Claw-like hands came together, as Viviane's eyes turned to burning orbs of blue, before the witch gave her hideous smile and whispered into her palms.

Phoebe blinked and stepped backwards, as the side of the strange room that they were in imploded. Globs of darkness flying in every direction as bright shining fire burst through it, followed swiftly by the ragged and scaled body of the last of the dragons.

Drektanion swept the two of them up, one in each of his front claws, before bashing his thick head through the next wall, dragging them up and through the collapsing and fragmenting magic that held the whole world together.

As they went, Viviane was casting like no tomorrow. Throwing out pieces of magic that solidified whatever it hit, slowing but not halting the inevitable collapse.

The dragon landed roughly in a patch of forest, just as the trees withered and died. Pines taller than the dragon turning to broken char and cinder, falling with a concussive pop of displaced air.

Phoebe blinked in surprise as the real Marcy ran up to her, throwing her arms around her neck and hugging her tightly.

Viviane collapsed, struggling, until Drektanion helped the witch to her feet. The woman growled in the fierce winds, her voice like sandpaper, "There is only... One way... To undo... What has been done. I'm sorry, pet. I need you for this."

"Uh... Go fuck yourself? In fact, go fuck the dragon, and fuck you both to death."

Marcy blinked, "Oh wow. No love lost between you two, is there?"

"Entirely my fault." Viviane gave a small laugh, "I need you, Phoebe. With you, we can save... The rest... From my... Mistakes."

Phoebe winced, and Marcy shrugged, "Seems she kinda knows you."

"You're buying the next coffee." Phoebe glared, "And no complaints -"

"Kidnapped and in another world." Marcy pointed out, "Not about to complain about shit. Never expected to even see another cafe."

Phoebe nodded and walked up to the witch, "So... What? I channel my magic to yours?"

"No." Viviane shook her head, regretting it as she almost fell over. "The world... Has had too... Much of my magic. It hungers for it. Addicted and starving. Craving. It needs... Hope. A world beyond the now, no longer desperate for some Child to walk by."

"Fuck the subtext! Just say things!"

"SHE WISHES FOR YOU TO REPLACE HER. TO... BECOME A NEW GOD. A RIGHTEOUS GOD." Drektanion rumbled.

Phoebe blinked, "Shit. Uh... No? What about the current gods? Go'ruuk?"

"They live... By my... Grace." Viviane shook her head, "They... Stole me... Became... Me. Lost what makes them... Human."

"And I'm not a witch." Phoebe blinked.

Marcy raised a hand, "Eh... Not complaining, because of earth-ending storm, but... Wouldn't that trap Pheebs?"

"Not if there's a coup." Phoebe realised. "Motherfucking dragons. If I resurrect you lot, and we share power, instead of stealing it... Willingly share... Then we can become the next reign of gods."

"Go'ruuk... Will be... Displeased." Viviane wheezed.

"No shit. He sent me back, not for Gruna, but because it got me the fuck away from you." Phoebe shook her head, "He used me, just like you. Just like everyone. Fine. I'll help. But at a cost."

Viviane nodded, "We will save her."

"She's going to be one of us. A new god." Phoebe commanded, "And Ghost, too."

"OF COURSE. HE IS OF YOUR ESSENCE, CHILD OF DESTINY." Drektanion agreed.

"The name... Is Phoebe, you utter bastard." She snapped at him, before cracking her neck, taking three or four short breaths, and then falling backwards into the mess of it all.

Magic was collapsing around her, every which way. She could see, feel, where Viviane had tried to prop it up, but that was all she'd done. The world had been caged into place, forced to exist by an unbreakable will.

Without the desperation to escape fuelling that power, the magic of the gods may as well have been wet paper. It could shore things up, if they spitballed enough of it into place, but it wasn't enough to build a house, let alone the continents of the world.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

The world though... It wasn't quite what Phoebe expected.

In the end of it all, things were just... Numbers. Pieces of the world pointing at each other, binding to each other in mirrors and directed events, each recording their place in a ledger to vast for the mind to begin to comprehend.

Good thing she was an accountant.

There were no constants, the deeper she delved into things. The power of gravity was a shoehorned hackjob of a spell. A profit prophet, throwing together myth and mystery to blank the novices, so that they wouldn't realise it wasn't actually working.

No wonder someone could fall out of the sky and do nothing much more than bang their head. They'd force the theorem into overflow, and break the consistency of the force.

Phoebe changed the spell. She took the thing that tried to ram everything together, entangling at a deeper level than was reasonable, and replaced it with a simple hook and sinker. The harder things fought against it, the more accurate the spell became.

It replicated gravity, but only according to the depths that it could be noticed. It saved the magic force for other things. Using it where it was needing, and allowing the rest to go to more important things. Like binding the centre of the world into a portal, so that it wasn't a gaping black hole.

Turning it into a portal was the easier way of doing things. Phoebe had to turn to Viviane for her experience and guidance, but forcing the target of the portal to be the universe itself, creating a recursive loop where everything that was lost became part of the whole... It solved most of the power imbalance.

