+

and as he straightened, the pot was putting itself back together. The only trace that it had been broken was a web-like pattern on the surface.

“I believe you dropped this,” he said with a smirk, holding the pot out for her.

“Allow me, mademoiselle,” he said with a slight bow and made a few circular motions with his hands. The broom gently floated out of Ivy’s hands and swept up the pieces of the pot scattered on the floor. He bent down to swoop them into his hands,

+

“Oh, do you want help with that?” he offered, hopping down from the rift and letting it close behind him.

+

“And you believe this … Ash … to be my death?” he asked, tilting his head as he looked at her. “Or was it merely-”, he coughed, blood spilling from a corner of his mouth, ”-a stab to prove your point?”

He growled when the spear-like stick was dislodged from his abdomen. He pressed his hands against the wound, his own blood staining his already dark-red robes.

⠀⠀Ÿ̵̨͓̯͓̟̖̭̙̗́͜o̴̢̹̘͎̪͇̞͕̝͋͑̓̈́u̷ w̵͓̦̯̞͈̤͍̽́̽͌̾̍̉ͅi̵͎͍͙͍͂̊̒ľ̸̄̒̂̊͛̀̓̀̚l n̴̖̬̘̳̒ö̷̧̼͍̻̳̪̗͚́́͠ͅṭ̴̑̂̄̈́̚̕ d̷͓̍́͂̓͛̄̿̽̂i̶̧̫̘͚̗͚̖͖̐͑́͂̃̏̐̕͜e̷̒̀̊ h̴̢̺̳̤̠͒̄̇͂̔͊̈́̏̈́e̶͒̂̂̂͠ř̴̷̘̯͈̭̟̥͉͙͛͋͗̚ͅę̴̼̗̱̟͔̈̂̐̇̉!̵͗̄

The voices in his head wailed loud enough to make his head pound.

+

He looked down at the pot. “Had I known you were carrying something fragile, I would’ve waited,” he said, sitting casually on the edge of the reality rift that he had appeared from.

He looked down at the wound. Three large octopus-like tentacles appeared from under his cloak to support his weight and keep him from falling, and the skin on his hands and neck slowly turned into shimmering golden scales. “Huh,” he said, as if it was new to him to be injured.

😈

// stealing this bandwagon 😇

+

how could his presence here be of any danger?

“You know of the Multiverse,” he said. It was a statement, not a question.

+

The voices echoed in his head, louder this time. Well, what did he have to lose, anyway? His own universe destroyed, he had no place to call home. Nowhere he needed to be. He had nothing but time, and without another universe for this one to collide with,

+

+

And yet,

⠀⠀⠀Ｉｔ’ｓ ｈｅｒ！

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀… ʜᴇʀ …

⠀… h̵̲̠̟̼̠͖̗͚̖̅͛̈́ė̴̛͚̹͕͓̈́͛̄̚ŗ̵͇̥̙̍͒͛̓ͅͅ ̸͚́̑͌̇̚…

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝙃𝙚𝙧!

+

+

Or maybe 𝘴𝘩𝘦 had changed? He was holding his breath while she spoke, but allowed himself to inhale as he looked her over. No, this wasn’t his Christine. 𝘖𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 this wasn’t his Christine. She had been gone for what felt like eons and it was foolish of him to dare think such a thought.

+

Oh yes, he knew that voice. Far too many times had he heard it in his nightmares. In his dreams too, but the nightmares far outweighed the pleasant, peaceful dreams.

Ah, so she knew about the multiverse then? How times had changed. Or maybe he had changed?

+

+

then down on the floor inside the building where she was sitting in her nook. Even still, she remained. Not a dream, not an illusion. She was real.

“Christine?” he asked quietly, barely over a whisper.

+

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Ｓｈｅ’ｓ ｒｅａｌ．

⠀⠀ꜱʜᴇ’ꜱ ʀᴇᴀʟ.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝙎𝙝𝙚’𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡.

All of the voices sang in his head, causing an ache to start at his temples. He stepped to the right. Reality warped before tearing open before him, and he stepped through the rift,

+

He blinked and shook his head. She was staring back at him through the window, remaining in place. Unlike the countless times he had … imagined or … dreamt or maybe hallucinated, her shape stayed constant. She wasn’t one of his made up illusions, was she?

+

@mysticwong.bsky.social

He steps through a rift in reality, then stops as he looks around. He seems confused.

“Well, this isn’t even close to Times Square. I must’ve taken a wrong turn somewhere.”

In another universe 、I get to save you. You're still alive.

// pulling out all the villains I see 😎 Just don't flip your Hades, I will literally cry

// aiehdjdn fair fair *takes hat off* 😔

“Ooh, now I recognize you,” he mumbled as his expression lit up. “Yes, Kitty Pryde. I saw you in another universe a few years back”