Where am I? Ed found himself floating in an empty void. His body seemed to disappear, as all his senses faded away. Time became nebulous. He felt like he was trapped in there for all eternity. Is this what death feels like?

“Hello my child. If you are hearing this message, it means that you have finally awakened your bloodline. Come to me, and I will give you your purpose in life. For now, I shall leave you with a gift so that you can better grasp your new self” A deep ancient voice bellowed through the abyss, shattering it.

Urdhuri? Was that you? Ed’s senses came back to him, and he could finally feel his body. He looked around frantically to try and find Urdhuri.

The space in front of him bent and warped, forming into an exact copy of himself. He watched as the body was slowly taken over by countless threads of white, grey, and black. The body melted into a red, viscous substance, and was tightly bound by the threads. Four arms exploded out of the creatures back.

Looking down at himself, he found his body made up of the same threads. A deluge of information flooded his mind, teaching him everything about what he is, and what he’s capable of. The arms sprouted from his back, and he felt as if he had had them all his life. His senses were removed completely. Instead, he felt everything going on around him from the vibrations running through his threads. He began to ‘see’ the world around him through these vibrations, and he was able to capture even more information than was ever possible using his mundane senses. He sensed the hotel room that he was in, and found Victor sitting across the room, watching him. He watched the wind as it passed through the open window and circled in the room. He felt the vibrations of everything in the room, and his sense even started to spread out through the window and the gap underneath the door. His brain picked up more and more information, slowly straining itself.

He willed himself to stop and found himself back in his human form in the void. He focused on the information he received, slowly organising it into something he could understand. Taking an imaginary breath to calm himself, he willed the four arms to reappear from his back. Slowly, he manipulated their shape and size, twisting and bending the threads into everything he could think of.

Changing his body once more, he willed the threads to spread out into the void as far as possible. His body unravelled, as the threads travelled as far as possible, forming a densely packed orb with a radius of two metres. Trying to stretch out any further in one direction required him to move the threads from somewhere else. Stretching himself as thin as possible, he found his body could reach thirty-three and a half metres.

Spending what felt like an eternity experimenting with his new form, he returned to his human body, and sat there in the void, organising all of the information he could about his new form.

I’m a sin weaver. Urdhuri created us to be silent observers of peoples’ fate. We walk unseen, disguised among the people, so that they didn’t have to bear the brunt of our power... It was at this moment that Ed stopped reading through the information, as what he found changed everything he thought he knew about his life.

...For if even a portion of our aura was leaked, innocent people would lose their minds, and fall victim to the urge of their sinful thoughts.

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Ed’s brain ran through every moment of his life. Every fight. Every beating. The car accidents he narrowly survived. Everything made sense. Somehow, I’ve been affecting everyone all my life.

The photo of his mother flashed through his face, and he became overwhelmed by guilt. It was my fault. She died because of me.

Overwhelmed by grief, he wallowed in the void, finding comfort in his new form. Eventually, light entered the abyss, and he felt himself waking up. There’s nothing I can do right now. I just have to keep going.

Opening his eyes, he found himself staring up at the ceiling he sensed earlier. The room was exactly as he felt it to be. At least I can now control it. With a sigh, he sat up in bed, looking directly at Victor.

Ethereal gold and red strings were bound tightly around Victor, and floated off into the distance, connecting his past to the present, and to his potential actions in the future. The lines connecting to the past were easy to understand. They were solid and firm, like the foundations of a building. If he wanted to, Ed felt as if he could read and follow the strings to gain an understanding of Victor’s past actions.

The strings leading into the future were more difficult to grasp. They were faded, and nebulous. Undetermined by the very nature of their existence. They spread out in every direction, forming a complex weave containing every possible action Victor could make in the future.

I probably shouldn’t use this in a place that’s too crowded. Shaking his head, the strings faded from his sight, but he knew he could bring them back at a moment's notice.

“I’m so glad you’re finally awake, we should get going right now.” Victor said, already hopping out of his chair.

“How long was I out for?” Ed asked.

“About half a day. We’re a little tight on time, but we should be able to make it if we rush to Pride City right now.”

Ed nodded, getting out of bed and following him to the door.

Victor put his hand out to stop Ed and pointed to the open window. “You’re gonna have to sneak out through there. I couldn’t exactly get a room carrying around a corpse.”

“That’s fine. I’ll clean myself up and meet you outside.” Ed nodded watching as Victor left through the door. Rummaging through his luggage, he got changed into a fresh suit before hopping directly out the window, luggage in hand. Sensing that there was nobody around, he shot a thread into the outside wall of the building and used it as a rope to get down to the floor. Setting foot on the ground, the thread disappeared back into his body, as he waited for Victor to arrive.

Come to think of it, Buddie must have known something about what I am. Otherwise, there’s no way I went that long in the company without being attacked. I wonder what he’s going to do about it?

A few minutes later Victor came around the corner, dragging his luggage behind him. With a nod, Ed followed behind Victor. Making it out onto the main street, the two caught a taxi, and made it to the teleporter without any problems.

Reaching the centre of town, Ed found himself just outside of a massive square. The area was filled to the brim with people and was heavily guarded from all directions.

“We’ve made it just in time. Pride city is scheduled to be in ten minutes.” Victor said as they joined the crowd.

Staring at the square in front of him, Ed watched as the teleporter charged up, releasing a blue light that blinded everyone who looked. A moment later, his vision returned, and the square was completely empty.

A few minutes later they made it into the square. Feeling the teleporter slowly charge around him, he prepared himself for the moment to come.