Several individuals I’ve never seen before are currently looking at me. To my delight, only some of them are visibly human, and those that aren’t human are very clearly non-human.
Back on Earth, I was reasonably geeky so when I see what I assume must be a family of goblins, tiny green humanoids with shockingly colored hair, I also recognize that they are accompanied by elves with various dark shades of skin. All in all, there are three such families, which are standing next to each other. Two families consist of male and female goblins, and the last family consists of a trio of dark elves, a man and a woman, and who I assume must be their daughter, a much younger-looking dark elf woman who gazes at me curiously.
The goblins are not wearing clothes, but the dark elves are wearing diaphanous robes that seem to be made of some kind of silk. I stride up to them, accompanied by the thronemaidens, and as I do I watch the goblins smirk at me while the dark elves watch me with the same curiosity one might watch a bear in a zoo. They aren’t disgusted or anything but they are curious, and I can sense their emotions as keenly as I might sense my own.
I tower over the goblins, standing entire feet taller than they do. I can feel the heat of their gazes on my skin and I notice several of them eyeing a rather royal part of me. To be fair to them the rod they are examining is now empowered by ether and is considerably more impressive than it was before I arrived in Etherscape. There are also a few families of humans, or at least human-like creatures since as an omega lord I am not human but I do happen to be visually indistinguishable from a human.
I stride towards the gathered individuals, gazing at them warmly and excitedly. When I am standing before them I smile and introduce myself.
“Hello! My name is Ignacio tel’Avos. I am delighted to meet more of Etherscape’s natives.” I explain, causing the goblins to look me in the eyes for the first time and for the dark elves looking at me to nod lightly. The dark elves are the first ones to introduce themselves, with the older-looking man stepping forward to do so.
“Greetings Your Majesty. I am Saulos tel’Ovos. My wife, daughter, and I are delighted to make your acquaintance.” The man says, his voice is soft but it is also dignified and he carries himself with a noticeable grace.
“Allow me to introduce you to Serena, my wife, and Phantoma, my daughter.” He says as the two of them step forward and smile politely at me. I smile at them, though my facial expressions are a lot less guarded and political than theirs are. They are, justifiably all things considered, waiting to learn more about me and for me to learn a bit of an impression on them. Sadly their name is not one I am familiar with, the “tel’Ovos” hegemony must be one of the ninety-something I know nothing about. It’s a bit disappointing, to be honest.
At this moment I recall something curious that Delphi, who is standing a bit away from me and engaging the thronemaidens in conversation, mentioned earlier today. She told me that “Truewarping” is capable of freeform time travel. That makes me wonder what else it’s capable of. I swiftly shut my eyes and will the power to activate, fully read for it to not work and for me to have figure out how to use it.
Even as my perception of the world darkens from behind my shut eyelids I hear noises around me slow and then stop completely. I chuckle as my senses hint at the surreality that I see firsthand when I open my eyes, only nanoseconds after shutting them.
I am standing in the middle of a frozen dining room. Everyone and everything around me is stuck doing whatever they were doing when I activated “Truewarping”. I turn and study the scene with wide eyes, eager to see how astoundingly powerful “Truewarping” really is. When I do a complete spin I see with my own eyes that the ability certainly looks to be absolute, which is remarkable.
At the same time I begin to think of ways to creatively use my other abilities. I sense my transformed, empowered mind begin to do what I need it to do: to find creative ways to use my powers. The new historical knowledge following my mind acts as inspiration, because a big focus of the knowledge I gained was about the earliest history of the empire. One way that immediately comes to mind is a fun little trick with my telepathic powers. And that is something I quickly realize I ought to go ahead and do immediately.
I get to work right away, and that begins with me walking over to Sif. The mostly nude thronemaiden is in the middle of smiling and laughing at something that Delphi is telling her. When I reach her I place an arm on her shoulder and I attempt to give her the power to move. Her eyes immediately shift from a state of amusement to one of alarm and confusion when she sees her new companion frozen mid-sentence, but when she looks around she notices my arm on her shoulder and then sees me, which makes her relax a touch.
“My liege! What is… What’s going on?” She asks, her confusion understandable given the very strange ability I have just used. I smile gently at her and begin to explain what is happening.
“This is one of my abilities. As an omega lord. It’s called ‘Truewarping’ and it allows me to do time stuff.” I explain, admittedly quite vaguely, but she relaxes when she hears me say that this is my doing.
