COMMISSION: Inkdancer ch.1

Author's Note: Yo! A new commission, and a new chapter in the life of Nixxa Arkani -- after leaving the Daagoni at the end of Traveler, Sorceress, Slut, it's time to dive more deeply into the lore of Nixxa, her abilities, the world she inhabits... and the new challenges on the horizon she'll have to face.

[story]

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I let out a quiet groan as consciousness finds me,‭ ‬followed by a brief flood of memories from my last foray into a world unknown‭ ‬--‭ ‬that of the Daagoni.‭ ‬I had left,‭ ‬but my recollection of exactly where to is...‭ ‬unclear.‭ ‬I feel something soft beneath me,‭ ‬a bed,‭ ‬if not the most comfortable one.‭ ‬Artificial lights sting my eyes through closed lids,‭ ‬and I finally let them flicker open to take in my surroundings.

White walls and floors,‭ ‬strident light from glass tubes overhead.‭ ‬My bed isn’t the only one in the room,‭ ‬nor the only one occupied.‭ ‬Several other people,‭ ‬basically humanoid,‭ ‬if plain,‭ ‬sit or lay on the small mattresses lined up along the room’s walls.‭ ‬To my left is a door and a glass window,‭ ‬though one that does not appear to lead outside,‭ ‬and behind that is a light-haired woman in a stiff white garment.

I squeeze my eyes shut for a long moment,‭ ‬sitting up,‭ ‬rolling the stiffness out of the back of my neck and shoulders.‭ ‬It feels as if I’ve been laying still for days,‭ ‬as if in a coma,‭ ‬and my scant Daagoni garb has been replaced by a short white gown,‭ ‬the same worn by the other residents of this vast,‭ ‬white room.

‭“‬Nina,‭ ‬you’re awake‭!” ‬I hear a pleased gasp from the other side of the strange window,‭ ‬and the woman vanishes,‭ ‬only for a moment,‭ ‬before walking through the door and into the room.‭ ‬She’s pretty,‭ ‬if not stunning,‭ ‬dark-eyed and long-legged with a mostly-faded scar over her right brow.‭ ‬I stare at her,‭ ‬take her in.‭ ‬What‭ ‬is this place‭? “‬How are you feeling‭? ‬Do you think you’d be willing to talk to me a little more today‭?” ‬The woman tugs at a metal collar resting loosely around her neck,‭ ‬attached to a dark tube with a steel disc at its end.‭ ‬Moving slowly,‭ ‬non-threateningly,‭ ‬presumably so as not to startle me,‭ ‬she places the disc lightly against my chest,‭ ‬detaching the collar to press its ends into her ears.‭ ‬Strange,‭ ‬but not entirely unfamiliar.‭ ‬I never did enjoy spending much time in these...‭ ‘‬progressed‭’ ‬worlds.

‭“‬Sore.‭ ‬Where are my things,‭ ‬darling‭?” ‬I say,‭ ‬tilting my head to the side,‭ ‬not letting my eyes leave hers even as she tries to avoid my gaze.

‭“‬Everything you came in with is still being taken care of until it’s time for you to leave,‭ ‬hun,‭” ‬her voice wavers only slightly‭ ‬--‭ ‬she’s confident in her authority over me,‭ ‬but rattled nonetheless.‭ “‬You remember me,‭ ‬right‭? ‬Nurse Chambers‭?” ‬She withdraws the disc from my chest and reconfigures her strange diagnostic collar,‭ ‬flashing me a half-hearted smile of mostly-even teeth.

