Somewhere far beyond the clouds, far beyond the stars, two girls drifted silently through space.
One was dressed like a witch out of a storybook: pointy hat, cloak, and all. The other looked like a perfectly ordinary teenager who had absolutely no business being in outer space without a spacesuit.
“Say… do you know what’s inside of you?” the witch asked, as casually as someone asking about the weather.
Syena blinked. “Inside me? Uh… organs? Blood? Bones?”
“That’s… not the answer I was expecting.” The witch sighed, exasperated but not surprised.
“Wait… what is inside me?! Is it a monster?!” Syena’s voice cracked as she flailed in mid-air (mid-space?), suddenly worried there was a monster inside of her.
“Calm down, calm down,” the witch said, waving her hands to soothe her. “You’re not a monster. I have something similar inside me. Well… two things, actually.”
Syena stared at her. “...Kidneys?”
The witch facepalming, hearing that response.
“I’m trying to be mysterious here! Do you mind?”
“Sorry,” Syena muttered, trying not to laugh.
“Well, let me explain it to you in a simple manner… Have you ever heard of the four fundamental forces of nature?” the witch asked, putting extra weight into her voice.
Syena tilted her head. “Nope.”
“What? Really? That’s basic high school physics!”
“I’m still in the first year of middle school,” Syena said bluntly.
“Oh…” The witch looked her up and down. “You don’t look like it. You’re way too…”
She paused. Her eyes drifted downward. Then quickly snapped back up.
“Anyway!” she said, clearing her throat with unnecessary loudness. “You’ve heard of gravity, right?”
“Of course.”
“Great. Gravity is one of the four fundamental forces. It’s what keeps planets together, makes apples fall, and ruins your ice cream when you trip.”
“Wait… is that important in every universe?”
The witch faltered. “Uh… not exactly. I mean, it depends on the structure of the world. Some universes operate on different laws entirely.”
“Then how is it fundamental?”
“It’s fundamental in context!” the witch snapped, her pride clearly wounded.
“I don’t get it,” Syena said flatly.
The witch twitched.
And then… she froze.
“Huh? You want to take over?” she mumbled to herself, looking off into the void. “No, no, I can do this… I said I can do this!”
“Are you… Okay?” Syena asked, her voice cautious.
The witch’s demeanour suddenly shifted.
“Fine. You’re smarter anyway,” she muttered.
A subtle ripple passed through space as her posture changed. Her previously green eyes turned gold, glowing faintly like stardust.
But Syena squinted, confused.
“No… you’re not imagining it,” the witch said suddenly.
Syena jolted in her seat. “W-What? You can read minds now?!”
The witch… no, this version of her… didn’t answer right away. The tone of her voice was still the same, but the presence behind it had changed.
“I have two personalities,” she said, as if it were a casual fact. “To some, it might as well be two entirely different people.”
“That… doesn’t help much.” Syena squinted at her, still visibly unnerved. “Like, are you possessed? Or is this some kind of magical dissociative identity thing?”
The witch tilted her head. “Interesting guess. But no. It’s not possession. I am both.”
Syena blinked. “That’s… still confusing.”
“Is that so?”
Syena paused. “...Yeah?”
The witch chuckled under her breath. “Then allow me to explain what’s inside you.”
Those words hit harder than they should have. Syena’s shoulders tensed. “Wait, inside me?”
“It’s not a monster, if that’s what you’re thinking,” the witch continued. “It’s a force. A seed of potential that bends the structure of reality. Not just your world, but all worlds. A thread in the very weave of existence.”
Syena’s mouth opened, but nothing came out.
“I-I don’t get it. Like, is it magic? Is it power? What do you mean by bending existence?”
The witch looked at her and smiled again, this time softer, almost pitying. “You’ll understand when the time comes.”
Syena leaned forward, desperate now. “Then tell me… what is it? What’s going to happen to me?”
Just as the witch opened her mouth to speak…