Chapter Seventeen #4
Oberi propped his front paws on the table and gave a commanding bark.
He spoke to me telepathically, and I repeated his words to the group.
As you all know, I am a being known as a mutabeecha— an ancient, shape-shifting creature born at the dawn of time, with powers that transcend reality.
In my current form, I experience time and space as linear concepts alongside you, but there is a part of me that sees time and space as existing everywhere and happening all at once.
Between the layers of reality are voids that exist outside of any timeline.
“You’re talking about a myth,” Chancey chimed in. “There’s only one reality, and it's the one we live in.”
That’s what the angels believe, Oberi said, which I repeated. It benefits the Celestial Church to think that way, as a means to govern right from wrong and take away your choices. But it is not an inherent truth.
Takahashi hummed thoughtfully. “Yes. Oberi is correct in his theory. As an Astromancer, I have been studying multiple dimensions for years, the idea of various timelines existing, and various versions of us taking different paths. This idea that there are breaks on these timelines, or even spaces between realities, holds some weight.”
“If there are versions of us in different timelines making every choice possible, then what choice do we really have in the end?” Danny asked. “Every outcome is therefore inevitable.”
Inevitable— or an opportunity, Oberi said. It only depends on how you look at it, and believe me when I say that I have a much broader view of reality than any one of you.
“Don’t give us that bullshit, Oberi,” Ivy spat. “You’ve told us before you don’t remember jack shit of all that wisdom you were supposedly born with.”
Oberi remained calm while I translated. As a transdimensional being, sometimes it is difficult for me to organize all my knowledge into coherent thoughts that make sense in the three-dimensional world that we live in.
There are things I do not remember about my life before becoming a Familiar, because it simply does not make sense in this physical state.
But what I do know is that this universe is larger than we are— bigger even than the spiritual realm.
Oberi went on. There are versions of ourselves on alternate timelines, living out various decisions and separate lives.
This is why timelines change when Kallie casts her time magic and causes different choices to be made.
But that is neither here nor there, as it is the voids between these realities we’re most interested in.
We can sit here and debate spirituality all day, or we can get a move on this plan and release the people of Ilamanthe from the clutches of the Warden.
“Say these time vortexes do exist,” Danny said thoughtfully. “How do we access one and force the Warden into it?”
The mutabeecha, Oberi said simply. I know the power to open time vortexes exists, and mutabeecha like myself possess such power.
However, I cannot achieve this on my own.
It would require the assistance of all my brethren, together.
Much of my former life is difficult to recall, but one thing I know for certain is that I am not alone.
There are other mutabeecha out there. I believe that if we find them, their combined power will allow us to reshape reality and open a time vortex where we can send the Warden and end his very existence.
Liam spoke up. “You’re the only mutabeecha we’ve ever encountered. How do we find the others?”
They’re in the afterlife, I am certain, Oberi noted. I am one of the few mutabeecha that left the Ancestral Lands to come to Earth. The others remain there. We must go there, and speak with them. Then we can convince them to help us.
“As a mutabeecha, can you cross the realms and speak to them?” Nadine asked.
Under normal circumstances, yes, but these are unprecedented times.
That is why we’ve called this meeting. The bridge to the afterlife has been destroyed, but we know there are always exceptions.
Someone among us must know some way where the living can gain passage to the afterlife, transcending death and the usual means to get there.
With the powers of all supernatural races combined, I’m certain we can find a way to reach the afterlife together.
“The merfolk have no knowledge of crossing realms that I know of,” Opal said.
“Neither do the vampires,” Danny added.
“If the angels got a way to cross over without dying, then I don’t know about it,” Chancey told us. “And none of us are dying and coming back with the state the afterlife is in right now. Everyone who dies is getting stuck in the in-between, trying to get into the Blessed Haven.”
“What if… we sent someone who didn’t intend to return?” Liam wondered. “Someone who could get a message to the mutabeecha?”
