"So." Greg began, sitting across from Travis with Narita. "I believe there's something we need to talk about."

Travis sighed. "It's Sophia, isn't it? Look, I know how she sounds but- look, we've been through a lot and we've lost-" His expression twisted. "I think she just needs some time. She won't be a problem."

"Not actually what I wanted to talk to you about." Greg shook his head. "This is more of a me and you thing. Specifically how we relate to each other."

Travis frowned. "Like… leadership wise? Dude, this is your ship. I'm not going to try and fight you for command." He paused. "Though, I don't think we're exactly your subordinates either…"

"That isn't the deal either." Greg sighed. "Okay, let me start here. Have you noticed that your life is… weirder, since all this started? In a way that it isn't for anyone else? Things seem to push you towards… Well, I've started calling them 'events'. Whereas most people just seem to live their lives, you seem to get into situation after situation, continually making your life more and more complicated. Does that happen to you?"

Travis blinked, frowning in confusion, before slowly sinking into thought as he went over the last few years in his mind. "It- I mean, I guess things have gotten a little hectic… but that's just how it works when you're strong, right? You have ability, so you're called upon to use that ability. It's not that strange, is it?"

"I would agree if it was just a matter of stepping up when no one else will, but that isn't exactly the case, now is it?" Greg shook his head. "Haven't you noticed that you tend to be in just the right place and just the right time? Like when we met, what are the odds that you'd be in this city, which neither of us are from, just at the right time to witness the kidnapping? These cities aren't exactly small, and they didn't kidnap me out in public. And stuff like that seems to happen all the time, right?"

"What are you getting at?" Travis asked, narrowing his eyes at him. It almost felt like Greg was gearing up for a 'the world is a simulation' conspiracy theory.

"Well, you see, I've recently come to learn, thanks to Narita here, that we live in a Multiverse." Greg began. "The Multiverse is full of Worlds that are based on thoughts, like a World created based on what people think about… I don't know, cheese. Is there a cheese World?" Greg turned to Narita.

"There is." Narita nodded.

"Man, what would the Immortal of Cheese even look like?" Greg muttered, before shaking his head. "You know what, I don't want to know. The point is that we live in Worlds based on ideas, and our World… is based on a story."

"Probably several stories, actually." Narita commented.

"Which means our World has… Well, Main Characters. Like you. And me." Greg continued. "People who are unique or special enough to stand out, becoming the focus of attention and events, the World pushing us further and further until we're either at the top, or dead." He paused. "Or worse."

Travis shook his head. "Okay, I'll admit, life has been a little weird since magic arrived, but that's because the world became freaking magic! I don't think we need to jump to the conclusion that we're in some kind of false reality because of it!"

"Whoa, hey, I never said anything was false." Greg protested. "This World is absolutely real, as are the people in it. That's why I'm telling you this! Because if you aren't careful, people can get hurt as they get caught up in the shenanigans the World throws at you! I mean, shit is still going to happen, but at least if you're aware you can try to guide things a little. The more you pursue power yourself, the less the World has to push you, and the more control you have over how you do it." He paused, turning to Narita. "Right? If you become the agent of the story, then the World doesn't need to fuck with you to make things happen."

"Somewhat…" Narita nodded slowly. "Story Worlds revolve around conflict, so inevitably there's going to be struggle. If you choose your own struggle, then the World should be satisfied… as long as it is a struggle the World approves of. And some struggles are viewed as necessary, which means avoiding them would be… not impossible, but very difficult. A Dark Lord must be defeated, and the World will not simply allow you to ignore them. If you insist on doing so, be prepared to watch everything you value crumble around you."

"If this 'World' is really in control, then how is it any different than a simulation?" Travis retorted. "If we're all just actors in some kind of play, then are we even real?"

"The World isn't in control, it just has… influence." Narita explained. "A World can't make you do anything, it just pushes you to do one thing instead of another. If you were dead set on going West, then there's nothing the World could do to stop you. However, if you were just wandering, then the World could nudge you to go East instead. A slight feeling that East is more appealing, a freak storm washing out the road West, tales of some event happening in the East, a random encounter with a friendly merchant who just so happens to need a guard for their Eastbound caravan, and so on and on. All things which are perfectly natural, and within the purview of possible events, simply nudged to the point where they weren't just possible, but likely, all designed to lead you down the road the World wants you to follow."