“Oh! Well in that case… Why have you gone this?” She asks, her tone revealing she is not casting judgment but is simply merely curious.
“Here, help me wake up the others.” I tell her even as I put my hands on Velvet and Binah, who are standing beside each other. The two of them immediately react to my touch, their eyes widening and they both immediately scan our surroundings for any danger. I tell them to settle, and they do as I ask, while Sif touches Belah and Shelanvaranda.
Velvet, seeing our actions, instinctively reaches out for Chyliss, who doesn’t speak but merely studies the rest of us before mimicking the calmness of the other thronemaidens. I repeat what I told Sif, just to everyone this time, before I move on and begin to talk about my intentions.
“I’m doing to do a number of things right now, not the least of which is this.” I exclaim, before I order the maidens to join hands and offer Sif and Velvet my hands. They all do as I ask, and the instant we are all touching I visualize our minds all becoming linked.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
As I do this I visualize a chain linking our minds. I am delighted when I begin to be able to hear the thoughts of the thronemaidens and they collectively gasp when they find they can hear my thoughts as well.
“Your majesty! What is going on? Is this telepathy?” Asks Shelanvaranda, and I nod at her and respond to her physical words with a mental explanation.
“I am a telepath due to my sparks, the curious font of power possessed by omega lords. I can do many things as an omega lord, such as move at super speed, utilize telekinesis, and even manipulate time itself. I want to appear sagacious, and I would like your assistance.” I tell the women, speaking to all of them by projecting my thoughts. All of the women nod at me, smiles of differing sorts appearing on their faces as they process my mental words. Sif, while nodding, successfully projects her thoughts to all of us.
“Do you wish to reveal your powers to us? My liege, we have little to no idea how comprehensive your powers are, even though a few of us like Binah and myself are a bit more knowledgeable concerning the omega lords than the rest of us are.” Sif asks, her mental voice soft and curious. I consider her words before nodding wisely at her.
“I am an extremely diverse omega lord. I possess thirteen sparks, the most ever possessed by any single known omega lord. I am also naturally capable of all fifteen powers possessed by omega lords.” I begin.
“In front of you I have now used ‘Truewarping’ and telepathy, but I am also remarkably resistant to harm, immune to powers of all sorts beneath a certain level of power, I can absorb things from people, mimic abilities used in front of me, and alter powers as well as bestow or remove them.” I remark, which makes Shelavaranda smile at me.
She wordlessly begins to glow, and as she does I sense a new power add itself to my repertoire of abilities. My mind subtly expands as I gain knowledge of what Shelanvaranda is doing: channeling her ether. I extend my hand and will the ether inside of me to manifest externally. It takes me a second but the ether surrounds my fists and causes the air around them to become tinted by pink energy. Shelavaranda gasps as she watches me replicate a remarkable ability of hers.
“In one try… Amazing.” She utters, reverentially. When she and I lock eyes again I can see the awe in her monochromatic orbs.
“I can also use continent-scale telekinesis, I’m super strong, I can fire energy within me in the form of beams and lasers of all sorts, I’m able to turn invisible and imperceptible at will, I’m super speedy, and my senses are extreme. I’m also super smart and naturally a gifted magical… person.” I explain, and by the time I’m done talking all of the maidens have astounded looks on their faces.
“That’s… a lot.” Sif eventually utters, to which I respond by nodding vigorously at her.
“Hey, trust me I agree. Around twelve hours ago I had no idea superpowers were even real and now I’m being told that I’m some sort of… fantastical superhero? This is crazy.” I tell her, sincerely.
“That said, I do need your help. I’m super smart but I can’t absorb knowledge from… nothing. The elves are part of the tel,” I say, and even as I am talking about the elves Shelanvaranda cuts me off.
“Ovos hegemony. They are magical specialists, who have worked to advance ethermancy itself.” Shelanvaranda tells me, before realizing that she cut me off. She blushes and looks away when she realizes what she’s done but I smirk at her. She recovers her composure and smiles at me before speaking again.
“The tel’Ovos hegemony rules a subterranean plane from a curious and massive upside-down tree hanging in the heart of the largest cavern of their dimension. They are exemplary magicians and their ethermancers are not the singular strongest magic users but they are the most diverse. Their royal family consists of both manamutants and ethermancers.” Shelanvaranda says, smiling brightly as she explains the hegemony.
