The Outlands

Tess’s relaxation was interrupted by an abrupt teleport, leaving her, Maven, Ellie, and Amy in the increasingly familiar party room.

Amy cast her gaze around, only to stop abruptly when she looked at Tess and her party. “It’s the young version of you guys?” She said incredulously. “Why in the world…no, better not to question it.”

“Young?” Maven asked. “So, you’re from our future?”

Amy squinted at the three of them. “Yeah. Looks like…you’re still pretty early on in things, probably close to the beginning of your time as Appointed, right?”

“At the end of our apprenticeship to the Rumors.” Maven confirmed.

“Yeah, that checks out. Well, I’m from about sixty years in your future, around the same time as the Lilith and Lia you met in the previous parties were from.” Amy said. “Anyway, I’m almost completely certain you guys are with Lilith and Lia’s groups again, so I trust you can make it there on your own?”

“That sounds right.” Tess said. “I think we can.”

“Perfect.” Amy replied. “I’ll be off now, you guys enjoy.”

She left, and Tess and her group left too, wandering around in search of Lilith. After only a couple of minutes they found the others already grouped up and in the middle of conversation.

“T-though, um, I won’t say no to being watched over.” Lia was saying. “It’d be nice for my peace of mind.”

“What’s this about being watched over?” Tess asked. “Oh, more people this time, nice to meet you!”

The groups had expanded somewhat; Eve, one of the Parallels Tess had fought against last time, had joined Lilith’s group, and there were three new women with Lia’s group.

“Ah, you were so cute when you’re young, I forgot!” One of the new women said, smiling at Tess. “What are you three up to at this point? What year is it for you?”

“We are in the middle of our final exam for our training with The Rumors.” Maven said. “I presume you are from our future, like the other members of your group?”

“Oh, right, I forgot how stiff you were back in the day.” She replied. “Yes, everyone else here is from fifty to sixty years in your future.”

“Why does everyone feel the need to comment on how cute we are?” Ellie asked. “We’re basically fully grown, we can’t have changed that much.”

Eve chuckled. “Physically, maybe. I think it’s just the contrast between the you in our time and the you from your time being so big that people can’t help but notice. And yes, you’ve changed a little physically, but it’s mostly attitude and how you hold yourself that does it.”

“I guess.” Tess said. “Anyway, who are the new people?”

“Ah, I’m Jerry, if you couldn’t tell.” One of the other women said. “Things are happening in the future, you’ll understand in a while. But really, I should be going, Kali, are you coming with?”

“No, I feel like my place is here today.” Kali said. “You go enjoy, though!”

Jerry nodded, then left the group alone. There was a moment of silence, then Eve spoke. “Well, you guys met me briefly during that sparring session last time, but I’m Eve, one of Lilith’s Parallels. Dunno why I’m here today, but I’m not gonna complain about a free party.”

“Um, I’m Connie.” The woman who had commented on their cuteness said. “I’m the girlfriend of these three, and god of commerce for Jerry.”

Everyone’s eyes turned to the last woman, and after a moment she sighed. “I’m Amelia, and we don’t need protecting. I’m more than capable of beating any of you, so don’t test me.”

Eve snorted. “That’s what you said when we met in real life. You were…just about the fourth weakest person in the room, then. And yes, you were fully unbound, and even more powerful than you used to be.”

“Fourth weakest?!” Amelia said indignantly. “I find that hard to believe.”

“U-um, who was in the room?” Connie asked.

“Everyone who’s here now plus Jerry, Amy, and Fortune.” Eve said. “It took Lilith about five seconds to kill Amelia. Or…effectively kill, we kept it nonlethal.”

“As if!” Amelia said. “There’s no way I’d lose that fast!”

“Um…sorry, Amelia, I think you might.” Connie said.

“I wouldn’t be taking my chances with her, unbound or not.” Rose added. “I could see myself having a chance at beating you, I can’t see myself having a ghost of a chance against Lilith fighting all-out.”

“Y-yeah.” Lia said. “You didn’t see her fight, she’s…different.”

“More different than we thought.” Lilith said. “And Eve, stop antagonizing Amelia, you know how she gets.”

