Wood creaked as rows of branches whipped toward her head. Starbreaker planeshifted into the Stillness with a flex of Planar Ascension. Everything stopped except for her. Light faded into a varying shades of black and gray as color leeched out of the world.

She ducked under the whistling swipe of the towering greant’s branches. Bulbous planks of sap covered bark armored its trunk. Scars from her weapons forged by Storm Regalia scrawled across every section of it.

Starbreaker drew her fist back as she jabbed her fist out. She slipped deeper into Planar Ascension’s siren call as she used it for more power.

Nails of tension drove deeper into her.

Other universes crowded in her peripheral. Each of them screeched for her attention. An endless swarm of fireflies glowing just for her. Every second that she actively used Planar Ascension drew them in closer. Deeper.

Her stat powers went haywire.

Experiences stored themselves in Recursive Stockpile which Transcendent Body elevated. Sensory overload scrambled details. Mind of Clarity was the only thing that kept her calm and stable. Planar Will shifted and folded all around her like an accordion constantly in flux. Whispers echoed outside the bedrock of the Stillness.

Alien galaxies and universes that were both similar and stranger than mere differences between dimension.

Starbreaker’s fist cracked into bark like a Hyperspeed enchanted grav train. Thunder from her blow crystallized in a jagged sheath up to her elbow.

Each of her stats ascended in a crescendo of power. Starbreaker lost herself in the drawn out moment. All she knew was that she had a spawn to put down. Fractures spread through bark and wood with a silent crack. Sonomantic Crystals grew in between the fissures.

Backlash reverted into her armored knuckles and arm with a shockwave. Bones shattered in her arm even as she stored the impact in Recursive Stockpile. Planar space unfolded around her as she let herself fall out of the Stillness.

Planar Ascension healed her on the way out. It buzzed along the boundaries of Starbreaker’s existence and identity. A promise for more.

Rumbling roars grated in her ears as she dropped back into regular reality. She blinked and watched as the impact from two ascensions crashed into the towering greant nearly the size of a mountain. Tumorous growths of scabbed over wood pulped from the force. A deluge of scarlet sap sprayed out of its body as it flew backward as if hurled by a divine hand.

Starbreaker watched it to make sure it would stay down. Inconsistent memories fluttered past her. She stumbled as the weight of mortality dragged her back down. Maeve wobbled as she turned away from the greant.

Her body had changed. Freckles that had dotted her forearms, old scars that she kept as reminders, and even the tattoo of a shattered star on her shoulder were all gone. Memories from her childhood had been scratched out. Joys and sorrows that had once felt vivid and bright were now dull.

Burnt away from however long she had used her Class Power. Planar Ascension always left her reforged. Improved. But a person could only improve so much before humanity itself was scrubbed out.

Maeve glanced down at the new colorless gorge in front of her. Relief warred with horror at how much power she must have been throwing around.

Nothing affected the environment in the Stillness, so all of this was from her last blow. Her strike on the greant had torn through the highway and fields for about a mile.

She shivered at the gray gorge, hills and open sky around her. If the changes to her wasn’t indication enough of her overuse of Planar Ascension, the monochromatic smear of anything within a hundred feet of her was plenty.

Hopeless melancholy threatened to plague her. Drag her into the depths of gloom that had taken many of her colleagues. She drew Luxurious Domain around her so she was full of countless comforts. It helped.

Color slowly bled back into the world around her.

Gray grass brightened in shades of blue and yellow until they were green. Fetid air blew into her with the stench of rain and death.

Traces of freckles, scars, and her tattoo returned as she smiled. It was the best thing she ever smelled. It meant she was alive.

Maeve sighed as she pulled up her notifications.

Nothing.

Wood sundered with groaning creaks up ahead where the greant sat up. Cliffs of crystal cracked with sonic booms from the movement. All the crystal embedded into it shattered, pulverizing it.

Feedback whined through Sonomantic Cryst as she devoured the sound to create a floating array of bristling spikes. If it tried to attack her, she’d demolish it no matter how many attempts it took.

Planar Will snapped in front of her, breaching regular space so she could flicker through the distance.

Wet sand squelched beneath her Storm Regalia boots. She stood deep in the new canyon splattered with sap. At the end, the greant sprawled broken. Sap pooled beneath it from the thousands of rends in its bark and trunk. Canyon walls loomed above her. Shade chilled her almost through the opulence of Luxurious Domain.

“Why can’t you leave us alone, human? Let us reclaim the wilderness for the better,” it said with a rumbling voice.

