It was night by the time Sarah and Serena arrived in Munich. Sarah was still in a bit of a daze after her trip to the strange fantasy world inside the black stone globe. It had been as real as any Earth she’d been on. Only it hadn’t been an Earth of any description. The trees were closer to those found on Earth 3, but they were still different. Serena nudged Sarah with her elbow.
“What did you do to make them so mad at you?”
Sarah blinked a few times. Sarah followed her companion’s gaze towards two very obvious superpowered MANA agents. One was floating with a flickering green flame surrounding her. The two MANA agents were glaring at her. However, neither moved to stop her and Serena from leaving the offboarding area. Further into the airport more MANA agents were by the border gates. Those ones weren’t paying any attention to the two unassuming Aurelius Academy students and were more focused on the adults. The border officer for Earth Gov glanced over Sarah’s passport then glanced at her. Sarah was using her American Passport. Mostly because it was the first one, she grabbed.
“I hope your flight here was less eventful than the run to Russia.”
Sarah gave a small nervous laugh; Truth was she basically missed this flight because of her trip into the fantasy world.
“Seemed to be, sir.”
He returned her passport.
“Have a good evening, and good luck with the rest of your semester.”
Sarah nodded and slipped her passport into the pouch of her backpack. Serena had no trouble navigating border security either. Of course, she didn’t Sarah mused. The girl literally blinked her eyes, and she was suddenly part of this world. Serena’s passport was also American. Likely because, from Sarah’s understanding the PL 21 was originally born in the US. Serena hurried to catch up to Sarah.
“So, you never answered me, why are those supers so annoyed at you?”
Sarah sighed.
“You know all that press stuff I had to do in Russia?”
Serena nodded.
“Yea. Kind of annoyed you, didn’t it?”
“Well, it’s the price I had to pay for saving my last plane from a terrorist attack. Very publicly with superpowers that I’m not allowed to use off campus. But I was a vampire at the time so like they couldn’t really do anything to me because vampire powers are natural? I’m not sure why but apparently it is the law. So, MANA is mad, I found a loophole? I donno. Anyway, they are mad at me.”
Serena laughed softly.
“You shouldn’t be bound by their laws. You’re not one of them. You look it, but you aren’t. I’m here because I was asked to be here, but you’re capable of everything I am. These mortals… they’re stuck in their thin slice of reality. We exist everywhere. We’re goddesses. Okay we’re adolescent goddesses, but we’re still goddesses. We can create universes; We can end universes. We have our own laws. I have my own code. But these human and vampire laws are beneath us.”
Serena paused briefly then glanced up at Sarah.
“What is an Armageddon Event?”
Sarah blinked at Serena’s last few words.
“Why? I have no idea, shouldn’t you know? Aren’t you all-knowing?”
Serena laughed.
“No, I am most definitely not all-knowing. I’m not even sure I’m all-powerful. I just heard one of the Agents talking about it.”
“Probably some code for an imminent attack. I’ve only ever seen this many MANA agents in one spot twice. Once when they were coming to arrest me before getting called off and the second to deal with a 20-foot-tall guy in power armor.”
Serena shrugged.
“Must not be important then.”
The pair picked up their luggage and made their way out of the airport terminal. Sarah noticed a familiar face in the crowd and waved. Cindie was apparently their protection today. Cindie gathered up the pair’s luggage and put it in the car. Serena inspected the vampire closely but said nothing. Cindie sat in the front seat. Their driver was a MANA agent Sarah did not recognize. He looked fairly clean cut and wore a pair of tinted glasses. A news story came on about the unexplained presence of MANA agents at Munich International Airport. This prompted the driver to glance over his shoulder when they were stopped at a red light.
“You girls didn’t see anything strange on the flight from Russia, did you?”
Sarah looked at Serena. Serena shrugged and spoke.
“No sorry. And Sarah was out cold and snoring so loudly the flight attendant was glaring at us.”
Sarah scowled at Serena. The driver and Cindie both laughed. Sarah calmed down quickly. She realized Serena’s bit of humor had distracted the MANA agent from questioning them further.
