F.H. 53, The Highest Realm of Ein Sof

Two figures composed entirely of diffuse, ephemeral projections of Ein Sof stared at a big box at the Center of Creation. Maybe. There weren’t any maps here, and even the collective knowledge of Binah offered no names or whispers of secrets about the plumbing of existence.

“You can’t push anything through, either?” Telos asked Kallos. Hope warred with dread in her tone.

“No, my dear. The closer I get to it, the more impenetrable this place becomes. Not even one of my spells will go through, regardless of type. Aether, Nether, Void, Ethereal, even miracles woven of Ein Sof are casually reflected. I even tried bloodletting, but no reaction.” Kallos allowed a tinge of disappointment to enter her voice, she was so vexed at the mysterious construct.

“Bloodletting, you say?” Telos stared at her own hand and laughed, but she didn’t pull out any knives.

“Blood is the essences of life. Even those who work with mana can over-stretch and spend their life-force to massively bolster their spells, at terrible costs. It seems likely that your frenemy engaged magic that drains it to combat you.” Kallos looked in the direction of the Multiverse of Bob, a place of sickly sensations and antithetical nature. It had the stink of soul-rot, of swamps and dark places where fungi bred undaunted by the suns light, of the decay of meaning.

“Gnosis doesn’t exist in his realm. The sickness of the soul has over-taken their entire multiverse. As long as I block his attacks for another three or four years, he will die. What happens to the dimensional axis, then? Can I fix it, or do I have to destroy it? Can there only be one axis in the whole of creation? I don’t think that’s the case, I think he’s something different from me, and like a sick parasite, he’s killing his host.” Telos wanted to punch the wall, but the wall hurt her when she hit it.

“Or he’s an arrogant tool who’s never encountered a true wielder of the light.”

“Maybe. He could be lulling me into a false sense of security, too, and attack all out when I am least prepared for it. Some hoary old plagued goat like that isn’t going to go down without a fight, and it has to know more about itself than I do about myself.”

“Why?” Kallos asked with narrowed eyes.

“I hope it does?” Telos changed her answer. It didn’t have to make sense or know anything. It could be more clueless than her. It could be the equivalent of an amoeba with mutated just right, for all we knew.

“All we know is that his power isn’t derived from Ein Sof, but from his multiverse. That should, theoretically, make him weaker than you who can control the totality of Ein Sof.” Kallos continued to run her fingers against the dense barrier that prevented her from seeing into the box while she talked. “Perhaps he is a manifestation of the true pinnacle a soul can achieve?”

“No, there is a sickness to him. Whatever evolution he followed to become that way, it twisted him away from Ein Sof and Ayin both. I think that’s why he’s sick, my assimilation of Ein Sof is preventing his ability to interface with the River of Light, and harming his own power base.”

“If you’re able to coexist with him, why would he immediately take an offensive stance against you? Can send any of your energy through the box? It almost lets me use a miracle, but rejects it at the last moment.”

“I don’t know, maybe he’s just an asshole? I can send Ein Sof in but lose control of it before gaining any knowledge.” Telos hated that she couldn’t figure this box out. She had figured out how to make a System, build a universe, in fact she was certain she could create another multiverse without it diminishing her at all, now, but she couldn’t open this box.

“Maybe it’s like a pressure lock, and you need to flood it with power? Reach equilibrium between the inside and the outside, maybe?” Kallos rubbed a finger against the obstacle one last time.

“I can make it react to me. If I actively pull Ein Sof through lots of linkages it drops in opacity. I only tested up to thirty active links, but it was about as fluffy as a cloud then. If I open all one hundred and fifty, maybe…” Telos bit her lower lip.

“But if you draw on all one hundred and fifty we’ll lose our corporeal forms. We are already on limited time, let us forget this box for now. When the children pass their coming-of-age trials, then we will journey through the barrier.”

“You don’t think we’ll be able to come back, do you?” Telos growled in frustration. She had the same feeling Kallos did.

“You think there is an answer to Bob in there?” Kallos asked dubiously. “It does stand to reason that there could be an answer, but look upon the multiverse he has constructed. It makes my skin crawl, it feels wrong in my heart and mind, it is anathema to Ein Sof, a parasite that has grown to feed on both the darkness and the light.”

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“I know, I know, I feel it too. I just don’t want to have to destroy an entire Multiverse, ok? I’ve been killing people and things ever since my rebirth, and I’m tired of it. Death and destruction shouldn’t always be the answer.”

Chains wrapped around Telos and pulled her into a hug from Kallos. She could have fought it off, but Telos embraced the gesture and set her head on the other woman’s shoulder, speaking into her neck softly.

“Of course you’re tired of it, darling. You’ve spent hundreds of years in the Towers, and the last forty in the highest concentrated energy dimension in its primordial years. That’s a lot for anyone, even you.” Kallos had the gentle hands of a sage or seer. Unlike Telos, she didn’t wield a hammer and beat metal into shape, she was an artisan of the soul. Her caresses through the rainbow-colored hair were soothing in a way that Telos almost resented.

“Can you kill Bob and fix his creation?”

