The sun hung in the sky once more, and the Ancient One had resumed her usual form.

I couldn't really tell you when either had occurred. The whole thing felt dreamlike - as though I'd imagined it somehow.

It was clear from the look on Celistar's face that I hadn't. The ornate garden was still there, as well, but the illusion of her parents was not, having vanished away with the night and a motion of her hands.

Watching her gazing the pair as they faded into mist was a sadness I wasn't keen to repeat anytime soon.

The garden stayed, though, evidently anchored by something stronger, or perhaps a foundational physical reality of this place. Around us rose the smooth, featureless backs of the 'skyscrapers', now revealed to be nothing more than a charade. There were no windows, no internal structure, and nothing outside what appeared to be a perfectly circular space in the center of all of them, where the garden stood. They formed a sort of irregular wall around us.

It was beyond bizarre.

"What now?" Qīwù asked, the first to break the silence, cementing my belief in her utter inability to read a room.

As if in answer, I heard a bellow from Viktor - his nemesis had returned.

I actually saw it this time as well, a streak of shadow shooting up the path we'd come down, headed directly towards me.

No. Wait. I realized the trajectory wasn't quite right just before it got to Viktor. It was headed at Celistar.

Not happening. I immediately took hold of all the power I could manage as Elder Mountain brought down a hand the size of a boulder at the shadow. At the very last second, it dodged to the side, skirting the blow and continuing its path towards the Moon Fairy.

A bloom of white-gold Nebula exploded beside me as I correctly predicted its path, so dense that it blew the air out of the way while filling the space. I had a brief stray thought about how it looked like a pretty flower before I spread the petals open, seeking to engulf the shadow in them.

Apparently either unaware or uncaring of the obstacle, the streak of inky darkness gained dimensionality, peeling off the ground and taking flight into the air, directly into the center of my creation.

Closing the flower around it, I further solidified everything by compressing the volume into a sphere, the blot of black in the very center. With the feedback from the Nebula, I could see why it expected to be able to get through… it was incredibly slippery in a metaphysical sort of way.

I was having an incredibly hard time keeping focus on it. It seemed to rotate through a range of truths - it reminded me of how Steeve could be as corporeal as she wanted, but instead of physicality, this thing seemed to be playing with the very concept of existence. As though reality didn't know what words to describe it as.

That made it hard to keep it tethered. How does one hold onto a ball that turns into a banana, water, or the concept of the color blue? It reminded me of the Grey Rift. As though it was trying on forms, but none of them fit.

So why was it after Celistar then? She was definitely the target, and even as I constrained it it was attempting to ignore me and head for her.

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For what purpose? My poor 'soul' survivor had enough today in general, one would think.

I was slowly losing ground to it as my brain spun at high speed, trying to figure out what it was after. I originally thought maybe it fed on her feelings, but it didn't really have the vibe for that, and I trusted my 'vibe check' with my life at this point, so I kept on running through possibilities.

Then it hit me - the shadow was in search of her past. By that I mean the very narrative of her loss. The whole area seemed to revolve around that portion of her lived experience, so it wanted to take that over and become the center of it.

Where would that leave Celistar, though? At best it seemed like she'd lose the memory. At worst, she'd lose herself. I didn't want to let either happen. This was a friend we were talking about here, and this was clearly a core memory of said friend. I wasn't about to lose either…

I'd give it one of mine, instead. Something it would be familiar with.

I gestured, and the sphere shot up into the air, expanding as it rose. At first, it redoubled its attempts to escape; then it froze, sensing something new in the air.

I carefully visualized the scene of my father and I walking around the buildings. It was a memory I loved, but far from the only one I had of him, and the man himself would approve of what I was doing. He'd been a prime example of a kind, caring man, with the best attributes of both Gran and my grandfather.

The shape of the area encompassed by the Nebula began to warp and twist, taking on the characteristics of my memory. I realized with a start that the buildings surrounding this garden were remarkably similar to the ones I was creating here. The angry little shadow seemed to have lost the angry portion of its name, sitting almost motionless in the center of everything as golden inlays and other fine details appeared on the buildings.

I lost track of what was embellishment and what was memory at some point, adding various details to complete the gaps in my memorization. The fountain from earlier reappeared as the sky above us darkened, this time not from the sun setting, but from the sheer scale of the reality I was writing into the sky.

Sweat dripped from my brow as I pressed more and more of my Motes into service, remembering with a bit of chagrin about how I was going to watch my reserves to ensure I never ran out.

Well, I was still watching them, but this time in order to make sure every last bit was used in making this as realistic as I could manage.

I added people to the visualization, vague humanoid shapes that reflected the childlike memory I had at the time, so entranced by the architecture that I had not the slightest clue what the humans inhabiting our shared experience even looked like. They loomed in the remembrance as beings not unfamiliar to the shadow I was building it around. I could feel its slight motions as it looked at and examined them.

I could feel myself nearing the bottom of what my powers could provide as a crack rang out overhead, the city in the air now in full view of all as I forcefully expanded it to overlay the subpar image of the one we were currently in, the edges blurring where they lined up with reality.

Had I the concentration to spare, I likely would have been embarrassed by the shocked looks of the rest of my group. Even István and Viktor stood in stunned silence as a whole cityscape took shape around them, the tall walls of the garden area crumbling to dust as the weight of the Nebula pressed down on them, leaving glimmering ghosts of gilded façades in their wake.

Something was still missing though, and I could see the shadow looking around for it.

What had I forgotten?

My brain felt like mush under the extreme levels of concentration, a dull ache at the front of my head and a stuffy feeling face the least of my worries.

Ah, right.

I flicked my hand, and a figure snapped into being next to the shadow, a gentle face and an outstretched hand beckoning towards it.

My father, doing what he did best - making the people around feel accepted and cared for.

A tendril of shadow reached out from the formless mass and took hold. I swore I could feel the warmth in my hand as well. It looked so very real.

Something, somewhere deep inside me, made a sharp cracking noise, and a ruddy darkness gathered in the edges of my vision. Not the shadow… I was losing my vision.

Had I overdrawn? What was going on? I wobbled, before tipping over sideways, the black rushing up to catch me before even the ground could.

Just before it closed over me, the last thing I saw was my father, walking off. There was a little girl next to him as he gave a colorful explanation of the sights and sounds.

She had a fox on her shoulder.

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