---
I find all sorts of weird things in the Nightmare Realm. There were plenty of mindless creatures formed from my power inside my bubble. The jellyfish were an ever present local fauna I've found in here. There were other things forming over time too. Skittering insects, a giant light bulb with legs, rocks that look like faces and other random things.
The emotions and thoughts seeping into this world from ALL dimensions made it so things were always changing. Only the house I've made stayed somewhat static, even then I was always changing the house and adding/moving rooms. I wasn't sure why I kept coming back here despite being all alone here.
I had another house outside now. A huge floating fortress still under construction where Xanthar and Pyronica live, floating in space in a dimension outside of Federation control. A place where I wouldn't have to be alone. Yet still I came back here. Here to watch the world outside my bubble crumble and rot. Maybe this was another way for me to punish myself. Just sit at the edge of the ever shrinking bubble and watching everything crumble away. To know that in the end, that's what would happen to everything...
No. No. Dammit Bill! Resist your emo urges. Ugh, just imagining it was so cringe-worthy. Me as a triangle, dressed in ripped black clothing, heavy make up and an emo-wig...it was so stupid looking I could cry. I shook myself out of my thoughts and fed more power into the bubble to expand it back to its original size.
As I was floating back to my house I noticed the writhing shape on the ground. Curious to see what my power has formed this time, I went down to look at it. A collection of squares and rhombus folded around in a vague string-like formation. As I blink my large eye at it, an eye opened on one of the squares and blinked back. We just stared at each other for a bit.
Um...how do I deal with this? I float lower and poke at one of the squirming rhombuses. Rhombusi? Whatever. The creature squeaked and folded into a ball when I poked it. Aw~it's adorable. I smile at it gently. I have a strange fondness for the things born from my power. I'm creating life, sort of. Does this make me a mother? Sadly, none of these creations were truly alive, they didn't have Souls after all.
"Hey, no need to be scared. I'm not gonna hurt ya." I land on the ground and kneel down to softly pat the creature's side. It squeaked and shivered but I continued petting it soothingly and singing quietly.
"月光光~照地堂~"
It was hard to sing a lullaby with Bill's voice but I sang as softly and gently as I could. The creature slowly stopped shivering and uncoiled enough to look at me. I was surprised to see more eyes open up. They stared up at me and I felt my insides flutter. It was soooo cute~
I sang some more, the lyrics I learned from my mom, who got them from grandpa.
"买猪肚~猪肚肥~买牛皮~"
The creature had fully unraveled now and was watching me curiously. I gently picked it up to cradle to my bricks as I recited the poem.
It warbled happily as I slowly floated back to my house. I froze in surprise when I sense emotions, real emotions, not just the clouds of it that gather everywhere, coming off this creature in my arms. Was it sentient? The first sentient creature to form out of my powers. This was pretty damn important if that were true. How was it possible for my powers to create true life? Did this little guy have a soul? I'd have to ask Ax.
I started feeding my power into it, slowly, gently, a small burst of flame to see if it was truly mine. If it could handle me. It makes a happy sound and shifted, growing another block. I blinked in surprise. It really was mine. Oh my god. I'm a parent. I am SO not ready for this.
Slowly beginning to panic and giggling to myself half hysterically I blink away from the Nightmare Realm, still cradling this...thing in my arms. Ax!!!! Help!!!
—
-...it is...born from a mix of your powers and an amalgam of emotions from across the multiverse.-
"So this is REALLY my baby?!"
-I am not sure…you haven't exactly...birthed it...its simply a living creature formed from the emotions and consciousness of many people and a spark of your power. Also it is not a baby.-
"Oh thank YOU, what do you mean not a baby?"
This amorphous creature didn't think in words. But there was an intelligence there. I could feel it. It certainly felt sentient, and young. I gave it a bit more of my flame and it twitched as it grew larger again.
"Ah bah?" It said.
"Ohmigosh it's talking!" I freak out.
-It was always capable of speech, it is simply too unstable to truly focus enough to do so. A side effect from being born from several million thoughts I suspect.-
"Is...is my power helping it? Stabilizing it? Giving it more power to develop individuality?" I muse as I held this weird folding shape in front of me. The creature blinks its many eyes at me.
"Bih ah nah?" It says.
-What do you plan to do with this creature Zyun-Jan?-
It's been a very long time since Ax has called me by my true name. I glance at him in surprise. "I...guess I'm keeping it." I say at last.
