Chapter Fourteen

I wasn’t prepared when Callan lifted the door of the storage unit.

When he’d said he’d packed everything up, he’d damn well meant it.

It took us some time to comb through it all, but we finally found what we were seeking; a pouch full of Chronspheres. Callan also found other Temporal items and his mother’s journals, and took those as well. We emptied a box of linens and filled it with the things we were taking.

Callan, Ashe, and I trudged back into my apartment sometime in the late afternoon.

I winced when I realized the day I’d put Callan through right after he’d been released from the hospital. Callan put down the box, then wearily dropped onto the couch.

“How you doing over there?” I asked. “Been a doozy of a day.”

“I finally get you to agree to date me and look how much care comes pouring out,” he teased. I rolled my eyes.

“Ashe, go sit on him, he’s clearly gotten his strength back.”

Ashe trotted over, happy to oblige.

“Whoa!” Callan laughed and threw himself to the side just as I called her off. She gave me a disappointed look but headed over to her water bowl.

“Come on, how are you really?”

He rolled his neck, closing his eyes briefly before looking at me. “It’s a lot to process and I don’t know how I’ll ever reconcile what my mother did to me even though I can understand her reasons. And what about the others who escaped with us? At one point we were all living in the same place, but now I realize that my mother made me forget all of them as well. We’d see one another but I didn’t remember who they really were.” He grimaced, reaching up to rub the back of his neck. “I had friends among those who escaped with us…”

“Like Eruci,” I said.

“Yeah. He was like my brother. But above ground we didn’t do more than neighborly greetings in passing. Did my mom manipulate everyone’s memories or just mine and everyone had to act like they didn’t know me?”

“Annala wasn’t under any memory manipulation but that might have to do with the fact that Linella entrusted her with the card box so she’d have to retain her memories. Who can say what the circumstances were for everyone else?”

“And where are they now?” He dropped his head back, staring up at the ceiling.

“Maybe one day we can track them down.”

He looked at me again, a smile twitching his lips. “We’re already a ‘we’? Don’t you think we’re moving too fast?” The teasing tone was back.

“I can share a memory with you but this is too fast?” I threw my hands up dramatically. He chuckled, then his stomach chose that moment to growl and I realized how hungry I was as well. “Why don’t you hit the shower while I order food?” I suggested.

He’d also come across some of his clothes and brought a few things back with us. I hadn’t even let the man change out of the clothes he’d been in a car wreck in. I could slap myself several times.

“I’ll admit I pictured taking a shower at your place…but I wasn’t alone.” He grinned at me, then grabbed some clothes from the box and got up.

“Easy, tiger, we’ll get there if you play your cards right.” I checked the time. “Gideon and Toji should be here soon, along with Toji’s great-aunt Chiharu.”

“But if they weren’t?” The tone of his voice made me bite my lip. He drifted closer and put his hands on my waist, stepping into my personal space. “If they weren’t?” he repeated, voice lower. The sensual way he spoke made me shiver in all the good ways.

“Then you might have found yourself with company during and after the shower.” I drew his bottom lip into my mouth and ran my tongue over it before stepping back and lightly pushing him away. “Go on before we start something we won’t have time to finish.”

“You’re right, I’m definitely going to want to take my time.” He planted a soft kiss on my lips that sent a thrill through me, then headed to my bedroom.

I let my giddy moment pass, ignoring Ashe’s look of disdain, then ordered damn near everything on the menu from a nearby diner, making sure there were several servings of meat for Ashe. After Callan was done, I showered and changed into burgundy harem pants and a black tank top.

When I came out of the bedroom, Callan was sitting on the couch looking through Varian’s files. He was frowning deeply. When I looked over his shoulder, I saw that he was looking at the body of a woman killed by the Jigori.

The file didn’t have a name on it, but it was obvious who the victim was. My initial reaction was to snatch it away, but he was already looking at it and I knew he’d seen these pictures before. Still, I couldn’t help but want to shield him from looking at such brutality.

