Tiffany froze as she took in the space, noting Tori, the weird twisting of space, the foxkin corpses, the cave in the middle of a building… [Nope.] She did a quick heel turn, only to yelp as Tori's Spirit threads wrapped around her, pulling her deeper in. She struggled ineffectually for a moment before letting out a defeated groan. [Trials are bullshit!]

[Tiffany, what are you doing here?] Tori sighed.

[I'm checking up on you after you ditched me in the forest and apparently broke our door!] Tiffany snapped angrily. [Only to find you've somehow broken reality too! Fuck! Why does everything around you have to turn to bullshit!?!]

“Oh, so she's a friend.” Andrew commented.

[More like a-] Tori began, cutting off and blinking at him. [Wait, you can understand us?]

Andrew frowned. “Should I not?”

[Well… we are speaking a different language.] Tori replied.

“Oh… Oh!” Andrew smacked himself in the head. “I have my traits from system world as well! Duh.”

“Okay, what's going on?” Greg asked. “I'm only getting half this conversation.”

“I forgot about my stuff from system world, which includes a trait that lets me talk with anyone.” Andrew explained. “She was surprised I could understand them.”

“Ah, so what's up with her then?” Greg asked, gesturing towards Tiffany.

Andrew paused, then shrugged. “No idea.”

Tori rolled her eyes. “This is Tiffany, basically a watchdog for a sect that plans on taking over my country, which I've been forced to work with to save my family. She's here to make sure I don't do something to ruin their plans.” She paused. “I don't think it's going very well for her…”

“Ha! Yeah, no.” Greg agreed with a chuckle. “Though that does bring up the question of what we're going to do with her.”

“I have no idea.” Tori groaned. “I mean, the sect isn't going to stop its invasion, and even if we could fight them off, turning our lands into a war zone is a bad idea, so working with the sect is still the best shot we have. However, I'm not sure how the sect is going to feel about a freaking cross dimensional portal in the middle of our territory, let alone whatever's going on with us, and I'm not sure if it's even possible to hide it anymore, since the damn portal is in the freaking Hunters Guild! So I don't know if it's better to assume the sect will turn on us and try our best to keep things under wraps for as long as we can so we have time to prepare, or to just be open and honest and hope things go our way.” Tori finished with a sigh.

“Well, seeing as the first option seems to guarantee a bad outcome, while the second at least has a chance of going well, I feel like the choice is fairly clear. Especially if the portal is as obvious as you say. It doesn't make much sense to try and stall for time if it's immediately obvious to everyone that something is wrong.” Chris commented, glancing at Tiffany. “As such, it might be smart to let her go. And maybe make it so we can all talk? Does anyone have a way to translate for everyone?”

“I do.” The Archmage replied, casting a spell that covered everyone.

Tori carefully put Tiffany down. “So… you're probably wondering what's going on here.”

Tiffany snorted. “No, I think it's perfectly natural that there's a fucking cave in the middle of the Hunters Guild!”

Tori rolled her eyes. “Do you want to know or not?” Tiffany grumbled under her breath but waved for her to continue. “Alright, so, for some reason, it appears I'm connected with these three across realities. When he got in trouble in his reality, it woke him up in some kind of mental space that connects us all, after which he woke the rest of us up, and we ended up getting pulled into each other's realities, which for some reason pulled those realities into this space.” Tori paused. “That's it. We literally have zero idea why any of this is happening.”

“I'm telling you, it's because we're sovereigns.” Greg insisted.

Tori scowled at him. “That doesn't mean anything! Even if we are sovereigns, why would we be connected?!? Unless you expect me to believe there are only four sovereigns in the entire Multiverse!”

Greg shrugged. “What if there are? Narita certainly hasn't encountered anything like us before, and she… well, she definitely knows more than we do, that's for sure.”

Tori threw up her hands. “Then maybe you should bring her here so she can explain this shit to us!”

Greg paused. “You know, that's actually not a bad idea. I should probably get Tessa too…” He transformed into Bianca and began to create a portal point.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, what are you doing?!?” Tori asked incredulously.

“I'm making an anchor point for a portal.” Greg explained.

“And you're doing it like that?” Tori retorted. “You're wasting half your energy!”

“He doesn't have much option.” The Archmage commented. “It takes years just to be able to sense your mana outside your body, let alone control it.”

Tori frowned. “So you're just stuck doing that with your energy?” She waved distastefully at the flailing mess flowing out of Greg's hand. “That's just wrong.” She continued to watch it for a few moments, before shaking her head. “You know what, no.” She reached out with her points, shifting them to match the energy coming out of Greg, before grabbing it and twisting it into form. “There.” She sighed in satisfaction. “That was painful to watch.”

