The shining figure of the girl pulsed with each laugh. The sea of lights around us reacted to even her slightest movements, almost dancing to the tune of her voice.
“You’re here earlier than I expected,” she said. The light around her turned warm. Reaching out with her finger, she poked me with obvious delight.
“Early?” I mumbled skeptically, “Wait, how do you have arms, legs, and fingers?”
“You don’t know?” She replied, taken aback, visually surprised. “How early are you? How many years has it been since your rebirth as Wren?”
“Years? I don’t think it has even been six months since I was reborn.”
“Six months!” the light around the girl flared in response to her sudden shout. The light then dimmed as she fell silent. She looked at me inquisitively for several seconds before suddenly bursting into laughter. “Six months! Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine everything going this well! You have to tell me all about it. You obviously found Dragon’s Nest. What else has changed? Have you clashed with Envy yet? Are you still a little kid? How about Lucy? Did you revive her yet? Oh, this is so exciting!”
“Stop!” I said, feeling the same migraine that usually came with trying to reason with Mare. “Slow down, I can tell you all about what I have experienced but first, I think it is about time you answer some questions of mine.”
The girl released me from her grip. Her body floated listlessly through the void as she spun upside down. “No.”
I blinked a few times, taken aback by the simple denial. “What do you mean, no? That clairvoyant and you set everything up, right? I am tired of being a pawn in some game. Tell me what I want to know.”
The girl just shrugged as she continued to spin through the void. “I already know the types of questions you want to ask. You want answers about me, the clairvoyant that shares the family name, and things that have yet to come, but I have no intention of explaining myself. If you want to learn the truth, you can find out the long way round.”
If I had been in the real world, I would have exploded in a wave of flames and fury but in this strange sea of colors, my little speck of light just glowed slightly brighter. I wanted nothing more than to punch the annoying smirk that was undoubtedly on that shrouded face but I didn’t even have arms to hit her with. It was a frustrating feeling of powerlessness that I did not know how to cope with and that the strange girl seemed to find increasingly amusing. She laughed openly as all I could do was growl threateningly.
“I might not be strong enough to do anything to you now, but I promise, that will not always be so. There will come a day when I will be stronger than you in this strange place. Keep that in mind and choose your next words carefully.”
“Aw, you are so cute when you’re angry,” the girl said in complete disregard of my threat, “As adorable as it is, there is no reason to be so hostile. I am on your side after all.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I have given you my Dragon’s Nest, devised a way for you to hide from the clairvoyant’s gaze, and even turned you into an Adept, through no small amount of effort I might add. I think I have proven my intentions clearly. There is no reason we shouldn’t be the best of friends!”
“More like a convenient tool,” I mumbled in annoyance.
An uncomfortable silence fell between us as the figure of the girl placed her hand on her chin in thought. Still floating upside down with her legs crossed, it was an almost comical sight. Eventually, she nodded as if confirming something to herself.
“There are many things I cannot tell you but that does not mean I can’t help you, little spark.”
As she spoke, she reached out with her finger and poked me lightly. I felt another rush of power burn through me. It was like electricity was suddenly infused with my body. The light radiating from me began to glow brighter and larger. Arms and legs sprouted from the golden light as a body began to form. I could feel the entire process in microscopic detail, unlike anything I had ever felt before. While the process probably only lasted a few seconds, it felt like years had passed as each finger, hair follicle, and blemish formed. By the time the process was complete, I had completely taken the form of a young woman in her late teens.
“Everything in this realm is determined by your will. So long as you believe it to be true without any doubts, even time and space will move at your whim,” The girl explained, “You cannot influence the physical world without using your body as a conductor but it is a decent way to train your spirit… or pass long stretches of time quickly.”
I looked down at my newly formed body of light curiously. It was incredibly detailed, too detailed to be something the girl randomly came up with. “Who does this body belong to?”
“Is that not how you look?” The girl blinked in surprise.
“No.”
The girl paused in thought but then just shrugged casually. “If you don’t like it, you can always change it. Ultimately, everything here is just an illusion. What you see is simply our minds trying to make sense of the boundless chaotic energy that flows through the realm.”
“Really?” I asked, looking around at the sea of colors in disbelief.