"But why?" Travis frowned. "What does the World get out of it?"

Narita shook her head. "It isn't about getting anything out of it. Due to the thoughts that formed it, the World simply believes this is the way things should be, and it works to make it reality. You may as well ask why the speed of light is what it is, or why gravity works the way it does. The World simply believes it should be so, and so it is."

Travis's expression twisted. "This- okay, let's say all this is true… What do I do? Just- avoid doing anything that seems too convenient?"

"No, that wouldn't even work." Narita shook her head. "If the World learns you avoid certain forms of stimulus, it will just use that to nudge you the way it wants you to go. Besides, you live in the World. Do you really want to piss it off? No, the point isn't to avoid the World's manipulations, it's to use them. You can't avoid becoming something, but you can influence what you want to become. Focus on saving people, and the World will lead you towards people who need saving. Focus on growing stronger, and the World will lead you towards opportunities to grow stronger. That isn't to say it won't throw anything else at you, as you'll always be drawn towards other special individuals and the core themes of the World, but you'll at least have some influence over how."

"That's what we're working on." Greg added. "We're trying to become a traveling band of problem solvers, running around and fixing what we can, before riding off into the sunset for our next adventure. We don't want to get bogged down by politics or anything like that, but we still want to help make the world a better place, so this seemed like the best method."

Travis hesitated for a moment, before shaking his head. "I'm sorry, this- this just seems a bit too ridiculous. Obviously I can't say you're wrong, but I can't say the world wasn't created last Tuesday either. I can't accept that the world is some kind of fiction without some sort of solid proof."

Narita sighed. "Again, the World isn't fiction. It's based on fiction, but it is still very much real. As for proof…" Narita held up her hand, condensing a small ball of energy, before flicking it at Travis, his eyes barely even widening before it sunk into his forehead. "Experience my story."

Travis's eyes lost focus for a moment, before suddenly snapping back as he gave Narita a wide-eyed look. "That- that- what was that?!?"

"My life, the beginning of it anyway." Narita shrugged. "A life in a different World, with different magics, one where I eventually rose to power and became a true Immortal. Don't worry, the memories should fade after a moment, but what remains should be more than enough proof that what we say is true."

Travis nodded numbly. "It felt so real…"

"That's because it was real." Narita replied.

Travis hesitated, before nodding. "Okay, I believe you. That- holy shit, the idea that you have the power to fake that is scarier than you just being from a different World!" He shuddered. "I just- I need time to think about all this." He shook his head, getting up to walk away.

Greg gave Narita a look. "Why didn't I get a memory bomb?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

Narita shrugged. "You didn't ask for proof. Besides, I didn't have the power to create a Narration when we talked. It isn't exactly an advanced ability, but it does require at least some Cultivation."

"Right, you still needed to Awaken…" Greg muttered, before shaking his head. "So, do you think he'll be okay?"

"It's hard to say." Narita muttered. "In general, the more difficult it is to convince a person of the nature of the World, the harder it is for them to adjust to it. Take yourself for example. You accepted my explanation at face value and took to the influence of the World like a fish to water, even managing to break free of the track the World seemed to have set you on. People like Travis… They have a hard time not seeing the World as an enemy, instead of the force of nature that it is. And if you make an enemy of the World…"

"The World makes an enemy of you…" Greg finished with a frown.

"Which isn't necessarily a bad thing." Narita shrugged. "Becoming an Immortal by rising up and 'defeating' your World is a rather common occurrence as far as Immortals go. It's just- the people who go down that path are generally isolated, jaded, cold individuals who end up causing more problems than they fix. I tend to avoid Immortals like that."

