Intermission #19: Etana

Etana scooped the remnants of the stew into her mouth and tasted the savory flavor, her senses so powerful now that she didn’t need to taste it to enjoy it anymore. Something felt right as she bit into the chunk of stewed marf meat. She savored the tender texture as she chewed, really enjoying the spices the innkeeper had placed into the thick creamy broth. Breaking off a piece from the Seliri loaf, she squeezed it in her fingers as she looked over at the other patrons in the tavern. The thread connecting her to another patron was a constant nagging sensation she couldn’t quite ignore.

Beneath her raised hood, with her increasing disguise skill, Etana saw all of their names and life events. She felt strange knowing their intimate details. It felt even more strange sitting in this peaceful place, eating a normal meal. Not a single person there knew what she was struggling with, nor of the place she would return to in a moment. But one man in particular had a small, yet important unresolved problem. She knew he was looking for his niece, and her aspects told her exactly where she was.

Squeezing the hard shelled loaf one more time, feeling the soft interior, Etana swept it through the remains of her bowl, soaking up the broth for one last bite. Placing it in her mouth, she handed some Randar coins to the innkeeper as she got up. Lifting her silver thrusting sword with no scabbard, she walked over to the man. Unhooking her cloak’s collar, she placed a hand gently on the man’s shoulder, exposing her necklace.

“She’s at Tenebar, a border town of The Watch,” Etana said clearly, waiting for the man’s understanding. She saw the thread between them fade from a bright white into a dull gray as recognition lit up in the man’s eyes.

“T...Trina?” He sputtered her name.

“Tenebar,” she repeated, letting go of the man’s shoulder, stepping away, and traveling at the same time.

Noise, color, and lights immediately struck her senses as her hair once again acted upon unnatural forces. Explosions rang out and she flinched when creatures screamed out in pain. The spiked creature was immediately on her. “Just as we’re making progress, you leave?” it growled.

Etana didn’t even look at it as she scanned the chaotic landscape. “I needed to eat.” She pointed with her sword at the runed pad in the distance near where Anomos still laid on its own nearly identical pad. “You’ve barely made any progress without me.”

“Anomos changed its approach after you left. Your sister disabled the portal ring with her blood. Reactivating it has proved a challenging, but not insurmountable task for me.” The creature grumbled. “Bolstering my army has been difficult here.”

Etana looked at Anomos in the distance and saw it had indeed changed from a pile of loose crystals to a chaotic swirling circle with a long stem, almost resembling a flower. “We’ll have to make another push.”

“Not without creating an imbalance. I won’t kill more creatures than the assembler can produce without a guarantee our plan will work. Anomos…”

“...can’t be allowed off its pad. I know. You said it already.” She watched in fascination as Anomos sprayed a fine rainbow mist into the air, the particles floating wistfully as they navigated the convoluted landscape. With the particles mapping the flow of gravity, she saw exactly where the dividing lines of up and down had been severed by Anomos in the past.

The Darkness grunted. “Yes. There was a runed barrier isolating Anomos similar to the ones we now see protecting Trina’s refuges. The barrier vanished three hundred and seventy-eight years ago.”

She watched in horror as the spores were intercepted by The Darkness’ creatures. Everywhere they touched on the creature’s bodies a blister was formed, which quickly grew, and then burst. And from each blister emerged sheer chaos.

Out of one pustule, purple tendrils intertwined with prismatic strands of light, knitting themselves together into structures that defied geometry. Another erupted into a silent explosion of colors, each hue singing a note of an unfamiliar and haunting melody. Yet another seemed to tear at the fabric of reality itself, revealing glimpses into swirling, otherworldly vibrant vortexes filled with ungraspable shapes, only to close just before Etana thought she understood them.

When a creature died, some released transient wisps from their bodies that seemed to move with a consciousness, rearranging the very air around them into intangible mosaics that faded as quickly as they formed. And in a particularly jarring display, a bursting blister defied gravity, folding space inward and creating a temporary void that devoured a nearby creature before regurgitating it in an altered form unsuitable for life. The unpredictability was maddening, the spectacle overwhelming. The only constant was the pure, undiluted chaos that emanated from Anomos' touch.

