Sibby appeared.
Something tried connecting with her, but she brushed it away.
She immediately sensed something was wrong. Kevin had summoned her, but he wasn't around. The connection she shared with him didn't feel like it normally did.
"What the?"
"Goodness!"
"Guards!"
It was strange. He should be here somewhere! Sibby looked around. There were lots of people, but no Kevin. Although... he could change his appearance. He might be in disguise!
"What is she?"
"It must be a Djinni."
"I don't see a collar or bracelets."
No, that was silly. It also wasn't a good game. She could always sense where Kevin was. Changing shape or splitting in two didn't matter. Oh, wait. He was in two places! ...but neither of them was close.
"Wild Djinni!"
"Call the [Djinni Slavers]!"
"Help!"
For that matter, where was Panda? Sibby hadn't summoned her. She couldn't be summoned by anyone else, but that connection also existed! There was only one explanation: Someone was playing a game with them.
"Stand back!"
"Dead Gods!"
"I'll deal with her! [Anti-magic strike]!"
A bare-chested man with lots of thin markings on his skin struck her with a whip!
Sibby ignored it.
No. That wasn't good enough. She IGNORED it.
The piece of leather struck her... and disintegrated as the Siberian's body overcame its pathetic molecular bonds.
Sibby smiled, and pounced on her attacker. The rules were quite clear. Self defense allowed her to do anything she wanted.
First, her calling card. The Siberian giggled to herself. It was nice having a calling card. Anyways, she clawed his face. Not enough to be lethal, but she did include his eyes. If someone wanted to play with HER, then she wasn't going to go easy on them.
...Well, maybe just a little. Kevin still radiated disapproval when she killed someone in 'self defense'.
Second, she grabbed his hand that held the weapon he dared try to strike her with. A small application of her power let his fingers pass through the handle of the whip and his thumb. She then revoked her power, leaving the leather object fused to what used to be his hand.
"DEAD GODS!"
"RUN!"
"AAAAAHHHHH!"
Sibby smirked. The rest of the players, or rather, pawns knew their place. It felt gratifying to inspire so much fear so quickly.
...Actually, it felt both gratifying and boring at the same time. It was hard finding people who'd try to fight her. Sure, desperate prey would struggle and attack when cornered, but that wasn't very exciting.
Sibby stalked forward, but no one else seemed brave enough to risk her wrath. She straighten and looked for a better vantage point. Huh? Now that she looked at it, this city was strange.
The buildings were so short!
And what were they made of? Clay? Rocks?
At least they were painted nicely, and had lots of decorations, but their attempts at 'smooth' walls were just... pathetic. Eh. She shrugged. She never understood 'art'. Even when Riley had gone on and on about it. It was hard to get invested in something so... flimsy.
Anyways, what was she doing? Oh, that was right, she needed a vantage point. That building looked tall enough. Sibby crouched and strengthened the ground to withstand her jump.
...
Sibby appeared.
Something tried connecting with her, but she brushed it away.
She was still in the square. The buildings were the same. All the people were still gone.
"Uhhhhh..."
All the people were gone except for the one that'd tried to whip her. Strangely the only thing that had changed was her position. It was like she popped and was immediately re-summoned.
Hmmmm...
What had Kevin said? Something about not assuming things?
Right. She should prove it!
Sibby walked to the other side of the man to the same place she'd just been, bent down, and then poked her finger through the stones that covered the ground.
...
Sibby appeared.
Something tried connecting with her, but she brushed it away.
The Siberian paced back and forth for a while and thought.
Well. That proved it, right? The stone beneath her foot summoned her.
Or this location did.
Or something...
No. Kevin still summoned her. She could feel him. She couldn't feel the stone.
Although, she could only feel one Kevin now... and Panda felt strange.
What did William always tell her? Protect him because he was her summoner? She understood his argument. Without him, she wouldn't exist. ...except she was existing without him now.
In any event, hiding the fact that she could be summoned was something both William and Kevin agreed on. She shouldn't let people know that this spot was special!
...Especially with her popping so frequently.
Why was that happening anyways?
Sibby frowned and placed the palm of her hand on the stones at her feet. They felt... new. Different. There was something there. It wasn't something she could sense directly... more like the usual input she got was altered.
Hmmm...
What if she jumped without spreading her power to the ground first? That seemed like a good next step. Or experiment. Or whatever.
The Siberian bent her knees and pushed off of the ground. Her leap lifted her high into the air. She didn't even need to ignore gravity's effect to achieve such a weak result. She was just that strong and amazing!
Surprisingly, the ground beneath her feet remained intact. She normally reinforced the ground she leapt from or landed on. If she didn't, she tended to make a mess of things. Not good for a huntress like herself.