Sarah looked out the window and watched the futuristic city pass them by. They drove through the neighborhood where she had battled Goliath. One could scarcely tell there had been a battle at all. Earth Prime had become adept at sweeping away the mess supers made. Even the trees looked the same as they had before she’d turned them into weapons. Sarah’s eyes went wide, and she stiffened. She had just realized she was about to have to face the Headmistress, Carly, and Amee. The last was the one she feared the most. Serena nudged her.
“Quarter for your thoughts?”
Sarah blinked a few times.
“I thought it was a penny?”
Serena shrugged.
“Inflation. What’s up you looked like you were about to throw up?”
Sarah blushed.
“I just realized how much trouble I’m in. And…”
Sarah’s eyes drifted to the driver and Cindie who seemed unaware of the pair of girls in the back of the car at present. Serena waved at them dismissively.
“Never mind them, they see us giggling and talking about how cute the President’s son was. What’s the matter?”
“I made out with my best friend, and I bit her. It was umm really good, but Enid was probably the reason. Apparently, they were married. I don’t know what I’m going to say to her. And the Headmistress is going to kill me. And Carly is going to be so mad at me.”
Serena laughed.
“Whatever happens will happen. You can’t change it by worrying about it. Well, I mean you totally can just make it so it never happened but that would be cheating.”
Sarah quirked her head to the side.
“How do I make it, so it never happened?”
Serena held up her hands.
“Slow down. We don’t use our powers like that.”
“You don’t use your powers like that. I totally will.”
Serena sighed and put her hand on Sarah’s thigh.
“You can’t just go messing with people’s minds and bending reality because you’re in an uncomfortable social situation. Its uncool and it’s the kind of thing that gets you into trouble with the big girl.”
“Big girl?”
“Seraph. You want to make yourself rich go ahead. You want to make yourself fit into a world you’re not from, that’s fine too. The minute you start rewriting the reality of a universe because you screwed up that is a big no-no. That’s when she gets the stick out. Trust me, you do not want that!”
“But you made yourself fit that means you rewrote everyone’s memories!”
“No, I changed one small thing in this entire universe. I was born. That’s it. What you’re contemplating is a whole other level. So, you make it, so you didn’t interfere with the terrorists on your plane, then who did? You make it so the kiss between you and Amee never existed, now who did you bite to get that blood? Each change causes a chain-reaction. No matter how minor the change. My change was small. I had a boring life. Everything was normal. I picked a family who died who had a daughter. The difference is that daughter was me and I survived because I’m a super. You went viral with your whole plane saving thing, right? How many people will that affect? What will it change in their lives?”
“Oh.”
“Oh, she says. Do you understand? It doesn’t matter how much your screw ups suck you cannot change the natural course of a universe’s history like that. One small change here and there won’t seem to mean much but it’s a slippery slope and then suddenly you realize since no choice means anything, nothing means anything and suddenly you’re staring at an everything bagel and pondering why you even exist at all.”
“What?”
“It’s a movie, never mind. Look, your decisions, bad or good need to mean something. No matter what universe you’re in, otherwise existence has no meaning.”
Sarah got really quiet after that. Her mind was swimming with the depth of Serena’s words. They struck a chord deep inside her that she didn’t know was there. There was an unmistakable truth to them. The pain in Serena’s voice when she spoke told Sarah something else. Her new friend had made this mistake and regretted it profoundly. They arrived at MANA headquarters. Sarah glanced at Serena as they waited for the arrival of their ride at the gate station on Earth 3.
“What did you do?”
Serena kicked a wayward stone, her knuckles becoming white as she gripped her rolling suitcase’s handle tears starting to form in her eyes.
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“I destroyed my home universe by accident. My mom, my sisters, my dad. I haven’t been able to get it back. Seraph refused to help. She told me… she told me that was the cost of hubris. That a lesson learned through loss is rarely forgotten. That if she undid it, I would learn nothing and that all decisions needed to matter.”
Serena looked up as Sarah wrapped her arm around her and hugged her tightly.
“That was awful of her.”
Serena released her bags and hugged Sarah crying on her shoulder. Sarah spoke softly to her new friend.
“With power like ours it’s easy to hurt people without meaning too. Seraph should have helped you.”
Serena released Sarah, she continued to sniffle wiping her hand across her nose. She shook her head.
