Issue 31: Throne Sight Prism
It cannot be. My skin was never my own.--Lucifer.
Always Three as the saying goes. Which way shall the mirror swing? Each builds upon one another but the final blocks are now in play.--Private Recordings
You shall remember. Even as your body and soul continue onward...--Translated//File 21-N-19
The Domain of Eternal
First Formation
Time Unbound
I scrambled over the hedge.
The entity dubbed the Nothing on my heels with her constructs. She desired the threads within my very soul. Thoth’s cries of delight grew as he allowed the vines to merge with his body. This memory would remain. To be recalled. When I would be truly reborn. Ready to trigger the final binding. It was why I had been created. To house the blood of Ayeer and Urraden. To switch a few bits of note with my brother.
None of our enemies would see it coming. Never to evade the trap. To step forth.
The Highest curled his fingers about my heart. Not daring to speak. A Mother’s Madness. But the Nothing wasn't tied to Creation. All her experiments had caused nothing but entropy and pain. She had a name. Unpronounceable by mortal tongues. My direct connection to the Oversoul would be severed here but not before I found the marker. The Source Point.
You could call it the Splinter of Creation.
How demis, Humans, Typherians threaded through the Many Worlds.
I had both. In more ways than one. A plan enacted from the first breath of mortality.
She resented us. Just as Thoth threw away the last vestiges of his former Typherian shell.
A deadly mirror. He would wear the face of a friend.
A door of simple oaken wood formed before me. I sprang forward. Slammed it shut as the dull thuds of vines continued their assault. A temporary shield. The Highest peeked out from under my cape. Its red brilliant against the dull grays swirling around me. His whiskers twitched. Piper would have been astounded.
This shard had taken the form of a plain cream white rat.
<<Three mirrors. One true way. Blood will call to blood!>>
∞
I peered up into the white light of a medical scanner.
I flexed my fingers. Toes were all there. I didn’t have to say anything. Doc’s expression covered it. I cleared my throat. “No more hiding.” Mom shifted then jerked one thumb to the main holo feed.
There I was. In all my former Star-Spangled Banner ensemble. My blows fast and precise.
The headline exclaimed, “Old Glory returned! The Banner prevents Ninth Array Kaiju Invasion!”
Other sensations ran up my spine. Previous cycle Typherian nodes.
The way I would close the trap around Thoth. That’s what they had been filled with. Her energies. Crossguard burst in, “Avalon has called a summit!” There would be no more need for my Titan cover ID. HeroNet pinged against the back of my eyelids.
<<Full access granted.>>
Messages bombarded me from every sector of space. It took a few minutes to read them all. Paxton’s stood out.
//Most think it was some super magic whammy that made nearly everyone forget you ever existed. The Banner Museum is back but there’s a few rooms we cant get into. Just a hunch but you may want to swing by.//
There was a change I could already see by examining the statue plague in the “historical” feeds. My civilian ID had never been revealed. No need. Since Typha was no longer under false Uplift Protocol. I’d be careful. I did wonder though? Would any of our enemies remember that little fact?
The Highest’s whiskers tickled my chin.
I would bet good money.
Doc groaned at the exorbitant numbers of, “Win a date with America’s Number 1 Girl Scout!” I took a chance and through various proxies studied my history as Eliza Murphy. Overall history was similar. No “handicaps”. Since I didn’t really have back troubles. It had never been spinal. No. My body and my soul had been forged for one purpose. I clapped. I was a Triad Officer. Bardaxian sector.
The tiny paws tapped against my neck.
Only you can sense me. Besides the Oversoul. I will see through these eyes.
Flashes danced across my vision. His main focus was still tied to the Ninth. Most evils were still contained. Under the watchful eyes of the Living Stone. J’anu’s twisted features glared down at Abbadon as he arose from the pits. His mortal form burned away. Ta’rammon thundered, “Where is the Third Son!?!”
Abbadon cackled. His lips split down the middle as his features shifted.
“I have already paid a toll. The Knife of Dreams. He shall burn.”
My chrono indicated one second had gone by.
Crossguard beamed at me. “Fastest medical ward record! She cleared Doctor Impossible?!”
Mom motioned to me with House Ayeer code.
Keep things separate for now.
Made sense. All eyes were on the Banner once again. Doc tight beamed a private commuication.
//I never thought I’d miss….Never mind.//
Demi statuses updated. My friends were back in position. The Golden Redeemers flew once more. Minus Doctor Impossible. She was listed as Auxiliary support. I kicked myself mentally. Of course! To downplay what she was capable of. Now to find Lucifer. The First of the Mother’s Mirrors. Chronos was the 2nd. While Thoth brought up the rear. Each imbued and shaped by the Nothing. N-beams? N-Energy?
As Void Maiden my mother stated professionally, “Better bring everyone in on this operation. N-Level breaches are no laughing matter.” Old histories merged and settled across the Tapestry. Thanks to the Highest those of us with Key roles still recalled the various differences before Convergence. My rebooted career as the Banner remained mostly the same. Area 51. Our clashes with the Void Walkers had morphed into Ninth Circle breaches.