“I assume because you’re invading their territory, greant.” Maeve raised an eyebrow as she created, then balanced a Storm Regalia sword of lightning on her shoulder.

“Their? Aren’t you also a human? And call me Fern Sapblood, not greant.”

“I’m not from here, but you threatened one of my brother’s home and family.” Maeve stepped back as strands of brown crumpled ivy unfurled out of the broken wood. A squat greant grew anew. It was a small, pitiful thing.

“Ah. Family. Are your brothers in your body and mind like my father? I hear echoes of his opinions. His grand thoughts and plans.” Fern shook his bare head where a crown of branches slowly budded with green needles. It reminded Maeve of a deer’s antlers.

“What? No. They’re fighting back there.” Maeve blinked while she processed what Fern said. Fern had its father stuck inside of its thoughts and body. “So, wait. Your species has legacy powers?”

“Yeah! I was born yesterday with all my father’s powers and a choice to keep his stats. He taught me how to create Ruler’s Pawns so I could benefit from my army’s sacrifice. For the cause, you know?” Fern blinked and rubbed at its chlorophyll green eyes. “He’s yelling at me to not tell you this, but you beat me. I know you could kill me and him if you wanted, since I can’t create an heir to pass myself down.”

“Why can’t you make an heir?” Maeve suppressed a smile at how Fern spoke in a rush of words like a toddler.

“Father did it too recently. I need to live at least as long as he did before I can designate one. Oh. He said not to tell you that. Are you going to kill me?”

Restrained lightning buzzed against her fingers as she squeezed her Storm Regalia sword. With her use of Planar Ascension being so recent, she felt Fern’s aura where its connection to the System flickered. It was tapped out.

If she were back home Maeve knew she would cut Fern down without a second thought. Find the dungeon it and the greants came from and cull them.

Lineage or propagation powers were some of the most threatening next to the potential the greants had for biomancy powers. It was her duty.

But this wasn’t her home. She had no right or jurisdiction here, but she had to wonder who did. Where was the government? She knew that spawn were relatively new here, but to have no official protection beyond that of the townspeople?

Even the uncivilized zones were defended better than this.

“You’re taking a while to respond,” Fern scraped his twigs together with a nervous chuckle. “Longer than some of the mossbeards and they’re old.”

“I can’t kill you.” Maeve banished her Storm Regalia sword, but kept her armor on. It would only take her a moment to recreate another weapon. She was used to being Starbreaker, a weapon to be wielded by the DRC to delve and destroy inhospitable dungeons and secure the zones. But this was too much for her.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

“Oh thank the sun for your kindness.” Fern dipped his crown with a whisper of branches rubbing together. “Well, I’ll take my leave then—“

“That doesn’t mean that I’ll let you go, though.” Maeve stepped closer. “You still amassed an army and breached your dungeon, correct?”

“Father says we were cruelly created just to be slaughtered. We only continued what the humans started.”

“Sure, but you still did it and lost. I’m not from here, so I think it’d be best for you to call off your army, retreat to your dungeon, and stay there. Do you have ownership of it?”

“Yes, I have ownership, but I don’t want to be trapped there.”

“It’s that or death.” Maeve shrugged. “Rules are set by the victors and you lost. What’s your decision?”

“Imprisonment, I guess.” Fern sighed with a stir of rustled needles. “Oh, everyone is dead. It’ll take forever to regrow the seedlings.”

“I’m going to hand you over with my suggestion that they make a deal with you, okay? If they do, you’ll need to give ownership of the dungeon to someone else, and we’ll make it so that you and your people are safe.” Maeve created a pair of handcuffs out of Storm Regalia and Luxurious Domain to hobble Fern’s branches and roots. Once she got the incapacitation notification, she rested her hand on its trunk, then planeshifted them both into the Stillness.

Fern froze beside her along with everything else in the monochromatic landscape stuck in time. She groped at the universe around her that gradually slipped away from her as details vanished from the Stillness.

It’d take a few hours for it to become a flat featureless void, but it’d happen, eventually.

Planar space was a clumsy tool compared to the different types of space Eli wielded. In order to teleport, she had to stitch through universes with multiple planeshifts. If she ever tried to push farther than the Stillness, she risked losing her way back forever.

Planar Will helped her keep her bearing as she nudged Mind of Clarity to guide her through the sprawling universe back to where the others waited.

Maeve slowly plotted out her course to teleport toward the town. The hours it took would’ve been devastating if time didn’t slow to a crawl in the Stillness.

