In a small clearing, surrounded by 3m bamboo, a young man phases into existence. The process is slow, with various color light particles merging to form a cohesive body. After 10 minutes the body flashes and solidifies.

“This is getting harder. I am not sure I can wait much longer. Anyway. Are you there? We don’t have all millennium to talk ya know.” Spinning around the young man seems to be looking for something within the clearing.

As if summoned, a purple mist begins to appear out of nowhere. Unlike the appearance of the young man, this pop into reality is on the order of seconds, instead of minutes.

“I am here, I am here. You know I have to be extra careful. He likes to keep tabs on me…and it takes power to isolate both us.” The mist sways and spins as if blown by an unseen breeze.

“Well, you called me here. It’s not like he is letting me run around like before…so get on with it.” The young man’s eyes are now a tint of bright purple.

“We found him.”

“Finally! Does he still contain the essences I put there?”

“Do you think I can just jump into the Beshov plane and take a look? My connection through your little soul taps is weak enough. What I can say is that he is tapped into the essence ocean. The report I have indicates a massive upheaval that nearly reset the plane. It’s a good thing he sent him there. It’s deepened the connection to the essence flows through out the plane. The conversion rate has increased…unfortunately, not a single mote of essence is coming to you.”

“I know, I know. I need to get him into my plane. With his tap, I should be able to pull power in excess of the Beshov plane…which should allow me to grow my plane.”

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“He isn’t going to allow him to move planes again. He has a tap on his soul directly. What do you plan on doing? You can’t just pick him up again. You can’t kill him…unless…wait, are you thinking of a non-sentient tap?” The purple cloud has begun swirling in chaotic twists.

“Don’t get overly sentimental. He is just some soul. He pretty much was useless in his old life. It’s not like I am removing a great philosopher or inventist. We are just going to shatter his soul a little more, and then bind him back together so all he does is convert essence. By the time we are done, he won’t feel a thing.”

“You are playing with some forbidden arcania there. If he finds out, you will be dispersed and reabsorbed into another entity.”

“No way. I have been working on this for many millennia. I will replace him. I will begin running the essence planes in a way that does not depend on the existence of these independent entities. Our power is that of divine essence. Why are we tied to the conversion of these lesser beings? No, this is the way. He is too sentimental to do what needs to be done…so I will do it for him.”

“So, you are going to torture him until his soul shatters?”

“Yes, well, no. That is too direct. With his connection, it will break the plane, and alert him. No, the instructions I put forward should have my agents building a quiet…little…trap. Once he is in there, we will just wait until he shatters himself. It’s the only way to escape. It will take time, but it is the best way to do it without alerting him. I will send word…quietly... to target him. Send me his general location, they should be able to identify him from that.”

“Done. On to more important matters, what about me? I have been a cloud for longer than you have been sentient. I need you to start pumping some of that tap essence to me.”

“Don’t worry. A few more decades, maybe. Once he is shattered, we can split the flow. Until then, we just have to hold on. Yeah. Yeah. I can hold on for a few decades.” His words fade out along with his body, leaving the purple mist to spin and circle within the clearing alone.

“He left me first again. It’s a good thing I have a backup plan, or else, I would be worried.”

As the purple mist exits the clearing, a small golden bunny pops out from behind a tree. Its eyes are aglow with divine essence, lighting the clearing like a small sun. If you could strain your ears to hear the voice of the wind, you might have heard a bright voice.

“No trap is perfect…but what to do, what to do…hmmm…no matter, this is the most fun I have head in quite sometime.”