“How did she get caught by the Jigori?” he said, slumping back against the cushions. “I remember she said she was going to run errands that afternoon.” He dragged his hand across his face. “When she wasn’t back by nine and wasn’t answering her phone, I got worried. I was about to go look for her, then Annala came over and she looked so terrified…”

“She must have realized the time pocket around the neighborhood you lived in collapsed,” I said. “And knowing Linella wouldn’t collapse it arbitrarily, she must have concluded that…”

“She was dead,” Callan finished softly. “Thus her magic was broken. But, since Mom had altered my memories, I couldn’t make that connection.” He shook his head. “I was adamant about going to file a missing person’s report so Annala went with me, but when we showed them her photo they realized they had a body we could probably help them identify. They found her somewhere far from where she said she’d be. I wish I knew what really happened.” The pain wafting off him was almost palpable.

“I’m sorry.” I sat down next to him, edging close so the line of my body was pressed against him. It was careless of me to leave these files out here.

He sighed, then closed the folder and put it down. “I hate that she died that way, after all she risked to keep us safe. And even though I knew it came from a good place, I wished she hadn’t made me forget my real life.” I knew that would be a hard truth for him to reconcile. “That’s why I always had this sense my equilibrium was off. My true self had been locked away. And my magic.”

“That probably explains the headaches too.”

He nodded. “Memory-altering magic requires maintenance. I never had those headaches before my mother died.”

“Because she was around to make sure the magic held.”

“Right. After she passed, the magic started to break down. But because of how intricate memory manipulation is, it wouldn’t have dissipated all at once like her time pocket. It eroded gradually, which is why I got flashes of my real life. I would have had to endure a lot more of those headaches until it finally broke down completely. The Cillari Stone was a shortcut. One I’m relieved for.” He squeezed my hand. “Thank you for that.”

“It must be good to finally feel like yourself.” What Linella had done to him and why would likely always be a source of conflicting emotions for him, but at least he was no longer living a lie he wasn’t even aware of.

“I feel more like myself than I have in a long, long time. I know my mother was trying to protect me…but now that I’m aware of my magic again, being suppressed from it for so long…” He shook his head.

“I can’t imagine what that feels like. I couldn’t be public about my magic, but I still used it.” I gestured to the weapons wall. “I Shaped weapons, and I made figurines and jewelry for Gideon’s shop. It was something, even though I couldn’t live openly.”

“You could have hustled your Shaping skills at the dojo and made some extra cash making our weapons,” he said with a quick grin.

“Not a bad idea,” I said, chuckling. “If I still have a job after all this I’ll have a sit-down with Sensei Takahara.” I had missed many shifts at the dojo, but hopefully Sensei would understand that trying not to fall asleep for another two hundred and ninety-two years took precedence.

Callan’s face grew serious. “I’m not mad at what I know about myself now, but damn, it really took a car accident for the dots to connect.”

I took a steadying breath. I was used to seeing bodies in all stages of injury from a few bumps and bruises to disemboweled and decapitated, but it was different when it was someone you cared about. The image of Callan lying there was one I wouldn’t forget.

“Bit dramatic, I agree.” I forced a smile. “Would have been better if you could have stopped my ice cream from falling on the floor or something.”

He gave a bark of laughter, then looked at me. “You can make me laugh through anything.”

“Sometimes laughter is all we have,” I said. “I know what it’s like to feel like your heart, soul, your very being is submerged in darkness. If there’s a way out, even a small way, I’m gonna try my damned best to find it. For myself and those I care about.”

“So you do care about me,” he teased. “It wasn’t only about my abs?”

I eyed him for a second, then lightly ran my hands over his very firm abs. “Of course it’s the abs.” I shrugged. “I’m as shallow as it gets. This has all been an elaborate ruse to get you into my apartment.”

He laughed again. “You didn’t have to scheme this hard, I’m easier than that.”

“Duly noted,” I said, winking at him.

Just then, Luce flew into the room and started circling the coffee table. I had only a couple lamps on, so the glow from her tiny body threw shadows against the wall and floors.

“Whoa,” Callan said, his eyes widening. “This is the Cephi you told me about.”

“Luce. She doesn’t usually appear when people are over.” Which meant there was a reason she was here now, agitating over the coffee table strewn with items from the storage unit. Luce’s movements slowed, then she landed on top of a drawstring pouch and started chittering at us, her wide golden eyes looking even more luminous in the dim light.

“The Chronspheres,” I said.

Callan slowly reached out and drew the bag toward himself. Luce flew up, but remained close as he opened the pouch and carefully lay the Chronspheres on the table.

There were about twenty of them. Despite having “sphere” in their name they were hexagonal-shaped, a translucent jade color streaked with gold. And they hummed with Temporal magic. I felt intensely uncomfortable staring at them. They contained decades of time stolen from people. So much damage would be done if they were ever used.