"You know, I've been meaning to ask that. How do Immortals meet? Do you guys have a set World you all gather at?" Greg asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We can talk to each other through our Cores." Narita replied. "Sort of like a giant social network. There are friends, special interest groups, discussion boards, forums, and so on. We can even meet with each other in time locked spaces or invite each other to whatever World we're in for face to face discussions, sort of like you and your friends."

"Huh… neat." Greg nodded appreciatively.

Narita nodded. "It's how most new Immortals get up to speed. There's tons of information on Worlds and how they work if you know where to look. Or even just interesting stories. I have a small blog myself, detailing the interesting things I've encountered through my travels."

"Oh really?" Greg raised an eyebrow at her. "You going to write about us?"

Narita frowned. "That's a good question… You four are something I have never encountered before. The stories you'll create… it could be some of my best work yet! However… As I've said, the world of Immortals can be dangerous. I don't want to cause you any trouble."

"Why not write it as fiction then?" Greg offered. "As you said, we're weird enough that you didn't think we were even possible before. Why would anyone else believe any differently? Besides, I kinda like the idea of being the main character of a book." Greg grinned, before pausing. "A fictional one, not this nonsense we're dealing with." He quickly added, waving his hand vaguely at the World around them. "I've always loved books, and the idea that I could be interesting enough to be the focus of one… again, not this nonsense… It appeals to me. I'd just prefer to read it, not live through it."

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Narita cocked her head, considering his suggestion for a moment. "That- could work. Honestly, if I told the others it was real, I doubt they'd even believe me. Marketing it as fiction… that could work." She nodded, getting more and more excited about the idea. She couldn't help it. Narration was who she was! To let such an enthralling story go untold… it went against her very nature!

"Outstanding." Greg chuckled. "Just let me read it once you're done, okay?"

*

Andrew looked around the table nervously after he finished explaining everything. "So, yeah. That's what happened in my life recently. How are you guys doing?"

"Andrew." Cathryn growled, glaring at him. "You said- you promised you weren't going to do this!"

"It wasn't my fault!" Andrew protested raising his hands in exasperation. "The other guys can't get anywhere without me! It isn't like I could just say 'sucks to suck' and fuck off! They'd probably just keep me awake in the room until I agreed anyway!" He paused. "Well, Thomas might. Chris and Greg probably wouldn't care too much. But they probably wouldn't care enough to stop Thomas either, so still."

"I know, it's just-" Cathryn groaned. "I'm already sharing you, and now only one fifth of you is even here! I get a tenth of your attention! That's not- it isn't fair! It isn't-" She cried, before glancing at Li Jing with a pained expression and running off.

"Cathryn, wait!" Andrew got up to go after her, but Stephen grabbed his arm, stopping him and shaking his head.

"Let her go. She needs time to think." He explained. "This situation… it isn't so easy to come to terms with. Particularly for a Bond. It tells her you're meant to be attached at the hip, each other's literal second half, yet now you have become something so much more than she could ever be. It's a hard thing to accept."

"I'll go after her." Li Jing stood, leaving to go after Cathryn.

Andrew glanced at Stephen. "Why didn't you stop her?"

"Because she can actually help. Cathryn said some things she'll regret. The two of them do need to talk, without you." Stephen replied.

Andrew sighed, collapsing back into his chair. "I never wanted this." He muttered. "I never wanted to be different! I just- why couldn't I have been normal." He finished in a defeated grumble, burying his face in his hands.

"We don't get to choose the situation we're born into, only what we do with it." Stephen replied.

"I know, I know." Andrew shook his head. "And if I'd been born different, I probably wouldn't even be with Cathryn, unless I'd been born mortal, in which case I wouldn't have been with Li Jing, and I wouldn't give up either. It's just- ugh, I just wish it didn't have to be so freaking complicated!"

"Don't we all." Stephen sighed. "No life is simple, even if it looks that way from the outside. Your situation is unique, but not necessarily worse than anyone else's."

Andrew gave him a look that suggested he didn't believe him, before letting out a sigh. "You're probably right."

They all fell silent for a moment, before Helen looked up with a serious expression. "I want to meet them."

Andrew blinked. "What?"

