“Why can’t I just kill you? Your ‘Verse is tiny compared to mine. Did you make a deal with the Light and the Nothing? Why would they empower you, but not me?” Bob screamed at Telos as he unleashed all kinds of attacks. Universe ending attacks that burned so much power entire timelines in Bob’s ‘Verse were turned to empty husks to fuel his power.

All simply evaporated, unable to touch Telos.

“This is like private fireworks show,” Telos joked. “Not sure how I feel you burning up timelines to achieve nothing, though, so knock it off.” With those words, Bob couldn’t manifest attacks anymore, despite his intent and desire to do so.

“I’m not what you are. What you think of as my ‘Verse isn’t mine; it belongs to Libby but she’s got some maturation to do before she peaks her head into this level of reality. I lived there, though.”

Bob tried to punch her, but the forces that made up his hand couldn’t make contact with those that made up Telos.

“Why can’t you kill me? I dislike being hurt, let alone killed. What sort of omnipotent being goes and gets itself killed? It happens a lot in fiction, and it’s always such bullshit. But I’ve been trying to figure that out for a while. I’ve been playing a game of trickle truth with life ever since I got reincarnated. At first I thought I was a bioweapon created by the Primordials, then I learned about Demiurges and the Sefirot, and I was pretty confused. Ayin and Yesh muddied the waters and my understanding of Ein Sof.”

“Are you going to bore me to death now?” Bob hissed, unable to even move now as the Will of Telos bound him completely.

“I might. I don’t get captive audiences whose feelings I don’t care about very often. But I can answer you as to why you can’t kill me. Ayin is the first emanation that I cast, and Ein Sof was the consequence. If you opened your eyes, you’d see there’s multiple other ‘Verses in the River of Light. I don’t know what your purpose in all of this is, but this just is… me? And instead of figuring out what’s hidden in the Light, you’re making a big show of disrupting my peace and quiet.”

“Your claims are nonsensical; how would you know so little about yourself?”

“How do you know so little about yourself? Denial plays a part, certainly, but you’ve crossed far beyond that. There’s the machinery you’ve inflicted yourself with enhancing the effects of denial. Then there’s the different emanations you picked up along the way. The Void corruption has run its course through you, leaving you predisposed to all the nonsense Fred spouts. You’re a symbiotic mix of parasites masquerading as a god.” Telos imbued her words with Truth enough that they could cut through the noise in Bob’s mind.

Each declaration struck Bob like a physical blow.

“Why are you so ignorant if you are what you claim?” Bob cried, and Telos was glad that he couldn’t shower her in spittle in this place.

“The most obvious answer is that I made myself forget, yeah?” Telos mused. “Is that what you seek, old man? To forget, or to be forgotten?” The spluttered rage that manifested around Bob told Telos that wasn’t what he wanted at all, even before the string of curses and indignity roused him.

“I want to rule!” Bob shouted his truth.

“Then why did you fill your ‘Verse with the seeds of your own destruction? Why iterate one soul, again and again, until it’s capable of killing you? Why cultivate a force that could destroy everything you’ve made? It seems silly if you are trying to ‘rule’.”

Fear stifled anger, and Bob fell silent. When Telos had sliced through Bob’s defenses moments before, he had deluded himself, rationalized that it was some form of guess or psychic manipulation. Telos smiled, only a little, as she watched the realization fully struck Bob that she could see everything in his ‘Verse. Even the things he had tried to obscure.

“Well, you’ve bored me now.” Telos sighed and gestured. The worst of Bob’s deterioration healed itself, and the vast technology within his ‘Verse altered slightly.

“Go play your games in your ‘Verse, you won’t be able to return here again. If your successor is more of the same, I’ll judge them if they make it here.”

“Wait! You healed me, and now you banish me. I would destroy you without hesitation. Why not just end me?” Bob couldn’t put it together.

“It’s not a blessing that I healed you, Bob. I fully believe that people should be able to appreciate the inescapable return of karma. You’ve set up your little cycle of death and rebirth in your ‘Verse, played with the lives of others on whims, made a mockery of gods and mortals with your contest, and desecrated the memory of your loved ones, again and again. I healed you so you could fully appreciate the culmination of your existence.”

The River of Light, the flow of Ein Sof, carried the cold, harsh judgement of Telos upon it. Wisps of light caught Bob and carried him back into the existence of his ‘Verse, and then turned into a prison for one, preventing Bob from ever returning to the River of Light.

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“Uffda,” Telos exclaimed as she exhaled exasperation and tiredness with a sigh. The burden of another Multiverse had settled on her shoulders like the heavens on the shoulders of Atlas. “Ignorance really is bliss. Why does Bob’s ‘Verse have Earth, too?”

Telos looked longingly towards the center of the River of Light and the mystery that waited there, but she returned to Mythara. The mystery could wait a little longer.

Ω

Mythara – Winona

Morgan drew my eyes in a way that felt like I was compelled to look at them. At some point since our separating Morgan had a haircut. Previously shoulder length hair now had been cut shorter, into a messy bob that sent tousled strands in multiple directions. The chaotic hair cut fit Morgan well and showed off their sharp features and stunning eyes. I guess this sensation was what people called attraction. I’d thought people were cute before, sure. Gwendolyn, for example, was very pretty, but she didn’t spark anything in me. Derrick was objectively handsome, but also sparked nothing in me. Cassius had that bad boy appeal, but he was a jerk. Morgan, on the other hand, had a mystery. They were new, unknown, exciting, different, even a race I’d never heard of, and had the ability to see that my own race wasn’t human but hidden.

