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1479 Words
Trying to change the subject, he asked, “Aunt Helen, was the ascension enough to form your Intent? Liz said you had some problems, but the ascension seemed very helpfuuuu—”
He petered off as he realized that he was bringing up memories of her long-dead family, but the woman just laughed slightly and reached up to stroke his sandy blond hair.
“No, dear, not yet. But it helps. I’m trying to piece a shattered vase back together. My Concept shattered when my son died, and then was ground to powder when my husband couldn’t handle it either.”
The Tier 24 looked off into the distance before murmuring, “I already discarded my Concept once. I, like most fire beasts, had a fire Concept. But that wasn’t me. I am family. So, I destroyed that one and created my family Concept. I could have cleaned out the fragments of my shattered Concept and easily created a new one, but that would be removing the last bit of my husband and son that I have left. So, I’ve been rebuilding this one for the last few million years.”
The woman shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal, but Matt could relate to her, at least a little bit. He had lost his parents at such a young age and had trouble even remembering their faces.
Matt pulled the smaller woman into a soft hug. “It doesn’t get easier, does it?”
She only shook her head, and they stood there for a long moment before Aster’s renewed shivering brought them both back to the present.
Aunt Helen started petting and rocking the little fox again. “Two happy things; I’m almost done rebuilding, and you have a Concept. What did you settle on?”
Matt grinned and touched his Concept, allowing the sensation of reality to wash over him once again.
“I am Endless. I’ve known that for a little while, but nothing quite fit my mental picture until I settled on an image of a white hole, eternally spilling out mana.”
Matt scratched the back of his head. “Though I don’t know what it will do.”
Admitting that felt far more awkward than he expected.
Shouldn’t I just know? It’s my Concept, after all.
Aunt Helen just chuckled. “Oh, Matt. You are hardly the first to have that issue. Go explore your new power with BethBeth. She’s insufferable. Just bouncing around, waiting for you to finish.”
As he turned to go find his partner, Aunt Helen stopped him again.
“What do you plan on doing with that shard in your hand?”
Matt looked down at the reality shard that he was still holding. He had actually forgotten about it in their discussion.
“I figured I’d give it to Keith and Travis as thanks for letting us stay.”
Aunt Helen rolled her eyes so hard Matt felt it.
“Matt, you are the second to last person out of the trance. If we wanted it, any of us would have taken it.”
He paused at that.
So, they’re leaving it for a reason. But what reason?
Matt looked at the shard. It was good for helping people recreate the environment of an ascension on a small scale. It was valuable, but he didn’t need the cash. Liz, Aster, and he could use the money, but he doubted the higher Tiers would leave it for something so simple.
Matt knew what he wanted to do with it, so he half-asked, “Can I send this to a group of my friends?”
Aunt Helen’s smile was radiant. Clearly, he had said the right thing.
“I knew I liked you. Sharing what we have with those close to us allows everyone to evolve. If you write a letter, I’ll deliver both to The Unbroken.”
That made Matt pause. “How did you know their team’s name?”
The older woman winked at him. “Having rebuilt most of my Concept gives some advantages. I can tell when influential people are growing, and I have a sense of what they need and when they’ll need it.”
Matt opened his mouth, but the woman’s arm stretched the nearly five-foot distance, and she pressed a finger to his mouth, before scratching his scalp. The sharp talons were perfect at hitting all the right spots, and he had a hard time formulating his question.
Aunt Helen chuckled at his slack face. “Matt, I would have pulled you to the side whether you met my niece or not. Don’t be afraid that you’re not holding your own.”
That somehow put him at ease. Matt didn’t think it was from arrogance, but to think he hadn’t gotten special attention of his own merit stung his pride a bit.
I need to watch that. Who am I to think I’m special?
She continued, “You run along now. I’m waiting for Travis to come out of his trance. I’ll leave tomorrow sometime, so write up a nice letter to your friends. I’ll deliver it sooner than it would otherwise get to them.”
Matt nodded and thanked her, then went to find Liz.
His first guess turned out correct when he knocked on her door.
“Come in.” Liz’s voice came through the door, and he found his redheaded teammate sitting on her balcony, looking over the valley.
She turned to him, and her grin was infectious.
“I beat you by six hours!”
Her yellow eyes reflected her grin, and Matt shot back, “I didn’t rush.”
That wasn’t exactly true, and the look he received in return told him she didn’t buy it for a second.
“Okay, I tried to form my Intent.”
Matt flopped down next to his teammate and chuckled at himself. Even with the extra power granted by his Concept, he had felt nothing.
“Ha. Yeah, we need years with our Concepts to even be able to feel that.”
Matt knew that the way Liz was kicking her feet meant that she was nervous.
“You tried as well, didn’t you?”
Liz just nodded and coughed, changing the subject. “So, what did you settle on for your image?” He opened his mouth to answer, but before he could even draw breath, his friend interrupted him, “I was able to insert myself into the image!”
“That’s great! Congrats. I know you wanted that. So…what does it do?”
Liz shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve been waiting for you to finish, and for Aster to recover from her own ordeal.”
That touched Matt, but Liz quickly asked, “What did you settle on? Was it the sun? Or were you able to make something more abstract work?”
Matt smiled. He was proud of what he had done after all. “No, I was able to create a white hole image.”
Liz’s eyebrow reached for her hairline, so he explained, “Yeah, I know they aren’t really real, so far as anyone knows, but it’s not like that’s a requirement. It’s just…the opposite of a black hole. It doesn’t pull everything in, it pushes everything out. I eventually got it to snap into place by making it expel mana instead of matter and energy.”
Her next question hurt slightly. “You already make mana. Just…so much mana. Why not make matter instead? That could be really cool.”
“I, uhh… It felt right. And mana can make matter and energy, so it’s better.”
Liz narrowed her eyes. “You just thought of that, didn’t you?”
She continued slandering him to his face for a few minutes before Matt gave up on convincing her of obvious facts and turned his attention to the valley around them.
The crowds were gone, and where tens of thousands were just two days ago, now there were only a few scattered people. Almost all of them were still in trances, like Travis.
It was a massive contrast to the view just days ago, and Matt’s stomach suddenly started to rumble as it realized it had gone nearly two days without food. He had been sitting down forming his image the entire time and food had been the furthest thing from his mind.
Liz hooked his arm and said, “Aunt Helen has a spatial ring full of food. Let’s go raid it.”
Watching Liz raid the woman’s spatial ring was a sight Matt wouldn’t soon forget. She snuck up on the older Phoenix where she sat stroking Aster, and with large, exaggerated steps, grabbed the woman’s hand and shook it over a plate. The Tier 24 pretended that she didn’t notice, and food fell out on the waiting plate.
- Writer
