Chapter 87: Ch. 87 – World Hopping

"We need to cross into the anomaly at the same time. A minute here can be months on Skyring, and we are going to appear at the bottom of a lake. Swim for the surface if you don't see Becca or me," Katye said as we stood next to the Temporal Anomaly.

 

Raven and Echo nodded their heads. We all stood side by side, right outside of the edge of the Temporal Anomaly. There was a bit of nervousness on the faces of Raven and Echo while Katye looked a little sick and uncomfortable. I, however, could barely contain my giddiness though this was not because of any real excitement, instead it was my body reacting to the energy released by the anomaly.

 

I could feel the energy rushing into my Soul Realm, and I desperately wanted to sit and properly meditate, so I could retain more of this energy. Unfortunately, that was not an option at the moment, and Katye had been worried that I would be drawn into the anomaly as Diyoza had been in the show, so this was my first time approaching it. It may have been a missed opportunity, but I had not realized it when we were in the cave, and I also did not want to leave the others in Sanctum alone even if Katye was more than capable of protecting everyone. My instincts to protect were stronger than my thirst for power, so this had just saved me the headache that I would have given myself if I had known.

 

Katye was the first person to take a step into the fiery, green energy with Echo and Raven half a step behind her. I could only silently curse myself since my momentary daze allowed them to enter a full step ahead of me. It did not seem like a lot of time, but the time difference was crazy and, when I emerged on the other side, there was no one in the water near me.

 

It was night, so there was no light to help me figure out which way was up, but I could sense Katye in the distance. Stirring my energy, I manipulated the water around me to propel me through the lake in Katye's direction, trying to level myself out with her faster than I moved forward. That decision caused me to fly out like a fish jumping out of the lake, but it gave me a view of the forest that was not too far away. I glided on the air, despite my lack of wings, and landed on the beach.

 

I could sense Katye nearby, but she had not moved any closer to me which meant that I had to come to her. Using a bit of mana, I dried myself off and headed into the woods. I was likely in some kind of trouble because of my hesitation, so I could only accept it then explain my side which might save me. Raven and Katye both had a way of holding onto a grudge, so it was better to shut my mouth than argue with them.

 

When I drew close, I could not help but smile. Katye, and to my guess Raven and Echo, were in the same wooden cabin that had existed in the show. There was smoke rising from the chimney and there were "herc-a-lees" roses along the edge of the garden, leading up to the door. I plucked three roses as I walked up the stone path then knocked gently before I opened the door. Raven hopped out of her seat as I opened the door and hurried over to me. I chuckled and kissed her then handed her a rose.

 

"Charmer," she chuckled.

 

"I try," I teased as I walked over Echo, who was sitting at a small table watching Katye cook. I placed a rose in her lap and kissed her cheek while I draped my arms over her shoulders. "So, how long was it for you guys?"

 

"Nearly a month," Echo replied, leaning into my embrace.

 

"I swear... it wasn't even five seconds on my side before I stepped through," I said, defensively.

 

"Echo was a week and a half while Raven was two weeks from my point of view. You are just a day shy of four weeks, so that sounds about right," Katye explained as she pulled a pot of stew off the fire and set it on the table.

 

"Then I'm not in trouble?" I asked, walking over to her and holding up the final rose.

 

Katye gave me a wry smile, taking the flower, and chided, "Don't act like we constantly reprimand you."

 

"You don't, but I still let myself get distracted knowing full well about the time displacement," I replied.

 

"If any of us got mad at you every time that you got distracted by something shiny, you'd be painfully alone," Katye teased.

 

"Is that a dragon joke?" I asked dryly which made Raven laugh.

 

"A bit," Katye chuckled.

 

Our playful banter continued throughout dinner and then we all retired for the night. Since Time moved so much faster on Skyring, we planned to spend a few weeks on the planet, so that I could make some new armor for all of us while Katye studied the new Anomaly Stone. There was little for Raven and Echo to do during that time, so they ended up spending their time sparring against each other to polish Raven's skill as much as they could.

 

Katye and I had swum down to the Anomaly Stone in hopes of pulling it out of the lake, but we quickly found out that it was embedded in the rock and any attempt to free it was prevented by the artifact. Any time we tried to stir our mana, the Anomaly Stone would release a pulse of energy which would destabilize whatever spell we were trying to cast. Strangely, the only magic that could be used within a hundred feet of it had to be related to the Water element, and the Ice that I could create was not strong enough to free it either.

