“-uck!”

THUD!

Herah let out a groan as her third headache of the day came over her. After a few seconds- few minutes- could’ve even been a few hours of laying face first on what the youngling assumed to be a floor, Herah sat up and got a look at her surroundings.

Herah’s first thought on the room was that it felt odd. Though it seemed to be no bigger than her own living room at first glance, the youngling had the distinct impression that it was much larger than it appeared.

The space surrounding her just felt off.

Other than that, the room was disgustingly plain.The walls and ceiling were an annoyingly bright white. The floor while the same white as the rest, at least had a dark grey carpet that sat under the black coffee table in front of her. The room also had two tan couches on the wall to the left and right of Herah and an equally tan recliner behind the table.

“Hello?” Herah called out, the sound of her own voice coming out just different enough from normal to be uncanny. “Anyone there?”

No response.

Rising to her feet, Herah shook her head and took a quick sniff of the air.

‘That’s odd, the room is completely odorless. I can’t even smell myself.’ Herah thought, a conflicted and slightly worried look coming over her. ‘What could’ve done this?’

Herah shook her head once more, and then began to look around the room but quickly gave up after realizing that there were no noticeable exits. Letting out a sigh of frustration, the youngling walked over to one end of the coffee table and decided to contact Jeffery.

Closing her eyes for a moment (or was it more) and thinking about her creation, Herah felt a slight tug upon her mind as the familiar but foreign feeling of Jeffery’s own mind (or whatever the pencil had equivalent to that) was fully established and recognized by both creator and creation.

‘Jeffery, I’m somewhere weird. Can you or dad come get me?’

Herah was shown a memory of Jeffery blasting through a neutron star, the celestial body exploding behind the oversized pencil as it broke through time and space, firing into another universe.

‘Are you lost? You normally have no issue tracking me down.’’ Herah thought with a confused look on her face.

A distorted and darkened image entered Herah’s mind, the youngling unable to make out anything but two black spots with specks of white floating behind them.

‘What the ash is that?’ Herah asked Jeffery, but before the pencil could respond the youngling felt the mental link between herself and her creation shatter.

“GAHH!”

Mental whiplash from the break struck Herah as her knees met the floor and her hands grabbed at the sides of her head. The youngling felt her psyche fragment into mere shards of itself before being forced back together by a surge of flames within her sharded thoughts. Giving herself a few moments (or was it actually only a single moment) to let the pain alleviate itself, Herah let out a few hard breaths and thought about Jeffery once more. This time there was no pull, nothing to indicate the connection that normally existed between the pair.

“That’s not good.” Herah said aloud, dragging herself shakingly to her feet with the support of the table in front of her. Closing her eyes and letting out a few more breaths, Herah felt worry blossom within herself.

‘What the ash was Jeffery trying to show me anyway?’

Herah tried to make sense of the image that had been shown to her, but found that it was just too vague to understand without more being shown.

“Dammit!”

Herah’s eyes snapped open as one of her hands slammed into the table before her. With a sharp CRACK, splinters of black filled the air as one end of the table was obliterated.

“What the fuck is going on!?”

The youngling stomped away from all the furniture and towards one of the walls, smoke wafting from her nose and mouth. Once there, the youngling glared at the surface before her and slammed a fist into it.

“Who is fucking with me!?”

Herah smashed her other fist into the wall, her eyes glowing an emerald green as wisp of green flames began to escape her mouth and nose.

“Why can’t I contact Jeffery!?”

Herah slammed her head into the wall with a loud THUD, fire now pouring from all opening on her head and flaring up around her.

“And why is this stupid wall, not breaking!?”

Herah slammed her head into the wall once more, a wave of green flames exploding from her head upon immediate contact with the wall.

Fire flooded the entire room, licking at the furniture and bathing everything in a torrent of heat and green.

Standing within this inferno, Herah rested her head against the wall letting out a tired sigh.

“White walls, white floor, sterile room.”

The comforting heat of the flames had sapped her of her anger, leaving her a tad bit mellow and slightly worried. Herah took in a deep breath, inhaling a few of the surrounding flames before letting them out. This process was repeated thrice more (or was it only twice?).

“This isn’t them.” Herah told herself, the heat of the surrounding fire calming her more and more while also draining her of her worry, “They’re all dead and reborn.”

Herah opened her eyes, moving away from the wall and taking a good hard look at the flames that surrounded her. This allowed Herah to see something that was rather odd. Her fire had flooded the room, but not filled it in entirety. Instead, there were many spaces, small and large, where the fire just failed to reach for some odd, unknown reason.

“Space really is weird here.”

Herah then let out a breath, her nostrils flaring with smoke as her lungs prepared themselves.

And then, the youngling inhaled.

Her mouth acted as a vacuum, sucking the green flames that surrounded her in and back down to where they came from. It was with a single blink of her eyes (maybe four) that Herah found herself standing within a now fireless room.

Letting out a pleased sigh, Herah looked back towards the only non-white things in the room. There another odd sight popped up.

‘When the fuck did that table fix itself?’ Herah thought to herself, walking up to the restored coffee table with her mouth curled into a scowl. ‘Better question, how did it fix itself?’

Looking down upon the table, Herah crouched down and began to study it while also loosening her mental hold on her senses. Her pupils dilated, stretching from their slit state and into circles. The youngling felt her tongue came alight with wholly new flavors as the most minutes of movements sent shivers through her body. Her ears strained to the point that the sounds of electrical charges hopping from neuron to neuron within her now hyperactive brain was as loud as Rouge’s shouts.

The rest of Herah’s senses were heightened to this extreme as well, her perception of reality shattering and reforming itself within a millisecond (at least, that’s normally how quick it was).

“Le Nombre D'or.” Herah said to herself, as her world exploded into a beautiful array of new sensations, that were all focused on what had previously been a table. Now it had turned into a table shaped collection of trillions upon trillions upon trillions of atoms that were surrounded by a golden rectangle.

‘Well this is just a normal ass table. Carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, and other shit. Though, the low percentage of metals is kinda weird.’ Herah thought to herself before reigning her senses back in and being left with a normal table once more.

Herah grunted in annoyance, jets of smoke shooting from her nose. The youngling then got up and turned away from the ordinary yet strange table.

“I’m just gonna piss myself off trying to figure out how that bullshit works.” Herah told herself while walking away from all the furniture in the room and back towards a wall. Once there, the youngling sat down cross-legged and closed her eyes.

“I’ll just keep myself busy with a song.”

A deep breath was taken and then let out, fire slithering out of a mouth as lungs exhaled. Said fire formed itself into a small ball of red, blue, and purple, which then became a wisp lantern. A hand was raised and then balled into a fist, crushing the wisp lantern within its grip. A shroud of blue flames engulfed a body, a gentle smile coming in its wake.

And then, and only then, a song began to be sung.