"These people you're connected to." Helen elaborated. "You can bring them here, right?" Andrew nodded hesitantly. "I want to meet them."

"But- Mom, these guys, they aren't- I mean, I know I'm weird, but these guys are weird. I think Greg is literally a psychopath. Not in a bad way, but like he has a legitimate mental disorder. I don't even know what Chris is. And Thomas… look, they're all good people, but Thomas has told me some of the things he's done and- he makes mistakes." Andrew explained. "I don't- I'm not sure I want him in our World making mistakes."

"Andrew, these are people you are going to be involved with, for a long, long time." Helen replied. "I will not have my child so intimately connected with people I don't even know!" She growled. "Bring. Them. Here."

Andrew opened his mouth to protest, before another look from Helen made him gulp. He nodded, closing his eyes, waking up in the Room, and grabbing the other three. Greg stretched as his body formed behind Andrew. "And yet another World infected." He chuckled.

"Why would you say it that way?!?" Andrew groaned, burying his face in his hands.

"Oddly appropriate, actually." Chris observed. "We get into a World and consume its resources to multiply and spread."

"Does my system consume resources or create them?" Thomas wondered thoughtfully.

Chris suddenly snapped his fingers. "That's what I'm missing! I need energy!"

"Eh?" Thomas blinked.

"For your system, in my World." Chris explained. "It gives me a structure, but I still need to feed it energy for it to work. Probably. I'll test it."

"So you're saying it's stealing energy." Thomas frowned.

"Ostensibly." Chris nodded.

"Ahem." Helen coughed, drawing their attention as she stood. "I am Helen, Andrew's mother. It's a pleasure to meet you." She greeted them, a slight edge in her tone.

"Greg." Greg greeted her with a grin. "Sorry about that. We're easily distracted."

"I'm not distracted, I'm simply focused on something else." Chris retorted. "And I'm Chris."

"I'm Thomas and that's the definition of distracted." Thomas rolled his eyes.

"No, distraction is when your attention is unintentionally drawn away." Chris countered. "I intentionally focused on something else, therefore, not distracted."

Stephen snorted. "Well, at least he's honest."

"Chris'll tell you anything if you ask." Greg replied. "Watch. Chris, when was your first time?"

Chris frowned. "My first time what?"

"Having sex." Greg elaborated.

"Oh. Never. I'm a virgin." Chris shrugged.

Greg blinked. "Wait, really? But… you have a fiancé?"

"Yes? We're waiting until marriage, and we aren't married yet." Chris answered.

"Huh." Greg grunted. "Well, good for you." He nodded, patting Chris on the shoulder.

Chris gave him a weird look. "Thanks."

"Tell me, Chris. What's the worst thing you've ever done?" Helen asked, leaning forward.

Chris paused, considering the question for a moment. "Probably the time I peeled the scales off T'ka, then blocked her airways, putting her in a cycle of suffocation and resurrection until she accepted the connection to my world. That was unnecessary, since I could have simply broken her will with my own and all it did was save me a minor headache. I wouldn't do it again."

Helen blinked, turning to Stephen, who was frowning at Chris. "There's some regret…" He muttered. "It's faint, but it's more than anything else I've felt from him so far."

"Lie detector?" Greg asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Emotion sense. But close enough." Stephen replied.

"So…" Greg began hesitantly, remembering the slight thrill he'd felt as Chris described the torture.

"Yes. And I also got your frustration at feeling that way." Stephen smiled at him.

Greg sighed. "That's something, I guess."

"Most people have a weird urge or two." Stephen shook his head. "It isn't about getting rid of the urge, it's about controlling the response. You're fine."

"Still." Greg's expression twisted. "It's like someone getting a peek at the goods. I got nothing to be ashamed about, but it still isn't comfortable."

"And when you walk around with x-ray vision, you have to accept seeing a few dicks." Stephen countered with a grin.

"Ha! Fair." Greg chuckled.

"Okay, you two seem fine." Helen nodded, gesturing to Chris and Greg, before turning to Thomas and narrowing her eyes. "Now you. I hear you make mistakes."