‭“‬I don’t,‭” ‬I confess,‭ ‬shrugging.‭ ‬Denizens of materiat worlds are rarely worth recalling,‭ ‬even if all my faculties‭ ‬were intact...‭ ‬which,‭ ‬distressingly,‭ ‬they seem not to be.‭ ‬I rub one eye idly,‭ ‬giving myself an instant to think.‭ ‬Perhaps playing along,‭ ‬for a moment,‭ ‬will be a good way to retrace my steps and recall what I’ve lost.‭ “‬Allow us to be...‭ ‬reacquainted,‭” ‬I shoot a cheap smile back her way,‭ “‬I am Nixxa.‭ ‬Nixxa Arkani.‭”

“The,‭ ‬uh,‭ ‬the inkdancer,‭ ‬right‭?” ‬Chambers giggles under her breath,‭ “‬alright,‭ ‬looks like we still have a lot of work to do with you.‭ ‬We found your ID among your stuff,‭ ‬and got your name‭ ‬--‭ ‬Nina Kane.‭ ‬That ring a bell for you‭?”

“It both doesn’t,‭ ‬and needn’t,‭” ‬I sit up slowly,‭ ‬groaning again as I prop myself up against the back wall.‭ ‬As my thoughts become more clear,‭ ‬so too does the wellspring of magic,‭ ‬of distilled likelihood,‭ ‬bubble up within me.‭ ‬I can feel it.‭ ‬Taste it.‭ “‬I have plenty of contingencies for accidental travel into materiat,‭ ‬love‭ ‬--‭ ‬my credentials adjust to show you what you want to see.‭ ‬I am Nixxa Arkani,‭ ‬the Inkdancer.‭ ‬Firedrinker.‭ ‬The Inscribed Lady.‭ ‬Nothing you think can make that otherwise.‭”

“Oh yeah,‭ ‬materiat,‭ ‬you mentioned that,‭ ‬too.‭ ‬Something about,‭ ‬uh,‭ ‬let me think,‭” ‬the nurse furrows her brow,‭ ‬trying to recall.‭ ‬She isn’t taking me seriously,‭ ‬which...‭ ‬disturbs me.‭ “‬Right,‭ ‬materiat are fake worlds that have become concrete.‭ ‬And the plains--‭”

“The plaena.‭”

“--Sure,‭ ‬those--‭ ‬are fake worlds that can still be changed and built.‭ ‬Like,‭ ‬ah,‭ ‘‬wet mud,‭’ ‬I think you said.‭”

Hmm.‭ ‬It does seem that we spoke,‭ ‬and that I was in my right mind when we did.‭ ‬It simply raises the question...‭ ‬how was I restrained‭? ‬Did I pass out on my own‭? ‬That seems unlikely.‭ “‬What else did I tell you‭? ‬My...‭ ‬thoughts seem to be failing me.‭ ‬How did I get here‭?”

“Well,‭ ‬I’ve been told not to indulge too much of that silliness,‭ ‬sweetie,‭” ‬the blonde sighs,‭ “‬we need to get you grounded back in reality so we can figure out what to do with you,‭ ‬yeah‭? ‬Do you have any family we can contact,‭ ‬someone who might be able to take you home‭?”

Family.‭ ‬Memories flash into my mind,‭ ‬triggered by the word.‭ ‬I’d left the realm of the Daagoni and begun to travel,‭ ‬racing through endless possibilities,‭ ‬worlds formed and half-formed,‭ ‬deciding where to go next.‭ ‬Perhaps I would build a new one of my own,‭ ‬or meddle in the affairs of one with sufficiently engaging...‭ ‬plot.‭ ‬I browsed through realities like the pages of a catalogue,‭ ‬or a rack of dresses,‭ ‬deciding which to wear.‭ ‬Then I’d heard the signal.

Not a signal,‭ ‬I suppose,‭ ‬but a pulse‭ ‬--‭ ‬a‭ ‬wave coursing through existence and pseudo-existence alike,‭ ‬sending distorted ripples along the mercurial,‭ ‬unseen curves of space,‭ ‬racing along the dark grooves between reality and Chaos.‭ ‬A distress beacon that could only be put out by someone strong enough to warp that fabric at the finest threads of its foundation.‭ ‬Someone like me.

