The world that just barely existed hadn’t changed at all, though instead of the crowds from before, only a few people were gathered up at the entrance to gawk at the incoming group. Wendell looked around at the bizarre realm as they walked, speechless at first.

  “What a place…” he murmured. “You told me about it, but your words do not do it justice. It is too bad I cannot let Scud see.”

  Milla looked over at his singed coat, Shin’s bandage over her deep wound, and Garder’s armor that now had a single, tiny hold in the middle.

  “We got beat up pretty bad…” she sighed. “Let’s see Rivia first.”

  Rayna looked up from her side as she took in the world they had just entered. “What about my parents?”

  “He might know where they are. And he probably wants to see you, too. He’s the one who started Garder and myself on this mission.”

  “By the way, what was City I like?” Garder wondered.

  “Tess felt the change, but it’s so dark there, I just couldn’t tell.”

  “Think Rivia’s going to be pissed off about what we did without consulting him first?”

  “How much could it matter?” Shin muttered. “And honestly, what do you think he could’ve told us beforehand?”

  “Mr. Simon!” came a girl’s voice from the other side of a street. “Hi! I’ll tell Rivia you’re here with your friends.”

  “Hi, Norria,” Milla replied. “Where is he today?”

  “I’ll find out. He’s been pretty busy trying to tell everyone what’s about to happen. You guys just stay there for a minute.”

  “Sure thing.”

  “So, these people are all… ghosts?” Rayna asked after Norria entered the tower behind her. “They all look so sad…”

  “The ones stuck in place are ghosts,” Garder replied. “Rivia said that sometimes people come here if they die while feeling heavy sadness or hatred. That’s vague, but I guess that’s the best way to put it. Everyone else was either banished or were here originally—maybe the majority of them.”

  “What will happen to them when this place comes back to Aurra?”

  “No one can be sure,” Milla answered. “The ghosts might complete their journey, while everyone else will stay.”

  “What about my mom and dad? What if they disappear?”

  “Your parents were brought here the same way Rivia and his men were. If he trusts that they will all be okay, then so will your parents.”

  “Okay. And who was that girl just now?”

  “Norria,” Verim replied. “Some assistant to Rivia, not exactly sure. We haven’t had much of a chance to get to know each other yet.”

  “Why would they… put a child in this place?”

  “Maybe she came with the City,” Shin said. “Although banishing children probably isn’t beneath the Guard. Simon, you’ve been here longer than any of us. Have you, I don’t know, observed anything interesting?”

  He replied, “Yeah. Everyone knows each other. Almost everyone is friendly, too, even while many share a grudge for being brought here. Also, sometimes the ghosts respond, although they’re mostly catatonic.”

  “How’d you train in alchemagi here, anyway?” Garder wondered. “I thought it didn’t even exist in this place.”

  “Actually, it does, just a little. So I had to put forth a lot of effort to use even the smallest spell. It’s hard work, but the result was that my spells came out immensely powerful back in Aurra. Took me by surprise, actually. And with no need for sleep, food, or… toilets, I trained for hours on end.”

  Norria returned and waved the group in. “The three paradigms and the alchemagist smiths are coming, too. Guess this is important, huh?”

  “It’s probably the last time we’ll be here,” Milla replied.

  “Then it is true… You’re going to free us.”

  “That’s what we’re hoping for.”

  Norria smiled. “Wow… It’s hard to believe. I’ve forgotten what the rest of Aurra looks like… Um, anyway, come on in.”

  She guided the group into the ancient lobby of the building, up three flights of stairs, and into a hollowed-out room with a marble table in the center. Rivia was already there, sitting alone with a book at his side.

  “Back so soon, Simon?” he said with a smile. “I hope you’ve all brought me some good news. Wait… hold on.”

  “Oh, Rayna, get ready for something weird.” Milla warned her as best as she could. “Don’t panic—it’ll be over soon.”

  Before she knew it, she was floating in the air above a small rural town of unrecognizable nationality. The sun was far up in the sky, and she quickly realized that its light was going right through her body. Before she could try to get an understanding of where she was and what was happening, she was suddenly back with Milla and the others.

  “Sorry about those,” Milla said. “It’s part of the nature of this world. It won’t happen again for fifty minutes or so.”

  “Um, okay…” Rayna murmured back.

  “And this is Rayna?” Rivia questioned as the group took their seats.

  “That’s right,” Verim replied.

