Remaking Qli

My call across the Void was heard..energy poured in from the angles of time and the ripples of space. I was too busy to dwell on the individual sources, lest I be distracted and cause the incantation to waver. I am able to lock the Sephiroth in place, so Life may race like lightning down through the Tree and into my Creation, my Child.

I heard footsteps..out of the corner of my eye I see Caledon's Chief Librarian arriving. The shining spheres reflect in the panes of his glasses as he took in the situation. And true to form, he opened the journal in his hand and began feverishly scribbling away, recording the event for posterity.

Her lifeless eyes opened, radiating the pure light. Her pattern drifted from her red-winged Fae body to her original form..smooth, featureless golden clay with shining metallic hair, and heavy bracers on her forearms and ankles to reinforce her frame.

I gestured towards the steamer trunk, which magically unlocks and flips open. I kept my gaze on Qli, monitoring her transformation.

"Mister Drinkwater? Could you retrieve her front grill for me please?"

JJ blinked, and nervously slipped a bookmark into the pages of his journal before closing it.

"Why yes..of course.."

A few seconds later Mr. Drinkwater stood next to me, carrying the hatch firmly in both hands.

A thanked him quickly as I accepted the hatch. I lowered the grill to the space on her torso above her navel. I pressed down firmly and the device nested snugly into the clay. I flipped the latch.


I looked up at the ten spheres of energy hovering over Qli in the classic pattern, linked together by a string of crackling energy.

I wrapped my hand around the handle of her grill, and took a deep breath. I looked down and I sensed that Qli was ready.

I lifted the handle, and her hatch swung open wide. For only a second I saw the hollow shell of her abdomen inside before the lighting leaped from the lowest sphere into her cavity. JJ took a few steps back, but I held onto the handle, straining to keep my eyes opening in the blinding light of Creation's force.

One by one the spheres winked out as the Qabalistic energy drained from the representation of the Tree of Life. Her torso grew brighter from the primal force. Wen the last spark drained from the sole remaining sphere I slammed the hatch shut and locked it.

JJ approached again, and cautiously crouched beside me.

"Is she..functional?

Her eyes opened, and they radiated with that same pure light.

"I am indeed, JJ."

"Wonderful, Qli, wonderful." I stood up slowly, exhaustion beginning to set in from the invocations. "Mister Drinkwater, can you help me lift her engine from.."

"That will not be necessary, Father."

Qli rose to her feet on her own volition.

"All systems..fully functional."

I touched her cheek, cold and clammy but quickly warming to my touch. I peered at her back. The sockets along her back where her engine was meant to be bolted in remained bare.

"Very good, my daughter..very good..standing without your engine..you are much more powerful now..but we must do this gradually."

I reached into the trunk and unfolded a robe I had packed for her. I helped her into it as her skin flushed with the healthy tone of a young human female. The robe had a low back for obvious reasons, but I removed my own cloak and draped it over her shoulders for an extra layer of modesty.

I thanked Mr. Drinkwater for his help, and I promised him I would explain everything that transpired to him in the morning Qli and I retreated the safety of Darkling's magically protected abode.

Qlippothic and I thank all of you..from the bottom of our hearts. We will return to Steelhead soon, and in a week or two we will be walking the streets of the Colonies again..but not as the same people we were before.

~Dr. Mason