The news of the urgent meeting spread like wildfire. Jalila and Nabil returned to Loubna and informed their leaders about their plan. They were baffled as to why such a powerful woman would require their assistance in anything. Everyone was racing against time. Nabil was following them blindly, not knowing what they were going to do next.

They informed his family about the urgent meeting. The message was delivered first to his mother. She was making tea in her kitchen when a chilling wind passed through the kitchen window, carrying a small piece of pearl white paper.

She took up the paper and read the meeting’s request. They knew it had to be important this time because this was Jalila’s style of delivering news. The letter vanished into thin air after she read it.

Later.

Nabil’s mother and grandmother headed to the Botanical Island. The grandmother was upset by the news, she was a cruel spirit. She despised the fact that he was born a normal human with no trace of any powers in his blood as much as she desired to love him.

“The key is inherited by our women for a reason,” she said, her steady-old voice full of rage. “That is what we get for having a frivolous son.”

“Stop saying that! He had a reason for using the key,” said the mother.

“A reason! He’s got living souls inside! Can’t you see the mess we’re facing? Jalila summoned us. The oracle won’t let it go easily.”

“I know my son; he would never put us in danger for anything.” As they approached the meeting point, the mother spoke up. “I believe it’s a matter of life and death; Nabil wouldn’t be doing any of that if he knew it was a simple matter.” The grandmother was unconvinced. “Jalila is the one who came to his aid; we can’t abandon him.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

When the mother opened the door, she was greeted by a golden, luminous hypostyle room, complete with a massive golden circle table in the center and ten golden chairs. Nabila and Jalila waited inside for everyone to arrive.

Nabil smiled weakly when he saw his mother. After a few minutes, the room was crowded with ten men, all dressed in long white linen shendyt with golden belts and long-sleeved tunics.

Some wore plain silver neck collars, while others wore gemstone-encrusted gold collars. Many of them were bald and had cleanly shaved beards. They were all dressed similarly, but each was oddly different from the other.

“You all know why you’re here; we need to fix this situation before it becomes the feared massacre,” Osir said as he stood at the head of the table.

Jalila drew everyone’s attention by resting her hand on the table. “The divines are encroaching on our world, collecting souls, and stealing destinies. It started to affect all realities, which is why you’re all here. We chose you for a reason,” Jalila said, clearing her throat. “We need your assistance in capturing the divines and manipulating time and reality.”

They were all frowning at each other. “The key to our plan is his daughter.” She indicated Nabil. His mother appeared bewildered. “Harut stole his destiny before vouching it to him, resulting in a completely different destiny. At some point in time, his rightful one existed. But because my abilities are limited, I wasn’t able to know which one.”

“You informed us that his destiny was stolen, he didn’t exist in it as neither did his daughter, what exactly do you think we could do to get this reality?” one of the men said. On his tanned face, a smirk formed.

“I evaluated everything, Kheti; they are everywhere,” she sighed, looking around at the others who shared his concern, “They are in disguise, recruiting weak souls to get to the heart.”

“But... how? In any reality, the heart does not exist!” Kheti responded.

“We were the first to be informed by Jalila. We evaluated everything; those creatures are taking over, and their actions are beginning to affect our realities as well.” said the man sitting across from Jalila. “If we don’t stop them, we’re going to lose everything. Seven is our only chance.”

“I can’t believe, Nimlot, of all people, believe that nonsense!” Kheti stated. “It’s simply not possible! she hasn’t even been born yet! None of the other girls had it! She is not going to.”

Before Jalila could respond, another person on the right said, “I know someone who can help.”