  “Good, good. That was my hope the moment I saw her. We found her parents just recently. Looked like they had been here for a while, and some of my men realized that they were newcomers. It didn’t take long to learn what happened to them, and once I knew Drides was involved, I realized just who the daughter they were concerned about must’ve been.”

  “Are my parents here? In this building?” Rayna asked hopefully.

  “They’re not far from here, young lady. Could you stand to wait a few more minutes? I can show you right to them when we’re done here.”

  “Tess said she needed a week last we saw her,” Garder explained. “So… we have about six of those waves before we should get back to her.”

  “Ah, I see. I’m glad to hear the evacuations have gone smoothly.”

  “For the most part,” Milla said. “We had to run Trinqit out of the City first and fend off an attack that Lontonkon seemed to have led.”

  “Also, Jeryn, Palar, and Breen are all gone,” Verim added. “Simon killed Breen, and Jeryn lost his life battling Palar.”

  “I… I see…” Rivia said remorsefully. “I’m sorry. Jeryn was with you from the beginning. Such a loss must have been unbearable.”

  “What’s more, Kamsa joined for a while but was killed by Trinqit,” Garder said sharply. “No matter what it takes, I swear I’ll hunt her down.”

  “Which one?” Milla whispered just loud enough for him to hear.

  “It seems that you’ve all been through quite a lot.”

  “Oh, there’s much more,” Verim replied.

  “Um, Rivia…” Garder spoke up again. “About Jeryn… How did he get assigned to us?”

  “And… did he have any possible secrets?” Milla added.

  Rivia hesitated before answering, “His past was clouded, but he had some good reports on assignments, and was willing to help City C. He came to me, and I assigned him and Lechi to you. Back then, I didn’t realize your assignment would go beyond C, but things changed. Jeryn was… just someone I thought you’d be able to work well with. I hope that he lives a good life on Earth. His efforts will not go unfinished.”

  “Kamsa was part of a cloning program,” Garder said. “There might be hundreds of others like her—boys and girls her age, possibly.”

  “I knew about this. The cloning program has been going on for some time now, but it was not always about building up a possible army of Escellé ‘children.’ She was just their most recent genetic base.”

  “All these experiments dealing with human souls…”

  “I’m afraid that’s exactly it. Lontonkon turned the program into what it is today. Pangs’ projects bordered on unethical already, but this…”

  “I want to find this cloning facility and shut it down, and if I can, somehow free the clones that are still alive. Give them their own lives… That’s all we can do for Kamsa at this point.”

  “I wish I knew where it was located. But if I could venture a guess, I don’t think it would be in a higher tier City where it would gather more attention and severe investigation.”

  “What about X…” Garder muttered blankly, his thoughts shifting to Leovyn and his roving village for some reason.

  “What about it?”

  “Could the cloning facility be there?”

  “The subterranean complexes of every City are huge, ancient and poorly monitored, so such a facility could exist almost anywhere. But if you want to devote time to finding it and shutting it down, it’s a worthy goal.”

  “Have we missed anything?” a female voice asked from behind.

  They turned to see Tabi, Viktor, Masayuki, Vlad, and Kerchief entering the room, each adorning their light, sturdy full body armor. They took their seats at the other side of the table and greeted the group silently.

  “Nothing yet. By the way…” Rivia looked over at Wendell. “Is that you, Wendell Celin? Your beard has grown since we last met.”

  “It is, General,” he replied with a smile. “I was in Aurra when your friends found me, needing passage to City F.”

  “Do you still work on Earth for the most part?”

  “Yes. I was working for F, but when I returned to the military base there… It was destroyed. Flattened. By mobile hammers.”

  Rivia shifted intently in his chair and went into thought for a moment. “I assume Lontonkon was continuing to ‘purge the weak,’ as he’d say. But to do it to such a degree… I can’t understand that man anymore.”

  “Mobile hammers?” Masayuki repeated.

  “Crazy stuff,” Shin replied. “There was one left, maybe cleaning up. We disabled it and captured its operator, but he killed himself with a mind destruction spell before we could get anything useful out of him.”

  “And this must be Rayna,” Tabi said as she looked over the child. “Your parents are always talking about you. We don’t know if they’re newsouls or not, so we haven’t spoken about Aurra too much.”

  “Who are you three?” Rayna asked.

  “Paradigms of plant, fire, and lightning. We’re going to be commanding officers over the Angels once we’re out of here.”

  “You’re like Temki?”

  “That’s right, but with flames,” Viktor relied. “And these two are Vlad and Kerchief. They’re the ones that trained Simon.”

