B 2 C 21: REINCARNATION?

Oddly, the two glowing forms of the hatching creatures meet, and then form a single egg. Lu quickly snatches it out of the air and tucks it into her wrist pocket. Its timer is pretty short, I think a day. It’s hard to read as we’re plummeting to our doom, plus I only got a glimpse before it was tucked away.

Trying to figure out how to get out of this, I can’t bear using my inventory magic when I know how much pain Luni is already in. My version of the valkyrie form is fading, and I’m shrinking, but I don’t know when Luni’s anchoring of me will end.

Te’s eyes shoot wide and a wild smile adorns her face as she says, “Got it.” Her form elongates and glows with a neutral creamy gray. The silhouette of her form slips past her valkyrie form into something new, I can’t even describe it during my current panic.

Lil similarly awakens and shifts evolutionarily upwards to Lilagnewt. Similarly to Teuila, instead of a bright white light, Lil’s silhouette is coated in a creamy gray glow. Lil’s silhouette continues past Lilagnewt form as they intentionally plunge below us. Lil’s wings look like a heart from up here.

It strikes me that I finally have names for my relationship with each of my inner circle. Luni is my anchor. Teuila is my wings. Lil is my heart. My pulse is pounding against my cranium, shunting pressure outwards to my temples, I can’t focus with the rapid altitude change.

I also see now why Luni wanted me to keep my blindfold on. The Cragbeast Queen, a now semi-foothill-sized monstrosity is adorned with red-eyes. She doesn’t even have eyes, you cheater! My wrist is definitely broken, Luni’s arm is sickeningly dislocated, both of us have punctured lungs, and now I’m descending into a nightmare world of panic, reliving nightmares of Day One.

Teuila and Lil’s forms haven’t finished taking shape, so they seem to be struggling to figure out their abilities. They can’t seem to get used to their bodies. Lil does their best to swoop around and angle to intercept my descent with Luni in such a way that doesn’t outright kill us. Wait, cold air sinks, I can’t heat the air without risking hurting Luni right now. I have to do things that don’t require energy or I’d basically just make a landing thruster. Plus, still stuck in nightmare mode.

I try to rapidly create pillars of pillows of cold air beneath us. If I can create blocks of dense air, maybe I can slow our descent enough. Lu coughs and drags me into our shared bond. Telepathically she makes a request, “Go get her hero, we’re unanchored. Lil and Te can’t help with this one.”

With that, Luni kisses my cheek, then raises her left arm, and though Lil just barely misses us with their angled dive, Luni clasps Lil’s still-forming limbs, and is carried away into a slow dive.

I peer around, all the exploding rubble seems to have paused its various random trajectories. The din and chaos and fury of the crumbling mountain goes unheard, or is similarly paused. I’m not sure if this is part of a panic hallucination, or what. Just in case, I reorient my feet towards the ground, and begin summoning aerial material to stand on. I casually stroll through falling debris, walking through the air. Poking the crumbling stone doesn’t yield any confirmation one way or the other to let me know if I’m hallucinating.

If I’m not hallucinating, I’d better stop wasting time and take advantage of this opportunity. If I’m hallucinating, I may as well plan what to do, either way, I need to cover ground and stop putzing around. I propel myself into a horizontal leap towards my target trying to keep my eyes low, and trying to keep my breathing slow and controlled. Hm, no, I have to do this right. I ricochet myself into an upward climb as I shut my eyes tightly. Right about here should be good. Seems like I’ve gotten a lot of max mana back over the last few days. Even still, just in case, let’s go all out and beyond, and then some. What did Teuila say once? She’d go a hundred plus a hundred plus she didn’t know, ultra percent? Yeah, let’s go plus ultra percent.

Hey world, do you mind letting me go into energy debt for this one? I don’t hear a no.

Gulping down a deep breath, I exhale in as slow and controlled a fashion as I can muster. I place my wrists together, palms towards my target, and picture summoning a radiant copy of Gae Buidhe worth fifteen hundred energy as a massive bolt through her skull. Hm, no, something tells me I need to stop relying on radiance, there’s something wrong with it. Let’s see if umbral energy works, or maybe a neutral mixture. Even though it only takes an instant, it feels like a lifetime before the copy of the spear takes form. My mana slowly plummets towards bottoming out, but umbral and radiant particles in the atmosphere spring to life, glow and grow in size to small spheres. This mixture of spheres is absorbed by the forming spear, and my mana stops just shy of bottoming out when the spear launches.

