Chapter 118 – Resolve
[Group chat initiated]
[Fyre: Can you see this, Hans?]
The boy’s eyes widen.
[Hans: oh what the fuck?!]
Ollie gasps in my head.
[Ollie: HE SAID A BAD WORD!]
[Fyre: Please try to keep your language PG.]
[Kanin: Yeah, this is exactly what I need in my head right now.]
I sympathetically rub a temple.
“It’s always voices,” Hans says, glancing around the room and clearly distressed. “Why is it always more voices?”
“It’s okay,” Noli signs, giving him a gentle smile. She reaches out and squeezes his hand. He appears to relax a little, and he briefly gives a worried smile back, but he watches her sign in puzzlement.
This is going to be a problem. I hadn’t anticipated the nested time bubbles; depending on when these Travelers were captured, then from their perspective they may have only been here for a few hours. They’ve hardly had any time to have processed their deaths, let alone understand anything about their Roles or learn how to use Echo.
[Fyre: Hans, please listen. I know this is overwhelming. You see Noli, here? When Echo prompts you to activate translation, select “Yes.”]
The boy blinks, looking at me in concern.
[Hans: holy shit. how did I do that? what's going on?]
[Ollie: OMG HE DID IT AGAIN]
[Kanin: We’re breaking you out of the Heavens. You’re welcome.]
Hans is starting to hyperventilate, though Noli is doing her best to calm him down.
[Hans: heaven? did I die?]
[Fyre: No.]
[Kanin: Yes]
I consider opening a private link with Kanin to discuss what sort of responses are and aren’t helpful in these sorts of circumstances.
[Fyre: It’s complicated.]
[Kanin: You died, your soul got shunted to this planet, you got a new body, at some point a god snatched you, and now we’re snatching you back. It’s not that complicated]
[Hans: what the hell]
[Kanin: Look, we’ll have time to explain everything later, but right now we’re in a bit of a time crunch. What we need from you is to keep quiet and follow whatever orders Noli or Fyre give you. Unless you want to spend another few months in that bubble]
[Hans: Months? What? But it’s only been an hour or two. Is this actually real?]
That confirms my fears. He must have been found almost immediately upon reincarnating.
[Fyre: The time dilation, Kanin. The effect is exponential for nested bubbles. If he was caught right when he came to this world, then it’s only been a couple of hours for him.]
[Kanin: Shoot. Okay. I’ll—I’ll figure out what to do about all this later. Got one more Traveler incoming.]
Kanin repeats the message to Noli with a pair of glass hands, which Hans gapes at.
“What the fuck,” he says under his breath. At least Ollie couldn’t hear that one.
Though honestly, I can’t blame him. I still find Kanin’s many disembodied limbs odd to watch, and I’ve had not quite a year to get used to the existence of magic.
The void ripples, and then a second Traveler falls from the shadows to join us on the platform. I catch the halfling woman before she can fall. Crows’ feet crease at the corners of her eyes as she takes in her surroundings with a concerned frown.
“Chidinma,” I say, pulling her name from Echo. Her gaze lands on me, uncertain, but also unafraid. Once I’m certain she’s steady, I gently release her. “It’s going to be okay.”
I send a request to add her to my Contact list, and her acceptance comes a moment later. I open a new message window with her, as well as creating a new group conversation that includes everyone except Kanin. As he so aptly put it earlier, this is the last sort of distraction he needs as his mind gets split across thirty different time bubbles.
As Noli is still handling Hans, I switch my focus to Chidinma.
[Fyre: I know this is a lot to take in right now. And there’s a lot to explain, but we don’t have much time. Please communicate through this interface instead of aloud, if at all possible.]
Her brows crease at the mental communication, but she doesn’t panic like Hans had. I’m getting the impression she’s much older than him as well: Echo confirms this when I Check her age and find she’s eighty-two. Honestly, she looks fantastic for eight-two; her warm brown skin is marred by hardly any age spots or wrinkles, save for laugh lines around her mouth and eyes. Perhaps a result of her new species—I also appear much younger than I would have expected, as harpies live longer than humans.
[Chidinma: Did I die?]
I offer a sympathetic smile.
[Fyre: Not exactly. I know it’s difficult to hear, but you’ve been given a new life in a new body—]
The woman hmphs.
[Chidinma: Yes, yes, I know how reincarnation works.]
She pauses, looking from me to her own hand.
[Chidinma: Though it’s different than I expected. This is not Svarga, is it?]
I try to get Echo to elaborate on the word “Svarga,” but she doesn’t recognize it. An Earth term, then. Maybe religious? Of course I should have expected that: these Travelers will have been from all over Earth, with various spiritual beliefs. Their reactions to their arrival here will be just as varied.
[Fyre: No, it’s not. I will have time to explain later. For now, there will be many more people joining us on this platform, and it’s imperative that we move quickly and stay calm if you want to escape further imprisonment. Can you help me with this?]
I realize it’s a lot to ask of someone who is adjusting to, well, everything, but she seems to be taking this in stride, and when we have a dozen new Travelers to orient, I’ll use all the help I can get.
The woman hmphs again, squinting at our glaringly bright surroundings.
[Chidinma: I’ll do what I can do.]
That’s all I could ask.
Another Traveler appears seconds later, and I start the process all over again. Chidinma is now speaking with Hans, who appears to be calming down between her and Noli’s assurances. Ollie returns soon after, having opened all the cubes that contain Travelers for Kanin. He’s excited to greet all the new Travelers, and they all appear somewhere between baffled and fascinated to meet a tiny, talking, friendly dragon. I can only imagine what they’ll think when he returns to his full size.
