Artifact

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Artifact>

Inevitable, I could only imagine.

@Valiance

*Narrows my eyes*
I'm not like them, though. I'm human enough that... well, it works.

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Artifact>

I didn’t get to see what happened after they chased you out of town.

@Valiance

I don't remember what happened. Somehow I learned that day that human flesh could reverse the transformation.
*Bites into my hand and my appearance returns to normal*

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Artifact>

That you were vilified and hunted from the moment you proved to be different?

@Valiance

Not quite—
*Crosses my arms, now tense*
The town treated me as well as I deserved. Gave me a place to live on the outskirts.

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Artifact>

*Nods*
Mm. Made it a good test.

@Valiance

*Flies over and grabs the crystal*
Two down. And now that you've seen the truth, perhaps the last for you.

Myriad Reality

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Just wanted to be as sure as I could that I wouldn’t be hitting you with it.
*Kicks away from the pull off a chunk of the scattered debris that had launched itself back up to our position*

@Valiance

*The implosion continues between the mist reacting with the rocky chunks, coalescing into a crystalline center no larger than a person's thumb*
If I reacted that slowly, I really would be an illusion.

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Artifact>

Dodge.
*Leaps up into the air while lifting a supermassive chunk if the earth with me, and twirls it around, slamming explosively back into the hole it left, blasting the world to bits from the impact*

@Valiance

*Backflips off of it as you launch the attack, and both halves of the psychoformed planet and the mist catapult away from the center—moments later, a gravitational pull triggers a gradual but accelerating implosion*
That's more aligned with what I expected.

Myriad Reality

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Convincing enough for me. Look out.
*Pulls at the world with my hands, sending fissures off in either direction from us that crack and pull the world apart, curving around its surface and forming a large circle in the ground*

@Valiance

*The world stretches, and then splits abruptly like rubber, spewing the red mist everywhere, but reflecting off the gold hue of the air around us*

Myriad Reality

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I do. I’m just being careful with every action in case I’m still being messed with.

@Valiance

A dragon of all creatures could not hope to capture our full likeness. It should be an easy test.

Myriad Reality

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*Glances over at you and says nothing*

@Valiance

You have the strength, right? I never hit your mirage that hard.

Myriad Reality

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*Smacks my palm into the ground and jams my fingers in the earth*

@Valiance

*The gold uncharacteristically cracks at the motion*