“So, that’s how we fucked up our System, powers, and everything else in the last couple of days,” Eli said to his friends, old and new, with a wry smile. They lounged in relative comfort, considering they were in the middle of their makeshift camp set up in the center of the road.

  “More like that’s how I messed it all up,” Roman said, crossing his arms over his chest.

  “I think we’re even now considering how many mistakes I have made. Wouldn’t you agree?” Eli rolled his eyes, relieved at the past hour or two of normalcy. Thank God the Azurites had agreed to a truce. All they needed now was to figure out how to break them free from their System too.

  “From my point of view, not at all. It sounds like my life would have been even more hellish somehow if my parents hadn’t moved us here,” Scott scoffed.

  “Be nice.” Celi mock swatted his side before turning back to Eli and Roman, who sat facing the four of them. “What’s it like being cut off from the System?”

  “That’s what I want to know.” Daisy leaned forward.

  “I love it. All of my powers feel like they’re mine and not a loan from the System, you know?”

  “Not at all, but it sounds dangerous.” Steria chewed her lip with a frown, seemingly stuck on processing his and Roman’s story still.

  “My experience has been less positive without the System. None of my powers work the same. Hopefully, I can make my own system instead of winging it like Eli. Something less invasive?”

  “Is that even possible? Sounds like a good way to break your other powers or cause a System-virus. Or something.” Scott slid deeper into his shadow-constructed couch. The motion reminded Eli of countless sleepovers before everything fell apart.

  “These Systems had to come from somewhere.” Roman shrugged. “But I’ll be careful. I do not love the idea of a System virus pandemic.”

  “I do, though. Imagine forcing a trade on an abom or someone like Land and Sky. Hold their powers hostage or cripple them.” Scott’s eyes danced with malicious mirth.

  “We should probably avoid making essence ransomware or disabling anyone’s powers. Even spawn. They are people too.” Eli winced at the horrific idea of having his or anyone else’s powers ruined.

  “You have to admit the idea sounds interesting,” Daisy said.

  “Does it matter? I’m sure that people aren’t even people anymore,” Scott snorted.

  “That’s pretty harsh, don’t you think?” Eli asked with a concerned frown.

  “How many humans and abominations have you killed by this point? Hundreds? Thousands? Probably more than that? Life has lost almost all of its value, if it ever had any. At least here. Maybe it isn’t that way in Farbrook or that other dimension you got marooned in, but that is absolutely what every stranger you meet in this city believes. Everyone is a walking gift bag of a new power, experience, or whatever else you need. All you have to do is fight to kill them, or force them to hand over what you want or need.”

  Eli leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. Starlight welled in his eyes with a vibrant surge of distaste, shame, and anger that what his friend said was at least partially accurate. “Is that how you want it to be? Do you enjoy having to scavenge and fight for your life every day? If we hadn’t made an agreement with these Azurites, no matter how temporary, would you have gladly slaughtered them to the last one standing? More?”

  “C’mon, Eli, don’t pretend like you haven’t done the same to who knows how many aboms. Roman told us about the battle with the tree people in Farbrook, and about the weird dystopian warrior cult in New Faram. You are a killer as much as we are. Not as bad as them still, considering how they conquered our school. Butchered our neighborhoods. And you want to make peace with them.”

  “Yes, I do. We can at least make an attempt. If it doesn’t work out, we can run away or kill them then. Besides, I agree with what Roman said before their raiding party attacked us. I want life to be somewhat normal again. Don’t you? There’s no way it ever will be if everyone tries to kill each other at a moment’s notice.”

  “That would be nice and peaceful, wouldn’t it? At least for a while. But while we relax, others will grow stronger until we die.” Scott rolled his eyes, drawing a chorus of weary, overly familiar sighs from Celi and Roman. Steria and Daisy watched on the sidelines, the former incredulous and the latter simply interested. “Why are you all sighing? I am not wrong.”

  “There is more to improving than killing everything in your path like a… rabid… beast.” Eli trailed off to glance at the mini fortress the Azurites made for their own rest and watch. Six Azurite soldiers waited outside the blocky conjured stone structure reinforced with barricades of shoved together cars. Was it the System that pushed them to fight each other? To reduce people into a collection of bodies to harvest powers from. It was practically an all-consuming gluttony he had seen repeated in everyone he had ever met or known. Most of all, he saw it in himself.

  Only Alcius and his kingdom of a dungeon had what he called ‘enlightened’ species rather than mindless spawn.

  “Is this where you mention the idea of us going to that other dimension to take place in a delving tournament again?” Daisy dove into the awkward silence that had developed after Eli stopped talking.

  “Oh, you mean the sport where teams of people genocide the abominations for fun and profit? Why would you want to do that if you spontaneously decided that they’re people now too?” Scott said with a copious amount of scathing sarcasm.