 

I came up with a solution from my pervious line of work to the problem which was to create a cofferdam. The concept was simple since I just needed to create a circular wall of stone that broke the surface of the lake then draw out the water, but things were rarely as they seemed in Tori's world. It did not matter how far away we went, if we tried to change the bottom of the lake, the Anomaly Stone would stop us. Raven ended up coming up with an idea that worked, simply make the stone rings on the land and haul them into place around the stone. It required a lot of physical strength, but compared to the doors of the Labyrinth, it was just an easy exercise of using my Soul Power to wrestle them into place.

 

Just like in the caverns that housed the Anomaly Stones on Earth and Alpha, there were several new spells that were carved into the ground this time instead of painted on the walls. Katye copied everything down into her journal once she could examine everything and stay dry. Although there was a portion of the artifact hidden by the rock, she was able to find the different symbols and unlock the code for another planet, but not the one that we were hoping for.

 

"So... which world is it?" I asked after Katye told us that it was not Bardo.

 

"I'm not sure since Nakara and Etherea look similar on the HUD screen and there aren't any names, but either way, it seems like we are going to have to go to all of the planets," Katye replied with a sigh.

 

"How do you know that it isn't Bardo then?" Echo asked.

 

"There is a dark blue planet with the symbol of the Second Dawn Cult, so I'm pretty sure that's it."

 

"Yay, we get to do the full pilgrimage," I said, sarcastically.

 

"Tori is obviously doing this to give us, or rather me, these runic spells since all of them have three enchantments and three large-scale spells near the Anomaly Stone. Nothing he has done so far has just been for the hell of it, so we must need them," Katye replied.

 

"But it's not like you can figure them out in a few days. The longer we wait to reach Bardo, the more risk we are putting Luna in."

 

"I know and agree," Katye sighed, resting her elbows on the table and her chin on her hands. "I'm not saying that we need to wait, but maybe we can make a deal with Cadogan. If we explain what the Final War really is, we should be able to convince him to delay activating it to ensure that humanity is ready. He knows the consequences for passing or failing this test, so it might work."

 

"Do you really think it will be that easy? They kidnapped Bellamy years ago! If they were willing to work with us, they would have brought him back and met with us! He knows that I've 'reincarnated' from after the test, so Cadogan should know as well yet it has been silent until they tried to kill me."

 

"I know, Rebecca, but our only other choice is to kill all of the Disciples to ensure that Luna is safe and that certainly isn't going to be easy," Katye responded. "That, or we trigger the Final War ourselves."

 

I sighed but did not argue since she was right; there were only three options left. We make a deal with the devil, put more blood on our hands, or leave Raven and Echo behind. No one spoke after that for a while as the facts sank in. Eventually, we went to bed to rest since we would be travelling to the next planet in the morning. There was no turning back now, after all.

 

In the morning, the four of us made our way to the Anomaly Stone and waited for Katye to input the newest code given to her by the Disciple's suit. Although it had been a joke originally, Katye really did put the three of us into metal cuffs though I had to transform first since she wanted to make sure that the restraints were not absorbed by my transformation like my artificial fingers. It was honestly a funny sight to see all of us, standing on the dry lakebed in front of the Anomaly Stone with Katye in the high-tech Disciple Armor, Raven and Echo in dark silver armor with their hands bound, and myself towering over all of them in my Dusa form with my hands also secured by a thin, metal band. Still, no one was in a laughing mood, so we just waited silently until the green, fiery portal opened and we all walked through.

 

When we stepped out on the other side of the portal, we found ourselves in the middle of a frozen tundra. Immediately, I activated my Wind Domain and pushed away the cold air. Katye pulled off her helmet while both Raven and Echo looked around confused.

 

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"I thought you said we were going to be at the bottom of a lake. Where did this armor come from?" Raven asked.

 

I shifted back into my human form which allowed the cuffs to fall right off of my wrists and I answered, "We just left Skyring, and I made the gear for you and Echo."

 

"I guess that means your memories are intact," Katye said with some relief as she undid Raven's and Echo's restraints.

 

"Yeah, I remember everything on Skyring," I agreed.

 

"Good, and since you two seem to remember Sanctum, I guess the memory issue isn't as bad as I feared. You haven't lost too much since you guys just focused on training while I figured out the code to get us here."

 

"And where is here, exactly?" Echo asked.

 

"Nakara, icy world where the Disciples dispose of their dead. When we reach the cave with the Anomaly Stone, make sure that you're paying attention. There are these large spider-like creatures that attack in swarms and the tunnels can shift on their own," Katye explained.

