Hello again,

I hope you guys enjoyed this volume. If you've made it this far, thank you for trusting me with this story. I hope you are doing well.

These are the last few chapters of this volume. Volume 2 will be coming 2026.

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Reminders:

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Chapter 31: AXEL

Six years. For six years, I haven’t seen Simon.

These years were pretty boring. Summed up to a few limited experiences and learning in a stagnant period.

Chaos Salem sent me home with basic reading materials to work on until I became nineteen. My task being to memorize every single word in all thirteen of the books given to me by Chaos Salem. Each one representing a Coven member and their tribes. Every day between my studies I wondered where Simon was. Mama Reyna made it clear I was a threat. Warlocks and witches surrounded Mama Amanda’s cottage never letting me leave. I was a prisoner trapped for six years in the cottage with only my familiar, Lavender, and Mama Amanda for company. One day I was tired of it all. I would look for a solution to escape the cottage in the books. As I would go to perform them, the spells would vanish and move to another area of the book.

Six years of solitude. I cried, screamed, lost all sanity, and rebelled in every which way.

For example, one day, when Mama Amanda went to teach her students, I burned the house down. I let Lavender loose before it happened. She was my main priority. But they had to let me out and let me leave if there was no cottage. Right?

The fire was snuffed out by Mama Reyna in two minutes. Every charred wall and furniture piece restored. Black fumes dissipated to clean forest air.

I burnt down the house five times.

Mama Reyna scolded me each time. She would tie my feet to the highest branch of a tree for three days and leave me there hanging.

Mama Amanda finally convinced Mama Reyna to let me have a few days to wander around before I did it a sixth time.

That didn’t stop me from doing it a sixth time.

The same punishment was dished out though.

My first night out, during my sixteenth year, I used it to explore the woods. I missed fresh air. The creatures. Nature. Lavender guided me to her clan of familiars nesting grounds in a circular meadow. At the bottom of each tree trunk, a hole leading to the nesting tunnels. They showed me the underground tunnels beneath Mama Amanda’s Forest leading to Salem’s cathedral and we stopped before we reached one of Rae’s underground hubs.

They allowed me out once a week. The cats started guiding me around Rae’s tunnels. I took advantage of the situation and mapped as much of Rae’s tunnels without getting caught. They showed me hidden entrances to Thorn and Grave’s cavern homes across the western section of the planet. I would pack a whole day’s worth of food. Travel around for half a day exploring as much of Epsilon as I could through Rae’s tunnels. And the other half of the day, I would use following cats back to Mama Amanda’s cottage.

One day, the fun ended. The cats showed me Rae’s headquarters at the center of the entire planet. A map on the wall of the tunnel displayed the headquarters being the return point to all tunnels and blocking access to all other tunnels on Epsilon. Which basically meant, the half day it took for me to reach this point would take longer to get to any of the other destinations on the map. That isn’t even accounting for how stealthy I would have to be to make it through the hive-shaped headquarters to access the other tunnels.

I drew the map in a pocket journal I used to map the tunnels in the first place. I ripped out my map and overlaid it on the new map I copied. It matched pretty closely if I do say so myself. The bummer of all of this exploring was realizing I’d never get to explore the other areas of the map. Not until I was nineteen at least.

I still traveled in to the tunnels from time to time, but the idea of never seeing anything new made it boring. My curiosity craved new information. At times, I would ask myself: is it me that wants to know this information or Kairos? Do I have any real thoughts or emotions or ideas? Or does he fabricate my reality? A puppet commanded like a dog to their owner’s will. Or a curious sixteen year old curious as to what mysteries live beyond his cage?

* * *

Every witch, warlock, or warwick is assigned to a member of the Coven to train with on their nineteenth birthday. The Thirteen bid for their picks. The Coven member with the highest seniority in the group would get their pick of students.

Six years later, I am cattle-called into the Kaleidoscope Cathedral with three hundred other potential students that come from all over Epsilon. Three hundred of us share the same birthday. Three hundred of us turn nineteen today and our lives will change forever.

I want Chaos Salem. I don’t want the others. My anxiety peaks. What if Mama Reyna picks me so that she could somehow bully me and withhold information? That thought quickly gets brushed under the rug once I hear the other’s conversations.

The mages that are expected to be the top students automatically will go with Mama Reyna as she is the oldest and wisest. Others gossip, “Those kids have been training since they were born. Mama Reyna had a magical regiment for future commanders that she puts specific citizens through. The magical regiment follows them from infancy to adulthood creating the strongest offense and defense warriors in the Epsilon army.”

The Thirteen Coven members silence the chatter and begin.

Mama Reyna and her twenty picks file out the room.

Two hundred and eighty candidates left.

Esmeralda and Queenie are next as they were the first to join Mama Reyna’s side in Epsilon’s previous wars. They each take fifteen and go.

Two hundred and fifty candidates left.

Thorn and Grave.

Thirty-five and thirty-five split.

My anxiety starts to ebb when I realize that I’m basically contagious to be seen with. If these children gossip as much as they do, their parents must be worse. And what would it look like to have an accused Time Absorber be a part of your team? As insulted as I am, I don’t want them either. Chaos Salem stood up for me when I needed them too. I need a trainer like them.

It still kinda stings to not be picked.

One hundred and eighty candidates left.

Piper and my mom, Amanda.

My mom skips me as I am a conflict of interest.

Thirty, thirty split.

One hundred and twenty candidates.

Myst.

Sixty for one instructor? Damn.

Sixty candidates left.

Wren.

Thirty out.

Thirty candidates left.

Rae.

Ten out.

Twenty candidates left.

Avery

Ten out.

Ten candidates left.

Knox.

Nine.

One candidate left.

I stand in the cathedral alone with Chaos Salem. Their heels click on the colorful mosaic floors.

“I guess it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be to get you.” Salem cheers.

“That’s all good. I didn’t want them anyway.” I add. “Where do we go for training?”

“Right here.” Salem motions to the cathedral, “This cathedral is mine. It is the center of everything. I am the thirteenth Coven member. My place represents numbers one and three. One for new beginnings. And three for community. Thirteen on its own is a sacred number. Each member of the Coven is given an area to house and train their students. Reyna has the Necromancer’s Skull Temple at the edge of the forest. Esmeralda and Queenie have their castles. Thorn and Grave use their cavern homes. Piper and Amanda have their cottage colony they have set up in the forest. You grew up in one of them. Myst lives in the Sky Ships protecting the planet. Wren lives in temples across the mountains providing aerial support and training soldiers that can survive in icy cold conditions. Avery built large aviaries all across the planet to train levitating mages and to help them control small birds. Knox built secret stone forts across the planet that can only be accessed by his students and Rae. Rae trains her mages in the interconnected tunnels below ground. They connect to each area above. All of us combined create unity. A working body with different cells, atoms, and limbs all doing its own function to thrive and evolve. There is no survival without community.”

“Will we visit all of the other areas?”

“Only if we are called upon. Certain times throughout the year, Coven members cross train in order to simulate the counter attacks an enemy force would pose. Speciality attacks that can only be passed on from one coven tribe to another.”

“When would we be called?”

“When the Threads of the universe come in to play.”

“Is that what you teach?”

“Specifically, Thread manipulation. All Coven members know the basics of Thread manipulation but they rely on their natural born abilities. Natural born abilities are easier to use as they come from your core. They do not always require permissions from the Ethereals to use. But you will learn everything. Although, beings obsessed with the idea of evolution has always been my primary interest. What will beings do to evolve to their highest form? How much would they sacrifice including their own community members? Their obsession with a superior form intrigues me.” Chaos Salem pauses to catch their breath. “Each week I will teach you a lesson. At the end of the week, you will be given a Task. For every Task you pass, we move on to the next lesson. If you fail, I will stop teaching you what I know.”

“Are we trying to prove something to the other Coven leaders?”

“We have nothing to prove to them.”

“Then why threaten me to stop teaching me.”

“It’s an incentive. All the other students will be pushed to their limits during their Tasks. The Coven lives under the belief that through evolution we can gain the highest forms of beings. Even the weak can prosper if they are pushed far enough. While I don’t fully agree with that statement, I must adhere to my colleagues teachings to be on equal footing with them. The idea I agree with is: A being does not grow if they are stationary. A being does not grow without knowledge. A being does not grow without adversity. You and the other students must prove to yourselves that you want to live more than the monsters you face.”

“That’s cruel.”

“And necessary. It is a cruel world, Axel. This world is only fair to those that want to survive and even then some still die. We are called upon as a Coven to protect each other and defend those that can’t.”

Chapter 32: AXEL

The next morning, Chaos Salem dresses me in charcoal mage robes, a brown scarf, and a black shirt and pants. We meet in the cathedral again. This time, they are in a matching outfit like mine. Heels have been replaced with brown combat boots.

“Our magic works off the manipulation of the Threads that make up the universe. We Weave the Threads in to…”

They wait for me to respond, “Shapes.”

“What are the six cardinal shapes a mage needs to survive?”

“Hexagon, Squares, Triangles, Stars, Circles, and Diamonds.”

“Why these six?”

“They wield the most successful results.”

Chaos Salem draws six red lines in the air. They slowly bring them together.

“Hexagon is used to stop objects, people, and time. The number six represents harmony. Six years of solitude. Six years of learning. Six years of learning everything you need to know about the world before the world tries to devour you. This will be your foundation for all magical spells. To pull the Threads of the universe, you first need to ask the universe to bend for you. Hold out your hand and act as if you are going to pinch someone.”

I hold it as they ask. At first, nothing happens. Chaos Salem just stares at me smiling. The mischievous smile that demands a little trust. A red ripple passes through my fingers as if the air was made of water. Slight resistance crawls under my fingers and I instinctively squeeze. A red taut strand pulls away from me. I don’t let go. I create my first line. It stays hovering in the air. The next five are easier. And like a needle with thread, I Weave the strands together. The hexagon spins counter clockwise. A wind pushes past us stopping Chaos Salem for a second. The wind returns and time starts again.

“How did that feel?” Salem grins proudly.

“I stopped time.”

“And you will do so many times in the future.”

“I stopped you.”

“I let you. A student cannot move forward without practice and making mistakes. I expect both success and failure from you in these practice sessions. Use the practice sessions to fail as many times as needed because in the Task you will be afforded no such luxury.”

* * *

I spend the rest of the day watching Salem form the remaining symbols around the hexagon. Three squares make up the center of the hexagon. Squares are used for equal distribution of power. They can be used to share strength with another mage. Squares are the structure to the foundation. We add two lines above and below the squares to make six triangles. Three above the squares and three below. Triangles are used to work in tandem while amplifying abilities. When mages use the same spell at the same time, they can create a tsunami of energy hurled at an enemy. Six triangles are placed along the flat side of the hexagon to create a star. Stars can be used for explosions. They are the evolutionary result of smaller pieces and cogs working together to create a large whole. The result of a community’s energies being used for good or bad. A circle encompasses the tips of the eight triangles. Circles are the innovation, progress, and protection one is awarded after they’ve worked as a team. Each circle provides protection against an outside force or keeps someone in. Four lines brush the circle to create a diamond. Diamonds are the final phase of the cycle. They represent a new foundation. Through all the iterations of innovations, a new idea will emerge whether this is a new invention, new way of doing things, new way of treating people fairly, or new way of working cohesively. The final goal is always to reach a diamond stage. Diamonds are also the hardest form of magic to create. This final pillar of the universe requires full body movements to create diamonds. The only ones to ever individually achieve a diamond have been each of the thirteen Coven members.

* * *

“I want you to create a diamond by the end of this year.”

“You just said it was nearly impossible to do them.”

“Impossible things happen when you apply care instead of fear to action. Through near death or practice, you will end the year knowing how to perform a diamond.”

“You know it was easier to learn shapes when I was a toddler.”

“Then pretend that you are a toddler if it will make it easier.” Chaos Salem retorts.

* * *

Once I have mastered hexagons, Chaos Salem gives me an amethyst gemstone with smooth sides and the schematics to Esmeralda’s castle.

“Your first Task will be to deposit this in Esmeralda’s bedroom and return without being caught. This will be simple.”

“They will think I’m the enemy if I get caug…” I trail off.

Chaos Salem sneers at me.

“Don’t get caught. Got it.” I sigh.

“Precisely.”

* * *

Chaos Salem gives me climbing gear, a granola bar, and a small flask filled with nothing. They drop me off at the edge of Esmeralda’s castle and wish me luck.

Esmeralda’s castle is a fifty-story white building made of opaque quartz. A moat surrounds the main building with guards in white uniforms protecting the exterior. There are four entrances in to the castle that bypass the front door. The security quarters, the escape channels underground controlled by Rae, the receiving dock at the other side of the moat, and an aerial entrance for Wren and their paragliding soldiers.

Two entrances aren’t currently viable. I can’t fly and Rae protects her tunnels to certain places with heavy spells.

That leaves me with the security quarters and the receiving dock.

I spend an entire day trekking around the castle to where the receiving dock sits. By midnight, I make it to the rear of the castle having not rested all day. Minimal guards protect this entrance. The moat is the deepest here. A spell makes the waves erratic. The schematics made the waves seem tame. These monstrous waves move according to the movement and noises around them. They roar in defiance of any intruders.

I think the granola bar was meant to get me across the water.

I tear apart the wrapper and split the granola bar into six different pieces. This will give me one shot across the moat.

I come close to the edge of the raging water, enamored and terrified of the colossal waves. They roar at my footsteps matching my screaming adrenaline.

Fuck.

I sigh and toss two pieces of granola on opposite sides of the waves. The waves near me rapidly split in different directions. I form six walls comprised of hexagons to create a lengthy fifty-foot chamber. The waves return smashing against the hexagonal chamber. They stop for a few seconds affected by the hexagonal spell. I jump in to the transparent, red chamber hovering over the clear, deep water. Reptilian creatures, with long claws and round, slimy, greyish-green heads, and huge eyes, stare up at me smiling. They extend their neck and head fins in a threatening motion. They wait on the moat’s floor swirling slowly to the top of the water.

My heart starts to palpitate.

Chaos Salem definitely did not tell me about them.

I toss the next two pieces of granola and the waves part again. I build a new chamber crossing in to it and returning the energy of the old one to my body. I’m seventy-five percent across the moat when the reptilian creatures start scratching at the hexagons ripping the chamber open in certain parts. They start to screech. Why isn’t the spell stopping them?

Guards round the corner to the castle.

I repeat the process. Throw the granola. Build a faulty chamber. Run across. And tumble through empty air. I belly flop on to the shipping dock. Air knocked cleaned out of me. The reptilian creatures climb on to the hexagonal chamber chasing after me. I’m off the ground racing across the dock’s creaking wooden planks. Guards shout at me rushing from my right where their guard quarters are at. At my rear, six more reptilian creatures climb on to the dock screeching. I start forming hexagons as the claws trail at my feet. I build two hexagon walls behind me. Creatures thud against the barriers. The guards aim their spears tossing them at my head. I duck and it takes out two of the reptilian creatures chasing me.

I keep running until the dock ends with a huge area for holding supplies unloaded from Crafts. I trip on a piece of fabric but keep running. Behind the holding area are stairs that lead up to the servants’ quarters, the main castle, and, at the top, Esmeralda’s room. I climb up the stairs two at a time heaving every inhale and exhale. My breaths take up all the noise in my ears. That’s when I notice the reptilian creatures feasting on the guards that were following me below. Their bodies are mangled. And eyes lifeless.

Fuck. That was my fault.

But why did the moat creatures attack their masters?

The creatures finish eating and return to the water. The erratic waves crash under the hexagon’s expired spell.

I return to the dock and strip the clothes off the shortest man.

* * *

“Help!” I run in to servant’s quarters covered in blood. “I was attacked by a moat creature.”

An older man scurries to grab me a healer. With his back turned, I knock him over the head with the climbing gear.

* * *

I ascend the stairs to Esmeralda’s bedchamber in the servant’s uniform with a food tray in hand. Climbing gear wrapped around my waist under my pants.

Esmeralda stirs in her velvet-four-poster-king bed but doesn’t wake up. I put the food on her light purple dresser slowly crossing over to her bed. She tosses again. I wait to see if she’s awake. Still asleep. I creep over and deposit the amethyst stone under her pillow in a jagged slot.

A purple glow shines from under the pillow causing Esmeralda to stir.

What the fuck is that about?

She groans startling me, “Go away, Fred. I am not hungry.”

I anchor up the climbing gear to her bed frame. Loud clambering footsteps pound up the tower causing Esmeralda to awaken even further. I remove my outer layer of clothes and deposit them neatly folded under the bed.

I climb on to the window’s ledge in full gear and propel myself down the tower.

My legs groan in pain as I haphazardly try to rush down the side. My knees lock and bend flimsily.

I’m three stories off the ground when the guards peer over the windowsill and start to cut at my chord. I won’t survive that drop. And if I do, I’m fucked, obviously. I slide down the remaining rope burning my palms. My feet hit the front entrance landing as the rope snaps overhead.

My palms are raw and cut open. Stinging pains sear from my hands and up my arms.

I run towards the bridge in front of the castle ignoring all the guards’ arms trying to grab me. Guards blur in my peripheral. My adrenaline pushes me over, under, sideways, and up obstacles. A large man stands in front of the exit across the moat. I throw the flask at his nuts and slide under his legs. They start to lift the bridge that hovers over the moat. I run up it until the incline forces me to pick at holes and edges. My hands screaming in pain. I toss myself on to the flat edge of the raised bridge, bend my knees, and jump across to the grassy field.

I land on my stomach again with my legs dangling over the edge. All the air has been knocked out my fucking body. I see stars, planets, and fuck nuggets. My wheezing lungs clash with the serene, crisp breeze clearing the imaginary stars and fuck nuggets from my vision. I drag myself over the edge.

Chaos Salem stands over me and snaps their fingers.

* * *

“I got men killed.” I guiltily confess to Chaos Salem once we’re back at the Cathedral.

“They have necromancers working on them as we speak.”

“Is it wrong what I did?”

“Depends on why you did it?”

“To survive. If they knew it was me, they would’ve found a reason to try to have you execute me.”

“So, is your life worth more than their lives?”

I don’t know the morally right answer to the question.

“How does one measure such a thing?”

“It is a conundrum. You versus them. Is your survival more important than their survival? You survived. That resulted in deaths. But you completed your Task. How does that make you feel?”

“Weird. I continued with the Task because I couldn’t face the Coven again. I was scared of the idea of them killing me.”

“You place two people in a room. One has an ill parent that is dying. The other person has a family to feed. But you must select one person to survive and the other to die. Who will it be?”

“Why can’t both live?”

“That depends on you. You add meaning to the scenario. I can ask Mama Reyna this question and her biases would inform her decision. Her lived experiences will have her picking the family to feed because in her mind the community is more important than the dying individual. So, who would you pick?”

“Neither. Both deserve to live.”

“So, let’s add a stipulation. If you let them survive, you must take their place. What would you do then?”

I… I answered that question today. I would pick one of the two choices. I would pick me to survive. Yet, I can’t bring myself to pick me to die in this scenario.

“I would pick me to survive and one other.”

“Now why is that?”

“I can’t help one of them if I am dead.”

“Kairos will stop at nothing to accomplish his mission in life. I helped him to some capacity at a certain point in time. And beings will always make excuses as to why their mission in life outweighs the life of another. So, what breaks the cycle? What ends this tyranny of oppression? When do the excuses stop and we face the monsters? When do we take the action to save everyone even if it means our life is on the line?”

The way they say monsters tugs the wrong way. It veers me in to a line of thinking I don’t like.

No. It…

“You placed those monsters in the moat.”

“What makes you say that?”

“They weren’t in the schematics.”

Chaos Salem smiles, “And what else?”

“What else do you expect me to know?”

They laugh manically, “It was illusion magic. Esmeralda’s castle was real. Your spells were real. But the guards and the creatures were,” Red mists of dead guards being devoured by creatures hang in the air, “in the mind.”

“How did I take a uniform off one of the guards?”

“I planted it there before today’s Task. You tripped on it on your way in.”

Salem was there for the first Task.

“This entire time you made me live with the guilt of their deaths.”

“Yes. Because killing is not for the weak. It carries a heavy burden. I’m not saying to never kill. In order to survive this universe, you will have to stain your hands red. But be wise as to whose life you steal.”

Chaos Salem grows quiet. In their silence, the Cathedral echoes. Slowly, tears in the universe lead to Fourth Dimensional souls screaming ear piercing wails. A pitch so loud musicians could study it and create new music theories from its existence. I shield my ears by cupping them with my hands. Cries leak through. Unavoidable and miserable. This goes on for thirty seconds before they stop.

“What was that?”

“Those are the unaccomplished dreams of the souls I helped reap when we cut the seven timelines.” My jaw struggles to remain in place. I let them speak before I interject again. “They live with me for all of eternity. They follow me in the darkest rooms. They strike when I sleep. I will never rest peacefully for what I helped do.”

“And what was that?”

“I created the Spear to end the seven timelines Kairos erased. I am the last known Guerrero in existence. The rest were killed off. I was near death when Mama Reyna rescued me and brought me here as a prisoner of war. The Coven saved me to protect an endangered species. They treated me like the animal I was. They taught me their magic and allowed me to be the thirteenth member in their Coven. They believed the mages were stronger with the enemy they knew.”

“Why did you create the Spear?” My mind tries to piece together why they would help Kairos at all.

They stay quiet for a second, “The lesson that I want you to learn is that we were so scared of our own extinction, that we caused the demise of trillions. We were thinking about our own demise so much we disregarded everyone else. We believed Kairos would save us and, instead, we gave him the tools to topple entire timelines and destroy families and loved ones. He sowed division with the idea that ones’ survival was more important than everyone else.”

I take a moment to digest everything. My mind wandering back to the supplies I was given. I ask, “Did I use everything correctly to accomplish this Task?”

