Volume 4—Chapter 78: Something Inside
Somewhere far beyond the clouds, far beyond the stars, two girls drifted silently through space.
One was dressed like a witch out of a storybook: pointy hat, cloak, and all. The other looked like a perfectly ordinary teenager who had absolutely no business being in outer space without a spacesuit.
“Say… do you know what’s inside of you?” the witch asked, as casually as someone asking about the weather.
Syena blinked. “Inside me? Uh… organs? Blood? Bones?”
“That’s… not the answer I was expecting.” The witch sighed, exasperated but not surprised.
“Wait… what is inside me?! Is it a monster?!” Syena’s voice cracked as she flailed in mid-air (mid-space?), suddenly worried there was a monster inside of her.
“Calm down, calm down,” the witch said, waving her hands to soothe her. “You’re not a monster. I have something similar inside me. Well… two things, actually.”
Syena stared at her. “...Kidneys?”
The witch facepalming, hearing that response.
“I’m trying to be mysterious here! Do you mind?”
“Sorry,” Syena muttered, trying not to laugh.
“Well, let me explain it to you in a simple manner… Have you ever heard of the four fundamental forces of nature?” the witch asked, putting extra weight into her voice.
Syena tilted her head. “Nope.”
“What? Really? That’s basic high school physics!”
“I’m still in the first year of middle school,” Syena said bluntly.
“Oh…” The witch looked her up and down. “You don’t look like it. You’re way too…”
She paused. Her eyes drifted downward. Then quickly snapped back up.
“Anyway!” she said, clearing her throat with unnecessary loudness. “You’ve heard of gravity, right?”
“Of course.”
“Great. Gravity is one of the four fundamental forces. It’s what keeps planets together, makes apples fall, and ruins your ice cream when you trip.”
“Wait… is that important in every universe?”
The witch faltered. “Uh… not exactly. I mean, it depends on the structure of the world. Some universes operate on different laws entirely.”
“Then how is it fundamental?”
“It’s fundamental in context!” the witch snapped, her pride clearly wounded.
“I don’t get it,” Syena said flatly.
The witch twitched.
And then… she froze.
“Huh? You want to take over?” she mumbled to herself, looking off into the void. “No, no, I can do this… I said I can do this!”
“Are you… Okay?” Syena asked, her voice cautious.
The witch’s demeanour suddenly shifted.
“Fine. You’re smarter anyway,” she muttered.
A subtle ripple passed through space as her posture changed. Her previously green eyes turned gold, glowing faintly like stardust.
But Syena squinted, confused.
“No… you’re not imagining it,” the witch said suddenly.
Syena jolted in her seat. “W-What? You can read minds now?!”
The witch… no, this version of her… didn’t answer right away. The tone of her voice was still the same, but the presence behind it had changed.
“I have two personalities,” she said, as if it were a casual fact. “To some, it might as well be two entirely different people.”
“That… doesn’t help much.” Syena squinted at her, still visibly unnerved. “Like, are you possessed? Or is this some kind of magical dissociative identity thing?”
The witch tilted her head. “Interesting guess. But no. It’s not possession. I am both.”
Syena blinked. “That’s… still confusing.”
“Is that so?”
Syena paused. “...Yeah?”
The witch chuckled under her breath. “Then allow me to explain what’s inside you.”
Those words hit harder than they should have. Syena’s shoulders tensed. “Wait, inside me?”
“It’s not a monster, if that’s what you’re thinking,” the witch continued. “It’s a force. A seed of potential that bends the structure of reality. Not just your world, but all worlds. A thread in the very weave of existence.”
Syena’s mouth opened, but nothing came out.
“I-I don’t get it. Like, is it magic? Is it power? What do you mean by bending existence?”
The witch looked at her and smiled again, this time softer, almost pitying. “You’ll understand when the time comes.”
Syena leaned forward, desperate now. “Then tell me… what is it? What’s going to happen to me?”
Just as the witch opened her mouth to speak…
“Oh. Here we are. At our destination,” she said lightly, glancing down at the swirling blue-and-green world below them.
Syena’s jaw dropped. “H-Huh?! You’re changing the subject now?!”
The witch didn’t respond. Her gaze was fixed on the planet.
“I hope this world is your world,” she murmured, more to herself than to Syena.
And then, in the blink of an eye, the stars around them dimmed, the space folded inward, and the two of them began to descend.
But then, something stopped them.
Some invisible force...
“Huh… weird,” murmured the witch, her eyes half-lidded, sensing the air. “This world seems so open… yet shut tight at the same time.”
Syena frowned. “What does that even mean? Why do you always say things that make me question more instead of giving me a real answer?”
The witch gave her a brief look, only that alone.
“This world… It’s connected to many others. Threads run through it, from distant realms and forgotten timelines. And yet,” she continued, “it remains isolated. Like a door that’s unlocked but still won’t open.”
Syena exhaled sharply, clearly unimpressed. She wanted to ask something else, but before she could, the witch raised a finger.
“There’s a crack between dimensions, many of them. But this world… it rejects them all. It balances itself too perfectly. But that balance… It’s held together by something as fragile as glass.”
“Is that a problem?” Syena asked, a bit more softly this time.
“It is,” The witch replied. “Because it means we can’t enter through normal means.”
Syena folded her arms, impatient. “Then how do we get in?”
The witch turned to her, a strange gleam in her eyes. “We go through the crack. Just like the other worlds connect to it.”
“And how do we do that?”
“By using something inside me… something similar inside of you.”
Then, it began.
A glow, warm and golden, pulsed faintly from within the witch's chest. Space around them began to ripple, shimmer, and fold upon itself.
“In my name,” The witch whispered, “as the Beholder of Origin…”
“Do you have to say it out loud?” Syena groaned.
But the witch continued undeterred, her voice rising in resonance.
“...I invoke authority into Emilia Lorena. I coin this ability to rip through the dimensional shell… Duration: one minute.”
A blinding pulse followed. Her body tensed. Then came the blood.
A violent cough escaped her throat, splattering crimson across her pale hand.
“Whoa… hey! Are you okay?” Syena stepped closer.
But Emilia didn’t respond. Her breathing was shallow...
From her side, a staff began to form… no, not just form, but manifest. Carved with markings that shimmered in unnatural light. She gripped it tightly, then swung.
Reality cracked.
A deep fissure tore open in the air itself, jagged like lightning, revealing a swirling rift beyond.
Emilia stood, unshaken despite the blood still dripping from her palm.
“Let’s go,” she said, voice steady.
Syena stared at the tear, then at Emilia. She swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded.
Unfortunately for them, they’re due for a warm welcome.
Or maybe that’s fortunate?
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