“Yep,” the girl replied with a nod, “I may not be able to answer many of your questions but when it comes to navigating this sea of stars, not even the king of the dragons could compare to me. You might not trust me yet, but my knowledge could save you decades of experimenting blindly. Let me guide you this time and maybe we can come to an understanding.”
I raised an eyebrow skeptically. “Are you really so skilled?”
The girl thumped her chest proudly. “The only person to ever beat me here is the one that trained me, and I can beat her with a flick of my finger, now.” The girl broke down laughing as she finished speaking. I could not even begin to understand what she found so hilarious but if she really was so skilled…
“If you really are such a master in this place, can you help me?”
The girl stopped laughing abruptly at my question. “That depends on what you want help with,” she replied cautiously.
I hesitated slightly before speaking, scared that the girl might refuse my request again. After a few seconds, I managed to stutter out the words that weighed most heavily on my mind. “My dad’s consciousness was... lost when he connected too deeply to this realm. If you really know this place so well, can you help me find him?”
“Your… Dad?” the girl asked in confusion.
I nodded. “He and my mom were both turned into Adepts at the same time as me. I don’t know enough about this place to find him but if you are really as good as you say, and you are not lying about wanting to be friends with me, you can help me find him, right?”
“Hmmm, I didn’t expect things to turn out like this,” the girl hummed thoughtfully. She spun in the void of colors like a broken top as she rubbed her chin in thought. “Finding a single lost spark in the void is not easy. This place is technically just as endless as space and the stars above. If he has wandered too far, only he can help himself.”
“Is there really nothing we can do?” I said, feeling a sense of desperation in my chest.
“I said it's not easy, not that it is impossible, at least, not for me,” the girl replied with a warm smile, “Come, stay close to me. You will lose your mind again if you get separated from me this deep in the void and I don’t want to hunt down two people.”
The girl grabbed my hand. It felt like being grabbed by a live lightning bolt as she dragged me through the sea of colors. The sea seemed to twist and turn in response to her slightest movement. Almost as if teleporting, our location rapidly changed. The colors became slightly less vibrant and the small fireflies of light began to sporadically return. I looked down at the sea beneath my feet, expecting to experience the draw that originally made me abandon all caution and dive into the depths but to my surprise, I no longer felt that pull. While still more vibrant that the sea above, the colors below seemed to be missing something now that the girl was not there.
The girl stopped pulling me through the sea at a point that only she could recognize. To me, everything looked the same but to her, it seemed that she knew where she was.
“This is as deep as most creatures can go,” she explained, “If your dad was able to pass this threshold then he would have made his way to me as you did.”
“What is the difference?” I asked, looking around for any sign that something was different.
I could almost feel the girl roll her eyes. “I told you that this place is just your eyes trying to make sense of the energy of the world. This is still the same planet as it has always been. What do you think is so deep beneath your feet normally?”
I blinked in surprise as I considered her words. “Wait, were you sitting in the planet’s core?”
“Correct!” the girl replied with a delighted clap of her hands, “Heat, radiation, gravity… chaotic energy, the swirling colors you see are simply representations of all of it. As an Adept, you can learn to connect your spirit with these different energies, draw upon them, and convert them into your own power. Though it is easier said than done to find forms of energy you can actually use, once you do, you can have virtually boundless power. However, a person's spirit is not immune to the effects of these energies. You are an ace of the Thirteen Divisions. Your spirit is accustomed to handling vast amounts of energy. While the sheer amount of energy in the core of the planet still drove you mad, you were not in any real danger of dying. Normal people are not so durable. Even if they can retain their sanity, they will find themselves crushed beneath the weight of the world long before they reach the core. Anyone that tries to force it will dissipate into the world, lost forever as part of the sea of color.”
I felt a chill travel down my spine. “That did not happen to my dad, right?”
“Unlikely, even when they lose their mind, most people retain their sense of self-preservation. What is more problematic is when they wander into the sky and the void beyond. Many people are naturally drawn there. Even slightly strong spirits can roam forever without slowing or stopping, so long as they do not wander too close to a star. If that happens, finding them is impossible.”
“I don’t like that thought. Can you please start looking for my dad?”
