Stavius added, “Well, Janus isn’t usually considered a hero, but I agree. Why do you think this is a clue for the one missing member of The Prophecy team?”
Janus grinned even broader and said, “Because Janus isn’t missing. He’s inside the cube.”
Janus quickly grabbed the stone carving, placed it on the ground, and transformed it into sand. Suddenly the group was staring at a transparent, crystal ball resting in a pile of dirt.
“Well, tickle my eyebrows! I would never have solved that riddle,” exclaimed Merlin.
“Tickle my eyebrows?” asked Janus.
“It’s an old expression,” Merlin replied with a dismissive wave of his hand. “I wonder who is inside.”
“Great question, Merl. Go ahead and charge it up, Stavius,” agreed Janus.
Stavius carefully carried the crystal ball over to the depression where Juice’s nest had sat. He transferred energy from the ground to the sphere until a shadowy figure appeared. The three humans and three dragons then found themselves staring at the ghostly image of a short, older woman with long, black hair, streaked with gray.
The group stared at each other for several long moments before the woman grinned and exclaimed, “Merlin! Is that really you? I never thought I’d see you again.”
Merlin was startled and replied, “I’m sorry, I don’t recall you. Are you sure that we have met?”
The woman smiled kindly and answered, “I suppose that you haven’t met me yet, but it doesn’t matter. My message is for Janus.”
The woman scanned the room until Janus gingerly raised his hand and introduced his friends.
“I’m Janus, and this is Stavius, Ops, Juice, Saiph, and Phaeote,” he explained, pointing toward each.
The woman appeared concerned and stated, “My message is for you alone, Janus. No one beyond your team of heroes and dragons should even know of my existence. Why are these two dragons, Juice and Pheaote, and this fellow Stavius here?”
Phaeote cleared her throat and explained, “My dear, I am the only one who should not be here. My great-grandson and his friend Stavius do not care to be called by their proper names, which are Betelgeuse and Mars. I will leave if you would like.”
“No,” interrupted Merlin. “Phaeote is an old and trusted friend of mine. I will vouch for her.”
“Very well, but much of what I need to share is intended only for Janus,” the woman skeptically agreed. “But, where is this cave in which we are standing?”
Janus answered, “Right now, we’re standing in Juice’s cave just outside of Septumcolis. But anything you say to me can be said to my friends. We trust each other with our lives both here and back on Earth. Now, who are you?”
Janus’ reply shocked the woman. Her eyes widened, and she exclaimed, “We’re near the ancient city of Septumcolis!? Great gods, Saturn would have killed to have been here!”
Then she looked closely at Janus and marveled, “Then your visitors must be from Cincinnatus in the old Unified American States and lived around 390BE! This is incredible!”
Stavius, Ops, and Janus were dumbfounded.
Janus began to say, “We’re from Cincinnati, Ohio, in the United States of America, and the year is twenty…”
Ops interrupted him with a scowl. She was uncomfortable sharing too much information with this unknown woman. She finished his sentence, “Our visitors live in the twenty-first century. But I must insist that you tell us who you are and what 390BE means?”
The woman smiled and said, “Of course. You must be confused. I was so excited to learn where and when we are that I forgot you wouldn’t understand my calendar. My name is Janus, but you may call me Jissika, which is my visitor’s name. I also find the repeating conjoined names confusing.
“BE stands for Before the End. 390BE is three-hundred-ninety years before the end of the world. I was born in 839PA, which is 839 years post-apocalypse, or about, um, the year 3175 in your system. You wouldn’t know that, of course, since your world hasn’t ended yet. But this means that you are from near the end of the previous cycle. You are probably the last chance to fulfill The Prophecy!”
“So, Stavius was right about the 1,237-year cycle. And Louis Janus was right about The Prophecy being instructions from God. It really is a message from the future of an alternate reality to bring miracles to save the Earth!” exclaimed Janus.
Stavius added, “And, you must be from Edmonton, Alberta, up in Canada.”
Jissika exclaimed, “Wow! I am impressed that you figured out about the cycle time and locations. You are very close to the truth, but your conclusions are not quite right. Edmonton is my home, although the terms Alberta and Canadia have only been seen in History books for many generations. Also, the cycles are 1,231 years long, and the concepts of gods and devils disappeared centuries before I was born. But Louis Janus was right. The desire to fulfill The Prophecy is being broadcast from sometime in the future. And, it is being sent by someone obsessed with prime numbers, especially the number seven.
“1,231 is a prime number whose digits add to seven. It’s just one more clue to fulfilling The Prophecy. Oh, and this is not an alternative reality, although that is a cute way of describing temporal variants. We are standing on the same planet in which your visitors live. However, we are roughly 12,000 years in their future.”
Jissika paused to let her audience consider her remarks. She seemed willing to talk about History and Prophetic Theory, as she called it, but unwilling to discuss The Prophecy itself with anyone other than Janus. They did have many questions about being 12,000 years in the future, though. So, Jissika sighed and gave them a quick remedial lesson in temporal physics. She claimed it was a high-school level subject in her time.
