Old Echoes

“You know, I was expecting it to be way trippier out here, but this isn’t so bad.” Kat glanced to her two guides. “Although I do have this cut off sort of feeling. Like trying to see through thick fog.” She made a broad sweep of her arm, indicating the sheer darkness around them, broken only by pin-point stars and ribbons of aurora-like energy arcing in the seeming distance. “I feel like this whole… region… should be boiling with chaos, but it’s like… honestly, it’s kind of just like looking out into outer space. Endless black with random points of light, and the light-ribbons instead of nebula. Not unpleasant, really.”

Cyl smiled. “The Beyond is as it sounds. Beyond. Our senses are largely blinded by the shadows of the subconscious. In turn, it makes that which does exist in definition stand out starkly. Even our own expanded senses interpret things in mortal understanding. That which has not yet formed simply isn’t, and so much of the Beyond is essentially empty space. That which is shines as specks of potential lit into form, and so we can see it. But reaching those spots is the challenge. Distance doesn’t really exist out here in the literal sense, but in terms of conceptual dissonance, those other realms are far from us. Far from what we are. And so it takes us effort to reach.” She pointed to one of the arcing ribbons of energy. “Although you do see resonant flow between ideas, and as such, you find these existential jetstreams between Multiverses.”

“Wouldn’t it be easier to ride one of those out?” said Kat.

“If they connect where you want to go, certainly,” said Cyl. “We use them sometimes. But in the interest of keeping the Omnyverse isolated, we’ve made sure to keep ourselves distant from such streams, in as much as we can. We don’t usually ride any to and from the immediate vicinity.”

“You can understand why we don’t want to give our position away,” said Reignbeau, giving Kat a bit of a side-eye. “So don’t try to shortcut out here.”

Kat pursed her lips. “I won’t. I’m following your lead, like you insisted.”

“Good,” said Reignbeau. “Keep it up.”

“You’re doing fine, Kat,” said Cyl.

Loosening Up

A Game of Blind Dates: As the number of Omnys increased, and distinct cliques were beginning to form as a result, Whitney thought it would be a fun idea to devise a new game that would open up more chances for her fellow Omnys to connect. Omnys who wanted to participate would throw their names into a hat, and the names would be pulled out two at a time. Those who were paired off would each be sent to a private pocket dimension, committed to spending an entire day with one another.

While the odds often paired off girls who were fully down with playing together, those more isolating or shy Omnys who could be convinced to join the game might get the chance to hang out with someone they wouldn’t have previously considered!

***

Lettie popped into being on a stretch of soft sand. She was in the middle of a tiny, peaceful island, mostly sand with a few trees, the sea gently lapping at the shores. To her left was a small wooden shack with a bed. In front of her was a quartet of logs surrounding a small ring of pale stones, ready for firewood. The sun was already mostly set, and the stars were just starting to peak through the twilit sky. Lettie sat down on the sand, using one of the logs as a backrest, and waved her hand towards the stone ring, creating a self-sustaining fire without bothering to collect any wood first.

A moment later, Megan suddenly appeared. She glanced over to Lettie and scowled.

“Great,” she muttered. “Why do I gotta be stuck with you?”

Lettie gave her a bemused smile and a shrug. “Probably cuz it’d be funny? Cuz I’m the chipperist and you’re the bitterist?”

Megan blinked, then scowled deeper. “Probably. What a pain in the ass.”

“Sorry I’m not Shady,” said Lettie with a smirk. “I know you love her more.”

Megan’s scowled lessened, but didn’t go away entirely. “Love is laying it on a little thick. I like her sometimes.”

“Just sometimes?”

A Scarlet Shade

Since its incorporation into the Second Omnyverse, the World of Apoclypha had yet to see another incident of intrusion. The other Omnys knew better than to impose themselves onto Domina’s personal space. Even Opal and RoseGold, if they had to talk to her, would confront her on the neutral ground of Fulcrum, the Second Omnyverse’s own Fundament dimension. Megan, of course, still came and went as she pleased, but her Splinter-sister had made a point to give her more space since they’d made the move here.

So when another Omny did decide to finally breach her World’s walls, she was instantly alerted to their coming before they’d even crossed the threshold.

Domina had just entered her throne room, teleporting herself straight onto the tangled, shivering mass of broken-yet-still-living mortal bodies she used as her royal chair. The twisted mass let out a creaking chorus of screams as her body made contact, electrifying their frayed nerves with an intense undulation of horrid pain and inhuman pleasures. Before she could get into the moment, however, her attention snapped towards one corner of the room. A few moments later, the shadows of the corner began to boil. From the oily darkness, a scraggily-haired young woman dressed in a tattered black teddy emerged into the World.

Second Thoughts

It had taken her a couple years to really figure out what she wanted, but once she had everything ironed out, Opal wasted no time constructing her own World. Azure Horizons, a realm of neon cities and fantastical naturescapes, where mystical powers tied to Colors and Song granted the rare individual the status of “Wizartist”.

Alright, so maybe it would need a bit of tweaking as it went, but she had a pretty solid foundation at least. Naturally, her bar and nightclub chain, the Blue Illusion, had establishments in the extant cities, overseen by Created staff. On a routine basis, she would check on the stores, inserting herself among said staff.

One such visit was rather suddenly diverted as the blue-haired Omny felt a very familiar presence touch her mind across the borders into her World. Only her mothers resonated with her essence more strongly, but only just.

She accepted the unworded invitation, and materialized inside one of her currently-closed bars for a private meeting. She set up one table for two, and even though it was hardly necessary, set up drinks for her guest. A moment later, Jax appeared, and they shivered a bit as their cosmic energies thrummed in a sympathetic vibration.

Opal smiled warmly as she beckoned him over. “Hey, Uncle!”

Jax smirked as he came over to join her at the table. “Am I your Uncle or your Brother?”

Opal thought for a moment. “Let's go with Bruncle.”