Tabitha started to gnaw anxiously on her thumbnail as all my eyes remained riveted to the screen, or rather, some distant point far beyond. I'd recalled every fragment of my mind that had been off exploring the building to furiously focus on the question that faced me.

Namely, why?

Why had Scion torn open what I could only assume was a portal between Earths, and then flown through it? As far as I could remember, he could simply move between any of the alternate Earths whenever he wanted, since the body he showed us was just an avatar for his unthinkably huge true form. And since he wasn't exactly the type to show off, the world that portal led to was probably one he couldn't reach via his usual means.

Tabitha swallowed a fragment of nail.

So the Earth on the other side, since I assumed it was an Earth, wasn't one of the ten-to-the-eightieth-power Earths the Entities already knew of and utilized. And what had that reporter said? Scion had dropped everything he'd been doing to race over here and then just hung in the air for a few days before doing this. I wasn't the sort of person who believed that the world revolved around me, or even wanted it to, but given the evidence I could only assume that I was the reason for Scion's sudden interest. Well, not me, personally, but the method by which I was placed on this world.

Tabitha ran out of nail, I think, but I didn't make her stop. I was too busy considering the implications. If whatever organization or whatever that had dumped me here hadn't taken any precautions, Scion could very well be going on a rampage in their base. According to what I remembered of the tattoo, they apparently had the means to basically abduct shards and force them to grant powers, and I couldn't imagine he'd take too kindly to that. Then, my hopes of somehow returning home would be truly dashed, even if it didn't push Scion to begin his apocalyptic rampage early.

No, I couldn't think like that. I couldn't give into despair, as tempting as it might be. I'd have to hope that the bastards who'd both blessed me with these powers and screwed me over by completely upending my life had taken the requisite precautions to not have an angry Warrior in their base, asploding their dudes… Okay, that was a bit forced, but still. Maybe the portal led to another Earth Bet? One with its own Scion… which was probably just as bad as Scion breaking into the base of those bastards, if not worse. At best, the two might fight until they both perish, along with whatever world or worlds they used as their battleground. At worst, they-

"What the Christ, you're bleeding!" Someone grabbed Tabitha's arm and sharply pulled, in the process tearing a scrap of meat from her thumb that had been speared by a tooth's prongs. She let out a breathy gasp as the exquisite pain tore through her, her teeth flexing and writhing with nothing to tear into, before a tendril of her tongue flicked out to snag the bloody gobbet and toss it down her throat. She blinked hard, her eyes focusing on the woman from before who had asked if she was okay, who was now staring at her with undisguised horror. Acacia's head whipped around at the commotion, just in time to let me see the glistening white of spit-slicked bare bone, before blood burbled up over it.

"Jesus!" she hissed, swiping her hand through the corner of the briefcase. In a flash, she'd brought the pebble-sized chunk of stone up to cover Tabitha's wounded thumb, forming a skintight seal just above the first joint. She let herself sigh with relief before saying, "Alright, that should stem the bleeding." She released her grip on her sister's hand and sat back to observe the damage.

Red stained Tabitha's skin and sleeve and lips, trails of crimson tracing across the soft underside of her forearm. A cloying, coppery taste filled her mouth, reluctant to fade even as I had her swallow repeatedly. But it wasn't an awful taste…

Acacia shook her head to clear it, then put her hand firmly on Tabitha's shoulder. "Tabby?" she asked, not all for show. Tabitha's eyes snapped to her. "Tabitha, could you, uh, clean yourself up a bit? I can probably get the blood out of your clothes, I think."

After a moment, Tabitha nodded, and I set about cleaning up the mess I'd made. I considered licking the blood off her lips, but a glance at the still-stunned others in the room stopped me, and not just because of the state my tongue and teeth were in. I shouldn't freak them out any more, I really shouldn't. Instead, quick flexes of my inner power allowed her to directly absorb the fluid through her skin, leaving it pristine and with no trace of its presence left. At the same time, another splinter of my mind consolidated her tongue, another returned her teeth to the way they'd been, and a third set about reconstructing her thumb, quickly popping off the stone cap with the pressure of its filling-in flesh and nail.

Acacia caught the cap before it had the chance to hit the table, even as, to all outward appearances, she was focused on forcing the blood out of Tabitha's sleeve for her sister to reabsorb. The cap, she pressed to the briefcase's surface, leaving it whole once more.

No evidence of the incident remained, save memories and a faintly stained sleeve.

Tabitha squeezed her eyes closed with a sigh and a quick shake of her head, then opened them and looked at the woman who was still standing there, hand over her mouth as she stared wide-eyed at the two of me. I couldn't stop Tabitha's lips from stretching in a grimace. She was freaked out, and not in a way I was in a position to enjoy. Two men across the room were staring as well, one with half a sandwich frozen in place halfway to his open mouth. This would probably complicate my efforts here, and that wasn't even the worst part.

I'd lost control. That was the worst part. But I wasn't in a good place to analyze what had happened just then, I couldn't... I had to settle for making another note in Acacia's skull and moving on.

"I, um… Sorry about, uh, I'm sorry y'all had to see that," Tabitha said haltingly. I had to manually make a blush bloom in her cheeks, even though, before, it might've appeared on its own. "Don't, don't know what came over me."

Naturally, before anyone could respond, or even so much as move, the door opened, surprising them. The guy with the sandwich even jumped a little, spilling some of its contents in the process. I, naturally, was not surprised, as I'd felt the approach of the person, but since I'd withdrawn all the fragments of my focus I'd lost track of who this might be, though I had my suspicions. A small ember of self-satisfaction settled within my bodies when I was proven correct – Taisto stuck his head through the open door. His mouth opened to speak, only to pause as he looked around the room.

"... Why do I get the feeling I just missed something?" he asked, though his question didn't seem to be directed at anyone in particular.

Well, it didn't really matter. I recognized an escape when I saw one.

Quickly, my bodies stood, chairs squeaking across the floor as they were pushed back. Acacia placed her hand on Tabitha's shoulder to steady her as the mass of the briefcase made her stagger and strained her arm's ligaments. The sudden noise startled the other occupants of the room, and before they could recover and entrap me in awkwardness once more I hurried out the door, gently pressing Taisto back as I did.

The door clicked closed, and Tabitha gave him a slightly strained smile. He gave her an uncertain look in return, then sighed. "I'll just assume that means you're ready to continue."

"Yes. Please."