The dreg hadn't even finished processing its sheer astonishment at the pronouncement that bid it farewell from the dying realm, that another sprung up on it, clearly from a far different source.
Its body was suspended mid-air, no ground under its feet. But gravity held no sway here. And though the being was sure that there was something around, an entirely new world surrounding it on all sides, it couldn't make out anything specific, with neither of its sights or any other of its senses. As if it were entirely deprived of perception, even though it could see perfectly well!
It was quite a strange situation.
Feeling a kind of pressure, the being turned to look at the only thing that it could... not quite see, so much as get an idea of. And that idea had it cower in fear.
Something enormous in all conceivable ways, more immense than the entire world itself, was bent over the being, side-eyeing it and distractedly reaching forward with a 'finger'. Playful, and yet terrifying. Like an excited child, but from the perspective of a helpless toy.
Remembering itself, the dreg unclenched its form and smoothly segued the cowering into a bow... and then into kneeling... and then into prostration, for good measure.
On point, a gentle push had the dreg standing again.
The annoyance might say that, but it had allowed the being to express respect in the first place, because now it couldn't move so much as a finger!
Its idle protest received no response. Rather, something started pushing and prodding at... something else, that the being couldn't really place. Because it obviously wasn't its body... and yet it was? in a certain sense.
The first - and last, until now - time an entity had tried to fiddle with the being in a similar way, it had been with... it must have been the little light. The being had been quite cross with him.
And it might as well have! How dare that insignificant gnat lay hands on something so much better than it? The dreg was doubly happy to have freed the world from the burden of his existence, now.
Of course, a Guardian was an entirely different beast, especially one as renowned as the Divine Forge. And yet, letting anything at all have such sway over one's sidhi, no matter how well meaning... where would it decide to steer the being, exactly?
There was a sudden pause from the annoyance, filled with wonder and anticipation. The closest thing in the being's memory would be its own relish at an incoming transformation, like with the bison's gem.
An irresistible force jerked the being sideways, bringing it to an entirely different place, that was somehow still the very same one it had just been in. And the Forge's attention was now fully, uncompromisingly here, pinning it to the spot.
The Divine Forge, bestower of the absolute best path for every supplicant, was offering... choices?
As chaotic symbols and deeper, instinctual understanding filled its mind, the being was more than intrigued. The creature described here felt like something unbelievably powerful and, more importantly, it felt just like the dark one! Surely this was the right pick?
For that very same reason, the dreg vehemently vetoed the option. The monkey insisted: why wouldn't it want to be more like its greatest foe, the one it had almost lost against even at its best?
But, even discounting morality - which was a tremendously big ask - the dreg knew the truth about its former kind and their methods: one only chose that path as a last resort, if they were a good for nothing with no future. Why steal someone else's ill fitting shoes if you already had your own? And, keeping to the metaphor, the monkey had the absolute best pair of shoes the dreg had ever seen.
The best of the losers is still a loser.
At this, the dreg was starting to lose hope: it had thought that its loss would have meant better options, a brighter future. But this offer was even worse than the latter, and by far!
The being agreed fully, and adamantly refused as soon as it understood the details: a nature based on abuse and betrayal was the very opposite of its values.
The being simply wanted to leave its options open so that it could choose for itself how to behave, and not become something that was forced to be awful. That wasn't so hard to understand.
The being was not going to take the truth back.
Finally something truly interesting.
The being didn't have a frame of reference to understand most of this, but there was one thing that caught its attention. Since that first time climbing out of its small world, it had loved to wander around, seeing new things and discovering stuff. Now that it had all but confirmed that there was an even wider world outside...
the being wanted to see it all.
The dreg, for its part, had certainly heard about Tyrna. Who hadn't? And though it knew more than a little alarming stuff about the place, no primordial realm was all sunshine and rainbows. In fact, given the tales about the Forge and the two previous offers, this was tame, even. If nothing else, it would truly be the best choice to move around and explore. By far. If the dreg wanted to simply drop its past - forget and move on - there was no better option, and never before had it felt this willing to do so.
Accepting immediately was more than a bit tempting. Still, it paid to be careful and to consider the downsides, that were more than a few.