Sibby landed on the rooftop. The split second her foot brushed against the wooden ceiling, but before any of her weight or momentum would be transfered, she'd analyzed the building.
It had the same... altered signals.
She didn't reinforce the rooftop. Instead she landed with all her weight.
Nothing.
Hmmm...
Sibby stomped on the roof a few times. She heard a muffled yell from inside and people scurrying around, but that was it. Whatever these altered objects were, they were durable.
So what next? From her new vantage point, Sibby could see a bell tower. It was tall enough to let her see for miles in every direction.
Sibby wanted to make a bee line towards it, but that would be foolish. She was a smart and patient huntress. What she needed to do now was vanish so she could stalk her prey unseen.
She also needed to figure out who her prey were.
Thus, the next step was to hop off of the building. People might've seen her disappear and re-appear already. Or they might not have. They were all busy screaming and running before it happened.
Huh. They were screaming and yelling before she'd done anything. Did her reputation precede her? Could they not stand seeing her perfection? Was it a case of mistaken identity?
Sibby shrugged. She'd find out the answer with time, or she wouldn't. It didn't really matter either way since she'd still do the same things. Other people's opinions were worthless.
Except for Riley, Kevin, and Panda's.
What was she going to do again? That's right. She needed to vanish in an obvious fashion, but also in a real one. Did this place have manhole covers? Those were great for giving a plausible explanation for where she'd gone.
Nope. Nothing of the sort was visible from where she was.
Well, it was time for a distraction then. The open area that she'd appeared in had numerous carts around its edges. They were filled with all sorts of things.
Swords. Fruit. Cooked meat. Cloth. Funny looking trinkets.
All of them would work.
Sibby hopped back down and strolled to one of the carts. The blind man she'd injured clamored to his feet, so she tripped him as she walked past.
First, the cart with the swords. It didn't feel strange, so Sibby granted it immunity from everything.
Wait. The cart was fine, but the swords felt different. Now that her power engulfed what they were resting on, Sibby could tell they were giving off altered vibrations also.
It was too risky.
She let that cart go and picked up the one with the fruit.
Ah, much better. No weird properties muffling this cart's interactions with the world. Sibby raised it over her head, and then launched it into the air!
There. That should go at least a mile before it hit the ground. The odds of it hurting someone were high, but it probably wouldn't kill anyone. Unless they were unlucky enough to be struck directly.
Some of the other carts she tossed in the air. Some she broke apart and flung their pieces. Others she hurled at the surrounding buildings. She needed to make any people that might be watching her from the windows think twice.
Satisfied that she'd made enough of a scene, Sibby ran down a road. She turned into the first alley she came across. No windows. No followers. She was as hidden as she could be.
Or at least as hidden as she could be without using her power.
Sibby let the light that was reflecting off of her body pass through her instead. She did the same for heat, sound, radiation... almost everything.
She was now deaf and blind. She couldn't see if she didn't let light interact with her eyes. She couldn't hear if she didn't let sound interact with her ears.
Better safe than sorry if she was going to win this game.
Sibby crouched, and then jumped with all her might. She didn't reinforce the street, but it remained intact as she leapt into the air.
Once she was high enough, she started to ignore gravity. Sibby let herself float for a while before allowing light to strike her eyes once again. She soared over the city for a while before letting gravity pull her back towards the ground. She landed lightly on another rooftop before springing away. Once again, she refrained from trying to affect the odd material.
Her new trajectory took her towards her target - the bell tower. It was now ringing. She could see another man with similar markings as the whip wielder pulling at the thick cord that was attached to the bell. She couldn't hear it since she was still letting sound pass through her.
Sibby landed on the peak of the tower before sliding down the side a short ways. Her eyes were still visible. While it wasn't the entirety of her eye, only a small section in the center, it was still something someone could notice.
She still needed to hide the extent of her powers. That was a given no matter the game.
Sibby pressed herself against the roof. It felt wrong, just like the other structures and the street. Something that prevented her from affecting it with her power. Oh! She was still super strong! She should see if she could break it with only her body's muscles!
Not now though. Later. Once it was dark and people wouldn't see her appear in her spot if she popped again. For now, she would wait and watch.
The city she'd been summoned in was large. While most of its buildings only had one or two floors, there were a few that rose as high as five or six. What it lacked in vertical expansion, it made up with horizontally. Even with her new position, she couldn't see where it ended.
Well, that wasn't strictly true. She could see a large body of water. No city on that. Lots of boats though.
The strange thing was, they were all sail boats. Or at least boats with sails. Some of them were pretty big.