“Oh, ma chère mère. Si brûlant et brillant. Oh, ma chère mère. Donne moi ta lumière. Oh, ma chère mère. Je me sens inquiet et j'ai peur. Oh, ma chère mère. Je suis tellement content que tu sois là.”

The voice that sung the song wasn’t one that was rude or impudent, but one that was melodic and graceful.

“Oh, ma chère mère. Je ne t'abandonnerai jamais. Oh, ma chère mère. Je te protégerai toujours. Oh, ma chère mère. Comme tu le fais pour moi. Oh, ma chère mère. Tu m'as libéré.”

The song was accompanied by the gentle changing of colors of the fire shroud, with the flame going from blue to red to green to orange before finally settling on violet by the songs end.

Herah opened her eyes, a small smile on her face at the feeling of the flame within her chest flaring happily. The youngling then rose to her feet and let out a yawn, her shroud dispersing.

“Okay, let’s see if I can figure anything else ou-”

POP!

“-it!”

“-hell!?”

CRACK!

A mass of black winked in and out of existence before Herah’s eyes, leaving behind two peculiar looking creatures that were in the process of dragging themselves up from the face plants that had marked their entrance into the room. One had the good fortune to land on a couch, while the other creature, with far less fortune, had smashed straight through the table Herah had been studying before.

“Who the fuck are you?” Herah asked, scowling at both of the new creatures.

Both of the new creatures froze before slowly turning towards the youngling, allowing her to see another thing that marked them as peculiar.

They both had the same face.

Same lack of scales, same leaf green eyes, same small nose, same soft jaw line.

This sameness extended to their bodies as well.

Lack of scales, pale skin, thin but fit frames, the short height of five-ten, no real gender specific features, and ponytails.

Only three things distinguished the pair from one another.

Their expressions, hair, and clothing.

The creature who had crashed through the table scowled at Herah (causing the youngling to mentally dub them Fureur), their hair the color of hazel and their clothing a slight bit different then what Herah was used to. They wore what looked like a slightly thick, blue zip-up shirt with long sleeves, a hood, and pocket with the ends of the shirt reaching down to just below their hips. The weird shirt was unzipped revealing underneath a green shirt covered in illegible symbols that appeared as: Do You Want The Truth?. A pair of blue jeans led down to the bottom of their legs, where the oddest part of Fureur happened to be. Here, what looked to be an odd combination of grey rubber and polyester was where their feet should’ve been.

The creature on the couch merely looked at Herah with a few blinks and squint (earning themselves the name Confus), their hair a light auburn, and their clothing just as different as their doppleganger. They wore what looked to be an even thicker and far larger long-sleeve shirt than their counterpart did, this one having a popped collar while reaching down to their knees with buttons lining the right side. It was also open, showing similar symbols as the other creature’s shirt, though this time they appeared as: Do You Want The Lie?. Instead of blue jeans, they were khaki cargo shorts that ended just after their knees. Further down, much like their counterpart, this creature also had no feet but an odd combination of materials where they were to be. This time it was black rubber and leather, and they reached up to just past Confus’s ankles.

Herah took all of this in before even five hundredths of a millisecond (at least, that was the hope) could go by, glaring at both of the new arrivals while also flexing her fingers.

“You didn’t answer my question.” The artist said with a small growl, “Who the fuck are you?”

Confus went to open their mouth, but Fureur acted first.

Leaping to their feet, a wavy blade slipped out of Fureur’s left sleeve and into their waiting hand. Fureur then swung up their arm, the blade flying from their grasp and towards Herah.

Herah raised an arm in the blink of an eye (maybe faster), knocking the blade spinning upwards.

“So slow,” Herah said with a tsk.

Fureur dashed forward, taking only a second (or was it half as long) to close the distance and slam their right foot into Herah’s side.

The youngling didn’t even budge.

“Are you trying to hurt me?” Herah smirked and chuckled, now looking down upon Fureur.

Their only response was to step back and glare up at her.

“My turn then.”

Herah’s took her already raised arm and slowly pulled it back, her talons unsheathing and elongating into their full three-inch lengths.

“Since you don’t want to talk, I’ll just get rid of you and chat with the other one.”

Herah’s arm shot forward.

SQUELCH!

The smell of iron filled Herah’s nose, her mouth salivating as blood splattered across her face and drenched her arm.

“Those scales of yours are magic.” A voice that was neither distinctly masculine or feminine emerged from Fureur’s mouth. “My blade cuts through all unless protected by magic.”

Herah’s eyes widened, her body flinching as the scowl that had previously marked the odd creature’s face was replaced by a smirk, their now glowing white eyes alight with arrogance and confidence.

It was a confusing and disturbing scenario.

After all, a hand going straight through the skull was normally an instant kill.

“In fact, looking at you now, I can tell that you’re just covered in magic.” Fureur’s eyes ran over Herah’s form, his tone filled with curiosity, “Though that’s by far the least interesting part of you.”

Without even thinking, orange fire flared from Herah’s hand and reduced the wet mush that was the top of Fureur’s head to ash and steam. Scrunching her nose a bit at the slight smell, Herah continued to glare down upon Fureur’s curious eyes as their glow failed to leave them.

“You seem somewhat familiar with Presence,” Fureur tilted their head to the side with a smirk, “I have yet to decide whether or not that’s surprising.”

Herah growled at the condescending tone of Fureur, her eyes gaining an emerald glow as green fire began leaking from the corners of her snarl.

“What are you?” Herah growled out, her voice low and on edge.

“Here’s a better a question-”

Herah just barely moved her head out of the way of an upward chop, pain exploding in her stomach as her body was flung back and into the white wall.

Herah let out a grunt, one of her eyes reflexively clenching shut as the other watched Fureur’s right arm catch their blade. This same eye also noticed Fureur’s outstretched leg go back down to the ground as their left arm reach into their matching shirt pocket and withdraw a three bladed dagger. Said dagger was then suddenly buried in their side.

“-what are you?” Fureur finished up still grinning, their head being restored in a blink (or several) of an eye.

Before it was possible for her to respond, Herah saw Fureur’s raised arm blur once more, this time downwards.

Herah’s blood drenched arm shot up to meet the wavy blade that came down towards her, a sharp CHING! filling the air on as metal met scale. Immediately, Herah’s eyes widened and a grunt left her as the force behind Fureur’s own strike matched her own and a struggle of strength began between the pair.

“You got quite some speed and strength on you,” Fureur’s eyes twinkled with smugness as they seemed to casually push back against a struggling Herah, “Far from the strongest or quickest I’ve met, but you’re not the weakest so you have that going for you.”

Herah let out another growl, her throat bulging slightly as even more fire began to leak from her mouth with some now coming from her nose.

“You look so angry,” Fureur’s right brow went up as their smile turned lopsided, “Might it be because you now find your pride misguided?”

“RARRGH!”