-This would be good for you. You need more friends.-
"A new friend?" His words tickled something in my mind. A memory of something important...something...about this creature...it looked familiar. Why? It's newly formed so there's no way I would have seen it before-
Wait.
"Amorphous Shape?!" I cried as I looked this creature up and down. There were much fewer blocks than I remember seeing from the show. I guess he's not fully grown yet?
At least I have a better idea of what to do now. I thank the AXOLOTL for his help and blink back to base. I need to show Pyronica and Xanthar.
--
"...So...who's the mother?"
"For the last time Pyronica! This is NOT my kid!"
Xanthar is poking the shape curiously. The amorphous shape was folding and unfolding itself into different configurations while waving its tail/arm/feelers(?) around. "Dah sah nah!" It said happily.
"I dunno Bill...you come home with a baby that apparently you created...I'd say you're a father now."
"Ugh. No. First off, it's not a baby, it's mind is just kinda scrambled right now. Once it stabilizes it'll probably be able to speak coherently. Secondly, I didn't create it. It just...kinda formed...besides, children I bear would probably be round...maybe?"
"You don't know?"
"I've never given birth before! How the ever licking FUCK should I know?!"
"So..." Pyronica glances at the giggling shape playing with Xanthar. "How do you stabilize it?"
"Like this, hey Ammy, come here." I wave at them and the shape slowly slides over along the ground to me. I produce a small flame and it sinks into its multi-squared body. Amorphous Shape wiggled and grew a little larger, another block formed, making his chain of shapes a little longer.
"That's...good..." It said. Judging by the sound of the voice, it was probably a He, but I wouldn't be sure without asking. It was super weird to think that this creature I was singing a lullaby to wasn't actually a child.
Its voice was like a mix of multiple people speaking at once, all male voices but different, and the blocks would glow slightly as it spoke. Kinda like how my bricks flicker when I 'speak'. I held out my hand with more fire and the shape reached up to wrap its tail/hand/limb(?) around my hand.
"OooOoh~that's much beh-ter..." It sighs as more blocks grew and it floated a little off the ground. I watch it, mildly curious and somewhat confused. I know I denied parenthood, but this creature DID form out of the frothing mess of the Nightmare Realm within my bubble of stability.
Did this count as my child? I wasn't ready to be a mother so I chose to believe it WASN'T my kid. I didn't birth it. But I still had a responsibility to take care of it (him?).
"So...what's your name?" I asked it. The amorphous shape tilted a few blocks in confusion. "I...don't think I have one?" It/he said at last.
"Well I've just been calling you Amorphous Shape in my head..."
"Oh! I like that. That's a good name!" Amorphous Shape says delightedly. He (it?) wagged his tendril/tail(?!) around wildly. I sighed. "Ok, Ammy, just to clarify are you a boy or a girl?"
Amorphous Shape blinks slowly at me, all their eyes blinking separate from each other. "I...think I'm a boy? I...I don't actually know...give me a break here, I just gained enough self-awareness to even think."
Pyronica was looking back and forth between us. "Bill are you sure..."
"Oh my god! Ammy is NOT my son! I don't think it works like that." I pout angrily at the Cyclopian.
Amorphous Shape stares at me before turning to Pyronica with a flat look. "Yeah...no. I don't think this is my parent? I just...kinda came into existence?"
"For something only a day old you sure talk a lot." Pyronica pokes at Ammy's blocks and he folds away from her. "Don't do that. You have claws. I may not have been aware for very long but I know enough that I know you're dangerous."
"And me?" I ask, secretly amused at Pyronica's offended expression.
Ammy looks at me more closely. "You are..." He jerks back in surprise. "You are extremely dangerous. The abstract emotions that formed me are telling me you are horrifying."
He looks a little uncomfortable. "They are telling me I should run away very far. But..." He looks around the base at the brick walls and many couches. "I also feel...safe? Your energy has given me stability. Despite what my core tells me, I feel that I belong here..."
"Well I guess...you're my responsibility now huh?"
"Indeed."
This was so weird.
---
I was worried how Amorphous Shape would fit in around the house but he adapted well and Xanthar seems to like him. Pyronica still seems to be under the impression that Ammy was my son, despite the BOTH of us denying it furiously. Ammy was a very curious creature. The emotions he was formed from seem to have all mixed up inside his very being until he was left with just a very mild personality.