  “Thanks to them, I managed to take down Breen,” Simon added.

  “Very impressive,” Vlad replied.

  “One less paradigm to worry about,” Masayuki said.

  “Vlad, Kerchief—you might want to know that my second alchestone activated,” Garder informed them.

  “Ah, very nice,” Kerchief replied. “What about you, Ms. Nolland?”

  She shook her head. “Not yet. Garder’s tripped while he battled a Guard army. Right after Kamsa fell… He felt she likely helped activate it.”

  “Alchemagi can surge like—and with adrenaline,” Tabi explained. “Alchestones activating in the middle of a heated battle isn’t uncommon.”

  “We should get to the important news,” Shin said. “You all know that I just throw things out there and let the conversation take over, so here goes… We partnered with Drides briefly, he stated that he wasn’t after Rayna for the time being, and then he took us to a bizarre subworld of nothingness, where we killed the Original One. Their inner being spoke to us and seemed grateful, but when we returned, a connection between Aurra and Earth was severed. We can’t use the claws anymore. Drides betrayed us, beat the crap out of us, and then tried to kill…” She looked at Milla and Garder and hesitated. “Never mind. That’s basically what happened.”

  Dead silence. Those with Rivia exchanged quiet, bewildered expressions. None of them knew quite where to begin.

  “Just tell us, Rivia. What did we really just do?” Garder eventually spoke up. “And could it affect normal transfers worldwide?”

  “W-well… You cut some link between the two worlds, certainly.”

  “H-how the hell did you even d-do that?” Tabi stuttered.

  “Drides did most of the work,” Verim replied. “Let’s talk about what this means for Aurra first, then we’ll get back to that bastard.”

  Rivia rubbed his forehead, took a deep breath, and answered, “The truth is, killing the Original One was probably on agendas for both sides.”

  “What do you mean?” Milla replied.

  “I never mentioned it to you because I thought that it was such an impossibility, that it’d never happen. Especially as acted out from—no offense—a group with your combined experience. If anyone was going to do it, it’d be me and these three paradigms, and even then…”

  “What are you talking about? Why would you want to do it?”

  “Because throughout all of my research, I could only conclude that it was holding some grip on Aurra. When you look at Aurra throughout the tens of thousands of years we’ve been here, it’s barely changed. Other than the haze and societal evolution, Aurra’s principal laws have never changed.”

  “Did you expect them to?”

  “Consider that they’ve never adapted to the laws we wrote, rewrote and broadcast via suppression. Given that Aurra relies more on thought than physicality, scientists have come to theorize that a large, transformative cognitive advancement would’ve slowly taken place through the millennia.”

  Shin asked, “In other words, Aurra itself would evolve over time simply because of human thought patterns and desires?”

  “Simply put, yes. But Aurra has never changed on this most basic level. And of course, we’ve never been able to alter anything the Original changed or made, either. The idea is that so long as the Original survives, nothing would truly change in Aurra. We’ve tried everything to get rid of the haze, so we came to believe that the only thing we could do to remove it was to kill the possible keeper of whatever law maintains its existence.”

  “And the haze is caused by an increasing overlap of the worlds,” Simon emphasized. “The same reason alchemagi can be used on Earth.”

  “Then this makes no sense,” Garder muttered. “We removed some connection, and all that happened was that the sun became dimmer and the haze got worse. Just how could the haze have anything to do with Earth?”

  Rivia looked at the paradigms. They still couldn’t quite get over all that they had just heard.

  “That is unexpected,” he sighed. “Granted, it may be that the haze will linger for some time and it only became stronger with Aurra’s dimming sun. The flow may have stopped, but there is already so much about…”

  “But could that really be the problem?” Milla wondered.

  “At this point, I don’t know. I couldn’t foresee this. Still, with the Original gone, perhaps something will eventually change for the better. And I’m sure that transfers are still working, and a connection to Hold remains.”

  “There’s something else,” Wendell replied. “Before they died, the Original told us that it was manipulated by Aurra, not the other way around. Their will was bent by Aurra; which they referred to as a living thing.”

  “Damn…” Viktor mumbled. “This was not what we theorized at all. This changes everything we thought we knew.”

  “Troubling…” Rivia replied. “But this was likely inevitable. Even without our involvement, they probably would’ve died eventually, somehow.”

