by J E Mueller
“Oh, come on, don’t you love only knowing a third of the plan?” Danni mused.
“You both have been way too calm about not knowing what the hell is going on,” I replied, feeling frustrated at the mention of the topic.
Danni shrugged. “Answers aren’t always worth having.”
“I’ve worked past the rage stage, but now that you’re here and we’re actually getting somewhere, I might go back to it if there’s no information to be had,” Lliam replied honestly.
“I’m so with you on that part.” I sighed, hoping this wasn’t a waste of time. Then again, I was actively learning about part of my gift, so it wasn’t a complete waste.
“Why are we taking the long way?” Lliam asked Danni.
“So Tella could get a feel for this realm and take in the sights,” Danni replied.
“There’s a quicker way?” I asked, surprised.
Danni sighed but nodded. “Yes, spirits really aren’t bound by the standard forms of traveling. You can hone in on a signature and will yourself to that location.”
“That’s pretty nifty,” I replied. It was more than that. It was exciting. Getting around in this form could be a breeze, though I was sure there had to be some drawbacks somewhere along the way. Still, the excitement made me feel giddy. “Let’s do that. I want to see how it works!”
“No one respects walking to their destination anymore,” Danni grumbled. “Take my hand.”
I took her outstretched hand and was about to ask how this even worked when everything around me swirled and swept past me. Suddenly, I was directly in front of someone new with Danni and Lliam on either side. It took a moment for everything to stop feeling weird. Any sudden feeling was weird in this form.
Instead of concentrating on me, the person looked toward Danni. “It’s been some time, dear.”
Danni nodded. “That it has. It’s good to see you though.”
“I heard you stopped working with Leta,” the person stated. She brushed her curly black hair off her shoulders and took a step toward Danni.
“I did. Leta is having a hard time accepting the current circumstances. I’ve no idea how to help with this matter and thought it best I leave her here,” Danni replied without hesitating.
“Having a spirit guide to aid you is always a good idea,” the woman replied.
Danni seemed ready for this. “Having a stable guide is a great idea. However, recently, I’ve been electing to use various Blessed spirits. They want a chance to fight against the demons, and this is one way I can help them do so. Leta has been bitter. You know well she was considering crossing just before this all went down-hill. She feels restricted now. As if there is no choice, because there is none.” Dani held her head high. “I don’t want to have an old friend turning on me. Until recently, I had no way of even combating that possibility.”
Dani decided to move away from the topic. “Mist, I’d like you to formally meet Tella. I know Lliam has mentioned her as well as Kegan.”
I stared at Dani, surprised. “Kegan doesn't have this gift, though…”
Mist smiled kindly at me. “That is true. She does not, but I wouldn’t say she’s entirely human.”
I blinked in surprise. “What do you mean?” This was a tough realization to take in.
“Kegan and I have been friends through many lifetimes. Her true nature is hard to explain, and it’s truly best left up to her. However, several years ago, she mentioned you and your gifts. She didn’t think you were quite ready to learn so I left some things behind for you for when the time was right.”
Mist waved away the topic. “I hadn’t expected things to actually take a turn for the worse for me. Never had I expected the demons to actually disrupt the balance and move toward taking over everything. Sure, many of them would grow incredibly strong before this set of worlds was destroyed, but they don’t even remember how to leave. Finding other realms is difficult. Creating and maintaining new realms is even more difficult.
“But, that is why you are here now. You want to know more about your gifts and how to stop this from continuing. Teaching you about your gifts is easy. None of the rest will provide answers you like.” Mist watched me carefully for a reaction.
“That sounds exactly like what I was expecting to hear,” I admitted. “So, let’s get into it then. What’s the worst of it?”
Mist nodded toward Lliam and Danni. “Leave us, we have much to discuss.”
Lliam snorted. “You can’t be serious. We finally have a chance to get answers and you expect us to leave?”
Mist nodded firmly. “I’m certain Tella will be more than willing to relate these answers to you later, but some things involve only her and she may decide to keep those parts to herself. You must respect that.”
Dani nodded, understanding. “Will you help her get back or call me?”
“I will do one or the other, yes,” Mist replied.
“Fine,” Lliam grumbled. “Good luck, kid.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “I’ve got this.” I hoped.
Dani grabbed Lliam’s shoulder and they were gone. I could only hope that the answers were going to be worth whatever cost was implied.
18
Mist wasted no time. The second they had vanished from sight she began to speak. “To start, I should explain what I already know about you,” Mist said, conjuring up some chairs for us to sit in.
This spirit realm magic was weird, but I accepted a seat anyway. Now wasn’t the time to get caught up on random summoning. “Okay, what do you know about me?”
“Kegan met you when you were traveling with Key. Your aunt was captured by demons. This is not a normal occurrence, but thankfully it was quickly taken care of. However, word reached me about your gifts. Kegan was also worried about the disruption in the balance on the demon side.” Mist sighed and looked off into the distance as she continued. “Demons don’t try that usually without coaxing. Someone had given these lesser monsters the idea, and by the time we discovered who, he was vanquished. We thought the problem was solved, but the one vanquished had already started a grander scheme and had someone under his wing to continue with his goal. Someone you never met, but someone you still know.”
