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Even as my dreams faded to make way for my returning consciousness, I had a feeling about that day.
Light flitted through the windows to my study, brilliance reflected and refracted countless times through the planetary star’s atmosphere just to scatter across the walls, floor, and furniture. A book rested open on the desk close to the window, a reminder of how dangerous the mission to retrieve it was. The information inside, that is. Nobody would leave the original text lying around where the daylight could hit it. It was supposed to be a day where I could just study the words of the Ancients.
For hours, that’s how it went.
When things changed, it started subtly, the smell of burning smoke on the wind. I caught onto it easily, as signs like that were likely the only warning I would get of the impending otherworldly disasters that struck home so often. A look out the window confirmed that something was approaching. At best, a storm.
But storms don’t expel out across the sky like this one did. The clouds were being pulled in from somewhere else, likely a volcanic formation of some kind. Initially, I decided to keep myself inside, possibly down into the basement if I needed to. The winds kept howling, entire parts of the ground outside being torn up and carried away. I started to realize that it wasn’t just an odd, volcanic storm or some kind of omen. This was the disaster in question. Everything the wind picked up was being flung into the sky in a singular point, where the remaining light still shone through. If I knew anything about dimensional forces, this was the result of a possibly colossal dimensional rift, and an unstable one as well.
I had to see it for myself.
As I carefully opened the door, the wind tore it off the hinges and I had to quickly let go in order to not be taken with it. I wasn’t just looking at one five-pointed rift in the sky, but several holes to another universe. A world that I had seen before. And a world that was now in danger.
As soon as I had even considered stepping outside, my fate was sealed by the storm.
Whether I wanted to or not, I was revisiting the other world.
I wasn’t sure why, but I needed to wake up. A feeling like something had gone terribly wrong invaded my mind as I opened my eyes again to an alien radiance. I knew where that rift should have gone, but this… wasn’t it. The space around me was bursting with energy, an establishment of connection. Essence evolution.
The area was constantly shifting, hexagonal tiles forming platforms and pillars. Did I somehow get caught between the worlds, or was this some kind of test? Perhaps, it was both.
There wasn’t any way to progress but forward, across the pillars. It was possible to leap the gaps, but I didn’t want to. I wanted to do something new. As I was about to step off the platform, I projected a Reflection- a magical copy of myself -to the nearest pillar, before focusing on it, as if I was in that same position. I wasn’t completely confident that the new technique would work, but I found myself on solid ground within the very second. I tried the same thing again, back to the first platform, finding similar success. Seeing as there was still time, I practiced until I could consistently go across all of the pillars without stopping for a second. I stopped after that, as I could hear that same feeling from earlier telling me that there was still so much to learn, and that my time was long, but not infinite.
As a demonstration, a sudden bolt of light came from above a large ledge, nearly striking me, but purposefully missing by mere centimeters. Looking up, I saw several creatures I couldn’t recognize, although the closest thing that came to mind was Dupas and Sphere Doomers. Even that was a loose comparison, however, only made because of the jagged shape of their maws. These more jagged creatures lacked any noticeable eyes, instead having a glowing star visible in their mouth, which they used to fire the bolts of light I had almost been hit by. Regardless of their artificial nature, they were still dangerous, likely part of the test this place was putting me through. I was starting to wonder about that. Was there something I was being prepared for?
Another bolt fired down, close enough that I could feel the power release as it hit the ground. I decided to start scaling the ledge at that point, although the rate of fire heavily increased. I could have put up my guard, but I couldn’t afford to stop every time they started firing, especially if I was already in motion. My solution was initially just to not get hit, which proved efficient at first. Unfortunately, there were too many attacks, and not enough room to evade them. I barely made it halfway up when I felt a surge of heat strike me in the back, almost instantly followed by another that knocked me off of the platform I was on. I caught myself with another Reflect Warp, although barely.
“That isn’t like you.”
I paused. So did all of the creatures firing at me.
“What..? Who are you? Where are you?” I asked, an almost mystical feeling of curiosity flowing through my very being.
“It does not matter what I am, but you have been seeking me since you entered this dimension. From a single glance at your essence, I can tell that you are not considering all of your new possibilities.”
It was right. What was I doing? My Ability Essence wasn’t meant to evade things, but to reflect them. Surely, there had to be a way to do that on the move. With that thought, I went to try again, this time keeping in mind the location of each creature firing at me. When I felt a bolt near me, I turned and swung my rod, conjuring a barrier of reflective energy and sending the bolt back at the creature that fired it, causing it to explode. The process repeated, with a couple of singeing close calls. Atop the cliff, I could see one last platform, a crystalline star floating above it. It was almost within reach, and calling out to me.
“There is no time. You must leave now. You have learned all there is time to-”
The voice was cut off by the entire dimension shuddering, alternating waves of darkness and distortion creeping across the sky. Several of the remaining beings spasmed along with it, their forms flickering as they were shadowed in either psionic energy or foreboding darkness.