Thomas blinked, before shooting Andrew an annoyed, but understanding look. "Yeah, it happens. I'm not going to pretend to be a perfect individual. However, I like to think I learn from each mistake and do my best not to repeat them. Yes, ideally, I wouldn't make mistakes at all, but how many of us can say we've never done anything we regret?"

Chris cocked his head. "You just talked about torturing a woman." Greg elbowed him.

"Ah, right." Chris nodded. "I try not to dwell on my failings. I simply adjust and move on. Also, it was a kobold." Greg just snorted and shook his head.

"We all make mistakes, yes, but that's why those with power have to be even more careful than most. Because our mistakes have larger consequences." Helen countered.

Thomas frowned. "Even with power, we're still human." He paused. "Well, people…"

"I still consider myself human." Chris commented.

"Same." Greg nodded.

"Eh?" Andrew wiggled his hand.

"You're human." Helen told him flatly.

"My point," Thomas continued, "is that even being careful, you'll still make mistakes, because even with thought, it's impossible to know everything. And even when you know, sometimes- sometimes mistakes happen anyway."

"Because Thomas can't resist a nice pair of tits when he's sad." Chris nodded.

Thomas flushed. "I'm just saying that even with power and doing everything you can, mistakes happen." He muttered.

Stephen and Helen shared a look and Stephen shrugged. "I like them."

Helen sighed. "They seem like good kids."

"Cool, we passed the parent test!" Greg whooped.

"Seeing as this is the only set of parents we have, I suppose that's good." Chris commented.

Greg gave him a look. "Chris. You have parents."

Chris blinked. "Oh yeah… I don't think they count though, since they had to give me up."

*

After calming Cathryn down and talking things through, Li Jing decided Andrew needed a private chat with her as well, sending him in and leaving to meet the other three while they talked. Cathryn didn't even look up as Andrew entered the bedroom and sat down beside her. "I know I'm being stupid." She grumbled with a sniff.

Andrew shook his head. "No, Cathryn, you aren't. You're justifiably upset because your boyfriend isn't spending enough time with you."

"But that's the thing!" Cathryn groaned. "You are spending enough time with me! Arguable you're spending too much time with me, considering our Bond. It- it isn't that I want more of you, it's that I want there to be less of you. I'm scared- I'm scared that somehow you'll change on me, become- become someone like…" She trailed off as Andrew's expression twisted, the image of her father flashing through their connection. "And I won't even see it coming, because it happened in a different World." She finished in a low murmur.

Andrew silently frowned at the floor for a moment. "I don't- I mean, I could- develop, but… Cathryn, I'm still going to be me, you know that, right?" He turned to look at her. "At my core- uh, in my heart, I'm- Cathryn, there's no part of me that would ever be anything like your dad, and nothing is going to change that."

Cathryn sniffed. "I know. I can't not know, because of how we're connected. Which is why I feel so stupid, because I'm still scared of it! I can't- a part of me is worried that one day you're just going to snap, and I'll be even more trapped than my mom. And I know it's ridiculous, because you aren't hiding anything, but my stupid monkey brain says my dad didn't seem to be hiding anything either, and look how that turned out! And now there's so much more of you to hide things from me! Like- when you were in the goblin tribe, what if- what if they pressured you into- into doing that to a woman, and you found you liked it? Would you start doing it to me and Jing? Could we stop you?"

"I would never-" Andrew began vehemently.

"I know." Cathryn shook her head, cutting him off. "I'm just- Andrew, this isn't something you can fix, because it isn't based in reality. I'm just- I'm scared, and every time I look around, it seems like there's more and more for me to be scared of."

Andrew paused. "So… what do I do then?"

Cathryn sighed. "Nothing, Andrew. I just- I just need to calm down. Focus on what's real, instead of the fantasies I've created in my mind."

Andrew hesitated for a moment, before sighing and curling up next to her, wrapping his arms around her. "I can at least be here for you." He muttered, and Cathryn snuggled a bit closer in acceptance. Not long after, Li Jing came in and snuggled up on Cathryn's other side, the three of them simply holding each other as they slowly fell to sleep.