Chapter Seventeen
CHARLIE
Three agonizingly long, caffeine-fueled days passed since Casey’s birth, and Oberi and I hadn’t left the Hidden Legends Archives once.
We were determined to find a way to locate a time vortex and end the Warden’s existence, but it was an arduous task that was already taking its toll.
We passed out every night on the couches before rousing several hours later to continue our work.
I would’ve forgotten to eat if the Demigod Guardians weren’t bringing us food from the kitchens.
With their help tracking down promising records, and a new pair of reading glasses from Maverick, Oberi and I pored over endless tomes and files… and got nowhere.
I sat slumped over one of the tables with a huge book laid out in front of me, barely processing the hum of my glasses reading the passage.
I had to turn back a page to start over, and still, the words sounded like gibberish.
I shoved my fingers into my scalp and tugged on the strands, wanting to rip my hair out at this point.
Oberi noticed. We’re close, Charlie. I can feel it.
“You’ve been saying that for three days,” I growled.
We were alone in the Archives, since Takahashi had stepped out to get us lunch.
In a frustrated rage, I shot out of my chair, which caused a stack of books to topple off the table and crash to the ground.
I wished there was a punching bag around, but the only damn things in this room I could possibly take my rage out on were the books or support columns, and neither of those seemed like a good idea.
Instead, I pressed my palm to my forehead, where a tension headache had formed hours ago.
“You don’t get it. Every second I spend trying to find answers is time I have to spend away from Casey.
I missed the first three days of his life to do this, when I should have been there for him.
It feels fucking awful that I’m not, and on top of it, we haven’t found anything that will ensure my son will actually have a world to grow up in. ”
Oberi nudged his head against my leg. I understand how difficult this is. This is not how I wanted things to go, either, but we must persist. There are answers here somewhere. If you wish to visit Casey, we can take a break and I’ll accompany you to the NICU.
I sighed. “I just want to do the right thing for my son. At this point, I don’t know what that is. Let’s just… keep going.”
I knelt to pick up the stacks of books and loose papers that had scattered everywhere.
As I was gathering them, my glasses picked up on a passage and began reading.
“Legends of the mutabeecha indicate that their powers transcend all dimensions, allowing them to shape and manipulate reality as we know it.”
I came to an abrupt halt, and the paper shook in my hands. “Oberi… exactly how much do you know about time manipulation?”
Quite a lot, he boasted. I’ve told you that as a spiritual being I don’t see time as linear, but as happening all at once.
“Did you happen to know you could manipulate it?” I splayed the paper over the table, and Oberi hopped onto a chair to observe the records. “Is this how you knew about time vortexes— because you have this power?”
Oberi hesitated. I don’t understand. The knowledge I possess goes beyond this earthly realm, but I didn’t know I could manipulate the timeline myself. This can’t be right.
“Why not?” I pressed. “You’ve always been able to perceive time outside what the rest of us can. Even when Kallie went back in time and changed things, you were able to witness all those timelines at once. We know your perception is expanded to higher dimensions. Why not your powers, too?”
Because if I can do this, why don’t I remember how?
“It must be one of the things that’s blocked to you on this earthly plane, but if you went to the afterlife, maybe you could get that knowledge back,” I suggested. “What does the rest of the passage say?”
Oberi skimmed the document. It’s an ancient Elementai text detailing everything your people knew about mutabeecha, which isn’t much. It talks about shapeshifting, as well the concept of us being multi-dimensional beings.
“Does it mention time vortexes?”
Not specifically, but it’s coming back to me now… Oberi replied thoughtfully. I recall something… I remember peering into a time vortex while I was in the afterlife, surrounded by other mutabeecha.
“Can you summon a time vortex?”
Oberi hesitated. I’m… not sure I can in my current form.
If I do it wrong, I could get sucked into the time vortex, too.
I— I think it was a spell that all the mutabeecha had to do together.
I can’t get a clear understanding of these mechanisms while I’m in this earthly realm, but this has to be the answer.
“So you’re saying you can’t open a time vortex on your own?”
No, I don’t believe so. The other mutabeecha who reside in the afterlife know how to do it, because their memories haven’t been tampered with like mine. I cannot comprehend it. Not here, anyway.