  “I’m pretty sure it’s different there compared to here. Maeve probably wouldn’t stand for actual genocide, right, Eli?”

  “Huh? No, I doubt she would. Sorry, I’m thinking.” Eli shook his head to clear his head. Profound Erudition took the surplus of essence he had now that he was full at capacity thanks to their break. Based on his conversation with the System of Humanity, he knew for a fact that there were systems for other species. Did the systems encourage all the fighting and slaughter, or was it because of them? Their powers? He yearned to pace so he could untangle this puzzle.

  “—that’s a first! Bet you don’t do that often,” Scott chuckled at his own joke.

  “Ha ha,” Eli replied on autopilot. He had conveniently forgotten how abrasive his friend had been long before Tom’s bullying had started. Despite a whole tank of essence, he knew that there were too many variables to dive any deeper into this conundrum without assistance. “Hey, Rome, why do you think the Azurites really want their Systems removed in the first place?”

  “Didn’t they tell you?”

  “All they said was that they needed freedom from the ‘dens of death and rebirth’. I assumed that meant the dungeons, and I’m sure it does, but now I’m wondering if they’re also forced to fight us by the Systems.”

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  “I suppose it’s possible. I’m still trying to figure out how we could intentionally break theirs or if we even should,” Roman admitted.

  “You aren’t asking because you secretly want to wage a war against the Systems or anything? Right?” Steria asked.

  “You better not. I like my powers the way they are, thank you very much.” Daisy glared at Eli with a raised eyebrow.

  “Why would I fight the System when I said all I wanted was to have a more normal life again? If people want us to help them get rid of it, then that’s fair, but that’s as far as I intend for it to go. Besides, I hope that doing it on purpose will help Rome get an idea of how he can build a replacement for himself and anyone else that wants an alternative.”

  “How long until that becomes another fight?” Celi asked, turning away from the candleflame miniatures she had acting out an idle puppet show on the palm of her hand. Eli blinked, finally noticing the display of what was clearly her ingrained Body power. One of her figures took on his appearance with a cartoonishly wide smile. It held its hands up to menacing masses of various spawn and monstrous humans. They all pounced on fire-Eli extinguishing him into a puff of smoke.

  “I don’t mind fighting. Hell, I love it a little too much. It’s the mindless killing I want to change. Still, I take your point. Anyways, was that some form of Fire Puppetry? That was pretty interesting. If you ever meet my sister Lyra, you’ll have to show her it.”

  “Something like that. That’s what it became after a few merges and an evolution. I started off with Spark Animation. When the Initialization happened, I was really into drawing, photo manipulation, and anything else that would make my pictures move. Plus, uh, I really like fire.”

  “It’s one of the best fire powers I have seen,” Daisy commented with a grin to the other woman. “Too bad you have it as a stat or I would copy it.”

  “Sounds like a good thing that you can’t steal it, then, Collector.” Scott rolled his eyes.

  “Alright, I think we have all rested enough,” Steria said, interrupting the conversation before it could derail again. “What’s the plan? Are we helping them break their system, running away, or fighting them?”

  “Let’s help them. I will get started on figuring out a way to break their connection to the System,” Roman said.

  “Kill them all tonight when they want to talk. I’ll be a lot stronger with all the darkness too,” Scott said with a shark grin.

  “To be honest, it does not matter to me. Fight, help, escape, it’s all the same to me. Regardless, we should be ready for battle or retreat,” Celi said, turning toward Eli. “Can you teleport yet or are your System-free powers still causing problems?”

  “I have enough essence to use all three of my powers. So yes, if we have to, I can portal us anywhere close by. Further if I have time.” Eli explained with a reception of a few nods from Celi and Steria, who seemed relieved at the possibility of retreat.

  “My vote is that we help them so I can see what happens,” Daisy said.

  “And you obviously want to help them, Eli?” Steria asked, to which he nodded. “Let’s figure out how. We’ll split up based on how we voted, so we’re prepared. Agreed?”

  Eli peeled off from the others with Roman and Daisy. Whispered conversation erupted from the trio behind them. He hoped they were making the right decision. All they had was guesswork, experience, and old world morals he wished could be upheld once again.

  “Thank you for standing with me on this. I know you may not be, but I am exhausted from the constant fighting,” Roman said, leading them to an empty stretch of road behind their camp. Dreamed blocks of stone, fire, and metal piled together before his friend. In another life, Eli could easily see Roman creating wonders like he had before Sandra had driven them to the second dimension. It was time he did again.

  “Fighting was never the point. All I wanted was to push myself. Improve. Battle quickly became the best opportunity to do that. That’s all.” Eli clapped his hand on Roman’s shoulder.