“Which aspect…” she started to ask, but was in turn interrupted.

“The Aspect of Sanctuary. I was trying to obtain it for many years to reactivate the lock on Anomos, but it was safely secured within The City of Halos. I almost obtained it not long ago, but Vina managed to return it to Trina.”

Etana observed the creature carefully, seeing the way it responded to her own interruption. “Okay. Doubtful I could get it back from Trina, right?”

The creature shook its triangular head. “Doubtful for more reasons than you know.”

Etana bit her lip as she thought. “If there was a barrier even after Trina vanished and the aspect of sanctuary was in The City of Halos, then that means the aspect couldn’t possibly have been powering it, right? If the aspect is with Trina now and she still isn’t powering it, then there must not be a way for her to do so. There might be another way to reactivate the barrier on that runic pad.”

“It did not work for me. Trina’s system rejected everyone I brought to the pad claiming none of us were Trina herself.”

“You think I might be able to activate it.” She scanned the creature’s triangular face when she realized it went quiet. “I know where Trina is,” she stated.

“Knowing her location is of little consequence if you cannot reach her.” The Darkness responded. “There are only two in the world who could possibly reach her now. You are not yet among those exclusive few.”

Etana considered its words for a moment. She knew Vina could get back to Trina, but the other person eluded her for a moment. Then she remembered her confrontation. “You mean Vina and Zel'alor.”

“I mean…” Stine’s words trailed off as a low, resonating hum began to emanate from the direction of Anomos's pad. Both Etana and Stine turned their attention to it, noticing that the edges of the pad where Anomos lay were glowing with an erratic, pulsating light. All at once, the creatures stopped moving simultaneously. “That’s... a new sound,” murmured The Darkness, its voice tinged with a rare hint of alarm.

Anomos’ previously flower-like shape began to shift. Its form twisted and writhed as arcs of energy crackled around it. The crystalline form morphed into a fluid, splashing around its own structure, but not flowing away, before reforming once again. In the distance she saw the entity take the form of an impossible to describe, but well structured geometric shape. Then it began to shift into a swirl, forming once again into something her eyes couldn’t comprehend as its shapes overlapped and intersected. Soon, instead of spores, identical shapes began to float out from Anomos. They slowly expanded outward as if they were inflating before suddenly exploding with a squelching pop. A wave of energy cascaded outward.

Etana covered her face with an arm as the spike covered creature moved in front of her to block the blastwave. As the first wave passed through Etana, she felt a sudden jolt, as if a core part of her was being wrenched away. Nausea filled her as a notification appeared in her vision.

> System: You have lost 10 levels.

She gasped, stumbling backwards, her vision briefly blurring. Beside her, an exact duplicate of herself stood, staring back with the same confusion mirrored in her own eyes. The woman soon gathered herself and stood upright, bringing her sword before her as her eyes hardened. She looked firmly into Etana’s eyes, her lips parted as if to speak, before she could say anything though, another wave passed through them both.

> System: You have lost 5 levels.

>

> Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

>

> System: You have lost your class.

Through bleary eyes and a sick stomach, Etana saw three other versions of herself also struggling to remain upright. Confusion filled her as she held memories of her class abilities, but when she reached for them, they were simply not there. Around her, she saw the same phenomena occurring with The Darkness's creatures. For every creature the shimmering constructs touched, a duplicate appeared. Chaos erupted as the creatures turned on each other and black blood flowed free over the twisted landscape. Beside her the massive spiked creatures were no exception. They ripped and tore into each other as a wild display of strength and savagery broke out just beside them.

Etana stepped forward to travel away from the frenzy, only to find she had insufficient divinity to do so.

Divinity: 0/0

“What?” she asked herself, but didn’t hesitate any longer to get away from the ball of wrestling creatures.

“You can’t travel because you’re only level 5!” The first Etana with a bold look shouted at her above the din. She took a fierce stance once more, sword at the ready. “You didn’t have any divinity at level 5!”