“Axel, you have all the tools you need to accomplish these Tasks. Everything I gave you was merely a bonus.”

Chapter 33: AXEL

“Queenie’s castle is the next Task.” Chaos Salem hands me another amethyst stone. “By the end of the week, this will go behind her throne.”

Another week goes by and we stay on the hexagon. Salem drives me insane with the endless repetition. They won’t teach me anything else.

I spin the webs of the hexagon over and over and over and over and over and over again until my brain is on autopilot mush.

My hands following a repetitive motion until my eyes glaze to boredom.

To make matters worse, they have me doing all of this while carrying the amethyst stone in my hand. My arm goes numb under the weight of the crystal.

* * *

Each morning, I woke up, ate, showered, put on my clothes, and repeated the endless motions.

On the first day, we built a spiraling step ladder from the hexagons.

Day two, step ladder and inclined bridges.

Day three. Step ladder, inclined bridges, and stopping time for short increments.

Day four. All of the above while stopping time for longer periods of time and hanging upside down.

Day five. Salem gave me schematics of Queenie’s castle. They expanded the size of the cathedral through illusions and built a mockup of her castle.

The castle has round spires. The main building of the castle is made of clear quartz. Inside of the throne room, pomegranate trees and various plants provide shade from the harsh solar rays coming into the castle. A cool humid environment fills the room with misty vapors. Black columns line one side and white columns line the other.

“Queenie sits and sleeps on the throne at the end of each day. The energy the plants receive from the sun recharges her.” Salem informs me while projecting a holographic version of Queenie on to the throne, “Everything you learned this week will be to infiltrate the castle. You will spend the rest of today figuring out how the puzzle pieces I gave you fit in the castle.”

Chaos Salem disappears leaving me alone with the illusion.

I spin the schematics of the castle every which way looking for the best possible entrance.

So far, the only reasonable entrance looks like it would be the student’s quarters window. The window would match with the steps that lead to an inclined bridge reaching up to the throne room balcony.

I build the circuit Salem had me construct on to the layout of the castle. The circuit fits like the perfect puzzle piece to complete the picture. I run through it four times. I fail the first three attempts when Queenie and her guards spot me and throw me in jail. On the fourth, I turn upside down and drop the amethyst behind the throne.

That was easier than I expected.

* * *

Throughout the day, I run the course twenty times all with successes. Salem finally stops me.

“You think you’re ready?”

I’m hesitant. I don’t answer right away. In each successful simulation, it seemed too easy. There is something missing. Salem thrives on never telling me everything. They want me to reach conclusions on my own. What was that thing they said that I have all the tools to the answers in front of me, or something like that?

“The castle can’t be mapped on schematics or in simulations.” I point out.

“How could you tell?”

“The last twenty circuit runs I did were odd. Each one had a blurriness to it like it was hiding something.”

“Queenie has hidden doorways to secret chambers in her castle depending on one’s spatial position. The spells on her castle open doors to you if you are upright, sideways, or upside down. Each perspective leads to a different entry. Esmeralda and Queenie’s tasks I expected to be easy. But, the next few tasks will require your maneuverability of the visible Fourth Dimension spectrum of this universe. There is a hidden Fourth Dimension that can only be accessed through Threads. And there is a visible one all around us that relies on changes in positions, angles, and perspectives to be seen.”

“What does a visible Fourth Dimension look like?”

“My cathedral does not rely on the visible Fourth Dimension. It is illusion based. It looks smaller than it is because I will it to do so. Other Coven members use the visible Fourth Dimension to hide things in plain sight. I cannot explain it enough for you or show you in a simulation what it looks like. You must experience it for yourself. Hence, the need to hang upside down behind the throne.”

“What is behind her throne”

“From this point on, I will no longer be providing you crystals. You will need two sets of: two amethyst, two lapis lazuli, two aventurine, three moonstone, three citrine, and one rose quartz.”

“Each set comes out to thirteen. One crystal for each Coven member.”

“Yes. But, you must take double the amount. One for completing Tasks, and one set for casting shapes.”

“Why?”

“Each crystal corresponds to a magical ability. Hexagons to amethyst. Squares and lapis lazuli. Aventurine and triangles, moonstone and stars, citrine and circles, and rose quartz and diamonds. The crystals can enhance your ability to use a certain shape or energy can be Siphoned from crystals to power one self up after a great battle. The strongest crystal and magical shape will be the hardest Task. The crystals channel the energy of each respective coven member if you hold all thirteen at the same time.”

“Making it possible to eventually create a diamond shape if I train and carry all thirteen crystals.”

“Precisely.”

* * *

On the seventh day, Chaos Salem suits me in a student’s uniform with an illusion of one of Queenie’s student’s faces. They snap their fingers and…

* * *

I wake up in the middle of the night in Queenie’s castle beside a bunch of other students. Rows of individual beds fill a chiseled stone room with vaulted ceilings. Students are sound asleep undisturbed by my presence. I rush to the window and throw it open running through the first part of the circuit. I Weave the circuit from my mind letting the steps form around the castle and lead in to the incline bridges.

I run through the first portion of the obstacle course with no problems. I jump on to the balcony in front of the throne room. Guards walk back and forth behind the doors. I wait until they are out of sight to stop time.

I open the doors. A cool humidity strikes me. Two columns sit on both sides of a sleeping, Queenie.

I build up an inclined bridge, that flattens in to a series of hexagonal bridges between the trees and columns which ends directly behind the throne room.

My feet rush through the sky bridges between the trees and columns. I lean over the edge of the sky bridge hanging by my feet.

I’m upside down, but I feel like I’m standing on a solid surface mid-air. My legs don’t take any of my weight. I’m suspended in this space by some invisible force.

A door appears on the back of Queenie’s throne. In the center, pomegranates light up in neon reds and yellows. A divot sits in the shape of the missing crystal at the bottom of the fruit. I set the amethyst in the divot and a doorway behind the throne opens.

I throw myself through the door way and land on rib-vaulted ceilings.

The room groans and shifts.

I stand up and everything is upside down in this vault, but also right side up. The ceiling is now the floor and now everything on the floor is on the ceiling devoid of gravitational bounds. My mind is trying to make sense of everything. Piles of gold, crystals, and candles fill the cavernous room’s floor hanging upside down like stalagmites. Desks lined with inventory counts and leather-bound books sit beside the piles of books. The arched floors make it hard to reach the treasure above. I build red hexagonal steps up to the upside-down crystal piles and upside-down desks above.

I grab a sack from my student’s jacket sorting the crystals I need.

Two, two, two, three, three, one.

Amethyst, lapis, aventurine, moonstone, rose quartz.

My hands pick at the crystals in order of what I was told and stuff the crystals in my pockets. I go a second round for another set of thirteen making it an even twenty-six. I quickly start to head back down the steps once I’m done.

A throat clears the silence of the room. Queenie stands in the middle of an archway. Her long, brown braids cascade from her scalp to her thick thighs. She wears a white dress with leg slits and long sleeves that float. Her dark skin shines in the moonlight creeping in behind her. Her voice is sweet like honey to match her warm glimmering eyes. “The Templite becomes the first to break past me from this class of students. Salem is working hard with you. Every time we underestimate them, they surprise us.”

“Did I fail the Task?”

“Your Task was to set the stone behind the throne. You did just that.”

“Do all the other students share the same Tasks?”

“Yes and no. Salem apparently has you on an accelerated course. The Crystal Tasks are meant to be the final Tasks in a mage’s training. From what I’ve heard, you’ve completed one of thirteen Crystal Tasks. Technically, you completed mine too so that makes it two out of thirteen. Be prepared to have the other Coven member’s students going up against you through the Crystal Tasks.”

This is all news to me. Again, Salem not explaining everything out right.

“Do you get anything from completing the Tasks before anyone else?”

“The first mage from their tribe to complete the Tasks becomes the next in line to be among the Thirteen Coven Members. No one has successfully completed Mama Reyna’s trials. Their results led them to different placements among our community and armies. This year, we have her protégé son, Simon, who we all assume will be the next in line to be the Necromancer leader in the Coven. You and him will go up against each other. You are destined for great things in this Coven. Salem is really trying to ruffle some feather among the Coven leaders by sending you out so early.”

“How come Salem didn’t explain any of this to me?”

“I think you may have already noticed. Salem does not give answers so easily. You must earn them or figure them out mostly on your own. Their teaching style requires you to think for yourself and see everything that cannot be truly seen with the naked eye.”

That’s why Salem said they’d stop teaching me if I failed. I can’t fail. They expect me to be their successor as their next Coven leader. So, if I fail, there is no point in teaching me everything they know.

“You think I can complete the Tasks perfectly.”

“Nothing is ever set in stone,” Queenie giggles at her play on words as she morphs the room around me. It starts to melt. Crystals falling towards my head. Books collapsing all over the room. I build steps out to the bridge outside of the doorway and rush out of the vault. Crystals knick me here and there. Books slam against the steps behind me. I leap through the doorway as it closes behind me. Time resumes. I hit the ground face first skimming against the rough stone floor. Queenie continues to giggle on her throne.

Guards see me on the ground behind her throne and rush at me.

I hear Queenie’s fingers snap and I’m launched in to Chaos Salem’s chest.

I’m back in the Cathedral.

“You did it.” Chaos Salem cheers once they see what I’m holding.

“Eleven to go.” I sneer.

Salem smiles, “Eleven to go.”

* * *

The very next day, we start on squares.

“A square is meant for two. It builds off the idea that the individual should not do everything alone. They can accomplish a lot alone, but together their powers become stronger. Form three squares along the middle of the hexagon.”

Salem and I work in tandem to feed off each other’s energies. A purple satchel that contains the twenty-six crystals bounces on my thigh with every motion. I master the squares within thirty minutes.

Chaos Salem snaps their fingers. We appear at the edge of Mama Amanda’s woods. She stands there looking around tapping her foot.

“I brought him.” Salem speaks up.

Mama Amanda rushes at me and hugs me, “I’ve missed you so much, my darling child.”

I snuggle in her embrace missing her affection. It’s been almost four weeks since I last saw her. She pulls apart searching me for any signs of damage. She asks worriedly, “How have the Tasks been? They told me you completed two of the thirteen Crystal Tasks.”

“Tedious. I didn’t know learning magic would be this frustrating.”

“The Crystal Tasks have never been easy. I almost failed mine three times.”

“Why am I here?” I ask.

“Always straight to the point.” Simon snickers stepping out from behind a tree. He wears an emerald cloak. His garments consist of dark green harem pants and a long, black sleeve with a green silk belt. He looks so damn handsome in his form fitting uniform. Muscles protrude from his clothes distracting me. I wonder if the clothes tags still bother him… or if he ripped off his shirt… I mean… if he ripped the tags off his shirts?

I run to hug him, and he embraces me back, “What the fuck are you doing here?”

I missed him so much. Mama Reyna took my best friend away from me. She took everyone away from me for six years. And now, he’s here. His embrace grows tighter.

This is just what I needed. I needed a boyfriend. A friend that is a boy by gender. I’m just going to stop myself.

“Mama Reyna can’t have me losing to you.” Simon’s words come out harsh.

“Ouch.” I push away feeling like he gutted me.

“I mean… I don’t care. I want us both to win these Tasks,” Simon clears the air, “But she told me it would look bad to lose to a Templite.”

“I thought the Crystal Tasks were personal trials to try and become the successor to a Coven leader.” I state confused.

“Yes, they can be,” Chaos Salem starts, “But, the Coven sees it as a competition and try to sabotage each other in order for the best candidates to complete all thirteen Tasks.” That’s fucked. “Their idea is that the Tasks should forge a war-ready Coven leader. Throughout the Crystal Tasks, Coven leaders can decide to form alliances to help their candidates reach the finish line.”

“You agreed to this?” I ask Salem.

“I wanted you and Simon to come to a decision together. I will not force anything upon you two. But the remaining trials will need the magic of the square to complete them. It is around this time that Coven leaders make pacts and match up the best students. I wanted to catch them off guard. None of the other Covens have students ready to finish the Tasks, but that does not mean they will not try to foolishly send them out before they are ready.”

Does starting with Simon mean I’ll have to start everything all over again? Were the last two trials just a waste?

“What concerns you?” Salem asks.

“I completed two Tasks. So, are we going to have to run them again?”

“No. The Coven sees the square phase as the most crucial part of the Crystal Tasks. Every leader in all of space history has made alliances in order to grow their land or remain in power. With shared power comes shared lands, resources, and accomplishments. And if one person gets caught in the partnership, but the other completes The task, then they both succeed since one finished the Task.”

My brain cells bring the pieces together, “That bitch. Reyna wants me because I already completed two Tasks and that would mean my partner would have completed them too.”

Salem and Mama nod.

Mama speaks up next, “Parents can give their children advantages in the Tasks. Which Mama Reyna has afforded to Simon.”

I turn to Simon, “What does that mean?”

“I completed the Thorn and Grave Tasks of my own free will, but she allowed me to win her trial without push back.”

“She let you win her Task without trying.”

Simon nods.

Fucking nepotism.

“If you agree to this partnership, between you and Simon, you will have five victories.” Mama Amanda adds smiling, “And while I can’t say overtly that I would do the same thing Mama Reyna did, you would be one closer to the end with my Crystal Task.”

I look to Salem to see if they disapprove of this kind of talk. They turn from Simon to me.

“With two more wins, that would put you at seven, and you would only need six more Tasks to complete the Crystal Tasks.”

Salem and Mama Amanda would just give us their wins so we could focus on the last six. Mama Reyna wins her wanted successor if Simon wins.

And Salem gets theirs.

And the Coven would be forced to take me in as their own.

“I agree to the partnership.”

“Bind your magic together.”

“How do we do that?” I ask.

“If this partnership is to work, your energies will naturally work together. Allow your magic to build in to his with the squares.”

Simon and I build the hexagon and squares together, seamlessly binding us together with magic. The red glow of the hexagon and squares lights up our faces as we stare deeply in to each other’s eyes. Simon smiles. The corners of my mouth lift a little.

I’m not alone anymore.

* * *

Chaos Salem and Mama Amanda let us run their Tasks without any pushbacks. Seven completed out of the thirteen.

Chapter 34: AXEL

With completing two Tasks in one go, Simon and I have been given two weeks to study for Piper’s trial. Mama Reyna has restricted me from entering her Necromancer Temple. So, Simon trains at the cathedral part of the week and the other half spends it at the Necromancer Temple. His guest bedroom is right across from mine on the second story of the cathedral. At nights, Simon and I go in to each other’s rooms to read the training texts on Piper’s mages. Candles and moonlight illuminate the floor to ceiling mountains of books.

Simon would never admit that he was stuck on me like adhesive. The people that divided us before no longer having a choice in our unity. It was partly why I agreed to have him as a partner. I could’ve completed the Tasks by struggling through them and barely making it out. But this path covered two bases: my completion of the Crystal Tasks and my love for Simon.

We take turns bringing each other snacks, drinks, food, and using the restroom. I have to remind him to take a shower between study sessions because his hyperfocusing drives him up the wall. Here and there, I usually end up distracting him and asking him questions. Simon gives me short answers so that he can get back to learning.

From time to time, I lean my back on his arm and read my book. Simon wraps his arm around my body occasionally reaching over me to flip the page with his hand. After a few hours of studying each night, we spend the rest of the night looking out a round window in the ceiling towards the visible moons of Lykos.

“It’s just weird. That out of all universes and out of all places I could be, I was born here.” Simon says randomly breaking the silence.

“I wish I could say the same. Apparently, I was placed here with no real choice.”

“Do any of us really have a choice in where our souls find themselves in the universe?”

“Do you believe in the Tesoro de Almas theory?” The Treasure of Souls theory was the idea that the moment soulmates passed on, the soulmates would spend their entire lifetimes looking for each other until they found each other again in another universe. A neon beacon would emit to where their soulmate landed and the other soul searching would go to it. Souls did this until they were destroyed or passed on to the Cataclysm Realm.

“Maybe. Do you think that’s possible? For two souls to find each other after they died?”

I snuggle my book against my chest, “Even if it isn’t real, it’s romantic. The idea that someone loved someone so much in their lifetime that they created a hopeful dream. One in which you spend eternity with said person intertwined in each other’s fates and chasing after each other.”

“Who were we in a past lifetime then?” Simon brushes my cheek with his thumb repeatedly.

“I don’t know. Maybe we were two ducks or two cats just wandering the universe together. Maybe we were specs colliding into nothing. Atoms on a microscopic level hoping to be more.”

“I think I got lucky to find you again.”

“Again?”

“Mhmm.”

“You remember your last life?” I ask Simon.

“Here and there. I started having dreams of you. An older version of you. You appear in a Venus body in front of me. Birds surround us. I’m in a Gamma-2 body. Oh, and they hate you there too.”

Well, at least I know I’m hated even in past lives. Never having to be too worried about being popular.

“You think it is the past?”

“The alternative is a sub-theory to the Tesoro de Almas theory. We are inexplicably so interconnected that your visions are becoming mine. Our powers are transferring over to one another. Your visions become mine. My power becomes yours. A future with you is a future worth living.” He cuddles half my body, “You are my beacon. You are the warm fire in a winter’s night that I have been searching for. You are my home.”

* * *

Each night, Simon and I would cuddle in bed. Simon’s body runs like a furnace, so I have to turn away once his survival-heat turns insufferable. I miss his heat whenever he returns to Mama Reyna. She picks him up halfway through the week from the cathedral and gives me the death glare.

Chaos Salem gives me extra chores each day to keep me preoccupied. They try to fill my plate with more reading, but I have already read every book in the basic mage’s curriculum. I had six years of memorizing every last word in those thirteen books.

I repeat the memorable phrases out loud as I do chores:

Templites rose from hatred. Kairos corrupted the masses. Many fell for his words of hope. While he continued to poison them and blame it on the new travelers from the different timelines.

The shapes are silly in theory but can save a life if overlooked. Our power relies on the universe bending to our will. The shapes are how the universe bends to us. To other beings, the universe will bend in other ways. We have to be well equipped in our methods of arming our children in order to fight wannabe oppressors.

El Tesoro De Almas or The Treasure of Souls can occur with only a true soulmate or soulmates. Each soul leaves a piece of themselves when they leave their physical bodies. Though, this may not be enough to revive a being, it is enough to know what their unaccomplished hopes, dreams, and desires were left behind. Faeries and Guerreros that can sew back the Threads of the universe can use the help of necromancers to piece together these mysteries.

I would have to ask Simon what that means later.

Once I’m done with my chores, I wander over to Salem in the main cathedral.

“I miss the boy.” I admit to Chaos Salem, “I’m sorry if that is an overshare. I’ve just been so lonely for so many years.”

“It is okay to feel. It is not something to be ashamed of. Just don’t go burning down my cathedral, you hear me?”

I sneer, “I only did that because they kept me imprisoned.”

“Are you free here?”

“Witches and warlocks crowded my house for six years and kept me trapped. I was a teenager, and they treated me like a criminal. I am of mage flesh and since been branded as the enemy. Hating me for existing is odd. Hating me for the decisions of colonizing extremists is unfair. The only one stopping me from leaving now to Tempus is you. And I don’t want to leave here because out there I am the Templites’ enemy. I have no true home to return to or memories of the past. Yet, I am shoved aside. You and Mama Amanda are the only ones who see me as me. So, yes I feel free here.”

A puzzling look comes over Chaos Salem. They say, “He’ll be back in no time. Distance from loved ones can be healthy. Loved ones have tethers that bind them to each other. The Threads of the universe can be seen if you look hard enough. In the meantime, let’s distract you. ”

Chaos Salem gives me the run down on the next Crystal Task.

“Piper is…”

White clouds my eyes. Chaos Salem’s words disappear beyond the vision.

Simon dies.

The child is hidden with Mama Reyna. They look like me and Simon combined.

A child is born of war.

War Ships enter Epsilon’s atmosphere… Our son is at least ten years older.

The Spear that cut the timelines is given to me and Simon.

The Crystal Tasks are completed and a celebration with us on gold pedestals.

Simon is turned in to a vampire somewhere near the end of the Tasks.

The Crystal Tasks flash past me.

Piper sits on a throne like Queenie. Though she has clouded eyes like mine. The throne is made of moss, mushrooms, flowers, and tree roots. Her hands firmly grip the arm rests speaking in hushed whispers. Piper’s ruby, frizzy hair floats in the air as if it has been electrified. Her albino skin is lightened with rouge lipstick and dark iridescent eyeshadow. A drowning purple dress hides the Coven member. Vines wrap around her body and throne.

“What are you doing here?” Piper looks at me directly talking to a million other souls at the same time. Her body duplicates into a million shadows around her.

“You can see me?”

“The ancestors are pointing you out. They are forming an image around you. Spike?” Her face splits in to millions  of faces.

“My name is Axel.”

“You have many names and many more names coming to you.”

“I thought there were no other Seers on Epsilon.”

“I am not a Seer. I am a Medium. I am the messenger between living and dead. Seers long past communicate with me still. Dead Seers are free to travel from the past, present, and future.”

“So, I am the Templite boy they were worried about?”

“Heir to the Templite throne. Holder of a Power Crystal. Lover of Simon. Father to Simon Jr.”

“Father?”

“You saw it yourself.”

Out of my peripheral, I see the crystal pedestal at the top of the throne. Branches twist in the shape of one of the aventurine crystals I stole from Queenie. Inside of it, the crystal is missing.

“I don’t really plan on having children. That seems like a lot of work.”

“You are still young.”

“Super weird to tell a nineteen-year-old they’ll be a parent one day.”

My eyes discreetly trail to the entrance to the forest holding her throne. A small opening from the base of a tree opens to the rest of the forest.

“I will not make this Task easy for you.”

The white from my eyes retreats. Chaos Salem stands in front of me.

“What did you see?”

“The entrance to Piper’s throne room. It is hidden at the base of a tree.”