On top of the peculiarities having to do with the very nature of Tyrna, there was also the stuff about angering the powerful. The Forge had put it in a colorful way, but it was true that strong sidhas were usually very comfy and entrenched in their territories: they hated and feared anything ‘slippery’, anything that didn’t fit. The inhabitants of the hidden world were exactly what they did not want around, and it was never a good thing to be hated by the powerful.
Reluctantly, the being decided to at least look at the other options first. Maybe there would be something that wouldn't have it hunted down just for existing?
This time, it was the being that needed to play the patient role, because this option was apparently a really big deal.
And of course it was. Dragons were as rare and legendary as they were unique and powerful. Even though their specialty was usually infusion - which the dreg didn't particularly care for - there was a reason they were considered the epitome of strength. No matter what, becoming a true one would be something magnificent, almost mythical.
But didn't that still mean a target on the being's back?
…
The being was intrigued. Even if this choice didn't feel like it could compare with the others, it had liked gaining control of the essence of the world. Of the previous world, rather. Still, this was about more focus onto essence, implying that the others wouldn't take it away entirely.
...Didn't this mean that the being could use the little details and unique stuff in each pick to deduce the commonalities?
In any case, essence was nice and felt extremely pleasant and natural and all. But it hadn't really mattered much in the end, had it? Even obtaining almost absolute control over it hadn't done the being any good in the fight with the dark one. So why should it give up the other choices for this little of a difference? What if the new worlds it would visit didn't even have as much of the stuff around?
The dreg knew for a fact that there wouldn't be any essence around whatsoever, not even a minuscule amount, and felt that this line of thought was correct. Surely there was more to the 'essence', but what it had seen wasn't that impressive. From its experiences in the wrecked realm, coupled with the Forge's description, this pick sounded like it would be about commanding hordes of constructs. Compared to the others... Truthfully, this option felt like the forge had felt slighted by its impatience and was just mocking it.
It was a really good option... if the dreg wanted to keep trying to get itself killed, and this time not so subtly.
There was no outward change that the being could see or hear or anything, but the pressure diminished. That immense, all-encompassing attention had turned away, or at least receded enough to allow some respite, some time to think. And the being really needed time to think this through.
It seemed that its 'last', failed transformation had only been a springboard for something far greater. But a third chance would be more than unlikely. It needed to get this one right.
The second option was out, on account that it went against everything the being believed in. As for the first... the first was more complicated. Because while it was by far the most similar to the dark one, and becoming more like that creature had been the original intent behind the whole thing, there was just this strange sense of... unease, that the being couldn't place. As if it would regret going for this pick forever.
And of course it would: now that a manner of conscience had somehow been returned to the dreg, it would rather die than pick the 'heir of Greed' option. Conversely, the Vaskari seemed powerful and it didn't really need to be evil so long as it was handled with care. But it still struggled to compare with the others.
The Uq'uma was the obvious winner, in the dreg's mind. Power on a mythical level and a break from its past that sounded nothing if not pleasant, with what downsides? That it would be hunted by some deluded would-be slayers? Every option would see it hunted either way. It wasn't even some cruel practical joke on the Forge's part, but simply the reality that every powerful creature faced, if they had no backing. For while even the plainest of samanya, the commons, could eventually rise if they had opportunities and the will to capitalize on them, there was no denying the enormous advantages a powerful species had, especially in becoming a true immortal. The person that the dreg had been had known that very well.
Naradhas might have been particularly enthusiastic about it, but enough people would seize a piece of that power given the opportunity, that the dreg would be a target no matter what.
The downsides of the other choices, though, were much heavier.
For the Yaksi, the Forge mentioned something about carving a place into the world, which aligned with its scant knowledge about Tyrna: it would have to either submit and join another lord, fight them off to take their place, or find and conquer a free land. The 'hidden depths' seemed to imply the latter case, which was by far the toughest, as for a place to be vacant there must be a very good reason.
The Apsira was simply... underwhelming.
The dreg had sought to steal the ‘nucleus’ from the monkey, yes, but mostly as a bargaining chip for the Forge. Every account on the rogue Guardian seemed to contradict the last, which implied that it was either very moody or, more likely, that it rewarded those presenting a more interesting case, while snubbing the plainer ones.
There were few things more exotic than the ‘nucleus’ and the ‘essence’ it commanded, so it had been the perfect thing to not only gather the Forge's attention in the first place, but to also avoid simply getting turned into a much crappier version of the Raugmari. To avoid that, the dreg would have accepted something a tenth as powerful as the weakest of drakonoids. To be offered the real deal, and a powerful sounding version at that... there were no doubts in its mind.