Greg blinked at the anchor point, then at Tori. “So… you know how you asked what you might be the sovereign of? Well, I'm starting to think it's magic.”

“That- would actually make a certain amount of sense.” Tori agreed somewhat bitterly. “Would you just go get the person already?”

“Sure.” Greg chucked, opening the portal and stepping though… and also not stepping through. “Huh.” Two Gregs grunted simultaneously, turning to look at each other, before shrugging at each other, one heading to find Narita and Tessa, while the other turned back to the others as the portal closed. “Well, I guess we can be in multiple realities at once, so that's neat.”

“So other people get suppressed or have to convert, and we… split?” Andrew raised an eyebrow.

“Makes sense.” Chris nodded.

“Does it?!?” Cathryn asked. “Does any of this make sense!?!”

“Well… given the context?” Chris offered tentatively.

Beth shook her head. “No Chris, even with context, this- Chris, you are literally pulling realities together! That's- well, it makes our problems seem a lot less significant.”

“Speak for yourself.” Nadia grumbled. “My family is still in the City.”

“Nadia-” Beth began.

“I know.” Nadia cut her off with a sigh. “I didn't- I'm just frustrated. We've been running around scrambling for some way to help the City and now we have this to deal with too. It just- it seems like all we ever find are more problems, with no solutions.”

“No solutions yet.” Greg interjected. “And a lot more options! Multiple realities doesn't just mean more potential problems, it also means more potential solutions. Particularly with us around.”

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Nadia eyed him for a moment before grunting noncommittally. “We'll see.”

A moment later the portal opened again and Narita and Tessa were pushed through, the other Greg dissolving into smoke and merging with Greg as he came through as well. “Greg, what- what the hell is this?!?” Tessa asked incredulously, looking around.

“This is about five realities mushed together to various degrees.” Greg explained. “Kinda hoping Narita can help tell us why.”

“What- why would you think I have any idea what is happening here?!?” Narita exclaimed. “This is- I've never- how did you even do this?!?”

“Well, apparently, if we all exist in a reality, it gets meshed together with every other reality we all exist in.” Greg explained.

Narita froze. “We?”

“Me, Chris, Tori, and Andrew.” Greg pointed them out. “We're all connected for some reason. Pretty sure it has something to do with that sovereign thing, you know? But I don't know why us coming together would do this.”

Narita took a step back, starting to look a bit panicked. “S- sovereign? They- you- there are four of you!?! That- oh no. No no no no, you- are you- you-” Narita stammered, starting to hyperventilate as she began to connect the dots, the picture of what they were coming together, and she did not like it. The Multiverse had exactly four foundational forces. A physical force that provided a reality substance. A mental force that empowered thought. A spiritual force that tied the two together to create life. And finally the force that created the space in which it all existed. If Greg was the sovereign of the physical force, and he was connected to three other people across realities… Narita shuddered. How could these people even exist?!? And why would they exist now? If their existence was possible, then they should be ancient! Not teenagers! “What- do you three have- abilities? Like Greg?”

“I control a space.” Chris nodded, Narita flinching slightly.

“I can control my aura and mess with cores?” Andrew added, giving Narita a weird look as she groaned.

“I have a system and can control points.” Tori sighed as Narita just looked defeated. “I take it you know what's happening here?”

“I- have a theory.” Narita admitted as she began pointing, starting with Greg. “Physicality.” She moved to Tori. “Mentality.” To Andrew. “Spirituality.” And finally Chris. “Space. The foundational forces of existence. Forces which don't- which can't exist in isolation. Space without anything to fill it is nothing and without space there's nothing for anything to fill. Physicality alone is dead, Mentality alone has no substance, and Spirituality alone has no direction. That- could be why you're connected. Because otherwise it wouldn't be possible for you to even be. And pulling realities together… if- if you're the basis of reality, then maybe when you come together, you- make a reality? Which connects to all your other realities because they're the same?”

They all paused for a moment to take that in. “Seems like as good an explanation as any.” Chris shrugged.

“Hold on for a moment.” Tori frowned. “If we're supposed to be foundational forces of reality, then why was I only born eighteen years ago?”

“I don't know.” Narita grimaced. “I don't understand it either, and I could be completely wrong, but- people like you shouldn't exist period! This shouldn't exist!” She waved at the space around them. “Is there ever a time where something that shouldn't exist should exist?!?”

“Tuesday.” Greg nodded sagely. “No one remembers Tuesday. Completely superfluous day. It's not-” He cut off with a yelp as Tessa stabbed him in the side with a sharpened finger.

“Not the time.” Tessa warned him.

“There is something that confuses me.” Li Jing interjected. “I won't deny that Andrew has gifts, but I don't see the power that I would expect if he were what you say he is.”