Chaos Salem summons a stone table with a snap of their fingers. They lay the schematics on the table. The forest is a labyrinth of tree roots, rivers, creatures, and paths that move every few hours. The map changes in intervals to show the path shifting every six hours. Four changes in one day.

“This is her throne.” Chaos points to the end of the schematic where a ring of trees protects a throne.

I search the drawing for the specific tree. At the edge of the map, a tree with a thick trunk and a darker shade of brown stands out slightly from the rest.

“That one has the hole.”

Chaos Salem uses their illusions magic to conjure a three-dimensional map with me and Simon working our way backwards from the tree. They incorporate the distance it would require traveling across the entire woods. The simulation provides Salem with a concrete plan, given the monsters can be slain, and adequate rest is given to each of us.

“The task would take approximately four to six days to complete.”

“So, we have to have a week’s supply of food and equipment ready. This is not what I expected from this Task. The last few were a breeze.”

“From now on, each Task will prove your worthiness to the Coven. You already have a leg up on the other students with Simon by your side.”

“Teach me the triangle.”

“Why?”

“The square will not be enough. If I need to amplify his powers for any reason, we will need to know how to do so.”

Salem nods. The next few hours, I struggle to form the squares in tandem with Salem’s energy. That’s odd. I wasn’t struggling before. What changed? Around the fifth hour, we finally create the three squares needed to proceed to the triangle. My hands shake as I form the lines above and below the squares in the hexagon to complete the six triangles. Salem’s energy is supporting me. It keeps me standing and prevents my wobbly knees from tumbling. But, the resistance is there. Our energies are not compatible. Salem and I repeat the triangles twenty-six more times before I can no longer try.

I collapse on my knees heaving. Sweat drips on the floor uncontrollably. A headache looms across my forehead and eyes. I rock back and forth.

“Wait for Simon to practice. You know how to do this. Teach him. It will work better.”

My eyes go white again.

War Ships in the sky.

Dragons attack the initial wave of Ships.

“Make a deal with the dragons.” Mama Reyna shouts at me, “Demand this of me. I will mock you and diminish you. But spite me. Force me to listen. Say whatever you have to say.”

“What? But they are already here in the sky.”

“Right now. Call Toxotes.” Mama Reyna shouts at me.

Astrea and her dragon husband stand beside me. She cradles my face, “Axel, I know you and Mama Reyna hate each other right now, but, one day, that will all be resolved.”

“Who are you?” My brain splits, “Astrea. What is happening? Why are you touching me?”

“You’re having a vision but your eyes aren’t white. You’re split between here and back then. You’re caught between your mirror visions of the past, present, and future.”

“Where is Simon?”

“He went with the other dragons to awaken the Ancient One. But, we can’t do that without the dragons. None of this future can happen without you. Do it for me and Simon. Do it for Simon Jr. and my babies.” She starts to cry, “My wyverns are all gone. Please. They tried to combine their energy to defeat the Dark Pharaoh. They tried to create the Power Source and instead melded in to each other.”

The ground rumbles below us. A tentacle from a Ship releases preparing to hit the planet. The planet splits where Rae’s headquarters were as a weathered scaly gray dragon’s face erupts. Her long body trailing on for miles. Spikes along his spine crack the planet even further.

The Ship’s tentacle latches on to the Ancient One. The immense dragon snatches the tentacle out of the sky and crushes the Ship in her hand. More Ships appear in the sky adding reinforcements. My ears nearly burst as the dragon roars.

Time Keepers open Pulses around the dragon attacking her body. The attacked scales spin on the dragon’s body flying towards the Time Keepers. Razors at the end of the scales split Time Keepers mid air. The scales fly up to the surrounding Ships destroying their control centers and engines. Debris descends upon the planet. Wren’s paragliding soldiers take flight using shapes to redirect or obliterate the debris from civilians below. Myst’s Sky Ships surround the skies creating forcefields over densely populated areas. Mages in the Epsilon Ships work to protect their people.

My eyes return. My mind is working on over drive. My body is shaking and I am sweating heavily.

“We need to make a deal with the dragons of Toxotes.” I say as I try to relax my nerves.

“What do you mean?”

“Call the dragons. Call Toxotes. They are coming. War Ships are coming.”

“When?”

“Eleven years from now.”

* * *

“Why have we been called here?” Mama Reyna speaks first.

The entire Coven surrounds me. Shadows of faces hang ominously in the candle lit darkness of the cathedral. I stand in chains again. Déjà vu, mother fuckers. At least I ripped all of my shirt tags off since the last time.

“Eleven years.” I speak up, “We have Eleven years until the War Ships arrive.”

“Call the dragons, Reyna.” Salem adds, “Call on Toxotes aid. The Ancient One needs to be awakened and Rae has not made progress. We need the dragons’ energies to bring the Ancient One back to life. We need the Toxotes dragons to unite and connect their Power Sources to the Ancient One.”

“What did the visions tell you?” Mama Reyna scoffs and asks me.

“You told me to tell you to call the dragons.” I inform her.

“Are our reinforcements not enough? Are our Sky Ships not protecting us in this distant future?”

“They were dealing with the debris from the amount of Ships Kairos sent.”

The Coven stays quiet. Everyone stares at each other in worried silence.

“How do we know Kairos didn’t plant this vision in your head with the help of another Seer?” She retorts.

“Believe what you want. Your indecision will bring Epsilon’s demise.” Salem snaps. “You know Kairos will see our disadvantages and take them out.”

Mama Reyna stays silent for a good minute, “Any other opinions?”

The Coven remains tight-lipped.

“Everyone in favor of ignoring the vision.”

Not one Coven member raises their hands.

“All in favor of calling on the dragons of Toxotes?”

All thirteen Coven members raise their hands.

Salem snaps their fingers and I am teleported in to the crowd next to Simon. A multitude of families and students sit in the crowd behind a misty, translucent, black veil.

“Tempus is coming to Epsilon?” Simons asks.

I nod. “But we win if the dragons accept our call.”

The thirteen Coven members move in unison drawing the shapes in the middle of the cathedral. They start with the hexagon, build the three squares in the middle, draw two lines above and below the squares in the hexagon, add triangles to each exterior side of the hexagon, draw a circle around it, and cement the call with the diamond. All the while, the shapes spin as they’re being built. The multi-colored diamond spins counter clockwise blinding the audience. The colors of the Threads in the diamond cast a rainbow of light against the stained glass of the Cathedral.

The Coven chants:

We call on the dragons for aide,

Help us not fade,

Our lives are on the line.

Send our message through the divine.

The ancestors that I saw in my vision of Piper appear one by one in the room. Their specter forms a misty blue haze. Every ghost repeats the chant moving their bodies in the same way as the Coven members.

Ancestors be our bridge in this time of need.

Bring our query with dire speed.

The ghosts all add their own incantations before they vanish skyward.

Mama Reyna snaps her fingers.

We are teleported to Mama Amanda’s cottage. Simon and I sit on the black, velvet couch in the living room. Salem, Amanda, and Reyna stand in front of us.

“Why eleven years?” Mama Reyna asks me.

“It is what I was told.”

Mama Amanda speaks up, “The population of Toxotes has risen post Timeline Wars. Many soldiers that returned home missed their partners. They are facing overpopulation. We could help them. We have the room on Epsilon. We take some of their excess dragons. They help us with Kairos.”

Salem adds, “On the same note, with a dragon’s ability to reproduce in great volumes it will repopulate our armies. That way, we still have citizens and a planet to carry on our legacy once we are gone.”

Everyone stays quiet at the implication.

“You think many will die?” I ask.

“There is no war with zero causalities.” Salem states callously.

“You are the problem.” Mama Reyna hisses at me.

“Then send me home. Get rid of me.”

She is taken aback by the comment.

“Axel…” Salem adds before I interrupt them.

“No, if everyone is so worried about what I will become, throw me to the wolves. Send me to Tempus. I’m just as worried of Epsilon as everyone else. This is all I know. This is my home. Six years I was locked up for being considered one of them. I’m tired of being looked at like scum. I might be a Templite, but I don’t remember that lifetime. I don’t remember anything about that boy or who he was. Epsilon is all I have ever known. And, here, I am worth nothing. So do it. Send me back. Murder me if you need to but that will not solve any of your problems.”

“That is no way to speak to an elder.” Mama Reyna snaps.

“You have no respect for me so I will treat you as you treat me. Just because you’re an old bitch doesn’t mean I have to respect you. Kairos is coming.”

Mama Reyna slaps me. She turns to Mama Amanda, “Have you nothing to say about this?”

“Yes, I do.” Mama Amanda stands between me and Mama Reyna. She pushes Mama Reyna back, “Figure your shit out. Respect is an equal exchange, not a matter of years lived. For the past six years, I have watched the witch I followed in to the darkness coated in blood and entrails treat my son as a criminal. Salem is keeping him on the right path. He has given us intel that will help us survive. It is a pity to see someone I respected fall so easily for the hatred Kairos infected the universe with.”

Mama Reyna looks for someone to defend her. She turns to Salem.

“Don’t look at me.” Salem scoffs. “You barely tolerate me.”

She looks to Simon.

“You partnered me up with him.” Simon shrugs, “So, I’m on his side.”

“Enjoy the company you keep.” She turns to Simon, “Don’t bother returning to the Necromancer Temple until you successfully pass the Crystal Tasks.”

Oh no, whatever will I do with Simon spending more time with me.

Mama Reyna snaps herself out of the room.

“I could offer you a room in my colony.” Mama Amanda offers.

“I have a room at the Cathedral. I’ll be okay.” Simon responds.

“I’m sorry she refuses to take you back.” Salem adds.

“Mama Reyna has taught me everything she needed to. She trained me with more knowledge than any of her other trainees. She wants me to complete these trials. She’s just throwing a temper tantrum since she didn’t get her way for once.”

Salem smiles, “You said it.”

“Thank you for standing up for me.” I hug Mama Amanda.

“Anything for you baby. That vile witch needs to relax. She forgets we are all on the same side.”

Chapter 35: AXEL

Back at the Cathedral, Simon returns to his room to wash up from the day. I want to follow him when Salem grabs my wrist and leads me towards the diamond burned in to the Cathedral floor. Red and green Thread benches form in the middle of the cathedral. They motion for me to sit on pews they created with their Thread manipulation.

They hesitate to speak and it has me worried. Their mood seems grave like if they have to throw up bad food.

“Are you okay Salem?”

They nod, “I am. But there is no easy way to say this. You know I helped Kairos create the Spear to cut the timelines, but that’s not the full story. Before we continue your trials, I want you to know something. You may hate me freely after I speak, but I must say what I have to say.”

“Does this have to do with the reason that the Coven despises you? The Spear?”

“Partially. Yes. I… I have many truths to tell you. You will ask me what people did to stop what happened. But the answer will be glaringly depressing. This story will be a juggling act. One that happens all at the same time and ends in disaster. Let me begin with the rise of Kairos. Kairos was an influential charismatic man who promised his entire universe a better life. At the time, all thirteen timelines were free to travel and explore the galaxy through Thread manipulation. Time Keepers could hardly master the art. So only witches and fairies could explore the galaxy. They could escape to another universe if a totalitarian regime blossomed in their universe. Even when things were good, people who could manipulate Threads were thought to have an advantage over others.

“Political tensions across all planets were at an all-time high. Food was scarce. Medical treatments were costly. Billionaires needed someone else to blame other than themselves for the money problems they created. They couldn’t take accountability for poisoning their citizens hydration sources, killed their clean air, censoring all media blaming billionaires, and raised their entire cost of living in the pursuit of capital gains. So, they started with a small idea. The idea was: remember a time when things were good. When money flowed freely. Wouldn’t you want to go back to such a time?”

“It was a simple idea. Political leaders controlled by billionaires across planets were told to run with that idea. They campaigned with the slogan, “Return to A Better World.” All while scheming. They needed to appease the general population so they fed them lies upon lies. But the populations were smarter than them. For a time at least. What the politicians needed was an enemy. Someone to blame for billionaires creating poverty. A tangible person, race, or being that could be the “real” villain and if they took those people out, everyone would be happier. A scapegoat is easier to blame and discard than losing profits and loyalty of the people you control.”

“Now let’s add context. Kairos was born in to the Lycan Lineage. Titus Kronos, the old Time Lord, conceived Kairos with the queen of Necropolis. He was a bastard. There is a tradition to the Lycan Throne. All children born to the Royal Lycan Family must either concede and give their throne to the next in line. Or all children must fight to the death and ascend the throne. Their antiquated beliefs thought that evolution brings the best leader much like Mama Reyna. As a teenager, Kairos’s mother and step-father died mysteriously. The Queen and King dead led to an investigation which came out inconclusive. All seven children, including Kairos, fought for the throne. But Kairos had an advantage. Kairos could produce black holes called Pulses. It was his secondary ability. So, he allowed the competition to weed themselves out. And when the last one left standing decided to charge at Kairos. He sliced the wolf in half by opening a Pulse at his center.”

“Kairos became King of Necropolis that day. Many historians pinpoint that day as the day everything went sideways. But I think they’re wrong. I think everything went sideways when he was born. Kairos changed the name to Lykos because he wanted a name that told people who they were. They were wolves and the universe needed to remember that. He wanted them to remember the power they wielded.”

“I digress. Kairos as the King of Lykos was loved by many for his charm and out of pocket language that wasn’t restricted. He said whatever he wanted and came to mind without caring if he harmed anyone. The general population that sided with Kairos were tired of having to respect everyone. They craved an enemy to channel all their anger towards. And ironically, they were tired of the rich exploiting them. Kairos was a funny character. He judged the rich among his Lycan people while catering to the whims of the wealthy. The highest bidders threw all kinds of money and physical objects to keep him doing their selfish bidding. Any time a reporter or journalist would start to track where the money came from, they would disappear, be jailed, or be called crazy for spewing so-called false hoods and blacklisted from their careers.”

“By allowing the billionaires to do as they pleased, Kairos gave them free rein to poison their waters, kill public figures as they pleased, pollute their planets, and amount wealth through taxing the poor. He figured if you can tax the poor and keep the rich tax exempt, you can keep a population of ethical slaves. They go to a job and clock-in for money, while they were given a paycheck where money was skimmed off the top and deposited to Kairos’s rich friends’ accounts. The same friends that are in turn not paying these people a living wage. Keeping them stuck in a helpless never ending cycle of poverty.”

“To distract people from finding out what Kairos had done, he did what he had to to keep the blood hounds from tracking his scent. He gave the people an enemy.”

“That’s where my story comes in. I am a Guerrero. I am and always will be as long as I shall live. My people lived on Gamma-1 and Flounce. We had access to all timelines through our abilities by cutting through the fabric of the universe. We were emissaries for Titus. He sent us to other galaxies to find new and innovate ways of helping our people overcome dictatorships and oligarchs. Anything you can think of we brought back from our travels.” Salem smiles, “I met many people and fell in love many times. There was one person I loved most of all and she lived in the sixth timeline Titus had me frequent. It was much like our universe with very similar beings. She was a divine work of art spun beautifully by the masters of the universe. Her name was Azra. She was from Earth. In our universe, we call Earth, Venus. And everyday with her was magical.”

“There came a day when Titus used the information all of us Guerreros had gathered and started weeding out the rich oligarchs and their corporations. He started with planets furthest from Tempus and worked his way towards Tempus. Titus cleaned up after his son’s mess for years. The Scorned Planets were easy to take care of except for Lykos. Kairos’s grip on Lykos was strong at the time. They were blinded by the barrage of propaganda hitting them that the Sirens, Time Keepers and Guerreros were bad people. They painted Sirens, Time Keepers and Guerreros as the enemy. They had to be dealt with. Kairos led a campaign against the three groups among what we now know as the Neutralists and Templite Loyalists Planets. It worked effectively on the Loyalists but the Neutralists were not completely convinced by his charm. It didn’t matter. Eventually, Kairos had amassed the support of half the universe. He convinced them that Guerreros and Time Keepers were the reason they couldn’t afford to live. To half the universe, our travels were the reason their water sources were poisoned. Their food was so expensive because Guerreros supposedly consumed more of it on their journeys. Their lives were unlivable because of us. He convinced them that their taxes were so high because their taxes funded our exploration in to other timelines. Of course, it wasn’t true but a strong lie never has to be. A scapegoat just has to be a scapegoat. A being to blame to allow others to delve in to their awful behaviors. On every planet, we had people who did not believe Kairos, but their voices were drowned out or they had to temporarily assimilate to survive the next part.”

“History is gradual. It only seems quick in history lessons, like today, because a short period of time is diminished to a few sentences. Entire lives forgotten and not remembered through our short attention spans. Guerreros were brought front and center as enemy number one. They were hunted down and murdered. And when they could, the Guerreros escaped in to other timelines to survive. Guerreros went in to hiding. They disguised themselves as other citizens. People wanted justice for their supposed actions. They wanted Kairos to enlist the Time Keepers and use his father’s influence to hunt down the Guerreros in our universe and other universes. Since we were the enemy, the people mutilated us, ate us, killed us slowly, tortured us, and used us as their punching bags.”

“During all of this, Kairos ignited a civil war among all the Templite Loyalist Planets. Those in favor of Guerreros and those opposed battled it out in the streets with lasers and their powers. People killed each other for the rights and lives that were being stripped of the Guerreros. Funny how the only solution to wanting respect is to fight against a bigoted aggressor. The victor then scrubs history to their liking.”

“A few of us Guerreros came to Titus for help. We needed sanctuary from all the murders. Your grandfather hid me in the Templite Castle. Titus saved my friends and family. It felt nice to be safe again for a few years. Until the unrest grew. Kairos gained more influence through the Neutralists and Templite Loyalists Planets. You see, Kairos never stopped helping the oligarchs. He just enabled them further in to stripping the rights of his people. So, while civil wars were going on to protect and kill Guerreros, the rich were profiting off our dead bodies through multiple avenues. Arms dealers. Hospitals. Food. Soldiers. All used for profit. And when people came looking for an enemy, Kairos presented us on a silver platter over and over again. The story Kairos portrayed said ‘After the Guerreros escaped in to other universes, they left the economies of all planets tanked and politicians struggled to recover.’ The people wanted blood. They were hungry. And the rich needed shields.”

“Kairos came up with an outlandish plan: cut seven of the timelines Guerreros were known to frequent. To do so, he needed strong enough, self-hating Guerreros to create a Spear that could do such a task. Kairos had Guerreros that complied to his regime but they were weak. He needed me or one of my family members to make the Spear.”

Salem stops speaking. They give me a second to digest everything and to come to my own conclusion.

But I don’t like the ending. I know the ending. The timelines were cut. But what were the details?

“What did you do Salem?” I ask.

“It is complicated. Kairos wanted to cut the seven timelines to travel across our timeline more efficiently with Pulses. The Pulses were blackholes that would unexpectedly cut through timelines and kill hundreds of thousands of people where they were opened. Kairos would give tours of other timelines to his billionaire friends. And when the people of other timelines started seeing their people killed by our leaders and rich people, they revolted. They would kill anyone that would Pulse to their universe. The rich that liked to vacation in exotic destinations demanded Kairos and his Templite Loyalists fix this issue. The rich wanted the seven timelines, closest to us and most likely to kill rich people, to be eradicated. The rich needed a liminal space between their favorite timelines. Or, what we now know as Limbo. They were tired of fighting timelines wars in order to get to their favorite destinations after a few “accidental” deaths. Pulsing freely was their goal. So, when the time came to do so, Kairos flooded so much propaganda down his follower’s throats they were fully gagged and in support of his cause.”

“Billionaires funded his plan knowing the blood that would be on their hands. Kairos started kidnapping and testing all Guerreros to see if their abilities could create the Spear he needed to cut the timelines. Any that couldn’t were used for servitude or killed.”

“Titus came to me and my family and asked us for a favor. He asked if we could create a fail safe for our universe. It was only a matter of time before Kairos turned on every planet. He would keep making excuses and scapegoating different beings until every planet was poisoned and destroyed. Until all citizens were killed or he killed other planets. Kairos wanted them subjugated or dead. The blood could never stop spilling or else people realized who the real bad guys were. I would infiltrate Kairos’s Guerreros, create the Spear for Kairos, and then cut the seven of the thirteen universes myself.”

“Why would my grandfather want you to kill trillions for Kairos?” I ask.

“Kairos would eventually kill those seven timelines so we wanted it done on our terms. Titus knew how to protect the seven timelines and make it look like I cut them.” They answer. “I would solidify the seven timelines in to seven Crystals and tie their Essence to the structural Threads in our universe. The Crystals were free to move around our galaxy once I returned. But my job would be to distribute them to different beings across the Scorned and Neutralist planets. All seven Crystals combined made up the Power Crystal that would be implanted in Titus until Kairos committed to his mutiny. At that point, I would split the Crystals up in to seven pieces and scatter them to the cosmos. The idea was that if Kairos decided to turn on his people and start killing them at random, then he would commence the collapse of his universe if he accidentally killed a Crystal Wielder. Kairos would have the tools to revive the individual but not without damage and warping being done to the timeline. The Crystals themselves would be kill switches for our universe if Kairos decided he wanted to fuck around. This would essentially slow him down from killing the entire universe.”

“What happened to the beings in the Crystals?”

“For those beings inside the Crystals, their lives are momentarily in stasis. The other half of them, that were useful to our universe, were transported in to our galaxy with the help of Templite Ships. They were eventually dispersed across our twenty-four planets and integrated with our citizens. Thus, the timelines were cut, Limbo was created, and now, Kairos had new people to call an enemy. So, what did you expect happened?”

“He turned his people against the refugees from the other timelines.”