“What should we…”

“Wait,” I said.

We watched as Luce circled the Chronspheres.

A weightless feeling filled me up as her Divine magic intensified and she began to glow brighter. She hovered a few inches above the spheres, and Callan and I had to lean back and avert our eyes as her glow became stronger.

I felt breathless and electrified as Divine magic washed over us. Luce’s chittering took on an even more melodious sound. Eventually, the glow against my eyelids felt less intense, so I opened them and looked down at the table. They looked the same, but that hum of magic was gone.

“She purified them,” Callan said, a wondrous note in his voice. He picked up one of the Chronspheres and turned it over in his hand. “It’s dormant. There are no more years stored in it.”

Which was great, but my eyes were on Luce. She was still hovering in the air, but her glow was dim, and her movements faltered.

I gently cupped my hands under her and drew her closer. She landed in my hands, lying on her side. Her body was vibrating, and although I wasn’t sure if Cephis breathed the way we did, her chest was rising and falling rapidly as though she was struggling to draw in air.

“That took a lot out of you, didn’t it?” Why hadn’t I thought about this after she’d powered up the sword? She hadn’t seemed so exhausted then, sure, but I’d recalled all the lifeless Cephis Ashe and I had woken up with. I would always carry a feeling of guilt over the fact that my actions had led to Ashe and I needing their protection, and thus the sacrifice of their lives. They’d protected us by extending their magic until there was none left because they could not replenish themselves.

Or could they?

Luce always seemed stronger under the moonlight. Maybe that’s why she hadn’t seemed spent after powering up the sword. I looked at the tired little Cephi, then at the balcony beyond my living room windows, which was bathed in moonlight.

“Is she okay?” Callan asked.

“She used a lot of magic to purify the Chronspheres, and it depleted her. But I have a theory to test.” I got up and walked over to the sliding door.

Callan picked up on what I was doing and opened it, since my hands were still cupped around Luce. I stepped outside and sat down on the balcony. Callan handed me one of my couch cushions and I placed Luce on top of it. Then I sat back and waited.

For a while, nothing seemed to be happening.

Luce’s glow was still dim, and her tiny body continued to shake as her chest rose and fell too quickly. Then, slowly, her movements became more regulated, and her glow grew brighter.

I sagged in relief, releasing a breath. “The moonlight helps.”

“Makes sense,” Callan said from behind me. “They’re Divine creatures. Diviners have always had a strong tie to the moon.”

“Yeah, they can manipulate actual moonlight, so the connection makes sense.” I shook my head as my understanding grew. “All the ones that protected us… We were inside a cave. Moonlight didn’t reach us. They couldn’t regenerate their magic after using it.”

Callan squeezed my shoulder. “At least Luce will be okay now.”

She did seem much better. She rose from the pillow and flew to my face, brushing against my cheek before flying up and chittering under the moonlight.

I was relieved. Luce was the last of our Cephi protectors, and I hadn’t realized until now what it would feel like to lose her. I might not understand much about Cephis, but Luce was important to me, and not just because of her protection and the power she’d given the Gladius. It was nice having her around.

I smiled. “Thank you for purifying the Chronspheres. I promise I’ll do better by you from now on.”

After a while, Luce flew back inside, so I took that to mean she was topped off, and I headed back in as well. Callan put the now dormant Chronspheres back into the pouch.

“Thank you,” he said to her.

She flew around his head, then off to her favorite spot: Ashe’s fur. This time, Ashe didn’t so much as give her a contemptuous look. I guessed watching her exhaust herself had thawed Ashe’s heart toward the little Cephi. I’d tease her about that later.

“Looks like we have a way to get your years back to you once we have the Chronsphere,” Callan said.

“You’re right.” My eyebrows rose slightly. “I’d been so focused on getting the Chronsphere I hadn’t thought about how I’d get my years back from it. But Luce can purify it.” And even though it would be taxing on her, she could replenish herself under the moonlight.

Callan looked as relieved as I felt.

The food arrived shortly after, then Gideon and Toji showed up and helped themselves to dinner. We made use of my dining table for a change, since it was quite a spread.

I could tell how nervous Toji was about meeting Chiharu and learning any information she would have. As much as I was counting on her knowing why Toji could open a card box, I had to remember that for Toji, this was the culmination of a lifelong search to connect with his birth family. I couldn’t make this just about me.

