The vessel's medical bay hummed with golden light as Emma stepped through the Vortexis portal, her body trembling. Capacity meter: 35%, the golden light beneath her skin flickering unevenly. The pressure between her shoulder blades had grown into a sharp ache, luminous sparks erupting intermittently, struggling to break free.
Blood scented the air. Chloe lay on the med table, abdomen torn open, Markus's hands glowing with Lumeheal as he worked frantically. His partially healed leg, unmade by chaos magic, forced him to work through pain, face pale with concentration.
"Hold on," he muttered, channeling more golden energy into her wounds.
Lucas stood guard, chest bleeding from witch claws, golden scars pulsing with Kineticvance. His eyes reflected hard determination tinged with fear, not for himself, but for his crew. Aisha sat against the wall, her remaining arm cradling the stump where chaos magic had unmade her left elbow, grip still firm on her crystallized blood blade.
Gray's voice cracked through the comm. "Energy signatures spiking," he reported sharply. "The connection's holding, but something's interfering with systems. It's chaotic, stronger than First Facet readings."
Emma's mental interface pulsed, displaying a golden tree like visualization. Sylvara materialized beside her, star filled form shimmering into existence.
"That interface is Questmind," she explained. "One of twenty one power systems, powered by WoodDust. It assigns quests, tracks growth, unlocks abilities as you ascend through tiers. You've been using it instinctively, now wield it with purpose."
The interface displayed:
```
QUEST ACTIVE: FIND THE ARBITER
CAPACITY: 35%
CHAOSFLUX RESISTANCE: +5%
```
Reality buckled violently. The vessel's hull groaned as bone islands materialized outside, grinding against each other like cosmic teeth. The starless void of fractured dominion loomed, prismatic tempests howling between islands.
"They've followed us," Emma whispered. The ache intensified, sparks flaring brighter.
A rift tore through the med bay with a sound like screaming glass. Emmaruxis stepped through, necrotic wings trailing darkness that devoured light. Her eyes leaked shadow, smile too wide, filled with jagged teeth. "You cannot run," she hissed, voice distorting Emma's own. "The Titans remember you."
Witches poured through, bodies flickering in and out of existence, leaving trails of negation. Behind them emerged Korrath, renegade Veilweaver, eyes like collapsed stars, fingers trailing shadow stuff that unmade reality where it touched.
"He wields Chaos Magic," Sylvara warned. "It destabilizes realities, unmaking matter and energy. The witches and Korrath are corrupted by Titan influence."
Korrath's voice emerged as discordant whispers. "Logic dies where chaos rules." He gestured, unleashing a Shatterflux wave that cracked the med bay floor, fissures racing toward Aisha.
She reacted instantly, crystallized blood blade flashing through air. It wasn't just a weapon, it manipulated the concept of "sharpness" through Ideaflex. The blade severed the chaotic energy wave, dissipating it before impact.
Lucas launched forward, golden scars flaring as Kineticvance activated. His fist connected with a witch's ribcage, carrying 5,000 tons of force. The impact didn't just break bones, it atomized them, black ichor exploding across the room in superheated droplets that sizzled against metal. "They're everywhere, Em!" he roared, already spinning to face another.
Aisha targeted a witch mid materialization, her Ideaflex blade slicing through its throat with lethal precision, severing spine and arteries in a single stroke. Black ichor fountained upward, suspended momentarily in zero gravity before raining down. "Predict their entry points!" she gasped.
Korrath teleported behind her, hand passing through reality with Realityflux. Space bent grotesquely around his fingers as they passed through Aisha's shoulder. Her flesh didn't tear, it ceased existing, reality unraveling where chaos touched. Blood erupted from the wound as she collapsed, screaming.
Rage surged through Emma. The pressure between her shoulder blades reached breaking point, 36% capacity, as golden wings erupted, more energy than matter, their structure incomplete but powerful. They lifted her several feet off the ground in an unsteady hover, sparks cascading around her.
She surged toward Korrath, half formed wings accelerating her forward. Emma channeled Flamegleam, fire erupting from her hands not as simple flames but as elemental destruction that consumed space itself. A witch in her path disintegrated, leaving nothing but void. Her fist, amplified by 8,000 tons of Fluxion force, connected with Korrath's chest. The impact created a sonic boom that shattered nearby equipment, sending him crashing through the med bay wall, hull deforming under pressure.