  “What do you know about Drides?” Garder asked. “He has an eye that can cause instant death, and then both of his eyes can transform to open portals and give him some kind of extra power. And he’s an apostle.”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “You never mentioned him,” Milla added. “But we figured that if he really is from Earth, he couldn’t have pretorian implants. What is he?”

  Rivia turned in his chair, his hands cusped as he looked over his group and tried to formulate an explanation in his mind.

  “Did he escape from Hold?” Shin continued. “It’s just a theory of ours, but if there are any former judges out there that know anything…”

  “They’d still be too young,” Rivia said at last. “Drides is… no older than the twins. Just under eighteen, I believe. A child.”

  “But with as much power as he possesses…” Verim murmured, “he seems like so much more. Attacks that pierce the fabric, shoving away alchemagi to open a one-way portal to the Fragmented Dimension… Instant death… I mean, you should’ve heard the things he said. It was like, it wasn’t just us that were below him—so was Aurra itself.”

  “He is an apostle. That alone may explain his ego.”

  “I’m sorry, but what is an apostle?” Simon wondered. “I can figure that they can use all ten alignments, but that’s about it.”

  “Yes, apostles are born once a lifetime, like paradigms. But unlike paradigms, it is believed that their powers are such that they stay with them even after their first half-life. Basically, this means that all apostles are born on Earth, and carry those abilities to the second half of their lives.” Rivia pondered a moment before adding, “In old Aurra, any discovered apostle could contest the throne, even if someone else already had it. It was once assumed that they were chosen by God to lead us.”

  “The Seriph line were descended from the last ruling apostle,” Milla explained. “And that man, my great-great-grandfather from my life as Queen, also brought an end to the practice. It wasn’t an altruistic decision; he did it to keep our line from being usurped by an apostle later on.”

  “But do they have these abilities in Hold, too?” Garder asked.

  “Technically. But Drides must have done something unimaginable. If he was somehow able to use his alchemagi, even in Hold…”

  “Guy sounds like a freak of nature,” Garder stated. “And can you account for his instant death thing? Is that normal for an apostle?”

  “No, and neither is opening portals at will, although that might’ve been a ‘naturally’ discovered ability. As apostles can manipulate all ten elements, manipulating base alchemagi might not be too far out there. I’m sorry, but that’s about all I’ve ever gathered on him. I want to find at least one of the three judges assigned to him, but even if their shift ended the day he escaped, they’d only be three years old—too young for full recall.”

  “Apostles are now something of a public secret for a reason,” Milla said. “With so much power in one place and their surrounding mysticism, they aren’t currently officially revealed. And before now, since King Teneus Seriph, they haven’t been granted high positions or given Guard implants for fear of what they may do. But how do you know so much about them?”

  Rivia looked down at the table and replied, “I actually had a good friend who was an apostle. But that was some time ago.”

  Seeing that Rivia didn’t want to touch anymore on the subject, Milla replied, “About Rayna… We were wondering if Vlad or Kerchief might know anything about her… unique physiology.”

  The father and son alchesmiths looked over, ready to do their best at answering any upcoming questions.

  “Kamsa couldn’t get a clear reading of her alchemagi. She said that it was in chaos. Before that, when we tried using a stone to determine her alignment, it burnt away. Never seen anything like it happen before.”

  “Interesting…” Vlad murmured.

  “Very,” Kerchief added. “We have indeed seen this before, but never from a human.”

  “So… you know something?” Garder asked hopefully.

  “We might. Alchemagi base stones are essentially compacted cinders from decayed, trapped alchemagi deep underground, something like charcoal; simple matter that has been exhausted and burns easily. Just using a little bit of alchemagi on these stones can break them apart.”

  “The stones react easily to the slightest bit of alchemagi influence,” Vlad continued. “When you clasp one in your hand and send energy through it, your mind can pick up on how it subtly responds. But there’s an alignment that causes rapid combustion in the stones—just burns them out of existence in a short flare up that can’t be extinguished.”

  “It’s nova…” Shin realized. “Nova does that, doesn’t it?”

  “Nova? That element that’s forbidden, right?” Rayna replied.

  “Not entirely forbidden. Lontonkon and Drides can use it, because the current ruler has access to it, as would an apostle,” Vlad explained.

  “It’s not that nova is actually ‘banned,’ either,” Kerchief added. “Rather, the natural biological compatibility to it was somehow removed or lost, so people just aren’t born able to use it. Instead, it requires a special, guarded alchestone. It’s not your usual stone, either. It doesn’t permit level two or three abilities on its own, but to actually wield it properly, you do need three alchestones in your body. Anything less than a level four will not be powerful enough to sustain the element that oversees the destruction of matter. Trying to use it as a sub-level four might even kill you.”