“That’s not an option, Liam,” Sophia told her husband sternly.
“I’m not suggesting any one of us go,” Liam replied sourly. “I’m saying we might be able to relay a message by contacting a spirit or ancestor who can help.”
Eddie stepped forward. “It’s a good theory, but how are we going to do that with the state of the spirit realm?
We can’t contact just anyone, let alone make the journey ourselves without perishing.
We’d get stuck between worlds like everyone else the Warden has killed.
Unless someone besides the Elves has magic that can get around this, because we don’t. ”
“The Astromancers do not hold a solution to this problem that I am aware of,” Takahashi said.
Lucas tapped his fingers on the table. “I’m afraid the witches won’t be of much help, either.
As a reaper, I can open portals to the afterlife, but only when I’m reaping a soul, and to reap a living being would damage their soul beyond repair.
And that’s only when the gateway to the spirit realm is open.
With that doorway closed, the Warden has destroyed any chance of the witches reaching the afterlife.
But I believe there’s merit to Oberi’s idea.
The witches draw their magic from their afterlife, Alora, and seeing as we’re still casting magic, there must be some connection remaining.
It’s not one that souls can travel across, but it’s an indication that there are still threads of power moving between realms.”
“The fae might have a way in,” Kallie offered slowly. “But it’s going to take time. Isn’t it, Mom?”
Everyone in the room shifted to face the fae, and Queen Emmaline spoke up. “Maybe. We have to be prepared for the possibility that the Warden will get through our shield before we can even reach the afterlife, let alone speak with the mutabeecha to seek their aid.”
“How much time do the fae need?” Doctor Mack asked.
Queen Emmaline drew a breath. “A month, at least. Maybe two.”
“We may have a chance if we start right away,” Doctor Mack said.
“My powers as a Seer are a combination of empathy and foresight. I can connect with people and see the path that they’re on, though I am not a prophet.
I cannot see what will happen, only what could happen.
From what I can discern from my visions, Doctor Taurus returned to the Blessed Haven after his attempt to get through our shield failed.
He is in the afterlife now killing gods, and the chances of him succeeding are nearly inevitable.
Once he’s done there and taken dominion over everything, there will be no escaping him.
Ilamanthe will be the last thing that remains, and he will return to tie up loose ends and put an end to us all. ”
“If the world ends, we’re done already, because our resources will run out,” Marcus said. “He got what he wanted from the demigods, so there’s nothing more he could possibly want from us. What loose ends does he have to tie up?”
I gritted my teeth, because the answer was obvious.
“Ava. The Warden can’t stand that she’s the one that got away.
That’s why he came knocking on our door immediately after he crossed through the Elven Gate— to get to her.
But her shield was too strong, so he gave up to pursue a fight with the gods.
He knows that once he can take them down, there’s no longer anything stopping him from reaching Ava. ”
“But she doesn’t have magic anymore,” Marcus rambled. “She’s not a threat to him.”
“It doesn’t matter, because he’s still obsessed with her,” Kallie countered.
“As long as she lives, he can’t let it go, because he’ll never be okay with the idea of being beaten by her.
It’s not enough to let Ava sit behind this shield and starve to death.
He’s so egotistical he’s got to kill her himself. ”
“Maybe there’s more to it than that,” Danny theorized. “Haven’t you guys wondered how Ava’s so strong that even in godhood, the Warden can’t break through her shield?”
“You think I haven’t thought of that?” I demanded.
“This shield is the strongest one there’s ever been.
Ava combined the magic of all supernatural races into it, something that’s never been done before.
Even you combined your blood magic into it so that anyone who attempted to break the shield would have their magic drained.
That makes it incredibly strong, but it shouldn’t hold up against gods.
Looking back on it, though, I realized something.
There’s power pulsing through that shield that didn’t come from us talented supernaturals or demigods. ”
I’d felt it when I helped create that hole in the shield, but I didn’t understand it then like I did now.