“It k- know-s-s-sss n-ow. No- n-not one-e, but two?-??”
Another quake shook the dimension, causing audible cracks in the cliff below. I quickly jumped off, warping to the platform the stone was on. I could feel the power the stone radiated as I reached for it, grabbing it just before several dark threads could pierce straight through it. I hadn’t seen the threads coming. I didn’t know why I grabbed the stone at that moment. It was obvious what came next, though, and that was getting out of this place before whatever forces were attacking it caused it to collapse completely. Before, running out of time was just a feeling nudging me in the right direction. Now, it was a threat to both my life and whatever power the Rare Stone held.
The pressure of the two invading forces was causing the dimension to reform, crumbling and restructuring as it bent to the opposing wills. Any of the dimension’s residents that had fallen to one invader or another had begun fighting each other in a chaotic cacophony.
“The platform you entered on. An exit can be made there.”
Now that I was holding the stone, the voice was clearer, as if it was within my own thoughts.
“I understand.”
I studied the situation a little more, identifying where attacks were least likely to travel, before moving. Efficiency was key, as I warped from position to position, unceasing in my movement. Even as bolts of light came towards me, the only diversions I made were to conjure barriers to reflect the attacks back. A careful dance through death, as the beings on the improvised battlefield fell around me. I ignored the sound of falling rocks behind me, eyes on the platform. It was only when more threads broke through the bridge to the platform that I finally thought to turn back. My efforts had caught the attention of the battlefield, which now had a large pile of crystalline remains in the center. Several more threads shattered the edges of the platform as well as the pile darkened, before a large hook-like claw shot out, digging into the ground. This was followed by another as the new abomination’s head emerged, a horrific melding of the previous creatures. Half of the amalgamation’s crystalline form darkened almost to black, its eyes shining with prismatic light, but the other half of its head was shrouded in psionic shade before the takeover could finish. Now standing on all four of its legs, connected to the head via dark threads, the creature glared directly at me. The air sparked behind me as the Rare Stone attempted to open a rift out. Initially, the portal was shaped like a 5-pointed star, with rounded points, but the points soon turned sharp and intimidating, and 3 more points spiked out as it attempted to shift to a compass star shape before collapsing. There was no escape from this. Two voices echoed out from the creature in front of me, one speaking in the New World language, and although the other’s language was unidentifiable, I still understood it as if it was any of the ones I knew.
“Need more energy. All methods count.”
“A potential future hole in my plans… how unfortunate.”
None of that sounded good. From context, it was likely that the first being wanted the energy the stone was emitting, and the second one might have just wanted me dead. Regardless of goals or motivation, I couldn’t let that happen. The amalgamation readied itself before launching forward on its four claws, the hexagonal shapes in its maw shifting to reveal a glow between them. I warped out of the way of the claws crashing down into the ground, counterattacking with a spiral of Reflections. Although my attack seemed to damage it, it was far from deterred, now firing down a barrage of larger beams of light from the aforementioned glow between its eyes. I conjured a new barrier in order to reflect the onslaught, but it closed its jaws before the deflected attacks could land, implying that the protected area was where it was weakest. Another of its attempts at tearing into me with the claws and I decided to redirect my focus. Although the legs were made of sturdy crystal, they were connected with thin threads that I could likely cut through. I split off several Reflections, more than I usually would attempt in order to distract the abomination. Although the non-darkened areas fell for the Reflections, I was heavily targeted both by the darkened side’s claws and the blasts of light. Although my initial attempt was a failure, it allowed me to notice the differences in the two forces’ behavior; more specifically, how I could exploit them. With this new information, I split off a new Reflection, focusing on getting it up one of the darkened legs. Bothered, the creature attempted to attack me with the leg in question, only for one of the non-darkened legs to crash into it. In the split-seconds between the collision, I warped to the Reflection, followed by yet another warp further up before the hook came down.
“You idiotic chinchilla! It’s not real!”
“Real. Fake. Doesn’t matter. One holds it.”
I was high enough at this point, so I readied my rod and slashed at the thread holding up the leg, cutting it off. Another blast came down, which I chose to fully guard against. The blast crashed back against the thing’s eye, causing it to stumble back as the rocks composing its face were blown off. Another quake hit the dimension as the being collapsed.
“Lost cause. Let them rot.”
“That will suffice for me. Very well.”
The platform started to break apart further.
“Back to the top. The influence is fading.”
I looked back, seeing the cliff also being torn apart.
“Ju konji…” I whispered, only having to quickly warp out of the way of several threads.
There weren't any enemies to impede my progress this time, making my progress much faster. Upon reaching the platform, the Rare Stone opened a new rift, this one definitively 5-pointed.
“They’re escaping. Your plans are nothing but instinct.”
“SILENCE! Interfering darkness!”
“Leave, now!”
I obliged, entering through the rift. Wherever in the New World this took me, it would be more stable than this.