“What if you go back to the afterlife? Will you get those memories back?” I pressed. “You can still travel between realms, can’t you?”
I can. Allow me a few minutes, and I’ll go speak to the other mutabeecha now.
Oberi jumped into the air, and I expected for him to disappear as he left our realm. Instead, he crashed to the ground and gave a whimper as he landed on his face. Oberi took a cautious step back.
Oberi’s tone wavered, causing my stomach to plummet out of my abdomen. Oh, Charlie. I fear the boundary between us and the spiritual realm is so broken, even I cannot cross it.
“You have to!” I cried. “You’ve always spoken about how you’re a higher being, free to move between the realms.”
I’m trying, but I can’t anymore. The Warden has ruined everything so badly that I’m stuck here, just like all the other spirits who’ve been unable to cross.
In normal circumstances, I could make this journey, but with the connection to the afterlife broken, even a spiritual being like me could get caught in the in-between.
There has to be another way… some connection that remains that I'm not seeing.
“How’s that possible if the boundary is broken?”
We've always looked at the boundary as a gate that has closed, and it is, but it's a bit like a bridge, too. At first, it was only crumbling, and though crossing over was difficult, it was still possible. The main entrance closed when the Warden brought the dark gods to Earth, and spirits have been unable to cross over since, but other entrances like the Elven Gate remained. This is how Ava’s ancestors were able to show up through her compass when you were in the hospital, and how the Elven goddesses sent Ava visions during her initiation as Holy Mother.
There are pieces of the afterlife still holding on even if the gates for souls are closed.
“The war in the Blessed Haven between the gods has grown,” I pointed out. “Things have only gotten worse.”
Yes, but there are powers that remain, and influences at play.
There's still some connection there. Otherwise, the realms would cease to stand, Oberi said. If we look at the divide between our realms as a river, you can imagine this bridge as the main crossing point between them, wide enough to allow passage of thousands of souls at one time. The crowd can’t pass through anymore, but we may be able to find another place along the divide, somewhere downstream, where the water flows more smoothly or the rocks are prevalent enough to provide passage for just a few souls at a time.
I know there have to be other crossings, because the Warden’s using them to get back and forth from the Blessed Haven to Earth.
It’s how he showed up outside our shield after walking through the Elven Gate.
“Then we have to find one of these crossings,” I insisted.
It is our only option, Oberi agreed. This spell to summon a time vortex is going to take all the mutabeecha, so I must travel to them and request their assistance. And Charlie… if we can do this, we may still have a chance to fulfill your prophecy.
“My prophecy was finished when I chose the world over Ava on that beach,” I stated bitterly. I didn’t know why he was bringing this up.
Not that prophecy. I’m speaking of the one that came from the Elves. Oberi recited the prophecy we’d learned of when we arrived in Forevermore. The emperor’s legacy will return, and bring light to a new dawn.
“We always thought that referred to me leading the Elves through the Elven Gate, to their true Forevermore,” I mused. “But if we can reach the mutabeecha…”
They might know of another way to repair the broken boundary.
The wisdom of the mutabeecha is immense.
They are the companions of the Great Spirit, after all.
They would know how to open a time vortex to destroy the Warden and potentially have knowledge of how to repair the broken boundary.
Then you can still lead the Elves to the Blessed Haven, and prevent the fall of all supernatural kind, Oberi finished for me.
I couldn’t believe what we were talking about. It sounded impossible, but we’d faced the impossible before. We could still save everyone’s soul. If there was even a chance of accomplishing what Oberi was talking about, we had to try it. “Where do we start?”
I don’t know, but we may know others who do. We must summon a meeting between all our allies and see what the other races know. There’s a chance one of them knows a back-door way into their afterlife, so we can use it to wander through the Blessed Haven and find the mutabeecha.
I snatched the record up from the table just as Takahashi entered the room.
He hesitated, clearly noticing the mess on the floor. “What’s going on here?”
“Oberi and I found something. Alert the Demigod Guardians to round up all our allies and meet us in the Elvish council room,” I told him. “This can’t wait.”