The appearance of the ladder would have been strange, and the disappearance of the person who had pulled it from nowhere strange in any normal circumstance.  But Luzia had long ago learned that nothing around Mendean, or his father for that matter, was anything close to normal.  she only smiled at the words, they seemed to trigger a memory long forgotten.  Like a phrase she had heard in passing only, but it had stuck in her mind.  Putting her hands to the ladder, the drakoneir glanced around for a moment before ascending in the netherspace that it led into. 

Even with all the things she had already seen, the massive tube made her eyes widen.  But it was something that Luzia felt she should have expected in a way.  The woman chuckled when he asked his question.  "If it were only a single tower, I would think that more than a few little things like shoes had changed," Luzia said, squinting into the distance.  The stairway was almost impossible to focus on, the further up she looked.  It was starting to give her a headache.  Once she looked away from it, there were other things to catch her eyes.  A part of her wanted to spread wings and soar through the skies, seeking out the mysteries to be had.  But it would be rather rude to leave her host behind. 

"So tell me, Mendean.  Tell me of this place, and of yourself.  Tell me of the person that I have not yet met, and of the place that will become home.  And tell me of what we will do here, and how I can help," the drakoneir said.  There was something in her voice that spoke of a longing buried quite some time ago.  A sense of wanting to belong, to understand.  It was who she had been when Luzia had been a crusader against evil, and it was to that old self she reverted to when she was in a new situation.  There were some old habits that died hard.  Even after the one had developed them had died more than a couple times.

Climbing the spiral staircase, this particular section appeared to be made from driftwood, old animal bones and large seashells. Small fish-like creatures flitted about on wings of transparent scales, feeding on trailing moss-like growths that hung from the railing. They moved in glittering clouds to avoid the hand of the god as it slid into their range. Mendean did not look at Luzia as he rounded the first bend, instead preferring to gaze upwards, his eyes following the double helix of the staircases, seemingly suspended from nothing. There was no way a structure like that could exist in the real world with nothing to hold it up. Its weight alone would have pulled it apart long ago. But like most things in Mendean's realm, the laws of nature were often things only paid lip-service to.

All around the walls of the tower were floors. Each floor encircled the stairs, with small platforms leading to their only access to other levels. It was difficult to see from lower down, exactly what was on each level, but sounds of activity, footsteps, shouting from a distance, the sound of objects being knocked together or dropped. It was as though the tower was home to another city, another population locked into this strange, tubular world. It seemed to go one forever.

“All questions that can wait for now. Direct purpose is not exactly my way any longer. I am much more a creature of chaos than your Mendean ever was. Your Mendean was tied into the world on a level I am not certain I can fully comprehend. In some ways, I am diminished. In other ways I am the opposite. I am everything he was, and nothing like he was, or is. I…” He lowered his face, lips clamped tightly shut. He let out a long slow breath through his nostrils.

“Experience is the best way to pass on instruction. We learn by doing. I could say certain things, but it would just be words. This world I inhabit is beyond the power of words to adequately convey. We are in the Nexus. It is not given that name without good reason. Come, let us explore the first level.”

Finishing the climb to the first level, the god waited patiently for Luzia to catch up. He stood in silence, taking in the savannah that greeted them. An immense grassland. Elephants, camels, giant sloth-like creatures pulled down low-hanging branches of trees, picking off the leaves with their teeth. The elephants were smaller than one might expect, and covered in thick fur. Traces of snow remained on the plain. It was cold here, even in the sunshine. Looking down, the stairs blurred until no longer visible.

Mendean said nothing, then continued to climb to the next level.

A breath caught in her throat for a moment, Luzia was trying to formulate the words that seemed to fit for the time.  But nothing proper came out, and the Drakoneir followed her god in silence.  There was quite a bit to be learned simply from watching and listening.  The floors were changing, and it reminded her a long time ago, and to another realm entirely.  A realm that had been consumed, and was long gone.  The sites were interesting, though not strange to her, perhaps because Luzia was familiar with a similar realm.  And she listened.  Mendean said that questions could wait, and she agreed with that for now.  "You are the same in some ways, but completely different than others.  That much is clear.  And I will adjust," she only said, sureness in her voice.  If nothing else, Luzia had learned to be mentally flexible in her service to Judge and Mendean.

