Sell you a Bridge chapter 211 (Patreon)

April 14th 2016 Doomhallow Hall 11:00 AM EDT

I  blinked in shock at the small girl kneeling in front of me and my  girlfriends. She was...pretty, I guessed, she looked like a mix of the  three of us and we were all good looking. But I didn't feel any actual  attraction to her. She felt strange. Like she was a part of me. An  impression further impressed on me by the aura around her, which looked  like a mix of mine, Dreamer's, and Zee's.

She WAS us. But  not. She was new, and I was getting a headache looking at her in aura  sight so I stopped. "Morana. Welcome. What do you...remember? Know? I'm  not sure how to phrase that. What are your goals I guess?" Talking to  someone sentient who hadn't existed five minutes ago was confusing. Not  to mention my head still hurt from my little trick with the new heart.

Soulless,  unlike hearless, DID have a heart. Most didn't have souls, though  Morana did I was pretty sure, but regardless the creation of a new being  was taxing as hell, and a necessary part of the process. Now that she  had it though I wasn't sure what it ENTAILED. She was strong as hell,  that much I could see when I had looked at her aura. Stronger than I  was, than Zee or Dreamer. Morana had a monstrous amount of power, though  I wasn't sure how it would manifest. The issue wasn't her strength it  was her personality.

When Sig came into being he got my  memories of battle, but he had no actual personality, he was  just...empty. Morana had bits of all of us, but we hadn't lost anything  really. She had enough in her to make a person but that meant it had  come from nowhere. I had no clue what kind of person she actually was,  so the only thing I could do was ask. Hopefully she could fill me in on  some things.

She stood, beaming at the three of us before  hurling herself towards us. Not our of hostility but out of genuine  enthusiasm. She grabbed the three of us and yanked us into a tight  squeeze. Apparently she got Zee's love for hugs. That was nice to know  at least. She pulled back, flushing. "I'm sorry. It's just...I'm so  happy to meet you all! I know I didn't exist before but I feel my  connection to each of you being around you is just so...nice."

I  got that, I felt it from my side too. I could sense her near me and she  felt connected like I'd noticed earlier. There was a warm welcoming  vibe from her and I really enjoyed it, as did the girls from what I  could tell. She shook off her giddiness, trying to get serious, putting  out a solemn face that reminded me of Dreamer when she was saying  something important. "Sorry. You asked what I know, that's a good  question, but also a confusing one."

She put a finger to  her lips in thought. "I know...who I am. I know who my relatives are.  Grandma Marie, Grandpa Mario, Grandpa Jim, everyone important." I  blinked at that last one. I kind of thought of Jim as a second father,  but hearing that verbalized was...strange. Still, I didn't interrupt and  she continued. "I know how to do magic, and how to fight. I know how to  make illusions and read minds though not well." She nodded to Dreamer  who was still pretty shocked from just randomly getting a new daughter  out of nowhere.

That was certainly interesting. I wondered  if the not well thing was because she hadn't gotten the experience  Dreamer had from using her powers for her whole life. Unlike my training  Dreamer's abilities were a part of her. To really have all her skills  someone would need all her memories. Zee's magic was the same mostly.  Learned more than being part of her. Zee did magic, but Dreamer WAS a  god. It made sense in that context. Seemed like she got technical  abilities and basic stuff like speech and movement, as well as general  information about our lives, but not specifics.

Zee  couldn't hold it in anymore and bolted forward to give Morana a hug of  her own. "You're so pretty! Look at you! I've never seen anyone so  beautiful! I have so many things to teach you! We can do magic together  and go on trips and go to the amusement park like Dreamer loves and this  is going to be so amazing!" Her eyes were wet as she chattered on about  all the plans she was making and how she would spoil our new daughter.

Daughter.  Holy shit. That was...big. Heavy. I'd never even imagined having kids  at my age, never mind having a kid that was AT my age. Because she did  feel like that. Like part of me. Part of US. I knew this would be even  rougher for Zee, who had lost pretty much every family member she had  now. It occurred to me that I might have underestimated the  ramifications of this ritual slightly. I knew Morana would be strong  enough to help, but when I had decided to create her I hadn't  expected...this.

My eyes widened in panic. My mother was  going to KILL me. Already a grandmother at her age was one thing,  especially with the five year gap, but having a granddaughter in her  teens? How the hell did I even begin to explain that. I shook my head.  That could be dealt with later. For now I just decided to focus on what I  could actually effect. "So Morana. We'll need to show you around, help  you make some memories, but you mentioned that you have our combat  skills. Would you be willing to show me some of those?"