“I started the moment we arrived here,” the girl said, “Be patient. So long as his spirit roams this planet, he will be drawn to me, just as you were.”
I looked around in understanding as I saw the purple light that had drawn me spread out across the entire sea. It seemed to touch everything, everywhere.”
“Exactly how powerful are you?” I asked in amazement.
“Not powerful enough,” The girl replied. I could hear the heavy weight of sorrow and remorse in her voice as she spoke.
“Surely you are powerful enough to help me fight against Envy and the Leviathan though, right? You said you were my ally, so, you would not mind helping fight.”
My question was met with a chuckle in response. “I am sorry. I would help you if I could, but as I said when you first met me, I am only a small piece of the original. I do not actually have a physical body in this realm. What I can accomplish without one is… limited. This spirit standing in front of you is just that, a spirit. It is kind of like an echo or a shadow. I left it behind when I visited this realm many, many years ago as a form of insurance in case things went wrong.”
“So, you can’t help me?”
The girl looked off to the side, not meeting my gaze directly. “I can’t fight, but you can always come to visit me. I know much more about the sea of energy than anyone else. I can help you understand it as well. Your fight with Envy might turn out very differently if you have that power at your fingertips.”
“Are you… lonely?”
The girl did not answer my question. She was instead distracted by an ice-blue orb flying towards us. “It seems we have unwanted pests,” she mumbled.
The orb stopped a short distance from us. It was far larger and brighter than any of the sparks that surrounded us but comparing it to the purple light radiating through the sea of colors, was like comparing a dim star to the sun.
To my surprise, the orb began to speak in the familiar voice of Vissna. “Wren! Thank the lord of fire you are alright. I thought you were lost in the abyss when I did not see you anywhere.”
“Pesky lizards,” I heard the girl next to me mumble.
“Who is…” Vissna started to ask but before she could even finish her sentence, a wave of purple energy crashed over her. The ice-blue orb burst like a bubble before dissipating into the sea of colors.
“Did you just… kill her?” I asked in disbelief.
“What? No.” The girl denied. “What kind of person do you think I am? She will wake up with a splitting headache but she will be fine.”
“Why did you do that?”
“I went through a great deal of effort to hide this piece of my spirit here. I would rather not be hounded by those self-righteous hypocrites that have the gall to call themselves dragons.” The girl practically spat in annoyance. “Besides, her energy was slowing the spread of my own. I would rather not wait for the next several days just to find a single lost spark. Spreading my power this far is exhausting enough as it is.”
I fell silent. A thousand questions flooded my mind but I worried that asking any of them would cause the girl to stop looking for my dad. To me, finding him was more important than any answers.
As to two of us stood in the sea of colors together, several hours passed. After some time, the girl started to explain more about how to connect to the energy of the realm and how to draw upon its power. To do so, you first had to find a power than resonated with your spirit. Not just any energy would work. Extensive training was required to form a connection with a specific type of energy only then could you draw upon its power.
I was surprised to find the girl’s explanations incredibly easy to understand. In the several hours she talked, I learned a great deal about what it really meant to be an Adept and took my first steps towards achieving that.
However, all that was shoved aside when a small little blue firefly pushed up against the girl, desperate to get as close as possible. The girl poked the little light with her finger and the image of my dad appeared in the sea of colors.
Tears welled in my eyes as I reached out to touch the familiar figure. Even though I was not in a real body, my hand still shook as it cupped the little light.
“Is this your dad?” the girl asked.
Nearly choking on my tears, I quickly nodded. “Yes, yes, that is him. Can you help him, as you did for me?”
“Of course, you can trust me, Wren. I am your friend after all.”
Marcus_Breeze
This chapter was the first time i have ever completely trashed something i wrote and started over. I have officially dbbed the trashed version of this chapter my matrix three moment. For those of you that have seen that movie am am sure you get a pretty good idea of how the chapter went originally...
As a bit of an easter egg, or maybe just fact of the day, the core of the earth is 5000 degrees Celsius or over 9300 degrees Fahrenheit. Even without accounting for pressure, gravity, and other sources of energy, that is a lot of power to draw from.
As always, if you are enjoying the story, consider supporting it on Patreon for bonus content and early chapter releases.
