12.

X.

I narrowed my eyes at Tony as he flew into Ko’vren. He was late, and I was starving. He was most likely chasing some girl all over Le’uthara. Whore, I thought, throwing the Rubik’s cube at his head. “You’re late, like very late.” He caught it with ease and tossed it back. I saw the faint glimmer of happiness in his eyes. I was right, it was a girl. “Sorry, I was...held up" he opened his pocket dimension and threw out a bag of fruits. I was too hungry to care right away and opened the bag.

At least he got everything. I stood and went to the kitchen area, picking up a knife and started peeling them. “Did you go out?”, he asked, sitting down and picking up the cube, fiddling with it. “Yeah, uh, Zeus came around again, they wanted a briefing.” I started chopping the fruits that looked suspiciously like apples, but with an orange rind.

“What’d you tell them?”, he asked, still fiddling. He had scattered the cube and was already fixing it with intent, brows furrowed in concentration. He was always like that. Looking for something to fix, or fiddle with. I’d like to think that he was a genius of sorts. An all-rounder with looks, and smarts. Sure enough, the Rubik’s cube clicked into place and it was solved. He dropped it and rested on the couch. “The truth. All of it.” I emptied the cut up fruits into a bowl and brought out some condensed milk, pouring it’s contents into the bowl. “And how did they take it?” By they, he meant M’gethir, I knew. “Well, he made the same rant about me being a traitor, about how I was part of my father’s schemes, then he tried killing me again.”

“Lol”, he said, before actually laughing. It was something we did, saying lol instead of just laughing. I carried the bowl over with two forks and set it in front of us. He reached forward, collected the fork and dug in. “Nice”, he said, chewing slowly. It was my turn to drop my question. “So, who is she?”, I asked slowly. One thing about Tony is that he never liked to admit he had feelings for anyone. He was a playboy after all, so that kind of thing was out of character.

“Who?”, he asked as innocently as possible, but I knew something was up Immediately the entered. There was a certain spark that wasn’t there throughout the time we’d been here. Now, he was brimming with energy. It was definitely a girl. “Don’t play dumb, I know that face, your I-found-a-new-girl-and-she's-hot look” He paused, barely stifling his grin. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, man” Wait a minute... “Is it that Míriel girl?”, I paused and stared at him. I should have known, that initial attraction. I wasn’t going to stop him. He liked her, maybe it would work out. If M’gethir died, maybe.

“Yeah, it’s her.”, he looked into the bowl, as if the floating chunks of fruit were the most fascinating thing in the universe. By Fos, he was shy. If he was light skinned, he would be blushing furiously. I clapped him on the back and laughed heartily. “Ha! That ice queen will be the end of you.” I raised my chin as if in thought. “But now that I think of it, she has nice boobs” I grinned devilishly. “You still have great taste, go for it”, I took the bowl back and ran the tap. “Need a wingman?” I offered. I was his partner when he always went for a girl. It added morale and spice to the conversation. You would be surprised how they responded. “She’d immediately try to kill you, calm down buster” he laughed nervously. He probably expected me to shout at him for doing that same thing I warned against.

““Right, that. I’ll still have to talk to her later.” She owed me an explanation. I still want to know how she’s Z’ara’s daughter. But that could wait. I’ll meet her eventually. Tony’s newfound interest in her could give me that chance. Anyways, there was bigger fish to fry. The next day, they were moving the Mind of Ente. And I could be sure that they would attack and try to steal it. So I couldn’t be distracted. There was also a chance that my father would show up, and boy, was I ready...or at least I hope so. After the first encounter with him, I was unsure of whether I could beat him, even if I used my entire arsenal. Guess I’ll find out soon.

Sleep came after a while. And once again I was in the temple. This time, my father wasn’t there, the while place was empty. Outside, I could hear the muted sounds of screams and explosions as the harbingers descended and laid waste to my home world. The temple shook with each explosion from time to time, but it was mostly calm. Then I saw her. My mother, still unblemished was at the far end just looking at me and smiling. I ran towards her.

“Mother!”, I heard myself scream as I ran towards her. It felt like an eternity running down that hallway with polished marble floors. She just stood there, smiling. When I was a few feet away from her, my father appeared from the shadows. Her smile faded and she said one word before she was dragged back into the shadows. “Run!”

All at once, harbingers dropped down and chased me. In that darkness , I saw the outline of white pearly teeth and glowing eyes. And it was getting closer, and closer, and closer. I panicked and screamed my annihilation spell. Nothing happened. I was still a little kid, I finally realised. So I did what any nine year old would have done. I ran, and I ran, but I couldn’t seem to leave that temple. My father’s eyes kept creeping closer at a steady pace, no matter how fast I ran. Then he started laughing. It started from behind me, them in front of me, right beside me, and soon it was everywhere, filling my ears, drilling into my core. That laugh will haunt me till the end of time.

Suddenly the scene shifted. I was floating in an abysmal space, I couldn’t even move. Darkness stretched out as far as I could see. I tried talking, but nothing came out of my mouth. Then I heard a voice, one that sounded like a million voices speaking at once in my head. I jolted, but still couldn’t move a bit.

“Hello child”, it said as a bright flash of light almost blinded me. I had to close my eyes for a bit to adjust to the light. When I finally opened my eyes, I gasped when I beheld the source of the voice. It looked like a supernova slowed down. It expanded slowly, but still never seemed to reach me. “Who...?” my voice trailed off as it hit me. The realization didn’t come to me of my own thought process, but as if someone else had forced the idea into my head and made me think of it. I felt my mouth move, although I wasn’t sure I was the one doing it and said a single name.

“Lord Ente? How...how is this possible?” He shouldn’t be able to even communicate with anything right now. His being was stretched out across an infinite multiverse. It was too much strain for him to even...wait...the Mind. Of course! “You understand. Now listen, I haven’t much time” His form seemed to glitch for a moment before continuing.

“Your father wants to destroy my Mind. If he succeeds, there will be nothing to power the shards any longer. The living Chaos, Zoi, will descend on all worlds without mercy and engulf it in madness. As he did yours.” He glitched again, more severely this time. “You will need the new shard bearer and the daughter of your former master. Keep them close.”

“Míriel? What does she have to do with this?”, I asked, confused. Why her? Of all people? Questions swirled around in my head, but no answers came. Ente was glitching sporadically now, his words became garbled, but i was still able to understand him. “She is special, just like her mother. Keep her close.” He said again with more stress. Special?

What did that mean? And Z’ara was special too? “Your questions will be answered in due time, but for now, you must make sure my mind isn’t destroyed or all is lost. He disappeared and then appeared again. “The fate of all worlds rests in your hands.” Another disappearance. Then he appeared for the last time. “Good luck”, he said and exploded.

I woke up in bed with a gasp. What I saw wasn’t a dream, at least part of it wasn’t. I checked my chronoscope. The next cycle was in the next three hours, human time. I wanted to go out now and grab M’gethir and force everything from those deceitful lips. I wanted closure and answers. But I remembered Lord Ente's words.

In due time...