She  lit up. "Of course! I love sparring! It's going to be so much fun!" She  was practically bouncing on her heels as she answered, and it was hard  not to smile as I saw the same kind of glee Zee had when she talked  about magic. I gestured at her to follow me and she bounced happily  after us as we headed to the training room. Morana clearly got her  nature from her mothers, who were both happy and upbeat people...and wow  was that a weird thought for me to have at sixteen years old.

When  we got to the training room the girls stepped to the side, deciding to  let me go first given my insane durability. We didn't know what Morana  could do, but it was safe to say whatever it was it would be pretty  insane. "Ok Morana. I'm going to come at you directly, I want you to  fight defensively." The monster level power I could see from her in my  aura sight was disturbing enough that I absolutely did not want to play  defense while she attacked me. Her powers should be void based but that  meant all my dark abilities should be on the table.

I  stared hard at her, both of us getting ready before I shadow ported  behind her, summoning Tartarus. Her hand flicked out, calling...a  fucking keyblade to meet my blow. I cursed, spinning on my heel to flick  out a series of vicious cuts, just to test her defenses. It made sense  she would have a keyblade. She had a portion of my heart in here and  that's what the blade was tied to. Still, it made things much more  difficult to gauge considering how absurdly the things worked. Who knew  what it even did, since it was obviously different than mine.

It  looked cool, I'd give her that. A long black key with ornate black  teeth and a chain down it's length. The guard was a pair of bat wings  and there was a purple stone set in the base of the grip that seemed to  pulse with void power. She met every blow easily, swatting them aside  with no issue. "That's a nice keyblade. What does it do?And for that  matter what's it called?" I knew it had a name, they all did. I'd known  mine just by holding it.

She  grinned at me happily. "It's called Oblivion. It gives me a massive  boost to physical power, though it decreases my regeneration a bit.  That's fine though because I got my strength and regen from you and  moms, so my physical durability was pretty crazy." She seemed confident,  which I actually understood because there was no possible way for me to  beat her. That was literally the point, she was made to be much  stronger than I was. However, I still had some other tricks up my  sleeve.

I  reached out with the dark, opening corridors, and my thirteen Soulless  appeared. Solomon, Sig and my eleven Knights were surrounding us. I  grinned at Morana. "Now I start really putting you through your paces?  You ready?" I needed some kind of baseline of what she could do, which  meant I needed to push her. I conjured a series of clones for a fraction  of a point, slipping them into the Knights. Sig and Solomon I left to  their own devices. They were...more, than the others. In ways I couldn't  identify.

With  that done they all conjured Abyssal Alloy broadswords and we attacked.  Morana, as before, played defense, and I absolutely didn't hold back.  Twelve versions of me came in at her, most of them propelled by  monstrous Soulless strength, and guided by an absurd level of skill and  finesse. The Warlord's unnatural skill, Myrina's absurd bodily control,  Blood's long experience, all the teachers and enemies I'd ever had,  blended together into a flawless tapestry of brutal violence propelled  by inhuman strength and stamina from all sides.

Solomon's  green eyes blazed up, and I felt the temporal energy of a time slow  settle over my new daughter as we attacked, and even with all her  advantages I was sure she wouldn't be able to keep up. I was wrong. The  slow worked, but she was so fucking fast it barely seemed to matter to  the rest of us. She opened a Hole in the world, keyblade flicking out as  a dozen others opened around her at different points, allowing her  scything blade to deflect EVERY fucking attack. Then she withdrew and a  pair of bat wings opened on her back, granting her three dimensional  mobility as she zipped forward.

She  created ten clones, which based on their aura seemed be a diluted  version of her own power rather than some kind of external source like  my points, but nevertheless posed a huge threat even at a tenth of her  strength, and then we attacked. We lost. All of us. She fucking crushed  us. She used my shadow manipulation effortlessly, like she was  breathing, Zee's control and finesse mixed with Dreamer's skill and  delicacy, and threw in some demonic magic just to keep it interesting. I  didn't give up or anything, we fought for an hour but I just couldn't  take her.

Every  move I made she knew how to counter, every ability she had an answer  for. She could phase through attacks like I could, and make Abyssal  Alloy with the same ingredients I could. But despite that, I was  ecstatic. Not only was she strong as hell and exactly what I had wanted,  she was also TEACHING me. I wring every little trick out of her, every  twist she had managed by combining out battle skills, and I committed  them all to memory for use with Outer Body later.

By  the time we finished I was heaving and coated in sweat, even my  vitality unable to keep up with the physical output. I hadn't wanted to  waste too many points so I'd mostly been fighting hand to hand, and I'd  had to work for it. I walked up to Morana, putting a hand on her head.  "You did amazing sweetheart. You're everything I hoped for." I turned to  grin at the girls. "Why don't you take Morana to get something to eat  and do something fun. I'm going to get in touch with Nightwang. I think  we're officially ready to turn out the Light."