“Kairos did it so effectively. He had laid the blue print down with my people, the Guerreros. He practiced making us suffer so that he could perfect the suffering on the next group. Kairos was scared a person from one of the seven timelines would cause a rebellion against him for his decision to cut the timelines. He allowed for the species to intermingle across planets. As they grew up and their powers presented themselves, he had his new enemy. A child born of two or more races with powers hellbent on revenge. Kairos planted the seed in to the minds of his paranoid followers. They were all scared karma would be swift and the mixed children would exact revenge for their lost relatives. It was so easy to work off paranoid individuals. They wanted to hide their sins so bad, Kairos did almost no work to convince them to stay loyal.”

“Kairos knew he couldn’t start mass killing people from different planets if Titus was still alive. So, he convinced his followers to commit a coupe. He wanted to take out Titus once and for all. But Titus knew this would be his plan all along. He summoned me from Epsilon, had me collect the Crystals in that one second that he stopped time before his death, and had me split them in to seven separate pieces. He had you as the first Crystal Wielder. And Titus had his daughter, May, left to unravel any unrest Kairos created in the universe.”

Salem pulls out their necklace from their robes. Six crystals remain on the necklace, “Those worthy of wielding the Crystals have yet to be born, except you. Kairos dropped you off on my door step as a threat. He came to find me. And see what I’ve been up to. He can know all this information because I know I can just disappear, if need be, to another planet or the remaining timelines if he comes for us, which I know he will.”

“So, the reason I’ve told you all of this is because I know your Data Link will tell him every thing he needs to know. I want him to see how fortified we are. I want him to prepare as we will. He can know our moves and how we plan to strike back. But we can counter him. I wanted to answer the question as to why Kairos is attacking us. He is scared of you, Spike. He is scared of me. He is scared we will expose his secrets and live to tell the tale. Now, you can hate me. You can think that what I did was callous and unnecessary. I’m completely fine and I will accept you if you believe so. But work still needs to be done. Those beings in the Crystals can still be saved. The seven timelines can be restored. Now, it’s up to you and the six others that I will pick. And Kairos, I may not live to see the day you die, but know your death will come from one of my seven Crystal children.”

“Are you speaking to him or to me?”

“Both.”

What the fuck. From afar, I see the picture they have painted, but up close, I hate it. I understand why they did what they did. I would have done the same. But all Ethereals, this is fucked. I know that I would have been no better. Yet…Yet, it feels weird to accept all of this. To agree with the reasoning behind my grandpa’s plan. Salem’s plan.

“This was the only way to save all those people?” I ask feeling everything and nothing. Pressured to know this has always been my fight to take up. My mantle that has been waiting for me to come back to.

“Titus and I came to the conclusion that this was one avenue.”

“Were there any other options?”

“Allow people to die and hope that satisfied Loyalist’s bloodlust.”

“But it wouldn’t have. Those Crystals. They are the end all be all.”

“These Crystal Tasks were created by me. Each witch, warlock, or warwick had one chance to earn their place as the next coven leader. They had to prove they could do anything to save their people with only one chance.”

“How did you get Reyna to allow you to do the Tasks?”

“The same way you convinced her to save her people. Reyna loves her people. You pull the right Threads, and she caves. Her heartstrings are the easiest to pull. Easiest to manipulate.”

“That’s why none of the others picked me. They knew that you would eventually have to confess all of this to me.”

“Yes. And no. They knew my responsibilities to pass on the torch to you. But they are still very hateful towards Templites.”

“You’re crazy.” I accidentally say out loud. “I mean, no, I would have done what you did but…”

Salem holds up a hand for me to stop. They continue.

“To save the universe, we had to play Kairos’s crazy game. There is no real change without a little bit of crazy. Peaceful protests got the Guerreros nearly extinct fighting for their right to live freely. If we fought from the beginning and so did everyone else, there would be a lot more of us Guerreros around. On paper, my people are dead and I’m the lone survivor. But the Guerreros live on. Hidden and ready to take down Kairos. As do Templites that were from your time. Kairos waged a war on us and it is only fair that a Guerrero takes him out.”

“And who would that be?”

“You.”

“Me? How?”

“Your real mother was a Seer. And your grandfather was never faithful. He bore your uncle from the Queen of Wolves. And he bore your mother from the Queen of the Guerreros. Our queen was also a Seer. You possess all of her gifts. Your lineage is equipped with all the tools to take down Kairos. More powers will develop as you grow older. My people had many unique abilities that have since gone extinct. Thread Manipulation was the number one reason our colonizers wanted us enslaved. They couldn’t easily travel through the universe. They lacked the years of dedication it took to hone any skills. They lacked the power required to open and travel through the Fourth Dimension. So, they created their discounted version of our power that only knew how to destroy. Their false powers could only work through the subjugation and elimination of those that did not look like them. But they did not realize we hid our other gifts from the world. You, Spike, can very well destroy the universe with the power you will accumulate.”

“Kairos will come for me. How will I hide them?”

Salem spins a web of Threads unravelling the world around them. They reach their hand in to a box-shaped hole they created and pull out a briefcase. They pop it open, “Does this look familiar?”

Twenty-five chess piece like figures sit in the suitcase.

“No.”

“May, your real mother, predicted twenty-six lives. Twenty-five lived in service to Kairos. And one to bring him down. Predictions can change but we assume that is how long it will take to develop all Guerrero abilities. Then, your mission is to hide away your memories and powers in these pieces for Kairos to never find.”

I’m going to die twenty-five times. This can’t be real. This has to be a sick joke. I don’t want to lose Salem, Mama Amanda, or Simon.

“Why do you need the Guerrero abilities?”

“Guerrero abilities can’t be controlled by Ethereals. Have you ever wondered how they can go on allowing this behavior from Kairos? They are fickle beings. The Ethereals can take powers away from innocent people if they get angry at them or if the corrupt ones compensate them fairly. We have a few good Ethereals but most of them have just stood by as all of this has happened. Madame Destiny is the only consistent one that has been fighting on our side. A few others are predators and murderers. With no Ethereals or Kairos controlling you, you can put an end to all of this suffering. Guerrero magic grants you powers with no hurdles.”

“And Mama Reyna is worried that if I gain too much strength I can use those powers to be worse than Kairos?”

“Axel, when the time comes, if you are worse than Kairos I will be the one to take you out. I made that promise. Neither of us is worried you will be worse than him. She is just worried you will end up on his side. And I have complete faith in you. Faith you will restore the timelines. I have faith you and the other Crystal children will be the ones to end this nightmare once and for all. Kill Kairos. Kill the Ethereals. And, Spike Guerrero assume the Templite Throne. Let’s end them together.”

End of Volume 1.

Hello again,

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Chapter 26: SPIKE

At the top of the stairs, we round a corner and walk into a glowing hallway. We’re so high up we have to be in one of the castle’s attics. The arched, attic door buzzes with harsh blue beams of light blinding the air around it. The sound of a heartbeat hazes our ears. A heartbeat symbol appears like a scar around my wrist constantly changing. Everything around us is otherworldly. Someone is trapping the attic in a Pulse. All of time fractures inside of the room. It’s a Time Prison. To put it simply, the moment I step in to that room all time used inside of the room will not be consumed by the external world. One minute in there means no time passes in the real world. All aging slows as well.

“What’s going on here?” I step back from Cassius.

“We’re not going to trap you inside of the Time Prison. May told me you were stripped of almost all your powers by Kairos. You usually have time on a different planets to relearn them over a span of years. But we don’t have years to fight our enemies. Our mission to Exile is in a week. Maybe you can’t learn all your past powers but if you can relearn enough of them, then we have a higher chance of surviving.”

“You really did your research on me, didn’t you?”

“I thought you were my enemy. Templites and Time Keepers have been given a bad name across the galaxy because of Kairos. I did everything in my power to learn how to snuff you out if need be. I didn’t want to underestimate you in case I had to protect my friends.”

Cassius opens the door to the Time Prison attic. The attic has high ceilings and large round glass windows at both ends facing the sunrise and sunset. A desk sits by the sunrise window. On the other end, rows of books are pressed in a tight corner by a green window nook. A chair with a rug underneath is propped in front of the mini library. The ceiling slants up in one direction and possibly never ends. My eyes travel down from the ceiling to the center of the room.

My soul leaves my body. For a few seconds, I’m not here. Unease creeps into my limbs. In the middle of the room, twenty cement pedestals surround a round empty space. On each pedestal lies a worn Artifact. A piece of bloody clothing, a pair of glasses, a mansion, a bracelet, and sixteen others.

I recognize them. Mementos from my past lives.

I walk to the pedestals to touch the Artifacts. A teal tentacle stops me from grabbing them. It is one off Cassius’s Ropes.

“Not yet,” Cassius says, “Once you touch it, a Memory Pulse will open up and it will send you for a moment back to that specific time period.”

Nostalgia grips my heart. Every soul I ever encountered trapped in the memories of these Artifacts. I should have been the one to retrieve them. It should have been me who went and found these.

“I know that but… I’m more… How did you find these? I kept them hidden.”

“Vesta had the idea to find them. Thea saw you in her visions and watched you hide the Artifacts all over the universe. May, Thea, Jimmy, and I have been traveling to different planets to acquire all these memories. The Barretta Committee barely approved this. They didn’t understand why we would want you to regain your memories, or, for you to become a little more powerful with each Artifact. They realized that they needed an equally powerful being to go up against Kairos in the event he ever regained his abilities. Getting all twenty wasn’t easy.”

I rotate in a circle trying to remember glimpses from my past lifetimes. Blocks remain clouding my brain hiding past abilities, information I learned on my abilities, and the powers I created in those worlds. The pain each one caused to forge is fresh. The heartache of being ripped away from a beautiful life. My eyes stay on one Artifact in particular. The Mansion. We were at peace for a moment. Jimmy, Tommy, our daughter, and I. A mesh of the past, present, and future. In a future that never existed or has yet to be created. The only peace and ease I have ever felt. I remember being killed that one last time. The end of my twenty-fifth incarnation. I knew the moment I was Activated on Venus that I would die. That it was the end for me. And, the next thing I know, Vakander and May are saving me from Tempus.

Cassius snaps me back to reality.

“We’re only missing five. We have been doing this for the past four years. Kairos was catching on. And I guess some other beings are too. The past few missions have been us fighting off Time Keepers and rogue mercenaries.”

A realization hits me. That’s why Cassius hated me when he first saw me. This was all my fault. He’s been risking his life for my ungrateful ass. Not just his. Thea’s as well.

“You couldn’t get to the Artifact on Exile?”

Cassius nods. His face droops. A dark cloud comes over him like if he isn’t here at all. His eyes are blank. Many eyes in my past lives have carried this expression and I’ve never liked being on the receiving end. I want to console him, but I don’t know how. How do I console a boy I just met?

It takes him a moment to gather himself.

“May Pulsed us to the front of the mansion. May and I were tasked with killing all Siren Cannibals outside of the mansion while Thea and Jimmy went and stole one of the Artifacts. They were captured by their leader. He used his luring song to hypnotize them.” I wonder what else his Ropes can do if he was tasked with killing Siren Cannibals. He continues, “We were overwhelmed. These side missions to retrieve the Artifacts were done under the condition that no Barretta soldiers would need to assist in bringing us home or helping us find them. So, with no one to help us, May extracted us. Since then, they have upped their security around the mountains. Pulse Blockers block every point of entry. We haven’t been able to Pulse back in there with reinforcements. They must have placed Pulse Blockers all over the mountains.”

Pulse Blockers were invented and distributed throughout the galaxy by Vakander to stop Time Keepers from coming onto every planet. They are a barrier first and a blackhole dissipator second. Since they were created, many have been stolen his idea and placed them all over the universe. Black markets have replicated the design and created traps for Pulses which can injure or kill Time Keepers and Time Absorbers if they walk onto the wrong side of the galaxy.

Pulse Blockers being on Exile means Vakander had to drop them off there at some point. If Exile has them, are they trying to keep me out? Or are they trying to keep Kairos out? May? But anyone one of us can walk through the force field a Pulse Blocker creates. No Pulses can be made in or out but it doesn’t stop people from walking through them. There has to be some sort of strategy behind this.

Cassius crosses his arms, “They know we’re coming back. But, now that I’ve checked your Ropes, we have the knowledge of Exile we need. We know how many Siren Cannibals we have to deal with. In hindsight, it was idiotic to try and get your Artifact without knowing how many of them there were. Regret is pitiful inaction.”

His mopey eyes make me feel bad for the dude. Especially since it is technically my fault Thea went to find my Artifact. But my mind nags me about Vesta lying to us. I’m pulled in two directions. I’m not trusting Vesta. But Cassius digs the knife deeper by sniffling a little and restraining tears. Damn, he’s a simp.

“We will get her back.” I say to stop him from barreling into another depressive episode. “I will do everything in my power to get them home.”

Finding her will help us get one of the last Artifacts.

Adding Cassius’s version of the story to the mix makes me understand why he has been looking at me like a conspiracy theorist. Maybe it’s just my trust issues. Maybe I’m just the problem… Maybe the Siren Cannibals have evolved in to madness and are devouring the lives of innocents.

Or maybe two truths can coexist. Vesta is up to something and so are the Siren Cannibals.

But what? What game are they playing? Or… am I becoming susceptible to Vesta’s lies?

No. I can’t be, not me.

But if I am, damn, Vesta has one stellar PR team.

Chapters 27: CELESTIA

Emory guides me to the dining hall after our morning chat with Spike and Cassie. We sit at the usual table we always sit at with Ashley and Marina. I hear Jupiter’s beautiful curls bouncing in to the room. She passes me trailing behind the scent of raspberries and lilac. In my lustful dreams, flowers cloud her naked body.

I’m too gay for this shit. Emory complains through our Mind Link, I’m blocking your thoughts out. I’d rather not picture Jupiter in such a intimate erotic pose.

They sit at their usual table quietly discussing the previous day’s events. I turn towards them.

My wolf hearing enhances to focus in on them.

“She’s staring again.” Jenny teases.

“She’s cute but looks high maintenance.” Alejandra harshly comments.

Emory’s taunting from before plays in my head. I could initiate. I can do this. It doesn’t take much, right? What do I have to lose if she rejects me? Just the crippling embarrassment that is sharing the same space as her every morning. Fuck it. We could all be dead tomorrow.

I jump up.

“Celestia?” Emory interrupts my endless thoughts, “What are you doing?”

I ignore him and release my walking cane and start heading over to the general direction of Jupiter’s voice. My legs are lead but moving at a stuttering stumbling pace.

I want this. If I want something, I should go for it.

I hear Emory and Ashely frantically speaking to each other.

“She’s going to actually do it this time.” Ashley says surprised.

“She better not chicken out.” He knows I can hear him.

You got this. Emory Mind Links to me.

Do I though?

Jupiter and the girls have gone silent the only sound coming from her curls swaying back and forth. Her heart is beating just as fast as mine. We’re in sync? She wants this too. Just as much as I do. We’re both nervous. I sneer. I got this.

My cane hits the edge of the table and I stop. I want to send out Vibrations to see her reaction, but I don’t want a headache so early in the morning. I can see her general shape as a shadowy figure. That’s all that matters. All three of their blurred shadows stare at me.

I jump right in.

“Hey Jupiter,” I manage to get out without choking, “I was wondering if you wanted to hang out later tonight?”

Jupiter stays quiet for a second, “what would we be doing?”

“We can have a picnic on the rooftop of the castle. Or we could just hang out…” My words fall off.

There is a silence that rearranges my brain. I come back to my real body and realize how crazy this was. I only did this to prove to Emory that I could. That I could do this. I didn’t need to do that. I could’ve just…

“I would love that. What time?”

“Right after training.”

“Works for me.”

“Well, I’ll see you then.”

“See you darling.”

I slowly make a confident walk back to the table with Ashley, Marina, and Emory. I sit down and everyone starts whispering loud enough for everyone in the dining hall to hear.

“She said yes.” Emory cheers.

Jupiter hears Emory and her heart relaxes.

“Yeah.” Is all I can say.

“Wait, are you two getting married tonight? Can I be the flower girl” Ashley teases to break the tension.

“Can I be the flower girl’s assistant?” Emory asks jokingly. “No, your wedding planner/best maiden-that’s-a-dude/brother/best friend/god father of your future babies.”

“You two are ridiculous.”

“Isn’t that how lesbians work?” Emory taunts, “They just get married when they meet?”

“Usually.” Ashley adds, “at least from what I’ve seen. Any baby names picked out? I think Aurora would be nice. It means new beginnings.”

“I’m glad you two are enjoying your selves.” I spout.

“So, what are you going to do on this date?” Ashley asks.

“I told her we could have a picnic on the roof or hang out…”

“Hang out is code for fucking. You know that right?” Emory asks.

“No, I didn’t. I wouldn’t have asked her that if I knew.”

“Already too late. Dust off the cobwebs sissy. And show her your best moves.”

“I can help.” Ashley adds, “With the picnic portion of it, not the fucking. She’s all yours.”

I’m doing this. I’m really doing this.

“What do I talk about?” I ask.

“Let it start naturally.” Ashley says. “She obviously thinks you’re attractive. Get to know each other. If it’s awkward, then just do as Emory says and skip the wedding. Get straight to having fun.”

Marina adds, “That girl has been eye fucking you since I could remember.”

“That’s a good thing?” I ask.

“It means you shouldn’t be worried.” Marina sneers, “She’s ready ready.”

“For what?”

“Celestia,” Emory’s smacks his head, “How are you not understanding? Have fun. Enjoy yourself. She said yes for a reason. You did the hardest part. What could go wrong on this date?”

* * *

I wait for a shower to open up. After breakfast’s excitement, I just need to wash off the nerves before our training day starts. Refugees from the planets of Venus and Gamma stay here. Lines drag down the hallway for the women’s restroom come late morning. I’m closer to the front of the line now. A curtain pulls slightly open. I hear Jupiter’s hair bouncing beyond the curtain. She whispers under her breath, “Come here.”

“Me?” I say loud enough to sound like a cough.

“Yes!”

I remove my clothes and wrap a towel around my chest. Walking stick guiding me around the laundry dispenser. I sneak in to the shower. Jupiter closes the curtain.

“I don’t want to wait for tonight.” Jupiter says with lust in her voice, “I want you right now.”

Jupiter gently kisses my lips. I kiss back making the kisses aggressive. She turns the faucet on. I remove my towel. Jupiter digs her nails in to my lower and upper back. I lean in to the shadow of her neck and suck on it. At first soft and gently then a little more forceful as she starts to silently suppress moans. As she squirms more, she bites in to my shoulder to stop anyone from hearing. My mouth trails from her neck to her large, round nipples. I use one hand to play with her beauty and I massage her nipples with my tongue. I switch to her other breast before kissing down her beautiful dark stomach. My mouth trails until it reaches her clit.

My mouth teases her clit. My mouth alternating from it to my version of heaven incarnate.

Her legs tremble. She bites in to her hand to suppress any whimpers. Jupiter abruptly stops and I pull away.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes.” Jupiter kisses me on the mouth for thirty seconds. The best thirty seconds of my whole life before she adds, “I wanted to save more for later when we hang out. I want you to have an appetizer before we get to the picnic.”

Cruel temptress. I smile frustrated but happy. Jupiter leaves the restroom by giving me one last kiss.

Maybe Emory is right. Maybe having a little fun is okay.

Chapter 28: Thea

“Why show me all of these memories?” I ask Beelzebub

“All dead beings must accept their deaths. But only those that come to terms with it and have no left-over resentment can cross over to a peaceful afterlife.”

“I can accept the idea that I died, but I am not ready to crossover.” I think about my planet and my brother. Tamashii turned Spike. And all the innocent lives lost with Kairos’s attack. Where did they go?

“They came here first. They talked to me. Some accepted their deaths.”

“And the others?”

“Are waiting for their leader to bring them home.”

* * *

Beelzebub takes me to a balcony five stories off the ground level. Below, an army of wolves all made of purple flames bow for me. They rise in unison and howl.

“They do not respond to me. When the time is right. You will lead them back in to the physical world and exact your vengeance.”

“My people.”

My flames shake. How can flames cry? They are not capable of that so we must show them our pain. Show them how we suffered. Show them our tears through scorch marks. Burn the idea in to their heads that too many have suffered already.

“What do I have to do?”

* * *

Beelzebub takes me to an endless cylindrical chamber.

“The next stage will be growth…”

She disappears and leaves me alone. I roam the chamber for hours looking and looking for an exit. I start to panic and scream trying to reach a wall just so I can break through it. I give up frustrated.

“Thea?”

A familiar voice calls me. The voice echoes in the chamber over and over again.

“Why him?”

My mother’s voice. It echoes and echoes until it’s booming through the chamber.

“Why him?”

“Why him?”

“Why him?”

“Why him?”

“Why him?”

* * *

I’m back on Lykos in my physical form. We walk across an elevated balcony on the rear of the castle. An endless series of arched windows to our right. A cool floral breeze fills the humid air coming from the jasmine trees staggered in between the arched windows. Under the balcony, a waterfall on the side of the castle feeds in to the moat and the lake below.

“Why Cassius? Do you not see the bald spot on his head?” My mother jokes, “You are very pretty. You can do better than him.”

“Maybe, but do I have to love him for how he looks physically?”

“No. You do not, but a Venus humanoid boy?”

“Not again ma. Not you with your subtle interplanetary racism. Grandpa married grandma and she was a witch. Then, you were born. Did you have a problem then?”

“I do not have a problem with my birth if that is what you are asking.”

“Then why are you so worried about Cassius and I being together. Isn’t that what Kairos has a problem with too?”

“Do not compare me to a genocidal maniac.”

“But little ideologies and issues create bigger issues.”

“You may be right. But that bald spot is glaring.”

“I can just give him some of my fur if he gets cold at night.”

My mom laughs. “Very accommodating of you.”

We walk through arched canopy rows of jasmine vines growing around wooden frames. Each of them providing shade to the balcony. Little petals cascade leaving their floral perfume everywhere.

“Are you ready to be queen?” My mom asks.