The Accord War had been re-dubbed the Incursion Wars.
Karvax. Anna’s “Into the Fire” segments. Pyra’s attempt on Anna to draw me out.
Except this time Typha and Earth had rallied with Bardax to cleanse our Triad systems.
Sol was home to all three of us.
The Highest touched his nose to the underside of my chin.
Easier on mortal soul threads to have many major events carry over. Just different factions. Soulmates remain. Those who travel in the same circles. To forever meet within the Flow of Time.
I had still responded to outer Solar distress beacons but that had caused all of us to find each other quicker. To have a stronger Ouroborous Chain.
It was good to have unity this time. Doc let out a faint laugh as she tossed my suit onto the bed. “Clear bill of health!”
The stories remained. Precious amid the drifting cosmos.
∞
Hilary glared at the news feeds.
The one thing these jailers allowed.
The Banner. Whatever magic had hidden her presence from this wicked cycle had been unmasked. Chronos dug his fingers into the back of her skull.
You have forgotten something dear daughter. I have it.
But you have to listen to me.
Hilary bared her mental teeth. Why should I heed you?
Chronos indicated the feeds with one sweep of his hand.
Because I still remember who burns under those shining cosmic filled eyes!
A trap for us all.
Hilary spat on the ground. Not caring that the nanites recorded every action. Every sample. The Protectorate feared her. A delicious irony. She was still trapped here. Chronos shimmered next to the false walls.
One long finger tapped a series of notes.
An ancient tune fluttered against her skin.
The lights flickered. She was free.
Sunlight kissed her skin as she walked on the craggy shores. She inhaled.
Brimstone and ash dotted the outer dunes of shoreline. Pyra scowled, “Took you long enough. What’s inside Protectorate HQ?”
Hilary’s human facade reformed from her feet to the top of her head. Chronos hissed, “She does not remember how she originally got here. Say nothing!”
∞
Pyra kept her expression acidic.
Inside she shuddered. There was a hole in her mind. This creature had the answers. Its alien shape spoke of horrors beyond all understanding. Black pools for eyes. Obsidan flint. Pyra had killed. For sport or money. It hadn’t mattered but when she peered into that thing’s eyes? Only madness remained. One solitary phrase echoed. “I know the taste of your tears.”
She spat again for good measure.
This would be the hunt of a life time. She would kill the Star Spangled Banner.
Her powers assured it.
Pyra frowned as the intrusive thoughts tugged at her mind.
She couldn’t kill the Banner. It had been tried. The man’s face burned in her memory.
Broken glass. Nails against the walls. Dark eyes watching. Padded room. A blonde woman with dead baby blues. No. Wrong. It was all wrong. Hilary pressed one index finger against Pyra’s throat.
“Such a sweet thing.” Duel voices. What was Hilary? Eventually those alien features formed into the severe expression of a tanned athletic woman. She held Pyra in place with a magnanimous smile. “Time is on our side.”
Hilary giggled. The sound was girlish. Vapid.
“Shh. It's alright.”
Frigid claws seized Pyra by the shoulders from behind. Snake Charmer’s fetid breath tickled her ear.
“Got your jewel.”
Medusa glided in next to her brother. “Ninth Array is 2nd class. This will put us all on the map.” A squat Typherian with a bulbous nose appeared with a flourish of dark smoke.
“Right. As long as the Merchant Clans fall? I don’t give a shit.”
Medusa replied, “Throw in the Atlantians? I’m game. Let’s give them all a black eye.”
∞
Yak’tish barreled into me as I landed at the pier.
Camelot’s King’s Protectors lined the outer towers of the ancestral gates. Each glimmered with magic across all the Layers. Taleer bowed. His armor bedecked in more sigils than I could recount. Emerald K-9 let out a peel of joyous barks. His paws firmly locked onto my golden pauldron. The Puzzler let out a whoop as he jet packed to land next to us.
“It's good to be back!” He winked. My roster had updated. Crossguard appeared behind me in a beam of light as the UST Barsoom pinged against my senses. A converted American space cruiser. Dad had still served on her.
UST. United Solar Triad.
The paladin demi’s face flushed, “I still can’t believe it. Why’d you pick me?!”
I replied, “Titan vouched for you!” I winked.
My alternate cover hadn’t been removed from the fabric. He snapped to attention. I linked to our team channel, <<I promise. Your memory isn’t faulty. I was Titan for a while.>>
His blue eyes widened within the Avalonian helm.
<<Oh thank the Creator for small mercies!>>
Queen Gwenivere arrived. Her staff of pure starlight and silver glinted in the afternoon sun. She gestured to all of us. “I welcome you to our fair shores. The Grail awaits.”
A knight cried out, “INCURSION!”
Mondays.
Issue 30: Here
Issue 32: Here
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