“The goblins are part of two separate hegemonies. One of the families is part of tel’Droks and they specialize in creating ethermantic potions. Ethermantic potions are a range of supernatural drugs that confer a variety of effects. They are manamutants. The other family is the tel’Zooks, and they are transportation and infrastructure specialists who work tirelessly to keep Etherscape together. Both families are affiliated with the imperialist faction. They are ethermancers.” Shelanvaranda tells me, excitedly.
I smile at her when she reveals this, and thank her for the quick synopsis before I tell her and the other thronemaidens to relax. I head back to where I just was, and I smirk as I will my power to deactivate. A few brief seconds pass, or at least it feels like a few seconds do, and then the dark elves begin to slowly move for a few seconds before returning to their normal speed.
“Ah, yes the illustrious tel’Ovos hegemony! I am new to magic but I am a great admirer of your work in the field of ethermancy.” I proclaim, and to my delight the eyes of the elves widen in shock and in delight.
“I was just reading up on your,” I say, taking a beat and subtly gesturing to the thronemaidens. I hear Velvet whisper in my mind and I smile delightedly as I know what to say. “Alliance with the Sorothustran delegation. I’m a huge admirer of diplomacy and cultural exchange, and I want you to know that I’m delighted by the idea of combining ethermancy with the different schools of magic the Sorothustrans have invented.” I remark, which stuns my new companions. My words do more than stun the elves this time, and I can hear their hearts hammer in their chests as they do something unexpected: they transmit thoughts to each other!
“Oh, your majesty! To receive such praise from one so young is… It is an honor.” Serena says, stepping forward to me and smiling after a few seconds pass and the three of them exchange entire ideas and impressions amongst each other. I grin back at her, and I am quite glad that I’m actually not lying.
“I don’t know how much of our history you already know, but to know that the future emperor is so cosmopolitan is deeply exciting.” Serena says, speaking far more energetically than I ever imagined a dark elf speaking. Her voice is musical, but in a classical way, fitting something in an orchestra rather than something darker like I might have expected had I had the time to think about such things. She also doesn’t seem like a dark dominatrix… Before the other dark elf can speak the goblins rowdily approach me and begin to try and chat with me all at the same time.
I hear a chorus of voices all chatting over one another. Both families have members who ask if I know about their hegemonic specialities and about their families. I begin to attempt to answer their questions, but I don’t get the chance to respond in full as I hear a curious whooshing sound emanate from the other side of the room and I glance up in its direction.
“What is that?” I ask, causing the others to turn in the direction of the noise. The sounds of the dinner quiet down as the few people in attendance stare at one of the other doors leading in and out of the room. I hear the sounds of a few pairs of feet touch the ground, exiting another ethertech machine. An elegant sounding voice commands the guards stationed on the other side of the door to open it for her and her eldest daughter, and then watch as one of the doors begins to slowly slide open.
On the other side of the door is a pair of golden haired women. One of them is older than the other and has a pair of glorious looking cybernetic wings affixed to her back via a strange metallic harness. The other woman is noticeably younger and has a sleeker looking set of metal wings affixed to her back but they are positioned over a pair of organic wings that have beautiful looking ivory feathers attached to them. I quickly guess the pair must be a mother and her daughter, and I am unsurprised when Velvet confirms this via telepathic message.
“Those women, my liege, are the tel’Glems. The older woman is one of Etherscape’s very, very few divinities and the woman with her is her eldest daughter and a sage-like demigoddess of wisdom and science. Duthea and Caphiena, respectively.” Velvet tells me, even as the pair of women stride into the dinning room. Duthea is haughtily commanding the guards stationed on the side of the door I’m on, and has not yet noticed me. Her daughter, however, is openly appraising me and I can vaguely sense her wondering what to make of me.
I begin to hear more and more whooshing noises and I realize that more and more hegemonic families must be arriving. I quickly get proven right as I hear and see the room I’m in get expanded via ethermantic spatial magic and as more and more doors appear only to open and for more hegemonic families to step through them. I get to lay my eyes on a range of different humanoid species and on dozens of hegemonies, and I begin to smile brightly, even as I mentally urge my thronemaidens to come to me and help me get seated before this scene gets even more chaotic.
My thronemaidens skillfully appear behind me in seconds and in no time at all I am seated at the head of a gigantic table, and natives of Drinn flow into the room to guide the hegemonic families to the gargantuan dining room table. Despite the protests of some of the families, their princess daughters included, the people who sit next to me on both sides are thronemaidens, and it takes nearly fifteen minutes of chaotic people-wrangling before most of the guests will be seated at various seats around the gigantic table.