Another Etana who had formed from the first copy now cowered behind the one that had just spoken aloud. She held the sword awkwardly as if she was scared to even touch it. “We can’t just stay here! I’m too low of a level to kill anything.” She pointed at her neck. “I don’t even have the necklace!”

The last Etana took a cautious, but careful position off to the side behind herself. Her eyes moved between the three of them with careful calculation. “None of us have the necklace. Only she does. She must be the original. We can figure this out, but we have to protect each other.”

Etana touched her neck real fast, still feeling the necklace and the stones there, despite her lack of divinity. “She’s right! We need to figure out how to fix this.”

The Etana standing boldly with the sword in her hand shouted over Etana, “The Darkness has already figured it out! Why haven’t all of you?” She immediately turned around, holding the sword up menacingly. Next she grabbed the Etana cowering behind her who squealed in protest.

“Wait!” The other two cried out, already moving to intercept, but in their diminished state, they were too slow. A scream of pain rang out, but it was almost immediately silenced by a second thrust of the sword held by a grinning Etana.

She stood over the body and held the sword out threateningly. “We have to consolidate to survive!” she screamed at them angrily.

“Just stop!” Etana screamed back, wishing she had the ability to dissolve these swords, but the twin who had moved with her to stop the murder went on the attack instead. She watched, unable to stop either one as her remaining selfs tried to kill each other. A sword strike was deflected and she heard her own voice scream as the two women rolled on the ground, trying to gain an advantage over the other.

Etana grabbed at her nearest self and wrenched them away from the other, but found they each had just as much strength as she did. They resisted her interference, and one struck out with her sword at her despite their entwined limbs. Etana flinched, but when the sword barely pierced her abdomen, she remembered her Aspect of Health. “They can’t hurt me,” she reminded herself as she redoubled her efforts to break them apart. She grabbed the blade with her bare hand and twisted it aggressively, gaining leverage over the weapon, managing to wrestle it away.

“No!” Her own voice screamed out angrily at her. Etana felt a free hand grab her hair and pull her in. One version of herself shrieked wildly and Etana’s forcefully turned head saw the wild desperation in her eyes as she stabbed forward with the remaining sword remaining in her hand. Etana felt it slice along her neck to little effect, but the durability of her skin allowed it to slip past her. The hand pulling at her hair tightened and twisted away as all three women cried out for different reasons. A moment later, the hand gripping her hair loosened, and Etana pushed away with all of her might, freeing herself from its grasp.

She threw herself at the Etana who still wielded a sword and wrestled the weapon away from her. “Stop!” They screamed at each other. Etana paused as their eyes met and a mutual understanding of cooperation passed between them. She pushed off of herself and stepped back with the weapon still in hand. Turning immediately to the other copy of herself, Etana witnessed an Etana who was coughing and scrambling weakly away. Her eyes still stared defiantly back at her, but as another bout of violent coughing took her, suddenly doubt entered those eyes as she fell to her side.

Etana rushed over to her and kneeled down as her twin took her hand away from her mouth, showing it to be covered in foamy blood. “Where are you hurt?” Etana asked desperately.

The injured Etana coughed, bloody bubbles forming around her mouth. “I’ll… go… to Ann… first,” she managed to gasp out.

Etana heard the steps of the large spike creature as it joined them. It was covered in black blood that slowly turned into mist before entering its eyes. “Annalina is not dead. She found a way to survive.”

All three Etana’s stared at the creature in shock. “You said…” Etana started, but she was interrupted by her still healthy duplicate not far away.

“It said she needed unique care. She must have figured out how to get it for herself,” The copy behind her said, a look of careful consideration in her gaze.

The wounded Etana’s cough became more violent. Turning her head to spit blood, she whispered, “Damn.” Etana then heard a sucking noise and hiss as the woman breathed in. A small stain of red began to form under the woman’s white dress. Quickly Etana ripped the golden buttons off, struggling slightly with her reduced strength, and exposed a chest wound. Without hesitation, she forced her hand over it and applied pressure. She felt the suction on her hand with the woman’s next struggling breaths.

The woman lifted a blood covered hand to Etana’s necklace. Softly she dragged her fingers over a single stone. Her eyes flicked to Etana’s, and she saw her lips had already started to turn blue. She softly rasped, “Find… more.”