Callan and I caught Gideon up on our day, revealing Callan’s status as a Temporal, and why he hadn’t remembered. Which led to telling them about my conversation with Annala and the fact that my time had been taken from me.

Gideon looked ready to get up and fight. “Are you fucking kidding? You go there and offer to help these people and this is what they do?” He was angry, but I could also see his fear, so I reached out and squeezed his hand. Callan had been holding my other one, which hadn’t slipped Gideon’s notice, but I ignored his pointed look. He could rib me about it when I had my three hundred years back.

“They’re desperate to open the nexus points so magic can exist again,” I said. “But the Auraxa Reiv has always been grounds for dangerous magic. Last time, it created the Majimorta. That’s why they had to be sealed. We don’t know if it’s still there and will be released if they open the nexus points again. And even if not, there’s a Necromajin out there who can potentially create another. Only this time, there are no Diviners to take care of it.”

“Would this be a bad time to see if any of the other planets are habitable?” Gideon muttered.

“I’ve kept telling myself that I am going to hunt down this Necromajin, but I have so much other shit to take care of,” I said. “Come to think of it, I’m super visible now, a big ole magic beacon. Why hasn’t the Necromajin sent their Jigori to track me down again?”

“Good question,” Callan said, frowning. “It could find me now, too. I used my magic earlier, right outside your building.” He turned to me. “Penn, I’m…”

“You saved my life,” I cut him off. “The last thing I’m worried about is some Jigori sniffing out your time remnant. It would be a pleasure to use my Divine sword on it.”

“Everything else you just said, though.” Toji’s tone was laced with worry. “What we’re up against and what we can bring to the fight…”

“Talk about a massive imbalance,” Gideon said. “If this goes left, we’re all dead and you’re asleep for another two hundred and ninety-two years, is that what it boils down to?”

“That about sums it up,” I said gravely. “Whatever happens, promise you will help my sister. Kinari is only seventeen, and she…”

“Stop it before I cuss you,” Gideon said, rolling his eyes. “You aren’t going anywhere. But yes, of course li’l sis will be taken care of. However, you better shut that talk down because you aren’t going anywhere, got it?”

“Yes sir,” I said, giving his hand another squeeze. “I’m not about to go down without a fight, you already know that.”

“We need a plan,” Callan said. “My father and the other Temporals have to be stopped. And we need to get your sister out of there and linked to a Mortalstone…”

“We have to stop the Temporals from using the Chronsphere with your years to open the nexus points,” Toji continued. “And we have to make sure if the nexus points do open, the Necromajin doesn’t cause another magical apocalypse.”

“Hmm, yes, very intense, but doable, right?” Gideon said. He held a notepad and pen that he’d fished out of his backpack. He clicked the pen top. “So, what’s step one?”

We all sighed.

…

Chiharu Inoue arrived about twenty minutes later.

She looked to be in her sixties, with short, bobbed hair, dressed in a belted peach-colored dress. There was a tense, awkward air as Gideon and Toji let her into the apartment.

Callan and I introduced ourselves and shook hands. Chiharu gave Ashe a thorough look but didn’t seem afraid of her.

Watching Chiharu and Toji embrace, then seeing Chiharu pull back and stare up at Toji with tears in her eyes made my throat grow tight. Callan acted like there was something in his eye, and the emotions even hit Ashe, who pretended she was sneezing, but I knew a sniffle when I heard it.

Ashe, Callan, and I retreated to the living room while they sat around the dining table, which we’d cleared of all the food cartons. My apartment was spacious enough that we couldn’t hear what they were saying from here, but I could imagine there was so much Toji wanted to know.

Callan and I turned around and stared out the windows.

The moon was almost full, and I couldn’t help the shiver that went through me. It was hard not to feel a sense of déjà vu.

There had been a lot going on in my life the last time the Auraxa Reiv had aligned, and it wasn’t much different now. I was even facing the same consequences, almost three centuries of being knocked out. But this time, there might not be a world left to wake up to. It was enough to make me want to start screaming and never stop. But that wouldn’t save me, so I kept it together.

“How are you doing?” I asked Callan.

