1 1. Interdimensional Kidnapping

In the deepest confines of the Labyrinth Dimension, otherwise known as the Webway, laid a structure in size equal to moons, it was a fortress composed of sleek black material of esoteric origin trimming with the most potent and purest of psychic energy.

A Blackstone Fortress at least would be what the far less advanced and psychically gifted species of the far future would call the bastardized version of peerless creation of warp craft and science beyond mortal comprehension. It was a weapon, a shield, a home and so much more. It was no mere ramming tool.

Within the most secured chamber of this mysterious edifice were hundreds of individuals whose appearance was that of the cross between amphibians, early theropods, and reptiles.

Those cold-blooded beings were known by many names, the Old Ones standing out, they were bearers of biological immortality, psychic talent, and knowledge even the Changer of Ways now but a gestating ocean of tumultuous and ever-changing gestalt of emotions in the Sea of Souls would envy for all of eternity.

In the centermost part of the chamber bathed in soft green light was a massive hunched-over figure garbed in complex robes and jewelry of impossible color and shape of mysterious purpose.

In one of its verdant scaly, and clawed left hands composed of two thumbs and three digits was a pure white staff of ever-shifting light, the dodecahedron-shaped crystal lit a bright purple as the reptilian figure slammed the but of its staff on the ground, reality trembling at the impact.

-Phase two of the Ritual of Taking may begin, let's part the Veil of the Labyrinth Dimension and let the Cradle of Soul of my Sanctuary Fortress blossom.-, an ancient voice of incomprehensible power with a feminine quality echoed from this very same figure and reached every mind present through one of the most fundamental and simple arts of the Sea of Souls, telepathy.

The answer was immediate and of one-minded agreement from the hundreds of Old Ones below her, her loyal subjects, and friends, -As Ancestor Cthylla wishes, we shall bring it forth, our bodies, minds, and souls are yours!-

And so a melodious humm composed of harmonious whistles and clicks began to resonate, their choral affecting the very world around them, psychic energy trickled down and time acted with no strict rules.

Cthylla closed her eyes, her slitted pupil glowing a pure white still viable through her three eyelids then her body moved, meticulous and entrancing were her movements as she rhythmically tapped the butt of her staff on the grass at her feet. Each hit of her staff created the sound of distant bells.

Controlling the Veil of the Labyrinth Dimension that separated it from the Sea of Souls, a separated dimension from the material realm of pure emotions would in a normal setting require for her no more than the flick of a clawed finger.

But this was no normal setting, her vision not limited to mere biology gave her a sight that would drive many to insanity as the crystalline yet liquid walls of the Labyrinth were shifted away by using a process similar to how the membrane of cells would work.

The Veil had molded itself into that of a tunnel that connected to the epicenter of the largest spire of her Fortress, then a tunnel was made and the end opened. The sight was impossible to describe as no words would prove enough to its majesty but the image of a gravitational singularity would be close.

'The Well of Eternity…', her breath hitched but calmness remained in her being, it was not the first she could gaze on such a mystical natural phenomenon, one proof of how little the Old Ones still were faced with that grander of the universe, of both material and immaterial.

And this place… This was the origin point of all, where it all began and where it all will end, the point where space and time were and the center of the universe, and more, so much more.

It was the point of connection to other universes, a word representing a divine plant invented by the most successful species of Great Ape would be the perfect description, Yggdrasil and the Well of Eternity was but one of the end of its many, many branches.

The Well of Eternity as such the most direct method to interact with other universes and the exact reason for the ongoing ritual.

-Phase three of the Ritual of Taking may begin, let's intonate our will into reality for it to obey upon our words, let's our transcendent presence reign supremes my loyal progeny.-, she intoned with fervor, psychic energy exploding out, at the same time the spire at the epicenter of the Blackstone Fortress slowly opened, the sleek black metalloid material letting place to thirty-six petals opened like a blooming flower.