My sister‭? ‬Could it have been her‭? ‬It gives rise to many new questions if it is...‭ ‬and explains what were likely my actions at the time.‭ ‬I can only assume I took the same course I action I feel suddenly urged to now‭ ‬--‭ ‬trace the wave and find who sent it,‭ ‬who would be reckless enough to send a ripple of pure influence through untold existences.‭ ‬As uneasy as it makes me,‭ ‬I have no choice but to acknowledge both that tracing it will be no simple task,‭ ‬and that each world I visit will be increasingly warped by its influence.‭ ‬It’s no wonder I ended up here,‭ ‬in some backwoods planet,‭ ‬with my mind full of cobwebs and my memory cast through a cheese grater.

‭“‬No.‭” ‬I sit up,‭ ‬and exert my will over Nurse Chambers.‭ ‬She pauses,‭ ‬looks...‭ ‬upset,‭ ‬for a moment,‭ ‬as I stare at her.‭ ‬My abilities have not yet fully returned to me...‭ ‬but they are inalienable,‭ ‬as absolute as I am.‭ ‬Factual.‭ ‬I inhale,‭ ‬exhale,‭ ‬and speak.‭ “‬Give me what I came in with.‭”

Another few moments pass as she stares at me,‭ ‬and,‭ ‬finally,‭ ‬I see her body begin to lurch and cavort,‭ ‬as if beetles were crawling beneath her skin,‭ ‬but were she to move more than a foot in any direction,‭ ‬she would be set aflame.‭ ‬She hops and writhes in places,‭ ‬then leans forward,‭ ‬her mouth opening...‭ ‬then opening farther than it should.‭ ‬Letting out a long groan of barely-conscious discomfort,‭ ‬her mouth stretches open wider and wider‭ ‬--‭ ‬stretching until it can belch forth my deep blue dress,‭ ‬waves of dark cloth tumbling forward past her lips and landing on the bed in front of her,‭ ‬somehow clean.‭ ‬From her mouth next is the thin,‭ ‬engraved black rod with which I occasionally conduct sorcery,‭ ‬then the small.‭ ‬stuffed frog that I keep with me as a source of...‭ ‬comfort.‭ ‬Scooping the frog up first,‭ ‬I then gather the rest of my things,‭ ‬neglecting the vacant look on Nurse Chambers‭’ ‬face as she tries to adjust to what just happened to her.‭ ‬She’s unharmed,‭ ‬of course,‭ ‬and barely seems to register the brief transformation that took place,‭ ‬a look of confusion and shock on her face as if she’d just awoken from a frightful dream.

More noteworthy are the whoops and yowls of the other inmates‭ ‬--‭ ‬for I now realize that the place I’ve been kept is some form of madhouse‭ ‬--‭ ‬of the pale room’s other inhabitants.‭ ‬Some are delighted by my escape,‭ ‬others terrified,‭ ‬some amused,‭ ‬all reacting in their own ways as I strip myself shamelessly of what I’d been adorned with.‭ ‬Pale skin drenched in tattoos coats me,‭ ‬my lean body exposed along with the piercings I’ve somehow been allowed to keep,‭ ‬and the inmates of the place I’ve been kept cheer and wail maniacally as I expose myself.‭ ‬In moments,‭ ‬I slip my robe back on,‭ ‬shaded in midnight and clinging to me,‭ ‬exposing little but the pale flesh between my breasts.

I touch Chambers‭’ ‬lips,‭ ‬and she ceases her continued twitching,‭ ‬toppling sidelong onto the bed I’d just been bound to.‭ ‬I’m up,‭ ‬free,‭ ‬dressed.‭ ‬My powers have returned to me,‭ ‬and I am now certain‭ ‬--‭ ‬not that I ever experienced true doubt‭ ‬--‭ ‬that I am real.‭ ‬I become confident of myself,‭ ‬what sparse doubts that what the nurse had said was true dispelled.‭ ‬I am complete.‭ ‬Turning to the blank white wall that had greeted me upon arrival,‭ ‬I wave a hand,‭ ‬and observe casually as the smooth whiteness melts away,‭ ‬dissolving while displacing nothing around it...‭ ‬it merely ceases to be.‭ ‬Where there was once a wall is now an empty hole,‭ ‬and those that had been bound along with me cheer more loudly than ever before,‭ ‬leaping from their beds and charging through the void into the outside world I’ve formed.‭ ‬What they do,‭ ‬where they go,‭ ‬is not my concern.‭ ‬What happens in this world is,‭ ‬to me,‭ ‬less consequential than the characters in a child’s drawing.‭ ‬These people are real to themselves,‭ ‬and for that I pity them...‭ ‬but they will be no worse off in the world I’ve disrupted.

