------
”The drives are operational. The ship can move normally using sub-light drives. Phase jump test is a failure as expected, so no phase travel while in the Astral Plane. That would’ve been weird if it had worked. I predict that we can use the Enduring Symphony to make jumps as well.” Clolarion reported.
“So it is roughly as we expected.” Selendil nodded and turned towards Dee. “It seems your information has been correct so far.”
“Good. I wasn’t entirely certain since I don’t have much experience traveling through the Astral Plane on a ship like this. When you travel alone, the speed at which you travel depends on your mental abilities. On the other hand, I did see several high-tech vessels at the Crossroads, so they had to be able to travel there as well. I heard that a powerful individual like you or me can function as a sort of Navigator, helping the ship achieve greater velocities. I’m not entirely sure how that works though. Give me a bit of time and I’ll see what I can do.” Dee replied a little relieved. The one ship she had come into contact with had been a rustbucket compared to the Arkship she was currently on.
Dee had a natural affinity to travel through the Astral Sea thanks to her draconic abilities, so it didn’t take her too long to figure out how to help their troupe to achieve sufficient speed through the dimension filled with weird power. The Astral Sea was in many ways just as empty as normal space, but instead of being black darkness like said space, the whole plane was filled with a bright gray void and it was dominated by an eerie glow of multicolored power. Streams and clouds of magical energy could be seen in many places, along with chunks of matter and pieces of planets that had ended up thrown into the Astral Sea for one reason or another.
“What is this place exactly?” Nochehuatl asked, his scientific mind spinning with all the possibilities.
“It’s the space between spaces, the road that goes everywhere, and it is the place where you are when you aren't anywhere else," Dee replied with a cryptic smile.
"That didn't really help," Nochehuatl stated with a disapproving tone.
“And yet it’s true. Think of it this way. As space is what lies between planets, stars, ships, and everything else you can find in a given galaxy or universe, the Astral Plane is what lies between universes. It is also a pathway that can take you anywhere and everywhere. If you know the paths to take that is. It is the great default.” Dee clarified only managing to confuse everyone further.
“How long will it take us to reach the crossroads?” Xiaoli moved onto a much more important topic.
“That’s an interesting question with no easy answer. Time can work a little funny in the Astral Plane. Time flows here at the same rate as anywhere else, but the effect time has on everything doesn’t work the same. You won’t grow older while here, you won’t grow hungry, and a week or a month can feel like a day to a traveler. I’d say we’ll be traveling for several months, but that’s a rough estimate based purely on previous experience as I can’t actually tell how quickly we are traveling. We might be able to travel much faster if both I and Selendil combine our powers to speed our travel.” Dee guesstimated.
"Well, luckily I saw what you did and can probably copy it after a few attempts," Selendil said confidently. She might not have Dee’s natural abilities with the Astral Plane, but her ability to understand psionic abilities was without equal. Copying Dee’s actions would not prove difficult.
“Good. That’ll make things easier. Once we do arrive, let me do the talking. I have visited the Crossroads before, and I have at least some familiarity with them.” Dee considered her next words for a moment. “And after we do reach the Crossroads, I do have a small request. You don’t need to feel obliged to do it, but I would appreciate it.”
"I expected you eventually would," Selendil stated. Dee had been quite helpful so far. It would be strange if she didn't want anything beyond a body for her magical companion in return.
“I’m not really allowed to go back to the universe I came from. However, there are certain people I left behind that I’d like to meet. I could not take them along, but this ship could easily bring them. I think you’d likely appreciate their help as well. They’re…family of sorts.” Dee admitted.
“That could probably be arranged. Doesn’t sound too difficult. Assuming we can find them.” Selendil replied.
“That shouldn’t prove too challenging. The gods of that universe might protest your arrival, but if you simply tell them why you’re there, you should have no issue.” Dee warned them just in case. “This isn’t something urgent, and you can certainly take your time at the Crossroads before going, but I would appreciate it nonetheless.”
She had set out on this journey alone after saying her goodbyes and without regrets. However, some of those she had left behind were still dear to her and she wanted to see them again, even if only for a short time. She hadn’t quite realized how much she would miss them until it was too late. Now that she might have a fairly easy method of seeing them again, why not?