My heart quickly picked up its pace, I had a feeling I knew where this was going. “It all revolves around that day, doesn’t it?”
“Indeed.” She nodded, meeting my eyes once more.
I thought about it and knew what the answer was. “So, the Mad King truly lived up to his title, even in death. He truly wanted to conquer it all. Opening the gates and casting him as a demon actually gave him the possibility of moving between realms to accomplish greater goals. He was truly corrupt through and through.” I paused, letting the words hang in the air. “And he found someone just as corrupt as him to take on this mission?”
“Yes.” Mist nodded simply.
“And I take it they are still around,” I half asked, half groaned.
“Naturally,” Mist agreed.
“Do they also have an apprentice?” I didn’t know if I wanted the answer.
“Not that we know of,” Mist replied. “Marella’s become much more limited in her resources since recent events. They all know she is actively not on their side.”
I took note of how she phrased that. “Then whose side is she on?”
“The balance,” Mist replied. “She’ll do what she must to see it restored. After that, it’s hard to say. I respect that though. She has allies on both sides and has done everything to keep this realm alive since the incident.”
“The incident?” I asked, curious to know what happened.
“That’s for her to explain,” Mist said without emotion.
“While I can respect everyone keeping each other's secrets, it’s getting pretty annoying,” I grumbled. “Fine, okay. So now what? The Mad King with his power-hungry soul started a terrible turn of power and upset the balance of this realm. Hopefully his soul can learn from this.”
“When we can fix the gates I’m sure
it can,” Mist replied.
“Don’t tell me that means what I think it means,” I said, feeling the horror creep up on me.
“Most souls, once vanquished will be returned to the gate. I see them on their way. Of course some souls are still desperate enough to forge their own way. His managed to be one of those few to find his way out of the spirit realm. He had no power but gave my team a three year run around. Souls don’t need rest, so he was able to keep his distance.”
“Just in time for the gates to be crushed,” I finished, knowing that was the end.
“His soul is now trapped. The Blessed aren’t completely without their gifts, so we’ve used their talents to imprison him here until we can fix this matter.” Mist answered.
“How did you trap him here?” This could be useful.
“Do you remember how Blessed can keep demons away?” Mist asked instead.
I nodded. “There’s a special barrier. It’s not perfect but it works well.”
Mist seemed satisfied with my response and continued, “Here, as spirits, they can do something similar. They can set a field and keep others from seeing them, or if one is in the middle, it can trap them from getting out.”
“But it’s not perfect on the human side,” I replied. “Is it somehow perfected here?”
“In a way, yes. The only issue is making sure those Blessed are not disrupted. With the steady overflow of souls, that is getting harder.”
“So, we need to fix the gates before the overflow gets to be too much.” I nodded, already knowing this needed to be done sooner rather than later.
“We can’t just fix them.”
“What?” I asked in surprise. It took me a second to realize I had jumped out of my chair. Torn between pacing and standing awkwardly, I finally decided to sit back down. “What do you mean by that?”
“The physical gate is fully within your power to fix,” Mist continued, “I can easily instruct you how to do this. However, the one here is missing too many key components to be repaired.”
“What are they missing? Surely there’s got to be a way.” I would not have been brought here if it was a lost cause.
“A being from both sides with enough power wouldn’t be too hard to get. The right material wouldn’t be too hard to get. The right soul to seal the deal is where the problem lies.”
Aw, fuck. There was no way this was going to be a pleasant conversation anymore. “What is ‘the right soul’?”
“It would have to be a soul that could represent all forms of beings. Ideally a twin soul, one with one outside appearance but inhabiting a different inner form.”
“Are there any like that currently here that may be willing to go to a greater cause?” I asked. There was no way I could sacrifice a person, but if they were already dead and willing to help, that might be a different story. Might. Even then I still hated this idea.
“It would need to be a fresh death on the outer gate.” Mist shook her head.
“The founders for this were really messed up. Do we have any other options?” I asked. Forget this, I would make another way. Somehow.
Mist nodded. “There are always other options; however, that being said they may not work. Sadly, time is of the essence. This current way of doing things took many years, almost a decade to make work. We don’t have that long.”
“What do I need to know to look at different options?” I insisted.
Mist sighed and walked over to me. “This realm is one of many.” Lightly, she pressed the palm of her hand to my forehead. The room vanished from sight, instead all I could see was darkness and stars.
She continued. “There are many planets in this realm that are very similar to ours. All the spirits in it are connected to this land.” The image shifted and zoomed out even further. Now I could see the cosmos. Planets, meteors, and things I couldn’t comprehend all orbiting around their own star. “While it looks all connected, these are different realms. One cannot reach the other without special means. Each has their own galaxy, their own reality. They were formed long ago by the Creators. No one has come across a Creator in centuries. Either they are all gone, or their powers lie stagnant in other beings.