“You don’t know me.” Amelia said flatly. “I don’t know who you met, but it couldn’t have been me.”

Connie sighed. “Amelia, they’re literally from our future.” She said. “There’s a possibility that they’ve met you.”

Eve snorted. “We haven’t just met her, we’ve been spending hours every day studying with her and attempting to make friends. While I will admit she’s a little feistier now than she is in our time, it’s still definitely Amelia.”

“S-so, we so get to know you in a few years?” Lia asked. “How?”

Lilith, Kali, and Eve shared a glance. “Probably best not to say.” Kali said. “But it’s under friendly terms, don’t worry.”

Lia let out a sigh of relief. “That’s good to hear.”

“Why don’t we talk about this over food?” Tess suggested.

“Good idea.” Eve said. “I’ll go save the table.”

“We’ll see you all in a bit, okay?” Kali said, linking arms with Lilith and dragging her towards the buffet tables. Eve likewise went off to find a table for them to sit at, leaving Tess and Lia’s groups alone.

“I apologize, but I have some business with Eve.” Maven said. “I am going to hurry and grab my food separately so I may speak with her before everyone arrives.”

“Huh? I mean…sure, but this seems sudden.” Ellie said.

“Again, my apologies.” Maven said. “I have some personal developments that I feel she would help with. I feel that, should I be unable to, that I would not be able to properly enjoy this party.”

“Well, it’s not like we can stop you.” Tess said. “Go on ahead, we’ll meet up with you later.”

“I think we’ll go on our own too.” Lia said. “We’ll meet back up with you at the table.”

Everyone went their separate ways, and Tess and Ellie had an enjoyable time chatting as they dished up. They took their time, going slowly and checking all of the buffet tables so that Maven had ample time to talk with Eve, then headed back towards the table.

“Woah.” Tess said, stopping as she reached the table. “What’s happening here?”

Amelia was currently watching Lilith intently, while Lilith, for some reason, had six arms. Tess couldn’t really think of what circumstances would lead to this situation, so she was more than a little curious about what was going on.

“We’re explaining to Amelia just how different we are from everything she knows.” Eve said. “Watch.”

Tess could feel as an immense amount of power build up in Amelia before being fired at Lilith. There was a momentary pause as it impacted, but…nothing happened. “See?” Lilith said, removing her extra arms. “Base form.”

Amelia immediately cast the spell again, and once again nothing changed. “That’s not…I’m unbound here, I shouldn’t…”

Connie laid a hand on Amelia’s shoulder, shaking her head. “Lilith doesn’t play by our rules.” She said. “In that sense, she’s almost like an Administrator, just…ignoring different rules.”

“She’s an Administrator now too!” Kali said happily. “Or…sub-Administrator, pending full status once she finishes her training.”

“Or never, if we can’t find a way for Kali and I to share our planes.” Lilith said. “Look, things are happening in the future, and things are moving fast because of it.”

Connie gave Lilith a wary look. “Does this have to do with why Jerry…?”

Lilith sighed. “Yes. Yes, it’s what you think. No, it’s not projected for centuries or millennia, we just know it’s a certainty at this point. We’re pretty sure we’re the only faction that knows right now, so we’ve got a huge head start, and by the time the others realize we’re hoping to be too far ahead to be stopped. Don’t worry about it for now, it’s under control for the moment.”

“Oh.” Connie said quietly.

“What’s she talking about?” Lia asked.

“Administrator politics.” Connie said. “There’s one thing in particular that would cause Jerry to act like this, and it’s not the most ideal thing.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it, not any of you.” Eve said. “We’re very optimistic about things, and your future selves are thriving. Just enjoy the party for now, okay?”

“If you insist.” Connie said.

They had some small talk while they ate, nothing particularly consequential, but they got to know each other and generally had a good time. And then the dinner ended, and Amelia stood and gave Lilith a look. “I want to duel.” She said. “Prove you’re not just all talk.”

Lilith shrugged, looking at the others. “Only if everyone else is fine with it.” She said. “I don’t want to stall everyone else out on account of us.”

