“Break this bastard!” roared the teenaged Wolfkin. Testosterone, adolescent hotheadedness, and generations of deeply held arrogance blinding him to the warning signs. Making him see the tremors that rode up and down Andrew’s body as signs of fear.

The silver haired boy’s gang of thugs all moved to grab the lanky, mocha skinned, orange-haired, human that stood in their midst like a lamb surrounded by wolves.

The orange-haired boy’s posture was so open and unwary that it made it seem as he’d already surrendered himself to the beating they were going to give him.

Suddenly it all changed. The swift alteration of their circumstances happening so fast that even the cameras that were recording in the hallway were hard pressed to recount what took place.

When the school authorities and his tearful mother asked him what took place in the hallway that Thursday afternoon, a bandage ‘mummified’ Julian could only offer them one word, “hurricane”. It was like being hit by a hurricane.

He couldn’t for the life of him explain exactly how he and his cohort had ended up smashed into the ground, thrown through walls, wedged into a lockers, tossed around like toys, until nearly every bone in their bodies were broken.

One moment, he and his boys were about to put the hurt on the no-name peasant who’d been ousted from Quirks and still dared lay hands on Julian’s wifey-to-be. Then the next moment the hurricane hit and Julian was unconscious before he could truly understand what was happening.

*************************************************************************************************************

It was Friday now. Today Andrew didn’t go to school at all. He didn’t even send a duplicate. Instead he lay in bed curled up in a fetal position. Curled up in a ball of pain and confusion as his mind and soul were assailed by the weight of the cosmos.

“Hoheit, how does it feel?” said Sophia. She didn’t go to school either, and had reduced the number of duplicates she had running around in case something happened that required her full attention and power.

“I’m fine...It’s just a bit of *argh*...cramping.” said Andrew. Smiling weakly. Trying not to grimace. Feeling like he wanted to roar, weep, and vomit at the same time.

“Nh...Endure, Hoheit. That’s all you can do for now. Endure and know that if I could bear this pain in your stead I’d do it in a heart beat.” said Sophia. Laying a cool palm against Andrew’s burning brow.

Sophia watched her beloved tossing and turning in bed. Blood leaked out of all seven holes in his face.

Her golden eyes observed his internal and external condition, making use of numerous scanners, and perception magics that, she had integrated into her person, as Andrew writhed in pain.

Yesterday, he’d teleported into the condo covered in the blood that wasn’t his. Complaining of a strange pains that had started of as mild sensation at first, and then rapidly escalated into something intensely painful as the day progressed.

Now she was watching him as he lay in bed, telling herself that the man that she loved wasn’t dying. Reminding herself that according to the tomes and data stores she’d absorbed in Abwickeln, and the data she’d absorbed from the imperial net the boy was completely healthy.

The pain Andrew was experiencing were all part of a perfectly normal process. They...She...had known something like this was going to happen when they left the figment-realm. As she’d said when they were leaving, Andrew was simply too young.

He’d gone through the stages of egg, larva, pupa, and nymph relatively painlessly, but he was not yet a full adult.

The last stretch of his growth cycle could take anything between hundreds of years and millions of years. They’d failed to consider the effects of leaving the figment-realm would have on Andrew’s growth.

According to the models that Sophia had built with the data she’d collected, the problem was one of anchoring and scale. Andrew was the ‘child’ and heir of the former lord of Abwickeln and was thus anchored to Abwickeln.

The realm was to him what a pot, with fertilizer and a sunlamp, was for a plant, a safe and relatively stable environment that was conducive for his growth.

Of course, this assessment depended on what one’s definition of ‘safe and stable’ was. There was no denying that the man might have ended up becoming an even greater, even more warped, version of his sire had he remained in Abwickeln.

The point was that entering the greater-cosmos as an adolescent eidolon was like a sapling being returned to the soil so it could finish maturing into a tree.

The exposure to the greater-cosmos brought greater potential and possibilities, but it also brought countless trials and dangers. If her hypothesis was correct, so long as Andrew survived he would eventually become something many times more powerful than his sire.

The issue was how low the boy’s actual odds of survival were. Powerful entities like her hoheit were born rarely, and they matured into their full abilities even more rarely.

Beyond the external threats they had to deal with, an young eidolons body could be called its own worst enemy. Falling apart catastrophically and explosively, if the eidolon wasn’t handled the right way, or placed in the right environment.

Sophia sighed and the door opened with six of her duplicates stepping into the room. All six Sophias dressed in medical scrubs.

