NOVEL WEB Issue 232: Hidden Smiles
Issue 12: Hidden Smiles
Unknown Arcane Order Power Source Detected. Prepare for Ark Segment Extraction!—Lone Ranger AI
Every step is already plotted. Every thread accounted for, we only follow the will of the Highest. In his light, we are renewed. Have faith. The world began in glory. It will not end in fire. The Arbiter has passed down the touch to endure.—On Convergence: 42nd Century Memoirs
I didn’t let it show on my face. I didn’t want to leave anyone near Hilary. The abuse buried within J’anu terrified me. If that’s how they’d treat their allies? Then my friends would be unrecognizable after such “mercies.” The Urradens are filled with the fallen essence of Unity but even then? I didn’t want their souls forever damned. A spark awakened within J’anu. Did it make her a good person? No. That is why she serves as a jailer. –Sleeping in Starlight: Observations on The Vigil.
The Dread Wastes (Eternal Empire)
Arcane Battle Hauler Lone Ranger
T-Minus 4 hrs
J’ino noted, “Surprised that Dragon hasn’t found us yet.”
Thomas rose from behind the targeting console. Three green gems in his hands. He placed each within the widening half circle that represented the bridge. General Murphy replied, “Keeping Ranger on a low powered drift is helping us immensely.”
As if on cue the sensors trilled softly.
An image of the Living Stone dragon flitted across their outer range.
J’ino leaned against the sensor array. She whispered, “That’s only the tip of its wings!” Thomas replied, “Yes. It ate the Dyson sphere for fuel. It’s not getting ready for us. Ranger! Go to the final phase. Bring the Ark segment into the inner holds.”
Thomas held back. It would use all the corpses that floated about the Wastes as extra eyes. All of them were locked on a particular vector of space. The Arbiter’s message on his H.U.D troubled him.
//You will have to let me go. With J’anu Urraden. It is the only way to save Mary. Mom will forgive you. Because it will be my choice. To save the rest of you.//
Thomas shoved the message to the back of his mind. He had to be ready.
“Ranger, maneuver us to sector 12 on the grid. An old Eternal Empire Flagship is there. We will make off with its weapons.”
J’ino said, “I also picked up old fleet fighters about 2 clicks from that bulk. Robo brains.”
Thomas smiled, “Excellent!” He turned to hide his frown as another delayed update hit the Arcane Net. Nothing from this point on would be easy. //I know it’s asking a lot but you wanted to know what would happen if I didn’t go along this path? We would lose. Unity doesn’t believe in the resurrection. I have to do this to protect the past cycle souls that made it through Eden’s Ouroboros. You and mom are a part of those souls. It's why you were able to have us.//
Thomas Murphy stared out into the expanse of twisted metal and bodies.
This is what the multiverse would suffer if they didn’t succeed. They had to. To keep the loop closed. Many referenced it as the Golden Path. The High Path. The Path of Ancients. The stories conflicted. Just the way Noah wanted it. Gentle hands wrapped around his waist. J’ino said, “You don’t have to say anything. Trouble is heading this way.”
Thomas replied, “We shall rise to meet it.”
*****
Augustus trotted towards the cargo bay. He entered Noah’s Segment. His paws clicked on hardened silver wood. Noah’s spirit appeared before him. “This way. Place the Crystal Coffin within the Matrix of Creation. The segment will do the rest.”
The corgi’s collar floated towards the triangled opening. A soft melody filled the room as the spherical object, Matarns old Learning Sphere, melded with the divine patterns within the Ark.
//So enthroned. The body shall be preserved. The spirit shall fly. First to the realm of the Unbelieving. The shroud that encompasses all Evil. The first death shall hide the mind. The second shall hide the Body. The third will test the Soul.//
Noah tugged at his silver beard. His blue eyes darkened, “The Convergence of the Three. So that the vessel may be purified for the Ending Light. The Vigil that will encompass ages.”
Auggie knew he wouldn’t live long enough under normal circumstances. But the Highest rarely delt in normal. It was the souls of the first cycle of creation that needed to be cleansed from the Shattering. Thus Eliza was made. Alongside her brother. They would bring the reckoning. The final thread unraveled. He had been known as Argos within the old lands. The vibrant scents of nature. The calming rivers. The songs of birds. No evil had dwelled there. Not until Lucifer. The great Binding of the Amarche.
For they had turned from the Light. Not into True Darkness. Not like the 8. Lucifer may have escaped Unity’s reach but another had been made. In secret. Auggie’s brown eyes locked onto the silver crescent that lowered itself into the chamber. Noah said, “Remember brother. The truth of your mission. Cerberus shall remain with you. Always.”
The J’kua Learning Sphere rematerialized within the physical world. Auggie held his head high as the collar reformed around his neck. The electric thrill of the divine made his fur stand on end. It had been far too long since he felt the thrill. That part of him that was tied to the First of Firsts. He had always helped the Arbiter. No matter who wore the mantle. Noah had been the first. Entrusted with the Living Will of the Highest.
Elysium
The Library of All-Knowledge
Age of Creation
Argos circled the Thronebearer, <
Her brown hair was pulled back in a half knot at the top. The woman in white next to her wore unfamiliar clothing. Her hair was as dark as a sunless plain. Cerberus grinned, <
Eliza Murphy reached up to scratch Auggie’s chin. No longer a corgi. No, this was his true self. Of the first cycle. One of the souls they would save.
She shook her head. Smiled tenderly, “You will help more than you know my friend.”
His gargantuan tail whipped up a whirlwind within the library, <
Leather-bound tomes danced around the collective Bardaxian Shard Bearer brothers.