Herah let out a roar, green fire blasting from her mouth and engulfing Fureur in a torrent of flames. The fire was endless, Herah blasting out the flames for as long as possible. To her, a number of minutes passed as the area before her was bathed in her tiny inferno, though for how long was unsure for her.

“That was somewhat impressive, fifteen minutes, possibly, of continuous fire isn’t easy even for the weak.”

The flames cleared, revealing to Herah a sight that caused her eyes to widen once more.

Fureur stood completely unscathed, grin still in place and clothing not even singed as their blade continued to push down against Herah.

“How the ash did you survive that?!”

“I merely chose to utilize OE.”

“Oh-ee?” Herah sounded out in confusion with a slight breathlessness, the word dancing along her tongue in a familiar yet unknown way. The word also seemed oddly fictional, almost as if it wasn’t real.

Fureur rolled their eyes, shaking their head as they hopped away from Herah. The youngling’s arm swung out fully and into the air.

“You don’t even know what Denial is.” Fureur looked away from Herah with a sigh, allowing their arms to hang loosely at their sides, “That’s disappointing.”

Herah snarled at Fureur, leaping up with a clawed slash of her left arm aimed at their throat.

Fureur caught her hand with ease, their grip holding Herah’s limb tight in place even as the youngling fought to pull it away.

“So you’re a little fast, you’re a little strong, you’re a little hot, and you’re a lotta ignorant.” Fureur tsked, “You’re a total disappointment.”

“Raaawwrrr!”

Herah’s head exploded in green flames, her other arm lashing out towards Fureur’s neck.

The bastard caught her hand with ease, causing a repeat of her other arm to occur.

“You’re becoming less and less interesting by the second.” Fureur told the furious Herah.

In response, Herah leaned back and jumped into the air. Bringing her legs in and then kicking them back out like a spring, Herah’s feet struck Fureur right in the abdomen.

They didn’t even budge.

“Damnit!” Herah cursed before finding her arms released and herself falling back. Curling backwards and swinging her arms over her head, Herah caught herself and flipped herself upright and away from Fureur.

Now back on her feet, Herah stood apart from Fureur. Her body was tense, head no longer in flames, eyes glaring at and studying Fureur closely. Her face had been warped into a snarl as her hands clenched and unclenched.

Still on their feet, Fureur stood apart from Herah. Their body was loose. Their head was soaked in blood, eyes uncaring and paying little attention to Herah. Their face was relaxed in a smile, hands tapping away at their legs.

“So dumbass,” Fureur chuckled while reaching down to the floor for their discarded weapon, “What’s your last resort?”

Herah didn’t bother replying.

‘The piece of shit took ten thousand kelvin like an ashling would’, Was the youngling’s grim thoughts, ‘And something tells me that pushing it up to two hundred thousand won’t get me better results-’

“I’m assuming that your last resort has to do with your flames.”

Herah’s focus went back to Fureur, her eyes widening and her breath hitching.

“How did you know that?”

“The second most interesting part of you is the flame within your body.” Fureur jabbed a finger towards Herah’s chest. “And if you have it, then it can do much more than bore me.”

Herah growled at Fureur, her fangs bared at the unspoken message that came with Fureur’s words.

“Are you implying that my flames are weak?”

Fureur’s smile warped into a smirk.

“They’re pathetic.”

For a split second (or less), Herah just stared.

The room became mute, only the beat of a heart filling being heard.

‘Did you just call my fire pathetic?’

The BA-DUMP! of the heart grew quicker, red-skinned cheeks darkening into a deeper shade of their color.

‘You dare insult my fire!’

The sound of a heart grew louder, clawed hands clenching and unclenching as smoke began to bellow from the corners of grit teeth.

‘You dare insult the gift of my Mistress!’

Fire flooded arteries and veins, its color shifting from red and into a bluer state.

‘I’ll kill you!’

A low and drawn out growl filled the air, as eyes of emerald turned into glowing amethyst and the beat of a heart turned into thunder.

‘I’ll burn you till you’re ashes.’’

Red leathery wings unfurled, lifting a body into the air with one flap and then keeping it aloft with their subsequent motions. The volume of the heart crescendoed, its beat like that of thousands erupting volcanoes.

‘Then I’ll burn the ashes till nothing is left!’

Not a word had been spoken, every sentence merely a furious thought that was soon drowned out by a pounding heart.

The split-second ended.

And then, Herah finally spoke.

“FUREUR!” The youngling bellowed.

The room unmuted as violet fire roared from Herah’s body and engulfed her form, a loving and warm Presence overcoming her. A cloud of ash immediately formed around Herah, all the surrounding time and space having been burnt away.

With a void now between her and the rest of the room, time and space began to rush towards it in an attempt to stitch itself back together. All the surrounding floor was torn up in chunks and particles, revealing a strange liquid blackness beneath them. The wall behind Herah and the nearby ceiling were ripped apart similarly, revealing the same blackness.

All came towards Herah.

All was reduced to ash.

All ceased to be.

The rest of the room began to come towards Herah as well. More of the wall, floor, and ceiling were ripped from their places, one of the couches being pulled in, and even the liquid blackness pouring in towards the youngling.

Only one thing wasn’t being pulled towards Herah.

“Flames that can obliterate oblivion itself, fascinating.” Fureur said, standing completely still atop a piece of flooring that was also unaffected by the pull of Herah’s purple flames. They then tilted their head to the side, “Is that all?”

Herah didn’t even bother replying, instead raising a single clawed hand. A tendril of violet fire emerged from her extended fingers, shooting out in an upwards arc that went over Fureur’s head and ended at the feet of Confus.

“I already know what you’re going to do.” Fureur said, ignored by Herah as the youngling dispersed her violet flames.

In an instant, time and space patched itself back together, Herah appearing right over Fureur in a cloud of ash that burnt away after a second, her cheeks puffed and filled with the same violet flames from earlier.

Shocked amethyst met taunting white.

Fureur stared right back up at Herah, a grin on their face.

“Trust me, it won’t win you this fight.”

Herah opened her mouth and pillar of violet roared forth, engulfing Fureur and everything else within a five foot radius. The blast itself should’ve only lasted three seconds, though, once again, the youngling wasn’t sure the length of time. Eventually, Herah cut off her fire, a pillar of ash existing for but a moment before burning away as space and time once again stitched itself back together and dragged her into the liquid black that was now nearly all the room.

For what was neither a finite nor infinite amount of time, Herah was submerged within the liquid blackness. A numbness engulfed her entirety, paralysis following as the youngling could only float.

All that was felt was the tiny fire burning in her chest.

Then, the same loving and warm Presence from earlier engulfed Herah, and the youngling found herself flung out of the blackness and right next to Confus.

“Fuck!” Herah said to herself, while taking in as many deep breaths as possible. Her body was wracked by shivers, though not from any form of cold. After her breathing had evened out, the youngling took a look at the mess the room had become.