***

Hundreds of moments passed with no end or beginning as Eli woke up. Aches pressed against his body from overextending each of his powers. It was as if he had ground himself down to the bone. He kept his eyes closed while he checked his spatial field.

Through Stellar Body, he felt the regularities of normal space around him and the silhouettes they contained. A pop-up notification came up asking if he would like to equip Astral Starspace.

He accepted with a noticeable wince as his range extended exponentially to cover most of the town. The sense of strain deepened.

People shuffled all around him beneath the pavilion erected overhead. Wounded and severely exhausted people had all been placed in cots, stretchers, and sleeping bags that filled every shaded spot of the grass.

Theo sat in the center of it all with a pair of heavily enchanted manacles over both of his wrists. Roman and Cyrus sat beside him while they chatted.

Further around them was a wooden lean-to cut from greant corpses. Inside, mom and a few of the restaurant owners prepared a simple feast over enchanted flattops and grills.

All throughout the park were large enchanted lights reminiscent of Roman’s style.

People strolled around the park in mostly clean clothes while the too young children played and roamed. Eli was surprised by how many people had dogs still. He idly wondered if any dogs or cats Initialized and what kind of powers they would get.

Dad waited within sight of the triage pavilion on a large blanket. Lyra sat next to him beside Ava and across from Lana. Strangely enough, Romulus laid down on the outermost edge of the blanket with a sleep mask over his face.

People patrolled the street with rifles slung over their shoulders. Each of them had patches sewn on their mismatching jackets with the letters VFD written across them. He suppressed a frown at the sight of both Tom Harver and his dad, Hank.

Next to Eli’s bedside was Herbert. He stared down at Eli’s ‘sleeping’ form as if he were scum he found on the bottom of his shoe. He was half tempted to teleport away and deal with it later.

Astral Starspace and Stellar Body twinged with a reminder of the strain he had already put his powers through.

Herbert cleared his throat.

“I know you’re awake.” He leaned forward.

“Yep. Why are you sitting over here and not hanging out with the others?” Eli sat up easily, despite the thrumming tension in his bones. Each of his powers still filled him with strength, but it was hollow.

“Roman says you two were living our lives while we were gone?” Herbert’s white eyes seemed to glow in the shade.

“Kind of.” Eli shrugged with a flash of guilt. “We were afraid what would happen if we started shouting we were from another dimension.”

“Sounds like it didn’t work too well.” Herbert smirked slightly. It was the same confident expression Maeve often did, but on Herbert it came across far more smug.

“You’re failing Calculus, by the way.” Eli smiled as the smirk twisted to horror. “I got you a top grade in Power Crafting I though.”

“And you dated my girlfriend, apparently.”

“Oh. That.” Eli glanced away with a flinch. “Sorry. Nothing happened between us and I did end up telling her the truth after a couple of days.”

“Yeah, after Maeve caught you.” Herbert snorted with a look of disgust. “While I helped keep your family and town safe, you stole my life. Met my friends, dated Hazel, by the Savior you’re even wearing ethereal weave clothes, so you obviously met my parents.”

“That’s fair, I’ll admit I fucked that up, but is this really the time?” Eli shrugged as if they weren’t in the middle of a triage tent. “After a day or two, I should be able to take you back so you can return to your finals, your sports team, and your rich parents. Pretend that you’ve earned any of what you have.”

A few moments passed while they stared at each other. Eli sensed more than a couple people glancing over their way. Dad led both Lana and Lyra over toward them. Ava stayed behind on the blanket.

“I guess you’re right. Shit happened and it’s over now.” Herbert sighed. “What the hell was that at the end there, by the way? You not only took out that huge greant, but all the other spawn in town? What’s your build?”

“That’s what I said,” Lana called as she rushed over to tackle Eli in a crushing hug. He felt the sheer pressure and force she was capable of exerting, but it didn’t hurt. Lyra joined her a second later. “I’m glad you’re back home and I’m so sorry. We need to talk later, okay?”

“Okay?” Eli blinked as they all pulled away. Lana had grown taller with a tan. A scar curved from her forehead down to her cheek. It tugged downward while she frowned at him.

Guilty? Vigilant Revelation whispered for the first time since he had woken up.

“I was so afraid you weren’t coming back.” Lyra squeezed his arm as if he would slip away any second. Her hair fell in a long dark cascade down to the small of her back. She was still the shortest out of the three of them.

