Void Manipulation: Part I

Nova and Elesch stood in another shadowed alley on Earth, the air thick with the acrid tang of damp brick and refuse. The gloom gnawed at him; this was the second time he'd been unceremoniously dumped into a murky, notorious crevice of the world. A sardonic smirk curled his lip, as if the universe delighted in shoving him into these sordid corners, each one more disreputable than the last.

With a flick of his finger, he halted existence itself: time froze across all planes, a cosmic pause that rippled far beyond his intent. He'd meant only to still Earth, but his power, reckless and overzealous, had surged too fiercely, locking eternity in a breathless stasis. His jaw tightened, a flicker of self-reproach shadowing his features.

He tilted his head side to side, a faint crack of vertebrae punctuating his disapproval of his own unchecked might. Then he turned to Elesch, who stood bewildered, her once-divine essence stripped bare, leaving her vulnerable, her eyes wide with the raw confusion of a mortal lost in a god's game. He, though, retained a shard of his celestial potency, a faint glow of divinity pulsing beneath his skin.

Clearing his throat with a gravelly rasp, he rolled his shoulders, testing the alignment of his bones with a wince.

"Now," he said, his voice low and deliberate, "I will grant you any power you desire: water's fluid mastery, fire's searing wrath, or some bizarre force beyond imagining. Your wish is my command."

Elesch stared, her fingers twitching at her sides, her breath hitching as she grappled with the weight of his offer, her mortal heart pounding in the frozen silence of the alley.

Elesch lingered in thought, her brow creased as she sifted through infinite possibilities, her breath catching in the heavy, sour air of the alley. Then, like a lightning bolt splitting the dark, revelation struck.

"Void," she declared, her voice cutting with primal instinct. "I want void manipulation."

Nova's face blazed with a grin, his eyes sparking with a blend of mischief and fascination.

"Your wish is my command," he said, his words dripping with a theatrical reverence.

With a deft flick of his fingers, a subtle tremor of power pulsed through the stilled cosmos. Elesch's skin burned as energy coursed within her, a lone, serpentine pillar of obsidian void weaving itself across her arm, its edges glimmering with an unearthly glow.

She was transformed, a void manipulator, her mortal frame thrumming with the sinister weight of nothingness. Her lips parted in a savage, triumphant smile; I've drifted in my own void for eons, a desolate wasteland of my own design, she thought, her pulse quickening. To command it now, as a mortal, is to seize the reins of my own abyss.

Nova's gaze rested on her, his mind alight with contemplation. Void manipulation, he thought, a spark of admiration flaring in his chest. Not a bad choice for her. She was practically forged in the void's cold embrace, sculpted by its silent anarchy. 

"I have another offer for you, my dear Elesch," Nova began, his voice smooth yet weighted with promise, as her eyes sharpened with rapt attention. "If you desire, you can bypass the arduous path to mastering your power. Simply utter these words: 'Void Manipulation: Nullborne Queen, Transcendence Pillar Five.' Your potential will unfurl to its zenith in an instant."

Elesch tilted her head, her lips pursing as she weighed his words, her fingers tracing the inky pillar etched upon her arm.

"Okay," she said, her tone resolute yet tinged with defiance. "I'm not well-versed in the Circle of Pillars, having scarcely brushed the mortal realm. But one thing I know: I don't want a cheat code. I want to grow stronger as a mortal, on my own terms, side by side with you, of course." No shortcuts, she thought, her jaw set with a fierce resolve, just the raw grind of carving my own path through this fragile world.

Nova's eyes gleamed, a delighted smile spreading across his face, his chest swelling with quiet pride at her tenacity.

"Very well," he said, his voice warm with approval. "The offer remains, a safeguard should peril overwhelm you. Speak those words, and victory will be yours."

"Thank you!" Elesch exclaimed, her face breaking into a radiant smile, her eyes alight with gratitude.

She lunged forward, wrapping her arms around Nova in a fierce embrace, her cheek pressed against his chest, the warmth of their connection anchoring them in the shadowed alley. They lingered there, entwined for several heartbeats, the world's stillness a cocoon around their shared resolve.

With a final flick of his fingers, Nova unraveled the cosmic freeze, time shuddering back into motion. He drew back his divinity, a shimmering veil of power retreating from his form to spare the mortal realm its searing weight.