A silence follows. I’m not. I never wanted to be queen. I grew up with the knowledge that Jimmy would be king. One day he decided it would be too much work and gave it up to me. In the past, a new ruler would be picked by pitting both royal siblings against each other in an arena and having them duel to the death. My mother was the surviving sibling. Jimmy probably didn’t want that for us.

“I do not expect you to be ready now. But one day you will be.” She sighs, “I’m glad Jimmy did not subject you two to a duel. You were both born with so much potential. I was scared it would go to waste in a duel.”

“Why did you duel your sister?”

“The time came, and we were both very young and stupid. We assumed being Queen would bring fame and riches and boys, and while it has, being queen is a lot of responsibilities. Your grandfather wanted the best to survive. He was following laws put in place by our twisted ancestors and amplified by Kairos when he ruled Lykos. Your grandfather’s reign and all those before him were of proving your worth. Truth is, I wish I had broken that cycle. Your aunt and I were both on the brink of death. And she did the unimaginable.” She stares at my unwavering face, “She killed herself to save me.”

Finding out this biting family lore startles me.

“Why?”

“Because she did not see his rules as fair. She did not want to rule on a throne that would continue the wheel of violence. ‘When does the violence end?’ were her last words. I didn’t understand them until Jimmy gave up his throne for you. So the question I ask you is: “When does the wheel of violence end?”

“What do you mean?”

“Being queen is about carrying traditions and practices. Ruling in order to keep control. But what rules can you do away with in order to finally stop misery from infecting everything.” Tears well in her eyes, “I miss my sister every day. More than my mother and father. She was my protector and guidance in to this lonely cruel world. I do not want that for you and Jimmy. I want a better future. One where children do not have to duel for a throne. One where children can live freely.” She cups my hands in hers, “Thea, do what you must to break the cycle. But never let anything come in between you protecting your kingdom or your family. Love the bald headed boy and live a wonderful life but live it with joy.”

* * *

I return to the endless chamber and the echoes stop. My mother is gone. Jimmy is gone. Cassius is gone. Everyone I love is gone. But they don’t have to be. I can still fight for them.

I was never supposed to find a way out of the chamber.

I push my flames out as far as I could push my powers when I was alive. Flames extend in all directions for hours. Pain leeches to my core. Agony seers through my being. I ignore all of it. Because none of it matters. Nothing matters when you have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Nothing matters unless you push. Push until the pain is no longer there. The echoes start to reverberate in the room. I push them back. They have no place here. Hours and hours of pushing the echoes back until I’m hitting the barriers. The walls start to fissure all over. Cracks start to collide in to one another. And I push harder. Harder. The pain starts to subside. It doesn’t exist. It only hurts because I think it hurts.

* * *

There is no pain, no feelings, there is nothing here. The Fourth Dimension is what you make of it. It can be the entry to all worlds and universes. Nothing can bar you here from doing what needs to be done.

My body splits and escapes through all the cracks…

In one universe, I’m a scientist.

Here, I’m the queen that killed Jimmy.

Kairos has conquered the universes in this one.

Humanoid robots have taken over every planet.

Pan is the king of all planets.

Peace has been achieved here.

I slip through all the cracks and all the Threads. A never-ending chamber of Threads that open up to endless realities. Threads upon Threads. My flames soar and soar and soar and…

A purple blinking Thread leads me home. Back to Beelzebub.

* * *

Beelzebub reels me back in with a green Thread wrapped around my waist. I have a waist. I have a full corporeal form again. Not physical. Just flames with hands, feet, eyes, and a mouth. My hair no longer falls but floats to a narrow peak of flames.

“How does it feel to see the grand scope of everything?”

“Freeing.” Nothing binds me to this reality. Nothing keeps me here. Only I choose to do so.

“It is nice to see the possibilities and know that you have choices. To see that in any given lifetime you can save your world or doom it. It’s up to you.” Beelzebub unties the Threads from my waist, “What will you choose to do? Did you still want to fight for them, or would you rather roam the universes freely?”

I am not tethered here. I choose to be here. It is no longer my duty to protect my people. But my choice.

“I’m ready to destroy Kairos in this universe and save my kingdom.”

Chapter 29: Spike

“Glad to finally see my two favorite boys working together,” May’s voice erupts from behind us. She must have come in quietly while we were talking, “Our team grows stronger with you by our side, Spike. You’ve had twenty-five lives to try and escape Kairos on your own. You are no longer going to fight him alone.”

Unnecessary jab but cool.

“You couldn’t save me sooner.” I tease.

“I wish I could’ve saved you sooner. When Kairos rose to power, he stripped me of my resources. I had to build myself from the ground up. So, while you were being sent from planet to planet, I was trying to stay under the radar. I jumped from planet to planet looking for help and safety. Back then, it was easier to garner support for Templites because everyone associated us with Kronos instead of Kairos. They saw us as fleeing refugees of Kairos’s totalitarian regime. The name Templite didn’t have as much of a stigma.”

“I spent the next few centuries fighting back Kairos’s armies on different planets. At one point, Vakander was tossed out by Kairos, and he joined our side. My primary responsibility was stopping my brother from causing the maximum amount of harm. I feel like I never did enough. He always had more man power. I ended up on Barretta after Kairos pitted Gamma-2 against Barretta. He forced the Gamma-2 armies to eliminate Barretta. Of course, the Barretta armies were stronger and with their advantages of War Birds and aerial attacks, the Gamma-2 soldiers were captured or taken care of. I oversaw the reconstruction of Barretta with Vesta, Cassius, Celestia, and Emory. Celestia and Emory were training to be soldiers at the time, but the Royal Lycan wolves wanted them to learn about politics early on. It was around that time that the Royal Lycan Wolves sent us a message that they assumed a Time Absorber was among their midst. Thea sent us messages that the Time Absorber was drawing the Templite Throne, pictures of Kronos, and asking for people he once knew. We assumed it was you, but we could not accept a high priority Templite refugee. Barretta could not fight off Kairos if they knew we took you back. You were safer on Lykos with the wolves to protect you. The Barretta armies grew gradually as the population naturally rose again. The dead were memorialized, and War Bird statues were erected beyond the mountains where our highest civilian populations took a hit. No one lives there now. Dallies grow in full bloom and every year we celebrate those that passed in that horrific mass genocide.”

“The Royal Lycan Wolves had plans to extract you in your Lycan form to Barretta. Our plans meant nothing. We should have anticipated an attack on one of the largest armies in all of the Scorned Planets.” The Scorned Planets were the twelve planets against Kairos forming armies to dethrone him. Some of them enduring the brunt of the Cleansing. “You died on Lykos and were taken back to Tempus. Jimmy helped us track you down to Venus a couple years later. We all thought he was going crazy when he said he could smell you on Venus. Barretta was willing to supply the Crafts that would extract you under the condition that no Barrettan lives were harmed. So, Vakander was permitted temporary stay on Barretta to make an extraction plan. Our original plan included us taking you from Venus. Vakander with more knowledge of Pulses and their Placenta Pod accompaniments advised otherwise. The Placenta Pods send a Data Link to The Library of Souls. The Library of Souls is a massive artificially intelligent room. It holds a holographic diagram of the entire universe that Kairos can access Time Absorber intelligence from. The Placenta Pods act as a tether to all Time Absorbers in the universe. From the Library of Souls, Kairos can track on the map where the Time Absorber last used their Pulse through the Data Link. Breaking you out meant breaking out your Placenta Pod too”

“The knowledge Vakander had was the reason Kairos tried to have him assassinated when he rose to power. He did not want any secrets of Tempus or Lykos to be released to the world.”

“Three components went in to saving you. One: breaking in to the Revival Unit. Two: stealing your Placenta Pod which Avi gave me hell for. And three: having vampire armies in Limbo ready to fight off Templite soldiers.”

“How many causalities in order to save me?”

“Saving you was our top priority. Barretta expected us to return alive or else…”

I interrupt her, “How many did you sacrifice to save me?”

“Seven thousand wounded. Five hundred passed on.”

Fuck me. No. This is what I tried to avoid every time I tried saving myself from Kairos.

“There are vampire soldiers on the front lines right now constantly pushing Templite soldiers back from the Neutral and Scorned Planets. Every day a few die so that the Scorned Planets can prepare for war. Thousands are born so that more can enlist in the future. Vakander has his vampire breeding farms pushing out as many soldiers as possible. Barretta knows that one day it will have to throw its full force behind every other planet against Tempus. Kairos has been attacking the Scorned Planets to debilitate their armies because he knows we’re coming. I made Barretta a promise. That you would be the new Time Lord one day if we saved you. I’m not the Barretta Committee. I don’t care if you become the new Time Lord. My goal is to keep you and the Power Crystal safe.”

“At the expense of everyone else’s safety?” The more people I meet, the more people I feel like I’m leading to their deaths. I’ve been in this story before. I don’t want to grow attached to these people. I care about my life but I’m not ready to have these people lay their lives down for me. Or have my presence be the reason Kairos kills them for hiding me away.

But I don’t want to be alone.

“Whether you’re here or on Gamma-2 or Exile, Kairos will hunt everyone in this universe down that doesn’t match his description of universal perfection. He will eventually come for the Scorned Planets.” She pauses to gather her thoughts then continues, “Look, everyone here in this castle and the galaxy has lost something because of Kairos. Those who haven’t have seen their friends in agony or have joined our cause because they believe in what we are fighting for. Since Kairos was young, my brother was a determined one. He would do absolutely anything to get what he wanted. You’ve seen it yourself. He is scared a mixed-race child will overthrow him even though he is one himself. So, what does he do? Kairos sets out to purify the galaxy’s races. In doing so, he slaughters trillions of children. You’re safer anywhere in the galaxy than every other child. He needs you alive. You are one of his keys to regaining ultimate power.”

All this information causes my brain to short circuit. Confusion muddles my thoughts. Forgotten memories try to cleave their way in to my skull. They push for me to remember. It’s right there. Gahhhhhhh. Fuck, this is so awful. I just want to remember this one fucking thing.

“I can fill in the blanks. I know you don’t remember everything. I know that you remember certain things. The Artifacts will help you remember everything you have forgotten. And until then, we don’t expect you to know everything. It must be frustrating to be in this current position. We’re here to help. Everyone in this castle is here to help. Everyone we have met so far serves a purpose,” May explains, “Let’s start at the beginning,” May heaves and holds back tears, “Titus, my father, died because Vakander and Kairos attacked him in a mutiny. Kairos planted this foolish idea in Vakander’s mind that they could rule the galaxy as kings of the galaxy with unlimited power. Behind my back, Kairos seduced Vakander and used him for his vampire armies. The plan was to strip Titus of his power and split it between themselves. As Vakander already had influence throughout the galaxy, he found it an inciting offer. But my father didn’t die because of his wounds. In his final moments, he stopped Time for one second.”

Some distant and forgotten part of me remembers this story. A shadow of a memory like deja vu. I lived through it. Why can’t I remember all of it? It’s the story of why Kairos could never really kill me. Not all of it comes back to me. All of this feels like blacking out after a joyful, mindless night of drinking. My anxiety surges. I can remember glimpses of every life shortly before everything faded into a teleporting fog. Going from place to place without the knowledge of how I got there. My body decides when I’m actively awake participating for a short moment until I wake up the next day in a stranger’s bed with a piercing, not remembering how I ended up naked. I remember chopped up pieces. Though a fog blocks the memory of everything in between.

“Relax.” May rubs my back as she sees me struggling again to remember minor details. I start scratching at my scalp. Frustration stabs my overloaded brain. My anxious foggy brain grasps at endless nothings of memories trying to piece a life I once lived together. Gibberish mixed with nonsensical bullshit.

“One second was all he needed to prevent his unlimited power from falling into the wrong hands. In that one second, he ripped his Power Crystal from his heart and placed the first crystal piece inside of you. Then, Kronos tasked one of the Epsilon Coven members to place the other six pieces inside of six selected beings across space and time. The Power Crystal keeps the universe and everything in it alive. Without it, the universe would crumble and implode in on itself. Your grandfather saw you and six others as worthy successors to the Templite Throne. For those that weren’t born yet, the crystal remained under the care of Salem until they found the right being. Ever since, Kairos, has been trying to figure out how to pull out the Power Crystal from your body. You were the only guinea pig within his grasp. Every time, he has done so, he has almost destroyed the entirety of existence. There was no way to track the individual Power Crystal pieces until they were merged in to a being’s body. Eventually, the individual crystal pieces merged with the souls of the selected beings. At that point, the seven Crystals mixed with the destiny of the beings involved and were able to be tracked through Seer visions. Kairos used to be a Seer until Madame Destiny revoked his ability to see the future. So, Kairos has been using Time Absorbers to kidnap Seers across the galaxy to help find the seven pieces of the Power Crystals.”

“The only way to overthrow, Kairos,” May adds, “is to unite all seven Crystals and use their power to kill him, before he finds them.”

All those centuries living captured by Kairos. Most Time Absorbers never lasted as long as I did. They were allowed to retire but not without new beings taking their place. There was always a retirement segment in every Time Absorbers life where they could raise an entire family. These kids would in turn become the new Time Absorbers. The worn-out Time Absorbers were always allowed to die and disappear into star dust as they were consumed by the universe. But he kept me. Experimented on me. Chased me down, killed me and revived me all for a Crystal. His armies attacked me viciously to recapture me every time. Never allowing me to live a normal life like everyone else.

“There is a way to remove the fragment or else he wouldn’t have tried to keep me incapable of rebellion for so long,” I assumed he was after my abilities. I could feel it in my core. That’s why I hid the Artifacts. That’s why I removed my abilities and scattered them across the galaxies. I always told myself I was hiding my abilities to prevent him from getting stronger.

But the real reason I did it was because Titus asked me to do it. The half memory lingers as a whisper to the void. All I can remember now is his voice. I don’t remember what he looked like. Just a bodyless voice like my subconscious.

Never let him see all your strength. Hide away your powers. Not for me, but for those that can’t defend themselves. Remember to always be a spike in his side. And never forget, I love you, my little Spi.

May continues, “Kairos has been sacking planets for the ‘Essence’ Artifact for decades since he found out it contains the answer to his dilemma. His search must have triggered a Seer memory for Thea which led us to most of the other Artifacts. We think it is a power that can help remove the Crystals. If he takes the Crystals from the people holding them, we’re screwed.”

Hesitation clouds my mind.

All beings experience their past lives in dreams and daydreams. Some think they are nightmares. They are recovered as lessons for how to survive. Artifacts are stronger versions of these memories. These Artifacts help channel past lives. My grandfather and I intended for them to one day help me gain my powers back in the event I escaped Kairos. I just never expected to escape Kairos. I never expected to be here today. Alive and breathing without a prison to keep me in place.

* * *

As I enter the circle, I touch the black glasses with my fingertips, and nothing happens. Cassius and May are confused when nothing happens.

A voice in my head calls to me, Mijo, put them on.

His delicate voice. Titus Kronos Guerrero. My grandfather.

My untrusting finger shakes as I open the pair of glasses and place them on my face. A blue line emerges from the first pedestal forming a clock around me…

Chapter 30: AXEL

BOOM.

A roar of gravity erupts like a volcano. The floor is ripped from under me. My body free falls like a broken elevator speeding to its doom. I watch the attic sink miles away into stars, gases, and planets.

You are in Limbo. All Time Keepers and Time Absorbers travel through Limbo to access different points in history, dimensions, part of our universes, and timelines, Titus speaks to me.

I’m sucked into an invisible object and excruciatingly spread out like spaghetti and then put together again. My body shoots out of the Pulse and into a horde of galaxies. All around me planets are reforming. Exploded stars are putting themselves back together. The planets are rotating in reverse.

I blink…

* * *

Purple and red clouds fill the Epsilon atmosphere. I point with my sepia fingers at the red and purple clouds.

“Why do the clouds look like that?” I ask my mom.

Mama Amanda picks vegetables from her garden to make dinner.

“The elements in the air create the redish glow. We use the purple as an atmospheric shield to block out any people that wants to harm us.” She replies.

“Why do we need protection?”

“Witches, warlocks, and warwicks are always preparing for a battle even if one will never happen. I love you. And I would do anything to protect you.” She caresses my face. Her hands waft an herby scent up my nostrils. I’m hungry already. “You’re young and with training you will one day protect yourself. But as you get older and more people enter your life, you will see how far you will go for the ones you love.”

I’m only thirteen and can’t train with the mages until I’m nineteen. I’m six years away from that day and I can’t wait. Time needs to hurry up.

Mama Amanda grabs my hand, and we walk in to our grey stone, two-story cottage. It isn’t a big house but it’s cozy.

“Go take a bath, Axel.” Mama takes off my emerald winter cloak and hangs it on the coat rack, “Mama Reyna and Simon are coming over. I don’t want you scaring them off with that smell.”

* * *

I swim in the ten-foot deep and three-foot-wide porcelain tub. A circular window lights up the room with three of the thirteen moons of Lykos concentrated on the woods. Trees reaching to space cast monstrous dark shadows on the brown floorboards. Black candles are perched on every counter dripping endless wax everywhere. An orange glow dances with the moonlight while mist steams from the tub.

My familiar, Lavender, dives underwater transforming from a cat to a mermaid with a cat head and body. I laugh and dive in after it. Her light purple mermaid scales dance through the bubbles and swishing water. We chase each other playing around for another ten minutes.

Once my fingers prune over, Lavender drags me to the surface by my ear. Her mermaid tail and gills return to a full feline body in order to jump from the water on to the floor. Mama Amanda pulls me out of the tub and wraps my naked body in a warm towel. She swirls her finger in circles at the tub draining the water.

“They’re here. You spent a little too long swimming.”

“I always swim this long.”

“We have guests. So, hurry.” Mama seems more anxious than usual.

* * *

My mom dresses me in a suit and tie. Very formal for our usual evening dinner. We walk down the black obsidian staircase in to the kitchen on the right. Our amethyst table is in the shape of a triangle. Mama Reyna sits on one side. The dining room, with dark green wallpaper and floral pattern prints, is circular. A black chandelier hangs over the table. Our walls are covered in spiraling tree branches and darkened leaves coming through the floor boards and in to the room. Mama Amanda is expected to sit on the longest flat side. Meanwhile, I’m sitting next to Simon. Simon’s brown skin shines in the candle light. He shifts uncomfortably trying to adjust the itchy suit. It’s the same spot in the back by the tags that bothers me. Mama Reyna probably ignored his pleas to wear normal clothes.

Before I sit down, I shift the shirt by two inches on the side and rip the tag from his neck collar. Mama Amanda swishes in my direction with her red lace dress and gives me the side eye. I smile pretending I don’t know what I just did. Simon’s shoulders sag in relief.

“Thank you.” Simon whispers.

Mama Reyna sports a billowing white silk dress that swallows her appearance completely. Shoulder puffs reach higher than her head. A black silk shawl covers her back with gloved hand inserts. Her face is both old and young. Not quite forty but maybe thirty. But one can never tell with de-aging spells and Vida Viles. She could be thousands of years old.

Mama Reyna turns to me after a long period of me staring at her and winks. Her polite way of saying I’m staring. I turn to Simon. His eyes are already on mine. How long has he been staring? My brown face turns red. Sweat starts forming on my head.

Simon smiles awkwardly.

“Everyone sit.” Mama Reyna commands.

Food appears floating from the kitchen on to the triangle table.

Mama Reyna and Mama Amanda talk for hours about wars going on in the galaxy. A few Epsilon armies have been dispatched to aid innocent planets being attacked by Templites. Apparently Lykos has one of the strongest armies followed by Epsilon and Barretta. Then someone else. I stop paying attention because Simon stumbles through small talk. It sounds mechanical coming from him. Like it hurts him to say everything he is saying.

A slight headache starts forming at my sinuses. His words a blur.

“I heard you’re already training.” I switch up the conversation.

“I am. I have been for a year now. They are going to have me train you if you end up in Mama Reyna’s group.”

“Really?” I ask excited. “No way.”

“Yeah. Is that a bad thing?”

“No. I can’t wait.”

Daydreams cause a headache. My eyes cloud completely white.

An older version of Simon is fighting someone…

A man stands over me and him. Simon is dying. I’m not liking this. I want it to stop.

Get me out of here.

The man kills me next. The white leaves my eyes.

Mama Reyna caresses my face, “What did you see, mijo?”

“I had a bad daydream.”

“That was no daydream.” My mom adds.

“Then what was it?” I ask confused.

“You possess the Sight.” Mama Reyna turns to mom, “Do you have Seers in your lineage?”

Mama Amanda shakes her head, “I’m just as surprised as you are.”

Reyna sneers at the response.

“Do you think…”

“I gave birth to him.”

“Templites can implant an embryo and have it grow up inside you. Time Absorbers grow up like normal beings.”

Mama Amanda stutters gibberish, “But… How?” Tears of horror well in her eyes.

“Nothing they do makes sense to me either.” Mama Reyna adds. She stares down at me, “Do you remember who you are?”

“My name is Axel.”

“That was not the question I asked.”

“What’s going on?” Simon interjects.

“Seers can only be produced by having someone in their lineage who was previously a Seer. Seers are rare to have among Epsilonians. Either he’s a miracle child or a mole from the Templites. Now, what are we going to do with you?” Mama Reyna threatens.

Mama Amanda steps in front of me, “He’s a child. Please leave him alone.”

“I will leave him alone under one condition.”

“Name it.”

“If he becomes a threat…”

“I will personally kill him.”

The room stays quiet. As it should considering they just said they’d be willing to kill me if I betrayed them.

“We are no better than him if we kill him.”

“You are right.” Mama Reyna says after a long pause, “I’m taking him to the Coven.”

“What if they vote to have him executed?”

“You will uphold your promise.”

* * *

I stand in the center of a dark cathedral with chains on my hands, legs, and waist. A spotlight blinds me to the thirteen silhouetted shadows peering straight at me. The thirteen Coven leaders stand in a circle surveying me. Five witches. Five warwicks. Three warlocks. As I spin, my suit shifts with the tag digging far in to my side. I pull on the chains to scratch and can’t reach. Great.