Much to my relief, most of the Travelers who join us are my age or older. A few are in their thirties or forties; only one other Traveler appears close to Hans’s age. Not surprising, really, given the leading causes of death on Earth had been age related. In fact, I’d been a bit surprised that, prior to now, Kanin, Sandro, and Ollie had been so much younger than me. It appears now that was just an issue of sample-size.
And then, a kid appears.
A teen, technically. Chidinma gets to her first, comforting the confused dryad girl. Ollie bounds over, excited to find someone closer to his own age, and she equally seems delighted to be greeted by a puppy-sized dragon. But all I can think about is how she ended up here, and the sorrow hits me like a punch to the gut.
Then, I’m angry.
The gods kept children here. Locked in a cell. Alone. It’s not right to do that to anyone, but at least adults would have the emotional maturity to be able to process their situation. But a child? Left unconsoled and isolated? That’s inexcusable. Unforgivable. Any remaining reservations I’d had about accompanying Kanin on this trip evaporate behind the heat of my outrage.
I find my hands are shaking, and I squeeze them into fists. Then I reach out to Blair.
[Fyre: There are children here.]
My words are met with silence.
No. She doesn’t get to avoid this conversation.
[Fyre: Were you aware? Did you enable this?]
I don’t trust myself to act rationally around the girl, and as she’s being adequately handled by Chidinma and Ollie, I turn to focus on the next Traveler that appears instead.
Blair’s response finally comes after a long, delayed minute.
[Blair: There is nothing I can say about this that will satisfy you.]
I suck in a breath as a spike of anger-fueled adrenaline shocks through me.
[Fyre: Despicable. And you claimed to have allowed the imprisonment of Travelers for their own good. How dare you to have lectured me on what was right for them? How dare you to have allowed this to continue.]
I have to break away from the Traveler I’m helping, calling Noli over to help. I can’t speak compassionately with this man as I struggle to hold in my contempt for Blair. I have never been so disappointed in someone else. Never felt so betrayed.
[Blair: I know it doesn’t mean much, but I am sorry. It’s a delicate situation—]
[Fyre: NO.]
I swallow down a lump in my throat.
[Fyre: No. Platitudes are not sufficient for this. If you are truly sorry, then it’s time for you to demonstrate it. It’s beyond time you did the right thing. No more sitting on the sidelines, waiting to gather enough evidence. Help us free these people.]
Once more, Blair falls silent. The platform is starting to get crowded. By my count, nearly half of the Travelers have been freed. It’s going faster than when Kanin had been doing one at a time, but it’s still been over fifteen minutes since he started, and I worry we don’t have another fifteen minutes to spare.
Finally, Kanin reaches out to me.
[K̶a̵n̷i̶n̸: done adding void. all travelers in process of being displaced. going to start getting it back from empty bubbles]
I exhale my frustrations, loathe to take out any of my anger on Kanin. Without him, I wouldn’t be here. I wouldn’t have been able to help free any of these people. That’s one thing I can thank Blair for, at least.
[Fyre: Thanks for the update.]
Even as we exchange these messages, more of his void comes flying over to join us on the platform. Instead of rejoining the void that’s being used to Displace Travelers to us, it slips beneath our feet, thinning into loops and lines as it begins to draw out a giant circle for a new Planar Linkage spell.
[K̶a̵n̷i̶n̸: where can we open the portal?]
I assume he means: Where should we open it on Lusio? Fair question, as the location we left has almost certainly been compromised by now. Not to mention, it’s outside the safety of the city’s barrier. I look down at my wrist, tracing the beaded white dragon on Mir’s bracer.
[Fyre: I’ve been thinking about that, too. I have an item you can use as the focus that should take us within the Fortress’s walls.]
I chew the inside of my cheek.
[Fyre: There is a risk, though, that it might throw us into the middle of danger. A small risk, but it’s possible.]
[K̶a̵n̷i̶n̸: how?]
[Fyre: It should take us to Mirzayael. She should be safe within the city… If she’s not in the midst of a fight.]
It’s been nearly a day since we left. She should be fully recovered—if she’s allowed the healers to work on her. But what night be happening back there? Have other gods already appeared? Are they launching an assault on the city? Mir would never just sit around while the city was under attack.
[K̶a̵n̷i̶n̸: it’s fine. we’ll do it]
[Fyre: Copy. We’ll be ready for you.]
[K̶a̵n̷i̶n̸: just a few more minutes]
I wave Noli over. With Kanin too busy to interpret, my communication with her will be limited, but we’re going to need as much coordination as we can manage.
I gesture to the spell circle Kanin is drawing beneath our feet. “Soon,” I say. “Ready?”
She watches my mouth with intense concentration. “Yes,” she signs. “We’ll need to make sure everyone is connected when they go through. Tell them they’ll need to hold hands—and no one can let go.”
I’m not comfortable with staking everyone’s safety on the hope that everyone keeps a firm grip on each other. I wish I had some of Mirzayael’s silk right about now. Maybe there’s something Kanin can do with his glass to make sure everyone stays connected; I’ll speak with him about it when he finishes retrieving the remaining Travelers.
I open a group chat with everyone I currently have added to my list, which isn’t all the Travelers, but I add new ones as they accept my request.
[Fyre: Everyone, I need your attention please.]
Most of the Travelers glance up. But many more are distracted, disoriented, or distraught. This isn’t going to be easy.
And that’s when the wall nearest to us slides open, and two gods glide through.
I freeze, my heart leaping to my throat. The first god is Rinviu, a harpy—the same one that had scouted the room earlier. It seems they’ve returned with backup; and with all of us just standing out in the open, there’s no hiding from them this time.
But it’s the second god I lock eyes with. Every inch of her, from her clothes, to her hair, to her eyes, are glowing with the same sterile white light of the Sanctum.
[Check,] Echo says. [Lorata: The Seer. Head of the Pantheon.]