“I, for one, would be interested.” Rose said. “Jerry aside, Amelia is the strongest person I know, and I would like to see how you compare.”

“Um…as long as you won’t be mad when you lose, Amelia. I promise, promise, promise you that you can’t beat her.” Connie said.

“She’s just a god, you of all people know I can handle gods.”

“She handled three at once last time and didn’t break a sweat.” Tess said. “I don’t think she showed even half of her full potential.”

 “Yes, but five seconds?” Amelia said. “It can’t be that bad.”

“If the party allows, we can settle that here and now.” Lilith offered. “It has no collateral damage whatsoever.”

Tess could feel the two of them gather of power…and then, no less than a couple seconds later, Amelia crumpled like a ragdoll.

“I could have made that lethal just as easily.” Lilith said calmly. “To paraphrase what Connie said when this happened in my time, you’re a very big fish in a small pond.”

“Was that that instakill you mentioned last time?” Tess asked. “It looked like nothing happened and then she just…fell.”

“Yeah.” Lilith said. “I didn’t use it last time because I felt like it would be unsporting, but…Amelia wanted me to prove that it only took five seconds.”

“I told you, Amelia.” Connie said quietly. “Lilith is in the running for the most powerful non-Administrator in our faction.” She paused, looking up at Lilith. “Is that decided by your point in time?”

Lilith shrugged. “Not really? We haven’t dueled, not really, but she says she’s fairly certain I’ve eclipsed her.”

“Is this someone we know?” Ellie asked curiously.

“Sort of.” Lilith said, smiling wryly.

“Sort of?” Maven said. “So, someone we have heard of but have not met?”

“Should we tell them?” Lilith asked, looking at Kali and Connie.

“Eh, why not.” Kali said mischievously.

“Might as well, I suppose.” Connie added.

“It’s Tess.” Eve said. “It’s why we were so confident we’d beat her last time, her older, significantly stronger, self told us that she wasn’t sure she could win.”

There was no way that was true. However far Lilith was in the future, there was no possible way that she’d be stronger than someone like Gramps in that time, not unless it was centuries later. “You’re messing with me.” She accused. “You’re what, fifty years in the future? There’s no way I’m stronger than people like Gramps by then.”

“All three of you are.” Lilith said. “I haven’t met Evan personally, so I can’t truly compare, but everyone I’ve met points to Tess as the strongest, and the two of you as second and third. Of course, this is counting Descent in the mix, but at this point it’s generally accepted that Appointed and their gods are treated as one unit for this purpose.”

“The other two can’t, but you can beat Descended Evan even without Descent.” Kali added. “It turns out that Monster Breeder was far, far, far stronger than anyone had any way of knowing.”

“What does that mean?” Connie asked.

“Things are happening and we learned some new stuff recently that we flat-out couldn’t have known earlier.” Kali said. “You remember that conversation we had right before you started dating those three?”

“Yes?”

“We now know for sure that it wasn’t a coincidence, and those three,” Kali motioned at Tess, Ellie, and Maven, “Fortune, and even you were part of it as well.”

Connie froze, staring at Kali with wide eyes. “O-oh.” She said.

“What’s this all about?” Amelia wheezed, getting back to her feet. “I don’t appreciate all this cryptic talk.”

“We really shouldn’t say more.” Eve said. “Honestly we probably said a bit too much already. For now, just be content knowing that it’s a huge boon to you in the short term.”

“Whatever.” Amelia sighed. “What were we going to do again?”

“Games?” Lia suggested. “They have a bunch of stuff we’re not used to here.”

Tess and Ellie shared a look. “I’d kind of like to try laser tag with all of us.” Tess said. “It’ll be more interesting than when it was just five of us.”

“Laser…tag?” Amelia asked.

“A game from their universe.” Rose said. “Lia and I played it with them during our first meeting at these parties.”

“I-it’s in some of the other planes in our universe too.” Connie said. “So, I know the gist.”

“Then it’s worth a try, I guess.” Amelia said.

So, the group set off to find the laser tag arena again. Like before, they found it fairly quickly, and were starting a game in no less than ten minutes. This time, the teams ended up being significantly more evenly matched, and the results were as well. Or…were until they tried playing without any stat equalization or Skill limitation.