It wasn't the architecture that held her interest. Rather, it was the prey... erm... people.
So far, there were two distinct types - those with nice jewelry, and those with ugly jewelry. A lot of them, in fact most of them, had those same thin lines on their skin. Especially interesting was that the flesh between the lines was sometimes different. Sometimes it was rougher or smoother, or even a different color.
The people with the ugly jewelry were clearly less happy than the ones with gold or silver. Sibby wished that Kevin was around to give her Observe for a while. She wondered what the ugly jewelry people were sad about. If it was for a good enough reason, she could start another game!
A game within a game!
Someone else landed on the bell tower. Sibby looked up, but couldn't see them. So it must be someone who was good at hiding - like her. Too bad they weren't good at landing. She'd felt the vibrations from when they had come in contact with the structure. She felt the vibrations from when they breathed. She could tell that they were blocking the wind with their body.
All in all, the other player was nowhere as skilled as she was. She should just maim or scare him and move on.
...but not until night fell.
Other nice jewelry wearing people were gathered around her summoning spot. They all had weapons in their hands. Swords, bows, little sticks. They were all shouting too. Sibby was too far away to hear them, even if she let the vibrations interact with her. She could still see their lips moving.
Most of the people looking for her had arrived on... rugs? What a strange way to fly. They mounted their strange transportation method and rose into the air again. They spread out while shouting and looking all around for her.
Yes, waiting until there was no one to see her if she popped again was a good idea!
Still... she had the invisible person to play with. Whomever it was, they were obviously part of the game. They'd just had the same idea as her, too bad for them the Siberian was superior in every way!
Sibby reached out a hand. Slowly, slowly... there. She'd found him!
His waves felt strange, but different from the road somehow. Well, they were obviously different as they didn't cause her to pop when she passed through them. That didn't mean all of him was safe to 'touch'! He might have something on him that she couldn't affect. The strangeness might change!
But what was a game without any risk?
Sibby found an edge. Clothing? A cape? Whatever it was, she gently grasped it with two fingers and started to ignore gravity and momentum.
Not entirely, but enough so that it would only take a small gust to send her flying. Her touch was as light as a feather, no, as light as a strand of hair. When her target moved, so would she.
Now it was a waiting game, and Sibby was a patient huntress.
...
Her prey was also patient.
...Or was it her hunter?
If someone was hunting someone else, but that person was actually being hunted by the first person... who was the hunter and who was the prey?
Eh.
It didn't matter. As long as the Siberian was one of those people, the other one would be prey by definition!
While her prey kept their vigil, Sibby looked around the city.
Kevin had said they were going to another Earth, but Sibby didn't think that was where she was. This whole place was too strange. Sure, she hadn't been to other Earths before, so she couldn't say that the buildings, dresses, and strange people were wrong.
What she could say was that those bricks were wrong. There was nothing that she couldn't negate!
Ok. Fine. There were a couple things that she'd found over the years that made her stop existing rather than the other way around. That one cape in the white. The other in the red. That, uhm, whomever it was.
Still, the point was that they all felt... familiar. Like they were simply fundamentally more potent than she was. (As galling as that was to admit.)
No. This world felt wrong.
It wasn't just the brick, or the fabric she was holding. The very air itself was... off.
Oh, and there were two moons. That was a big giveaway also.
The sun was still out, but she could see their shapes beyond the clouds.
Hmmm... How were the people doing by her spot? Still waving their arms in the air and (presumably) shouting strange things.
What about the other places where she'd thrown stuff?
Let's see...
Ah. One cart was being sorted through by people with ugly collars. A man with golden jewelry was shouting at them while cracking a whip above their heads.
What was with the whips? Sibby could see three other people with the lackluster weapon in the crowd. Those men had them coiled at their waist, but it was still an odd weapon of choice.
Jack had tried using a whip once.
In private.
It had worked, but it clearly wasn't a proper weapon.
Was this one of those 'cultural' things that William had occasionally talked about?
Sibby wished she'd paid more attention back when he was still alive. Her first creator had been smart. Sure, he could go on and on about the strangest things, but he usually had a point. Stuff like social classes didn't make sense to her. Who cared how humans viewed themselves? She was better than them, and that was all that mattered.
...At least that was what she'd thought back then.
Riley had changed that. Kevin had changed it more.
She looked at the location of another cart she'd thrown. More people with ugly clothing and those bulky collars were going through the rubble.
Was this an example of a 'lower class'? She supposed the golden jewelery and colorful clothing were a status symbol. It was the same as Earth in that sense. Sure, these people were much more obsessed about shiny things, but the... idea was still the same.
