Chapter 3 - For the Record

Just when I think these  hallways are never going to end, I find a far more secured door than the  others. At least I assume it’s more secure, given all the runes washing  across it like a barrier.

(Yup, barrier,) Nyx confirms.

Well, what now? I’ve been traveling  dematerialized since it’s so much faster than putting one foot in front  of the other, so I experimentally manifest an appendage. And then, I  touch the barrier. I’d expected something like pain, but all I feel is a  strange pressure, and a feeling of separation. I inspect the appendage –  a strange way to say I’m observing it, but, I don’t have eyes, not  really. And a section of it is just missing.

(Don’t act so surprised. You’re a Spirit,  basically mana made form. Yeah I could get more technical about how your  Akashic Self is basically operating as a template projected onto mana  and being used as a lattice to hold your manifestation in the real, but  I’m gonna spare myself your confusion. What we need to do is disrupt  it.)

Ok, sure I guess. And how in the hells am I supposed to do that?

(Manifest some patience while you’re at it,  I’m getting to that. Runic formations have a stabilizing pattern,  otherwise they’d stop after one revolution. We just need to destabilize  it by breaking the pattern. Give me a minute.)

Nyx silently observes the barrier for a few  moments. As I watch, I could swear I see a golden overlay in front of  her face. It’s probably related to runic magic as well, considering it’s  awash with similar symbols as the barrier. And then she stops and  turns.

(Bingo, genius. This,) she gestures at the  overlay following the movement of her head, (is one of my only skills  that still works now. And it’s one reason why I know this is the pattern  we need to scrub.)

As she points one finger between us, three runes appear floating above it.

And how do we do that?

(We, don’t do anything. Intangible, remember? You are going to make another one of those smoke tentacles, loaded with as  much mana as you can, and jam it into the sequence when it passes.)

And that’ll just work?

(Sure. Trust me.)

The look on Nyx’s face isn’t remotely  trustworthy. But, since I don’t have a better idea, I guess I may as  well. So I watch the runic patterns flowing by in the barrier, trying to  catch where the one she indicated is. It’s certainly not as easy as she  made it look though.

With a massive sigh, she points. (It’s right  there.) Her finger traces above the surface. She probably has a skill  for this or something, but I choose to ignore her irritating behavior  anyway. I focus and take a portion of my being – since she keeps  referring to me as made of mana, I assume that’s what she means, and she  doesn’t correct me – and focus it into materializing another feeler.  This one feels far more dense. I position it near the barrier, and right  as the pattern passes, I strike.

***

(Oopsie.)

Yeah, sure. Oopsie.

(Hey shut up, it’s the first time I’ve seen  this done first-hand. This is just how wraiths historically overwhelm  barriers, okay? They get lucky and smack the right part with enough  mana. And usually there’s enough of them there that nobody’d know it  probably obliterates the one who did it, yeah?)

Would have been good to know, but I guess  there’s no point in fixating. Something inside me tells me it shouldn’t  be this easy to move on, but I’m having a very hard time caring right  now. Even though three quarters of my... of my me is gone.

(Two things there. First, Spirits aren’t natively tied to the real, so of course you find it easy to move on from events there. Second, yeah, you’re  made of mana, and the chain reaction consumed it when the barrier went  critical. Sucks but it worked, see?) she gestures at the big hole in the  wall, and the walls around it, where the barrier and door used to be.  (Ok so another thing. I’d really really appreciate it if you’d  stop thinking things like you’re asking a question. Compulsion,  remember? I have to answer all that crap, especially the stuff you  should already know! Or would know if you would just, look into it  yourself or something! Gods, my jaw would’ve fallen off by now if it was  material.)

I mean, you could always just piss off instead.

(You’d think that, wouldn’t you! You freaking did too. Except I can’t,  genius! Watch what happens!) and at that she turns and starts walking  away, and turns a corner at the end of the hallway. (And here I freaking  am again!) exclaims her disembodied voice just outside my perception of  vision, needing only a glance to the side to find she’s right back, no  more than five feet away. (The closest thing I have to a body now is  tied directly to your perception of me having one. You’re stuck with me,  pal. For better or worse. Aaaand no, not like that either! I’m into  folks with some semblance of a material body, those freaking tentacles  don’t count!) She petulantly stomps her feet.

I’m sensing some baggage there, but I still  can’t bring myself to care. So instead of wasting any more energy on  Nyx’s ongoing tantrum, I continue through the opening ahead of me. There  I find a small, simple room with a raised platform with a runic pattern  etched into it. I decide to give myself a small break from her  continuous explanations and complaints and instead head directly toward  the platform. She is mercifully silent as I move onto the metal surface,  and feel myself diffuse to nothing once again.