  “Then you’re saying that Rayna is a nova adept,” Milla said. “Even though that should be impossible…”

  “If it’s impossible, then how come I…” Rayna trailed off.

  Milla couldn’t answer. She was hoping that the others could just leave the question alone for the time being. If Rayna could go back home without ever realizing that she was “constructed,” it would be for the best.

  “It’s because of the demon, isn’t it…? That horrible monster living inside me. It’s still there, and it wants to be alive again.”

  “We’re not sure, yet,” Rivia replied. “But don’t worry about such things at the moment. You must really want to see your parents. Let’s end this meeting. I believe we’ve discussed everything pertinent.”

  “So that’s it,” Tabi said. “We’ll meet again on the other side.”

  “At last…” Viktor sighed.

  “Shin, I’ll be fighting with you again soon,” Masayuki assured her.

  “I look forward to it,” Shin replied quietly.

  “I’ll show you to Rayna’s parents,” Rivia said. “And you’ll probably want to meet with the Five one last time, as well. Finish up what you need to. They won’t be here when this City shifts back into existence again.”

  “How are we going to time this whole thing?” Verim questioned. “We can’t really communicate that well when we’re ready for you.”

  “I’ve got a plan. I’ll be waiting at the exit. Use your time well.”

  They followed Rivia out, leaving his allies in a light discussion. He led the visitors across the street and to a shorter building that appeared to be an old apartment complex, with Roman columns—an indicator of the City’s ancient, preserved age. They went up a few flights of stone steps and stopped at a large wooden door. He knocked twice, and it soon opened.

  “Mr. Carthy, I have someone who wants to see you,” Rivia greeted.

  He scooted aside, and Rayna ran up to her father. He was at first speechless, and could only hug his daughter tightly and hold her in his arms.

  “Oh, Mr. Rivia, thank you…”

  “Don’t thank me. These are the people that brought her.”

  “H-hello again, Mr. Carthy,” Shin said with a nervous smile.

  “Sorry about everything that’s happened,” Verim added.

  “Are you okay?” Rayna asked. “I thought I’d never see you again.”

  “I’m right here. I’m all right. We both are. We’ve been waiting for you. P-please, come in. All of you.”

  The apartment room was spacious and gave a look back at the days of post-Earth Aurra-Roman aristocracy, but it was also windowless and empty. Mrs. Carthy, who had been resting on a luxurious leather bench, got up with a jolt and rushed over to Rayna, still in her father’s arms. Everyone else gave them the space and time they needed. Eventually, Rayna was lowered back to the ground and the two parents approached the group.

  “Thank you for everything…” the father said. “If you remember, my name is Louis and this is my wife, Phoebe.”

  “Hello,” she greeted them with Rayna at her side. “We don’t really know where to begin… I mean, this is all so much to take in.”

  “Wait until you see the real world opposite Earth,” Verim replied.

  “Yes, they’ve told us some things about it. But I never expected that this is where you go when one life ends.”

  “Let’s start over. Hi,” Shin introduced herself. “I’m Shinamayu Xin, this is my partner, Verim Grenwich, the twins are Garder and Milla Nolland, and this is Wendell Celin. Simon Thalst here is from Earth. In fact, he lives kind of close to you.”

  “Outside Toronto,” he replied. “Good to finally meet you.”

  “I’m sorry about the way I treated you before,” Louis apologized.

  “Oh, we didn’t expect to be welcomed warmly,” Verim said. “And we’re sorry for all the danger we’ve put your daughter through.”

  “But she’s a good kid, Mr. Carthy,” Shin added. “It’s been a delight having her with us.”

  “So… you’re not in league with that other man?” Phoebe asked.

  “No. He’s the bad guy,” Verim replied. “He’s the one after Rayna for… reasons we really don’t know about quite yet. Him and our world’s king. We’re at war. You kind of came here in a time of revolution.”

  “But again, this isn’t Aurra,” Rivia added. “I know it’s difficult to comprehend without going there first, but this place is nothing like Aurra.”

  “And you said that once we get there, we’ll be able to—what was it—recall?” Louis questioned.

  “That’s right. If you’ve had any past lives, you’ll be able remember them, through a kind of meditation, and Aurra will become very familiar.”

  “It’d be much easier that way,” Simon replied. “In my case, I was a newsoul. I’m still asking questions.”