The shining figure of the girl pulsed with each laugh. The sea of lights around us reacted to even her slightest movements, almost dancing to the tune of her voice.
“You’re here earlier than I expected,” she said. The light around her turned warm. Reaching out with her finger, she poked me with obvious delight.
“Early?” I mumbled skeptically, “Wait, how do you have arms, legs, and fingers?”
“You don’t know?” She replied, taken aback, visually surprised. “How early are you? How many years has it been since your rebirth as Wren?”
“Years? I don’t think it has even been six months since I was reborn.”
“Six months!” the light around the girl flared in response to her sudden shout. The light then dimmed as she fell silent. She looked at me inquisitively for several seconds before suddenly bursting into laughter. “Six months! Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine everything going this well! You have to tell me all about it. You obviously found Dragon’s Nest. What else has changed? Have you clashed with Envy yet? Are you still a little kid? How about Lucy? Did you revive her yet? Oh, this is so exciting!”
“Stop!” I said, feeling the same migraine that usually came with trying to reason with Mare. “Slow down, I can tell you all about what I have experienced but first, I think it is about time you answer some questions of mine.”
The girl released me from her grip. Her body floated listlessly through the void as she spun upside down. “No.”
I blinked a few times, taken aback by the simple denial. “What do you mean, no? That clairvoyant and you set everything up, right? I am tired of being a pawn in some game. Tell me what I want to know.”
The girl just shrugged as she continued to spin through the void. “I already know the types of questions you want to ask. You want answers about me, the clairvoyant that shares the family name, and things that have yet to come, but I have no intention of explaining myself. If you want to learn the truth, you can find out the long way round.”
If I had been in the real world, I would have exploded in a wave of flames and fury but in this strange sea of colors, my little speck of light just glowed slightly brighter. I wanted nothing more than to punch the annoying smirk that was undoubtedly on that shrouded face but I didn’t even have arms to hit her with. It was a frustrating feeling of powerlessness that I did not know how to cope with and that the strange girl seemed to find increasingly amusing. She laughed openly as all I could do was growl threateningly.
“I might not be strong enough to do anything to you now, but I promise, that will not always be so. There will come a day when I will be stronger than you in this strange place. Keep that in mind and choose your next words carefully.”
“Aw, you are so cute when you’re angry,” the girl said in complete disregard of my threat, “As adorable as it is, there is no reason to be so hostile. I am on your side after all.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I have given you my Dragon’s Nest, devised a way for you to hide from the clairvoyant’s gaze, and even turned you into an Adept, through no small amount of effort I might add. I think I have proven my intentions clearly. There is no reason we shouldn’t be the best of friends!”
“More like a convenient tool,” I mumbled in annoyance.
An uncomfortable silence fell between us as the figure of the girl placed her hand on her chin in thought. Still floating upside down with her legs crossed, it was an almost comical sight. Eventually, she nodded as if confirming something to herself.
“There are many things I cannot tell you but that does not mean I can’t help you, little spark.”
As she spoke, she reached out with her finger and poked me lightly. I felt another rush of power burn through me. It was like electricity was suddenly infused with my body. The light radiating from me began to glow brighter and larger. Arms and legs sprouted from the golden light as a body began to form. I could feel the entire process in microscopic detail, unlike anything I had ever felt before. While the process probably only lasted a few seconds, it felt like years had passed as each finger, hair follicle, and blemish formed. By the time the process was complete, I had completely taken the form of a young woman in her late teens.
“Everything in this realm is determined by your will. So long as you believe it to be true without any doubts, even time and space will move at your whim,” The girl explained, “You cannot influence the physical world without using your body as a conductor but it is a decent way to train your spirit… or pass long stretches of time quickly.”
I looked down at my newly formed body of light curiously. It was incredibly detailed, too detailed to be something the girl randomly came up with. “Who does this body belong to?”
“Is that not how you look?” The girl blinked in surprise.
“No.”
The girl paused in thought but then just shrugged casually. “If you don’t like it, you can always change it. Ultimately, everything here is just an illusion. What you see is simply our minds trying to make sense of the boundless chaotic energy that flows through the realm.”
“Really?” I asked, looking around at the sea of colors in disbelief.