-----
“So, how does it feel?” Haahun asked as Croestia, Dee’s magical item companion, tested out her new body. It was made of nanites similar to the body Crystal had, so it would not be great in combat, but it was better outside combat as Croestia would be able to freely choose her appearance according to the situation. Croestia wasn’t a warrior anyway, as her purpose was to support.
“I can move the body just fine.” The unusually genderless voice of Croestia replied. As the body was still in the default state, it looked like a genderless and a featureless vague humanoid shape. “However, I think there are some problems with the sensory feedback as usual. I can feel things, but I’m quite sure those feelings are muted for some reason.”
They had been working on the body since the beginning of the journey through the Astral Sea. They would be arriving soon, and this body was the result of three months of effort. They had gone through several iterations and always ran into the same issue, even though this new attempt was by far the best. Haahun turned towards Dee. “I’m afraid this is the extent of what we can do. The body itself works and it’s clear from what you told us that a body like this works for her better than a magical one, but I think the interface between the body and Croestia itself will need a magical solution. A custom one at that. She is, in the end, a magical item, and her senses as an item are magical. Thus she’ll need something in the interface to help translate the feedback her body is giving her to magical signals.”
“We’ll need a skilled mage then.” Dee exhaled with some relief. This was already great progress on one of her long-term goals.
“I’m not sure skilled will be enough. We'll need a really good one or one that has expertise in the area. I'm not an expert on magic, but I am an expert in artificial bodies and this requires some really delicate and detailed work. This isn't something a generalist mage can just whip up in a lab. Especially if we hope the solution to last.” Haahun warned with a firm tone. Senses were some of the most complex things for an artificial body, and he knew exactly how challenging such work would need to be.
“Well, at least I know who to ask for advice.” Dee pursed her lips. “The creator of Crossroads knows just about everything that goes on in that place, so she should be able to guide me to a mage of sufficient skill.”
“Well, I’m sure Selendil will want to meet such a being anyway, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to convince her to make the visit.” Haahun shrugged and turned back to Croestia. “You’ll have to make do with that body until then I’m afraid.”
“That’s alright. This is better than what I had before. Even gradual improvement is improvement.” The magical item replied cheerily and tested various appearances ranging from elves to halflings.
--------
Selendil sensed immediately when they arrived at their destination. She had sensed the Crossroads getting closer, but the very nature of the Astral Sea around them changed the moment they arrived. In fact, once they arrived, she wasn’t so sure they were still in the Astral Plane. They had arrived at a sort of dimensional pocket that seemed to have a bubble of a different kind of reality inside it. Some of the rules of the Astral Plane still held true, while others did not. Time worked like normal and people would grow hungry again, yet they wouldn't age. She had to admire the work that had gone into creating this spatial pocket. It would take some serious effort and quite some time for her to replicate it. Truth be told, she wasn’t completely sure it could be perfectly replicated with psionics alone.
Then she turned to look at the large construct that dominated the area. She had barely enough time to see anything before she got a major headache. “Ow, ow, ow, son of a Solarian, ow! Who thought it was a good idea to mangle the dimensions in the area like that.”
“What? What’s going on?” Nox asked in a worried tone.
“I think she’s seeing the Doors. The Doors are pathways to the various universes and can be used to make the journey in a single step instead of months of flying like we just went through.” Dee explained.
“And there are trillions of the damn things," Selendil complained. Sometimes it was not good to be able to see and understand so much. The effect of looking at all the Doors was similar to the one Dhar suffered when close to wormholes. Sometimes seeing too much could be detrimental. She had to purposely close her senses to the presence of all those spatial pathways to avoid making her headache worse.
Once she did though, she was greeted with an odd sight. At the heart of the pocket dimension was an enormous construct that reminded her a bit of a space station or an artificial planet. Calling it a space station would’ve been grossly inaccurate though. It seemed to be partially created from stone and metal and a hundred other materials, while also partially seeming like some giant had torn huge chunks from a hundred different planets and then smashed all of them together. The construct, for a lack of a better term, seemed to go on forever, and it was larger than any planet she had ever seen, though it was difficult to tell exactly how large it was. It seemed like the space around the whole thing bent in weird ways, so the construct was likely much larger than it looked as it kept folding in on itself in ways that was physically impossible. It was roughly spiral-ish in shape, but even that impression was vague at best.