“Esmeralda. Queenie. Piper. Reyna. Amanda. Knox. Avery. Salem. Wren. Rae. Grave. Myst. Thorn.” Mama Reyna recites the names of the Coven, “We have all been gathered here today to determine the fate of Axel Wraith. He is suspected to be a Time Absorber living among our people. Although he is a child, his presence can be the demise of our world considering the ongoing war with Tempus.”

“This is all a bit much. All I saw was a daydream.” I state to everyone.

“A vision of the future?” A woman, with dark ebony skin, blonde waves, and a full body leather outfit strapped with knives on thick thighs, is the first to speak.

“That could be beneficial to our cause. We need a Seer to combat Kairos.” A man in layered dull grayish fabrics states.

“Sister Esmeralda and Brother Grave. What if he gives them information?” Mama Reyna asks.

“It will be an equal exchange unless they can somehow hack in to his mind. Control him remotely and have him kill all of us.” Grave responds.

“They cannot.” A warwick with a bald head and feminine features announces. They have tattoos covering their entire body. Their red dress made of lace like Mama Amanda containing their immense presence. Pointy black nails like claws click rhythmically. The dress’s skirt flowing all over the floor making them appear to float. “I worked with Templites before.” Their femininity and masculinity both prominent in their presence. They say plainly leaving no room for speculation, “His Placenta Pod Data Link will send this conversation to Kairos. Any visions are blocked out from Kairos by Madame Destiny. She started blocking his Seer powers when he started killing people relentlessly.”

“Chaos Salem. With your expertise, theoretically” Mama Amanda asks, “How could I give birth to this child?”

“It is the playing of God. Kairos and his strategists have a map of the entire universe with everyone that exists on it. Two Elder Seers are constantly feeding it information of everyone that lives in the galaxy. The two Seers are placed in a state of life and death where they are being sustained by machines that keep them alive. This state of half-life and half-death bypasses Ethereal permission to use Seer abilities. Every month, the strategists and Kairos meet to figure out where to plant their new informants. Once decided, Time Absorbers are de-aged, turned in to the being of their new planet, and they are transported on to Templite Ships. Their de-aging can go as far as a sperm with the ability to grow like a being from that planet. A Templite ambassador is then sent to distribute the Time Absorbers wherever they are needed.”

“But how could they get so close to make me have him?” Mama Reyna asks bewildered.

“They usually land on the planet in a desolate area. From there, they disperse Time Absorbers camouflaged in the skin suit of the beings from that planet. They can disperse them in multiple ways. They themselves can implant the sperm in to their bodies and deposit it in to a native being. Which could have happened to you. They can drug you and implant the baby while you are sleeping. Or they can slowly integrate the Time Absorber in child or adult form as a lost soul in need of help.”

Mama Reyna and everyone else look thrown off by everything they just heard. I’m definitely a little weirded out. I’m just a science experiment. There has to be word for seeing your existence stripped to the bare bones and realizing you’re just a tool for someone else to use.

“It can happen to anyone.” Salem reassures, “I will say. Seer bloodlines in Time Absorbers are never seen. Time Absorbers are reconnaissance tools. They wouldn’t send a Time Absorber with Seer abilities out to an enemy that can benefit from it.”

“You think they made a mistake?” Esmeralda asks.

“Yes, and I think they are keeping him away from Tempus for a reason. As it will grow, it will start to remember its last life. It is the one defect of a Time Absorber’s soul. The Wisps remember. Both always remembers.” Salem ends their statement.

“Put it to a vote. With the information provided by Chaos Salem who here wishes the boy to be executed?”

Reyna, Myst and Thorn raise their hands.

Salem says the next part, “Who wishes Axel to be given a chance to prove his innocence in our society?”

The remaining witches and warwicks raise their hands.

“It is settled,” Reyna states a bit scared, “We will keep him alive. For now.”

“Who will mentor him when the time comes?” A burley, pale, lumberjack giant asks. He crosses his rock-like muscular arms.

“I will take him under my guidance,” Chaos Salem volunteers, “I will train him. And shall he betray us, I will do the honor of disposing of him. Of course. I will allow for others to bid to be his teacher.”

At least we know there’s no lack of volunteers ready to kill me.

Why is everyone always so happy to kill me? What if I throw a temper tantrum one day? Can I no longer be hangry whenever I want food? Why do they make clothes with tags in annoying places?

The candles in the cathedral burn brighter illuminating the entire room. A kaleidoscope of colors engulf everyone. Stained glass windows shine brightly with all the colors of the rainbow. Simon looks relieved in the elevated tiered pews. A few other witches, wizards, and warwicks file out of the cathedral. I didn’t even know they were here. Someone must have blocked out all sound coming from the audience.

Simon runs over and hugs me, “I’m glad they didn’t kill you.”

“Me too.” Mama Amanda hugs us both. They let me go as Chaos Salem walks up to us.

“I can’t help with the Seer visions.” Salem starts, “But I will try to help you learn how to master your warlock abilities. That is if no one out bids me for your training. I know what it feels like to be casted aside.”

Mama Reyna grabs Simon and drags him away.

His touch lingers painfully one last time.

Salem’s eyes stare in pity.

I wonder why?

Hello again,

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Chapter 21: JENNY

A bird surgeon stood over me. Darius smiled, “She’s responsive Alejandra.”

The hologram of Darius and Alejandra was to my right. Blinding lights reflected off the oxygen mask on my face.

“Where are you?” I asked Alejandra.

“Debriefing with the leader of Barretta. We barely made it…”

* * *

Jupiter did that foot tapping thing she did when she was nervous. I stirred and faced her. My entire body sore and bandaged up.

“You’re awake.” Jupiter cheered and rushed out the door.

I didn’t want to move again. Everything just fucking ached. Every slight movement hurt.

Jupiter returned with Alejandra. Alejandra dropped to her knees and kissed my head over and over and over again.

“I thought you were dead.” Alejandra cheered.

“Bitch that fucking hurts.”

I pushed her away.

“Glad to see she’s fine.” Darius stood in the doorway. “As soon as you can, we need all of you in the surveillance room.”

“She just woke up.”

“And I’m happy she’s okay. But this is war and they need the remaining leaders of Venus to show face.”

* * *

Televisions, with footage of the attack recorded from street cameras and drones sent out by the Tsunami Pods, replayed everything.

Elementals were killed by the red figure. Reanimated corpses overwhelmed the city. Tsunamis flooded the streets. The purple tendril injected something in to the planet. Rogue Robots migrated to the Ship from all over the planet. Avi searched the building we were last in. He demolished it in hopes to find us.

Avi placed a hand on our home planet and purple tendrils, the size of tree roots, exploded from the ground infecting everything around it. The water turned the color of ink. He retreated and guided Rogue Robots in to the Ship.

“Venus held ten billion citizens at its peak.” A bird in a Barretta Committee kimono said, “Your city held one billion of the remaining survivors. Your rescue pods salvaged almost every single person. Not counting the thirty thousand Elementals felled by the reanimated corpses and Avi. How did your city do it?”

“That sounds condescending.” Alejandra retorted.

“Not to be taken that way. I do apologize for my frankness.”

“How can we understand you?” I ask confused.

“During your time healing, we administered Lingua Viles and Vida Viles to every single one of your surviving citizens.”

“How did you extract us?” I desperately needed to know. Why was I here and others gone? I’m glad we’re here and breathing. I’m grateful to have survived but watching all the Elementals on the screen die makes me feel like a failure. My people died and we just escaped. I know in their hearts this is the way they would have wanted to go. To go down fighting any attackers. But, maybe I could have done more.

The bird tapped a screen and blew it up so it can be viewed on a larger scale.

One Barretta Ship sent missiles at the Tendril distracting Avi as another Ship entered orbit. The Secondary Ship scooped up the entire Tsunami Pods fleet. Both Ships sped off in to space’s orbit. “Avi’s priority was the tendril and the Rogue Robots. By now, the poison has reached the core of the planet, and it is currently starting to die. His secondary priority was Jupiter.”

“Why me?” Jupiter asked.

“You contain a crystal inside of you that Kairos is looking for.”

“What kind of crystal?”

“It was a piece of a crystal created by fairies for the former time lord, Titus Kronos. Eight centuries ago, when he died, he dispersed seven crystals amongst the stars. The crystals found their homes when the new crystal child was born and it imbedded itself next to your heart. These crystals are a failsafe put in place by the previous Time Lord. They prevent the universe from being destroyed by Kairos.”

That’s why the red figure was aggressively coming after us. He had a target. And that target was Jupiter. We weren’t crazy for assuming he was ignoring everyone else. If it hadn’t been for his secondary mission to protect the purple tendril, we would have been captured or worse dead.

“I don’t feel a crystal inside of me.” Jupiter added.

“You don’t but it’s there.”

“So, he was willing to destroy a whole planet for a crystal?” Alejandra asked in her irritated-as-fuck tone.

“The problem with fail safes is that they can be misused. Lest a crystal be removed from the holder, which we didn’t know it could happen until the fairies told us it could, the power of the crystal can be used to take over the universe.”

“What makes it a fail safe?” Alejandra interrogated

“It means that if Jupiter dies, the crystal starts to deteriorate and the universe collapses with it. The crystals are woven in to the Threads of the universe. So, our main priority is keeping her alive.” Darius responded.

“Didn’t seem like a priority when you gave us two fucking hours to evacuate.” Alejandra snipped.

No one seemed to be addressing the real concern. Besides the universe and the crystal, the Rogue Robots left with Kairos and his Ship.

“What about the Rogue Robots?” I asked.

“Our intel tells us they’re being transported to Lykos.” The bird says, “I can only assume they will be used to police the citizens.”

“What are you going to do about that?”

“We can’t spread ourselves too thin. We are here, now, and we can’t house all of the remaining Venus survivors. Epsilon has agreed to take them in. In exchange for border protections and mandatory military witch training. Your people will be fine.”

“Why are you making it sound like we won’t be joining them?” Alejandra prodded. Always the necessary pit bull. All the questions I didn’t have the energy to ask, she did for me.

“The rescue on Venus came at a cost.” Darius broke the news for the bird lady.

My stomach dropped. We have been stripped of our homes and of the comforts we held dear. All to be saved and traded. Nothing comes free in any land.

“So, we are being exchanged, for what?” Jupiter asked.

“For one, Jupiter will need to remain protected from Kairos.” The bird lady said, “And, for another, we need your skills on Barretta.”

“What about you?” Alejandra bit at Darius.

“I will be jumping back and forth from Epsilon and Lykos. I will be learning new spells and doing recognizance on the current state of affairs for Lykos.”

Alejandra scoffed. She didn’t ask him if they would see each other again. She didn’t make any comments about their first kiss. She didn’t bring up their life altering moment that seemed to have been shoved under the rug.

“Kairos is closing in on the Scorned Planets. And we have to stop him.” The bird lady pointed to all of us, “you will see your loved ones again but now is the time for action.”

“Can we see our families before we leave?” I asked exhausted.

* * *

Darius and Alejandra argued quietly in a corner of the surveillance room. Jupiter’s younger siblings, Marcos, 18, and Ophelia, 19, hugged her tightly then shrugged it off with a few insults telling her how ugly she was. I love you was never a phrase in their love language. You’re ugly was the equivalent to “I love you so much that I hope you don’t die and make it back because you’re actually cool people.”

My mom burst into the room yelling at an officer in Melivian.

“Tu no me controlas hijo de puta.” You don’t control me you son of a bitch.

She pushed the officer off her arm and ran to me.

Her tears started flowing. Words of gratitude escaped her lips as she thanked her old gods for my survival. Her kisses plentiful and more than I’ve received in my entire lifetime.

“The waves were drowning me.” Mom said, “Those machines picked me up and I went looking for you on the submarine. They told me you were fighting some monster and keeping the city protected. They showed me footage of what happened to you and I was so worried. I thought you were dead. They wouldn’t let me see you and your fucking father said, ‘Let them take care of her, they’re healing her.’ And even though he was right, they should’ve never kept me from you.” She embraced me again and I squealed from the pain. I hugged her through the aches as if this would be our last time seeing each other.

My mom was the first to let go. Not fully. And not because she wanted to but because she was a chismosa and wanted to know information. Melivian mothers survived for entire centuries off gossip and insider knowledge.

“What happens next?” My mom asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t play stupid with me.” Alejandra always took after my mom. Both of them were always too smart for their own good, and could read anyone’s bullshit like a picture menu at a restaurant, expressive and to the point.

“They’re taking you to Epsilon. That’s the closest planet with the capacity to house the amount of survivors we have.”

“And you?”

“Barretta.” Darius eyed me from where he stood talking to Alejandra. I could hear his stare, ‘Don’t say anymore classified information.’

“Por que?” Why? Because the world is fucked. Because the world is unfair. Kairos is a dick-tator. Because my whole life I have never known peace. Every waking second has been some stressor. I worried for my people and what would happen to them. I worried about the waves consuming my home. Monsters attacking my people. And the end of my home. And now, that it’s all gone. Now, that everything I was so afraid of would happen, happened, I was here parting ways with my only family unable to decide my fate. Men like Kairos don’t ever have to live with stress. They barrage the people they watch over to remain subjugated. Anyone who opposes his perfect idea gets erased.

“It’s the safest place for us. And they need us.”

“For what?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“Don’t make me use the Mind Link.”

I block her out of my mind, “No, don’t go digging. Please.”

“All I’ll be doing without you near me is worrying.”

“Distract yourself. They will be training you Epsilon spells. Learn them. You said our family descended from witches at one point. Forget about us.”

“I can not forget about you three. Even though Jupiter is not mine, she is still one of my own. I raised her. I raised you three. It will be hard to distract myself.”

My mom embraced me again and whispered, “Take care of Alejandra. Es terca. Her mouth will get her in to trouble.”

“I can’t stop you. What makes you think I can stop her?”

My mom released me and my dad just stood there holding back tears. He hugged me and whispered, “I love you.”

My dad let go after a solid minute and just stood there not saying anything. My mom always said my father impressed her with other methods besides words.

Mom and dad talked to Alejandra leaving me alone with Darius. I looked him dead in the eyes and said, “Protect them with your life. Check up on them. Keep them preoccupied. We can’t have them worried about us.”

“We will still all be worried. Besides, I already made that promise to Alejandra.”

“Will Kairos come for Epsilon too?”

“Eventually.”

“Did Barretta rescue our people so they could be soldiers in this war?”

Darius paused and shook his head before he responded.

“Jenny, everyone is acting within their own self interests. It sucks to be used right after we were rescued, but this is our best option. Kairos will only keep coming for everyone that doesn’t fit his standard. More innocent people will suffer if we don’t stand up and fight him. A repeat of what happened on Venus will happen again to others.”

“So, you want me to be grateful when we’re being used?”

“Feel how you need to feel. I’m not excited about this situation either. But direct your anger at that correct people. This is a really frustrating situation. We are all just lost our homes. We all are being separated from our families and loved ones. Be angry. But be ready to fight the real assholes in this fucked situation.”

Chapter 22: ASHLEY

“Weaving is tearing your soul’s energy apart slowly and combining it with another’s. Every soul has massive amounts of energies stored in small fires called Wisps. These Wisps hold our memories, personalities, and powers. By splitting Wisps with another person, and when done right, the souls complement each other. For example,” Calliope signs and steps up to the oceanid, Serena. They grab each other’s hands and slowly start to unravel their beings. Strands of blue and green peel apart from Serena and Calliope intermingling to create a bright yellow. Their combined energies create a gigantic, spherical Power Source between the two. “Once the Power Source is created, by sharing energy, either person can send it out. It works better and lasts longer when one person uses the shared energy.”

“How is it different from Siphoning?” I sign and mouth my words in tandem.

“It is a form of Siphoning but instead of giving your energy away, you’re recycling the energy between each other. Weaving allows for all energy exerted to return to the user. So, you can strike down an enemy and absorb the force of the strike to replenish all lost energy.”

“My mother mentioned that if I do this wrong, I could end up melding with the other being to create a creature like the Barretta War Birds.”

“Yes. While this is true, Nymph knowledge passed down, from me to you, will allow you to learn the correct way. There will be no room for error because there will be no errors.”

“That makes no sense.”

“It will. Now let’s begin with baby steps.”

Calliope spends the next few minutes explaining how I need to release my Fairy Dust and act as if I’m going to open a hole in to the Fourth Dimension. Instead of unravelling the threads of the universe, she orders me to unravel one hand at a time.

I swirl my Fairy Dust around my hand and focus on unraveling the Threads that bind my hand to this physical existence. Thin Wisps of smokey purple tendrils emerge from where my hand once was. I feel no pain.

“Reform the hand by Weaving the universe back together like a sewing needle to torn garments.”

I follow her instructions and my hand returns to its regular form.

“Why was that so easy?”

“You’ve been doing a form of Weaving every time you travel through the Fourth Dimension. Weaving Wisps is no different than opening a rift. You tear yourself apart to meld with another and become stronger. You just need the right guidance to know how to continue.”

For the rest of the day, Calliope has me repeat the same hand until I’m exhausted.

The day after, she lets me do both hands.

The day after that, she allows me to do my feet and hands.

Each day, a new limb is added, and I practice Weaving from sun up to sun down.

At one point, I became an unraveled purple shadow. The entire day, Calliope had me tracking one of her wives without getting caught. I successfully followed two out of six times. The other four were too aware of my presence and knew Calliope would be training me on Shadow Walking. Usually only shadow walkers and opaques could travel through shadows. I didn’t question if I needed these skills or why I needed them. I just trusted Calliope. While mother and father seemed like they were stumbling through life, Calliope was so confident in herself and my abilities that I never had room to question anything she asked me to do. It made me feel bad that I respected her more than them. I still loved them. I just always felt in the dark with my parents. Like with this marriage that was sprung on me. It was never a choice they allowed me to make on my own. The irony of it all makes me laugh. Because without them forcing me to be with Calliope, I wouldn’t have found a person to put my full faith in.

Calliope has me return to my fairy form.

“Well done. Soon you will be able to spy on others and use your shadow form to attack and evade enemies.”

* * *

After a long bath, Calliope waits in bed for me. I lay down next to her in a sheer nightgown. Calliope wears nothing. Completely naked from head to toe. It’s hard to keep my eyes from roaming her body. I have to keep reminding myself that she is my wife. I can look at her like this. Right? Is this okay? Am I being a creep?

Calliope smiles, “What’s on your mind?”

Her scent sweet like warm milk and cookies on a rainy day.

“I just think you’re beautiful.”

Her right hand reaches slowly up my night gown lifting it over my head. Meanwhile, her other combs my loose, green hairs. Her fingers tease my opening. Her thumb massages my clit while her fingers gather my wetness as lubricant. Her gentle fingers play my body like a prodigy violinist. I press my lips against hers trying to suppress a moan. Warm lips leave my mouth and trail down my neck, collar bone, and down to my nipple. Her tongue circles around my nipple while suctioning her lips around it. She changes the suctioning pressures. Whimpers escape me. My fingers claw at her skin.

“Don’t… you want me to do something for… you.” I get out in between moans.

“Cum for me.” She signs with her free hand and switches nipples.

My entire body is overwhelmed with ecstasy. Tension swells throughout my entire body. I’m close. Everything seizes up. I’m about to cum when Calliope slows down. My climax stops. I look down in to her eyes and she grins, “I said cum for me. But I’m going to make you earn it.”

Her tongue trails down my belly. It circles my clit replacing her thumb. Our bodies start Weaving apart turning in to Wisp ribbons of green and purple. We turn in to a dark gray cloud. Somehow, in this gaseous form, Calliope continues to edge me over and over and over again until finally when I cum we slowly start to reform. Our bodies become our own again. Her glowing green and mine glowing purple but now a gray Power Source lies between us. Calliope licks up my cum and wipes up the excess.

Did she do this just so we could create a Power Source? Was this the easiest way? I lay on the bed naked staring at the gray spherical Power Source between us. It slowly starts to turn invisible but I know it is still there.

“How long will it last?” I ask her.

“As long as we remain in sync. At any point, we can absorb the Power Source back in to our bodies.”

“Did you do that…”

“No.” She interrupts, “I wanted you since the day I met you.”

“Do your other wives get jealous?” I… I want her all for myself.

“My other wives have relationships amongst each other. My bonding to them was a power move. Just like ours. They acknowledged a long time ago that this was a business venture but it could also be fun. If we allowed it to be.” She massages my face, “Are you the jealous type?”

“I think I can be.”

“My territorial darling. I love it.” She sighs, “Are you territorial of me?”

No. Maybe. This was fun. I loved this experience. And I think she’s absolutely beautiful. But our connection feels half business, half pleasure. An odd tense mix of responsibility and lust.

“Do you want me to be?”

“I like a little jealously. It keeps the relationships fun. But no. I want you to be fulfilled. Enjoy the moment. We all have a finite amount of time to enjoy life. We can live forever but that does not mean our entire existence will be enjoyable so… have fun.”

I sneer, “So, are you going to have to eat me out in the middle of a battle field in order for me to create another Power Source?”

“Hopefully not. But I will do what I must. Even if it means tasting you on my lips before entering a battlefield.”

Calliope caresses my face and longingly stares in to my eyes. I laugh and kiss her forehead. My arms wrap around her body as she snuggles in between my breasts. Her body absorbs my warmth through out the night.

My mind loves the idea of Calliope. But a gut feeling tells me this isn’t my puzzle piece. She won’t be the final one in my bed. Our love making matches but our energies are in different places. I sleep enjoying this moment knowing this won’t be my last.

* * *

I wake up remembering Calliope. Sweet Calliope. I miss her and our weird situationship.

I sigh as I stare at the ceiling partially blinded by an ominous glow at my bedside. I turn to Marina and find a magenta Power Source in between both our beds. Wisps of purple smoke leave my arm as red leaves Marina. I stare at the Power Source confused. I’ve never created a Power Source without merging energies before. Marina tosses in her bed and squints at the light coming from the Power Source.

