plot The Cosmic Battle to Save the Thread

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

Sophie took a few more breaths before she spoke. "I wasn't sure yet... if I wanted to come here. I guess the choice has been made for me." She wrapped her arms around her waist. "I've never been away from TLT. And now you're asking me to go help you fight the Witherlord again. I want to. I just..." Her hair covered her face again. "I already did that. I saved, you, Xino. I don't want you to go and do it again. I don't want to lose you..." Sophie blushed behind her hair, tearing up. 

[xinoehp512 he/him]

He is in much less danger now, said Michael. The Witherlord is weak- very weak. Blightwind is a powerful attack, but it is limited. He will not be able to use it again.

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

"Okay..." said Sophie. She waved her hair out of her face and wiped her nose. "Let's go... Granite, are you coming with us?"

"Hmm... Sure."

[xinoehp512 he/him]

Michael nodded once in acknowledgement, then tapped his device.

It spun once, flashing blue, then shot off. It left a drawn line behind it as it flew, a guiding thread that hovered unsupported in midair.

Follow the thread, said Michael, setting off at a run.

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

Granite grinned. This should be fun. And after this they'd find Star. "C'mon, Sophie," he said, offering his hand. Sophie took it and stood and they ran off. 

[xinoehp512 he/him]

They ran. And ran. And ran.

Ice skates, said Xinoehp, then used Trewee to make a ramp of ice.

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

Sophie giggled and Narrated a pair of skates on her feet. She'd never worn shoes before. 

"Uh..." Granite said. "Not a Narrator here!"

"Oh!" Sophie Narrated some for him too. 

[xinoehp512 he/him]

Michael started humming something tuneless as he continued to easily outpace the skaters.

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

Granite teetered on his skates. "Uh... woah."

Sophie smiled. "It's okay, Granite, you'll get the hang of it." 

"I'm not so sure..."

[xinoehp512 he/him]

The Witherlord waited in darkness.

"The worlds have merged," he called out.. "It is time."

He smiled as a flash of blinding light swept over him.

---

All of a sudden, Michael slid to a halt. Xinoehp whizzed past him on ice for a few seconds before his brain caught up with his eyes. He turned off the ice, slid to a stop, then turned and skated back towards Michael, who was frowning at his device.

It's stopped, he said simply. I can't seem to figure out why...

 

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

Sophie turned around on her skates, but Granite, trying and failing to turn as well, slipped and fell. Sophie couldn't help but giggle. 

[xinoehp512 he/him]

"What do you mean, it's stopped?" asked Xinoehp.

It has ceased its tracking functionality.

"...what?"

Michael sighed. It was tracking the location of the Witherlord using quantum computational power. Now it is not. We have, in a sense, lost the trail.

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

“So... what does that mean?” Sophie asked. “We just... can’t find the Witherlord? We’re simply... done?”

[xinoehp512 he/him]

No, said Michael. I mean... we shouldn't be. By all rights, this should only be a temporary blip.

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

"Hmm... Maybe the Witherlord did it on purpose or something?" Sophie shrugged. "I dunno."

[xinoehp512 he/him]

But that's impossible! said Michael in frustration. There is no way he could control it. Argh!

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

"Well... I don't think he would be controlling the device. That's kinda silly. But.... if he were to be controlling whatever you're trying to measure?"

Astral slithered through the grass. Hopefully they'd forget about her eventually. Assume she got lost or something. This really wasn't what she'd planned for.... If she had telepathy like Star, she'd just erase their memories of her, but that wouldn't really work. 

[xinoehp512 he/him]

It measures everything, Michael pointed out. If he could control that, we'd all be dead.

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

Sophie giggled. "Well that's a problem. What're we gonna do?"

[xinoehp512 he/him]

Michael sighed and sat down. Wait, he said. Whatever the issue is the tracker has run into, it'll be able to find its way around them eventually. Besides, we've been traveling for a day now, and we have someone with us that needs sleep on a regular basis. He nodded towards Granite.

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

Granite blushed. "You guys don't need sleep? That's... that's cool."

Sophie shrugged. "Time is weird, as a Narrator. I don't even really pay attention most of the time."

[xinoehp512 he/him]

I can assist in sleep, if desired, said Michael offhandedly as he doodled something on the ground.

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

"Uh... what do you mean?" Granite asked. 

"I think he means Narrate that you fall asleep. Like" Granite fell asleep "ya know?"

Granite fell over, asleep.

"Oh. Whoops..." Sophie blushed. "We can timeskip though, right?"

[xinoehp512 he/him]

Michael gave her a sideways look. I... wouldn't put it that way, he said. In fact-

All of a sudden, he cut off.

Did you here that? he said softly.

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

"No, silly," Sophie said, "your Author didn't Narrate what the sound was."