“I was too.” Eli smiled awkwardly. What did people say after coming back from being thrown into another dimension by their parents’ enemies, who had broken out of jail explicitly to kill them?

“I’ll leave you three alone.” Herbert stood up stiffly. Dad held him back.

“We’ll let you know if we see Maeve, okay?” Dad whispered, then clapped him on the shoulder. “Good job out there today.”

Herbert walked away with his hands shoved into his pockets. Dad limped over so he could bend over to hug him. Eli stood up.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you.” Dad’s hug did hurt with a surprising amount of force. “I’m so glad you’re back.”

“Me too.” Eli sniffled as a few tears rolled down his face. He was back home.

***

Maeve popped back into a world of color in the middle of a broken street next to a park full of picnic tables and a ton of smoking grills and bonfires. She couldn’t help but think of the barbecue her parents had thrown that she missed. Tent pavilions and rough lean-to’s created from slain greants sheltered the wounded and those cooking meals.

Fewer healers than there should be tended to those unfortunate enough to get wounded. A part of her was surprised at the small number of those hurt in the first place. Did they not have enough?

Details filtered through Mind of Clarity rapid-fire as she looked around for anyone familiar. Her hand squeezed over Fern’s chain as he pulled away. More people were noticing her.

Herbert rushed over to her from a blanket where a teenage girl sat next to Les who was napping. Whorls of color and hues floated in the air in front of her as if she painted with light.

“Maeve! By the Savior, you’re back! It’s been a couple of hours since the fight ended. Are you… are you okay?” He crashed into her lightly as he hugged her. She wrapped her spare arm around him as gently as she could. Despite the ensuing hangover from Planar Ascension, she knew from experience that she was stronger than she felt.

“Of course I am.” Maeve smirked as she pulled away with a rattle of Fern’s chains. “I’m glad you came out of that alright, I was pretty worried from what I saw through Eli’s portal.”

Oh, that asshole,” Herbert scoffed with his arms crossed over his chest. “Everyone keeps fawning over him as if he’s the second coming of the Savior. Just because he wiped out the last of the spawn and healed half the town.”

“Jealous, little brother?” Maeve’s smirk widened.

“As if.” Herbert brushed his hand through his hair in his classic tell. “What are you doing with that spawn?”

“That’s what I want to know,” grunted a gruff male voice. His clothes were torn and splattered with liberal amounts of both blood and mud. He had a rifle slung over his back and the look of a uniform patch stitched into his jacket. VFD?

“This is Fern Sapblood. Leader of the dungeon where the greants, molten insects, and trolls came from. I captured him in the hope of your town being able to make peace arrangements with them.”

“Peace? You want us to make nice with the same bushes that have attacked us for almost a year? Darling, the only peace I want with this stump is to throw it into my fireplace.”

“Leave my sister alone, Hank.” Herbert stepped forward with a growl. Claws of frost crept over his fingers. Maeve frowned as a crowd slowly started to form around them. Several people held their plates and ate while they watched.

“Another fucking Newton? You fuckers are keen on ruining Farbrook, aren’t you?” Hank spat to the side. “Hand that monster over or else.”

“Or else what? You going to harass them like your son bullied mine?” Adelaide called out as she stepped out of the cooking lean-to through the murmuring crowd. Maeve’s eyes widened at the sight of her bare right leg. It was some kind of flesh-and-wood hybrid prosthetic from the knee down.

“You’re still getting on about that? They were just boys being boys.” Hank rolled his eyes. “None of that has anything to do with her strolling around with one of those bushes. Fucking peace. What the hell? Let’s kill it before it’ll do the same to us.”

Murmurs from the crowd grew louder.

Sorry, kid. Maeve glanced down at the quivering greant beside her. A pang stabbed at her heart. Already she stripped its name from it.

“Let’s put it to a vote after we discuss it!” Rick called as walked out of the crowd with a rumbling thunder cloud over his head. Behind him walked two girls that could’ve been Maeve’s sisters, Eli whose eyes were shadowed with power-exhaustion. Through the gaps in the crowd she saw Roman sitting next to Cyrus and the biomancer, Theo, in the triage pavilion.

“Fine. It’s your decision. Even if there are other options.” Maeve created a spear out of Storm Regalia and staked the greant’s chain into the ground. She grabbed Herbert and pulled him aside.

Whatever happened wasn’t any of her business. If Eli ever opened the way between dimensions and the DRC found out that she overstepped, she’d risk far more than she did by letting them handle their own issues.

It was over.