The famous mathematician and physicist, Ajit Akshayakumaar, developed and proved the Law of Temporal Balance and proposed his corollary Theory of Temporal Dominance. His Law of Temporal Balance states that every system must contain a matching number of physical and temporal dimensions. And the Theory of Temporal Dominance says that there can only be one physical/temporal pair for every viable reality.
Jissika sighed at their blank expressions. She muttered something about how even second-graders understood this much before making a second attempt. She placed a rock on the ground and explained some background, in an annoyingly child-like tone.
“We exist in a three-dimensional physical world, consisting of up and down, right and left, forward and back.”
She moved the rock, symbolizing our world as she spoke.
“And we also live in a one-dimensional temporal world, consisting of time flowing from the past into the future. One-dimensional systems are a unique case because objects within them can either move in one direction or not at all. Imagine a busy one-lane road. Every vehicle must travel forward, in the same direction, at the same speed. Everything will come to a halt if one person stops or tries to go in reverse. Right?”
Jissika had placed a row of rocks in a line and was gently pushing them. They all, of course, moved in the same direction at the same speed.
“So, we live in a reality consisting of three physical dimensions and one temporal dimension moving at a fixed pace through time. This is called a 3-1 universe.
“However, according to Dr. Ajit’s Law of Temporal Balance, two other temporal dimensions must also exist. Therefore, if we could break out of our one-dimensional mindset, we could get around this single-lane, single-direction, temporal traffic jam. We would just need to figure out how to go right or left or up or down in time. In fact, we could even return back to an earlier time.”
Stavius excitedly interjected, “So, you’re saying that you’ve discovered time travel? You know how to send someone to the future or the past?”
Jissika laughed and said, “No, of course not. Neither mass nor energy can be transmitted from one universe or time to another. I see that your Mars is as clueless as ours, Janus. However, he is correct in that someone has obviously learned how to transmit information across our t
emporal dimension. Their signal drives people’s desire to build talismans, worship the number seven, and, in the case of heroes, sweep our consciousnesses 12,000 years into the future.”
Stavius replied, “I don’t understand, but right now, I don’t care, Jissika. Let’s say I just accept your statement that some sort of information is being broadcast from the future. I want to know why it is being sent backward in time.”
Janus answered, “Well, that’s easy. Jissika mentioned the apocalypse. They’re trying to get the information back early enough to prevent the end of the world. What I don’t get is why they need us. Why go to all this trouble to create a prophecy, instill the desire to build talismans, and transfer people’s minds into the future? Why not just broadcast the information needed to generate magic back into the past?”
Ops guessed that answer. “They need us to boost the signal strength. They evidently can’t send a sufficiently strong signal far enough back to prevent this apocalypse.”
Jissika stared at these people with newfound respect. “I apologize for underestimating your intelligence. I never expected a primitive people from more than a thousand years ago to be able to understand so much.”
Stavius and Janus glanced at each other and thought that was the most insulting apology they had ever heard.
Jissika continued, “You are correct that magic is simply another form of energy structured by new information. It is manipulated by your thoughts, which also contain information. Ops is also right in her conclusion that your role is to boost the signal.
“Influencing thoughts does not require much power, but sending a signal to revise physics on a planetary basis requires significant effort. Sending such a powerful signal over ten thousand years into the past would overpower the space-time matrix if it were even possible. Whoever is sending this wants to save the world, not to provide a different way to destroy it.”
Stavius suddenly had a terrifying thought and felt a chill ripple through his body.
“But, if we change something back in Cincinnati, won’t it have an effect here? I mean, even now, just knowing all this might have altered our future. If we succeed in bringing magic back home and preventing the apocalypse, then this future world will never exist. Staven and the others will never be born, and we will never travel here. If we succeed, we will destroy Mearth and everyone in it!”
Stavius’ voice rose as he spoke until he was almost shrieking and nearly crying by the end.
Janus was now also shaking and extended Stavius’ interpretation. “But you probably wouldn’t ever be born to be here to help us. Since you’re here, it proves that we fail. Everything is hopeless!”
Jissika could sense the crushing fear in everyone in the cave and quickly interjected, “I assure you that is not the way it works. I understand why you would come to that conclusion with your limited, primitive education. However, I promise that whatever you do will not destroy this world and that my presence does not indicate your impending failure.”
They were not convinced, so she took a deep breath and continued, “Let me try to explain in terms you might understand.
“You are used to thinking of time moving in one direction in one dimension. Your model dramatically simplifies the concept of cause and effect and works well in a human scale for most of your daily needs. It only breaks down at extremes, much like other physics concepts. Gravity makes sense on Earth. However, its ability to generate waves across vast voids in space to interconnect the universe will baffle your scientists. They will imagine ether, dark matter, and string theories involving a multitude of physical dimensions. Likewise, speed and distance calculations work fine at human speeds, but not at velocities approaching the speed of light where time dilation becomes significant.