“Hoheit...I think-...I think you might be on the verge of dying, so I’m going to try something a bit drastic. We’re going to begin the operation now.” said Sophia.

A mostly incoherent Andrew managed to responded with a,

“I trust you, babe.”

His words drew a communal sigh from all seven Sophias, who looked at each other with stern expressions. Telling themselves that this was no time to be giving into despair. She’d save her hoheit even if she had to snap this universe over her knee to do it.

*************************************************************************************************************

Andrew woke up an uncertain amount of time later, free of the pain that had afflicted him before. His memories of what took place in the intervening time was hazy.

He could recall the sounds of screaming, recognizing his voice amongst a handful of others. He could recall the smell of blood and sounds of rhythmic chants. He could recall the familiar hum of ancient and eldritch magics. He could also recall feeling himself on the verge of death.

Seeing his continued survival, Andrew rightly assumed that Sophia must have done something. Even when she was just a doll, the woman had always had a good head on her shoulders, and though she wasn’t supposed to pick favorites amongst the visitors of Abwickeln’s sanctuary, she’d constantly saved the young man from dangerous scrapes.

Growing more apt at doing so as the young wanderer found new and more novel ways to put himself in danger. She had also been the one largely responsible for keeping him sane as the figment-realm’s twisted nature started to erode his mind.

“Where the hell am I?” said Andrew. Looking around and noting the obvious. That instead of the bed he and Sophia shared he was sitting in a field of grass.

“You’re in another world, hoheit.” said a soft, prim, posh and very exhausted sounding voice at Andrew’s side.

“Ah...There you are.” said Andrew. Finding that the unfamiliar setting became instantly less concerning with Sophia at his side.

“Yes...For now.” said Sophia. Yawning. Leaning into Andrew’s shoulder.

Andrew wrapped her in his arm. Shifting the way he sat so he could better support his companion’s weight.

“When you say world, do you mean a new universe?” said Andrew.

Sophia looked up at Andrew, frowning.

“Yes. How did you know?”

“The air tastes off…Not the air itself, but like the principles that decide how the air should behave.”

“Impressive. You awareness of the shifts of the universal constants must have been sharpened....As expected of my hoheit.” said Sophia. Yawning again.

“Thanks I guess? But how did we get here?” said Andrew. Running a hand through his hair.

“I’m here because you are here and due to our our connection I’ll always be able to find you and reach you no matter where you are in the cosmos... You are here because you’ve just progressed a stage developmentally and for now, from now on, staying in one reality is going to be a whole lot harder for you.”

“Uh,...Want to elaborate on that, please?” said Andrew. Wishing the genetic memories he’d inherited from the first lord of Abwickeln were a little more substantive than the vague mixture of vague images, sounds, sensations, and urges that he’d been given.

“It’s an issue of scale, hoheit. Scale and anchoring. You...my dear hoheit...are far too large.”

“Are you calling me fat?” said Andrew. Chuckling uncomfortably. Making light of the tense situation.

“....” Sophia just stared at him, before moving on as if he hadn’t said anything.

“We’re both young and we’re still growing. Freed from the constraints of inhabiting a planetary mass, my true self is generally slightly bigger than your average planetoid at the maximum. Your true self could potentially swell to the size of a small star. At least this was the case till now...then you grew.”

“How big am I now?” asked a wary Andrew.

“Irrelevant.” said Sophia.

“Huh?! But you were just saying…”

“The point I was trying to make is that you were and continue to be, a bigger existence than I am. The very fact of my evolution into an eidolon is due to my continued exposure to you over time.” said Sophia. Patting Andrew’s hand with the expression of one trying very hard to keep their patience.

“You are larger than life. That is who you are… In a way, that’s who you’ve always been, but now it is a little more literal.”

Andrew frowned realizing that Sophia was trying to break something to him. It reminded him of this one time she’d taken him by the hand and slowly explained how he would have to sacrifice certain precious parts of his body if he planned to get through a certain segment of the former Lord Abwickeln’s twisted realm.

“Soph...we both know I’m no good with roundabout stuff. So you’re gonna need to be a little more clear about what you’re saying.” said Andrew.

Sophia sighed.

“It’s… It’s honestly not that bad. You just have a small condition now. Your body has entered what I’d like to call its world-eater stage.” said Sophia.

“My body’s what?!” said Andrew. Immediately afraid and dismayed as he thought of all the screaming he’d vaguely remembered dreaming about.