Etana looked down, seeing her touch the Aspect of Names. She quickly grabbed her hand without letting up on the pressure. “Save your strength.” Looking over at the spike covered creature, she asked as desperation filled her voice “Do you have anything to help?”

“Your perspective is narrow. Anomos has fractured your life experience. Reclaiming them is the greatest mercy you can give yourself.” While Etana stared at the creature in disbelief, it clarified its position. “Anomos is idle now. Kill them quickly and move to the runed pad.”

Etana’s heart ached as she looked down at her own face, seeing her name and major life events reflected back at her. She could feel her breathing getting shallower beneath her hand. A quick look at the final remaining copy of herself showed she too stared on with concern, maybe regret in her eyes. The whole moment felt so outside of reality, Etana was having problems comprehending it. Still she was powerless to stop this moment from happening. When the woman’s breathing turned ragged and her eyes grew confused, Etana knew the end was near.

The other Etana finally stepped forward, hands held out in pleading. “We have an opportunity now.”

“What?” Etana almost spat as she narrowed her eyes at her.

“I don’t know what happened, but Ann is alive! You can go on and be Trina. I can go back and be with my sisters. We can accomplish both of our goals at the same time. We don’t have to choose anymore!” Excitement filled the woman’s eyes, and Etana flinched at her enthusiasm amidst the dying sounds of the woman beside her, still weakly struggling for every breath. A thought crossed her mind unbidden and undesired, was this other woman really her?

“No!” The spiked creature said sternly behind her and Etana nearly jumped at the force of its voice. “Your life is fractured, divided.”

Etana opened her mouth to speak, but she felt the final breath beneath her fingertips fade away when her chest did not rise again. Tears formed in her eyes as she looked away from the face of death that looked up at her lifelessly.

The other Etana looked at her in disbelief. “I… I got all of her levels… From a single kill? That’s not how Trina’s system works.”

Etana stiffly took her hand from the woman’s chest, feeling the stickiness of her blood on her palm. She closed it into a fist as she reached for one of the swords on the ground. “You’re not made from Trina’s system. Anomos made you.”

“No! I’m me.” The other Etana said, shaking her head. “You! You can kill more creatures! The Darkness will help you regain your strength!” The remaining Etana protested. Her eyes were alive with hope and desperation. “We can both still live our truths. You can save the world, and I can be with my sisters!”

“To move forward, you must reclaim what you’ve lost.” The Darkness spoke again, its tone encouraging.

Etana rose, dragging the sword with her. Her hand reluctantly clutched the hilt as doubts wrestled with her decision. She had witnessed the perversions that Anomos could create. While The Darkness was just as unnatural an existence in her world, right now it was an ally to her efforts to contain or remove these aberrations from Palitern. The last thing she would allow was for one of these things to get near her sisters. Still, doubt lingered in her mind at the possibility of having everything she had ever hoped for. Regardless, deep down she knew if her dreams were to come true, she would be the one to make them happen, not some hollow copy of herself.

The other Etana turned and ran at seeing the determination in Etana’s eyes, but the spiked creature chased her down easily. Etana ran after as quickly as her agility would allow her and soon stood over the woman that looked exactly like herself. Tears flowed freely from both of their eyes as the creature held her down, and Etana raised the sword to strike.

Her duplicate finally nodded and opened her eyes wide as she stared up at the sword point. “Save them! Save everyone!"

Etana forced the sword down without a word. For a moment she stood there, the weapon heavy in her hand, the weight of her decision still pressing down on her. The world around her seemed to blur as memories from multiple perspectives flooded her mind. Suffering, fear, and pain of three others soon became her own as her experiences were returned to her. She sank to the ground when the deluge of window notifications cascaded into her view.

> System: You have regained 15 levels.

“You learn quickly and have reclaimed yourself from Anomos.” The Darkness said after a moment. “A task it never imagined any of us capable of.” Etana sat there quietly for a moment, caught up in her memories, until a clawed hand reached out and gently shook her. “The time has come. Stand up. If you want to see your future, we have to act now. It’s changing again.”