This will serve as compilation of my notes from the past twelve years, after the Collapse. Perhaps Sparrow will find it useful when he’s older. If not, I can hope that he’ll be able to pass it along to someone who will.

The magic of old has vanished. It was much more flexible, and in some ways more consistent, than what exists today. Perhaps Joi – who still eludes my senses – has retained his ability to use it. But no one else has.

Before magic failed, the world was encircled by a single sun, two moons, and countless stars. When magic died, the stars and moons died along with it. The sun split into numerous pieces, though it took several months for these pieces to coalesce into anything approaching stable.

Over the course of the decade, the shifting plasma formed fifteen orbs, each about the size of one of the previous moons. Each shined with a separate color, and their orbits seem spread far enough apart that if a collision happens, it will be far into the future. I shall refer to these as “suns” for simplicity.

Whatever caused my sun to split appears to still be in effect, as tendrils of energy split from the new suns with regularity. Most of the time, these return to their original sun with little effect. Occasionally, the tendrils will coalesce into a new orb. They are almost always fragile and flow into orbs of similar size, split apart again, and drift along before being collected by one of the suns and absorbed into its essence.

Sometimes these orbs reach a critical mass or separate from other orbs and maintain their identity. At least long enough to be noted. Some of these seem to be re-absorbed eventually and it seems unlikely a sixth sun will develop. Future observation will likely be needed.

The land itself was split due to my wife’s power and has become a massive archipelago. Fifty-one islands could conceivable be called the remnants of the empire, whereas a larger portion of the land has snaked its way north, making what could be a safer passage than the open ocean to the two other continents. The people of those continents were unaffected by my wife’s destruction, but they seem to be just as affected by the Collapse as those who survived the empire’s destruction.

Every human has access to a unique ability. I am certain there will be duplicates in the future, but as of now that does not appear to be the case. Even those abilities that appear similar on the surface have some slight nuance in their manifestation or effects.

My power, for example, is to be able to see everything at the cost of leaving my body behind. I’m unable to explore this ability to its full potential, as I’m unable to leave my son for long periods of time. I try not to think of what will become of my when my body dies. Would my mind go with it, or would it linger elsewhere?

My wife’s power seemed to cause massive destruction. It appears to have changed after her initial release, however. She has been unconscious since the Collapse, and her ability has created the bounty of flora on the small island we inhabit. Without this, we would have died. Her power seems to feed on her self, however, as she has regressed in age and does not have much time before she’s gone entirely.

From observing the survivors, there do appear to be shifts in their abilities over time, but never this extreme. There are a handful of instances in which people have pulled on a new ability they had not yet demonstrated. But these new abilities appear limited in duration – only lasting as long as whatever instance of extreme stress caused them in the first place.

Perhaps my wife’s stress-manifestation was destruction, and her natural ability was to creation? I have not seen such an oppositional manifestation with others. I have also not seen any person’s power cause them to stay within a coma.

I have experimented with this thesis myself, and it has worked with my own ability. I have put myself in perilous positions, enough to evoke the stress response, and rather than sense the entirety of the world, I have a much more visceral sense of the surrounding area. As if I were viewing the world from eyes of its inhabitants. If maintained for any length, however, smaller animals die. I feel a portion of myself die along with them.

I am leaving this record behind as I fear I will not be alive much longer. For the past several years, I have sensed attention on this island. It was a surreal sensation, as I could not see anything nearby, or far away, observing it. I thought it was my imagination, but now I know it is not.

For the last few months, an individual has been heading from one of the northern continents toward this island, specifically. They appear to be normal, but they have avoided showing any of their abilities so far. As if they knew I was observing them.

I do not know if I will be able to stop him, but I will not likely survive the confrontation either way.