“Yep,” the girl replied with a nod, “I may not be able to answer many of your questions but when it comes to navigating this sea of stars, not even the king of the dragons could compare to me. You might not trust me yet, but my knowledge could save you decades of experimenting blindly. Let me guide you this time and maybe we can come to an understanding.”
I raised an eyebrow skeptically. “Are you really so skilled?”
The girl thumped her chest proudly. “The only person to ever beat me here is the one that trained me, and I can beat her with a flick of my finger, now.” The girl broke down laughing as she finished speaking. I could not even begin to understand what she found so hilarious but if she really was so skilled…
“If you really are such a master in this place, can you help me?”
The girl stopped laughing abruptly at my question. “That depends on what you want help with,” she replied cautiously.
I hesitated slightly before speaking, scared that the girl might refuse my request again. After a few seconds, I managed to stutter out the words that weighed most heavily on my mind. “My dad’s consciousness was... lost when he connected too deeply to this realm. If you really know this place so well, can you help me find him?”
“Your… Dad?” the girl asked in confusion.
I nodded. “He and my mom were both turned into Adepts at the same time as me. I don’t know enough about this place to find him but if you are really as good as you say, and you are not lying about wanting to be friends with me, you can help me find him, right?”
“Hmmm, I didn’t expect things to turn out like this,” the girl hummed thoughtfully. She spun in the void of colors like a broken top as she rubbed her chin in thought. “Finding a single lost spark in the void is not easy. This place is technically just as endless as space and the stars above. If he has wandered too far, only he can help himself.”
“Is there really nothing we can do?” I said, feeling a sense of desperation in my chest.
“I said it's not easy, not that it is impossible, at least, not for me,” the girl replied with a warm smile, “Come, stay close to me. You will lose your mind again if you get separated from me this deep in the void and I don’t want to hunt down two people.”
The girl grabbed my hand. It felt like being grabbed by a live lightning bolt as she dragged me through the sea of colors. The sea seemed to twist and turn in response to her slightest movement. Almost as if teleporting, our location rapidly changed. The colors became slightly less vibrant and the small fireflies of light began to sporadically return. I looked down at the sea beneath my feet, expecting to experience the draw that originally made me abandon all caution and dive into the depths but to my surprise, I no longer felt that pull. While still more vibrant that the sea above, the colors below seemed to be missing something now that the girl was not there.
The girl stopped pulling me through the sea at a point that only she could recognize. To me, everything looked the same but to her, it seemed that she knew where she was.
“This is as deep as most creatures can go,” she explained, “If your dad was able to pass this threshold then he would have made his way to me as you did.”
“What is the difference?” I asked, looking around for any sign that something was different.
I could almost feel the girl roll her eyes. “I told you that this place is just your eyes trying to make sense of the energy of the world. This is still the same planet as it has always been. What do you think is so deep beneath your feet normally?”
I blinked in surprise as I considered her words. “Wait, were you sitting in the planet’s core?”
“Correct!” the girl replied with a delighted clap of her hands, “Heat, radiation, gravity… chaotic energy, the swirling colors you see are simply representations of all of it. As an Adept, you can learn to connect your spirit with these different energies, draw upon them, and convert them into your own power. Though it is easier said than done to find forms of energy you can actually use, once you do, you can have virtually boundless power. However, a person's spirit is not immune to the effects of these energies. You are an ace of the Thirteen Divisions. Your spirit is accustomed to handling vast amounts of energy. While the sheer amount of energy in the core of the planet still drove you mad, you were not in any real danger of dying. Normal people are not so durable. Even if they can retain their sanity, they will find themselves crushed beneath the weight of the world long before they reach the core. Anyone that tries to force it will dissipate into the world, lost forever as part of the sea of color.”
I felt a chill travel down my spine. “That did not happen to my dad, right?”
“Unlikely, even when they lose their mind, most people retain their sense of self-preservation. What is more problematic is when they wander into the sky and the void beyond. Many people are naturally drawn there. Even slightly strong spirits can roam forever without slowing or stopping, so long as they do not wander too close to a star. If that happens, finding them is impossible.”
“I don’t like that thought. Can you please start looking for my dad?”