Her eyes widened when she saw the grassland, it was something entirely new to her.  Things were familiar in a way, yet wholly different.  She paused, staring across the grassland before hurrying to follow Mendean.  Before she said anything else, Luzia took in the sights of the next plane they had climbed to.  It was a place bathed in moonlight, and there were ruins in the distance.  Pillars stretched into the night sky, and a domed temple was further away.  But the light coming from the moon was all wrong to her, a strange ghastly green color.  Flowers stretch to the sky as well, but the petals were red and the blossoms were of a pale orange.  She could see things moving in the bluish grasses, and Luzia had to squint.  But she could also see a great many eyes staring back at her.  Leaning out, she could see a little better, and Luzia realized that they could see her as well.  Some kind of humanoid creature, but covered in scales… almost like her in a way.

"There is still nature here.  Wild, but different from other things I've seen.  Everything here is possible, I take it?  Or just about…" she said, trailing off when she realized that she had asked a question.  Once she leaned back into the staircase, the eyes seemed to drift away.  They seemed to be shrouded while they climbed, and Luzia had a feeling she would be spending quite a bit of time on this stairway.  And there would be quite a few interesting things to be seen from these stairs.

They climbed.

“Do not worry,” said Mendean, inclining his head towards the humanoid figures. “They can barely perceive us. To them we are like smoke, a dream. This is a view of another place, much like the place we came from, but with a different history. An illustration of how things might have been, had certain events been different. See, the next level is similar, but not the same.”

The scene that greeted them next was similar to the one they had just left, except now a small settlement. Buildings grown from something resembling coral, jutted from the meadow in twisting shapes. The same scaled humanoids moved between and over the buildings, except now they wore trailing headdresses made from translucent feather-like objects that caught the moonlight and glittered. Mendean did not linger long here. Instead, he continued to climb, disturbing mossy bannisters where more of the fish-like creatures rose up in clouds surrounding the climbing duo.

They continued in this way for some time, moving from scene to scene with ever-increasing speed, yet somehow never becoming tired. It was as though time held no thrall in this place. By the time he came to a halt and moved off the stairwell with a graceful leap, all sense of how long they had been travelling was gone. It could have been minutes, or hours, or perhaps longer.

It was still night where they were, but the landscape was very different. The air was thin and acrid. The stars all too bright and harsh. Great ridges of bare rock rose in crumbling rings. Nothing stirred. If they had been human, the air would certainly not have been capable of sustaining life. When Mendean spoke, he used the voice of his mind for the air was too thin for sound to adequately carry. It was cold. Bitterly so.

”By now you may have guessed that this is no tower. In fact, it is the opposite. I have used the location of the Nexus to carve a neat hole in the fabric of possibility. It is in fact, a tunnel. A tunnel through reality. Never again will I be threatened by the danger of my world collapsing and being destroyed. The Nexus is my escape route out of wherever I am. From here I have burrowed my way through the Continua. Even as I speak, the tunnel is being extended deeper into the realms of potentiality.

'How far it goes, I do not know. Maybe I will never find out the answer to that. Or maybe I will find the heart of creation itself. The prime factor from which all potential continuums spring? There is no way of knowing…but it's certainly exciting to try!”

Even if she could still feel normal fatigue, Luzia knew that something was at play here.  But given where they were, it did not surprise her in the least.  She followed in silence, peering at each scene, making mental notes.  Whether or not she would be able to make her way back to certain areas, Luzia was not sure just now.  But that was something to figure out later.

The only thing that was consistent was the night kept deepening, and the air seemed to get continuously thinner.  The drakoneir had been to the highest mountain peaks, but even this was completely different.  When the air almost ended, Luzia's jaw dropped for a moment when she tried to understand where they were.  She quickly closed her mouth when it started to dry, though her mind was open to her boss' words and the possibilities of this place.

"The tower is just a point of reference, isn't it?  An access point, something that can be used as an interface for people to better understand where they are.  And where they are going.  And you can always find somewhere new to go.  A good idea," Luzia 'said' back, her thoughts drifting between several possibilities.  Some were of a tactical nature, and she let Mendean see her thoughts.  Worries of others being able to find their way into the tunnel, of being able to invade the Nexus.  But she had faith that he would have already taken precautions to prevent such a thing.  Still, there was no harm in him knowing of her concerns. 