Marina jumps out of bed startled, staring at the smoke leaving both our bodies. She frantically points at the Power Source. I wave my hands for her to remain calm.

I start to draw step by step pictures of how Weaving works. After I’m done, I show a replica of Marina and I sharing energies until we become one and create the Power Source. She shakes her head. Her hand massages her forehead. The more she studies the pictures the more the message reveals itself. She points between me and her and then the Power Source. I nod. She shrugs, What is it for?

* * *

I lead her out behind the castle to a patch of grass where soldiers usually train. Barretta guards watch over us. They escorted us here and I had them translate everything to Marina. A few words were lost in translation, but they said Marina got the general gist from the pictures.

Marina forms red spherical orbs using the Power Source between us and the orbs change to magenta. She releases it on a nearby mountain. The magenta orb creates a cavernous hole almost taking out the entire peak. The energy of the blast returns to the Power Source as if it never left Marina.

Marina cheers in witch language.

“She says that is the most powerful she’s ever felt. The power is beyond anything she has ever felt. How did you combine the energies?” A bird says in a monotone voice.

“Tell her, I don’t know. I had an Ancestor dream. They’re known to be very powerful. I must’ve initiated the Weaving while I was dreaming.”

Marina cocks her head and speaks back to the guard.

The guard repeats, “Why would it work for us?”

How do you say, ‘I find you very attractive and want to make sweet love to you,’ to a complete stranger after knowing them for such a short amount of time?

If anything, this proves we are one hundred percent compatible. Or I’m delusional.

“I don’t know. It happens to people who have strong connections.”

Marina blushes and nods. Why did she blush?

Does she…

Does she feel…

No.

Stop.

She is just a really nice friend.

She talks to the guard.

“That’s interesting.” He replies for her.

I nod and absorb some of the Power Source. I release the Fairy Dust and it levitates me higher than usual. Neon purple tendrils of light tremble under my skin. I release a Fairy Dust cloud, and it coats the mountain tops. The Fairy Dust wants to go further but I reel it back in. This time it went further than ever. Further than when I was with Calliope too.

Ethereals, if you can hear my pleas, let this beautiful goddess destroy me.

* * *

Marina and I sit in the grass waiting for breakfast time to roll around. The guards chat amongst themselves speaking in hushed whispers about the Templite boy. They stay at the ready observing past the field to ensure no one is trying to sneak up on us.

I pick at the grass and peel it in pieces.

Marina sighs irritated. She wants to ask a question but she doesn’t want to interrupt the guards.

I draw on my notepad a question mark.

Marina scribbles an arrow pointing at a drawing of Barretta with a question mark next to it.

She points at me three times then the picture.

Why am I here?

Kairos ruined everything. I had to flee. How does one translate that they had no choice in their current state of housing?

Calliopes screams crawl through my body like spiders. 

Her wives facing Kairos and Avi just to be poisoned by his purple tendrils. 

Salem….

The memories make me dizzy. The Power Source re-emerges and starts to glow. Images of the attack on Flounce play on the spherical Power Source. Wisps of smoke leave our hands dissolving in to the orb.

“What are you two doing?” The guards chase after us.

“I don’t know what is happening.”

Marina doesn’t try to stop anything. She doesn’t argue or fight.

My legs go first, then my body, and lastly my eyes. They meet Marina for a slight moment. Her eyes remain my anchor as I almost panic. 

This is not the worst that can happen. Her voice reaches me. Her real voice. 

We become nothing. Nothing but Wisps and smoke.

* * *

I open my eyes.

I’m floating in a training field with Calliope and a version of me before the Kairos attack.

Calliope stands in the training arena behind the Crystal Palace explaining to me.

“There is one more power besides the Weaving that is forbidden. It is magic stolen. Appropriated by thee Kairos and his Time Keepers from a dead group of fairies called the Guerreros. Titus and his followers protected the Guerreros while they were alive and prevented them from going extinct. Titus fell in love with a beautiful Guerrero and she gave birth to a girl. Titus’s daughter fell in love with her brother’s vampire best friend, Vakander. And they created the heir to the Templite throne and grandson to Titus. An heir to the Templite Throne that took all the genetic attributes of his mother and nothing from his father. Kairos was born out of a Lycan affair that Titus later regretted. Kairos sired two children and hid them away from his enemies.”

“Why do I need to know all of this?”

“History is not just to learn from. It is to track the demise of a people. To scour through the origins of power. The Templite Heir is the only other being, that I know of, with the ability to harness this forbidden magic. You have practiced a form of it your whole life without knowing its origins.”

“What kind of forbidden magic is it?”

“Guerreros were multifaceted like most magic beings. Their forbidden magic included but was not limited to erasing entire timelines, using memories they had in their past and hide them away for later in Artifacts, and even collapse entire universes. With so much power, they could do what Kairos had always wanted.”

“Why didn’t they?”

“Power in the wrong hands breeds death and destruction. Power in the correct hands maintains the balance of the universe. Kairos used the Guerreros to cut seven timelines. The Guerreros intimidated Kairos and he forced their mass extinction. They were the first beings Kairos destroyed when he took power.”

“How did we know they could erase timelines?”

“Before Kairos took power, Templites, loyal to Kairos, would try to travel the cosmos through black holes but it would have negative effects on other universes. The black holes would cause havoc, swallow everything whole, and destroy planets. Wars between timelines were set off by Kairos and his soldiers’ need to master blackhole travel. They thought that being able to be anywhere and everywhere could provide a great advantage during battle. Once enough casualties came from The Inter-dimensional Wars, all thirteen timelines signed treaties to never travel through blackholes to each others’ lands ever again. Titus, Kairos’s father, was forced to clean up after his mess. Fourth Dimensional travel was the only approved form of travel between timelines.”

Calliope sighs, “Titus enlisted the help of the Guerreros to teach curious Templites loyal to Kairos how to travel through the Fourth Dimension. Templites struggled to learn how to navigate the Fourth Dimension without getting lost. Black holes for them were always easier to navigate but messier to use. When Kairos realized his loyalists would never master Fourth Dimensional travel, he decided to cut seven timelines of the thirteen timelines. This would create an empty space of travel that could be accessed with only using black holes. So, they used the Seers among them to calculate which timelines would most likely survive from a mass dictator who would enslave all. They scooped up all the individuals from those timelines that could repopulate their planets and brought them here to ours to be used as slave workers.”

I’m scared to continue. I ask, “What about the rest of the people left in the timelines?”

“They were erased. Key members of all seven timelines were removed from existence. They essentially cleared pathways in the cosmos in order to create Limbo. With Limbo’s creation, Time Keepers could now travel all over our universe by haphazardly opening up black holes called Pulses instead of harnessing the craft of Fourth Dimensional travel.”

“What happened to all the displaced individuals?”

“The beings were evenly distributed to planets they would best assimilate to. Evolution took control as races mixed together. Wyvern creatures became dragons over generations as their species intermingled with fire breathing leviathans. Fae and fairies created a new type of fairy for Artemis to rule over. With overpopulation and Kairos propaganda, food and resource scarcity created contentions among the natives and the displaced. Mixed-raced children and the displaced were seen as less than. Harmful laws were created to limit the amount of mixed-race children that could be had on certain planets. The Scorned Planets were opposed to these types of laws. Although, Kairos tried to lead a task force on Lykos to rid all mixed-race wolves. He also failed. The Neutralist Planets were split amongst the laws. And the Kairos Loyalists leaned heavily towards these discriminatory laws. Titus and his followers struggled to push back Kairos’s influence. Once the father of the Templite Heir, Vakander, united his vampiric forces with xenophobic Templites and Lycans, they toppled the Templite Empire and Kairos took control of what is now known as, Tempus.

I stayed quiet that day.

“What the flying fuck.” Marina shouts. Wait… I can understand her.

“I can understand you.”

Marina remains gobb-smacked. She asks me directly, “How? Was it the Power Source or the Weaving or Both?”

“Welcome to the Power Source you two created.” Artemis’ bodyless voice emerges from all around us.

Her red, green, and black threaded body rises from the ground. The scene in front of us erases.

“We Weaved this together?” I ask Artemis.

“Yes, you did. You found the perfect match. Someone who can match your magical abilities and strength. The Power Source leveled you up. Your Wisps are your memories and can be shared through the Power Source. But so can the energies and knowledge you two have. Calliope could only teach you the basics. Marina here is meant to give you the support you need for the next stage of your life. This is an unlocked ability that you possess when you have access to a Power Source or Siphon all the energy from a being. Power Sources are accessed through the realm I have dominated in death.”

“So we’re in the Fourth Dimension right now?” Marina asks shaken.

“Yes but not the one you were trapped in.”

What does that mean?

Marina tries not to hyperventilate. Artemis struck the right chord. Tears well in her eyes. Her chest heavy.

“The Fourth Dimension is all around you. Hidden pockets of the universe stowed away unless seen from a different angle. There is no need to fear it.”

“Does this have something to do with the Templite boy that arrived at the castle?” I ask.

“Everything is connected. Weaved together in a perfect tapestry. He will see this one day. But you created this so you could speak to Marina. You wished to show her your life before all of this. And here we are.”

* * *

The scenes all around us change.

I’m walking down the aisle getting married.

Salem talks to me about fighting for my people.

My mom officiates the wedding.

Calliope and I are making love.

Our history lesson on the universe.

* * *

Calliope and I sit in the training arena.

Night has fallen on Flounce. The crystals from the palace refract various shades of purples, blues, and pinks as moon beams strike it from all angles. Calliope cries in to my hallow arms.

It’s been a month since our marriage and I already feel us drifting apart. Who knew marrying a stranger would lead to an unhappy union? And not only that, a stranger who saw impending doom.

Calliope stares at me as if we’re no longer together.

“What happened?”

“We can’t stop him. The Nymph seers ran through various scenarios and we lose Flounce in all of them.”

I stay silent. I don’t know how to console her. How do you fight the future if it’s set in stone? How do you decide that the fate you can’t escape from will happen?

A Templite Ship emerges from thin air like some awful magic trick.

I jump back startled. It hangs in the air immobile.

My stomachs twists, it’s happening now. I can’t stop it. I can’t stop it. I trained for this. How do I go up against a Ship that big? All the stories do the size of the Templite Ships an injustice. It blocks out all stars and moons. The light from the heavens and the castle are gone. The Ethereals can’t protect us. Now, we’re left to fend for ourselves.

“I need you to absorb the Power Source.” Calliope orders me. She repeats herself forcefully. I hesitantly absorb the Power Source and Calliope cuts the Weaving ties between us. Our shared power connection disappears. Our knowledge no longer shared between each other.

A purple tendril crashes in to the middle of the training field. The dirt debris tosses the ground in to the sky. Debris smacks Calliope and me off our feet and throws us across the training arena. My chest screams in agony. Red blooms from my shirt. Calliope lifts on to her elbows with chunks of bark missing from her arms and legs. The purple tendril pumps a liquid in to the ground. The ground quakes with the aftershock of the impact. Purple tendrils that look like veins bury themselves in to the dirt and speed our way.

I pick up Calliope and run towards the exit of the arena. The purple veins build fake tree formations across the field. The trees shoot out liquids from the tree tops. Purple viscose liquid hovers above us. Right as it is about to hit us, Calliope builds a tree bark shield with her arms. The liquid scatters all around leaving a slight path for us to keep running. Trees start sprouting all over the field around us preparing to shoot more liquid into the air.

“We have to keep moving.”

Calliope screams in agony. I turn back to see the purple veins have consumed her entire body stemming from the bark shield.

“Can you change in to your shadow form and separate yourself from the poison?”

Calliope tries to start unweaving her body. But the tendril veins keep her restrained. Her neck snaps, legs break, arms twist at odd angles. Her arms, legs, and body elongate. The wood beneath the bark glows neon purple. Horns sprout from her head. A spiked tail slithers out of her buttocks. In a matter of seconds, she is a gigantic beige and purple demon. Her body rises in to the air at least eighty stories tall.

She is kinda hot but… fuck she is scary. Scary hot… literally. I can’t be getting horny when I’m about to die.

“What the fuck.”

I turn in to my shadow form. My shadow travels through the ground. Calliope bellows an ear piercing roar. Her feet stomp above me scattering more of the poison across the planet.

My shadow flies in to the Trinity of Trees. Once I find Salem on the top floor of the trees, I reassemble my full form. They stand with Calliope’s six wives beside her. Fairy and Epsilon soldiers stand all over the Trinity of Trees at the ready. Their powers all ready to attack the Ship but they’re ignoring the tendril.

“They’re poisoning the planet.” I shout across the expanse. But why aren’t they attacking with soldiers? Every story I’ve heard contains endless Pegasus riders annihilating beings left and right. What is different about this time?

Not one peep from the Ship other than the tendril.

Calliope’s six wives scream in unison. Their bodies dissolve in to smoke and rise in to the air. The six clouds of smoke fly directly at the tendril thinning out completely until they evaporate in to the tendril. 

“What’s happening?” Salem hold red orbs of light in their hand. 

“They’re turning the Nymphs against us.” I tell Salem. “Calliope forced me to detach my Power Source from hers before she got poisoned.”

The tendril releases one wife-turned-demon at a time. They all look like Calliope except in their respective colors. Blue, green, white, brown, gold, and teal.

Calliope and her six wives hover over the Crystal Palace and Trinity of Trees.

They bellow in unison, “We are here to take control of Flounce. Submit peacefully and none of you will die.”

“We have to get you out of here.” Salem grabs my hand, “I don’t know what their plan is but you’re the last heir to the Flounce Throne. We can’t recuperate this planet without an heir. It’ll be lost to Kairos.”

“You act as if we lost.”

Salem frowns, “Not yet.” Salem spins the red orbs in a circle and shoots it at my feet. Salem’s orbs speed up around me binding me to the circle with Threads of the universe. I thought only Guerreros and fairies could do this. I resist against the Threads fighting to stay and fight alongside my people.

“Noooo. You have to let me fight for my people. You told me I get to die for my people. That it would be for the best of my society.”

Salem strengthens the binding circle as I try to shift in to my shadow form. They weave my body back together counter acting my powers. Calliope didn’t train me for this. She didn’t train me for the moment I would try to shift and someone wouldn’t let me.

The ground below the circle opens up in to the Fourth Dimension. Salem slams their hand against the wooden sky bridge and I fall in to red, green, and black darkness. My hair flails in front of my face and eyes. I try to reach out and resurface myself to the hole in the tree. A red power yanks my arm downward. From the hole, I see Calliope and her six wives unleash their abilities to poison the planets. Salem closes the threads of the universe below them.

“Noooooooo.”

Let me save my people. Let me save them. Please.

My body crashes like a comet against a field of grass.

* * *

A sharp kick startles me awake.

Barretta guards point their arrows at my head and everything comes flooding back. I quickly get up and spin in a circle. How do I get back home? Barretta is not too far from Flounce. What are they doing to help my home? Where is Salem? Calliope? Her wives?

Birds point arrows at me closer but it does nothing. It means nothing. Mom. Dad. My kingdom. All under attack. And I’m here still alive. Why am I alive? Why me? Why? Are they alive?

“I need to get home. He attacked my home.” Tears flood down my face and the birds don’t respond. Their stoic faces remain unflinching.

A female bird in a kimono greets me, “Ashley of Flounce. Heir to the Flounce Throne. Picked by the ancestors to carry the power of your people for generations.”

“They need help. Get me back home.”

“I do apologize but that can not be done. You were sent here for a reason and I cannot allow you to return.”

“Flounce is under attack. You need to help them.”

“Our armies are preparing for war on Barretta as we speak. We cannot lose numbers now saving another planet. Epsilon will send reinforcements.”

“You fucking cowards.” I charge at her in my shadow form. Cassius steps out from the tunnel leading to the castle and Weaves me back in to one piece.

Fuck. Two for two. Why didn’t Calliope teach me how to defend myself against this?

“Execute her or send her to the Orphanage?” Cassius asks.

“We do not execute queens here. Bring her inside and make her feel at home.”

“Let me go. I’m not supposed to be here. I’m not supposed to be here.” I thrash against my restraints but I can’t move. Mom. Dad. Calliope. Salem.

Marina and Artemis step on to the field and the images blur into oblivion. I’m dragged in to the castle by Cassius. Until the image of me fades in to the tunnel. The tunnel remains.

We are back in the Power Source.

“Did you ever find out what happened to Flounce?” Marina asks.

My voice chokes on tears and anger, “No. They’ve kept me in the dark about everything.”

“Would you like to know?” Artemis offers.

“No.”

I can’t handle knowing. Not right now. I can wait for the truth. At one point, I wanted to know if my mother and father were safe. I wanted to see what Calliope was able to do in her poisoned form. The destruction and harm she brought to Flounce. But that was merely curiosity.

“As soon as my new body is ready, I can name you my Successor and bestow my power on to you. In that time, train with each other and make each other stronger. As an Ethereal of Artemis, you can fully channel the Fourth Dimension, travel through the past and in the future, and help the cataloguing and preservation of mythological creatures. You can use your Power Source to travel to past wars and observe battle strategies.”

“That’s why he killed you. You could change the tides of battle by seeing common strategies used. And Kairos’s seer abilities and Seer advisors allowed him to see the full extent of your power and find the best possible way to kill you.” I tell Artemis.

“In part, yes. I will not stay dead for long. We will destroy Kairos. And all the revenge we want will be ours. Souls on this side are at your beck and call. I have a leader of my army ready to serve you. She too was killed by Avi and her people by Kairos. I will give you the army to gain Flounce back.”

“Flounce is not completely lost?”

“Sick but not lost. Kairos did not employ the same methods for Flounce as he did other planets. Your people can be cured.”

“That’s why Vesta said there will be an attack on Barretta. Lykos, Epsilon, and Flounce. They’re trying to take out the Scorned Planets one by one. What about the Neutralist Planets?”

“Vakander is pushing back with his vampiric soldiers and clearing Templites. But he can’t clear them all. Kairos knows his odds of taking out the rest of the universe are stronger if he can gather forces in the Loyalist areas and corrupt enough beings with his poison in the Scorned Planets. Infecting beings with his poison powers will allow him to use them as his loyal soldiers.”

“Vesta didn’t tell us any of this.” Marina breaks her silence looking more relaxed than before, “they know he’s coming.”

“The increase in Barretta soldiers weren’t for the Templite boy. They were for an imminent attack from Kairos. In due time, everything will be told to you all. There is a mole Vesta has been trying to fish out. This is why she could not tell anyone.”

“Who?”

“Not for me to disclose. Patience. And all will be revealed.”

“Vesta knows about his plans.”

“She can only predict so much. But she is close to guessing right. She planned everything strategically. The crystal wielders, Exile, and Kairos’s plans. She is covering all bases and stretching our reach as far as possible.”

“She wasn’t lying when she said she couldn’t help Flounce.” I sigh hating the truth.

“You are never alone, my dear Ash. You may feel helpless and defeated but a warrior rises the highest after a terrible fall.”

Our bodies dissolve in to smoke and the field re-emerges. Artemis waves goodbye as her image disappears. The field returns and the Power Source stands in front of us blinking multiple times. It shatters like glass and floats away in to the atmosphere. Our Power Source used up and gone.

Marina tries to speak and the unknown language comes out.

Damn. Not again. I was just getting used to the sound of her voice.

The guards stare at us confused. It’s only a matter of time before they tell Vesta everything.

Marina and I push past them and head to the showers to get ready for our day.

Chapter 23: THEA

Why must we train in the mountains?” Tamashii asks as we trek the snowy peaks. We stay in our hybrid forms to keep warm.

Because mother and father are scared of you knowing too many secrets. They want you training as far away from the castle to gather as little information as possible. Tamashii is just a boy. What do they have to fear from a boy? If we can guide him in the right direction, then it won’t matter how much intel Kairos gathers. The boy will fight against him.

“To train you of course. Ice can be melted by fire,” I start making an excuse up, “But our elemental magic is heat. Fire is a part of heat but melting snow and boiling it can also be a weapon. Flames being the primary source of heat, boiling water is our secondary source, what would a third source be?”

Tamashii takes a moment to think.

His eyes go wide, “Heating the air.”

“Yes. We can heat the air or stars in our hands. Our skin is resistant to the heat of stars and supernovas. While many of our ancestors have died on different planets due to supernovas destroying their worlds, our species survived by adapting our skin and always carrying portable oxygen masks.”

I hold out the oxygen mask device in my hand for him to see. It is a contraption that adapts to the face and can keep oxygen flowing to the user for as long as it on their face. It becomes ineffective once taken off.

* * *

I finish tying Tamashii to the fire pit. Purple flames engulf my hands.

“Ready?”

Ten year old Tamashii’s eyes widen at the fire.

“Do you really have to light me on fire to see if my skin is fire resistant?”

I set his shoes on fire.

“Wait,” Tamashii panics, “I didn’t say I was ready.”

“If you can talk, you’re ready.”

Tamashii screams and thrashes violently.

The flames consume Tamashii’s entire body flowing in a circular tornado. His innocent face drops. A warm calm seeps through his entire body. The bindings fall off in the flames.

“After five years of training,” I sigh disappointed, “You still don’t trust my teachings.”

“I am sorry, master.” He marvels as the flames match his movements. Tamashii twirls the purple flames in his hands. “How can we do this?”

“Years ago, Kairos had the power to end worlds with his eternal fire. Since he has acquired life threatening injuries, he has relied on his poisons to kill planets or take control of them. Our Universe consisted of thirty-eight planets. Today we only have…”

“Twenty-four.”

“Very good. In the span of one day, Kairos used his eternal fire to burn two planets down at a time until the Ethereals finally cut him off of all of his powers. The Ethereals grant us our abilities. The Lava Ethereal, Agni, grants us his heat powers. Should we make him unhappy, he can cut all powers from our physical forms. The only one Ethereal that still supports Kairos is Pan, the Forest Ethereal. They worked together to crumble the fourteen planets they killed in our solar system.”