The dress, well, it looked good on Morgan. The tailor I’d bought it from had called it a Cheongsam, but I’m pretty sure that was just a made-up word. The black dress had a high collar around a pale neck, then went down to Morgan’s calves. The accent colors on it were purple, that showed off the ominous and dark power that surrounded Morgan and contrasted against their pale skin.

So maybe it was fate. My heartbeat thudded in my ears. Then I noticed the rainbow cascades of light on Morgan, Lilith had turned and grabbed their hands to bring Morgan over to join us.

“Alexander, look who I met!” Lilith chimed in as Aisha, Lilith, Hanna, and Morgan joined the group of Tyler, Derrick, Kara, and me. “Since you treated Morgan to a lovely shopping spree, I splurged on haircuts.”

I noticed that Lilith and Aisha’s hair looked slightly different, now that she mentioned it.

“You all look very lovely,” I said without taking my eyes off Morgan, but then I realized I was coming on way too strong. Who just stares deeply into people’s eyes, especially someone they just met that day? I didn’t even know if Morgan was single, or interested in me, or anyone for that matter, and this all seemed far more complicated than theorizing improvements for our combat capabilities.

“Hanna, didn’t you say you wanted to dance?” Lilith asked Hanna, while looking meaningfully at Derrick, before she looked over the rest of the group one by one.

“This is Tyler and Kara,” I introduced the two unknowns to my sister. “This is my sister, Lilith. She’s probably going to boss you around now, don’t fight it.”

“Rude, but accurate. Tyler, have you met Akari yet? She’d be very delighted to meet a dwarf, and Kara, have you tried any of the food yet? There’s no better chef in the universe than Bobbi Slay. Let’s test the snacks before we try out dancing ourselves?” The last Lilith mused to Aisha, who nodded and scurried off with Lilith.

I didn’t understand how she did it, but in seconds Lilith had dispersed our clump of kids and only Morgan and I were left, looking awkwardly at one another, while everyone else vanished to find snacks, dance, or meet new people.

“Your sister is a lot,” Morgan ventured.

“Tell me about it. She’s always been like this. If you fight her on things, it just makes everything worse, too. She’ll wear you down, out-logic you, or manipulate other people to get what she wants. In her defense, what she wants usually has the best results for our group, but it’s really annoying being around someone who’s always right.”

“It’s got to be nice to have someone you can trust.” Morgan’s lips pursed, and I noticed they’d put on a touch of make-up. A dark red lipstick, and a black eyeliner. Unless they were able to control their appearance? Few people who could shapeshift were open about their powers, even our mom’s and Arkaziel and Bobbi only displayed any alternate forms rarely.

“I guess? I’ve got lots of people I can trust besides Lilith. There’s our Aunt and Uncle, Aisha, Derrick, our parents, and well, I guess that’s it.” Still, my seven probably seemed a whole lot more than the number that Morgan had to trust.

“So, uhh… dance?” Morgan asked awkwardly, uncertain of where to take the conversation. I think I stepped on a mine field there.

“Sure! Do you want to lead, or should I?”

A small laugh escaped Morgan’s dark lips, and mischief filled their eyes.

“You can lead, I’ve never danced before.” Morgan had no anxiety about dancing, but when I put my arms around them, they stiffened up as hard as a board.

“Oh, did you make a new friend, Alexander? Why don’t you introduce me, any friend of yours is a friend of mine.” Acid might as well have spewed out of Cassius’ mouth as well as the very unfriendly words. The Mayor’s son had grown larger, and wore fancy robes that screamed pyromancer. Cassius looked confused when he stepped around and got a full look at me and Morgan.

“Huh,” Cassius muttered, confused by Morgan’s appearance. “A weirdo for a weirdo. Are you a boy or a girl? Or are you even human? What the fuck is an Esper?”

I felt Morgan shift against me, but not away from me. I held back from punching Cassius only because I could tell Morgan was up to something, and before I knew it, Morgan looked very feminine, with curves and breasts that made her dress struggle. Despite the tightness of their clothes, Morgan had a smirk of satisfaction as Cassius’ eyes grew huge. Morgan had gone from an absolutely striking androgynous person with a dark flair to an even more beautiful woman.

“Why do I have to be just one thing?” Morgan asked in a sultry voice, but their body flowed again, back to the androgynous form they had had before. Then kept going, shoulders broadening, chest flattening even more, until they had a very masculine build. “Is that why you are a pyromancer, brains as one dimensional as the flames you conjure?”

I probably should have said something, but the variation in both of Morgan’s forms caused me a whole slew of sensations standing together as we were. I felt a little detached from reality, unable to process the sensations of breasts, muscles, a bulge, and then back to the androgynous form. Throughout, Morgan remained cool in my arms. It reminded me of hugging momma, who was always cold, unlike Lilith and mom, who were always warm. That thought made things really, really, awkward for me, and I didn’t want to think about it anymore.

“Go away, Cassius. Unless you want to be the one to test your dad’s banishment for people who start incidents with non-humans?”

Cassius Thorn scowled at Morgan, then lunged at me.