Cthylla's scaled lips moved a sound of silent power was emitted by her throat as she spoke in the language that reshaped reality, and with her, the others present chanted in chorus this same language, "S̷̱̯͘HAT̶̤́͝Ȇ̵͚̩Ṟ̶̃̆!̵͓̯̀ ̵̦̤̐B̷͈̯͐R̴͙̭͛̌Ȩ̵̎͑Å̷͖̘͝K̷̭͌!̴͓̖͛ ̵͙̾͝R̵̪̃̈IP ̴̝̋̄ͅA̸̜͌S̵̟̃̉U̸̘͗͜NDER! ̵̫̜̏P̴̪̑A̷̡̜̿͝R̷̮̆̄T̶͔́̎ ̵̜̣͠B̴̗̐̓A̸̖̝̍̈́R̴̪̀͒͜Ŗ̶͙̓̚I̵̡̳͛̔Ê̶̩̤̈́R̷̪̉̎ ̴̟͌̂O̵̰̰̔F̴̡͈́̿ ̵̬̊R̶̩̃͝Ẽ̵̟͕Ȃ̶͉̓L̶̬̱͗I̸̫̽́T̷̯͙̈̈́Y̸̺̝̎͋,̷͈̩͒̈́ ̸̜̦̇B̴͍͛E̷͓̔Ǧ̷̝O̸̰͆͠N̶͔̤͠E̵̗̭͛̓ ̴͍́̌ͅT̷̈́ͅH̶̰͖͛́Y̵̱̙̚S̴̬͂̒Ȩ̴̿Ĺ̴̮̹͌F̶̘͐ ̶̀̇͜ͅA̸̮̺̕ND̶̢̗͒̓ ̷̨̳͑Ỏ̸̖̃P̵̛̫͌P̴̛̝͐EN̶̯̈́͝ ̵̋̂ͅT̴̠͛̆H̶̯́Ȩ̴̯̂ ̶̯̹̈́P̷͈͒A̵̗̻͘T̸͉̀H̵̙͓̔̔ ̵̤̳̆̚O̷̭̳̐͝F̵̢̛ ̷̘̇D̵̯̭̂E̶̪͗̍S̸̨̑͑T̸̗̙̋I̵̪̎Ǹ̷͉̻Y̷̹͉̆ ̸̱͗F̷̬̹̒͘O̶͇̓͋ͅR̸̟͂ͅ ̷̹͌U̷̟̎S̵̛̭̆͜ ̶̭͇̅͝T̵̞͝Ö̷̹͠ ̴̞̘͒͠R̵͉̓E̶̞̠͝͝À̶̗͍Ṗ̸̡͎̒ ̴̡͔͝͝OUR ̸͕̒Ḋ̵̨U̶̧̕͝E̴̩͇͌̍ ̸̣͎̓P̵̲̕Ŕ̸̩́IZE̴̢̜̒!"

In another universe within a park, children could be seen running and playing about as their parents observed them, an old couple was walking their dogs and the sun was shining.

It was a pleasant day for a young man in his early twenties sitting on one of the many benches, his smartphone where he was waiting for his opponent on Pokémon Showdown to choose their move, and he was also playing to wait for the dozen Pokestops to reset and the Elite Raid a hundred or so meter away to start. One he had missed last week.

His attention was suddenly snapped away from his screen to the squeaking purple ball adorned with pictures of kitten cats that just bounced at his mostly ripped sneaker, and now rested at his feet.

Seeing where it came from he smiled amusedly at the small group of children, two boys and one girl of around six height looking at the ball and then at him with apprehension, clearly hesitating to ask and too nervous to approach.

"Here grab, you can ask, you know little lady. I don't bite, well not when unprovoked or when I'm not hungry.", he said with a playful tone as he grabbed and gently threw the ball back at them, their eyes widened as one of them scrambled to catch the red bouncy toy.

"Thank you Mist-", the little girl having caught the ball spoke, her mouth not in synch with her words as she stopped mid-sentence, one of her eyes shifting far too much to the right while the other dilated then fine crack appeared all over her body, from this crack blood leaked out and she exploded before everyone in the park.

The world seemed to stop, the phone in the young man fell to the ground as he stayed frozen in shock, he couldn't move, he couldn't think, his eyes locked onto the piles of blood and entail that once was a seven-year-old child dressed in a pink skirt.

Then one of the boys that were behind the once-alive girl screamed, it was one of visceral horror and uncomprehension as the liquified piece of her body covered half of his.

His body trembled as his cry reached a new height, this shattered the silence as more and more followed suit but this very same boy suddenly stopped screaming, five thin red lines appeared on his body, and like glass, he shattered, the impossibility unfolding was but the first step to a spiraling descent downard of pandemonium.

"This is a nightmare…", he ushered in a trembling voice as before his terrified and confused eyes the world was breaking apart, the ground shaking, people screaming and running around in terror like headless chickens, as the world broke apart, the elderly couple fell into a crevice that materialized out of thin air to never be seen again while death randomly happened most horrifyingly, some became cubes of flesh or others were ripped in half from neck to crotch like a vulgar piece of papers.

Then a rippling sound echoed, it was impossible to describe, sickeningly wrong and unnatural would have been the correct terms to describe it. So loud was it that it drowned all and any others as the air five meters above him fissured, cracked, and ultimately was ripped apart by a force of eldritch origin, and what was behind was utter nothingness.

'What the fuck. What the fuck What the fuck. This is a nightmare. What the fuck.', the young man's mind repeated like a broken record, unable to formulate higher and more complicated thoughts.

He tried to run, to flee, but he couldn't, his legs betraying as they refused to budge, his body trembled, existential and primal dread engulfed his mind, and all of his senses went into overdrive. He felt the wrongness, this shouldn't be here, this shouldn't be happening but it was and to his horror, he seemed to be the target.

