The Amphimancer: Not Alone

I found myself alone in the middle of a dark alley, using some soft trash bags as cushion to sleep. Some nights are hard, and that night was one of the hardest I had in a long time. I was cold. I was hungry. I couldn't sleep because there were two more unfortunate souls in the same alley who were arguing over the remains of a sandwich they found in the bin.

I should have left and crawled into another hole, but I didn't. I knew the men were dangerous, but not as dangerous as the police. We all knew better than to pick a real fight with each other. One wrong shout and we were all in jail. Nothing was worse than jail.

So I stayed and listened to the two of them bicker. At this point, they had moved off the sandwich discussion and on to finding some cardboard to sleep on. As I slowly started to doze off, I noticed something odd. A faint white mist emanating from both of them. At first, I thought nothing of it, thinking that sometimes hot heads let off steam.

Over time, the mist began to grow, eventually obscuring the two of them completely. At this point, I thought they would stop fighting for at least a brief moment to acknowledge the situation at hand. But they didn't. So I kept watching and listening.

Soon, the mist began to solidify and became a strange goop that covered them both and quivered to their emotions. Importantly, there was a thin line connecting the two goopy cocoons. Whenever the argument got heated, the thread would shimmer and glow a bright red. As they cooled down, so did the conduit.

In that moment, I must have fallen asleep. I had a dream that the rest of the world was gone. It was just the three of us in an eternal, black abyss. I had no idea what we were standing on, but the two men were still going at it.

I sighed, waving my palm towards them and said, "Enough. Some of us are trying to sleep." In that moment, I noticed a golden chord extending from my arm and attaching to the connection between the two of them. The color turned from red to white and they topped fighting altogether.

I then heard a loud rumble of thunder and grumbled to myself, worrying about the weather. I didn't have any sort of protection from the rain. But, seeing as I was still dreaming in the black void, I couldn't find shelter even if I wanted to.

There was another rumble. This time, it really felt like someone was calling my name. Another rumble. This time, I was sure of it. It clearly said, "Anna..." and then something I couldn't make out.

At this point, the two others had left the void and I was alone, laying on cushion I couldn't see. There was another rumble, "Anna. You have awoken. You are the first amphimancer – one who controls the synergistic connections between things. Use your power wisely."

That was the end of my dream. The next morning, I woke up to the two men apologizing to me for the night before, saying that my outburst really helped them find some perspective.

Later that day, while rummaging through some garbage, I saw a black kitten next to me. I decided to give it a half-eaten can of tuna I had found. When I did so, I noticed the white mist from the night before around the cat and a small strand connecting it back to me.

It was then that I realized what I was seeing. The souls of everything and everyone and, importantly, how they connected to one another. By feeding the cat, I had befriended it, thus connecting the two of us.

Over time, I learned how to control the power and began to see more connections between people and things. I was able to more easily get food, to break up fights, and to live a comfortable life. After taking care of myself, I realized I could start taking care of other people as well.

One evening, I donned a hood and strolled about town, watching the people around me. I was able to find parents and children. To mediate relationships. To be a good person. As someone who lived their entire life in the shadows as a powerless nobody, it felt good to help others.

One day, while doing my nightly patrol, I saw a thin black chord connected to my back and extending into a dark alleyway. I paused for a moment, trying to figure out what it was. At that point, I knew enough about my powers to know that the thread was definitely connecting me to another human, but I had never seen a thread of that color before. I had an unsettling feeling in my gut that I definitely did not want to see whoever was on the other side of that cord.

So I ran. I ran as fast and as far as I could, using every bit of knowledge I had from living in the undercity for so long. Yet. No matter how hard I tried, the cord followed me. The person managed to pursue me perfectly.

Frantically, I started taking random turns, hoping to throw them off until I took one path I knew I shouldn't have. Before even reaching the end of the road, I knew my mistake, but I ran anyway, hoping there would be some way out of the situation. There wasn't. I hit a dead end.

I faced the wall. Defeated. Feeling the person inching closer and closer.

I curled up into a ball and in a few seconds, I felt a rough hand on my shoulder. An unwashed breath then whispered into my ear, "With how much the Gods like you, I thought you'd be something special. You're really disappointing, though. Just a shy little doll who can't do anything without someone pulling her strings. I wonder why those divine fools would put all their hopes in a pathetic weakling like you."

I was back in the void. The man was gone.

At first, I sighed in relief. But then I looked down and saw a purple thread extending from my stomach and into the darkness. It felt like a small insect crawling around my body. I then saw a yellow one connected to my left arm. Then a blue one connected to my right. Soon, I saw hundreds of different threads, all extending far into the nothingness.

I was not alone. And that was terrifying.


Prompt: "With how much the Gods like you, I thought you'd be something special. You're really disappointing, though. Just a shy little doll who can't do anything without someone pulling her strings. I wonder why those divine fools would put all their hopes in a pathetic weakling like you."