  “I see. When… do you think we can go home?” Phoebe wondered.

  “I… will be truthful, Mr. and Mrs. Carthy. We aren’t sure yet,” Rivia explained. “There have been some changes in Aurra. We were once able to go to Earth freely with portals or a pair of special claws, but now, at the moment, it seems that we cannot.”

  “You mean we’re stuck here?” Rayna wondered.

  “I’m afraid so. We’ll do everything we can to get you home, but it may take some time.”

  “That’s… troubling. We have lives, family back home…” Louis said. “But thank you all for everything you’ve done so far.”

  “Soon, this entire place will disappear. It will return to Aurra,” Rivia continued. “Now, the question is, should we leave Rayna here for the rest of this world’s short time, or should you take her with you?”

  “We’d like to keep her with her parents, if possible,” Shin replied. “That just seems like it’s the right thing to do.”

  “But at the same time, it could be an unforeseen risk,” Verim added. “It’s hard to explain everything, but Rayna is… unique. We really shouldn’t risk anything, by not doing what we have been doing for a while now. Which is taking her with us and keeping her safe.”

  Milla also had some input, “But if she came with us, then you’d have to wait to see her again. So far, we haven’t taken anyone out of here except ourselves. You may not even be able to leave, as you might be tied to this place somehow since you were ‘banished’ here; Rayna is a visitor. Something could go wrong when this place returns to its original state.”

  “How big are these risks?” Louis wondered.

  “Could be small or non-existent, to big but unfounded,” Rivia replied. “Either way, they do have a point. All said, based on what we know of this world, keeping her with them a little longer may be the right choice.”

  “But…” Rayna murmured. “I just found my parents, and now…”

  “You’ll see us again very shortly,” Phoebe assured her. “And we promise that next time, we won’t let you go again.”

  “You like these people, right?” Louis added.

  “They’re my friends. They helped me, and care about me.”

  “Then stay with them a bit little longer. We’ll be back before you know it, I’m sure. Mr. Rivia is a good person. I trust his word.”

  Rayna nodded. “Okay, Dad, Mom. I’ll go back with them.”

  “There’s a brave girl,” Phoebe replied after a kiss. “We love you.”

  “I’m sorry that this reunion couldn’t be longer, but we’re on a tight schedule,” Rivia said. “Milla, why don’t you go ahead and go see the Five? I’ll give Rayna a few more minutes here and then meet you at the exit.”

  “Got it,” she replied. “We’ll be quick about it.”

  After everyone exchanged a brief, silent farewell, Milla led her friends out and back towards the large tower where the Five waited.

  “Rayna is brave,” Shin commented as they proceeded down the empty street. “All of these bizarre worlds, everything she’s gone through, and she’s willing to accept just a few minutes with her parents.”

  “She reminds me of my daughter from my previous Earth life,” Wendell replied. “Same persona, similar looks. I do not miss a lot of people from life to life, but she is one of the few that I do still think about.”

  “Who was she?” Simon asked.

  “Just a little girl who never knew her mother. We only had each other back then. But then she got sick when she was just a few years older than Rayna. We were poor, and I couldn’t do anything for her…”

  “I’m sorry, Wendell,” Milla said sympathetically.

  “The pain was a kind I rarely feel. Sixty years later, I signed up as a searcher at F’s academy when I was eight. I had a natural talent, and I was determined to find her. I wouldn’t hire another searcher to do it; I made the goal of finding her my own. Five years later, I did. Of course, she was in her seventies and had no resemblance, but our reunion was one of love. Strange seeing your own kid six times your age… But that didn’t bother us any.”

  “I’m sure it happens all the time,” Verim replied.

  “Oh, definitely. That’s why age is of so little importance in Aurra.”

  “Do you still see her? Um, I mean, if she’s still…”

  “I drop by when I can. Even though she’s nearing triple digits, she’s still healthy and active. She lives out in K as a nurse. Anyway, that’s my little story. Or another one of them. Always funny how things work in Aurra. The chance is remote, but I could end up as her kid on the other side for all I know. Yeah, it’ll never happen, yet it’s still a possibility.”

  “I’ve had some loves that have lasted through lifetimes as well,” Shin replied. “Siblings and lovers mostly, though. I was never really the type to settle down and have kids of my own.”

  “Aw, do tell, Shin,” Garder asked jokingly.

  “Don’t bother,” Verim said. “She won’t even tell me about all of her sweethearts.”

  They entered the tower where the Cardinal Five made their permanent residence, and went up to the third floor.