Korrath rose unphased, darkness consuming his star eyes completely. "You wield power you do not understand. The Titans will teach you."
Emmaruxis dived toward Emma, necrotic wings tucked for deadly speed. "Choice is a cage," she whispered. "I broke free. Will you?"
Emma met the challenge midair, wings flaring golden. She channeled Stoptide, creating a temporal bubble that slowed Emmaruxis to a crawl. The corrupted double's movements congealed, necrotic energy pooling around her like oil. Emma followed with Fluxion, raw energy surging through her fist as she struck.
The impact point between them created a reality fracture, a brief moment where physics failed completely. The shockwave traveled outward, vibrating through every surface, rattling the hull plates and shattering glass throughout the vessel.
"I choose my crew," Emma stated, wings stabilizing slightly as capacity ticked to 37%.
Sylvara's star magic wove protective patterns around the crew. "The Titan vessel grows stronger each moment," she warned. "Korrath is corrupted by Chaos Magic, a pawn serving their will."
Chloe pushed herself up from the med table, abdomen partially healed. "We're not done," she growled weakly, reaching for Phantaveil ability. She bent light into an illusory duplicate, drawing a witch away from Markus. The distraction gave him opening to strike with a 3,000 ton fist that shattered its skull into obsidian fragments.
Gray's voice cut through. "Isolated the chaos interference," he reported, hands flying across controls, WoodDust flowing through his fingertips into the system. "It's coming from Korrath, disrupting the core."
"Gray wields Techsynth," Sylvara explained. "He's using Gearsynth to channel WoodDust into the vessel, countering Korrath's chaos."
The vessel shuddered as Gray activated Gearsynth, golden light surging through hull systems. Chaos ripples weakened momentarily. Emma's interface pulsed:
```
LEVEL: 7
CAPACITY: 37%
NEW SKILL AVAILABLE: AETHERWEAVE (SHIELDIS)
```
"Your Questmind unlocked Aetherweave," Sylvara said. "It rewrites reality's laws. Shieldis allows creating protective barriers. Channel through central meridian pathways."
Emma reached mentally for the skill, feeling new pathways form as WoodDust surged through her system. Golden light flared from her wings, extending outward as a shimmering dome over her crew. The strain pulled at her focus, but she held firm against waves of chaotic energy smashing against the barrier.
A witch phased through the floor beneath Lucas, chaos claws extending toward his spine. He sensed the attack through enhanced reflexes, pivoting impossibly fast. His elbow connected with the witch's skull, Kineticvance amplifying impact to 6,000 tons. The creature's head didn't just break, it detonated, spraying obsidian brain matter across the room, its body still moving for three seconds before realizing it was dead.
"I won't let you break us," Emma said, meeting Emmaruxis's gaze. Her corrupted double's smile faltered, doubt flickering in shadowed eyes.
Korrath gestured again, widening the rift. Beyond it loomed the Titan's form, star filled gaze pressing against Emma's consciousness with crushing weight. "Freedom is coming," he intoned. "You will be its herald, Seedkeeper, whether you choose or not."
Sylvara's star magic pulsed in sync with Emma's Aetherweave, reinforcing the shield. "You're learning to balance power systems," she observed. "But Titans' grasp tightens. Find the Arbiter before they claim you."
Emma's crew gathered beneath the dome, Lucas bloodied but unbowed, Chloe barely conscious but defiant, Aisha clutching her wounds but resolute, Markus stabilizing himself with flickering Lumeheal, Gray working tirelessly at controls. Their trust anchored her against surging chaos.
The twins flanked Korrath suddenly, witch sisters moving in perfect synchrony, reality bending around their elongated fingers. They attacked Emma's shield simultaneously from opposite sides, chaos magic eating into the golden barrier. Where they touched, reality itself screamed, the sound manifesting as physical waves that caused nose bleeds among the crew.
Emma channeled more power, feeling her wings solidify further as capacity maintained at 37%. The strain created burning pathways through her biology, but she embraced the pain, using it to focus her will.
"I'll find the Arbiter," she vowed, wings burning brighter, form slowly solidifying, a beacon in fractured dominion.
The Titans watched from beyond the Veil, gaze heavy with cosmic intent.
But so did her crew. And for them, she would fight.