That game was, in a word, chaos. They were free to do any terrain-alterations they wished, as the participants were kept safe by magical shields that prevented them from taking any damage, and the arena would reshape itself every so often. Furthermore, each member of Tess’s party was given their Descent abilities, and Ellie even got both Life and Death’s abilities, though neither was particularly helpful in a non-combat situation.

And, right out of the gates the game was completely unrecognizable as a normal game of laser tag. Rose immediately flooded the entire arena with roots, only for the roots to be stopped by a spell from the other team, Eve took off from Tess’s home base, ignoring all the obstacles in her path, demolishing them just by virtue of moving through them, and Tess could make out Maven using her Descent’s dungeon manipulation on the other side.

“Well, this is going to be interesting.” Kali said dryly. “I’ll stay back and make sure our home base is safe, the rest of you go on ahead.”

“U-um, alright.” Lia said. “I-if you say so.”

“You’ll do great.” Kali said, flashing her an encouraging smile. “You’re perfectly safe here, so just have fun.”

“O-okay.”

Tess took off, and she was slightly surprised to find that she performed much better than she thought she would. Her Descent thrived in the chaotic environment, and though it didn’t prevent her from being hit by any of the other team, them all having some form of Worship to counteract the Descent, it did help her keep a low profile.

And that was sort of how the game played out. Rose, Maven, Eve, and Amelia all did huge flashy things, while everyone else worked around them. It was far and away the most frantic and overwhelming game of laser tag she had ever played, but it was fun. In the end, Tess’s team won, and in a remarkably convincing way.

Once it was over, Tess had expected Amelia to complain a bit more about losing, but instead Amelia gave a sigh of relief, rushing over to Lia. “There you are!” She said. “I hadn’t seen you in a while and was getting worried.”

“Um, yeah, I was a little overwhelmed, but Lilith helped calm me down and keep me from the worst of it, so it’s fine now.” Lia said.

Amelia stopped, then turn to Lilith. “Thank you.” She said, nodding her head in acknowledgement. “I appreciate you being there for her when I wasn’t.”

“I’m more than happy to help.” Lilith said. “You guys are my friends in the future, and it hurts me to see you hurting. Anyone would do the same, really.”

“It’s reassuring to know we’ve made such a potent friend.” Connie said. “Thank you.”

“It’s not just me, all of us are friends in the future.” Lilith replied. “There’s a reason this group was picked to be together for the party.”

There was a silence, then Tess spoke. “Well…that’s probably enough laser tag for now, then. Perhaps we should try something less stimulating for a bit?”

“Mini golf?” Eve suggested. “It should keep us moving but it’s not exactly…hard work.”

“That sounds good.” Lia said. “Thank you.”

“Mini golf?” Amelia asked.

“It’s a very simple game, I’ll explain it to you on the way over.” Rose said.

And so the rest of the evening went. They played a few more games together, watched a movie, and generally ended up chatting until, finally, it felt like it was time for the party to end.

“Right, well, I suppose I’ll see you all at the next party, and, failing that, I’ll see you all…well, for me, probably tomorrow, for you guys…decades to a few years, depending on when you’re from.” Lilith said. “Pleasure hanging out with you.”

“Yeah!” Kali said. “It was a lot of fun!”

“I agree.” Eve said. “Keep up the good work.”

Their group vanished, and Tess turned to everyone else. “Well, it’s been nice seeing you all again.” She said. “It’s good to hear that we’ll be getting along in the future. I know the three of us are, apparently, different in the future, but I hope that we can get along like this then, too.”

“You’re not that different.” Connie said. “Just surer of yourselves. I’m sure that, when the time comes, we’ll get along swimmingly.”

“I hope so.” Maven said. “This was a pleasure.”

“Yeah, it was a good time!” Ellie agreed. “Later!”

Tess gave a huge yawn, stretching and getting up from the chair she was in. It was getting late, and it was about time for her to head to bed. So, she slipped her phone into her pocket and headed off to the bathroom, ready to shower and then sleep.