  “You guys ready, or do you need a couple of tissues to cry in? Sooner we do this, the quicker we are finished with the Azurites.” Daisy dropped onto a throne of stone without a second glance.

  They got to work.

  Roman recreated his original relay satellite with his hodgepodge of materials. He etched the original enchantment into the device for thirty minutes of work while Eli and Daisy watched. Purple sparks smoldered on the dull dome of volcanic stone and the metal condensed from a marriage of flame and electricity. Inherited aspects flickered inside of its casing in a flowing cascade of power, ready to activate at a switch or command. Construction and connection scaffolded onto a Dream of Space intent on imitating whoever it accessed into a proxy of unity.

  “Is this it?” Daisy walked around the copy of the satellite that had freed Eli and condemned Roman in equal measure.

  “More or less. I had more technology I could use compared to what is in that. This is basically just a monolith dreamed and enchanted in the previous version’s image.”

  “You are lucky because what you have here should have ended in disaster. I can tell that you rely way too much on tech for your powers. Honestly, some middle schoolers have better enchanting or Dream powers than this.”

  “Hey, be nice. What can we do about it to make it better?” Eli asked both of them. He stared at the far too bulky construction at a loss. Both Enchantment and Dream powers were his weaker areas compared to everything else. What he could tell was it would mix their powers, emotions, and minds together in a horrendous gestalt. Profound Erudition pulsed a reminder that that was basically what had happened originally.

  “Let me handle the center of the enchantment. Roman can copy his original enchantment over and you deal with the Space element of it. Yeah?” Daisy sat back in her throne, bent over to scoop out a chunk of asphalt from the street. A new aspect of artistic-identity formed inside of her core beside her copy of Eli’s teleportation power. He watched the essence flow in streams into the asphalt. Bands of white swirled around it, carving out bleached furrows out of the mix of black and gray. More escaped her in a torrent of power assisted by the System’s boundaries, visible due to the sheer amount of power.

  It was a borrowed Dream of art and passion that ripped and tugged at Eli’s heart. He had been far too stuck on horrors and moral trespasses others had used their Dreams to commit atrocities with. Not the beauty of it.

  “Who had this power originally,” Eli whispered without meaning to.

  “My grandfather.”

  “No wonder you commented on how bad I was with Chromatic Dream if this is what you are used to.”

  “To be fair, a colorblind sloth could do better than that.”

  “What do you have against sloths?” Roman asked, clearly incredulous on the behalf of the species.

  “Focus. Your turn is almost up, bot boy.” Daisy held out the malformed lump of asphalt turned crystalline marble. Shifting clouds eddied around its surface on a circular trek from the teardrop tip to its base. Roman tapped the sculpture in the making. Fiery, electric sparks forked into its channels, spilling smoke and sprays of chipped stone.

  “Are those circuits?” Eli asked, sharpening his eyes with Stellar Body.

  “Yes. They are. Now, please shut up until it’s your turn?” Roman barked in frustration when one of the paths dug too deep. His Imperial Will somehow reversed, undoing the error. Seconds ground out into minutes until he was finally done. “There. Your turn.”

  Eli took a deep breath to settle his nerves. Starspace snapped into his core with a righteous sense of belonging as his surroundings harmonized into a mental spatial map. Tension drained out of his shoulders and his pool of essence. He reached out and touched the gradually evolving bust. Strands of both Daisy and Roman’s power aspects and their essence brushed over his own, inviting him to add himself onto the canvas.

  He obliged with an injection of Space into the darkening marble until it was a reflective void black. Distance blurred into a malleable fuzz, stretching the enchantment’s limits further than the physical proximity it relied on before. Starlight ignited Roman’s enchanted circuits into radiant gold.

  “I… it’s finished,” Eli coughed out past his dry, cracked lips. Stellar Body shifted to embody Earth, hydrating him even as the ‘wound’ healed. Roman and Daisy, startled on either side of them, transfixed. All three of their hands laid upon the resplendent marble, so similar to a galaxy frozen to stone with whirls of golden starfire. Only thing that was left was to activate it.

  “About fucking time!” Scott growled from where he stood a few feet away holding the point of a triangle with a shroud of toxic gloom. “Want to give it to the homicidal giants so we can end this stalemate or not?”

  Eli turned with the other two to blink at the procession of eight Azurites standing in a wide circle with their spear and shield held at a loose parade rest. A triangular silver wall of moonlight transformed into crystal separating the Azurites from them. Scott, Celi, and Steria all held one of three points with prepared darkness, fire, and moonlight.

  “At last. Your fulfilled oath does your ancestors proud, Eli Newton. Pray tell, do we negotiate further over that which you and yours have wrought, or do we battle this night?”