I step out of the white room,‭ ‬letting my eyes squeeze shut for a moment as I take in my own thoughts and a deep breath of freedom.‭ ‬I contemplate my next move‭ ‬--‭ ‬this world is mostly solid,‭ ‬giving me little purchase over it beyond the ability to come or leave.‭ ‬I need to gather enough energy to find the signal,‭ ‬and once again attempt to trace it...‭ ‬but that will mean finding an area of significance in this specific world.‭ ‬Something I can either contribute to,‭ ‬or,‭ ‬ah...‭ ‬fuck with.‭ ‬Unfortunately,‭ ‬for expediency’s sake,‭ ‬unhinging reality is far easier than altering it,‭ ‬and I have no intention of staying here any longer than I must.

My nostrils are greeted with a pleasant floral scent as I step outside,‭ ‬my ears blaring with the sounds of alarms and the shouting of orderlies,‭ ‬a desperate scramble breaking out to undo the chaos I’ve created.‭ ‬Evening seems to have just fallen,‭ ‬and we’ve entered a season of budding,‭ ‬renewal‭ ‬--‭ ‬tall deciduous trees decorated with vivid blue blossoms stand sentinel outside the structure’s iron gates,‭ ‬and with a wave of my hand I cause a few of the dark bars to vanish,‭ ‬letting me slip nonchalantly out of the hospital’s grounds.‭ ‬Lush grass squishes beneath my feet,‭ ‬and I pay no heed to the calamity breaking out around and behind me.‭ ‬Some few hundred yards away begins the outskirts of a large,‭ ‬bustling city,‭ ‬and I can see motorized vehicles zipping back and forth along the long road that would bring them past the asylum I’ve just cracked like an egg.‭ ‬I can feel power swelling within me,‭ ‬burgeoning forth after my staging of the breakout.‭ ‬A minor disruption,‭ ‬but enough of a disruption to open new avenues to me,‭ ‬to‭ ‬prove to this world that it is part of my domain.

For a long moment,‭ ‬my eyes drift shut,‭ ‬and I listen.‭ ‬Focus.‭ ‬Try to find that signal once again‭ ‬--‭ ‬try to‭ ‬feel that wave of uncertainty ripple across existence.‭ ‬If I had the proper preparation,‭ ‬I could locate a historical site or even a significant graveyard and boost my senses,‭ ‬but I this time I need to be quick.‭ ‬I need to find it and launch myself somewhere new.‭ ‬I inhale,‭ ‬the shouting and sirens behind me fading to a dull hum as I search for the signal...‭ ‬but what greets me is not the sensation I was looking for.‭ ‬What greets me is a voice.

‭“‬OnCe agaIn yOu attemPt To flEe,‭” ‬the voice says,‭ ‬breathless and hoarse,‭ ‬sounding more like it’s sucking in air than forcing out words.‭ ‬Hollow.‭ “‬EvEn aftEr I leFt yOu heRe.‭”

My eyes snap open,‭ ‬and I let my power swell within me,‭ ‬crackling at the surface of my mind and along my skin‭ ‬--‭ ‬like invisible currents of lightning causing the hairs on my arms to raise.‭ ‬The trees remain,‭ ‬and I can see a city in the distance,‭ ‬but the sounds from behind me are gone,‭ ‬replaced only with this voice.‭ ‬Before me is a tall,‭ ‬gaunt figure,‭ ‬clad in lean segments of armor the fleshy white color of a clean tooth.‭ ‬It is helmetless,‭ ‬and where a head might have been is a slender,‭ ‬jagged skull,‭ ‬fanged and pitch-black in color,‭ ‬of no creature resembling human‭ ‬--‭ ‬it floats above the hollow,‭ ‬angular chestplate of the armor,‭ ‬wreathed in white flames that seem to flicker and dance at several times the speed of an ordinary flame of its size.‭ ‬All at once,‭ ‬I remember it.‭ ‬The thing that had jarred me out of my travels,‭ ‬drained my powers,‭ ‬corroded my memories,‭ ‬crash-landed me here.‭ ‬Something nobody should be able to do.‭ ‬I remember those empty,‭ ‬burning eyes,‭ ‬that sound like tearing leather that is its voice.‭ ‬Fuck.