“Your civilization clearly hasn’t reached the point where you begin to see dimensional anomalies. Eventually, you will begin to observe inexplicable behaviors at the subatomic level. You will develop the capability to observe the fundamental building blocks of matter and energy, and conventional physics will not be able to explain their behavior. Quantum particles will sometimes behave in unpredictable manners. They might appear to be in multiple places at once, or disappear and reappear elsewhere, or be entangled with other particles halfway across the galaxy. This will confound scientists for years until they begin to develop theories regarding multiple temporal dimensions. These primitive theories will be wrong, but will lay the groundwork for Dr. Ajit’s work by creating the field of temporal physics.”
She could tell that no one was following her explanation, so she tried again.
“All right, just accept my assertion that we aren’t entirely trapped in a one-dimensional timeline. You are right that you have already slightly changed your previous future by coming here and by meeting me. You are also right that the change is negligible so far, but that bringing magic back in time will be more significant. You are also correct that you will alter the path of your timeline if you succeed in fulfilling The Prophecy.
“This version of Earth will not exist in your future; however, you simply altered your timeline’s path. You didn’t destroy this one. Everything and everyone who exists here now will continue to exist and move along this timeline. You will have simply created an additional path for our world.”
Ops asked, “But, how are you here? If what you are claiming is true, then every time we alter our timeline, we should come back to a different future. Mearth should be different every time we return.”
Jissika smiled a patient grin, much like a parent speaking to a young child. “I can see how you would come to that conclusion, but no, your assertation is incorrect. Information becomes linked once it passes between timelines. You are each temporally entangled with this place and time. Not only will this version of Earth continue unchanged, but you will also keep returning to it as long as your linkage is intact. The only way you will be able to see your altered future is to live through it one moment at a time linearly.
“Hence, you are correct that I might never be born in your altered timeline, should you succeed. However, you are permanently entangled with this timeline, where the world collapsed, and I was born, which will remain intact no matter how your timeline changes.
“I have shared enough with your team, though. The rest of what I have to say is only for Janus. The two of us should quickly return to the talismans you have acquired and locate a private place to work, which is secure both here and in your time.”
Janus was not sure he completely understood Jissika’s explanation, but he felt a bit better. He did have a personal question for her, though.
He asked, “Jissika, you’re a woman, and Janus is supposed to be a guy. Is this gender mismatching common?”
Jissika smiled at Janus and asked the group, “How much do you know about Roman mythology?”
Stavius’ and Janus’ blank stares answered her question, so she gave a brief overview.
“I’m sure you know that Mars was the god of war and that Venus was the goddess of love. Luna was the Roman goddess of the moon, and Terra was the goddess of the Earth. Terra was considered the mother of all life.
“Saturn, Ops, and Janus were also Roman gods. Saturn was the god of wealth, renewal, and time and Ops was his wife. Janus was the god of beginnings and transitions. January was named after him to signify the shift from one year to the beginning of the next.
“Janus was often depicted with two or more faces. He could look into the future and the past, and even from one universe to another. It should, therefore, not surprise you that our Janus is sometimes a boy, sometimes a girl, and sometimes both. But now I must insist that we depart to begin our preparations.”
Chapter 25
Prophetic Understanding
April 2, Earth
Man, a lot is going on. Our team on Mearth is split up and working on different parts of the battle plan. The girls are training the Lachians. Saturn and Janus are doing something with Jissika, Merlin, and the talismans back at the training
cave. Ops and I are in Septumcolis doing spy stuff and trying to teach me to teleport. Let’s just say that the last part isn’t working so well yet, and our whole visit to Septumcolis is surreal.
I’ve seen Raquel a few times since I’ve been back here on Earth, but I haven’t seen Shon at all, and she seems to be acting strangely. She’s been skipping school, not returning my calls, or even my texts. Oh well, I’ll find out what’s going on tonight. The whole gang is meeting at Club S&M to share our stories. There are no phones on Mearth, so this is the only way we can communicate. I wish we could do it more frequently, but our ability to know what is going on miles away on Mearth still blows the Lachians’ minds.
✽✽✽
Shon hadn’t arrived at the meeting, and I was beginning to get worried, but Ms. Datta assured us that our friend was just running late and suggested we get started. Nancy and Veronica wanted to go first, which was fine by me. I wasn’t looking forward to sharing my Mearth experiences.
Nariana and Versera have been working with General Jairmee and our old trainer, Bor, who is now going by the name General Bor. They have amassed over a thousand soldiers into a powerful army, which will join us to attack Septumcolis on the spring equinox.
Nancy became super excited about a new, secret weapon. She said that Janus and Granny had stopped by the Lachian village on the way back to the training valley and trained General Bor with a new skill. Granny and Janus taught him how to share dragon experiences. Bor is a natural at it and can already simultaneously see through three dragons’ eyes. He will have an illusion-free, aerial view of the battlefield with the ability to coordinate the dragons’ attacks.
Veronica interrupted to demonstrate a scene using her hands to represent two dragons flying in the sky. She brought them in from two directions while Nancy swooped a third in to blast an imaginary castle. Malik and I couldn’t help laughing when the two girls made sounds like “kerploosh” and “boom” as their imaginary dragons bombarded the castle. Us guys could easily picture ourselves making the same noises. Still, we found stylish Veronica and Nancy acting this way hysterical.
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