William squinted at the empty air that had moments before been occupied by the Elven Amazon. Something about her felt… off. Almost like she was a monster he was supposed to fear. He refused to do that, though.
The two women here weren't the only ones that had changed races after awakening to their powers. William himself had been offered the chance to become something different just before movement returned to his limbs and the fog that had clouded his mind for over a decade had vanished.
He hadn't stayed to let the doctors figure out what happened. He wanted to leave and just a moment later he found himself floating, of all things, outside the window of his Hospital room.
"Well, I will take care of those Dropbears," the other Elven woman said, taking William from his thoughts. "And don't worry about Aperio, she can take of herself just fine."
"I'm more worried about her reaction," William mumbled.
"Touchy subject," the woman said with a shrug. "She has been through a lot. But you also don't have to worry about that. She might be angry, but she won't go against anyone for this."
"I sure hope so, stopping her seems like it's gonna be hard."
The Elf gave a small laugh at that and shook her head. "If she doesn't want to be stopped, she won't."
As if to underline the statement, William heard a loud crack echo through the relatively open space. When he turned to look what had caused it, he saw the overgrown lizard fall towards the ground with a black-winged dot standing on its head. Did she just kick it?
His eyes weren't good enough to make out much detail, but he was sure the black wings he could see belonged to the muscle-bound Elf as nothing else he could think of would have a wingspan of that size, let alone be willing to square up against what was basically a Dragon.
"Time to punch some Dropbears," the other Elf said, clapped her hands together, and began skipping towards the monsters. If William's ears did not deceive him, he could also swear she was humming an all-too-happy-sounding tune.
He did not follow the woman, instead standing back with the other people that had come to defend their city and not loot it like so many others. The police tried to stop some, but as it turned out, people were a lot less willing to listen to you if you could just fly away or walk through the next wall. Not like I did anything else.
When he had gotten his powers and awoken, the first thing he wanted was to leave, so he did. That's also when William figured out he could fly. Otherwise, standing on nothing next to his window on the tenth floor would've ended badly. Teleporting was nice, but he had not quite figured out how to go where he wanted when he couldn't see the target.
Transporting himself in front of a Dropbear to end it was easy enough; teleporting himself back to the city on the other hand… He would probably end up inside a building, and William was quite sure the concrete would win that particular fight. Can't all be invincible Elves, apparently.
Whatever powers this 'Aperio' had received were quite extraordinary to say the least. She could teleport, presumably fly, was seemingly strong — and sturdy — enough to just kick a maybe-dragon in the head once, knock it out, and take the force of the landing like it was nothing.
His thoughts were interrupted by a loud thud stemming from a Dropbear that had seemingly just fallen over and died. In front of the corpse stood the Elven woman whose name he still didn't know with her hands on her hips, mumbling something to herself he couldn't hear.
A moment later she shrugged and waved her hand, causing the ground beneath another of the monsters to open up and swallow it whole. Seemingly not content with her display thus far, multiple shards of some kind of metal suddenly appeared floating in the air next to her.
Not to be outdone, William teleported himself next to the nearest Dropbear with his hammer in hand. It was only right that the weapon the first of these creatures had dropped was the one he would use to dispatch the rest of them. It might not be the most appropriate weapon for the job, technically speaking, but it was capable of handily taking care of level fifty monsters. Even level one hundred monsters were no match for it. A large part of that was probably his own level, but he didn't mind that. He liked the hammer, and the System was already giving him some bonuses for using it. How that worked was a mystery to him, but being able to use the weapon more effectively every time the skill gained a level was a welcome surprise.
Maybe he could ask the two Elves about the System, as it seemed to have changed them a lot more than it changed him. Not that it didn't try… William could only imagine the new wave of chaos that would ensue when more people accepted the offer to change into a different species. It was already hard enough with just Humans.
He shook his head as the Dropbear swiped at him, easily dodging the sluggish motion before responding in kind. The only difference was that his hammer struck true and threw the large monster off balance, causing it to fall over and smash into a few other monsters that were trying their best to get into the city.
Just another day, he thought to himself as he dove down towards the Dropbear. A day like any other.
----------------------------------------
Aperio drove her foot through the skull of the Desert Dweller, ending whatever life had remained in it in an instant. It had been pretty dead before, but she wanted to make sure — and show at least a bit of mercy to the beast. Having her full weight land on its head could not have been pleasant.
A moment later, she appeared a few steps to her left and grabbed the small flying creature that had tried to hide itself from view the entire fight out of the air. She had sensed it quite a while ago as its feeble attempts to remain unseen had been useless from the get go. Nothing could hide from her if she did not permit it.
The being looked like a tiny Elf at a glance, but on a slightly closer inspection it was only the ears that looked similar. This creature, unlike Elves, had four arms, six eyes, and no mouth that she could see. It also had four insect-like wings sprouting from its back that struggled to move in her hand.
"I guess you are the one responsible for bringing that here?" Aperio asked, squinting at the tiny creature. "Why?"
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"Fun!" The voice resounded in her mind; a tiny whisper, as whatever magic it used to communicate was drowned out by Aperio's mere existence. "Test mortals!"