Eliza replied, “Nearly. I have one more test to face before the end.”
Argos perceived the truth of it. “Mind and Body purified. All will be well.”
*****
Auggie froze. Every muscle tensed. <
The tan triangular ears drooped, <
Noah said, “That is why the Vigil will remain. But all is not lost. The Highest’s Light shall pierce the darkness! From the ashes of the Shattering, the Arbiter of Elysium will rise. To guide the next generation.”
Auggie sat. His ears plastered to his head. <
Noah knelt. His ghostly fingers were mere centimeters from the corgi’s raised scruff. He channeled what fortitude he could to the bereaved K-9. “Eliza continues to bear the burden. She is not alone. Others will walk with her. No matter the time and place.”
The fragrant scent of white lilies flooded the room.
Agustus stood. Shook himself. His ears pricked forward. Ranger’s blatant Texan accent announced, <
A lupine form that conjured the ancient past.
Its white coat flowed like moonlight on silver waters.
He would have to leave soon.
It was the only way to bring Eliza back to Eden. He would not fail.
*****
The Howling paced. Nearly there.
His orange eyes peered up into the ether. The Weave around him warped. Color brightened. Enough that the Morrigan took notice. She asked Gwen, “What does your Weave Sight say?”
Gwen replied, “Upon three heads rests three crowns. Each song slumbers. Awaiting the call of Dawn.” Her copper gaze homed in on the Howling. “For each of these heads? One shall inherit the Throne of the Sea. One the Melody of the Soul. The final shall rest in the Ashes of All. Rebirth echoes upon the Stones of the Forgotten.”
Morrigan frowned, “Three heads, wasn’t that a myth?”
The Howling replied, “Cerberus guarded the Underworld. It is not always a realm of death. But that which blooms eternal.” Gwen dipped her head in prayer. Gripped the holy book hard enough that her knuckles whitened.
Arthur’s voice rose, a haunting melody on his lips, “We ride for world’s end, atop a pillar of stone and fire, to redeem those souls lost to the annals of time.”
All were within the Ouro. Souls bound across time and space. The Howling would be with his brother soon. When the Ark was reunited with its mind, body, and soul? Convergence would truly be upon them all. Eliza would pilot it into the nebulous void of Unity. The Arcane Order had lie upon lie sowed into the fabric of myth. Unity had its seers. Fell beasts like the White Owls who feasted upon the bones of the first Cycle. The only way to save those star forged wanderers was to transplant them into a new world.
Eden. It was why its magics were potent.
Its hymns channeled the divine.
Its people were made whole.
Unity had depleted Elysium. But it had not yet faded. Its soul resided within Eden.
When the final horn sounded within the Slumbering the Truth would burn bright.
*****
Sweat dripped onto the deck plating. Eddie knew. Viper was staring.
That same glint of doubt within the villain’s eyes. He knew they were false. He just didn’t know who was at the tender mercies of the Void. White beams of light burst forth from the crystalline pyramid. Eddie blinked.
Eliza had the controls in a death grip, “Hang on!” Her shout shocked him. Her voice was frayed. He eyed her cape. It was torn at the edges! How long had she been in here?! It had only been moments from his perspective.
Mary called out, “What madness?!”
Q’vera glanced up quickly. Noting that their disguises hadn’t been dissolved by this sudden teleportation.
*****
Lorain savored the glee turned to outraged consternation on Hilary’s features as the white light carried all the Edenites into the wake of the Lure. She couldn’t give away her mother’s identity. J’anu was aboard. Mary signed to her daughter.
//Phase 2. Get a bit of J’anu’s blood. You will need it to board the Dyson sphere that the Dragon devoured.//
*****
J’anu knew this sector of space. She glared at the Banner, “Fool. This is where Unity first appeared in our Universe! WHAT FOLLY!” She reared back to throw a punch at Star. Then toppled over as her nervous system refused to respond. She shouted, “You will all die here. That is Z’ahramdus. The World Eater. All who enter here become a part of its hive!”
Eliza replied, “Not today.”
Lorain gasped. One of Eliza’s eyes was the normal black/gray combination. The other? Golden. J’anu gloated, “Fallen blood. Not so pure are you Ms. Girl Scout of America! How does it feel mongrel! To have the DNA of the Outcast. To have Thoth as an Uncle!”
*****
The man in the white tux nodded to me.
Say these words. For they are your birthright.
His features were obscured with gentle luminescence.
I responded to J’anu’s insult with one phrase, “As it was written, the two sundered Houses would unite. In that Union, the Blood of All remained.” I waited. For that one moment of clarity and continued, “Aunt.”
J’anu screamed one obscenity after another. Her face turned a dangerous shade of purple. I caught Lorain’s eye and motioned to the medical kit. Urraden croaked out, “We cannot escape.” I noted the tears rolling down her face. They were a cry of self-pity. Much like my first conversation with my future self.
I let the pain of that encounter flow over me.
There was a reason for my existence. Not just to protect.
To rejuvenate the splintered mirrors.
I didn’t know the whole tapestry.
I didn’t need to. The man in the brilliant white tux nodded.
All will be clear. One day. As the rites of the Three dominate. One must know themselves before they face the final call.
He spoke in the voice of my father. With a deep abiding love that bolstered my resolve.
Do not fire upon the Dragon. That is not the way. Seek the Truth that it denies.
The stars disappeared. I maneuvered the vessel into a deep ravine. At first, I thought it was a collection of asteroids.
My horror grew.
It was a single tooth of the Dragon.