After an enormous amount of trying he finally began to feel his legs but in the heartbeat that followed gravity acted as it shouldn't. His body defied that fundamental force, only adding to his shock but he reacted this time and managed to grab the bench with both hands.

"NO! NO THIS CAN'T BE! PLEASE NO!", he screamed out at the sight of red lines forming all around his forearms, hands, and fingers.

Then to his ever-growing horror and now burning hot agony half of his arms turned into fine red mist and he was flung backward right in the crack in reality. The world turned black, and all of his senses filled with nothingness, an instant that might have been centuries for all he could tell, In the end, it didn't matter as all was back in a violent blast of white.

"AAAHH!", was the first thing his lungs led him to do once his first breath took in as the pain was back, blood spurting from the two wounds like two small macabre fountains. If his clothes were still present they would have soaked that dark red liquid.

His cry of pain when a pure white cocoon engulfed his body, the blood suddenly stopped flowing while most of the burning hot pain was suppressed, giving him the chance to look to where said light was from.

He screamed as he realized he was in a dimly lit room of size his hazy and barely cognizant mind could not comprehend, the air was foggy, hot, and humid. But those details of his new alien environment were of little importance compared to the thing the size of an African bull elephant standing in front of him.

It was a salamander frog crocodile bird lizard hybrid abomination with a crystalline staff in one of its clawed hands, its slitted reptilian eyes glowing with mysterious energy looking down at him with mild interest and emotion he could not describe let to a feeling of existential dread to burgeon in his very being.

Never had he felt such emotions and never would he wish to experience them again, but his wishes were of no importance.

Cthylla observed with fascination the foreign animal that they had brought from another universe, its eyes were wide open in the most primal form of terror as it tried in vain to crawl away whimpering incomprehensibly, its half-intact front limbs moving around randomly.

It was a pathetic sight in its own way, if pity was something her species could feel or even less comprehend she would have felt it but for her, it was almost a show. A sad show of a terrified and cornered animal who was barely intelligent enough to understand the situation it was in.

A subject to be dissected and studied alas it wasn't why this animal had the honor to gaze on her magnificent form, even less so be in such a close presence to her.

'Hmm… Fascinating. It's an adult male and a member of the great ape as far as anatomy and physiology go. The Multiverse is a truly puzzling facet of reality, with infinite possibility come infinite redundancy.', she thought pointing her staff at the mostly hairless ape, the white light enveloping its body switched to a milky grey light as its movement stopped, only its eyes kept on moving, their primitive unrestrained emotion for her and her faithful descendants to gaze upon.

It shocked all but her as it showed that her magnificently crafted steel didn't work to its full potential, as it should have, at least without her putting more power and risking irreversibly damaging this invaluable ingredient of another universe.

The light of her psychic might was seemingly getting eroded by the infinitely weaker and inferior mortal creature, stopping her from putting it into a deep slumber. But this point didn't surprise her, it was the reason why it was brought here from its home reality, at a cost she would prefer not to pay again.

A third of her descendants within the chamber had turned to dust, their essence turned to primal energy while nearly all of the two-thirds remaining held various degrees of injury. They took the brunt of the backlash for the afront she had done on the universe, as they should, their very existence is only thanks to her magnanimity and it was their duty for their species. Things at times are not to be but who was to say to her and the Old Ones what should and what shouldn't be?

She didn't personally choose it for some personal characteristic due to its knowledge or personality, not that she could have to begin with. She took this creature for its very nature, it repulsed both Reality and Unreality equally, eroding them just as the hairless ape was equally getting the same treatment. If not for her intervention his very essence would have vanished in the great cosmos the moment it was brought to this universe.

A phenomenon quite similar to the Pariah Mutation but aside from their unique interaction with the Sea of Souls the similarities stopped, if a Pariah was needed growing one would have been done in a heartbeat and not needed such a dangerous ritual.

What was needed was the native of another universe, but not one with analogous rules, one with inner working almost completely antithetical to hers.

It wasn't its body she was truly interested in thought, it was a temporary if very flawed vessel to be turned into a nutrient, it's Soul however, it was to be the principal ingredient for her Magnum Opus. A living tool of immense power and versatility requested to be created by the Great Council of which she was a permanent member, it was to be made due to their species' current less-than-desirable state.

-My devout progeny, I'm grateful for your sacrifice and will reward you once the time is due. But now is not such time, for the ones in the state of adequate health, I request you to advance my Fortress to our point of rendezvous. Our enemies are vicious and well informed, what was done today had not gone without notice.-, she sent telepathically, a pulse of her psychic energy washing over them simultaneously, their wounds healing at unfathomable speed, but it was on a surface level yet it alleviated their pain. Even the mental ones.

These wounds were far more than physical and more thorough warpcraft would be required to abate the damage done. Or at the very least to reduce the scars that would be left and avoid crippling consequences.

Then she lifted the ape in her psychic grasp and teleported to her chamber where her workshop lay.