  “These are the five surviving people that came after the Original, correct?” Wendell asked the others.

  “That’s right,” Milla replied. “We saw them once before, and you pretty much know everything we learned back then. I just want to see if they have anything else to say about the Original or have some guesses about what’s happened to Aurra.”

  “You’ll have to be quiet,” Verim added. “They can barely speak.”

  The Five were still in the same circle they were in before, where they rested on small, flat pillows and didn’t move in the slightest.

  “It is you again,” one of them greeted.

  “Ms. Nolland, how nice it is to see you once more…”

  “Do you bring us new stories from the outside?”

  “Our many friends here seem happier. Expectant. Anxious.”

  “Freedom is almost at hand. You are doing good things for them.”

  “You all are going to disappear, right?” Shin asked. “I mean, when this City goes back to Aurra… You’ll just fade away.”

  “Our bodies are very old.”

  “We will no doubt turn to dust.”

  “There is so little left of us.”

  “But many others will, as well.”

  “Yet, only the ghosts, we believe. Those brought to this dimension with this City are old and their remaining lives may be short, but they are still strong enough to come back with you.”

  “Then this is our final meeting,” Milla replied. “We wish you good fortune in your next lives. Earth has changed so much since your time…”

  “We are grateful for your wishes.”

  “Tell us, Ms. Nolland…”

  “How else can we assist you?”

  “We have told you everything we could’ve possibly told you.”

  “Unless you seek long, arduous conversation about what Earth and Aurra once looked like tens of thousands of years ago.”

  “No, not really.” Milla smiled just a bit. “We’ve come here to tell you that the Original is dead. We killed it. And it was very grateful to us.”

  “We… understand.”

  “He—or she, as we have forgotten, is finally at ease now.”

  “We look forward to joining them in our new lives together.”

  “But you come to us with questions. You have doubts.”

  “What troubles you so?”

  “After their death, Aurra was cut off from Earth. We can’t go there anymore, but while the connection seems to have disappeared, the haze still exists. And alchemagi has become stronger, even under a darker sun.”

  “This is… troubling. Unexpected. Not the resolution you sought.”

  “But we are speaking of an entire world. Change may be slow to come. Yet it likely will, eventually.”

  “Where did you find our cousin?”

  “In a subworld of nothingness. ‘Beneath’ Aurra,” Garder replied.

  “We have long theorized about such worlds.”

  Garder asked, “And what will happen to this one?”

  “This City is only a part of this dimension, which will continue to exist. It may become like the realm we were banished to in the beginning.”

  “So, ghosts may continue to come here. Or perhaps they will not.”

  “You have the power to free the ones here now, and maybe even find a solution, so that ghosts no longer need to exist.”

  “It is unfortunate. Ghosts only exist because of problems in Hold.”

  “They are a mistake. A mistake that could happen to anyone.”

  “And then there are many newsouls brought here without reason.”

  “Oh, yeah, I forgot about that,” Simon replied. “I guess we’ll be freeing them, too. I think they’ll be pretty angry about all this…”

  “We’ll worry about what happens to this world after this City returns to Aurra,” Wendell said. “Cardinals, we need to know if there’s anything else you should tell us about the Original.”

  “They said, in their last moments, that Aurra bent around them upon realization of the truth of the world,” Milla explained.

  “What… else did all of you observe when the Original took control of Aurra?” Shin added.

  “We only saw our cousin grasp absolute power.”

  “And it was clear that they had suddenly changed, so much.”

  “But it was not evident enough if it was only the new power that drove them to do what they did.”

  “They seemed to create alchemagi. Briefly, it was one—a golden light. And then it touched the world and split into ten. They used it to reshape the landscape. Change the laws. Shifted the world closer to the physical realm so that future minds could not attain such power.”

  “And then they disappeared.”

  “They had already achieved this power when we arrived and came to the same realization they had.”

  “Our fathers and mothers wandered the ground aimlessly. They still did not know where they were or what it meant to be here.”

  “But we did. We awoke. We recalled. Only, we were not the first.”

  “We threatened the Original. That is when they reshaped Aurra.”

  “And that is all we can tell you.”

  “But could Aurra be alive? Could there be a greater force that saw something through way back then?” Milla pushed the question.

  “I am sorry. While we believe what you and the Original have said, we cannot begin to comprehend such an idea.”

  “A greater force is certainly possible. But if it were conscious…”

  “Would it have reason to do what it did?”