All that remained was one of the couches, a back wall with a few chunks ripped out, and the floor that all this was all upon. Where the rest of the room had been was now replaced with liquid black, which did nothing but flow in place.

Turning to Confus, Herah found the creature expressing their namesake. Their mouth was agape, their eyes wide, and their entire body still. Confus stayed like this until Herah stood up.

“Okay,” Herah cracked her neck, before smirking at Confus, “Now, mind answering the question you’re duplicate was so keen on ignoring.”

“Three more.”

Herah froze, a shiver running up her spine at the disembodied words that came from within the blackness. Turning back to face it, the youngling was confronted with an impossible site.

The room was being restored.

The liquid black was pushed back, as the walls, floor, and ceiling seemed to slowly reassemble themselves as if coming back atom by atom. And within the center of the room, where they had stood right before being blasted, was Fureur. The smirking bastard was holding up a single hand, three digits pointing up mockingly.

“You only have three more shots of that you can pull off. Am I right?”

“Ho-How are you still here?” Herah asked, her mind trying and failing to make sense of what was before her, “You were gone! There was no trace at all of you!”

“True,” Fureur lowered their hand , “You destroyed me down to the very concept with those flames of yours. Well, not yours, that fire is from something else. You merely utilized an Eia while lacking control of Presence, a gift common amongst the children of concepts.”

“Ee-ah?” Herah questioned, that word having the same familiar yet alien feel as OE, though a distinct weight was also felt in the word. The weight made the word feel physically tangible and powerful.

Fureur chuckled at this, their smirk sharpening as they pointed at Herah.

“You’re a child of the concept of Fire, and the Concept you used to attack me was Incinération. Simple as that.”

Herah grappled with the words of Fureur for but a second before deciding them too complicated for the moment and turned a glare back onto her opponent.

“That doesn’t explain how you’re back.” Herah said, a growl and jets of smoke leaving her nose. “If nothing remained, you shouldn’t even be capable of returning.”

“That’s true for normal mortals,” Fureur said with a chuckle before placing a hand on his chest, “But I’m far more than a normal mortal. A simple use of oE allowed me to rebuild both the room and myself.”

“ah-ee?” This word caused for the same familiar/alien feel the other two had to surge through Herah, though what made it distinct was just how malleable and ever changing it felt.

“Don’t think too hard about it, especially since my interest has mostly been satisfied.”

“What does that mean?” The youngling asked, her eyes narrowing in suspicion as Fureur began walking towards her.

“It means I’ll finally answer your question dumbass and my own.” Fureur responded, just as they stopped before Herah and looked up at her with their smirk still in place. Their eyes were now back to their normal green.

Herah’s right arm twitched.

“You’re not moving.” Fureur said, their voice having suddenly turned distinctly feminine and divine.

Herah’s right arm froze in place, the youngling now finding herself unable to move it. Attempts to move her other arm, both legs, and head were met with the same result. Even her mouth was frozen in place, though her internal workings still seemed to work.

‘What the ash did this bastard do to me!?’ Herah thought to herself as Fureur raised their right hand up to her left horn and grabbed her by it.

With a sharp yank and kick to the back of her left knee, Herah found herself on her knees looking up at the amused face of Fureur.

“I’m Alex, The Scourge of Gods, Guardian of the Truth, and Choosen of Uu.”

Flames of green reflexively spewed from Herah’s body, engulfing both herself and the now named Alex in scorching heat. Neither reacted to this however, with Herah unable to do anything as Alex pointed down at her and spoke once again.

“And you, while you might’ve been something at one point or another, you’re currently nothing.”

‘What the fuck are they talking about?’ Herah thought to herself, her flames turning blue in her failing attempts to defend herself.

“What I’m talking about is you, well more the lack of you,” Alex tapped Herah on her head, “You don’t exist dumbass.”

For a moment (or was it more), Herah was on her knees, paralyzed and unable to do anything to affect Alex.

One moment later, Herah was gone.

No feeling came to her body.

There was no body to feel.

No thought came to her mind.

There was no mind to think.

No heat came from her flame.

There was no flame to burn.

Then, the moment passed.

And a small red fireball appeared midair, where Herah had previously been. A soft warmth emitted from it.

‘Fire.’ Herah thought to herself, the warmth of her flame filling her being once more.

The fireball turned violet, but this time, nothing burned.

Instead, a small and near translucent wave of flames pulsed from the ball.

‘Wish I could grab it.’ Herah thought to herself, moving phantom limbs.

Another pulse left the ball of violet fire.

‘Wish I could see it.’ Herah thought to herself, seeing nothing but darkness.

Another pulse left the fireball.

‘Wish I could control it.’ Herah thought to herself, telling her flame to flicker.

The fireball flickered.

And with one final pulse, Herah’s body burned itself back into reality.

Sight, smell, sound, taste, and touch all came back in a flood for the youngling as her body fell to the floor with a sharp SMACK!.

With quick and shallow breaths, Herah rolled over onto her back as one of her arms darted up to her chest to grasp tightly at the flesh that now covered her flame.

“Bro, what the fuck was that!?” A voice much like Alex’s shouted, Herah’s ears able to detect a subtly higher femininity within it. The youngling assumed this to be Confus.

“She caught my interest, so I decided to poke and prod at her.”

Herah let out a low growl at Alex’s words, rage boiling up from within her as smoke shot from her nostrils.

“That wasn’t a poking and prodding, that was blatant murder!”

“The fact that only now you remember her cares to disagree.”

“What do you mean?”

“I erased every remnant of her from existence, even the memories others might’ve had about her. Time and space had to reformat themselves to no longer take her into account, hence why we were just talking about why we were summoned to this room alone and how time and space seems a bit strange here.”

“What?” Both Herah and Confus asked at the same time, while the youngling leaped to her feet and turned to face the pair. The two strange creatures were standing a bit away from all the furniture and near a wall. Confus seemed to have just turned towards Herah, a look of surprise on their face while Alex was already facing her, a small smirk in place.

“You’re still alive!” Confus shouted out with a smile on their face while also moving themselves in front of Alex. “That’s great and I’m so sorry about what my brother-” Confus’s right elbow slammed into Alex’s stomach, causing him to bend over with his hands to his abdomen, “- did to you.”

Another growl tore from Herah’s mouth as small wisp of fire escaped her, but as soon as her eyes caught sight of Confus’s smile, her anger simmered out into light annoyance.

“What I was saying was that, much like you did to me earlier, I erased the very concept of you from existence.” Alex said from behind his sibling, still smirking at Herah, albeit pained “You managed to come back from it as well. And while my perception of time is currently a mess, I know for sure you came back sooner then you should’ve, if you were supposed to at all.”

“You’re confusing.” Herah said, her brows scrunching up and her mouth curling into a frown.

“Or you’re just an idiot.” Alex responded with flippant disregard.

“I don’t get it either bro.” Confus said, turning to her brother with thinned lips.

“Not really helping either of your cases sis.” Alex raised a brow and smirked at his sister.