There was a smile on her face at thinking of the possibilities, and Luzia's wings spread to take in whatever warmth that she could.  The strange light of other stars warming her body gave her energy, and the drakoneir wanted to take in everything she could.  As a dream-entity of sorts, there was little that could harm her, and every possibility that she would learn something new.  "And perhaps it all loops in on itself?  Perhaps there isn't an end, or a different way of finding where that heart is.  Close your eyes and throw your fate to the winds to find such a place, maybe.  Sounds like something from a book of tales," she said with a mental chuckle.  With the Dreamlord, anything was possible.

The dream lord could sense life in this iteration of his home world, but it was faint. Confined to thick briny seas and deep pools. Enough life for there to be an atmosphere, but nothing as complex as an animal or plant. Rather, the world was covered in organic slime and molds that existed only where there was water. He had been here once before. Drifted over the shallow oceans, many of which had formed in the bowls of immense craters. This was a world where life barely held on. Perhaps once day it might become something more, but that was likely on a scale of time baffling even to an immortal.

The cold suited him though. His mother was an ice daemon and even now his skin reacted to the harsh environment by revealing more of his serpentine aspect than it might ordinarily do. A hint of shimmering scale, a bluish hue to his skin. Even the pupils had narrowed, not quite becoming slits, but more like the eyes of a cat. When he opened his mouth to smile, the canines seemed exaggerated. And yet, in this place where no humanoid life could survive, free from the prying eyes of those who might use his heritage against him, he felt at peace with his daemonic side. He trusted Luzia. She knew secrets about him, especially the part of him that came from that other world. That side knew her well and reassured his other half.

He thought of the tower and how it only went upwards, relative to their position. That there was a level beneath was no secret, but he had closed that way off. It led to the shattered world from whence Luzia and his counterpart had both emerged. There was nothing for either of them back there. Not anymore. He shuddered at the thought of what might remain of that world.

”Perhaps it does loop, but I do not think I will find out. The tunnel starts at one point and continues in one direction only. It seems to be infinite from my perspective, so I doubt I will ever be able to explore that far. Even immortals have their limitations.” Mendean smiled ruefully, then turned his eyes upward. There were the two moons, Parvpora and Canelux, although here they had no names. They were different too. Brighter, clearer. No trace of an atmosphere on either moon. Their distinctive colours muted towards the grey. Great cracks. More like canyons, crisscrossing the surface of Parvpora, while Canelux was duller, pock-marked with a million craters. A cluster of shooting stars traced pale arcs across the sky. He felt the distant impact as one made it to the world's surface. It must be a common occurrence here, he decided.

With rocks constantly falling from the sky, it was doubtful this world would ever become like Revaliir. But perhaps another form of life could take hold? Elemental beings from the planes, or subterranean species like drow, dvergar and such. He shook his head, amused at his own folly. Always considering the possibilities, rarely stopping long enough to act upon them. Story of his life.

”Come,” said Mendean, stretching. ”We'll be squashed flat by falling rocks from the sky if we remain here for too long. This world has no divine power, so our only connection to that is the way we came in. If I stayed, I would eventually become as weak as a mortal. Perhaps even die. Now there's an interesting concept. One for another time. For now, let us return.”

Mendean made his way back to the tunnel. As he did so, it appeared first as a blur, only becoming fully visible when he was almost on top of it.

This place they stopped in felt primordial and ancient.  Yet there was a sense of something familiar, though Luzia couldn't place it.  Was it simply another version of their world?  An interesting thought.  While it wasn't uncomfortable here yet, the drakoneir knew she would not be able to stay for too long.  It was interesting to know that Mendean wasn't completely sure of where their climb would take them should they continue.  A part of her wanted to keep going, to see what else they might find.  But Luzia also knew that it was better she stay with her boss. 

Her eyes drifted to the moons, they were a bit different than what she knew.  Then he said something that made her quite curious.  "I did not even think about the possibility of a world without divines of any sort…  Hm.  I wonder how different things would be there.  I've heard of worlds ruled by elemental powers, held as godlike beings.  They're even more chaotic though," she said with a mental chuckle.  Luzia's thoughts surprised her at times, but her conversations with Mendean tended to lead in interesting directions. 

A part of her was disappointed when he said it was time to leave, but there was a point.  She would have loved seeing the rocks flying by, and into the young world, but perhaps another time.  She followed in silence, taking in what she could until they entered the tunnel once more.  "If you don't mind… I think I would like to explore Revaliir for a time.  I have a few questions I need answered, I want to see if my order survives here.  Among other things," she said allowed once they had started making their way back.  There was a person she wanted to try to find, and a place as well.  Perhaps she would be able to quiet some of the ghosts of her past.