[center][h1][b] [color=black]🎲[/color][color=gold] 𝒜𝓁𝑒𝒸𝒽𝒾𝑜𝓇 [/color][color=black]🎺[/color] [/b][/h1][/center] The rupture in reality rippled like an aftershock through the air when Alechior came down from their high point, drifting lazily above the black shore with all the urgency of someone watching a street performance rather than a cosmic event. The colors the Ideals left behind still faintly stained the sky. Beautiful. Terrifying. Alien. The kind of spectacle that would make most deity rethink their life choices. Alechior just whistled a tuneless little note, impressed in the same way a gambler admires a card trick he absolutely doesn't fully understand. “That was flashy,” they said out loud to no one in particular, grinning. “Not sure what he shook hands with, but it sure wasn’t boring.” The whole world had shuddered. Gods had staggered. Minds stretched to the breaking point by trying to comprehend beings that didn’t behave like concepts of this universe at all. Alechior? They just looked amused. Impressed, clearly but amused for sure. “Should I be worried?” they continued their silent monologue out loud. “Probably. Am I? Not even slightly. This is exciting!” Their eyes lifted as Excelsis hurtled toward the Ideal of Knowledge. The air hummed with the clash of metaphysical definitions of existence. It was the kind of spectacle one would pay their godhood to witness, surely. Alechior laughed. It wasn’t madness but it wasn’t bravery either. It was thrill. Pure thrill at watching the first real wager of the world play out. A deity trying to claim a being made of meaning. It was insane and really, really, thrilling to watch. “That new one has guts,” they chuckled. “There’s always one who tries to pocket something shiny before learning the rules of the table.” They floated higher, crossing their legs midair like it was the most natural thing ever. This was truly a spectacle that they really wanted to see. The sky trembled from the metaphysical fight until it detonated. The Patron of Knowledge, which had gleamed like a star one moment, was gone. Its absence sat in the world like a pulled tooth. The only proof it had ever existed was the glittering rain of fragments drifting down across creation. They took a moment to steady themselves, then laughed softly, shaking their head as they shook away what must've been a cosmic fight the world hasn't yet seen. “So, the new kid picked a fight with the biggest book in the room and snapped it in half. Bold move. Stupid. Entertaining. Honestly, ten out of ten for commitment but, damn, that was stupid.” they said again to anyone who could hear. And then the shock hit them. The moment of unconsciousness... Alechior came to with a sharp inhale, like someone who had leaned too far back in a chair and nearly hit the floor. Their eyes snapped open to the real world, which was a relief because the last thing they saw behind their eyes had not been real in any way a universe should ever permit. Their Ideal had shown itself. Not the fun parts. Not the games. Not the laughter. The pure thing. The Perfect Merriment, the Perfect Gamble. The distilled essence of joy without cruelty, risk without malice, chance without consequence. It had been blinding in a way that had nothing to do with light. It had stripped them down to the truth of their Domain and forced them to stare straight at it. It was...beautiful. Maddening knowing that they'll never reach those heights and a risky gamble to even think of trying but they would. One day, someday, Alechior promised themselves they will reach those heights. Then, darkness. A heartbeat. Maybe less. When Alechior fully snapped back into themselves, the world was still moving. The sky was still bleeding glitter. The air still hummed with something sharp and not really real. Knowledge was falling. Not as light, not as sound, but as meaning. Splintered concepts raining down like shattered glass across every corner of creation. Ideas older than old, truths that should never be known, secrets that had no business being released into the wild. Alechior whistled again, softer this time. “Well… they just overturned the whole table.” They drifted upward until they were nearly horizontal in the air, arms spread as if trying to feel the shape of the moment. Little shards of what the Patron had been flickered past them, bright like fireflies and heavy like destiny. Each one carried weight. Each one carried risk. Each one was a card from a deck no one should ever shuffle. “Look at that,” they murmured, an actual note of awe slipping into their voice. “All that knowledge, flying loose. That is going to make a proper mess.” A glimmering fragment spiraled close. Alechior tilted their head, watching it with the kind of interest a gambler gives a coin mid-spin. They didn’t reach for it. They knew better. “Tempting though,” they admitted. “Really tempting.” Below them, the others were stirring, reeling from the same blackout. Alechior just floated there, watching the fallout. “You know what the funniest part is?” they said to the empty air. “Most of them are going to try to chase this. Gather it up. Study it. Contain it. Pretend they understand it.” Their grin sharpened. “And it’s going to slip right through their fingers.” Fragments hit the ocean like falling stars. Others buried themselves in mountains. Some sank into the earth itself. A few drifted toward distant corners of the world. “There’s no putting that back. Not fully. Not cleanly. Knowledge is a gamble itself now. Every piece someone touches, every secret they learn, it changes the game.” They rolled onto their stomach midair, chin resting on their palms as they kicked their legs lazily behind them. “And I do love a game where even the dealer doesn’t know the odds.” A single shard drifted close, brushing their fingertips before spinning away into the horizon. Alechior watched it go with a smirk. “Run along then. Let’s see who picks you up first.” They stretched out like a cat in sunlight and let themselves drift backward, letting the knowledge-storm rain around them.