Selendil could sense several docks along the edges with countless ships either docked in place or already traveling to and from the construct. Those ships ranged from ancient-looking sailboats to high-tech vessels that might even give their ship a fair competition on the technology department. Some of the vessels were enormous just like theirs, while others were tiny single person vessels. Some of them looked like an odd amalgamation of technology and what Selendil assumed to be magic.
An enormous magical arrow appeared in front of their ship, and they decided to follow the clear invitation. The arrow kept floating in front of their ship and guided them to a dock next to some other enormous vessels. It seemed that the Arkship was on the larger side of ships here, but there were some vessels that dwarfed even the Arkship. As they approached the dock, a group of beings that varied greatly in appearance and form flew over towards them.
One of them looked like a cross between a large fish and some other aquatic monster, and it was the size of a whale capable of swallowing smaller vessels. Even that impression was deceiving as Selendil could sense the dimensional pocket inside the being’s belly, suggesting it could swallow pretty much anything. There were roughly humanoid-shaped beings in garbs that varied from shadowy leathers of some type made from unidentified magical being, to people clad in some kind of environmental suits or power armor with sensors everywhere. Clearly a mix of magical and technological beings. Some of them were using swords and spears while others were wielding long rifles, of which some seemed once again magical.
One of the high-tech guards took the lead and got closer to their ship. Dee had shared with them the languages spoken most commonly at the Crossroads so there was luckily no language barrier. “Welcome to the Crossroads. Judging by your method of arrival, this is your first time here, so we’ll have to insist you go through a small briefing where we give some instructions and explain the rules. We’ll also ask you a few questions, just to be on the safe side.” The male voice spoke.
The whale-like being chirped and growled at them as well in a conspiratorial tone. “We don’t often get complete first-timers, so I’ll have to thank you for making our day a little less boring.”
A male angel floated closer, also gossiping. “The last time we got a newcomer, she scared the shit out of most of us. Some sort of extremely powerful being that didn’t have any idea where she had arrived.”
"Incidentally, that would probably be me," Dee whispered to the others on the bridge. She actually recognized some of the guards from the time she had arrived.
The first guard cleared his throat to quiet the others. It was his turn to take the lead, so by gods, he would do it! “Anyway, the rules. There aren’t actually that many rules within the Crossroads. The use of a Door is controlled by the being that set it up, so if you want to use a Door to get somewhere, you have to get their permission. That said, we don’t stop fights between idiots once you’re inside, and if you want to set up a Door of your own then make sure you can keep a hold of it. That brings us to rule number two. Don’t damage the Crossroads. We don’t’ really care if you kill one or a dozen beings here or there, but damage to the surroundings should be avoided.”
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
"He means large scale damage incidentally." A demonic-looking female stated in a chipper voice. "No one cares about a city or two disappearing, but if you blow up an entire section of the place, then the higher-ups will get peeved. You don’t want them peeved.”
“Well, some people care if you kill too many people. There are both just and unjust people around. If you get genocidal, then you’ll piss a lot of people off.” The angel pointed out with a righteous tone, helpfully warning them of the possibility of extrajudicial justice.
The first guard spoke again. ”Incidentally, we realize that you might have been a hotshot at your home universe, and I can feel several powerful people on board your vessel. That said, the Crossroads are full of people just like you and you can't imagine all the shit some of them are capable of. Something that was the peak of power or technology where you came from will mean nothing to some beings from one of the most powerful universes. Keep that in mind. Universes are not created equal and there are consequences to that fact.”
"I think we'll manage," Dee replied in a chipper voice, and they could all see the expressions on the faces of the guards change. They all recognized her voice.
“Ah, the great one named Dee has returned!” The large whale looking being chirped again. “In that case, we can skip the rest. Have a pleasant stay at Crossroads.”
“You really made an impression.” Xiaoli joked. She had seen the fear that had suddenly sprouted on the faces of the guards.