“Why are you such an asshole?”

“Why are you such an idiot?”

“Fuck you!”

“Have you forgotten what’s between my legs?”

CRUNCH!

Herah let out a short laugh as Alex keeled over with his hands down to his crotch, Confus’s leg dropping back down to the floor before the creature turned back to face Herah with a wide smile on her face.

“I apologize for bro’s actions,” Confus bowed, “Would you please forgive him?”

“Don’t- Uh!” Alex grunted out between heavy intakes of breaths, “Apologise for me.”

Confus rose from her bow and turned to her brother with a glare.

“Then don't be a dick.”

“Go fuck yourself.” Alex said dragging himself back up to his feet.

“Why fuck myself when I have a fine partner right in front of me?” Confus said, throwing a thumb back towards Herah.

“Gross,” Alex said with a slight cough before turning his head upwards, “I forget that you’ll fuck anything.”

WHAP!

“Cunt,” Alex said under his breath, while rubbing the top of his head.

“Asshole.” Confus responded with a side glare.

A chuckle from Herah caused the pair to return their attention back to her.

“What’s so funny dumbass?”

Herah’s left eye twitched for a moment, but the small smile of Confus forced her anger to disperse before it could even fully manifest.

“The pair of you are interesting.” Herah blew out six rings of red flames at Confus and Alex, both getting three each.

Confus gave the rings a curious stare, even sticking her hands through their centers, which caused them to dissipate. Alex reacted with a casual wave of his hands, his expression unamused as the rings were blown away.

“Through the act of Ash va s’installer and prior experience, I, Herah War Hej, recognize and respect the pair of you.”

The youngling bowed to the pair before turning to Confus, and blowing out a wisp lantern. Herah raised a digit for the fiery flower to rest upon before offering it to Confus with a broad smile.

“I see you as a potential friend, and would hope to remove that potential from your title.”

Confus chuckled and stuck out her own finger to take the wisp lantern from Herah.

“Well, the name’s Max, just Max, and while it would be my pleasure to be your friend, I’d love to upgrade that title to something a bit more fun.”

Max winked at Herah and gave the youngling a sly grin before placing the wisp lantern atop her hair.

Herah’s smile widened a little, a small dusting of pink coming to her cheeks.

“Oh look, my sister pursues another conquest.”

Herah’s blush disappeared, a frown coming to her face as her head turned to face Alex.

“So,” Alex tilted his head to the side with a small smirk once again adorning his face, “What do you see me as?”

“A mountain to conquer.” Herah said, glaring.

Alex chuckled at this, closing both eyes as his smirk stretched into a smile.

“You court the impossible.”

Alex peeked open an eye, glowing white staring through Herah.

“How are you going to climb a mountain when you can’t even comprehend it?”

Smoke flared from Herah’s nostrils as a growl left her throat and a step towards Alex was taken, but a raised arm appearing in her path caused Herah to turn to Max.

“Calm down beautiful,” Herah’s eyes instantly went to Max’s mouth, her smile working its magic with ease, “Though you look cuter redder in the face, I think we both prefer you alive and breathing.”

‘Alive and breathing?’ Herah thought to herself a bit confused, ‘You make it sound like I’ll die if I take another step.’

“And Alex,” Max turned away from Herah and gave her brother another glare, “Stop. Since we got here, you’ve done nothing but be antagonistic and threatening. Herah here has only responded as anyone in danger naturally would, so back off.”

Alex let out what sounded like an annoyed grunt, but after a second (maybe), closed his glowing eye then opened both with neither glowing.

“Only because I hate to see you mad, sis.” Alex said before walking over to one of the couches and plopping himself down onto it.

Max let out a breath before turning back to Herah, smile back in place.

“Crisis averted.”

Max stepped passed Herah and towards the couches, causing the youngling to turn and watch as the strange creature seated herself next to her brother. Max then gestured to the couch across from her.

Herah let out her own sigh before walking up to the back of the empty couch and leaping over and onto it. The youngling landed in the middle of her couch before leaning forward, spreading her legs apart, and resting her hands on her knees. Her eyes then ran over the pair of siblings before her, a keen interest tickling her mind.

Before Hearh sat the pair of strange creatures that were Alex and Max, the brother sitting on the end to her left while the sister sat to the end on her right.

Alex sat slouched, his legs crossed. Resting his right arm on the armrest with his fist to his cheek, the annoying creature stared impassively at Herah. Though, a small glint of caution did flash in his eyes every second or so. Alex’s other arm rested atop his left leg, the wavy blade from earlier balanced across the back of his palm.

Max sat up straight, her legs held together though both were thumping up and down. Both of her hands were in her lap, a small card held between her index and middle fingers. Max stared at Herah still smiling and with an earnest air around her.

“So,” Max started, “Not to be rude, but what exactly might a beauty such as yourself be?”

Herah watched Alex roll his eyes and scoff, earning him a quick glare from his sister. The youngling grinned at this before leaning back and placing a hand over her flame.

“I am a Cendreux, a glorious race born from the death of a planet and La Flamme.”

“Fascinating,” Max said, her smile widening before pointing to herself and her brother, “We’re humans and I honestly can’t say much about our origins or who made us. Bro knows for sure, but he won’t tell me.”

“I keep telling you, it’s a load of bullshit and you’re better off not knowing.” Alex shook his head and chuckled, “Plus, that’s only if you believe me.”

Max turned to Alex.

“When have you been one to lie?”

“Rarely.”

“Exactly.”

“Stop asking Sis.”

Max pouted, before turning back to Herah and mouthing something in a completely alien language. The youngling tilted her head to the side, scrunching her eyebrows and frowning slightly at the human.

“So you’ve asked your question, let me ask you mine.” Herah said before turning to Alex, “What the fuck is Presence?”

Alex snorted, a small chuckle leaving him before his eyes narrowed into a tiny glare.

“That knowledge is not only of no benefit to you, but a direct detriment as you are. All you need to know is that you don’t have it, and that you’re special for that.”

Herah scoffed.

“What’s so bad about knowing what the ash Presence is?”

“Ignorance isn’t just bliss, it’s safe.” Alex responded.

“Still isn’t telling me anything.”

“That’s the point.”

Herah’s right eye twitched as a tight smile formed out of her lips.

“You’re a real smartass aren’t you?”

“Yes, but you’re also dumb.”

Herah went to get up, but the movement of Max out of the corner of her eyes caused just enough of her attention to be given to a smile. A smile that instantly snuffed out her anger.

“Please, Presence isn’t anything important. Just something dumb my brother can do.”

“If you say so,” Herah responded, truly believing the human despite all evidence to the contrary.

“Guess that makes it my turn,” Alex said before shutting both eyes and asking, “Connaissez-vous quelqu'un qui s'appelle Orange?”

