Ren remembered the moment clearly.
Mostly because it was the last time he'd had functioning dignity.
He was standing just outside the Caldrith Verge, the war behind him, his coat still half-singed from that last Rift-burst.
Azrin Keth had been watching — quietly, arms full of food Ren gave him, probably thinking:
Wow, that guy's definitely got his life together.
So naturally...
Ren decided to do something dramatic.
REN (flashback):
"Let me show this kid some of my SUPERPOWERS."
He turned around looks back to kid like a badass.
Snaps fingers.
Twists space itself open with a smirk.
"Dimensional Drift. Solo jump. No anchors."
GRAVITY (instantly):
"No. Don't. That's unstable. That's—"
Ren jumped anyway.
Cut to:
Now.
He wasn't in a dimension.
He wasn't on a planet.
He was in the middle of goddamn nowhere, floating in space, drifting like a sock lost in a dryer made of stars.
REN (arms flailing, upside-down):
"…Okay. Maybe style isn't everything."
A blue shimmer pulsed beside him.
Then a voice.
TIME (materializing midair, laying horizontally like he's sunbathing):
"Oh my god. You did a raw jump in front of a child."
"You showed off for a ten-year-old and now you're lost in space."
SPACE (appearing upside-down, sipping a drink that definitely wasn't there a second ago):
"This is beautiful. I'm emotionally nourished."
BLAZE (appearing in a small flame beside Ren's face):
"I would've done the same thing."
(beat)
"But I would've landed somewhere cool. Like a volcano."
FROST (popping in silently, already judging):
"You forgot to check the trajectory matrix."
"You opened a rift. Into a rift. Into nothing."
SNARKSTEEL (vibrating in Ren's arm):
"ARE YOU FLOATING IN SPACE?! I HATE SPACE!"
"I'M A BLADE! I HAVE NO THRUST!"
Ren slowly rotated backward.
His hood flapped in zero gravity like a sad curtain of shame.
REN (grumbling):
"I miscalculated one jump and suddenly I'm space toast to all of you?"
GRAVITY (finally appearing, very unimpressed):
"You didn't miscalculate. You ignored the laws of reality to impress a starving child."
TIME:
"It was kind of sweet, though."
SPACE:
"No, it was tragic."
BLAZE:
"It was hot. Dumb, but hot."
FROST:
"It was avoidable."
SNARKSTEEL:
"IT WAS STUPID!"
Ren pinched the bridge of his nose.
Or tried to.
Hard to do when you're upside-down, spinning, and your sword won't shut up.
REN:
"Okay. New plan. Someone please open a gate. Or throw me. Either works."
TIME (snapping fingers):
"Opening a soft-drop portal now. Target dimension: Virelya. Magical signatures detected. No glyph rules. No tech anchors. Sounds spicy."
SPACE:
"Ohhh, I love dimensions with multiple species and unresolved class tension."
A portal flared to life beside Ren — swirling, chaotic, slightly greenish for some reason.
GRAVITY:
"You better walk this one like a normal person."
REN (defensive):
"I will. Okay? I've learned. Growth. Maturity. Less spinning in the void."
AZRIN'S VOICE (in his memory):
"You looked really cool."
Ren smiled.
REN:
"...Still worth it."
He stepped through the gate.
Face-first.
Because of course he did.