  “Perhaps our answers can no longer sustain you and your journey.”

  “We have done our part. It is up to you now to find out the rest.”

  “We wish you luck. We would all like to return to a better Aurra.”

  “And you can be the shapers of its future.”

  “We give and leave the rest up to you.”

  “We are sorry that this was all we could do for you.”

  “Don’t be. It’s more than enough,” Milla said. “Thank you.”

  “Farewell.”

  “Kind of a waste of time,” Verim sighed as they left the building. “Still, what can we do if they didn’t know anything else?”

  “At least they kind of confirmed what happened,” Garder replied. “Too bad no one came before the Original and is still around, to have memories of what transpired at whatever critical moment.”

  “Technically, there were people there, but they just weren’t quite ‘human’ yet,” Shin added. “I guess that whatever those people became later, they wouldn’t be able to recall something that deeply muddled.”

  “Yeah, but who could possibly know what happened just five seconds before that grand realization? I mean, we’re out of luck here. It’s like the creation of the universe. All we can really do is guess.”

  On their way to the City’s exit, the group suddenly spotted Bired and Vadaka, waiting for them near the gate to the park where the tear resided. Milla would have been fine with avoiding them completely, but they had already been noticed, and with time running out to get back to Aurra, a meeting seemed inevitable. Milla and the others went ahead and stopped near them to listen to whatever they had to say.

  “Yes?” Milla asked flatly.

  “Hm, nothing.” Vadaka yawned. “Just thought we’d see you leave before the big event. You know, in case it all goes wrong.”

  “So that we know who to blame,” Bired added in a deadpan tone. “Assuming that we can be reborn if our atoms scatter across Aurra.”

  “Goodbye, then. See you soon.”

  With that, the two trudged off, leaving the group in a stupor about what just happened.

  “Man, those two are messed up,” Garder moaned.

  “Who were they?” Wendell asked.

  “Eraser twins. Although they don’t look much alike,” Milla replied. “They kind of hang out around here and… follow us.”

  “I see. I wonder why.”

  “Who knows,” Verim groaned. “Let’s just get out of this place. I’m tired of all the monochrome. I know I’ll have to see this horrid City again, but at least it’ll be in color and without the ghosts.”

  “Ha, I hear you on that,” Garder replied.

  Rivia and Rayna were waiting just outside of where the tear would form, along with a small crowd of silent onlookers. Rayna joined Milla as she took out the pair of claws and prepared to leave the Fragmented Dimension for what would hopefully be the final time.

  “Right…” Rivia began. “This is it. Here’s the plan. After you’re all out, I’m going to stay here for about ten minutes. That is of course the equivalent of several hours on your end, so all you need to do is check with Tess to make sure we’re ready to go. If not, send someone back here, tell me to wait another ten minutes, and then just keep reporting back.”

  “Yeah, they should be ready by now,” Verim replied. “Things were still going smoothly when we were there last.”

  “If I don’t hear from anyone in ten minutes’ time, I will proceed to the science lab and destroy the machine keeping this City in existence. After that, who can say for sure what will happen. Just make sure you’re nowhere near I. It’s all guess work and theories once the machine is no more.”

  “Are you sure we shouldn’t take the Angels with us?” Milla asked.

  “Weighing the risks, I’d rather keep them here. We just don’t know how tied people are to this place once they enter it from a one-way door.”

  “Well, if you’re positive on that, then I guess this is goodbye. If just for a little bit.”

  Garder smiled. “See you on the other side.”

  “And about damn time,” Verim grunted.

  “Oh, yes, definitely,” Rivia said with a light chuckle. He then added a little solemnly, “There’s no turning back once we do this. The Guard will respond in full, and the war will escalate very quickly.”

  “We’ve done too much already. I hate the idea of needing a war to change a world for the better, but… I’ll try to tolerate it.”

  “We just need the right commander out there,” Milla said. “Rivia, you’ve been planning and orchestrating this for centuries. It’s time.”

  “Goodbye, Mr. Rivia,” Rayna replied and took Milla’s hand. “Thanks for taking care of my parents.”

  “It was the least I can do. Now off you go, all of you. We’ve been a burden on your shoulders for so long now. Now we will repay that debt.”

  “We’ll be waiting,” Milla replied and opened the tear in one, elegant movement, the claws letting out a faint crackle as they ripped into space.

  Before they stepped through, everyone got their last look at the strange world that they had almost grown used to. In a few hours, Aurra was going to experience yet another sudden and dramatic change.