“No, she was right.”
“But countless people…countless aliens… She can’t just…”
Serena shook her head.
“She can. She has entire universes she just lets die to deal with some big bad guy. What is one more? She told me the only reason I cared was because it was my family.”
Sarah tugged Serena close for another tight hug. She whispered.
“I’m so sorry.”
“I haven’t told anyone else…”
Sarah put her hand on the back of Serena’s head.
“Shh. Just cry it out.”
Misha found the pair like that he rubbed the back of his neck while he waited for them to finish. The hug continued for several minutes. Finally, he cleared his throat.
“Ride’s here.”
Serena blushed as she broke the hug and wiped the tears from her face. Misha moved their bags into the back of the black SUV he was driving. After the pair were seated and had their belts on, he offered a tissue to each. Serena blew her nose. When a second was offered she took it and wiped away her tears. Misha glanced in the rear-view mirror.
“Usually, it’s going to Russia that makes people cry.”
He laughed. His laughter proved contagious and soon the two girls were giggling. He smiled and returned his focus to the road ahead. Out of the fog loomed a gigantic shadowy figure. Misha slammed on the breaks and the SUV skidded as it almost collided with the leg of a hydra. All five of its heads leaned down and cones of fire blasted the front of the SUV. It wasn’t an armored tank like the ones on Earth Prime so it easily caught fire. Misha shouted in Russian.
“Get out!”
The glass on the windshield liquified as the trio evacuated the vehicle. Misha pulled out his pistol and started shooting the hydra. All he managed to do was annoy the massive creature. He didn’t panic. He motioned for the girls to retreat towards the gateway. He spoke on his radio.
“Barrier breach! Gateway road! Amber-2 Sector. Hydra is loose in the compound! Two students are in danger.”
Several voices responded. One in particular stood out, it was the headmistress.
“Which students?”
“Serena and Sarah.”
“They are authorized to use whatever means necessary to remove the threat to their lives.”
Misha looked at Sarah then the limiter. Sarah smiled at him then closed her eyes. When she opened them, they were the eyes of a vampire. She looked at Serena who shrugged and flew into the air. She started chanting a spell. Sarah went for less arcane methods and reached out her hands. Green veins seeped into them as the vines and trees of the dark forest ripped through the barrier breach and started wrapping around the hydra’s necks, and legs. Serena’s spell finished and a bolt of green lightning arced from her outstretched hand. The hydra howled as its one free head shriveled up and fell to the ground limply. Serena frowned.
“That usually just outright kills things.”
Sarah remembered Enid’s actions against the man in the green house. She clenched her fist. The foliage she had gathered started to crush the hydra. Her eyes flared a bright green when she reached out her left hand in a striking motion, fingers outstretched. Several plants grew massive spikes and tore into the hydra’s body shredding flesh and bone. Within seconds it exploded into a burst of blood and gore, literally torn to shreds. Glowing blue eyes peered through the barrier as the humans who had been corrupted by the wild magic of the world started towards the torn barrier.
Serena reached out her hands and arcs of super-heated green plasma streamed out of them. The plasma was so hot it turned the rock and earth molten, and it started to evaporate. Sarah followed up by holding up her hands and formed a wall with the moist foliage that hadn’t caught fire. The wall of trees interwove. By the time she was finished it was stronger than even a stone wall. Serena cast a spell and the fledgling forest fire that had started was quenched with a burst of magic. She slowly lowered herself to the ground and looked at Sarah.
“I guess what they say about mother nature is true.”
“What?”
Serena pointed to the remnants of the hydra.
“Don’t mess with her.”
Sarah was glad she was a vampire because the hydra’s remains were even making Misha look a bit green. She was sure if she were human the contents of her stomach would be gracing the road. Misha gagged and turned away. He spoke on his radio.
“Threat neutralized. Send a repair team for the barrier. Also, we’ll need another ride. This one is on fire.”
Serena was already pulling the luggage out of the rear of the SUV and moving it away from the burning vehicle. Sarah watched her.
“Umm, it’s on fire Serena.”
“And I’m immune to it. So, relax.”