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Suddenly time fully reengages, the rubble continues to fall from the sky, and so do I. I guess it was a hallucination, but it’s a good plan. Following along with my hallucination, I blast horizontally first, then instantly shift into an upward climb at the same spot. My rapid direction change saved me from an enormous tendril being swung about by the queen. I try to count the number of breaths I swallowed and how long I exhaled in my hallucination.

At the appropriate count, I beg the world to allow me to hit energy debt for this one, to protect my loved ones, and the world from this beast that I’ve accidentally unleashed. I don’t get a response. Placing my palms forward, wrists together, one of which is broken, I try to summon forth a mixed umbral-radiant copy of Gae Buidhe from my inventory aimed at the queen’s skull. My danger wrap senses tickle as if small fuzzy balls appear all around me, then they bleed away into the spear. Just before my energy bottoms out, a copy of Gae Buidhe the size of the trees near my home rockets downward as a massive tendril reaches up for me on the same trajectory. The tendril is split instantly by the spear as it continues its path down to the queen’s brainpan. As the enormous creature begins to derez, the time dilation is so strong it feels like it reaches into the past, present, and future. Ah, maybe that’s what happened. It would be better than having to admit I probably hallucinate frequently.

A hostile presence enters my sensory range. It’s slightly ethereal, it tries to ram me, repeatedly. This entity wants to possess me. I know what this presence is. Somehow, a shared history begins to bleed through from its contact. Even still, what little I saw doesn’t explain its hatred. I was nothing, a speck, discarded. That’s all I saw. Still, its fury gave me more clues than I had previously. I get the sense that I was something of a malformed, underdeveloped soul, destined for a garbage bin, or incinerator. Figuratively.

Distracted by this entity and the shared reveries, as the Queen is still in the process of derezzing, I come into contact with her outstretched tendril’s wireframe where my spear had split it. Unexpectedly, I’m impaled in a turnabout of one of my worst memories. Blood gushes forth from my abdomen, and mouth. Wait, how did Luni bleed? Was it just because of our connection?

Oh my vision is fading fast. One of those red potions would really come in handy now. If I can get to the base of the rubble, where the queen’s drops are, I might get lucky. Angling my descent towards the center of where the queen had been standing, I try to cushion my landing as best I’m able with my little remaining consciousness.

It’s so close, mere feet away, but I can’t feel my legs, and my arms are trembling, too weak to drag me forward. I feel myself being rolled onto my side, and a smiling presence looms over me, shushing me, comforting me. There’s fret and worry beneath that comforting though. I can hear the unsounded sobs.

Details fade away to the familiar blotchiness of slightly darker splotches against slightly lighter splotches. I raise the only muscle I can, my right finger. My finger is coiled about by a familiar one. Okay, I can rest. They’re safe, and I’m safe in their arms.

I awaken momentarily as I feel the breeze blowing over my wounds at near half mach speeds. It’s excruciating. I think Lil is coiled around my legs, hanging on for dear life. Luni is borne across Valkyrie’s right shoulder. I pass out once more.

I’m awakened by an abrupt stop and shouting. I think I can make out Teuila yelling, “Someone help them!” Who could she be talking to? Did she already take us all the way home? Based on the number of gasps that greet us, it sounds like it.

I raise my right hand slightly to try to wave hello, but I can only manage to wave my index finger as I croak, “Sorry, hi, urp, all.” I’m met with shushing, cooing, and hands exploring my torso and forehead.

Lao frets, but tries to bring levity to the situation, “No wonder you didn’t reply when I told you about our new family member!” Lao’s chuckle belies her worry however.

There are some excited whispers, questions that are begged to be asked. My inner circle wants to know if it’s really Olioli. The problem is, it’s hard to tell, since Olioli was always more animalistic, and never spoke. They certainly appear the same, as they curiously bite everything in sight.

“Freeze yourself!” Someone orders, and too delirious to argue, I comply. I form the largest, coldest barrier I can around myself, as many layers outward as I can muster, each layer condensing tighter and tighter close to me as I reach another layer outwards. I feel myself losing consciousness in a new and unusual manner.

I’m certain that whoever ordered me to act knew what they were doing. The presences gathered around seem comforted at my sudden action, though startled by it. Why are you surprised fam? You’re the ones who told me to.

“No they didn’t.”

Oh, it’s you again? Are you me?

“Yes, just go to sleep. You’ll be mostly fine in the morning. Take it easy for a week.”

I’m perfectly happy to do just that. Wait, are you really, truly me? How do I know what to tell myself?

“Just shut up and go to sleep. You’ve got family to catch up with.”