His brow was furrowed as he, too, looked up at the moon. “I’m overwhelmed with memories.” He paused. “My real childhood during the magic-era, the terror I felt the night the Auraxa Reiv aligned. The time jump and everything after. It was scary and confusing for a while, until we got the time pockets established. I can’t even begin to explain how it feels to grow up outside of linear time. I feel…warped, for lack of a better term.”

“And I feel like a remnant,” I quipped, which made him smile. “We’ve both had a long journey through time. It might seem easier for me because I was unconscious for my trip, but that has never been easy for me to reconcile.”

“My journey through time was disjointed, but I was always aware of how the world had changed. You had to get a crash course.”

“That’s putting it lightly. I could write novels about my reaction to seeing cars, cellphones, televisions, and electricity for the first time.”

“I really want to hear about that,” Callan said. “Once we get past this.”

“If I’m still standing.”

He linked his fingers with mine. “That’s not badass warrior talk,” he chastised.

“It’s realistic. Our power is no match for the Temporals and all the other Talented down there. I can’t go ask nicely for the Chronsphere with my years.”

“Offer a trade.” He picked up the pouch with the now purified, dormant Chronspheres. “Do a fake out. Offer them the Chronspheres my mother took. They’d be able to tell they are empty, but we could try to hedge our bets by filling them with some natural time.”

“Would it be enough?”

“Once they touch them, they’ll be able to tell there are only hours stored versus years, so you’d have to get your Chronsphere and get out before they realize the dupe.”

“That sounds like a razor’s edge of a time frame. Getting out of the Temporals’ territory in time, with my Chronsphere and Kinari…” I shook my head. “A good warrior always weighs the odds. We don’t go barreling in with a half-assed plan. I don’t like my odds here.”

“What if I could provide a quicker escape route?” He frowned thoughtfully. “I can create and link you to a time pocket that would bring you back here once you activated it.”

“Like a portal?” I was starting to feel a bit hopeful.

“Yes. It would mean I’d have to stay behind when you go back, though,” he said. “To make sure nothing goes wrong with it on this end.” He didn’t look happy about that. “I wanted to go with you as backup. And I never confronted my father about what he and the others did, and how it drove us away.” I could see the tension in him and understood how much a confrontation with Marcai was needed.

“I know. And I want that closure for you, but…”

“But I can bitch him out after we get your Chronsphere. I’ll think it through. My mother taught me a lot of higher level Temporal magic, and I’m remembering things more and more. Plus, I have her journals, which should help guide me. If I can do this, it would provide a quick escape, even if they do discover the dupe.”

“Now these odds sound more favorable,” I said. “Because it won’t involve trying to get out of the time pocket, cave, and Kiabi Park with them on our heels.”

“Right.” He took the Chronspheres out onto the balcony and laid them on top of the pouch. Then he held his palm over them and I felt his magic as the air between his palm and the Chronspheres shimmered and vibrated. Before long, the Chronspheres started to glow softly. He moved his hand away and stared at them. “That’s the first time I’ve consciously used my magic in a long time.”

“It looked a bit rusty; your palm was too close to the stones, and you missed an opportunity to do a dramatic hand flourish when you were done.” My teasing was in reference to showcase day at the dojo when he’d criticized my demo with Jamil.

He laughed. “Taste of my own medicine, I’ll allow it.”

“I bet it felt good, though.”

He smiled. “It did.” He stood up and stepped back into the apartment and closed the sliding door. “The spheres will store time as long as we leave them there. It will still be best if you make the jump out of there as soon as you hand them over and get yours back.”

“It’s a narrow window, but I feel better. We have something of a plan now.”

“Penn?” Gideon’s voice brought my attention back to them, and my eyebrows rose when I saw that Luce had made an appearance and was flying around Chiharu, who didn’t look spooked about it in the least. She was smiling, but there was sadness to her expression.

“Can you join us?” Toji asked.

Callan and I walked over and sat down at the table with them. Luce quieted, but she stayed near Chiharu and Toji. Chiharu couldn’t seem to stop staring at her.

“You know what she is,” I said to Chiharu, indicating Luce.

She nodded. “Oh yes.” She sighed, and I could sense there were heavy emotions weighing on her. “The Cephis are our family’s legacy, going back generations to the time of magic.”

“You’re…descended from Cephis?” It didn’t sound right to even say it.

“No,” Chiharu said, shaking her head.

“Diviners?” Callan asked.

“Closer,” she replied. “We’re descended from Diviner’s apprentices.”