Yet the being was torn.
This annoyance was different from the one it had always known. More... flippant and uncaring.
The old one had been distant and at times a pain, yes. But still genuinely helpful, especially towards the end. This one though, it didn't seem to care much about the being's intentions and values, as demonstrated by the second choice. Yet...
It still felt fair, if in its own strange way.
And now the dreg was torn too, certainty melting away slightly.
For one thing was true about the Forge: it didn't make weak sidhas. It would absolutely disregard a supplicant's feelings and turn them into something that went directly against their values... but that something would be powerful. Which meant that as absurd as it sounded, for these choices to be here, they must be comparable to the Uq'uma. Or at least have potential that matched its, in some area.
Knowing this... didn't help any.
Because other than the dreg's spotty knowledge which had already proved to be unreliable, the Forge hadn't really provided much info. Speculation was only just that.
What if the Yaksi option was so hard in the beginning because passing that trial granted more than all the rest combined? What if the Vaskari allowed it to piggyback its way to ascension in less a few years? Divines, what if the Raugmari allowed it to take charge and reform an entire kind of naradhas?
Even with the last option, the being was sure that the dark one had entirely missed the point of essence. There must be more to it than that mess of crazied creatures.
There was just no way to know for sure.
But the being had a secret weapon: when ignorant, it simply had to learn from something else that knew!
The dreg was as astounded as the annoyance, but the being saw nothing strange with that.
Like the dragon option?
But it was so hard to decide this way!
Usually, when pressed to choose between stuff that was all good, the being would go for the out of the box option and grab it all. But it had the distinct impression that wouldn't be possible here.
So what about a sixth pick? One that was actually better?
The being was under heavy pressure, anxious that it might make a mistake, potentially ruining its future and forever regretting this moment. But that was for later. Right now, it was having a blast. And while it didn't know this annoyance very well yet, it seemed to be enjoying itself too.
For its part, the dreg was too horrified at the audacity, figuratively cringing away from the situation.
The dreg was left speechless. It was?!
But the being understood. The annoyance just needed to be honest with itself: how often did it get to do this, really? Wasn't it better to fully enjoy itself when it could?
The dreg was far too astounded at the fact that the silly ploy had actually worked to even examine the last choice properly. When it finally did, it was speechless again. Not just at the sheer significance somehow positively oozing from this option, but at the very fact that one such as it, a former naradha of all things, could even lay eyes onto this chance. To actually grasp it...
But while the being was also entranced, its focus was stuck on one detail... a little something had caught its attention far more than anything else, strengthening an earlier assumption. And when it went back to peruse the others, it understood: the annoyance had been secretly guiding it all along.
The dreg too, looking at things from this perspective... couldn't help but agree.
The choice was obvious.
The being was beyond sure.
The pressure from before came back in full force. And then stronger, and stronger. Until it was so heavy that the being would have collapsed onto the ground if there had been a ground to collapse to. As it was, it felt like a matter of moments before its body was pulverized.
Yet instead of turning to dust, its body shifted under the strain, changing in a way far deeper, far more fundamental than any transformation before. Starting from its center and extending to the extremities, its flesh, its very self, was turning into something that was far different, far better, far more fitting than anything else the being had ever been.
There were a few more choices for the being to make, coming faster than it could even process - especially with the encroaching shifting of its flesh - and yet always going the exact way it wanted.
The only one it remembered properly was about its future shape.
The being didn't have much experience about this, and so it went with the usual, the only shape it had ever admired. Graceful and beautiful. The dark one's own- oh, and the new friend too! That friend had been so... so...
Time started flowing again in the Anukarana. The contraction of the sphere of yellowness suddenly accelerated, looking not unlike water rushing down a drain.
Drab gravel and pointy rocks left room to grass, shrubbery, mushrooms and all things forest, closing in on a small yellowish point floating low in the air... until even that popped, leaving nothing but crisp night air. And a naked body falling onto the ground.
Feet, soft-looking but completely unbothered by rocks and thorns, pushed against the soil as slender limbs uncoiled, allowing the most alien creature this sector had seen for a while to stand up.
"Now... this is different."
What do you think the being should have picked? What was the best choice between the 6?