Sibby wondered what her prey looked like. They had to be important. Turning invisible, even if they were poor at it, had to mean they were special. What sort of a world would it be if everyone could become invisible?
No, that was silly.
Also, how was her prey seeing things?
No matter how hard Sibby looked,she couldn't see any light that didn't pass through the space where her prey was.
Was it that strange feeling?
Was her prey using a form of detection that Sibby wasn't aware of?
Could they be watching her right now?
No. Of course not!
What a silly idea.
...
FINALLY!
Her target was going to pay for making her wait so long if nothing else!
Sibby wanted to close her eyes as she was dragged along, but she couldn't trust where she'd be pulled. The sun was setting, but there were still people close to her summoning place. It was tricky. Holding on to an invisible person, while making sure she dodged objects took skill.
Thankfully, she was just that talented.
Also, they seemed to be flying. So there wasn't really anything she needed to do.
Her prey landed on the ground in a secluded alley. He then lowered a hood he'd been wearing. At the same time he became visible.
Correction. SHE became visible. Sibby's target was a female.
Short.
Dusky skin.
Long black hair.
A very thin tattoo around her neck.
Sibby frowned. Almost everyone she'd see had possess the same tattoos. Thin as a hair or as thick as a vein - their size varied, as did their placement, but they were all uninspired straight lines.
Sibby couldn't tell if her prey had more markings, as the rest of her body was hidden by her clothes. Now that she was visible, the Siberian let go of her cloak and stood up. Her prey began to walk, and Sibby followed her.
A floating pair of eyes would be noticed, so Sibby only allowed a single pinprick of light to interact with her. A black speck floating in the air was hard to see. Most people that did notice it mistook it for a bug.
It was a good disguise, but it made things hard to see. While she was like this, Sibby had no depth perception and extreme tunnel vision. It was one of the reasons it was so hard to tell where she was relative to anything but her target.
They moved through the city before entering a nondescript building. Sibby slipped in as the door closed behind them.
The room was bare except for another door. The woman opened it and stepped through, as did the Siberian.
The new room had two men in armor standing by an archway. A gem was embedded above it. Her prey stepped through, and the gem flashed blue.
Sibby frowned. There was something in the air.
Would she pop if she followed after her target?
Eh. She shrugged. She hadn't come this far to stop now!
The Siberian slipped through the arch.
The gem didn't react.
Sibby smiled as she crept behind the other woman. The pair walked down a flight of stairs and through more hallways and doors. They eventually arrived at a door where her target paused. Instead of opening it like the others, she knocked and waited.
Sibby allowed the vibrations in the air to interact with her ears.
"-in." A voice called from behind the door.
The woman opened the door and stepped through. Sibby followed. She quickly looked around the room before moving to a corner and crouching down. Dusty. Numerous bookshelves full of books and scrolls. Another gem above the door that still glowed blue. A large desk, covered with documents. Behind it sat a large, rotund man. He also had black hair, dusky skin, and thin lines that were visible on his neck and arms.
The outfit he wore bore an image of scales. A hand holding a bag was shown on each end.
The same image was displayed on a large banner behind the desk. However, the scales on his body and the one on the banner tilted different ways.
"Zahia." The man nodded. "What do you have to report?"
The woman, Zahia, shook her head. "No sign of a free Djinni. There were no magical distortions of any kind, and no residue at the scene." She shrugged. "I suspect it is a prank, or the work of a [Saboteur]."
The man grunted. "Is that so?" He reached down and opened a drawer in his desk. "While you were finding nothing, others returned this." He tossed a bundle of cloth and leather towards her.
Zahia caught it before turning it over in her arms. "The tip just stops." She held up the leather end of the object. "A fine cut." She rubbed a thumb over the tip. "Clearly made with magic or a cutting skill." She flipped it over and looked at the cloth end. "What?" She tugged at it. "I see no stitches, nor any binding material."
"Aye." The man replied. "The man's fingers were fused with his whip. Now, tell me. What skill can do that?"
Zahia shook her head. "No skill that I know of." She placed the object back on the desk and grunted.
Sibby was confused. They had to be talking about her. Who else could do what she'd done to the whip and her attacker. Why was there cloth instead of his hand at the end of the weapon? She frowned. It was obviously some sort of power. A transference of cloth to flesh? A byproduct of a healer?
It didn't matter. It wouldn't be the first time she had to teach people that her victims deserved what they got.
...And that they would get it one way or another.
"-nd no traces of magic!" Oh, right. The conversation.
"And I'm telling you that if it looks like a Djinni and acts like a Djinni, then it's a Djinni!" The man yelled.
"Fine." Zahia crossed her arms. "Let's say it is a Djinni. What types?"
