Barrier Revelations

A look of concentration appears on her face before her confusion grows even more. “Okay this is super weird. I thought you might have anchored the barrier in the same place as the Fateweaver outpost, which is a big no no. We would have had to close or move the barrier if you did. But not only have you not anchored the barrier in the same place as us-” She closes her eyes and concentrates again to make sure of her findings.

“-you haven’t actually anchored it anywhere.” She looks at me, shaking her head in confusion and shock. “This is unheard of. It shouldn’t be possible. This barrier is not tethered to the mundane world at all.” She mutters, clearly having trouble processing what she’s discovered. “Can you explain what that means?” I ask, prodding for more information.

She nods slowly. “It’s pretty simple to understand. When you create a barrier, it anchors itself to the mundane world in a way that means it occupies the same ‘space’ as a piece of the mundane world, but in a different way. Trying to put up two barriers that occupy the same mundane space is extremely unstable, usually they’ll try to meld together, which can be held off by a powerful Fateweaver.”

“The theory is that this is how all barriers work, no matter what kind they are, or whether or not they copy over objects from the mundane world. Our current understanding is that all barriers have to have some kind of an anchor to the mundane world. Theoretically, if one wasn’t anchored, no abyssal would be able to enter it. But this!” She gestures around at the Kingdom barrier. “It’s not anchored at all, it doesn’t occupy any mundane space. It’s like it exists on it’s own separate plane, and yet, you can still enter it.”

She shakes her head in disbelief. “You don’t need me to fortify this. Nobody, apparently besides you, could even try to enter, because nobody could locate any point to enter from.” She says. “So we’re safe in here?” I ask, just to be sure. “Gemma, as far as I know, nobody except for Gaia herself could get in here. I don’t even know how you got in here, I don’t know how you brought me here.”

I turn to Ivy and squeeze her hand gently. “We’re safe here hun.” I say gently, smiling at her. Ivy smiles back and pulls me into a cuddle. Elsa, still processing this whole thing, speaks up again. “Safe is an understatement. You’re untouchable in here. A whole army of Fateweavers wouldn’t be able to break into this barrier.”

I kiss Ivy on the cheek and turn to Elsa. “I’m guessing there’s not much you can do to strengthen the barrier?” I ask her. She shakes her head. “Not that you need it anyway, as I said, this is probably one of the most secure places in the abyss. I also can’t even tap into the barrier though. I can feel some things about it, but I can’t do anything to change it.” She says. I cock my head out of curiosity. “How so?”

“The only person in control of this barrier is you. I can’t even begin to try to take control over it, and I doubt any Fateweaver could. This is also what we call a stablelink barrier. It’s a type of barrier that is stable enough to be able to open other barriers inside it without the two collapsing in on each other. It’s also not like any stablelink barrier I’ve ever heard of or been inside.”

“Normally you’d need a Fateweaver to set one of these up, including specific “link points” for the new barrier to anchor to, usually a doorway for easy understanding. Here, you can open another barrier anywhere and it’ll work perfectly fine.” She shakes her head after her long winded explanation. “Are you the one who created this barrier?”

I shrug. “Not consciously? It sorta just manifested as a part of my powers.” I tell her. She puts a palm to her forehead as if rubbing it will help her understand. “You’re something else. You’ve just completely broken the entire understanding that we have of how barriers work and what is possible, and you say it just sort of happened?”

“If ya done wondering how our amazing girlfriend broke the universe, wanna stay for lunch?” Mia asks cheerfully. Elsa looks at her, and if the confused look on her face could grow even more, I’m sure it would be doing so now. “Our girlfriend?” “We’re all dating here hun. Polyamory is great!” She says, pulling Skylar close and kissing her.

Skylar, not very comfortable being herself around most people, reddens rapidly. “So how ‘bout it? You staying for lunch?” She asks again. Elsa shakes her head for the umpteenth time in about five minutes. “I could use some food to help me digest this, if that’s okay.” “Of course hun! Ivy, ready to test out our new kitchen?”

While Ivy and Mia make some lunch for the five of us, using ingredients we were able to get from the abyss auction (you really can buy just about anything you can think of from that site), I give Elsa a tour around our home. She’s much more fascinated by the barrier than the palace itself, but she’s still impressed, and even more so after hearing that this barrier only sprang into existence this morning.

The entire time she speaks, she still uses that enchantingly soft tone of voice. Even her shock at me breaking reality doesn’t compromise that. Every time I hear her voice, I find myself wanting to listen more and more. But besides talking about barriers and Fateweaving, which she’s clearly extremely knowledgeable and passionate about, she doesn’t say much. Her smile indicates that she’s enjoying herself at least though.

Eventually, Ivy calls us down for dinner, by way of our mental connection. Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve both gotten used to having it there. It’s still a little strange, but it’s cool and very handy for communication at a distance. As Elsa and I get to our new dining room, I breathe in and the smell of perfectly cooked food enters my lungs.

Ivy places down the last of the five plates containing simple but delicious looking meat pies, and sits down herself. Mia and Skylar are already sitting down, and Elsa and I join them. Elsa glances at the glass of water that goes along with her meal and smiles. Whether it’s because of the water itself, or because of the cute designs of the glasses, I’m not sure.

“Cheers!” Mia leads, raising her glass, similarly filled with water. “To a new home!” “”To a new home!”” Ivy, Skylar and I echo. Elsa clinks her glass with the rest of us somewhat awkwardly, seeming not entirely sure what to do. I take a sip of my water, enjoying the taste and loving the fact that our palace also comes equipped with running water, before setting the glass down and digging into the food.

As usual, when Ivy and Mia cook, the food is delicious. Even while being unfamiliar with the kitchen, it’s absolutely perfect. While we eat, Mia strikes up conversation, clearly doing her best to get Elsa to be more comfortable around us. “Elsa, how’s your day been so far?” She asks. “It’s been alright. Nothing interesting till I came here.”

“How long have you been interested in Fateweaving?” Mia asks, trying a different tact. Her voice stays the same as it has been so far, gentle, soft and enchanting, but I can see her eyes and face lighting up as she talks about her passion. “My whole life, ever since I found out it was a thing. Turned out that I had a talent for it too, so getting accepted as a student was easy.”

“What do you like about it?” Mia keeps the conversation flowing. “Everything! Changing entire landscapes, manifesting whatever structures I can imagine, slowing down time, and pulling the strings of fate to keep somebody from dying in a tournament. I love it all.” She says happily, her eyes slightly glazed over.

I can’t stop myself from interrupting. “Sorry what? You can slow down time and keep people from dying? Just how powerful are Fateweavers?” I ask, and Elsa giggles. “It’s not that simple. We’re good at doing these things, but only in specific circumstances. I can tell you more if you like?” She asks, clearly hoping for the opportunity to talk more about it. I gesture for her to go ahead, smiling at her.