“Well, hoheit...If you’d let me explain things as I’d planned, I’d have gone into how in terms of dimensional scale you are bigger than most beings. You are not just an eidolon.You are a greater eidolon. A higher dimensional being. We’re both growing but I will never reach a stage where my growth equals that a multiverse. You on the other hand have already begun to outgrow the dimensional boundaries of your home universe.” said Sophia.

“I...What does that mean for me, Sophia? Did...Did I kill everyone on Harlow? Did I destroy the home we were building? The life we were building?” said Andrew. Growing pale. Feeling the bottom fall out of his stomach.

“What?! No...Fortunately, it didn’t come to that. Harlow and the rest of the Blackrose Galaxy are safe.” said Sophia.

“Oh...Good.” said Andrew. His hand to his chest, feeling his heart rate slow down as he realized that the few people he’d cared about in that other universe were safe.

“Okay...So what actually is happening then?” said Andrew.

“I just told you, hoheit. You are officially a higher-dimensional being now.”

“Weren’t we both higher-dimensional beings already?” said Andrew.

“Yes. But I am only higher-dimensional in the general sense. It’s like comparing a wyrm to a dragon. I may not be limited by the laws of a given world, but I can still...fit in the greater scheme of things. You on the other hand…”

“Oh, so I’m a freak...That’s...That’s actually fine. I’m used to being the odd man out.” said Andrew rubbing his nose. Trying not to feel disheartened.

“I-, I wouldn’t put it that way. Rather we could even look at things optimistically and say you’re ahead of the curve. You are an eidolon who by default has escaped the boundary of the worlds. You are by default a peer to the high fae, old spirits, elder gods, and great devils who sail the vistas between the worlds.”

“And again, I have to say I thought that was the case before…” said Andrew.

“It kind of was, but if you were normal then it would have taken more time for that to be completely true. In your case, you’re little growth spurt has technically put you on the level of cosmic heavy hitters automatically. It’s like you’ve been suddenly brought into the UN and given your very on nuclear football before you’d actuallly founded a country.” said Sophia. Growing flustered by Andrew’s continued questions and apparent lack of understanding.

Andrew smiled, he leaned in and gave Sophia a peck on the lips. She blinked her cheeks coloring.

“What was that for?”

“For being you...For keeping me alive...For making this whole situation sound awesome instead of shitty and stressful.” said Andrew.

“It...It was nothing, hoheit. We’re in this together remember?”

“Do we know why I almost died?” said Andrew. Standing up and assessing the open field he’d been dropped in. Sending his spiritual sense out and finding nothing of interest around for miles.

“Nh...Again, that has to deal with your scale. Perhaps I’ve been remiss in calling this whole situation a growth. Rather it might be better to call this an ‘unfolding’. Your true-self was trying to expand to its proper size after adjusting to the freedom of the greater-cosmos. The universe was trying to fight the expansion, seeing it as an attack.”

“Eesh...So the world was trying to kill me, huh? That sucks. How did you save me?”

“Magics of a pitch black hue and an overall unsavoriness that I’d rather not deal with too often… Let’s just be thankful that Eblouir has such a large population of individuals whose absence wouldn’t be missed.” said Sophia. Shuddering.n

Andrew sat back down and rubbed her shoulder.

“Gotcha...Thanks for saving me, Soph.”

“Anytime, hoheit.” said Andrew.

“Now what?”

“Now you eat...You grow...You gain the strength to come back to me and the life you were so ardent on living. Also, for my hard work I’d like to request something.” said Sophia.

“A request huh? Shoot. You rarely ask for things.” said Andrew.

“Your hand in marriage.” said Sophia.

“....!?”

“When I thought you were dying it scared me. I thought of all the things we’d never get to do together and it felt like...I can’t even put it into words. It felt like my whole world was ending. In any case, we’ve been together for a while, and I love you and you love me and I don’t think that’s going to change within the next few centuries or so...so, according to the custom of the mortals of your world, I think we should get some social and governmental acknowledgement of our bond. Plus, I’d like to be able to tell the flies that are constantly buzzing around me that I’m already in a committed relationship.” said Sophia.

Andrew tilted his head to one side and then the other. Acting as if he were really thinking on the matter. Then he lunged forwards and swept Sophia up in his arms.

“Of course, I’ll marry you...I kind of figured we’d wait till we were done in school, but it was always part of the plan. I want to be with you till the other stars in the cosmos go dark, Soph.”

“E-, Excellent...Th-, then we can been affianced for now and then we can have the wedding a few years down the line. I’ve waited eons...I don’t mind waiting a few years more.” said Sophia. Looking down at her hands in her lap. Suddenly feeling bashful.