Alice raised her right hand to signal it was time to stop, as she dismissed her non-existent knife. A flick of her wrist, and the manifested Nirvana energy vanished. Nia followed the example, her curved dagger and long-bladed lance losing their shape and then fading entirely.

Their weapons were gifts by the Great Empty One, just as their dresses were, and they worked in similar fashions. The objects of reality defying material were ‘glued’ onto their presence on the other side and manifesting them on this one just took a little tug. Both the dresses and the weapons did not have a real shape. What set them apart was the intention the Great Empty One had for that figment of his realm. One was to protect his chosen from harm, the other to harm those that would dare to try to hurt his chosen.

In reality, that caused a difference in colour, white and black. The exact shapes depended on the blank the items were gifted to. What covered their bodies would always be something falling under the umbrella of ‘dress’ but the details varied, causing the differences between Alice’s and Nia’s gowns. The category of ‘weapon’ was more than a bit larger. Alice got a large knife, Nia a lance and a curved dagger that was close to a sword in size. All of the weapons could be transformed into a sphere used to channel area attacks through, if so wanted. Otherwise, their shape was set.

However, what a pariah then manifested on the side that had colours and magic weren’t actually the dress or the weapon. It was the shape of those objects, a three-dimensional shadow, so to speak. They were made from materials that didn’t exist on this plane and couldn’t carry over. Blanks could never lose their weapons and their clothing always repaired itself immediately. Unlike other powers, maintaining those copies once made took no effort, only creating and then dismissing them. Their anti-magical and soul-cutting properties were extremely useful because they were baseline and using them didn’t advance the fading, unless the pariah channelled some of her own powers to strengthen the weapons.

This is what they had done this day, sparring until Alice got a proper idea of where Nia’s limits were. Feeling exceedingly thinly attached to reality, the blonde would have stopped soon even if her teacher had wanted to continue. There was no use in learning how to avoid fading if the very lesson already sent her over into the Nirvana.

Alice sat down on the grass. Where Nia was as see-through as a plastic bottle, the dark-haired pariah was only at stained glass levels of transparency. “Let’s talk for a bit while you shift back,” she announced, tapping the ground in front of her.

Nia stood there, thought, and finally asked, “Should I not search for a way to anchor myself quickly?” It would be a much quicker process if she got something that was firmly part of this side to share sensations with. Patting a cat would do, but interacting with humans would be the best. Particularly in an intimate way. Nia preferred to kiss when it came to making sure she was still there.

“No, use your willpower,” Alice put it bluntly and gestured at the lawn in front of her. “Come on, sit down. The sun is nice.”

Nia wasn’t sure if she shared that opinion. Mostly because she didn’t feel a whole lot of the sun. ‘She is the first pariah I've seen with a tan,’ the blonde suddenly realized. Granted, her sample size wasn’t particularly large, but Nia had been under the impression that her kind simply could not absorb sunlight in the necessary manner. If there was such a way, Nia was missing it. At the moment, the sun on her skin felt like the tactile equivalent of looking through several centimetre thick glass. Regardless of all the questions circling through her head, she sat down.

“What are the three ways a pariah gets stronger?” Alice asked, hands brushing over a little flower in the grass between them. It was a gentle gesture, far from the mindless plucking bored people usually did. Even if the flower was a mere copy of its original in the mundane layer of existence, the dark-haired woman had respect for it.

Nia watched her play with the little daisy for a bit. Then she answered, “I only know of two.”

“Explain them to me,” Alice requested in a soft tone.

“Body is how our human origin connects us to everyone else,” Nia’s passive voice rung out in the quiet barrier. “We can train our physique to become stronger, faster and more enduring.”

Alice nodded, her blue eyes reflecting the smile on her lips. “Notably, however, we cannot learn martial arts. We lack the traditional mana to do so.” She looked up and stretched. “People often say that pariahs are countered quite efficiently by proficient martial artists. I wouldn’t say that the match-up is as much in favour of our opponents as many think they are, but it’s certainly true that we have less natural advantages against them than against people specializing in magic.”

“Yes.” The answer was short and confirming, Nia didn’t have anything to add.