When the reinforcements from the school proper arrived they found Sarah and Serena sitting on their suitcases. Misha was scratching the back of his head dumbfounded by the carnage the two grade nine students had wrought. Among the responders in the three black SUVs were the Headmistress, Helen, and Carly. Eyre was in a heavy hoodie. The headmistress quirked one of her red eyebrows as she looked over the remnants of the hydra. Her gaze focused on the shriveled head that had obviously been hit with a death spell. She pointed at the head and looked too Serena and Sarah.
“Which one of you did this?”
Serena blinked innocently.
“Did what Headmistress?”
Eyre’s eyes narrowed.
“Used a death spell. Who the hell taught you that?”
Serena shrugged.
“Self-study, ma’am.”
Eyre frowned.
“You should not be using magic like that yet; It can be as dangerous to the wielder as it is to the target.”
Serena nodded.
“Understood, ma’am.”
Eyre motioned toward Carly. Carly approached her.
“Get your students back to their dorm please, Major. Make sure Sarah gets some blood wouldn’t want her snacking on her roommate again.”
Sarah wanted to faint, or run, or both. How did the headmistress know about that? Sarah swallowed hard and started gathering up her luggage. Serena gathered up her own luggage and decided she’d rather float over the shredded hydra blood and guts. Sarah wished she could do the same then realized she was also floating. The pair landed beside Carly and Eyre. Eyre frowned at Sarah.
“We’re going to have a talk later, young lady.”
Sarah nodded and quickly started putting her bags in the back of Carly’s SUV. The pair piled into the back, neither wanting to sit beside Carly, who for her part looked rather upset at the two girls. The ride to the Umbra dorm was quiet. Carly kept glancing in the mirror, most of her focus was on Sarah who felt a little like she’d just wandered into the lion’s den. Or more appropriately after the encounter with a fire breathing hydra, into the dragon’s lair.
Carly went into the blood storage room after the trio arrived at the dorm. Serena was waiting patiently for Sarah and Carly. Sarah blinked a few times looking her new friend up and down then realized she likely didn’t know where anything was on campus. Serena had just finished telling her she wasn’t omniscient. Sarah was so lost in her thoughts she jumped when she felt something cold on the skin of her pale vampiric fingers. She looked down and Carly was shoving several blood bags at her.
“Drink up. Drinking your roommates blood falls under the you broke a rule, but I’m not sure which rule so I won’t punish you this time rule. You know you’re probably going to be responsible for an update to the Aurelius Academy rules and regulations?”
Sarah would be blushing, if she still had the ability. She shuddered as she drank down the first cold blood pack. After tasting it warm and fresh from the fountain in the other world it seemed a bit like torture. She suddenly wished she had that ring her hostess wore to sustain her. Sarah looked up as she sucked on the first one. Serena and Carly were both watching her, which made her feel very self-conscious. She rushed through the other four and offered the empty blood bags back to Carly. She’d have changed back to a mortal but that would mean she’d have to deal with the physical effects of the turmoil roiling inside her. Carly took the bags and motioned for them to move on.
Serena had to rush to keep up with Sarah who was desperately trying to put distance between herself and Carly. The pair was stuck up at the door which was locked. Sarah fished for her keys desperately. Carly arrived as the door swung open. Maria stood there in all her pale gothic glory stroking her silver crucifix. Serena smiled at her as she passed. Sarah tried to follow but felt Carly’s hand on her wrist. Sarah paused and looked up at her friend turned dorm mother and teacher.
“Sarah, you did good with the hydra and tree wall. No way we would have been there in time to deal with it.”
Sarah nodded and mumbled thanks before disappearing into the dorm room. She was a bit surprised when she realized Sasha had been replaced by Serena. It wasn’t a bad surprise. It would mean she didn’t have to skulk around so much. Now it was only Maria she would have to avoid when she was doing sketchy things. She mused the sketchiest were yet to come and they would need to directly involve the dead-looking vampire.
Maria waved at Carly and closed the door silently. She stood by it while she watched the S twins as the dorm room had come to call Serena and Sarah. Or so they believed after Serena modified reality to suit her needs.
“Sarah, what did you do to a hydra?”
Serena looked at Maria. She didn’t know her at all, but she assumed the vampire knew her because there’d been no weird stare as she came into the room. She answered the question on Sarah’s behalf.
