past her.

I see it too once a flash illuminates the storm again. A group of people.

They look… intimidating, with fully enclosed tight-fitting silvery armour and a helmet/visor that doesn’t reveal a slip of their skin. Most importantly behind them, spinning away and forming a corona of Crimson light are halos, like mine and like mine they also have their wings out, though differently from me they only have a pair each and the colour follows the same scheme of the halo. Instantly here and now I loathe them, it actually disorientates me a bit the amount of disgust the sight of these traitors brings me. How dare they.

I don’t think. Of how I could use the element of surprise. Or how they outnumber me 5 to 1 or even the carbines they carry. Right here right now, they must be stopped.

I activate my halo, the pure pale blue growing brighter and brighter before I can finally see around me. It feels like lighting is bursting from every pore of my being.

They spot me. And they have the audacity of hailing me, a greeting coming from behind those soulless visors repressed bloodlust spilling from their voice.

“Hail sister! A fine day for righteous slaughter is it not? We had this little demon handled, but we can leave her to you in case you nee–”

I don’t wait for them to finish, I notice the look of horror on the girl's face as she turns to look at me, fear and hopelessness clear or what would be otherwise beautiful ruby-red eyes.

I simply raise from the ground activate ‘Haste’, and hit that bitch right where the mouth would be with a fistful of lightning.

The blow is perfect in every regard, and for a few microseconds, I relish the feeling of my fist cracking their helmet and meeting their face.

They fly a few feet back from the sheer force of the blow, their bodies limp on the ground. Dead or unconscious, I don’t care as I turn to the other 4.

They react slowly and I see them reaching to activate a button on their armour.

I spin a kick towards the closest one to me, also infusing it with lightning. It hits them right in their centre cracking the armour and possibly their ribs. They are also sent flying. I however don’t have the time to observe whether they too are out of the fight or not as the 3 remaining betrayers activate whatever mechanism in their suit they were reaching for and suddenly they too blur.

Well, not really.

They increase in speed most certainly, but seeing as I already have ‘Haste’ on it just looks like they stopped moving in slow-motion and are now moving normally. Quite frankly I’d say they were a bit slower than the figure in the tower.

However, they have an advantage the figure didn’t. Numbers. They scatter, each of them flying in a different direction while at the same time turning their carbines at me and aiming to fire.

I predicting something like this release the spell I’ve been building up. A flash of light energy explodes out of me like a cloud instantly covering all of us. And I know for a fact I succeeded when I sense exactly where they are inside the cloud.

See I noticed that I have a sort of constant awareness of where my light magic is at all times, it became obvious on the teleport station that even presumably thousands of miles away I could still feel it for a second. I simply applied the concept to an area of absolute brightness where only I can see.

Bonus this is costing me almost no mana. Double bonus though I will have to practice a little on that I also notice any displacement of that light magic, meaning when one of the betrayers turns the tip of their gun dangerously close to where I am I quickly dart out of the way and avoid a beam of crimson light so bright is briefly illuminates the sphere of perfect light I got.

I in response let out a decent but not overwhelming blast of lighting toward the one that shot me. It unfortunately fails to do any significant damage, as something absorbs it just before being able to explode on its body. I dodge another shot. The traitors quickly adapted and let out as many shots as they could presumably both wanting to illuminate more of the area and also hitting me.

I quickly press my rapidly waning advantage and fly to the closest one altering my flight path every time the barrel gets close to where I am.

I grab both of my hands and let out an overhead smash on the helmet, not fully cracking it open like the others, instead most of the force of the blow gets slowed by an invisible barrier, this moment of pause is however enough for two of them to finally line up a perfect shot and as I dodge out of the way of one the other barely grazes me, evaporating a perfect line of flesh near my ribs and cauterizing it instantly. The pain is terrible like a thousand hot needles just ripped through my side.

The only saving grace is that the force of my blow while not quite enough to send them flying was enough to rend them unconscious as they fell from the sky.

However, yet again, these bastards adapt quite quickly and in the literal flash of vision they had they manage to discern the situation and one of them throws some sort of round object toward me while the other keeps spraying me with rapid shots.

I obviously try to get as far away from the object as possible but somehow it keeps tracking me, flying straight at me.

I only have a moment to think and maybe a little foolishly I send out another blast of lightning.

It doesn’t explode, the violet tendrils simply get eaten by the object and when it’s about a foot away it beeps once and suddenly I can’t feel my Mana anymore.

All my spells drop.

The light cloud, the lightning infusion and most importantly my Haste.

The world speeds up.

I don’t stay still, not making that mistake again.

I look around trying to find somewhere to hide. I notice that during the fight we moved around so much that I was pretty close to the statue

I duck behind the remains, but not before receiving a searing shot through my belly, the light piercing straight through. It hurts so fucking much but I don’t feel like falling or dying just yet so it either missed my organs or hit something that will just kill me later.

Good news though I’m behind cover. What now?

It’s around then that I notice as I cradle my stomach that the… “demon” for lack of another descriptor is also hiding here. She looks quite baffled and I can see some hope back in her eyes, though it’s far out shadowed by the horror.

“Sweet Qin are you alright?!” She says while looking at my wounds, I struggle to respond. “Right, stupid question, uh fuck here, I don’t have much left but you clearly are better at it than I am.”