Freya should probably be fine holding onto our divinity, he thought, picturing their divine sparks nestled in her sacred chambers, glowing like twin stars in a velvet void. Elesch's divinity, too, rested there, preserved beyond the fragility of her mortal shell.

"Alright, let's head to our place, but damn, that tiny apartment's barely fit for one, let alone both of us," Nova muttered, his face twisting as the realization sank in. My cramped hole of a room's gonna suffocate with two people, he thought, cursing his oversight. "No worries, I'll talk to Marcus about getting us a new spot, something with two bedrooms. That should do it, if he comes through." His eyes narrowed, a shadow of doubt cutting through his shaky confidence; he knew he was clinging to a thin hope with that plan.

"Let's hit the association first, then figure things out from there. Sound good?" he asked, his voice rough but genuine, glancing her way.

Elesch gave a sharp nod, her expression taut with quiet resolve, her fingers brushing the dark, void-etched pillar on her arm like it grounded her.

They stepped from the alley's stifling gloom, the air heavy with a reek so foul it could make a dumpster seem fresh. As their eyes adjusted to the flickering neon haze beyond, the truth hit them like a gut punch: this wasn't America. Far from it. The chaotic sprawl of signs in sharp, intricate characters and the frenetic pulse of the streets screamed China. Just great, Nova thought, a wry smirk tugging at his lips, the universe loves dumping us in the deep end of nowhere.

I must've left my damn phone back at the dungeon, Nova thought, his fingers rummaging through empty pockets, a scowl etching deeper into his face. "Damn it," he muttered under his breath, the sting of his carelessness biting hard.

"We've gotta find someone to let us borrow their phone or something," he said, his voice rough with irritation. "Otherwise, we're stuck here unless we make a scene and catch the media's eye. Maybe then Marcus would drag his ass to pick us up. What a pain."

Elesch stayed silent, her gaze steady but distant, her fingers lightly tracing the void-etched pillar on her arm as they stepped from the alley's rancid shadows into the bustling main street. Curious eyes flicked toward them, the crowd's stares lingering for a fleeting moment before dismissing them as unremarkable, their interest snuffed out like a spent match.

They ducked into a small shop, its cluttered shelves brimming with trinkets and cheap electronics, the air thick with the scent of incense and stale cigarette smoke. If we're lucky, someone here's got a phone and a shred of generosity, Nova thought, his jaw tight as he scanned the unfamiliar faces behind the counter.

Nova approached the counter, where a wiry shopkeeper with a weathered face squinted at him through smudged glasses, his hands busy sorting a pile of knockoff chargers. The shop's dim fluorescent light buzzed overhead, casting a sickly glow on the cluttered shelves.

"Hey, look, we're in a bind," Nova said, his voice low but edged with urgency, leaning slightly forward. "Mind if we borrow your phone for a quick call? We're kinda stranded here."

The shopkeeper tilted his head, his brow furrowing as he stared blankly at Nova, clearly not catching a word. He muttered something rapid and sharp in Mandarin, his tone clipped, gesturing vaguely toward the door as if shooing them away. The words were a jarring tangle of sounds to Nova, incomprehensible, like static crackling in his skull. Great, a language barrier on top of everything else, he thought, his jaw tightening with frustration, his fingers flexing at his sides.

Elesch stood a step behind, her silence heavy, her eyes darting between Nova and the shopkeeper, the void-etched pillar on her arm seeming to pulse faintly in the dim light. The shopkeeper's muttering grew louder, his gestures more insistent, but the meaning remained a locked vault to them both.

A searing fireball streaked through the air, grazing perilously close to Nova's temple, its heat singeing the tips of his hair. He lunged aside, instincts flaring, his heart hammering as the realization of a near-fatal strike sank in. Grabbing Elesch's wrist, he yanked her down behind a grimy concrete wall, their bodies pressed tight against its cold surface.

His breath came in sharp bursts as he peeked around the edge, eyes scanning the chaotic street for the source of the attack, but the neon-lit haze and bustling crowd offered no answers. Nothing but shadows and strangers, he thought, his pulse roaring with adrenaline.

Stranded in the middle of China, and now some bastard's lobbing fireballs at my head. Fucking hell, he seethed, his fingers tightening around Elesch's arm, her own gaze wide and alert, waiting for the next course of action.