“We don’t have the power to create something from nothing. We can try to manipulate the forces around us, hoping they bend and work for us. There is nothing more in our power, but that is already a great power to have.” She removed her hand and the world turned back to how it was before. I blinked a few times to adjust back to normal - as normal as the spirit realm was, anyway.
I saw the one flaw in what she was saying. “Wasn’t this realm created from nothing?”
She paused in her walk back to her chair. After a moment she regarded me carefully. “I do believe you are the first in a long time to realize this.” For a moment she twirled her hair as she thought. “There was a Creator who made this realm. They didn’t give us the keys to access it, just a list of possibilities.”
“How do you know all these small details?” I asked curiously.
“As Keeper of the Gate, I was able to unravel all my past lives. I’ve always ended up as Keeper. It’s my fate, if you believe that sort of thing.” Mist rolled her eyes at her own words. “Still, time and again, it has proven true. I end up here, and you take over for me.”
“What?” No, I didn’t want a part of this. Forget it. “I don’t want to be taking over something like this.”
“I will admit, it’s not ideal pushing you into this role when you are so new to your gifts, but I believe once you can see your past you’ll understand again. You’ll see why this plan, though not pleasant, is the quickest. The best. We need to act soon, if not now.” The urgency in her voice was impossible to ignore.
Inwardly, I groaned. There was no way I was just going to ask someone to be a martyr when we might have more options. I did have an idea, though. “Okay, this is a lot to process. I will take you up on learning whatever past there is to learn. Maybe that’ll show me something different.”
“I don’t want you to get your hopes up, my dear. I’ve known your soul for too long, and know when you see there isn’t a better way, it will hurt you deeply,” Mist replied sadly.
Too late. My hopes were high that I could do this. Let me be crushed. “I guess we’ll see how this plays out.”
Mist looked off into the distance for a moment. “I’ve called a few helpers. This area cannot be left unguarded.”
This area didn’t look special at all. In fact, it looked almost exactly the same as the rest of the realm I had seen. There were just some floating chairs in the middle of silver-blue nothing. I wasn’t going to point that out though. Instead, I waited silently until three people appeared. Mist nodded her thanks, placed a hand on my shoulder, and off we went.
When the world stopped spinning the first thing I noticed was all the trees. It was clear we were far from the spirit realm but I had no idea where we were. The sun was shining brightly, and the leaves danced in a breeze I couldn’t feel. The forest around us wasn’t very dense and not too far away I could see a small hill. Cut into the hill was a small altar, more broken than not. While not knowing the exact location, I knew this must be the physical gate between realms.
Without prompting I made my way over to it. The magic that radiated off of it was barely noticeable. It felt like a mix of normal and spiritual magic with a hint of something I couldn’t describe. Likely from the combination of demon and Blessed magics. Maybe even the Creator? Who was to say? As I reached it, something within me screamed, a sense of deja vu. I knew I had never been here before, but Mist had said she knew me from other lives. Maybe there was something to that after all.
I was about to ask how this all worked when it slowly started coming to me. Feeling a strange compulsion, I tried to move the debris from the altar. Of course, it didn’t work. Frustrated, I looked at Mist.
“Is there any way of making this work without my human form?” I demanded.
“That would be too easy,” Mist shook
her head. “There is not.”
“Then how can I even do this? We’re trapped at Reawakening right now.” I didn’t even try to hide my frustration.
“There is a way out,” Mist said, walking slowly around the site. “It is, of course, dangerous the way things currently are, but it can be done.”
I waited for her to continue. Mist seemed to be taking in the surroundings. Had she been back here since things were destroyed?
“There’s no one here,” she finally said. “The demons have given up this spot now that their task here is complete. Foolish creatures.” She beamed. “Getting here is not hard. It’s just a mile away from Reawakening.” She pointed east. “An easy distraction should work…” Mist’s voice trailed off as she thought about something. “They seem to be watching your friend the most. They’d do anything to get at a Blessed. If she trains in a far enough location you may be able to get here without any issue. Though I’d see if Marella is willing to help. It never hurts to play it safe.”
I thought about what she said and where we were. Was it worth the risk? There weren’t too many options. Eventually, I’d have to make my way here regardless. A plan came to mind. It wasn’t too shabby, but getting Marella to help would be a nice backup.
“How does one get in contact with Marella?” I asked, working through the plan mentally.
“There is an altar dedicated to chaos. Most pray to be relieved of it. That would be the easiest way to reach her if no other knows her location,” Mist replied.
I wanted a better map of this area and considered walking back to Reawakening in this form when I remembered I could just float. Willing myself up and over the trees, I saw the path I would need to take. Another backup idea came to mind. Nodding to myself, I met with Mist on the ground once more.
“I guess things just weren’t meant to be easy, were they…” I said mostly to myself. Turning to Mist I added, “I’m ready to go back. I have some things to work on.”
“Don’t take too long,” Mist emphasised before taking hold of my shoulder.