 

"Can't we just move them back?" I asked.

 

"Thanks for ruining my joke, but it's no cave. The cave system is actually a living creature, so I doubt we'll be able to manipulate the walls."

 

"Motherfucker... Star Wars?" I complained with a chuckle.

 

"Just because you were a Trekkie doesn't mean you have to hate the franchise," Katye retorted.

 

"I don't... well, maybe after Disney took over, but I did like the first six."

 

Raven and Echo shared a look since this was not the first time that we had referenced something from our past lives that they did not understand. 

 

"Do you know where the cave, or whatever, is?" Raven asked with a sigh.

 

"Sorry... I don't know, but the suit does. Follow me," Katye replied and put on her helmet.

 

We followed Katye while I kept the cold at bay and walked through the frozen tundra. It was a wonder that Clarke and her group had made it to the cave at all with how long the walk ended up being. Before we had even reached the 'cave', I could sense something massive deep within the ice so I could only wonder just how big the creature was since it extended well past the reaches of my Domain.

 

"Weapons out," Echo said as we neared the opening.

 

Raven and Echo both drew a long sword that hung on their waist while I pulled out a pair of claymores from my back. It was a little exaggerated at my current size, but I was more than strong enough to use them, and they fitted my Dusa form quite well. Katye also carried two swords, but hers were much smaller and lighter to emphasize her speed, though she did not draw them. 

 

Instead, she pulled out a mana crystal with her left hand and traced out a few runes into the air. To me, it looked like she was creating a three-dimensional, eight-point star and, when she was done, it changed from violet to white. She tapped the star with a finger and then the crystal which made it shine brightly.

 

"Echo, take the lead with me, Raven in the middle, and Becca, take the rear... and no flashy attacks," Katye instructed.

 

We all fell in line with Katye's orders and headed into the dark cavern. I kept my Wind Domain up to help with the smell and to keep an eye on the area while also casting my version of the Dark Sight spell. The world changed to shades of blue in my eyes with a bright whiteness shining from Katye's hand.

 

Thankfully, the ice spiders did not pose much of a risk with Katye and I here, even if we were limited on the spells that we could use. The ice spiders were about the size of a house cat and covered in an exoskeleton that was nearly an inch thick, but it was not enough to stop my swords. Since I had created them through my magic instead of a natural forging method, they were sharper than a scalpel under my manipulation and stronger than a bar of steel with my mana saturated inside of them. It was like slicing through tofu and, with my electric speed spell, I could easily kill them as we walked.

 

Katye did not have any difficulties with her speed and skill. She led us through the cave for several hundred feet and Raven and Echo never had the chance to use their swords until we reached the section of 'cave' where the Anomaly Stone ended up. Just as Katye predicted, there were another six spells that looked like discolorations in the 'rock' which she copied down into her journal. 

 

Echo and Raven defended the path that we had taken while I used the metal from one of my claymores to make a net to prevent any of the spiders from coming up from the other end of the tunnel. Once that was in place, I joined Raven and Echo in guarding the way out. It took some time for Katye to get everything copied down, but thanks to Skyring, she had noticed that the symbols that made up the code for the suit were placed in the same locations on the artifact. She typed in the newest code as soon as she could which caused the ice spiders to scramble away as the portal opened.

 

I only stopped long enough to free the metal net and send it through the portal before us. We stepped out from a disgusting 'cave' and into a large forest, similar to the old Trikru lands. It was definitely a sight for sore eyes and a breath of fresh air after the last world.

 

"Welcome to Etherea. The Anomaly Stone should be on the peak of one of the mountains. Typically, Disciples would take a pilgrimage from here to the stone in pairs, overcoming the harsh elements and dangerous climb, but that's not really going to be a challenge for us. Would you like to rest for a while and wait until nightfall to go?" Katye asked, taking off her helmet.

 

"I certainly need a shower after that," I complained.

 

Raven laughed, "It wouldn't be a bad idea. The next stop is Bardo, right?"

 

"Only one planet left, so it should be."

 

"Raven and I have the shelter if you two want to find something to eat other than our rations. I really can't stand the idea of eating anymore jellyfish," I said.

 

"Jellyfish?" Echo asked.

 

"Skyring... they were the only source of protein. Be thankful that you don't remember the three weeks of eating them," I grumbled.

 

"I did the best I could with the ingredients that I had," Katye retorted then teased, "I'll see what we can find for the fussy dragon, just make sure that there is plenty of water for all of us."

 

 

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