“That’s my father, how do you know of-” Herah paused in her response, her eyes widening as her mouth opened and closed a few times before a growl came from her throat and a snarl to her face, “Comment as-tu appris la Berceuse de Maman!?”

“I’d advise you to calm down idiot,” Alex flipped his left hand over, catching the handle of his dagger and raising the blade towards Herah, “My sister only stops me from attacking you, not from defending myself.”

“Woah woah woah,” Max raised both of her hands drawing the eyes of Herah, causing the youngling to see her smile and calm down, “Let’s not start another fight up.”

Herah took a few deep breaths, her nostrils flaring with smoke as her mouth thinned into a line.

“How do you know my people’s ancient language?”

“That’s really you’re people’s ancient language?” Herah’s full attention went to Max, the human tilting her head with a small smirk in place, “Where we come from that’s just french.”

“French?” Herah asked, eyes narrow and a small frown on her face, “The name of my language is la Berceuse de Maman.”

“Mom’s lullaby might be its name where you come from,” Herah’s attention went to Alex, who had returned his hand to its resting position, “But where we come from it’s called French and is taught to anyone willing to learn.”

“Though I wonder what distant planet has french as an ancient language?” Max wondered aloud.

“Not a distant planet sis,” Alex let out a tired sigh and rolled his open eye, “What we’ve witnessed is a case of universal leaking. Ideas can transmit from one universe to another, languages included.”

“Oh cool,” Max chuckled before a confused look came to her, “Wait, how do you know Herah’s from a different universe?”

“Yeah,” Herah chimed in, her frown still in place, “How do you know that?”

“Not important for either of you to know,” Alex closed his eye and smirked to himself, “Not like you could do anything with the information.”

Green flames leaked from Herah’s nose and mouth, as her lips stretched into a taut smile.

“I really,”Herah’s words came out strained and furious, “And I mean really, want to just smash that stupid pretty face of yours in.”

“You think I’m pretty?” Alex opened his eyes and feigned a blush, “Too bad the feeling isn’t mutual.”

A fist slammed into the side of Alex’s face, Herah’s anger dissipating with a laugh as the human dropped to his knees and let out a small curse.

“Stop being an ass!” Max yelled out her brother, dropping her fist down to her side while rising to her feet.

“Cunt,” Alex spit out a glob of blood before wiping his face.

“Hey asshole,” Max threw both her hands into the air while bending down to shout in her brother’s face, “Could you cut out your dickiness for just a bit to at least tell us where we’re at?”

“A pocket dimension within the void that exists between and around the universes of our multiverse.” Alex gave a side glare to his sister while picking his dagger up from the floor and rising to his feet..

“Why?” Max rose with her brother and backed away from him.

“I have a good idea, one I hope to be wrong.”

“Which is?” Herah asked, one brow raised in curiosity.

“Well wouldn’t you like to kn-”

Herah’s and Alex’s attention went to the far end of the room, a black mass appearing and spitting out a rather short human looking creature, dressed in a turquoise tunic that let out loud, metallic chinks as they face planted on the floor with a loud SMACK! Herah’s nose wrinkled as the musk of a male, the smell of freshly melted metal, and fumes of a forge hit it.

“Ow,”An extremely soft, childlike voice groaned out from the new creature as the black mass spat out a soft, cone shaped hat the same color of his tunic onto his head, “I hope this isn’t Odd’s idea of a joke.”

The creature rose to his feet, standing at two-eight and revealing a rather pudgy and childlike face with freckles all across it. His skin was a very light tan, with some locks of brown hair sticking out from beneath his hat and adorable, bark colored pupils that stared at the three before them in amazement and surprise. Grey tights covered his tiny, adorable legs ending at feet covered in what looked to be the same material as his hat and tunic, said material curling up and into a point at their ends. And to top the look off, balls of white fluff sat at the tip of his covered feet and the tip top of his hat.

Herah absorbed all of this with a mere glance, instantly gauging the new creature to not be a threat once the smell of fear, worry, and confusion struck her nose.

Speaking of the creature, they opened and closed his mouth a few times in shock, revealing pearly white teeth, before speaking.

“Who are-”

But before his sentence could end, Herah watched Alex’s left arm swung upwards and his blade fly across the room and towards the new creature.

-you?” The creature finished just as Herah covered the distance between herself and said creature, having caught the hilt of Alex’s dagger right before it could go through his eye.

WHAP!

“Ow!” Alex grunted out, rubbing his head once more as Max glared him down.

“Don’t ow me! You nearly killed that poor child!”

“Not a kid sis, trust me.”

WHAP!

“I don’t care!”

“Fuck you cunt!”

“Fuck you asshole!”

Herah looked away from the squabbling siblings and to the new arrival, looking down into the terrified eyes of the would-be corpse.

“Thank you.” The creature said, his eyes nervously darting between the blade before him and the towering Cendreux that stopped it in rapid succession.

Herah, taking the hint, flung Alex’s dagger back at him, the human snatching it out of the air with an almost practiced ease. The Cendreux then backed a bit away from the creature and crouched down before them.

“Hello there, I’m Herah, Herah War Hej,” Herah breathed out three rings of red fire, each one floating lazily towards the new arrival, “And you are?”

The creature gave Herah’s flames a weary look, but still raised a hand to touch them. Each ring dispersed as soon as contact was made, causing a small smile to come to the new creatures face.

“My name is Owen, Owen Vulcan.” Owen stuck out his hand, “It’s a pleasure to meet you Herah.”

The youngling smiled back at Owen and took his tiny hand into her own, giving it a small shake.

“Through the act of Ash va s’installer, I recognize and respect you.”

Owen’s smile widened.

“Cool,” Owen looked Herah up and down, “I’ve never seen anyone like you before, what might you be?”

“I’m a Cendreux,” Herah stood up and pumped out her chest with a prideful grin, “One of the greatest creations of my goddess La Flamme. And you?”

“I’m a gnome, the result of a mad god’s experiments.”

“Interesting,” Herah nodded her head before gesturing around her, “You have any idea where we might be at the moment?”

“Nope,” Owen said with a shake of his head, “I was hoping you knew that.”

“Pocket universe,” Herah threw a thumb back towards the arguing twins, “That’s what Alex, the one who tried to kill you, said.”

“Oh yeah,” Owen looked towards Alex with an unsure smile, “Do you know him?”

“Not really, just met him about a few minutes ago-” Herah paused, scrunching her brow and frowning to herself, “Maybe an hour or some hours ago. Time and space are weird here.”

“Nice to know,” Owen rubbed the back of his head and pointed towards Alex, “Did he-”

“Yes.”

“Cool,” Owen chuckled nervously while also having his eyes run across the room in keen observation, “Just wanted to be sure I wasn’t special.”

Herah grinned at the gnome before crouching down.

“Hey, so here’s a quick question for you.”

“Yeah?” Owen tilted his head curiously.

“Why do you smell like a forge?”

“Oh, that’s becau-”

“Now apologize asshole!”