“That’s where you should nod,” Alice commented. “Makes you more emotive. You’re mortal, behave like it.”

Nia thought a bit about that statement then, realizing what the lesson should be, slowly nodded. “Yes.” Her answer was just as plain as before. Cold, likely, if her opposite wouldn’t have known better. They had been together for a few days now and Alice had shown to be quite adaptable and was nice to get along with – even if she had her slightly sadistic moments.

“The second way then,” Alice wanted and gestured for Nia to continue.

“The second path to power is to increase our unique powers as pariahs,” the blonde stated.

“That’s it?” Alice asked.

Nia stared for a while then slowly tilted her head in a quizzical fashion. “What else would there be?” For that question, she was chopped against the forehead. Just intensely enough that it slightly hurt. Rubbing the aching spot, Nia looked at her opposite with expressionless eyes. Inside, she was pouting.

“What is this?” Alice asked and showed Nia the hand she had just hit her with.

Nia pondered about this for almost half a minute. “Your right hand, intact, no scars, fingers are shorter than mine, orderly trimmed fingernails,” she reported everything that finally came to mind.

“You’re such an odd girl,” Alice mused. “At one point you look at things too broadly, at the next you’re overly specific.”

“I was raised to be effective,” Nia responded. Her mind darted over to her teacher for a moment, but then immediately returned. Getting stuck with him would only make her wonder what schemes of his were currently in motion. Even that tiny moment already made her wonder if the only reason why he had let her go to America with John was so she could meet Alice.

Knowing him, that was certainly a possibility.

“The point is,” the dark-haired pariah continued, unknowing of Nia’s thoughts, “that you wouldn’t say ‘your body’ when I show you my hand. You have to look at our abilities as blanks a bit closer to know what to train about them.” Counting with her fingers, Alice listed a few things, “Specific neutralization of enchantments, general anti-magic power, control over our alien perception, thinning the separation between this world and the Nirvana, they are all separate aspects of our power. A rising tide may raise all ships, but you can still train each of them.” Her hands reached up into the air. “Before I became a proper Maiden of Null, I was best at letting Cheshire play in reality.”

To the mundane eye, her fingers scratched nothing, but Nia saw the Nevr’est. The Cheshire Cat purred from its singular mouth and its many eyes extended from its head like the stalks of snails. Nia always found that Nevr’ests looked closest to cats but that was grounded only in the shape they had on average. As they were will-endowed anti-magic, their forms were steadily shifting. The length of limbs, the number of eyes, the location of the stripes, all of those things were fleeting at best. Despite that, there was some central shape to them. Like a gel cube in motion, there was a core to their form.

And that was a cat. A deformed, mutated cat, but a cute cat regardless. Nia thought so. She knew not even all pariahs agreed. That was alright though, some people thought spiders weren’t cute either.

“I understand,” Nia stated, looking at her own Nevr’est. Most blanks had some sort of Nirvana creature following them around. The Nevr’est on her tail had been there forever. Although it was smaller than Cheshire, it was by no means a weak one. Not that it greatly mattered. She wasn’t an elementalist of the Nirvana, the creature followed her because it wanted to. They had no deeper connection than that between friends. “I am most skilled at counter-magic and specific neutralization, in my assessment.”

“You strike me as that kind of person.” Alice smiled an empty smile, veiling what she meant by that. “And that Nevr’est seems to be content watching what you do anyway. Even when you pulled it over, it probably only stood around and caused general headaches in the area.” Since the dark-haired woman had gotten all of that right, Nia felt no need to answer. “Tell me who raised you,” the topic suddenly shifted.

“My teacher,” Nia responded, “the Horned Rat.”

“Oh.” For several moments, Alice said nothing. “Now I wonder whether he planned for this.”

“Possible.” Nia nodded. This time she answered quickly, “His influence on this continent is limited.”

Mockingly, Alice blew air out of her nose. It was a surprisingly intense display of emotions. “It’s not. Don’t mistake him not exuding his influence for not having any at all. You know of the Small Lake Pact? Their whole culture is a remnant of his meddling. An experiment he ran overseas that he then left to run by itself.” She crossed her legs. “It’s impossible to say what he is involved in. Could be anything, could be nothing.”

