She looked at him with those impossible eyes that contained folds within folds.
"You no longer have that luxury. You are now Fearless in truth, not just in word. Every decision you make from this mont forward will be because you choose it, not because fear drives or restrains you."
Noah absorbed this, feeling the truth of it in his existence. His weavings did indeed cycle faster, his complexity and purity drawing in from the atmosphere at rates that would have been impossible before.
"I should thank you," he said, aning it despite the strangeness of thanking an Inevitability for anything.
"No," she replied, that dangerous smile returning. "You should thank yourself for being wise enough to listen. Most would have fought. Most would have died. You chose to trust the incomprehensible, and that... that is what separates those who transcend from those who rely exist."
|Tir: 38:42 remaining|
Noah looked at the remaining ti glowing in his vision, his gaze sweeping across the field of slumbering Inevitabilities that surrounded him like monunts to contradiction.
The human-ford Inevitability who had opened his eyes to such terrifying truth still stood nearby, her presence making reality uncertain about its own rules.
A question ford in his mind...practical, necessary, born from logic rather than the fear he could no longer feel.
"What about the next ti I et an Inevitability?" His voice carried the weight of soone already calculating future encounters. "Would I have to continue giving one of my Everythings for every Inevitability I et?"
The woman’s smile grew mysterious, containing secrets that predated the concept of mystery itself.
Without warning, simply existed beside another slumbering form.
Her hand touched what might have been its surface, and another Inevitability stirred to wakefulness.
This one was different yet fundantally the sa...a massive wriggling humanoid form that couldn’t decide if it was flesh or possibility. It nudged its enormous head toward her with movents that spoke of affection, like a child greeting a parent after a long sleep.
The gesture should have been impossible for sothing that existed to devour, yet there it was.
Then it sniffed, turning toward Noah with senses unknown.
What happened next shattered another assumption. The Inevitability smiled...an expression that required redefining what smiles ant, and let out a sound in a language that Noah did not understand.
It was acknowledgnt. Recognition. Perhaps even respect.
It did not attack!
"You see," the woman began, her voice taking on the cadence of fundantal truth being revealed, "after one initially gives away an Everything, Inevitabilities are able to inherently sense this. It becos part of what you are...or rather, what you aren’t."
She stroked the massive creature with casual affection that suggested eons of familiarity.
"Our Way of Existence does not drive us to seek other Everythings from you once you’ve given freely. You’ve proven you understand the exchange, the balance, the nature of what we are. Only if you make the intention to give away another part of your Everything will Inevitabilities happily co over...if they are near, if they are interested, if what you offer appeals to their particular hunger."
Her expression grew more serious, the weight of warning entering her tone.
"But understand this, Outsider: after you give one of your Everythings, your existence has still lost sothing great, even if it was negative. Fear might have limited you, but it also defined you. Its absence changes not just what you can do, but what you are."
She moved closer, her impossible dress rippling across the obsidian ground.
"Many are unable to continue giving other parts of their Everythings. The first loss might strengthen them, but the second could unmake them. The third might erase them entirely. THE Creature could give away many Everythings and still be okay...still be more than okay, still be THE Creature. But not many are like him."
Her layered eyes fixed on the Goad in Noah’s hands.
"You emulate him by imitating his stick, carrying a shadow of his authority. But is your Existence enough to give away multiple Everythings? You never know whether your existence is sufficient before you attempt it. If you try and find yourself lacking, you might discover that all of your Everythings...not just what you intend to give...are drained away. The Inevitability wouldn’t an to take more, but if your existence cannot maintain cohesion after the loss..."
She trailed off, letting the implications hang in the air like a sword waiting to fall.
"So do be careful, Outsider."
Noah absorbed this warning, his mind...now unencumbered by fear..analyzing the implications with crystalline clarity!
After a mont of consideration, he looked at this being more closely, studying the layers of contradiction that composed her form.
"Who are you, really?"
The question carried genuine curiosity rather than suspicion. He had seen her power, witnessed her knowledge, experienced her teaching. But what was she beyond the label of Inevitability?
The woman’s smile contained amusent that transcended ti.
"I told you before that I am simply an Inevitability. Nothing more, nothing less. Do you need to tell you a grand distinction? So elaborate title that would make you feel more comfortable categorizing ?"
She shook her head with sothing that might have been fond exasperation.
"Other Lifeforms always care so much about nas and distinctions. They need their identity markers, their titles, their elaborate ways of saying ’I am different, I am special, I am more than what I appear.’ But Inevitabilities are Inevitabilities. We don’t require nas or distinctions to know what we are."
Her voice took on a teaching tone, patient yet pointed.
"It is Early Creatures, Living Existences, even the weak little Fold Dwellers who try to give us distinctions. ’The Inevitability of Unmaking.’ ’The Inevitability of Devouring Suns.’ ’The Inevitability of This,’ ’The Inevitability of That.’ As if naming us makes us less frightening, more comprehensible, more controllable."
She gestured to herself with a movent that made space uncertain.
"We are simply Inevitabilities. I am simply an Inevitability. We existed before nas were necessary, and we’ll exist after they’re forgotten."
Her expression shifted, showing sothing that might have been understanding.
"But since I know your Way of Existence is unique and feebly needs categorization to feel secure in its understanding, I will give you a na, Outsider. You may call ..."
She paused, and when she spoke, the na carried weight that made reality pay attention.
"Khor. The First Hunger."
...!
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