Turned the black hole from a hungry maw into nothing more than a physical anchor.

Finding the gods and their various realms was easy enough. Phoebe took one look and knew she wasn't about to save them. She grabbed Drektanion, and a dozen of his dead ancestors, and threw them out to each of the worlds. Saving the dead and sainted, and transporting them to the budding new planet.

Then, she took the decadent halls of the deities, and pounded them into scrap. She broke off pieces, cut and plied them into shape, and compounded them with her own magic. Fashioning the missing pieces she needed to tie together the various things in nature. Lust, envy, hate, and most all... Hope.

That was the essence of the new world. The thing that everyone would feel, no matter what might come next.

Hope.

Phoebe stared at her shaking hands, and then glared over, "Your... Turn."

"It is already done, pet." The slightly-healthier looking witch replied, and waved to the side, where Marcy was kneeling beside a green-skinned woman, sleeping peacefully.

Phoebe glared, "Really? True love's kiss to wake her up?"

"Either that, or let her cut off my head." Viviane deadpanned.

She shrugged, "Fair enough."

Phoebe was entirely burnt out. She hadn't even known what magic was, a few days ago. She'd just delved so deeply, she wasn't sure she hadn't turned her brain into icecream, and then melted that in a big dollop of self-hatred.

She collapsed beside the orc, smiling at her wartorn face, and stroked the cheek with a finger. "You know... You might hate me for this. For bringing you back. Sorry. I'm... Selfish."

"I am not so asleep, that I cannot hear your doubt." Gruna groaned, and opened one bleary eye, "It was apparent you now worked with... The witch. I did not wish to interfere."

"Go'ruuk's a bastard." Phoebe shrugged, "Sorry. Not going to worship your god, like... Ever."

Gruna frowned, "I am sorry to hear it. Though, my own heart in this remains unchanged. I do not know the full tale, but I suspect that neither do you."

"Why he chose to suck the life out of Viv? Nah. No idea." Phoebe shook her head, "Also... Don't wanna know. This whole fucking thing... I'm done. I'm out. You, me, and a life in a woodland cabin. That's all I want."

"One day a week, to journey to the nearest temple." Gruna tried to bargain.

"YOU HAVE DUTIES NOW, CHILD." Drektanion rumbled, looking down with concern in his eyes, "YOU NOW SERVE A HIGHER PURPOSE IN ALL OF THIS."

Phoebe nodded slowly, "Told you... That's my name or title. So... Go away, or I'll put you back where I found you."

"YOU MUST LISTEN! THE WORLD NOW DEPENDS UPON -"

She shook her head, "No. I said no. It means no. Consent is a thing, you fucked up magical freak. You put me through hell, you burned me from the inside out, because you thought you knew best. That's monstrous. Go somewhere else, and go die, because I do not consent. Fuck. Off."

He went to hesitate, and an axe landed violently in one of his eyes. The dragon screamed and took to the skies, as Gruna frowned and watched him go. "I regret that."

"I don't."

The orc smiled, "It is not the action that lingers on me, Phoebe. It is that he has now flown away with my favourite weapon. An axe, gifted upon me by Go'ruuk."

Phoebe sighed and hugged the woman from behind, "Can we like... Go? Please. I just... I just want you and nothing else. For at least a year."

"Um... On plans and things..." Marcy said hesitantly.

Phoebe rolled her eyes, "Yeah, Marcy. You can stay. I'll take you home whenever you're sick of dragons and nightmares."

"Fuck no! This place is bloody amazing!" Marcy pumped a fist in the air. "I mean, I know I'm probably not magic or witch or whatever, but... Maybe I can learn? Or just even watch stuff. Like a tournament! A real life tournament!"

"Nobody as cute as Heath goes to the tournaments." Phoebe stated.

Marcy stuck a hand on her hip, "Pretty sure ya gal there would rock up at a tourney."

"I do not compete in such frivolous events. I reserve the works of my blade, to clearing what shadows of darkness -"

"Most of those are actually gone, now. They were basically just Viv's night terrors." Phoebe interrupted. "Kinda happens when you suck the life out of someone for who knows how long."

"Many thousands of your years." Vivane said darkly and then smiled, "You will be glad to know, pet, that what I want most... Is to go away. Somewhere quiet."

"Fuck no." Phoebe blinked, "I'm not letting you out of my sight. You'll just pull some illusion and try and steal my power again. All I've done is prove it can happen. So, instead, you're going to find a city, and become a teacher. Make sure the next generation of witches is tough enough you won't try and piss them off."

Viviane cocked her head, "As enticing as the offer may seem, what encouragement is there, that I actually do that, pet?"

"You like telling stories. The Atur prophecies? That was some shit, Viv." Phoebe laughed and shook her head, "Really had me going. But... Teaching means you get to tell tall tales all the time. It also means you'll be there to watch the start of the next one. Also, Gruna won't cut your fucking head off."

The witch shrugged, "We'll see. I will... Consider it."

"Always such a bitch." Phoebe shook her head.

"Always, pet."