“Few things,” Nia told her current mentor. “The Horned Rat prefers to nudge the course of events, he doesn’t really involve himself.”

“If you say so.” Alice’s scepticism rang in her voice. That her teacher had managed to shroud himself in a mantle of schemes so thick that even the strongest of all pariah’s thought that he had a hand in the entire history of the world was impressive. Alternatively, Nia realized, the Horned Rat had brought her up in a way to dissuade her from thinking that was the case. “That explains why your face is a mask,” the dark-haired woman continued. “If you were raised by a creature…”

“Please don’t call him a creature,” Nia interrupted.

“…By that god, then,” Alice obliged. “A god with a skull for a face that can only grin diabolically. You said he raised you to be effective. Weapon forging was more important than expressions.”

Nia was silent about that for a while and eventually said, “Maybe. He does care for me, though.” While she wasn’t sure whether the Horned Rat loved her like a parent loved their child, he had looked out for her when necessary. That he wanted an effective weapon out of her was obvious, but that didn’t mean he was looking at her with callous disregard. From all her interactions, growing up and recently, she had never thought of her teacher as someone who used her.

“Most pariahs have social issues. Such is the lot of a being whose own parents think her alien,” Alice yawned loudly. “Losing the ability to properly emote is something I hadn’t encountered before, though. Congratulations on restabilising your connection.”

Looking down on her hands, Nia saw the firm paleness of human hands. The translucency was gone. “Thank you,” she responded simply and followed the example of the fellow pariah when she got onto her feet. Both manifested their weapons and their sparring session continued. After about thirty minutes, Alice had pushed Nia to the edge of her capabilities again. This time, that included the physical limitations and, when allowed, the blonde blank fell down into the grass and sprawled out her heavy limbs.

Bowing over her student, Alice looked down. “What is a Maiden of Null?” she suddenly asked.

“The strongest… pariah?” Nia asked, the hesitation born from her heavy breathing.

“That’s the common use of the term. A diluted use. In reality, Maiden of Null just describes those favoured by the Great Empty One. Those recognized to have the ability to unlock the third way of a pariah to become stronger.” She grinned, standing above Nia.

There was a flicker in both layers. A rapid disintegration of the status quo of matter. Then there was nothing but air above Nia and the dark-haired woman lay next to her, extending her hand towards the sun. The silver veins crept outwards from Alice’s back, underneath the dress, until they reached her hands. Thin, silver lines that made her tanned skin look as if fine threads had been weaved through it.

“When I faded, I was twelve years old,” Alice said. “I did it to escape the person who raised me, a gentleman who desired to marry me at that young age. I was happy on the other side, protected by the Great Empty One and his favourite pets. Curious whether or not I could return, I journeyed out. I found colour in my attempts to leave, lines between worlds blurring. The veil that was supposed to be sealed one way, revolted against my negotiations.”

Nia perked up and listened carefully. This was the knowledge she had come for, even if it was just the story and not the exact skill.

“I was aided by Cheshire though confused by shapes between real and nonsense. They were created by my own imagination. My subconscious mixed with reality to allow me to interact with those things that anyone that is stuck in one layer could never hope to. I fled from the Queen of Hearts. I played croquet and stole tarts, for knowledge and time and sanity. Then, all snapped into place and I found my way out.”

Minutes of silence ensued, during which Nia tried to pick away at what she had just heard. “There is a third way for blanks to get stronger. It is to disagree with the situation. Do I understand correctly?”

Alice laughed, “Essentially. Once we can bother the barrier enough and can get into the right state of mind, the layer between worlds will copy parts of us to negotiate. You must understand that it’s a law of magic that we engage with. It doesn’t have a will. Yet, when we need it to, it will shape one from us for as long as needed.” Suddenly, she stood above Nia again. “Although the ‘we’ in this is a theory. So far, it is only I.” She offered her hand to help Nia up. “Will you prove to be another exceptional individual or will I remain the sole Maiden of Null?”