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Varra POV

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All was fuzzy in her mind. For the unknowable time, she tried to recall what happened to her. She was delivering leather to the smith, saw a fight between what had to be a devil and her unknown savior, and then tried to save her savior.

She did… SOMETHING! She knew her pain was her own fault, but she needed to. Or at least, she thought she did… In hindsight, it was a poor idea. What it her savior went on a rampage? Killed everyone?!

She had to calm down… she must continue remembering what happened.

After doing… whatever to her benefactor, she collapsed, and saw the system message. She shuddered just remembering it. Both for the consequences, and the name she saw. For some reason, it still scared her.

Just as she was about to go through her memories again, she felt something envelop her. She tried to look around, but all was color and listless shapes. She knew she was not in her town anymore. Or even her world…

She wanted to cry. She didn’t know what was going on… She was just a 15 year old girl for heaven’s sake! But she couldn’t even cry… So she just sat in this colorful void, getting constricted by something she couldn’t see.

Suddenly, she felt vertigo. It was so bad she blacked out, and when she came to, she was in a room. She looked for a second while floating, before gravity kicked in. She fell to her knees, and immediately vomited what looked like the full rainbow.

She felt a warm hand on her back, and she felt like it conveyed warmth and stern disapproval at the same time. When done, she was gasping on the floor while crying. Her emotions in turmoil. She didn’t understand what was going on, so she just cried and cried.

When she was done, she looked up, and saw a picture of beauty. Long brown hair, tall and elegant, her ears were long and pointed up and back. She figure covered by a long, flowing, form fitting dress in a style alien to her…

In short, a woman to make any mortal worship. She kept staring, finding more to be entranced by every second. After what had to be the fifth pass, she finally caught the woman’s expression. It was firm disapproval. Only then did she realize she had been staring at the woman for an unknown period of time.

Her her neck all the way to her ears turned bright red, and she hid behind her hands. She only let out a nonsensical groan of embarrassment and self pity as she kept hiding.

”That is enough, I think.” The woman in front of Varra said. Her voice was like music. It was enough to make bards weep in desire and self pity. Enough to bring nations to their knees. Enough to-

A slap to her face woke her from her trance. She yelped in surprise as she felt her stinging cheek. She looked up to her again and saw a glare of disapproval now. She could only stutter an apology and try to back away.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

when she looked around properly, she saw a room ornate and organic in style. It was made out of wood and an unknown material and showed master level craftsmanship. It’s simple, beautiful design wonderful to behold. A bed lay in one corner, and a window next to it. In the middle of the room lay a table and two chairs. Two cups of something lay on either side.

Just as she was about to speak, she was suddenly in one of the chairs. It was so surprising shat she yelped again. The woman was across from her, slightly sipping on her drink. Varra looked down into her own drink, and it was… yellow? What… She hesitantly put the drink to her lips and sipped. It took all of her control not to spit it out. She slowly swallowed while making a face, and when finally down, she gasped.

It was best described as oil on fire. And to say the least, she did not like it. The woman across from me looked at me blankly, and I felt a shiver in my being.

As Varra looked at the woman in front of her, she started to speak. “M-my name is Varra Bovart… W-Who are you? Where am I? Where is mom and dad? What happened to me? Why is everything so strange? Why-“

The woman, for once, looked at me with pity. When she spoke, it shocked me.

”Enough Varra Bovart, apprentice leather worker and soon to be mage. I know who you are, what you are. You are an open book in this place. But, I feel pity I suppose, and I owe my life to your foolish stunt and for unknowingly answering my questions. So I will answer. My name is Mhey Sharren. You have met with me before, and even talked to me. Though I did have a different form.

I was the being fighting the… devil. In doing so, it broke my soul stone. Something that shouldn’t have happened, but for reasons beyond your understanding, it was weakened. You, somehow, transferred my soul to an undamaged soul stone in me. You, child, saved me from a fate fare more horrible then death.”

Varra looked at her, and whispered “She who-“ Suddenly standing, Mhey clamped her hand over Varra mouth. Her eyes wide in fear and anger.

”Never say it’s name girl! Especially here.”

When she let go, Varra eyes were wide. She nodded rapidly and didn’t say another word. A silence filled the room as each stared at each other. Then Mhey began to speak again. “Never say that here. And we are in the warp. A place of thought, of madness and cruelty. Of kindness and jest. And learn you well. Names have power. Especially here girl. Now, your family is in real space, and relatively safe. Do you understand girl?” Mhey asked.

Varra shook her head, afraid to speak. She understood nothing of what Mhey had just said. All she got from the conversation was that her parents were safe. She heard Mhey speaking, but heard nothing until a sharp knock on the table got her attention again.

”I said child, do you understand?” Varra thought back, and shook her head in the negative. As she looked at Mhey, she saw the woman nod in affirmation. “Good. It is best an untrained talent such as yourself doesn’t. You are too young and lack a teacher. And before you ask, I will not teach you because I can not. This was a one off situation. Now, let us get to what we need to do to get you to real space.

I can seal your powers until you are of age, I can drag you back myself, or you can do it. Each comes with benefits and side effects. To seal up your powers comes with removing their possibility until you are 150 years old. This gives you time to mature and gain experience. If I drag you back, you get back the fastest. On the other hand, at some point you will likely come back here, and I won’t be able to help, hence leaving you abandoned. And lastly, I can just leave you here. Your choice now if you please.”

Varra was stunned. She could be left abandoned here? She could come back? It was a worrying thought. Going over the options again and again, she thought the best answer to be the first, and with a bit of hesitation, said so. And Mhey, with no hesitation at all, stuck her hand inside Varra’s chest.

Pain immediately went through her whole being, making her scream. It was agony, and she wanted to collapse and become a ball. But something kept her up. It lasted for what felt like hours, and stopped suddenly. Varra collapsed, still crying, but looked up and saw Mhey smile for the first time. It wasn’t a nice smile. “Time to go child. We have much to speak about in real space.

Varra did not think it was going to be a nice talk…