"Stealth? Binding? Shadow? Dead Gods, for all we know it could be magical-absorbing!" The man glared at her. "It's not our job to figure out precisely what magic the cursed thing is made of! We need to find it and catch it!"
Zahia nodded. "Of course. What do you want me to do next?"
The man made a shooing motion. "Leave. Get some rest. Our Djinni are already here. You can resume your surveillance tomorrow."
That was her cue. Sibby stood up and moved towards the door. She had plenty of targets. The man who'd avoided her punishment. The guy behind the desk that was coordinating the hunt for her. Zahia, who'd been part of that hunt.
Who to play with next?
It had to be Zahia. Sibby had already spent so much time stalking her. The real question was, what punishment would she give her? She wanted to draw the healer out first, and Zahia seemed important enough to warrant a visit.
Sibby tailed the woman as she left the building and made her way across the city.
...
"Good evening, Mistress." Sibby watched as the door smoothly swung open so that Zahia didn't have to break her stride. A man in an expensive looking getup stood to the side and held it open.
Sibby slipped in behind her.
Zehia began to undress. She passed her cloak, boots, and her thick leather armor to the man. The rest of her clothes she dropped on the floor as she walked.
Sibby paused to look at the man. He didn't have the thin markings around his neck - at least not that she could see. He was wearing a collar that might be covering them up. It looked like the pretty jewelry that some of the people she'd seen had worn, but it had a hole on the front instead of being smooth or possessing a small gem.
The man took the three garments away to another room, while a younger boy dashed out and started picking up the discarded clothing. His outfit was similar to the man - including a collar with a hole.
Sibby shrugged. She'd never 'got' clothing and fashion. They were annoying and hid her perfect body. Besides, if she wanted to not draw attention, she had her power.
She decided to continue following Zehia. The woman was now in a room with a large circular hole that was filled with hot water. She sunk into her bath as more people came in. This time they were all women.
One washed her body. Another washed her hair. The third brought a tray of food, which she fed the alpha with.
Sibby watched and wondered. The other three women were nude, which she approved of, except for the collars they wore, which she was confused by. Why leave those on?
She was quickly distracted by the markings that the naked women had. Thin, black lines criss crossed their bodies. The lines weren't all in the same places, but there did seem to be a correlation between them and joints. Shoulders, elbows, knees, hips... they all had markings there - even Zehia.
Once her bath was done, Zehia put on a silk dress and retired to a pillow-filled room. "Send for Laila." A man bowed and scurried away. Soon, a squirrel woman entered the room. She had large, wide, strangely colored eyes, furry ears on the top of her head, and a large, bushy tail behind her.
She also had those same black lines.
Sibby moved in for a closer look.
The lines weren't lines. They were slightly raised sections that emerged from her skin. More than that, it wasn't a single mass, but one that came out, then went back in, then came out again.
Wait.
She'd seen something like this dozens, no, hundreds of times. Back when Riley had just joined them.
They were stitches!
How odd. It must be one of those 'cultural' things. Like jewelry that people stuck through their skin. Did they not know what tattoos were? Or did they prefer string to ink for making patterns?
...But why only lines?
Eh. It probably didn't matter.
"Laila." Zehia smiled. "We had the most interesting description of a suspect today. Black and white striped skin! Like those animals from Jecrass. I've never seen a beastkin like that before." Her smile widened. "But that won't be a problem, will it?" She reached behind her and pulled out a scroll before handing it to the other woman.
"As my Mistress wishes." Laila bowed and accepted the parcel. "And my face?" She looked up with a look that Sibby recognized - fear.
The Siberian didn't care for most people, things, or activities. She had, however, gained ample experience terrorizing people. She KNEW fear. Try as much as they'd like, the minor signs were always there.
It was one of the reasons she'd liked Kevin from the start. No fear. Plus, he tasted good.
She smirked to herself. Her latest game with him didn't produce fear, not exactly, but it did provoke a reaction. She wondered when she'd see him again before turning her attention back to the game at hand.
"Of course." Zehia smirked. "You must be striped all over!" She languidly stood up and cupped the other woman's face. "Come now, you have the skill to survive tampering to your head. That's why you were so expensive."
Sibby froze.
Expensive?
As in she was bought? As in slaves? As in what the collars with holes represented?
It all made sense now. The two types of people. The two types of jewelery. The way most of the people didn't speak or even dare look at the other half. It wasn't a social thing.
Well, it was in a sense, but it was based on taking people's freedom! Sibby had gained strong opinions on that subject after what William had forced her to force Panda to do. What Mannequin had tried to force Riley to do. What Jack had forced them all to do!
Kevin would agree.
It was time to play a serious game.