Chapter Text
A lone hero sits and watches the view of the infinite cosmos from the observation deck of a fortress of power that transcends time and space. He leans back against a glass dome that hums with power, filled with dancing red lights that flicker across its surface, one of the many things in this drifting castle that he cannot begin to comprehend. Instead, he fixes attention on the stars all around him. The swirling clouds of shimmering white dots, punctuated by the occasional bright blue or red flare, are nothing like the sights he remembers seeing when he gazed up at the night sky while wandering through a field of his homeland, checking behind him whenever he heard a suspicious crawling, slithering noise in the undergrowth, or one of the ever more frequent tremors in the ground.
He wonders if that homeland still exists, if the entire world even remains.
He looks up at his companion, hovering over his shoulder, flitting on gossamer wings. The fairy looks at him expectantly, still apparently waiting for him to begin the impossible task she's set him.
"I told you, I can't do it," he insisted.
"You must. You're the only one qualified and the window of time in which we can attempt this will soon close."
"How can I be qualified? I've never done something like this in my whole life! I hunt monsters, I explore ruins and I cast useful everyday spells for a living, I don't... restart entire Universes from scratch!"
"Think of it as having a certain dream before you wake up."
"I can't sleep when I'm under time pressure, okay?"
"Very well then. Start by giving it a name."
"A name? What, for the entire Universe?"
"Names are an important part of any ritual spellcasting, you should know that."
"Okay, it's called Jeem."
"Jeem? An interesting choice there."
"It just popped into my head," he shrugged, "What, are you going to tell me I'm wrong, after I went along with your game? At least give me some creative freedom here!"
"I'm just surprised you know that name."
"It's a pretty common name."
"Yes, but to know that you should use it in connection with this particular cycle of fate..."
"To be honest, I remembered seeing it on a scroll I found in the Dragon's cave. There were notes on how to defeat the Varalys. Whoever the 'Jeem' was who wrote the scroll, they'd clearly fought the Varalys before. It was so helpful, it probably saved my life, so I think the name of the person I was indebted to just stuck in my head."
"You feel no other connection to the one called Jeem?"
He shrugged, "It's just a fancy that came over me. I realise now its not actually a particularly good name for a Universe. Its a person's name and a Universe isn't a person."
"Are you sure about that?"
"I guess I'm not sure," he admitted, "Anyway, I've decided on a better name. It just came into my head now..."
"...I'm going to call it Hydlide."