The Gate's manifestation hung before them like a wound in reality that refused to heal, its presence pressing down with the weight of eons of accumulated purpose. Through that tear, Selena could see the entity's true form not a physical structure but a living equation, consciousness expressed as mathematical certainty, will made manifest through the relentless logic of inevitable transformation. It was beautiful and terrible, and it was coming through.
But as the Gate forced its way into their dimension, something unexpected began to happen in the space around them. The formless possibility that had remained after the Empire of Shadows collapsed freed potential exploring configurations without the Abyss's imprisonment to constrain it started responding to Selena's crowned presence with increasing intensity.