Any major emotion was negated by its equal opposite and this left Ammy a pretty bland person all things considered. Pyronica called him boring. I decided to take Ammy with me to see more of the world in hopes that he would use his experiences to start building a true personality. A personality is the persona you create in response to outside stimulus after all. While I don't consider myself Ammy's mother (father?!) I do feel a certain need to help him grow.
And it wasn't just because he literally needed my Fire to grow.
"What's that?" Amorphous Shape points at something we see while floating around a random planet.
"That's a Red-backed Slizard."
"Why are they called that?" Amorphous Shape asks in confusion while floating closer to peer at the large reptilian creature.
"Because the guy who first discovered and named them was red-green color blind. And no one bothered to fix the name." I reply.
"Ah. I was wondering why it was so mistakenly described." Ammy waves his arm/tassel/limb at the green creature, it hisses at him and burrows underground. "Well that was rude." Ammy sounds so affronted I burst out laughing.
---
Pyronica is a terrible influence.
We were meandering through a craft market (Handmade pots! Quilts! Preserved embryos in jars! Eee so cute!) when Ammy saw Pyronica shop lift something off a table and tried to do the same. His technique wasn't as good as hers, she's had YEARS to hone her skills, and was startled when the stall owner began screaming 'THIEF' at him.
I floated up to the table and immediately the stall owner turned white. Literally changed colors right in front of us. Space chameleons! That's pretty cool. "Ammy, put that back." I scolded lightly.
"But Pyronica took one?"
"Pyronica is an unrepentant kleptomaniac. Please don't mimic her. It's bad enough I have to bail her out of hold-in every few weeks..."
Pyronica elbows me lightly and whispers "Ooh~using your mom voice~" I poke her horn in irritation. "I never took YOU for a law abiding citizen Bill." She says as I pull Amorphous Shape away from the still white stall owner.
"I don't give two fucks about the law but shop lifting is just plain rude." I adjusted my hat primly.
"You have the weirdest hang ups Bill."
"Oh that's hilarious coming from YOU. Wasn't there that one time you-" my comeback was interrupted by a buzzing from my bowtie. "Ugh. Seriously?"
I looked over at my friends. Pyronica was poking at Ammy's eyes as he closed and opened them on different blocks along his body. Xanthar was a few stalls behind us, snuffling at bottles of exotic tree sap. "Hey Ronica, can you watch the kids while I go to work?"
She flushed as her flames flared. "What?!"
"If you insist that I'm the father, that makes you the mom. Or vice-versa, I'm not picky." I said innocently, though my mischievous smirk probably wasn't hiding my teasing.
"Ugh. Ew. No. No way." She shudders.
I gasped dramatically. "You deny our lovely children Ronica?"
"Stop~" she whined. "Ugh, fine! I'll stop teasing you about that."
"Glad you understand." I giggled. "But seriously, can you watch Xan and Ammy while I'm gone?"
"Yeah sure. You go do your demon thing." She waves a hand dismissively at me.
"I better not find you all arrested when I get back."
"Oh please~what's the worse that can happen?"
---
"...."
"Not. One. Word."
I stared at the burning marketplace and all the screaming people running around. A nearby stall exploded. My eye twitched.
"I leave you alone for TEN MINUTES!" I screech.
"Hey, I haven't been arrested." Pyronica protests.
"But Xanthar was!" I wave my arms around frantically.
"He escaped." Pyronica shrugs.
"That's not the POINT!"
A stall collapsed and it's wares, a bunch of screaming heads, began hopping around adding to the noise around the chaotic market. I could feel a headache forming. I see Xanthar's large shape running around while being pursued by the local security team.
"Where's Ammy?" I sighed.
"Erm..."
I turn to stare at her. She shifts uncomfortably from foot to foot. "You lost Ammy." I say flatly.
"He's not LOST...I saw him at the twisted furniture booth..."
I look at the furniture booth, what was left of it at least. I take a deep breath and let it out slowly. Stay calm. Stay calm. I REALLY didn't want a repeat of Rampaging Mama Bill™ and the disapproving look that Ax would give me if I did so.
After a few billion years it was easy to open my Eye and scan through all the images of the area. I could do this with just the barest thought without trouble now. The images flashed upon my bricks and Pyronica stood quietly watching me. Finally my bricks stopped on an image of Amorphous Shape and I floated off to find him. It seems he's discovered the food stalls and was rubbing himself over all them, not eating them, just...touching them so no one else could eat them. Seriously? I'm going to have to sit him down and explain respect again.
Pyronica follows meekly.
---