“Yes, well, Nakshatra tend to leave an impression. Imagine how they would react if they knew there we two of us on this ship.” Dee laughed.
“Uh, incidentally, the channel is still open.” The first guard spoke in a nervous voice. “Aaaand, I think I’ll just forget what I just heard. I have some vacation time piled up again anyway.”
As soon as the connection was cut and the docking procedures had begun, Dee addressed everyone. “Seriously though, you’ll need to be careful if you decide to go wandering around the Crossroads. The guards were not joking when they said that there are plenty of powerful beings here, and there’s nothing stopping them from enslaving you just because they feel like it. You’ll be fine acting on your own in most places, but here I’d advise against it. Luckily they had us dock with the techie enclave where all the high-tech arrivals gather. This place is much less dangerous in certain ways compared to many others, but I’d still suggest you move in large groups only, and only go out when necessary. You’ll get to stretch your legs once we go to some other universe.”
Selendil’s tails whisked around in annoyance. “I was hoping to use my senses to locate some Dhar from another universe, but with all the Doorways around, I can’t do that. This whole place is a mess of spatial distortions of epic proportions, so I’m almost blind.”
“I think the creator of the Crossroads can help with that one as well. We were going to meet her anyway so we can just ask her then. She should be able to tell you what you need.” Dee helpfully provided the answer to Selendil’s dilemma.
-----
The insides of the Crossroads were just as weird as the outside. The area they had arrived at, the so-called techie enclave, was an enormous metropolis that spanned the length of a small planet and it was a weird conglomeration of different levels of technologies. As visitors of different technological level had arrived to the Crossroads, they had left their mark on the enclave. That made the place a weird mix of technologies of all kinds of levels. There were speeders flying around right next to teleportariums, ground-based vehicles, and even flying beasts that had been tamed. The buildings ranged from something that was barely industrial to something that wouldn't have been all that out of place on a Dhar world. And everywhere you could see the influence of magic. The marriage of technology and magic had created many marvels.
Yet when they left behind the enclave, they seemed to enter a world straight out of fantasy, with elves and lizardmen mixing with humans and gnomes in cities that slowly turned less technologically inclined the further from the enclave they got. Magical flying cities soon replaced those that were held in the air by anti-gravitic drives, and all manners of creatures both dreadful and fantastical could be seen everywhere. Some places were domed and isolated little pieces of a world, while others were simply open terrain under the glowing backdrop of the Astral Sea. Apparently, there was no worry about things floating off into space.
Selendil and Dee flew quickly above all of this. With the speed of two Nakshatra, they crossed distances that many others would need months to traverse on a fast-flying vessel, but they only needed seconds and minutes. After traveling for hours, they seemed to reach what Selendil sensed to be the center of the Crossroads, and Dee flew directly upwards through the artificial sky of the particular section they were in. Selendil could sense them crossing several dimensional pockets that were in place mostly to distract any arrivals.
Eventually, they reached their destination, which seemed to be a relatively modestly-sized palace located on a large chunk of flying rock. The palace actually extended over several such flying islands, and bridges connected the different islands together. The palace was made of brown stone and it was painted in a colorful and artistic way. All in all, it was a lot less glamorous than some of the things they had flown past before arriving. It was still quite fancy but not to the extremes like some of the ostentatious displays they had seen. The whole place looked more cozy and fanciful than glamorous.
Without preamble, Dee landed in the middle of the small square in front of the main palace. The square had people of various races moving about and they only looked at the two new arrivals with mild curiosity. They were moving about their business and seemed to be either servants or administrators of some sort, dressed in light silken robes and capes. The clothes ran the gamut of all possible colors, sometimes in a single attire. Dee didn’t pay attention to the people and led Selendil inside the palace.
Selendil had long since been able to sense the presence of someone extremely powerful inside the palace, but as soon as they entered, she could feel the entire building was suffused with that being's power. That power didn't come from psionic might, and it didn't seem to be mana either. Dee led them deeper into the palace until they finally found themselves in a rather airy room with most of the walls being replaced with pillars and columns. The room was also filled with cozy places to sit and lie down, and there were plants everywhere. Also a giant pile of gems instead of a bed, but both of them ignored that.