It remained quiet for a moment before it renewed its struggle. "Vengeance! Retribution."
"And what have these mortals done that would beget vengeance like this?" the All-Mother asked. "I am fairly certain that they have not done anything that would justify rousing this beast."
Aperio poked the tiny being, making sure to not accidentally injure it. "What even are you? A Fae?"
"Yes! Fae!" the small winged being replied as it redoubled its effort to break free, this time also trying various forms of magic. Of course, none of them worked.
And they thought Caethya and I were these? The All-Mother shook her head and let go of the Fae, a minuscule part of her mind making sure that it would not escape. "You should expand your vocabulary. These single word responses are most tiresome."
"Trying," the Fae replied, shrugging with one pair of arms while it folded the other in front of its chest. "Magic too much. Telepathy… hard."
"Are you saying I have too much mana?" the All-Mother asked as she drove her hand into the Desert Dweller's chest to retrieve the crystal she had sensed. "There is not much I can do about that." Well, willing to do about it.
"Name?" the being asked, its many eyes fixed on the gleaming crystal Aperio had just procured.
"Aperio," she replied.
She tilted her head as she felt the world's mana shift and try to pull at something inside her for a moment before it seemingly realised that that was a stupid idea. The All-Mother fixed her gaze onto the Fae and raised a brow.
"Would you like to explain what you tried to do?" Aperio cocked her head to the other side. "And you can save yourself the trouble. None of your feeble magic will work on me. If you wish to try anyway, you are more than welcome to, but know that it will only serve to annoy me."
The Fae did not reply, seemingly quite confused that whatever it had tried to do did not work. That was fine with Aperio; the tiny creature could ponder her nature all it wanted. Perhaps it would even figure something out about her that she herself had not known. Wouldn't be the first time that happened.
"You could also start by giving your own name," the All-Mother said before she kicked off of the ground, the Fae still firmly held by her magic.
Aperio spread her wings after a moment, keeping herself aloft with lazy flaps. She looked at the monsters below her, some feeding on the corpse she had made while others rushed past to get to the Humans blocking the most obvious route into the city.
Unlike Verenier, the cities on Earth generally lacked walls or other fortifications, making them easy targets for monsters. This particular one had a wide street leading straight towards the centre, the route seemingly quite inviting for the various creatures. Or they are attracted to the mortals there.
In the end, it mattered little. Magic was back on Earth and the creatures that called this worlds its home would use it just like the mortals would. She just had to make sure that some of the stronger beasts ignored the people a bit longer so they could figure out how to live in a world now governed by a force that many believed to be fiction for most of their lives..
"Teg," the Fae finally said, squinting at Aperio with all six of its eyes. "Name is Teg," it repeated, seemingly waiting for something to happen.
"Well, Teg, I would suggest you wait a little while longer before you try to send another Dragon after the mortals." The All-Mother gestured towards the city below them. "They are doing a good job punishing themselves."
The Fae crossed all of its arms in front of its chest and huffed. "Humans dumb. Kill us. Capture us. We hide."
"That seems to be a trend with mortals, yes. One I hope they can rid themselves of, otherwise I will have to consider more drastic measures after all." She let out a long sigh. "I will have to deny your revenge for a while longer, even if you deem it unjust. I wish to give the mortals a chance to change their ways. Give every single one of them a fair shot at growing strong.
"That goes for you and your people too," Aperio continued, moving the Fae in front of her face. "You have undoubtedly noticed the renewed flow of mana through this world." She carefully poked the small being as it continued to pout at her. "I am sure you can use that to stake a claim for yourself."
Teg glared at her for a moment longer before they spoke again. "You brought mana?"
"I made it, but it is the same to you I suppose."
The Fae's eyes blinked one after another as it regarded the All-Mother, this time seemingly trying to find some kind of hint for something. "Spirit?" it finally asked, a slight sheen visible in its eyes.
"Am I a spirit? No." Aperio tilted her head slightly to the side. "At least I do not think I am. I would argue that I am all too solid to be one. I am simply me, nothing more, nothing less."
"You are what?" Teg asked. "Not Fae. Not Human. Not Elf. Not of Earth. Must be Spirit."
"If you wish to call me that, you may," Aperio replied. "It is not more or less accurate than Goddess, I suppose. I would prefer you call me by name, however. I kept it for a reason. Or All-Mother, if you must be formal."
"Primordial?" it asked, perhaps having inspected her. Teg hesitated for a moment, its wings twitching ever-so-slightly. "Singular being? Like Fae? No mirror?"
Aperio pinched the bridge of her nose at the continued questions. She had wanted to kill some monsters, not puzzle over the partial sentences of a tiny and confusing Fae. "What do you mean by 'singular being'?"
"Many mirror worlds. Only one Teg, only one you."
"Yes, there is only one of me. Always has been, always will be." She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "But how do you know of the different versions of my creation? And why are you unique in all of them?"
Teg simply shrugged. "All Fae unique. Escaped between reflections. No Humans."
Aperio simply looked at the small being for a moment before she reached out to Caethya, informing her love that she would be away for bit. Once I’ve found where they hide, that is.
"I think I will have to pay your kind a visit."