“Why can the Ethereals cut off our abilities?”

“They are the scales of the universe. They ensure not one side goes too far astray. They are the checks and balances of the galaxy.”

“So are you a good person only so that the Ethereals don’t take away your abilities?”

“I am not good or bad. I will do what I need to do for my friends and family. But I do good because life works as a ring would. An action, good or bad, commits to venturing in to the world in a circle. So, when it’s time to return to the sender, it will return the energy you gave it in the first place. We fuel this ring everyday we make decisions. The bad ones create ripple effects. Violence poisons and splinters in to branches of hatred. While good decisions heal the world and are less noticeable.”

“Are you only a good person because you’re scared the ring will bring you evil if you act bad?”

“No. As I said before. I am a not a good person. I exist to protect the ones I love and to live a full life.”

“What if Agni were to take our abilities? Would you spite him?”

“If Agni deems the need to stop my actions, then so be it. My actions must be stopped.”

Later that night, as we settled in to our campsite worn from the day. We have sleeping bags set side by side. Tamashii asks, “What if someone were to kill an Ethereal?”

“Are you looking to kill one?”

“No, I’m asking because I want to know what would happen to their soul, their powers, and their abilities to cut off powers? What would be the result?”

“Ethereals usually pick Successors before they die like my mother and father have me lined up to be the queen.”

“Yes. I understand all of that. But worst case scenario, what if they just die? Where do they go?”

* * *

I didn’t have an answer. I turn my flame body to Beelzebub, “Where do Ethereals go when they die? What happens to them?”

“We are just like anyone else. We are born, we are chosen, then we crossover to the Fourth Dimension or the Cataclysm Realm.”

“You were an Ethereal?”

“Yes, child.”

“I’ve never heard of a Beelzebub. I only know of Chronos, Cthulhu, Agni, Artemis, Pan, Ukko, and Madame Destiny.”

“I was called a different name before. I miss my old name, but this one suits me more.”

“Will you ever tell me?”

“Maybe, one day.”

“So, you’re trying to find a physical vessel like Pan took mine?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Kairos is trying to build his army again. He will do anything to complete his mission in Cleansing the universe. His plan is to kill all the Ethereals so he can have access to his full powers again. The day I died, he was granted his Ground and Moon abilities back.”

“Can he wield all the Ethereal powers?”

“Yes.”

“For a man with all the power in the universe, why does he need to wipe out entire beings?”

“Ideologies, money, material gains, and prophecies. An ideology can corrupt a soul until it makes it its mission to complete it. They’ll justify the murder of million to get their way. Eisboler was a prominent religious leader, who still worshipped a long since dead eighth Ethereal, on Lykos before The Great Migration of beings to this timeline. He united quite a few planets under his belt for Kairos. Kairos fell for his rhetoric as a teenager and became an advocate for removing refugees from Lykos, formerly known as Necropolis. Years later, a group of refugees were blamed for Eisboler’s untimely death. Everyone around Kairos knew he had done it. They didn’t speak up on it. Kairos became greedy and Kronos saw this too late. Present day, the Prophecy has gotten him paranoid. A child of two or more races would take control of the Templite Throne. Kairos is scared his nephew or another being may produce an heir worthy of taking him off the throne.”

“Why not kill his nephew?”

“Because two is better than one. Two fully powered beings who could harness all seven Ethereal abilities could take over the entire universe. Kairos is trying to sway Spike to remain on his side so that his bloodline can continue. Not only that, if Kairos can use Spike as a vessel after his physical body dies, he would have all of Spike’s abilities and his own.”

“Who needs that much power?”

“There was a time an eighth Ethereal lived. He controlled the dead. His name was Muerte.”

“What happened to him?”

“Us, seven Ethereals killed him because he grew lusting over the excess killing of innocents.”

“What happened to his soul?”

“We assume we destroyed it, but I guess he was hidden somewhere in the Fourth Dimension.”

“So, the real Kairos died at some point like I did?”

“Not exactly. Kairos and Muerte share a body. A vessel and the spirit. You could’ve stayed with Pan in your body. But I opened the door for you to come here. He did not have the power to drive you out. At one point, Kairos must have preformed a ritual to bring himself close to death in order to bring the soul in to his body. When Ethereals want to live again, they’ll do anything to find a way out of the Fourth Dimension. And once they find a vessel, they’ll do anything to keep it. Pan is probably pretending to be like you as best as he can be.”

“So, who is really in control? Kairos or Muerte?”

“Kairos is using Muerte as a Power Source. They are both weak beings who need energy to sustain their reign. Kairos always acted of his own volition. I think they are working in tandem. Any corrupt leader will work with those they need in the moment until they no longer need them. Muerte could not control the Fourth Dimension. Kairos could not control his timeline. Together they have enough energy to continue killing the masses which they both want. The dead feed energy into them both. And as their powers replenish, soon, they will no longer need each other. At that point, they could continue working together and create an army that will obliterate our timeline. Or erase each other trying to become the one true leader. But if Muerte returns, we would be dealing with planets full of undead working against us.”

Chapter 24: SPIKE

Of course, I knew that. But when your uncle is known as, Kairos, the Mass Murderer of Planets, you don’t really share this information with everyone you meet.

“How do you know I’m his nephew?”

“The Ropes are made from different materials for different relationships. Steel for lovers. Your Rope to Jimmy is steel. But I’m guessing you won’t elaborate so I’m not asking. Moonstones for motherly connections. Jasper gems for fatherly connections. And so on and so forth. In this case, twine for nephew or niece. You have a power long enough and you learn the subtleties.” Cassius bluntly prods, “Why do you think Kairos has kept you alive for so long?”

“The most obvious reason would be to continue his legacy. He wanted me to be his right-hand man. His power and forces alone couldn’t win him the Scorned Planets. With my strength, he could take over every planet in our universe and in other timelines that ever went against his beliefs.”

The truth is Kairos can’t kill me. Not yet at least.

“Why do the birds need me?” I ask him.

“Let’s say we overthrow Kairos and kill him. And we have no one to take the throne. That leaves a vacuum of power. Not all his followers will accept our way of ruling immediately either so with no ruler of Tempus, they can self-appoint one or a well-organized group can swoop in and take power. If he still has soldiers alive to fight us, they will come for the throne and take over before we could find a worthy candidate. You being the heir makes the transition of power more palatable even if they don’t necessarily agree with your rulings. You banishing and killing all Templite leaders who committed Clensing could set an example for all the planets working with him. They need to see someone of greater power rise to the throne.”

The good guys need me to lead. The bad guys want me so I can help take over the galaxy. I just want to live a normal life. I wouldn’t mind being the ruler of Tempus, but when you’re the ruler of anything, there’s always a target on your back. I don’t want to live in fear for the rest of my life …again.

“My uncle hates me. Why do you think his people would bow to me?”

“Your uncle has modeled you in to a Templite lovable prince. His propaganda makes you a star in your world. Though you look different from your Templite form.”

“How do you know about me?”

“Vesta has us study prominent leaders that need to be killed in Kairos’s cabinet of murderous assholes.”

“And I made an appearance?” I’m taken aback but I really shouldn’t be. I knew Vesta was playing a game.

“Yeah. We study Templite propaganda and how they corrupted the Loyalists.” Studying propaganda but not being able to see Barretta’s propaganda, but okay, “How they feed artificial stories to their populous in order to keep them controlled and loyal to them. They brainwash them with cult tactics. Leaving means you disrupt their way of life and everything they know. Makes them easier to control.”

“And Vesta never cleared up that I’m not on his side.”

“That’s the lesson we’re still learning. Are you on his side?”

Frustration burns through me. Do all other Scorned Planets learn this too? Am I just on everyone’s shit list across the galaxy because I’m related to him? The gears turn slowly with a realization. Kairos wanted it this way. He wanted my image tarnished throughout the galaxy. He wanted his propaganda to show that I was the poster boy for the Templites. That way I had nowhere to run to in my real form or if people found out who I was. I was never safe. Not just being a Time Absorber but anywhere people knew I was his nephew.

Cassius pauses with a puzzled expression.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“I can’t say no.”

“Do you remember much from your last lives?”

“Yes and no. It depends on what you ask me about.”

“Do you remember how the Last Time Lord died?”

I try to forget. But his voice clouds my brains. In every lifetime, it’s the one thing I remember pretty quickly.

I love you, my little, Spi.

“It happened when I was a teenager. I lived in the Templite Castle when he died. All I remember is that time stopped for a few seconds. Beings could move but it felt like when white noise abruptly dissipates. A void of sound that used to be there replaced by an uncomfortable nothingness. There was no order in the universe. You could feel the millions of universes within our timeline chipping away into pieces each second someone wasn’t in control of it. Existence crumbling in on itself. Then, it snapped itself together, but the foul feeling of emptiness didn’t go away. It lingers to this day. I knew nothing of war at the time. Picking sides wasn’t on my mind. All I knew was that someone I considered a father had passed away. My mother was picking up the pieces my father and her brother caused throughout the galaxy. Kairos forcibly took my grandfather’s place, and he adopted me as his own son for years until he decided I should be a Time Absorber. My life has felt like seconds since then. I have no sense of when things happened. I just know they happened. And as I grew older, I saw a darkness festering in Kairos growing larger by the day. I had been trying to escape Kairos for so long. It is not fair when you are forced to choose your survival over your home. Being forced to leave good memories because political leaders decided they no longer could keep their dicks in their pants. Their dick size contests were more important than leaving people in peace and harmony. And on top of all of that, Kairos tried to take all my memories too. But they clung on to my soul and wouldn’t let me forget who I was. It may take me awhile to remember but the memories always come back.”

“The Old Time Lord was murdered over six hundred years before I was born.” Cassius informs me, “And we are still fighting their war.”

“Kairos tried to control me. He had me married off to someone he wanted me to love. A political marriage birthed out of greed from my uncle’s and Avi’s parts. But he also grew power hungry, as most men do. It didn’t take long for Kairos to implement the Cleansing. And when I refused to bow to him and allow him to commit war crimes, for eight hundred years, I was silenced. Forced to become a Time Absorber. He couldn’t kill me, so he kept me frozen in time.”

Cassius sighs after a moment of taking everything in, “This… is a lot. I guess Tempus’s history is more complicated than what I’ve been led to believe.” He shakes his head looking frustrated, “Follow me.”

“Where are we going?”

“To take a shower. You smell like ass. It’s time to get ready for training.”

Chapter 25: SPIKE

Cassius guides me up two stories of spiraling staircases before entering a hallway that splits into four.

He stops.

“Male-identifying beings on the left, female-identifying beings on the right. Center left is for non-gender specifying. And center right is for specialty care for reptilian, avion, amphibian, etc. Once you’re out of the shower, there will be clothes waiting for you at the dispenser in the center of the room. Don’t take too long getting ready. I need to show you something before we go out on the training field.”

“Is it a good something?” I smile and cock my head to his groin. “Going to show me how you tied up that one girl?”

“Something to help you in the future.” Cassius lashes out.

I nod walking slowly into the left room followed by Cassius and up a small flight of stairs. At the top, stalls line the walls in a circle each one teaming with steamy conversations. Seven-foot marble dividers reach up to the ceiling allowing for privacy. All the stalls are taken so I stand there waiting for one to open. I grab a fresh white towel at the circular laundry machine dispenser at the center of the room. I nosily wait peering into everyone’s conversations.

Near the back, a boy is rapping with the person in the stall next to him.

Cassius yells over them all, “Hey Tommy, you getting under the foreskin? Or are you too busy rapping?”

“Shut the fuck up, Cassie.” Tommy’s voice raises in pitch angrily.

“I’m just worried that your fellow soldiers will run away if they smell smegma.”

“It has a very cheddar-y fragrance to it, so it adds to my natural musk,” Tommy says so confidentially that now I’m worried if he’s going to clean under his foreskin. 

Cassius smiles charmingly, “Vesta doesn’t think you smell too good. And I know how you like your foxy older birds.”

“She told you personally?”

“Of course. We had an entire meeting about how it needs to be fixed. Now fix it.”

Tommy pulls back the curtain and is quite handsome. A semi-muscular pale body appears with armored scaly skin. Long hair on top of his head arches up and reemerges along his beard. The sides of his hair shaved to the skin. A militaristic look that suits him. He catches me staring and smirks, “You’re a quiet one. I bet you I can make you squeal with pleasure.”

Gross. Guys who can make you squeal with pleasure never have to say it out loud.

“Spike, meet Tommy. He’ll fuck anything from any planet.”

“Pansexual, you fucker,” Tommy protests, “Get it right. I have refined tastes.”

“Nice to meet you, Tommy,” I say calmly ignoring both their comments.

Tommy walks over with his towel wrapped around his waist and leans on the wall next to me, “We should wrestle sometime on the battlefield.”

“He’s your new trainer. Watch how you speak to him,” Cassius informs Tommy.

“Oh, I… I’m sorry,” Tommy stands up straight, “I didn’t mean to offend you. I just thought you were another refugee.” In doing so, his towel falls, and a brick meets my eyes.

Noted. I’m keeping an eye on him. I mean… not like that. Well, scratch that.

Tommy leans into one ear not bothering to pick up his towel, “But if you want to… you know… later after training I won’t tell anyone.”

I don’t say anything. I would do it, but Cassius is staring daggers at me.

But if I accidentally hit my head on a brick… it wouldn’t be my fault. Right?

“So, no?” Tommy asks. His eyes squint for a second. Recognition just like Numitor and his wife. He clears his throat, “You have very pretty eyes.” He pauses confused, “Have we met before?”

Cassius smacks his head, “Go, get ready you idiot.”

“You’re just jealous of me,” Tommy boasts as he walks to the center of the room. His green Gamma-2 inspired battle suit drops in to his hand from the laundry machine dispenser. His chest leads the way out of the room. His brick flopping around ready to knock someone out.

“He’s a douchebag but he’s useful,” Cassius grins, “He grows on you.”

I bet. I bet he grows inside people too.

Just then, a curtain opens beside the shower Tommy left. But there is no one there. Wet footprints appear on the floor and stop in front of me and Cassius. The shadow of what Tommy looks like swivels on the floor beside the footsteps.

A body-less voice comes from silence.

“He has his redeeming qualities. You’ll eventually come to see. I’m Brody.”

“You’re a shadow person from Opaque.” I say remembering my files.

In my eight hundred years, I was never good at staring at shadow people. Imagine hating eye contact and then not being able to see someone making eye contact with you.

“One hundred percent. Tommy and I have been friends for years. He isn’t a bad person just weird. Plus, he knows that anything he does. I do. So, it’s as if he has a guard always watching his back.”

Brody pats my back unexpectedly and I jump.

“Glad to finally meet you. Cassius told me a Time Keeper was coming to train us. Your energies are very nice. Your shadow is sad. Did you lose someone too? A lover? Lovers? A daughter? A son to the cosmos? Is he still alive? Vampire son? This is very odd. You miss your instructor. Thea?”

I’ve had Shadow People read me before. They always have difficulties reading Time Absorbers since most of our lives are lived being reincarnated. They can never pinpoint exactly where in time things happened to us. Vakander used to call them powerful psychic bastards since they can read energies and tap into memories from the past, present, and future. Powerful beings to have on your side during war especially when they could read every last one of your thoughts or implant hallucinations. 

“Tommy would be very willing to have some fun with you. I wouldn’t mind it either. I’m more of a voyeur anyway, but you’re not bad looking.” Brody continues, “You know Jimmy. I miss him. Your paths crossed for a moment, or two, in a past lifetime.”

Cassius turns to me and speaks.

“The rope that led us to the Mansion on the Lake. So you have met Jimmy before?”

“More than met. It’s complicated.”

“More complicated than Tommy?” Cassius jokes.

“Just as complicated as Tommy.” Brody adds.

Cassius’s face stops mid sneer.

So, he knows.

If Cassius can hide things about himself, I will too. He doesn’t need to know about my past relationship with Jimmy. He doesn’t need to know that our love story ended abruptly on Lykos. I jump in to Tommy’s empty stall and leave Cassius’s jaw on the floor.

* * *

Once I finish cleaning myself, I change into an armored orange and black one-piece fitted suit. It is an Epsilonian male battle-suit. SPIKE is etched on my upper right bicep. This outfit makes me feel naked. I’m not the skinniest person either. Being shy of two-hundred and twenty pounds makes an outfit like this highlight both the good and the bad. My ass being the good and some jelly rolls being the bad. Luckily the armor is adaptive cloth. It fills in the uneven parts of me that make me want to run back to my room and never come out.

“The suit looks good on you,” Cassius compliments as we both have differing opinions. His suit looks like mine but better suited to his physique. 

“I’d rather be wearing a sock.”

“I have a few in the room that we can sew together if you’re being serious.” Cassius jokes. I stare daggers at him. You can joke about my entire life being a joke but not my appearance.

He sighs when I don’t respond, “I’m trying to be nice. If we have to work together, the least we can do is try to get along or pretend we’re friends.”

“Now you wanna play nice after being a dick for almost two days. Did your heart grow all of a sudden?”

I leave the air stale and awkward.

I follow him closely down the stairs and into the hallway. Cassius guides us up more spiral staircases. Exercise in this place never fucking ends.

“Why do these suits have to be so snug?” I complain. “They’re as bad as your attitude.”

“They’re mobility suits. You move right, left, up, down and the suit moves with you. This adaptive cloth is different than what you’re used to. Where on Tempus it automatically knows your body type, here we’re a bit more archaic and the cloth has to feel your muscles moving to adapt.”

“Is this what we’re wearing to fight on Exile?” I taunt him knowing this suit wouldn’t last a second against a Siren Cannibal.

“Yes. The suits have micro-armor underneath that senses when you’re in battle or danger and it deploys immediately. You’ll see what I’m talking about once we’re out there.” He smiles, “We have tailors on hand to add any adjustments to the suits.”

A girl and boy with purple hair march downstairs almost in sync. Their Lycan humanoid facades are visible to a trained eye. The longer I stare the more I can see their real forms. Their skin black with a purple mane and fur. Large black head with wolf teeth prominent enough to crush an enemy’s head. Seeing past the mask creates a headache and I stop trying. This used to happen with Jimmy and Thea all the time. Lycan and Barretta children always came in pairs because of the Imbarasi Viles women were given to repopulate after their mass casualties. These Imbarasi Viles ensured every person who gave birth did so to at least two children, and, sometimes, more would come out. Lykos were administered the Viles after it was colonized by Kairos and given the name change from Necrpolis to Lykos. Barretta administered theirs shortly after Kairos decimated their population. It’s rare to see Lycan or Barrettan children to be born as an only child.

Both beings have purple suits and crazy long voluminous hair. She holds on to his arm with one hand and with the other uses her cane. The girl’s arm reads: CELESTIA. And the boy’s reads: EMORY.

“You’re going the wrong way, Cassie.” Celestia scoffs.

“I’m dealing with a personal matter, Celestia. We’ll be there in a second.”

“Thea’s gone for two seconds and you’re already hooking up with the new recruits. Shame on you, Cassius.” Emory sneers. “Don’t see nice buns like that every day. I don’t remember Vesta opening a walking bakery.”

“He’s your new trainer. And why does it matter that Thea is gone?” Cassius says visibly frazzled, “I’m a free man with free choices.”

“Oh, C’mon, Cassie,” Celestia puts her hand on his chest and Cassius smacks it away, “We all know you’ve made love to her… in your dreams.” She pauses to look at his hand, “And possibly pretending she was your hand.”

Celestia’s movements are like that of a snake. Irises redder than blood and stuck on no one. She is trying to intimidate me, but I like her already. She’s serving absolute cunt and exuding bigger dick energy than any guy I’ve ever met.

“Hey,” Emory points to me, “You’re the one everyone’s been talking about. The reason we have all these new guards and curfews.”

“They think I’m a threat.” I confirm his statement, “Maybe I should be afraid of myself.”

Emory smirks, “If you ever give us any reason to fear you, we’ll just cut out that pretty little brown neck of yours. Celestia and I love raw meat especially when it smells like that of a Time Keeper.”

Emory knows what I am. How interesting. It seems like everyone else is reading me more than I’ve been reading them. Distrust is heavy here. Vesta has her claws in everyone. They think they’re viewing me from a microscopic lens, but I can see through everything. Their intimidation is born from a fear of the unknown. What else isn’t she telling them?

On Tempus, the citizens were always too afraid to rebel. Backstabbing Kairos was never a thought, at least not a rational one, or his armies because of their power, so, in turn, we all trusted each other. Paranoia was never an issue since we had no doubt in anyone’s loyalty.

“Good thing, I’ll never give you a reason to do so,” I say.

“Get going both of you. We don’t need any more distractions,” Cassius tells them.

“We’re excited to get to know you more, Stranger.” Celestia stares in my general direction and tosses her hair in my face.

Once they’re out of ear shot, Cassius tells me.

“Troublemakers. Their Rope connection is the strongest I’ve ever seen.” Cassius sighs, “You also might want to stay away from Tommy. Emory has a thing for him. They’re not tangled by Ropes but by sheets. I don’t need you mulled and discarded by the Twins.” 

“Was it that obvious that I was staring?”

“You weren’t being coy by staring directly at his dick.”

Spike just wants to live a normal life and is instead trapped in a reincarnation loop by his dictator uncle, Kairos.

Ashley is a fairy bestowed with the ancestral power of Fairy Dust. She is expected to fend off an attack from Kairos but when she goes to receive a god’s powers, she is met with silence. Everyone around her suspects the god has been kidnapped or worse killed.

Celestia finds herself falling for Jupiter, a hybrid robot reanimated from the dead.

Jenny’s life is turned upside down when Kairos attacks her planet.

Together, these storylines meld together to tell the story of Spike’s Last Life

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