Herah stepped out of the way as Alex fell to the floor in front of Owen, looking towards a furious Max as the human stomped up to her brother and gave him a kick in the side.

“Ow, what was the kick for?!” Alex dragged himself up to his feet, glaring fangs at his sister.

“Because I’m still angry at you!” Glaring back at her brother, Max then jabbed a finger at Owen, “Now apologize.”

“I’m sorry.” Alex barely gave Owen a glance before looking back at Max with a pointed stare.

That earned him a kick to the shin.

“Do it properly you ass!” Max shouted back before crouching down to Owen’s height and patting him on his head, “You almost killed a child.”

“He is not a kid,” Alex said with a roll of his eyes before getting down to Owen’s level and looking him in the eye, his own the same glowing white they were in his earlier confrontation with Herah, “He’s actually the oldest one here in fact-”

Alex let out a slight grunt as Max slammed an elbow into his side, his white eyes turning back green as he cursed and grabbed at that part of his body.

“Just apologize like a decent human being.” Max gave a glare to Alex.

The brother rolled his eyes, before looking back at Owen.

“I’m sorry for nearly killing you, it was rude and uncalled for.”

Alex gave a stretched smile to the gnome before him, Owen frowning slightly in return but shrugging after a second.

“Apology accepted.”

Alex let out a satisfied sigh, his smile falling immediately, and turned to his sister, who gave him a small frown before letting out a satisfied hum. Max then pulled her brother back and away from Owen, a small hrrk leaving Alex as his sister took his place in front of the gnome and held out her hand for a shake.

“Hi! I’m Max, just Max.” Max nodded her head towards her twin, “That’s Alex, just Alex. He’s an asshole.”

“Cunt.”

Max rolled her eyes at her brother’s insult as Owen took her hand and gave it a slight shake which was returned in kind.

“I’m Owen, Owen Reese.”

“A pleasure to meet you,” Max stood up and gestured towards Alex while bowing, “And apologies for what my brother did.”

“Don’t worry,” Owen gave Max a nervous smile while taking his hands and hiding them behind his back rocking from side to side, “All is forgiven.”

“Great!” Max raised her body from its bow, “So what might you be?”

“A gnome.” Herah answered, having been watching all three interact with a keen interest, “Owen is a gnome, his race an experiment of some crazy god.”

“Really?” Max seemed both taken about and fascinated at the same time, “That’s really cool.” The human turned to her brother with a begging stare, “Please say how we were made?”

“No.”

“Boo.” Max said with a pout before turning to Owen, “Well, we’re humans and I don’t know how we’re made or who made us.”

Owen let out a small laugh while shaking his head and smiling at Max.

“You shouldn’t worry about it too much. I don’t think how one is made or who makes them is that important.”

Herah scoffed at these words, getting a look from everyone else.

“I do.”

“Who would’ve guessed?” Alex looked at Herah, his lips drawn and his words unimpressed, “It’s not like you described your race as glorious and great.”

“Because we are.”

Alex looked Herah up and down, his expression turning questioning.

“You must be the outlier then.”

Before Herah could make any move towards Alex, Max stepped between the pair of them with her hands raised and a smile on her face.

“Well everyone is entitled to their own beliefs so let’s not kick up a fuss over it.”

Even with Max’s smile somehow calming her, Herah allowed herself to look back at Alex and send him a glare, getting only a raised eyebrow and smirk in return,

“Anyhow,” Herah’s attention went back to Max, as the human now stood next to the gnome, crouching down to his level and still smiling her kind smile.“You got any idea why we’re here?”

Owen grinned nervously at Max, and shook his head.

“I was hoping you knew more.”

Herah turned to Alex, the human seemingly feeling her eyes on him and turning to give her a raised brow.

“What?”

“You seem to be the most knowledgeable out of the four of us, so mind telling us what you think?”

“At least you can admit when you’re out of your depth.”

A growl grew in Herah’s throat, causing her to get a grin in response.

“Alex,” Max gave her brother a side glare, “Just answer the fucking question.”

Alex rolled his eyes.

“We’ve probably been summoned by our Ma-”

Herah blinked.

Alex was cut off as strings of light appeared at his mouth and stabbed into it, simultaneously burning and sewing his mouth shut. His muffled screams of pain sounding out as strings of light appeared before his eyes and did the same thing. More stings of light appeared around Alex, stabbing into his arms and legs before sewing them together and causing him to fall on his face.

Herah blinked.

Heavy and strangled coughing caused the youngling to turn to Max, finding the human on her knees and coughing up some weird red flower with a black center and an almost white flower with light purple edges.

“Anemones and carnations.” Max let out a confused laugh before coughing up another red flower, “Funny.”

Herah blinked.

The scent and sharp THUNK of metal striking the floor caused Herah to turn towards Owen, the gnome staring down wide-eyed at a lump of iron. Owen raised both his head and right arm, looking long and hard at the stump his hand used to sit upon.

“What in the name of Reese-”

Owen’s jaw fell off transforming mid drop into a lump of steel. THUNKing to the floor with a heavy ring.

Herah blinked.

Looking down to her own hands, the youngling saw them covered in a rainbow of thick paint.

‘Wait-’

Herah raised her hands up to her face, the closer inspection allowing her to see that her hands weren’t covered in paint but turning into it.

“What the fuck!?” Herah shouted, as her left hand collapsed into a puddle of paint with the rest of her arm quickly following suit. Looking over herself, Herah found that her entire body was beginning to collapse. “What’s going on with Traduire!?”

Herah blinked.

“Oh wow,” A rather gentle, masculine voice sounded out from Herah’s right, “This is ironically hilarious.”

Herah turned towards the voice, but her eyes had already melted into paint and no new scent came from the direction of the voice.

“Who-”

Herah’s lower jaw fell from her face into the growing puddle of paint beneath her.

“Maybe get yourself together before asking any questions artist,” The voice responded, amusement tickling their words. “Though, you can’t really do that without help last I checked.”

Herah felt something- No the youngling felt nothing- no-

Herah could not even imagine what was now in front of her, or even if it was there. Herah just knew what was said next.

“Let’s see if that help will appear if I give you the same love tap Jockey gave me. Sandbox won’t be too hurt if my attack goes through.”

By this point, both of Herah’s arms were gone, one leg remained but would soon fall, and her head was just barely holding its solidity. But even in such a terrible and confused state, Herah understood that whatever this “love tap” was, it would kill her if unimpeded.

Herah blinked.

And the image of a dunce cap entered her mind.

CRACK!

Herah felt all the surrounding time and space crack, her melting body being seperated by the blackness that leaked into the room once more. The youngling cared not for this however, a comforting and familiar Presence engulfing her as if a missing part of her had just been restored.

“Thanks Jeffery!” Herah’s determined voice called out as her body stopped its transformation, with Jeffery’s Presence dragging the paint back into place before returning it to flesh, bone, and scales. Eyes now cleared, Herah could see Jeffery floating between her and what must’ve been what had attacked her.