“I started the moment we arrived here,” the girl said, “Be patient. So long as his spirit roams this planet, he will be drawn to me, just as you were.”
I looked around in understanding as I saw the purple light that had drawn me spread out across the entire sea. It seemed to touch everything, everywhere.”
“Exactly how powerful are you?” I asked in amazement.
“Not powerful enough,” The girl replied. I could hear the heavy weight of sorrow and remorse in her voice as she spoke.
“Surely you are powerful enough to help me fight against Envy and the Leviathan though, right? You said you were my ally, so, you would not mind helping fight.”
My question was met with a chuckle in response. “I am sorry. I would help you if I could, but as I said when you first met me, I am only a small piece of the original. I do not actually have a physical body in this realm. What I can accomplish without one is… limited. This spirit standing in front of you is just that, a spirit. It is kind of like an echo or a shadow. I left it behind when I visited this realm many, many years ago as a form of insurance in case things went wrong.”
“So, you can’t help me?”
The girl looked off to the side, not meeting my gaze directly. “I can’t fight, but you can always come to visit me. I know much more about the sea of energy than anyone else. I can help you understand it as well. Your fight with Envy might turn out very differently if you have that power at your fingertips.”
“Are you… lonely?”
The girl did not answer my question. She was instead distracted by an ice-blue orb flying towards us. “It seems we have unwanted pests,” she mumbled.
The orb stopped a short distance from us. It was far larger and brighter than any of the sparks that surrounded us but comparing it to the purple light radiating through the sea of colors, was like comparing a dim star to the sun.
To my surprise, the orb began to speak in the familiar voice of Vissna. “Wren! Thank the lord of fire you are alright. I thought you were lost in the abyss when I did not see you anywhere.”
“Pesky lizards,” I heard the girl next to me mumble.
“Who is…” Vissna started to ask but before she could even finish her sentence, a wave of purple energy crashed over her. The ice-blue orb burst like a bubble before dissipating into the sea of colors.
“Did you just… kill her?” I asked in disbelief.
“What? No.” The girl denied. “What kind of person do you think I am? She will wake up with a splitting headache but she will be fine.”
“Why did you do that?”
“I went through a great deal of effort to hide this piece of my spirit here. I would rather not be hounded by those self-righteous hypocrites that have the gall to call themselves dragons.” The girl practically spat in annoyance. “Besides, her energy was slowing the spread of my own. I would rather not wait for the next several days just to find a single lost spark. Spreading my power this far is exhausting enough as it is.”
I fell silent. A thousand questions flooded my mind but I worried that asking any of them would cause the girl to stop looking for my dad. To me, finding him was more important than any answers.
As to two of us stood in the sea of colors together, several hours passed. After some time, the girl started to explain more about how to connect to the energy of the realm and how to draw upon its power. To do so, you first had to find a power than resonated with your spirit. Not just any energy would work. Extensive training was required to form a connection with a specific type of energy only then could you draw upon its power.
I was surprised to find the girl’s explanations incredibly easy to understand. In the several hours she talked, I learned a great deal about what it really meant to be an Adept and took my first steps towards achieving that.
However, all that was shoved aside when a small little blue firefly pushed up against the girl, desperate to get as close as possible. The girl poked the little light with her finger and the image of my dad appeared in the sea of colors.
Tears welled in my eyes as I reached out to touch the familiar figure. Even though I was not in a real body, my hand still shook as it cupped the little light.
“Is this your dad?” the girl asked.
Nearly choking on my tears, I quickly nodded. “Yes, yes, that is him. Can you help him, as you did for me?”
“Of course, you can trust me, Wren. I am your friend after all.”
Marcus_Breeze
This chapter was the first time i have ever completely trashed something i wrote and started over. I have officially dbbed the trashed version of this chapter my matrix three moment. For those of you that have seen that movie am am sure you get a pretty good idea of how the chapter went originally...
As a bit of an easter egg, or maybe just fact of the day, the core of the earth is 5000 degrees Celsius or over 9300 degrees Fahrenheit. Even without accounting for pressure, gravity, and other sources of energy, that is a lot of power to draw from.
As always, if you are enjoying the story, consider supporting it on Patreon for bonus content and early chapter releases.