I’m about to question what she means when she turns my head to hers and… kisses me?!
I’m about to question if she lost her mind when I feel it, through the kiss, magic. And I don’t mean the metaphorical kind with butterflies in your stomach or whatever, actual magical energy flows to me and it is quite a hefty amount as well, easily replenishing 40 percent-ish of my total.

She retracts from the kiss panting and a purple blush on her face.

“Wow, that… that was better than I expected.”

I don’t quite respond focusing on the magic and re-casting my buffs. The world slows down, I look at my wounds, can’t heal them no use in wasting my energy trying, just gotta bear with it for now.

I project the area of light again, trying to get a better feel of where the enemies are. It doesn’t take long, though I do have to project the area quite a ways further. But they’re here, one of them is flying far above, likely trying to get me from above. The other is flying away, either running or looking for a better position, can’t allow that.

But how to do this, the guy above is still flying upwards and I feel like there’s going to be a limit on the are I can project light to, so if I were to act on one the other would likely get away or shoot me.

It’s around then that something happens, the ground starts to shake violently and the storm intensifies making me use the wind wall again, a flash of light so overwhelmingly bright it pierces my own brightness making me catch a glimpse of the city around as the war machines now surround us, or rather the avatar of war, as it now floats right above us.

And the reason for the light becomes clear as the three-in-one together hold a… the only way to describe it would be a flaming sword easily the size of a building, looking at it I know I’m not it’s not the whole story as I feel a deeper meaning to the terrible radiance it exuberates, the blistering searing heat it transmits and the sheer gravitas it brings. But for now, giant flaming sword works.

It’s currently being used to decapitate one of those war machines and also burn the skyscrapers behind it to pure blackened glass.

At the very least the traitors are also distracted which allows me to cut quite the distance to the one flying away, they even almost manage to hit me as their attention turns back, but even being able to see me now I can still detect the direction of the barrels allowing me to spin and dodge the beams, when I reach the run-away they to their credit don’t flounder around in a panic but instead hit some button on the carbine and a triangle shaped plasma blade forms in front of it.

Hm, that gives me an idea, but for now, I simply dodge under the first swing by dropping down in attitude, dodge a stab by a few millimetres and use the opening to elbow them in the stomach making them double over in pain, I sense the other betrayer aiming their barrel on me and deciding to not waste a dodge I flip in the air and bring a kick down to the run-aways spine, making them drop to the ground and also dodging the beam of light.

I finally turn my attention to the last one.

I taste it, the panic, the confusion and the betrayal they feel as if they had any right to.

“Why are you helping the enemy sister?! Why betray us for this filth? They brought all of this onto themselves! Our duty is to clean up a mess we should’ve cleaned up years ago, and yet here you stand betray–”

I literally cannot stand to hear one more second of this contemptible sanctimonious traitorous ASSHOLE.

So it comes to me as a shock as someone else beats me to the punch, shutting them up with a superheated ball of plasma right in their back, somehow penetrating their defence and burning a hole in their spine.

I drop the darkness and gaze upon the situation with my actual eyes.

I see a moment of stillness on the traitor almost dumbdoundness and then their wings flicker and disappear as they fall to the ground.

I look down in the direction I felt the shot come from and see them, Sallis with a smoking right hand and Miah still messing with the watch and still not displaying any actual emotion besides quiet obedience.

Thats about when reality stops making sense.

As from the skies a multicoloured but mostly white spear of light manifests, it is more than double, no triple the war machine's size and it seems to connect directly into the sky itself. It hangs directly atop the avatar of war. As soon as that appears the dust storm that has been violently raging dissipates, like the wind lost it’s power.

All the war machines around us bow down as one.

The Avatar looks up at the spear that I have no doubt in my mind will impale the very essence of war and it begins to unravel, shedding its pretension of being something that one could understand and taking on part of its true form.

The soldier stops looking like a soldier and instead takes on the appearance of guilt and obedience, of hate for the self and hate for the other.
The general stops being a figure to respect and quietly fear. Instead, it takes the impossible many armed form of everything that could be blamed for everything, its crimson icor drips from concepts of hatred so deep every creature could understand.

And finally, the victim cries herself into something less than pitiable, she becomes the terrible tears of loss, the horrific cries of terror and the quiet morn of the dead.

They are one in all, three in singularity, a crimson point of perfect hatred both for itself and all that dare still live in its presence.

It becomes War.

And before I have a chance to join its crusade against itself and the other, before I can offer my own blood and guilt to the being I know would crush me and hate like I and all deserve. The spear drops and War is run through right down the middle.

I blink as my thoughts return to my own and witness an impossible being that incarnates the terrible nature of war itself being impaled to the ground and writhe in pain.

The spear shines in its incomprehensible colours and sprouts thorns which penetrate the flesh of a god and keep it bound.

I think it’s about this point that my brain officially gives up, and simply turns my head downwards so that I can instead look at comprehensible things for once.

Sallis, Miah and the Demon are all on their knees and I can see that they too have given up on understanding what stands above us.

Miah is the first one to recover as she shouts form me.

“Commander I need to carve the runes now!”

I ignore her calling me commander as clearly us being to close to the avatar is causing some effects, and fly down to her.

“I need you to lie down for this.” I do so as she grabs a hatchet by her hip. “Oh and also bite down on something this will not be pleasant.”

Notes:

I'm back! Not totally satisfied with the chapter but if I kept delaying it would never come out. As always feel free to comment any and all thoughts.