“Probably,” Telos said with a sigh. “Without a doubt, honestly.”

“Then maybe that’s what you need to do. We’ve got maybe seven more years?”

“No. Between my experiments, and if I take on Bob, we’ve got six years at absolute most, five if I over-estimate Bob, and as little as zero if I’m underestimating him.” Telos murmured against Kallos’ neck, before slowly breaking free.

“Go back to Mythara, I’ll send an avatar with you.” Telos had reached a decision.

“You’re going to take him on now?”

“After I center myself, but soon.” Telos lacked uncertainty, momentum for her decision had already built in a few short seconds.

“And you don’t want my help?”

“I’d feel much better if you were with the kids, in case an avatar isn’t enough.”

“Very well, dearest. End him quickly.” Kallos kissed Telos, then vanished from the River of Light, along with a sliver of Telos that formed an avatar of her, there. Existing in multiple places was one of those things that no amount of theorizing prepared you for. Was it how collective entities felt?

Do you want me to come with you?

Stay with Libby and Reverie, Fred. Watch for any exoverse trickery that I might miss, you and Reverie may counter any incidents that arise, with Libby’s guidance.

Ω

“What’s an Esper?” I asked Morgan.

“What’s a #REDACTED#?” Morgan asked me back without missing a beat.

We had ditched the other four after finishing the tour, and were hanging out in one of the greenhouses the Academy grew useful alchemical herbs in. Each student got assigned chores to help the Academy produce income and useful goods for its students, and this greenhouse was part of mine.

“You can see that?” I sat a little straighter.

“Everyone can’t? Race is always shared. What’s so special about you?”

“Err. I don’t know, but you’ve seen Uncle Arkaziel and Aunt Bobbi, and how the system doesn’t display them?” I asked. We’d snuck through the kitchen and stole a few snacks on the way to the greenhouse.

“Sure, they’re part of why everyone comes Winona and it’s Magic School. Not only can you learn to fight, but the town is protected by a pair of undefeatable dragons.”

I laughed.

“They might take offense if you call them dragons. They’re so much more than dragons, if you ask them.”

“Dragons but not dragons,” Morgan nodded sagely.

“Well, my moms are both like that too. Just names and question marks.”

“You have more than one mom? Weird. No dads?”

“It’s kind of weird? Both can shapeshift, have very strong magic, so, they’re both dad and mom? Lilith and I are kind of twins, but we were each carried by a different mom.” This conversation alone was part of why I didn’t try to be everyone’s friend. Explaining the Metanoia family was awkward.

“So redacted just means the System doesn’t even know, or won’t tell, what your parents are?” Morgan scratched at the back of their neck in confusion, before laughing. “That’s wild. At least you have your parents, though? I don’t know what an Esper is, honestly. Kara’s parents have been my guardians for the last six months. They’re the third family I’ve been with, that I can remember.”

Well, I just stepped on a land mine.

“The North is really that dangerous?”

“It won’t be after I graduate from this school. I’m going to kill Warlord Argarg after I get powerful enough.” Conviction filled Morgan’s voice, and I set my hand on their shoulder and squeezed.

“I’ll help.”

“Just like that?”

“Sure. I’m going to be a legend.” I grinned.

Morgan’s purple shot-eyes looked me up and down, and a smile quirked across their lips. Butterflies filled my stomach. Morgan looked at me like I was a problem to be solved, sure, but they also had an interest. They weren’t looking at my hair, they were looking at me. No one my age had ever done that before, even Derrick and Aisha rarely could look past the overwhelming visual package of me to see who I was underneath.

“I believe it. Do you always dress like this?”

“You don’t like it?” Oh man, I knew the crushed velvet was too much!

“No, no. I do, but it does seem a bit much?”

“Most days my clothes are more like everyone else’s, but I always wear the gloves since I got them. They’re magical equipment, made by my mom. Today is a Starfall Serenade dance though, so my family made me dress up.”

“The Dragonflies are cute.” Morgan laughed and reached over to run a finger over the embroidery of the dragonfly. “Everyone in this town has such nice clothes. Up north everyone mostly just wore furs and armor, except for quest rewards and loot.”

“Your wardrobe is awesome?” I said in confusion.

“All of us refugees got a Welcome to Winona quest reward with three outfits, and some other items we didn’t have. The System seems to be conspiring with your town to some end.”

I thought about it and couldn’t argue. The System had a habit of awarding quests for things that momma wanted to happen. No one outside of our family ever called the System anything but system, but we occasionally called it Libby, and Lilith and I did get a fair number of quests and coincidental boosts that others didn’t.

“Yeah, maybe.” I nodded. For the first time since I met Morgan, I realized I wasn’t bored. Talking to people always had long lulls, but Morgan didn’t leave lulls for long, or one of us did, it wasn’t awkward silence.

“Want to show me around town before this Starfall thing? I’ve got some coins to spend, a place to live, and a town full of artisans to explore.”

“Sure, let’s go.” I held my hand out for Morgan’s, and our eyes met. After a brief hesitation and a laugh, they took my hand, and I led the way.