‭“‬What are you,‭” ‬I whisper under my breath,‭ ‬though somehow I still know it will hear me.‭ ‬Despite all the worlds I’ve traveled between,‭ ‬worlds I’ve created and destroyed,‭ ‬manipulated...‭ ‬I’ve never encountered something like this before,‭ ‬something that can throw me off course.‭ ‬Something at the power level of a true sorcerer.

‭“‬I Am whAt shaLl briNg ordEr,‭” ‬it rasps,‭ ‬holding out one gauntleted hand.‭ ‬Though it remains several feet away from me,‭ ‬I immediately feel its touch,‭ ‬like tendrils of solid thought creeping along my limbs,‭ ‬grasping,‭ ‬binding.‭ “‬YoUr kiNd cannOt Be permittEd To remaIn‭ ‬--‭ ‬yOu wHo aRe As childrEn,‭ ‬usiNg existenCe As yoUr playgrouNd wiTh No thougHt fOr consequenCe.‭ ‬YOu overestimaTe yoUr importanCe.‭ ‬ThAt muSt eNd.‭”

I don’t have time to think about what it’s saying,‭ ‬not quite yet.‭ ‬I feel my joints lock up,‭ ‬my muscles strain,‭ ‬and in a few seconds of resistance I feel my feet lift off the ground,‭ ‬my body dangling,‭ ‬suspended by an unseen force.‭ ‬What‭ ‬is this power‭? ‬It’s unlike anything I’ve ever felt,‭ ‬stronger than I’ve ever imagined,‭ ‬like magic,‭ ‬but...‭ ‬different.‭ ‬Raw.‭ ‬It feels like it crawls directly beneath my skin,‭ ‬like it’s draining me even as it lifts me,‭ ‬squeezes me.‭ ‬Crushes me.‭ ‬Pain shoots through every nerve,‭ ‬and I let out a low groan through gritted teeth as I begin to lose sensation in my fingertips.‭ ‬I have to fight back.

Closing my eyes,‭ ‬I search for the hum of power I’d found,‭ ‬the one I’d just had,‭ ‬that I’d been so eager to use for a very different purpose.‭ ‬It takes a moment to find again,‭ ‬and I can feel like seeping from me,‭ ‬slowly but constantly,‭ ‬like water from a cracked glass jug.‭ ‬Still,‭ ‬it’s there,‭ ‬and I dig down into myself,‭ ‬abandoning thoughts of my body as I grasp what’s within me.

That current beneath my skin swells to life,‭ ‬prickling across me as I direct its flow toward my hands.‭ ‬What had been an unseen,‭ ‬unheard hum of raw magic now roars alive,‭ ‬and I let out a scream as swirling mint-green lightning erupts out from around me,‭ ‬creating a shroud of pure destructive intent.‭ ‬I drop to my feet as the armored thing’s grip on me is shaken,‭ ‬however briefly,‭ ‬and lash out with both hands,‭ ‬sending a massive bolt of energy outward from my body in an attempt to simply overwhelm,‭ ‬my best effort to shake the thing from my pursuit while I figure out my next steps.

The blast...‭ ‬isn’t everything I’d hoped it would be.‭ ‬The bolt finds its target,‭ ‬hitting the creature’s breastplate‭ ‬--‭ ‬but the result I was hoping for was total annihilation at best,‭ ‬and a significant stagger at worst.‭ ‬All I get to confirm it even‭ ‬noticed the attack is a backpedal of one single foot,‭ ‬a brief flare of the flames around that thing’s leering,‭ ‬misshapen skull.‭ “‬...Shit,‭” ‬I whisper under my breath.