“Ah, Dee! You’ve returned. And you brought a friend as well. It seems you hit the jackpot on the first try.” The voice of a female sounded from one side of the room. There they could see a tiny dragon lazing on a pillow, seemingly smoking some kind of fancy water pipe that was decorated with more gemstones. The tiny dragon was barely larger than Selendil’s palm, and it seemed to be relaxing while lying on its back on the pillow. The tiny dragon had bright green scales all over its body, and interestingly its neck had hood-like protrusions like those that could be seen on certain snakes.
“Ysendra. You look just as lazy as usual.” Dee commented wryly. Apparently, politeness was not the norm between the two.
“Yes, well, looks can be deceiving. In my case they aren’t, but they could be.” The tiny being laughed.
“You asked me to find other Nakshatra and bring them to meet you. I’ve done so. Bargain fulfilled.” Dee stated firmly.
“So it is, although we did discuss multiple Nakshatra. No matter. You’ll probably send them this way if you run into others.” The being turned to Selendil. “Welcome to my humble abode. I am Ysendra, the creator of Crossroads. Or I should say co-creator. I didn’t do it quite by myself. And whom do I have the pleasure of talking to?”
“I’m Selendil. A Keeper of the Dhar.” She replied.
“A Keeper.” The being seemed to be tasting the word. “Ah, you preserve the skills and memories of your people. Quite handy that. Anyway, as you might have realized, I’m a Cobra Dragon. Aaaand, I can tell the words mean absolutely nothing to you. That’s fine. Don’t let my appearance fool you. I’m only this small because it’s more convenient for me. People also tend to underestimate someone smaller than them.”
“We need some information, and you by your own bargain, are obligated to provide that information to me.” Dee didn’t want to waste time.
“Right you are, though all you had to do is ask. I’m not one to keep secrets.” Ysendra replied while blowing a cloud of smoke from its mouth. The cloud was three times larger than the body of the tiny creature.
"You never told me why you want to find other Nakshatra," Dee said a bit accusingly. She had asked.
“I didn’t tell you, because there wouldn’t have been any point. No Nakshatra likes to be told what to do, but you take it to the extreme. If I were to tell you that Nakshatra exist for a reason, you would rebel against that on pure principle because you don’t want to be beholden to such duties.” Ysendra explained patiently.
"I'm not sure I want to either," Selendil interjected.
“Of course not. I already told you that none of our kind wants to be told what to do. And you don’t ‘have’ to do anything. I’ll tell you why we exist, but you don’t have to do anything about it. You’re free to make your own conclusions. Though once you hear what I have to say, you’ll probably feel a little differently about the whole thing. Unlike Dee here, you won’t just straight out rebel against the idea either.” Ysendra laughed around her pipe.
"Information first," Dee demanded.
“As I said, you can just ask.” Ysendra waved her tiny claws in a gesture for her to continue.
“I need to find a really skilled mage to create some custom work for me.” Dee started.
"What kind of mage? There are literally billions of mages on Crossroads, some of whom are actually half-decent at what they do." Ysendra asked for more specifics.
"Someone who could help me with creating an interface between a magical item and an artificial body," Dee admitted a little grudgingly.
“Well, that complicates things a bit. That’s going to require work from someone familiar with the very fundamentals of magic and quite a bit with mechanics as well. A rare combination of skills. They’ll also need to have enough power to work with such things without relying on pre-made spells. I could name a handful on the station that could perhaps do the job, but if you want to be certain and want only the best, you’ll have to go into another universe to find them. Most of the really skilled beings don’t just hang around this place.” Ysendra gave Dee the options.
"I want the best," Dee stated firmly.
“The best, is it? The very best is currently unavailable, and that has to do with what I’m going to tell you after you get your information. One of the best, however…well, you could find a being that goes by the name Neleh. She isn’t really tech-savvy but she’s smart enough to get up to speed quickly, and most importantly she can improvise. I can give you directions to the universe she resides in, but be warned, she likely won’t like visitors. She also has the ability to kill both of you if pushed too far.” Ysendra warned them
“Both of us? That would require someone really strong.” Dee muttered.