The entity, Herah felt that was what best described them, was unique in their appearance. They were bipedal and stood at a rather imposing height of nine-three, with the entirety of their body having a black backdrop. Herah saw it as a backdrop because upon their skin, if it was even that, was a collection of galaxies and stars, slowly moving across. The figure had six arms, each limb covered in stars of increasing size, that started small and white at where they connected to the torso and ended upon the palms and back of their hand’s as large red stars. The beings legs showed an asteroid belt wrapping around each of them. Their torso had two slowly moving galaxies on it, a third emerging from the right side. Upon the face of the entity were two dark spots that Herah presumed to be black holes and their eyes.

“Hey there Jeffery,” The entity’s soft voice once again graced Herah’s ears, a familiar yet foreign feeling being felt by the youngling, “Nice of you to take the brunt of my attack.”

Herah let out a growl; flames of green spewing from her nose and mouth.

“And now my artist stands before me,” The entity stared past Jeffery and at Herah, the youngling feeling their eyes pierce her form, “With the assistance of herself.of course.”

Herah snatched Jeffery away from the entity before spinning around them and slamming the giant pencil into their side.

“See you soon!~” The figure shouted in a sing song voice before flying through one of the walls and into the blackness that surrounded the room.

“Fuck you.”

Herah fell to one knee and leaned against Jeffery, her breaths hard and heavy. Looking back towards the others, the youngling found Owen as a pile of iron, Max laughing in delirium still coughing up flowers while also slowly being covered in the roots that sprouted from them, and Alex-

“Hmm, I would ask that you tell me about Presence now, but you’re not really in the condition for that at the moment.”

Alex was standing up, the light that had sewn his mouth shut still in place, but all the rest of him was free. This meant Herah could get a good look at Alex’s wild and terrified glowing white eyes.

The youngling couldn’t help but grin.

Rising back up to her feet, Herah took Jeffery by their eraser and swiped straight through the light that bound Alex’s lips, giving the large pencil a twirl over her head before slamming their butt into the floor.

“You’re welcome.”

Alex looked at Herah and Jeffery with wide eyes and an agape mouth.

“What is Jeffery doing attached to you?”

Herah tilted her head to the side and frowned at Alex.

“First my dad and now my pencil, how do you know of my family?”

“What the fuck is going on with you?” Alex asked with heavy breaths before shaking his head and looks out towards where the entity had gone, “Doesn’t matter, we’re fucked anyway.”

‘Can you fix them?’ Herah asked Jeffery mentally before tapping the pencil’s eraser on the floor with Jeffery then sending out their Presence to Max and Owen, restoring the pair to their original states, “What’re you talking about?”

“For someone who knows nothing about Presence, you’re doing quite well with it.” Alex responded, walking over to Max and pulling her free of her roots as the girl stopped her delirious laughter and went deathly silent.

“Asshole, I know you know that I can only do this thanks to Jeffery.” Herah held out a hand to Owen, who took it with trembling fingers and a quivering form.

“You ask Jeffery to do it, then he does it.” Alex said, before Herah felt him radiate Presence, a light glow overtaking his and his sister’s bodies. When the rays struck Herah, the youngling felt as if they pierced her and in laid her entirety bare for all to see. That was until Jeffery’s own Presence quickly snuffed out the light that touched their creator.

Herah nodded, feeling as Jeffery retracted their hold over Max and focused their attention on keeping Owen together.

“Why did you say we’re fucked anyway?”

“Because,” Herah smelled the distress in Alex’s voice, “You don’t fight against Makers, at least, you don’t fight against your own. Victory is impossible.”

“What the fuck is a Maker?”

“I am.”

Herah instinctively stabbed towards the familiar yet alien voice that sounded from her right. A single one of the entity’s hands caught Jeffery by the tip, one of the other hands stopping right over Herah’s heart.

A snarl came to Herah’s face, the youngling turning to growl at the entity who now stood with one of their hands at each of the others in the room.

‘They weren’t that close before,’ Herah thought to herself, ‘Or maybe this thing takes up more room than I first thought.’

“Look upon where I place my hands,” Herah couldn’t help but do exactly as the entity instructed, finding that said hands covered a specific place upon each of the other threes’ bodies.

“See and hear evil,” Owen’s eyes and ears were covered, the gnomes form quivering in terror.

“Speak evil.” Max’s mouth was covered, her eyes wide and confused.

“Do no evil.” A single finger pressed against Alex’s right hand, his eyes wide and his breath gone.

“Know evil.” Herah felt the hand over her heart release just a sliver of Presence, gracing the organ with a feeling of Chaos.

Herah snarled and dragged her hand holding Jeffery down to their butt and shoving it forward with a burst of amplified strength.

BLOOP!

The hand holding Jeffery’s tip was obliterated, the appendage exploding into blades of grass that giggled softly as they fell towards the floor.

The entity seemed nonplussed by this, their hand reforming itself with a loud POP, as a black spot appeared where a mouth might occupy and widened into a smile.

“My Artist can combat me, my Soothsayer can barely stand before me, and my Liar and Bonder can’t hardly even look at me.” The entity’s gentle voice was joyful, filled with pleasure and dripping with excitement.

“Who and what the ash are you?” Herah growled, baring her teeth at the figure.

The entity vanished, though a quick turn around revealed them to be on the other side of the room. Here, Herah saw the entity standing with its bottom set of arms hanging from its side, the center pair playing rock-paper-scissors against each other, one of the top set waving at Herah and the other arm working as the referee for the middle two. The entity’s eyes held a sorta mischievous curiosity to them that was eerily welcoming. It was as if Herah was staring at one of her ancestors, a rather ancient one at that. A regal and eternal ancestor.

“I am known by many names. God. Yahweh. Monitor-Over-All. Presence-Above-Others. All-Mighty. Maker. Bois D’allumage by your people. But the name I gave myself, my personal favorite, is what you shall call me.”

The entity began to glow, before releasing a bright light that briefly blinded Herah. Once her vision cleared, in front of the youngling stood someone completely different than before.

It was a Cendreux, who stood at a respectful eight-five and had grey scales and skin. They were wearing a simple white t-shirt that said Embrasse Moi en Français, and some black sweats. Their black hair was short but messy, and they had a grey tail as well. The Cendreux looked rather different than the entity from before but had the same expression as them, now with a grinning mouth and sapphire eyes. The entity now looked below average for a Cendreux, lacking any sort of defined physique. They stood slightly hunched over as if they were just lazily holding themselves up, while staring at Herah with a soft grin and a laid-back composure.

“Call me Norwe, and who am I?”

Norwe made a dramatic pause, using both of their hands to cover their face before bringing them away and winking at Herah, their expression set in a lazy grin as they did equally lazy jazz hands.

“The creator of your universe, that’s who.”