‭“‬YOu figHt baCk thIs tiMe,‭” ‬the thing growls,‭ ‬regaining its composure and following with a step forward,‭ ‬one gauntleted hand extending,‭ ‬showing the jagged claws formed in the white metal.‭ ‬I begin to feel that crush around my body once again,‭ ‬but this time it seems less like the creature’s focus,‭ ‬and more like it’s keeping me steady for a more...‭ ‬traditional attack.‭ “‬BraveRy wiLl gEt yOu nowheRe.‭ ‬THe staIn yoUr kiNd leaVe upOn existenCe muSt Be cleansEd.‭ ‬I wiLl Be tHe oNe To cleanSe yOu.‭”

It lunges forward,‭ ‬but this time I’m ready,‭ ‬having interrupted its slow drain on my powers.‭ ‬Forcing a static crackle of magic through me,‭ ‬I snap free of its influence,‭ ‬that psychic grasp that keeps holding and squeezing me.‭ ‬Even as I do,‭ ‬though,‭ ‬I’m faced with the thing charging me,‭ ‬metal talons of its gauntlets outstretched,‭ ‬the fanged mouth of its leering,‭ ‬skeletal head open in a silent scream.‭ ‬Inhaling sharply,‭ ‬I remove myself from where I am‭ ‬--‭ ‬ceasing to be in one place,‭ ‬and instead choosing to be in another.‭ ‬Now behind the creature,‭ ‬I let loose another crackling green bolt,‭ ‬then another,‭ ‬hoping to at least weaken the thing enough to escape and regroup.‭ ‬With my memories intact,‭ ‬with time to prepare,‭ ‬a future encounter may seem less...‭ ‬one-sided.

‭“‬What‭ ‬are you‭?!” ‬I repeat my first question,‭ ‬this time a scream as the thing staggers only briefly from the two magical beams,‭ ‬traces of green light crackling along the surface of its armor before dissipating harmlessly.‭ ‬It turns back to face me,‭ ‬those empty eyes staring,‭ ‬a sort of icy wrath evident in everything from tone to posture.

Its answer is simple.‭ “‬I Am OutraGe.‭”

It moves again,‭ ‬charging almost faster than my eye can see,‭ ‬and I throw both hands out in front of me,‭ ‬unleashing another barrage of eldritch light‭ ‬--‭ ‬not even trying to damage it,‭ ‬but simply to keep it at bay.‭ ‬What had been lightning-like magical beams are now a stream of energy so frantically wide as to be almost a single solid sheet,‭ ‬and though I can feel exhaustion seeping into my bones I need to hold it back.‭ ‬It struggles against the stream like a pickup truck driving against the current of a fire hose,‭ ‬those claws ripping through solid magic like sheets of thin leather.‭ ‬Green light crackles along its armor,‭ ‬each time absorbed,‭ ‬and I hear it scream in fury as I backpedal step by step along the grass beneath us.

It takes another step closer,‭ ‬and another,‭ ‬clawing through the continuous beam of magic like its digging a tunnel.‭ ‬Another layer gouged through,‭ ‬another step forward,‭ ‬and I squeeze my eyes shut and just try to concentrate.‭ ‬I can’t hold this thing at bay,‭ ‬I can’t destroy it,‭ ‬I don’t even truly seem able to harm it.‭ ‬I just have to keep...‭ ‬pushing....

The roar of the creature,‭ ‬the crackling shriek of my own magical blast,‭ ‬the sound of my own blood pulsing in my ears‭ ‬--‭ ‬all,‭ ‬in an instant,‭ ‬become silent.‭ ‬The world around me snaps to darkness,‭ ‬and I feel what little power left in me pour away in a spiral of pastel light.‭ ‬The creature‭ ‬--‭ ‬Outrage‭ ‬--‭ ‬is gone,‭ ‬and I find myself alone,‭ ‬floating through the inky nothingness of the space between all worlds.