"I said she has the ability, not the power. There's a difference. And there are actually several beings in the multiverse capable of fighting both of you at the same time. Not that many, but enough that you should keep the possibility in mind." The tiny dragon's voice had a genuine tone of warning to it.
“That’s actually a good question. Who’s the most powerful being in the multiverse?” Selendil interjected. “It’s my first time outside my own universe, so I have no idea about such things.”
“Few people do.” The dragon smiled. “And it’s impossible to answer your question definitively. There are three likely candidates though. Two I’m not allowed to speak about. I mean that quite literally. I’m unable to speak about them. The third one is the being I mentioned earlier, the most skilled magic user.”
“Why are you not able to speak of them? I would’ve thought only my universe made such stupid rules.” Selendil was quite displeased about the idea of having other universes act in similar ways.
“Well, that’s partially what I was supposed to talk to you about so I might as well get to it now.” The being waved its tail and the whole room was isolated from the rest of the palace by some sort of spatial isolation. “You're about to hear one of the best-kept secrets of the multiverse. The reason I didn’t tell you this before Dee isn’t just because you’re an irresponsible git. It’s because there are rules that I can’t avoid, and one of the exceptions requires the presence of multiple Nakshatra. Are both of you familiar with what happens to souls after death?”
Selendil simply shook her head while Dee frowned. “I have some familiarity due to the fact that souls of the dead often pass through me, but I got only a cursory explanation from the Goddess of Death of my own universe.”
“Well, to make things brief, souls all go to what is called the River of Souls, where they are judged and then reincarnated after they are washed clean. Here’s where things get tricky. There are certain rare beings in the universe that don’t go through the standard process. They can retain most of their memories and some of their abilities between lives. That doesn’t sound too much, until you factor in that they can live hundreds of lives that way, gathering knowledge and power. The multiverse prevents even these special reincarnators from speaking about their existence to others, a rule set by one of the two beings I can't talk about. Something to keep in mind is that these special souls need not be special in any other way, so most of them end up being relatively harmless as they aren't especially smart, hardworking, or talented. Most of them actually willingly allow themselves to be washed clean by the River of Souls as they become jaded with their repeating lives. You both should be aware of what can happen to the sanity of a being that carries the weight of enough time on their shoulders. Some, however, are different, and they can become a problem. These souls are extremely rare, but once they do go bad, they can fuck up entire universes.” The dragon explained. The souls that did go bad were banned from the Crossroads entirely, courtesy of some of the spells woven into place when the Crossroads were created.
“I think I see where this is going. Nakshatra are supposed to be something of an antidote to these souls.” Dee guessed.
“Yes, and no. These reincarnators actually tend to take care of their own more often than not, so the situation rarely gets completely out of hand. The problem is this. There are only a handful of beings in the multiverse that can actually kill these beings for good without them reincarnating again. Some of the worst of them are imprisoned, but that's only a temporary solution. And if you can't even talk about their existence without there being several Nakshatra present, then how could anyone share the methods of killing them effectively?” Ysendra pointed a clawed finger at them.
“I can see some of the potential issues. If someone who doesn’t know about them manages to kill a vengeful reincarnator, that reincarnator can return centuries later to exact revenge.” Selendil speculated.
“And I’m guessing you’re going to teach us this method?” Dee asked with displeasure. She didn’t want to become some hunter of evildoers.
“No. I can’t teach something I don’t know. What I want you to do is to keep your eyes open. Inform me if you find these problematic individuals, and I might be able to get them imprisoned. And if you do find a method to kill them, then I’d very much like to know. I have a certain grudge myself, you see.” Ysendra’s otherwise jolly appearance suddenly exuded murderous intent.
“I think I got it.” Dee snapped her fingers. “The mage you mentioned, the most skilled one that is not available. She’s one of these reincarnators!”
“She’s getting there…” Ysendra smiled again and urged her to continue.
“And the reason she’s unavailable is because she’s currently dead.” Selendil finished in Dee’s place.
“Bingo! She has the habit of getting into trouble, and her lives tend to be relatively short. Probably why she has managed to keep sane. Incidentally, she’s one of the good ones. Or well, she can be a right cunt if she wants to be. But at least she helped me in creating this place.” The dragon waved her clawed foreleg around.