“Yeah, as much as Tori is completely fucking me over just by existing, she isn't at the ‘foundation of reality’ level.” Tiffany agreed.

“Well it isn't like we control all of whatever force we represent.” Greg replied. “Like, I control my physicality, but in order to control anyone else's physicality, I need to connect to it. After that I can pretty much do whatever I want with it.”

Chris nodded. “I can only affect things that are in or connected to my space.”

Tori frowned at the two of them. “Okay, I have no idea what they mean by ‘connect’ but I pretty much just control my own points. And the system. And I guess I can influence people who have the system… which is a form of connection. Hm. Might need to explore that more…”

“Right. Because you totally need more bullshit going for you.” Tiffany grumbled. “Jocelyn is going to be pissed.”

Tori sighed. “I figured. Is there any way to make it better or are we just stuck?”

Tiffany blinked. “You- want to make things better?”

Tori raised an eyebrow. “Obviously? I still don't want to see my lands torn apart by war. And I still think the best case scenario for the region is to get this thing over with as quickly as possible, and supporting the Hidden Blades seems like the best way to accomplish that.”

“Huh.” Tiffany looked a bit dazed for a moment. “I still don't think Jocelyn is going to be happy, but if you're willing to continue working with her…” She trailed off for a moment, glancing at Tori hesitantly. “You- do realize she's only an outer elder, right?”

Tori paused. “As opposed to?”

“Inner elders? Core elders?” Tiffany prodded. “You know, the people who actually matter to the sect? The people in charge of Cultivators, not random mortal nations in the middle of bumfuck nowhere? Jocelyn is basically just an inner disciple with responsibilities, because no one particularly cares to invest in her.”

Tori frowned. “Then why is she in charge of the sect's attempt to go empire?”

Tiffany snorted. “She isn't. She's in charge of Tamara. Did you really think the sect’s attempt to go empire would rely on a nation that weak and insignificant? No, the entire purpose of Tamara and the dozen other nations like it is to cause chaos and hide our true plans, which I don't even know, and I doubt Jocelyn does either.”

Tori grimaced, not exactly happy about the revelation, but not exactly surprised either. Tamara and Farova were insignificant. “So what's your point? Even if I wanted to work with the inner or core elders, I'd have no idea how to actually do it! The only contact I even have with the sect is through Jocelyn! And if she's the one in charge of the people planning on starting a war in my backyard, then she's the one I actually need to work with, isn't she?”

Tiffany nodded slowly. “True… but even still, your relationship will need to change. She can't keep you as a subordinate anymore. You're going to be snatched up by an inner elder the moment you enter the sect, possibly even a core elder! Your position will be equal to hers, possibly even superior. Which will make things… complicated.”

Tori sighed. “Of course. Because when aren't things complicated?” She shook her head. “Whatever, I'll deal with it. And the Hunters Guild. And my father. And Horace.” Tori groaned. “Fuck he's going to be a problem, isn't he?”

“Seriously, the fuck is going on in your reality?” Greg asked, giving her a weird look. “The only thing I have to deal with is about a quarter million people stranded on a wild, mana-warped planet. And even then, I only really care about like… twenty of them. Are the rest of you dealing with shit like this?”

“Not really?” Andrew replied hesitantly. “The worst we're dealing with is these weird robots trying to kidnap people for some reason. And I've barely even done anything in system world. Though the fact that we just opened a portal between realities in the middle of the capital of the entire noble race is probably going to cause issues at some point…”

“We're dealing with an invasion by two powerful nations, though they're also fighting each other in the process.” Chris explained. “We're trying to figure out how to evacuate all our people to Earth before their main armies show up. Which isn't exactly going as well as we would hope. Mostly because finding people who are actually willing to become my minions is more difficult than I thought.”

Tori frowned at him. “Are you really surprised people aren't willing to be your slaves?”

Beth scowled at her. “Stop calling them slaves! Just because he can control people doesn't mean he actually does! The only person I've ever seen him order around is her, and only because she tried to enslave him!” She argued, gesturing to Vera as she did.

Tori narrowed her eyes at her. “Even if that is the case, the fact that he's capable of it is worrisome enough. I'm not surprised people aren't jumping on board.” Beth grimaced, but she couldn't argue. Connecting to Chris was risky… if you didn't know Chris.

“Still, we need more people to become my minions, or I won't be able to evacuate the City.” Chris sighed.

“Something else to deal with then.” Tori muttered.

“Right, so we have that, the quarter million people I'm dealing with, everything on Tori's end, robots, and the portal itself.” Greg listed off. “Am I missing anything?” No one spoke up. “Alright then. What are we actually going to do about all this?”