It is not the first time I’ve been to this place,‭ ‬this black sea of emptiness.‭ ‬Typically,‭ ‬though,‭ ‬it is a space I am moving through,‭ ‬not remaining in.‭ ‬I’m not sure how I’m able to exist,‭ ‬or even if I technically do‭; ‬if anything can be‭ ‬real while it’s here.‭ ‬Either the clash between that armored thing and myself formed some sort of irreconcilable Fault in the world we inhabited,‭ ‬shunting us to random places outside of existence,‭ ‬or...‭ ‬honestly,‭ ‬I’m not certain what the alternative would be.‭ ‬All I know is that I’m here,‭ ‬alone,‭ ‬drifting lazily in no direction,‭ ‬if indeed I can be considered to move at all when I’m growing neither closer to,‭ ‬nor farther away from,‭ ‬any stable entity.‭ ‬That is...‭ ‬unless I create my own.

I open my mind,‭ ‬searching around me‭ ‬--‭ ‬not looking,‭ ‬but feeling,‭ ‬letting weak waves of magic shimmer off of me to drift away into the darkness.‭ ‬I go into a sort of stasis,‭ ‬I think,‭ ‬preserving what iotas of magic I have left on me,‭ ‬that which I haven’t already expended in my one-sided conflict with Outrage.‭ ‬I’m not certain how long I spend there,‭ ‬floating,‭ ‬eyes closed,‭ ‬searching.‭ ‬Perhaps minutes,‭ ‬perhaps millennia,‭ ‬though I assume something more akin to both.‭ ‬An eternal instant that continues until I’ve found what it is I need.

Something small,‭ ‬something that can’t be seen or heard.‭ ‬A tiny mote of possibility,‭ ‬of something that could be material,‭ ‬shreds of reality either generated from nothing,‭ ‬or cast off from dead timelines like skin off of a dry elbow.‭ ‬It’s not much,‭ ‬but it’s all I need for what I have to do.‭ ‬I reach out with my thoughts,‭ ‬feel it,‭ ‬grasp it.‭ ‬Seize it.‭ ‬Use it.

I was never much one for creating new worlds,‭ ‬always far preferring to meddle in those that already existed,‭ ‬as I did with the Daagoni and so many others before them.‭ ‬Materiat were best for that‭ ‬--‭ ‬the harsh immutability of underworlds was both too mundane and too difficult to be amusing,‭ ‬but those semi-real worlds provided just the amount of challenge to entertain.‭ ‬Never have I taken it upon myself to shape a new,‭ ‬fragile world.

I squeeze that globule of existence,‭ ‬stretch it,‭ ‬and breathe into it what little magic yet remains in me.‭ ‬I know that this will render me powerless for some time‭ ‬--‭ ‬not only because of expending my own energy,‭ ‬but the lack of events in plaena,‭ ‬particularly fresh plaena,‭ ‬lend little to its regeneration‭ ‬--‭ ‬but what better place to hide and regroup than somewhere which has never existed‭?

This fresh new reality twists and warps as I impress my will upon it,‭ ‬and where there had been only darkness,‭ ‬my eyes are greeted once again by light.‭ ‬I no longer float,‭ ‬but find ground beneath my feet‭ ‬--‭ ‬flat,‭ ‬featureless,‭ ‬gray,‭ ‬dully reflecting the light cast upon it from an undecided source.‭ ‬I have considerable work to do before this place can be lived in,‭ ‬from its design to its inhabitants,‭ ‬but...‭ ‬my mind wanders back to that armored form,‭ ‬so powerful that it rendered me,‭ ‬for the first time in my long existence,‭ ‬truly and utterly helpless.‭ ‬Until now,‭ ‬the notion of fear was largely an academic one,‭ ‬not something I’d genuinely experienced beyond minor trepidation.‭ ‬Now,‭ ‬I am very,‭ ‬very frightened.‭ ‬I have a feeling I’ll be here for a while no matter what.