“Well, I suppose if all you want is for us to keep our eyes open…” Dee hedged a bit.
“That’s all I ask. Incidentally, you implied you had several questions. You only asked one before we got distracted.” Ysendra pointed out.
“Right. I want to find others of my kind.” Selendil voiced her request.
“Your kind as in your race? Keeping an entire species, are we? Give me a moment. I'll try to see if I can find more. Your type isn't among the common races." The dragon closed its eyes and remained that way for a long time, only taking slow breaths through her water pipe and blowing out clouds of smoke. “Got it. There are three beings of your kind at the Crossroads. They seem to be relatively recent arrivals from a universe that sees quite a lot of traffic. Interestingly, they too are from a techie universe. I can provide you with the location.”
-----
“I thought you wanted to meet them?” Dee posed the question to Selendil while the two of them were floating in place above a large marketplace. This was one of those places where the worlds of magic and science came together in a weird collision. You could make real discoveries in places like this. Or the whole place could blow up.
“I will. Just…give me a moment.” Selendil requested with a voice filled with emotion. Below them she could see living Dhar! They were not the Dhar of her universe, and they would likely be very different in all sorts of ways, but they were still Dhar. They reminded Selendil of what her species would likely have been like without the Great Song.
The trio was part of the same crew judging by the markings on their clothing, and they could be a family as well. Their equipment suggested a technological level roughly around Yrala's galaxy, maybe a bit lower. Selendil couldn't recognize some of the gadgets, most likely because they were at least partly magical. She could, however, sense that much like the Dhar she was familiar with, these three were also all psions. It would appear at least something remained constant across universes.
She was somewhat dreading the meeting. One of the reasons she had gone into stasis was to tell the story of her people so that their memory would live on. She had later realized that this had been something of an excuse or a fake mission given to her by those that knew the real reason her people were dying. They simply wanted her to live, and if a mission like this was what it took, then so be it. She had taken the mission seriously back then, and on some level she still did. And who better to hear the story of her people than Dhar from another universe? The mission she had been given was about to be completed. At the same time, it was also the last chain binding her to her past. She was almost afraid to let go of that chain.
The two of them floated in place for several minutes, just watching the people below them engage in barter. Finally, it seemed that someone below noticed their presence, and it didn't take much to realize that the two of them were beings far more powerful than anyone else present. “It’s now or never Selendil.” Dee urged and gave her back a small push.
“So it is.” Selendil gathered her wits and floated down towards the trio, while the others around the area seemed to scatter in fear.
“W-what can we do for you great one?” One of the three, a male Dhar asked while shielding the other two behind him. Perhaps they really were a family.
“You need not worry. I’m not here to harm you. It’s…been a long time since I’ve seen my own kind.” Selendil said carefully. They were all speaking one of the most common languages used in this part of the Crossroads.
“Your own…kind?” A juvenile Dhar asked while peeking from behind the male’s back. The girl was young but old enough to work on a ship on her own.
The question was somewhat justified. Where Selendil was a being of pure psionic energy that radiated power and authority, the three seemed like cheap knockoffs in comparison. She was wearing equipment made of the best psionically reinforced materials countless millennia ahead of the three in technology, while the trio was using basic uniforms with patches on them. While she was a being that matched the creators of the Crossroads in power, the three of them were barely strong enough to match the Dhar children of Selendil's home galaxy. So one could argue that they were barely the same kind. Selendil seemed to have more in common with Dee for example.
“Yes. My own kind. Where I come from, we were called the Dhar. What about you?” Selendil asked gently.
“We call ourselves just ‘the People’.” The male replied.
“I see. Well, if you don’t mind, I would like to take a bit of your time.” Selendil made the request. She was worried that they would refuse. She didn’t need to be. She could’ve asked them to hand her all their possessions and they would’ve obliged.
“We don’t mind, but…why?” The male asked again carefully.
Selendil could understand their hesitance. Hopefully, by the time they were done, the three of them would’ve gotten over that. “I have a story I’d like to tell you. A story about a deal, about a Song, about the Void, and the fall of an empire.”