“Oh, she just tore one to shreds with giant trees. Hydra guts were everywhere. It was glorious.”
Maria stroked her crucifix while staring at the two girls.
“What were you doing outside the barrier?”
Serena shook her head.
“It was inside the barrier, there was a breach. It attacked us, torched Misha’s SUV.”
Maria moved quickly towards the pair and looked them over for any signs of injury. Serena squirmed a bit under the firm touch of the pale girl.
“That tickles!”
Maria released her.
“You seem fine.”
Sarah looked at Maria.
“That’s because we are fine. It didn’t get close to us, just the car.”
Maria glanced towards Amee’s room.
“Amee is going to be upset. She designed the new barrier.”
Serena shrugged.
“Not our fault it broke. We just got caught in the crossfire.”
Sarah groaned.
“That was a terrible pun.”
Serena laughed.
“We’ll talk more tomorrow Maria, right now Sarah and I are exhausted right Sarah?”
Sarah nodded and just tossed her luggage on the floor before flopping into bed. Maria closed the door for the two girls and wandered off. Sarah rolled over and stared at her ceiling. She really missed her glow in the dark planets and stars from her room at home. Her old home, her real home. She heard Serena shifting in her bed.
“Hey Serena, where did you learn a death spell?”
“Tower of High Sorcery on the Hidden Isles. I made myself a member of the royal family. I can pretty much get away with anything there. Also made myself a rather high level magic user.”
“High level?”
“Come on you have to have played roleplaying games right?”
“Yea, but why would they have levels?”
“I told you it’s based on my friend’s fantasy world. The game had levels, so the world has levels.”
Sarah tugged her leggings off and tossed them on the floor. Next came her bra which she removed without taking her t-shirt off. A skill she had only acquired recently. That also went flying. She rolled on her side and shifted her pillow.
“So, if I was a Paladin, why could I cast a spell that would be like… a magic user.”
“Probably because you knew the spell yourself. When you take someone over you keep your own skill set I guess. I basically made a character sheet for myself before I hopped in all the way instead of just mentally. But like in this world, we can break all the rules. Though I try not to, like I said earlier, Seraph is right, you need to deal with the consequences of your actions, or no choices have any meaning.”
Sarah let herself slip back into mortality. She stared at her black rose vine.
“How did you destroy your home universe?”
Serena didn’t answer for several minutes. Sarah thought the young angel might have fallen asleep. Sarah was just closing her eyes when Serena spoke again.
“I didn’t like who I was and when I realized I could change anything and everything, I did. It was small things at first. Like I made it so I was at a public school instead of a private school. So, I could be normal like my sisters. That meant I never met my best friend. So that meant he got depressed and killed himself. So, then I made it so that never happened and made it, so we were friends. That made it so it was his mother who died. Because we went to a theater closer to the public high school, his mother had to take a different route home. There was an accident. So, I made it, so she wasn’t in that intersection. Then the truck hit a school bus full of children. It spiraled from there. Eventually I had made so many changes I couldn’t put it back the way it was because I had no idea how to because I didn’t see the whole picture, like Seraph can. Because it was so unstable it migrated to the failed universe strand. Someone named the Black Son showed up, destroyed everything. I barely escaped.”
Sarah could hear Serena sniffling.
“I’m so sorry.”
Serena shifted in her bed. Sarah was quiet for a few moments then asked another question.
“Is that why you live your life in universes you create?”
Sarah could see her wiping tears from her eyes and could hear her trying to keep the sobs in, finally after a quarter of an hour she answered.
“When I am me, I start to think about everything I lost because… because being me wasn’t good enough.”
Sarah slipped out of her own bed and crawled in behind Serena. She wrapped her arms around the broken teenage angel. Serena wrapped her hands around Sarah’s and closed her eyes.
“That fantasy world was created by your best friend, wasn’t it?”
Serena whispered yes as she nodded. Sarah pulled Serena close as they spooned.
“Once things are fixed for Maria and Enid, I’d like to go there with you. I’d like it if you could show me around and tell me about him. He’s not gone, neither are your family, they live on in you.”
Serena tugged Sarah’s arms to pull her even closer. The pair drifted off.