My plans for the end days had to change now that I had a partner. Wyatt dropped his sunny persona whenever it was just the two of us. Whenever Darius was around, he acted like a sunny big brother.

Darius didn't adjust as well as I hoped to the addition of Wyatt. He became even clingier with me, and whenever Wyatt tried to approach us, he'd throw things at him.

"He's just like you," Wyatt said with a laugh. He was using the local language from Green's Mountain.

"Thank you," Darius said primly in the same language.

Wyatt and I grew still and looked at the boy.

"Did you teach him that language?" Wyatt said.

"No," I said, examining Darius, who was looking at us as he devoured an apple. The three of us were currently in the locket world. I needed to grow my limits with three people now that there were three in our survival group.

"How did he know it then?" Wyatt said.

I opened my mouth and closed it. I had no idea.

"How about this? Do you know this language?" Wyatt crouched down to Darius's eye level. He was using another language that I also knew.

"Yes," Darius said, chucking a clam at Wyatt's head. Instead of dodging it, Wyatt whistled, and the wind captured it and brought it back down to Darius.

"Could that be his ability?" Wyatt said, meeting my stunned eyes.

"There are people gifted with powers in this world. I grew up with some who had them." I quickly went into more detail about what my father had done with the Hub and my suspicions about the wealthy elites in this world.

"So your premonition is stronger in this world because your father in this world had it, but it somehow passed to you when you were born," Wyatt said. He was stroking his chin like a villain in thought.

"Maybe he made sure your brother had powers before he left."

That was something I should have thought of sooner. I was so swamped in shame, pain, and guilt that I hadn't thought of that.

"Time! Time!" Darius' cries stopped us, and we looked up at the sky. Our time in the locket world was almost up. I picked up Darius, grabbed Wyatt's hand, and took the three of us out.

"Time to revise plans?" Wyatt said with a shit-eating grin.

We already had some thoughts in place for what we would do with the world coming to an end.

Wyatt and I were both going to go to school. Between the two of us, we could watch Darius when the need arises. He was going to go to night trade classes to become a mechanic. It made sense with his obsession with things that need oil and grease. I would attend classes during the day to become a nurse.

I would build up my powers, and he would vamp up some RVs and motorhomes for us to live in. I needed to prepare an oasis for the two of them in case I was swiped out of this world before the end came so they would have all the food they needed.

We had everything accounted for except one thing between the two of us.

I had to leave the hotel to attend nursing school. I was able to get in with my impeccable grades, but that was just the first hurdle. I needed to learn in-person skills, talk to people, and take in-person classes.

I'd manage to craft my whole life without leaving the hotel suite. I could get sun in my locket world, food from it, or my spacial ring, and I had plenty of company. All of my needs were met.

I tried convincing myself leaving the hotel wasn't a big deal. I've done it before, but I felt unsteady and nervous. This was a whole new world to me in the sense that the first decade spent here, I had the help of my father in this world. Now, I have no such protection or structure. As a Tuffin, I doubt anyone would have a grudge or want to harm me in particular, but that didn't stop the irrational fears that plagued me.

I started with baby steps and documented them in my brand-new diary. It didn't feel like much, but writing down my ideas and the steps to take always seemed to help me feel better.

I ventured further and further around the hotel until I could finally step outside.

There was the expectation that Mordecai's so-called last gift would keep me healthy and unfazed by the world's harshness. But that tiny, intricate step I took had me bed-bound for a week.

I progressed, and the following few bugs weren't as bad. Soon, Wyatt and I found a system that worked for us. He was curious about the world, so we took more trips out of the suite to explore. I didn't get better, but I learned to live with a stuffy nose and a throbbing forehead. These daily walks also gave Darius the chance to take a look around the world. He was napping in his stroller and looked like a little angel.

"It's like you're allergic to this world," Wyatt said, staring at me as we crossed the street.

"I survive just fine in controlled environments," I said with what I hoped was in a firm voice, but all I could hear was snot clogging up my vocals. "Pay attention to where you're going."

"From what you tell me, we won't have controlled environments for long," Wyatt said, ignoring my words and scanning my face. "Will you last long with that scrawny body?"

I swiped, and he dodged a little too easily, considering he was carrying our bags.

"Will you be fine with me at orientation tomorrow?" I said. It's almost impossible to win against Wyatt. It would be better to just change the subject. My orientation is tomorrow, and I will meet my professors and fellow nursing students for the first time.

"It will be fine. You won't be gone long, and if it helps you feel better, you can toss us into the locket world for fun."

"I'm not sure I can do that," I said. I'd never tried to do so before, and who knew what could happen to that?

"You can try it on me tonight," Wyatt said with a huge grin.

If it was on just Wyatt, it could be an experiment worth trying.

"Okay," I said, stretching the final syllable, but rather than being playful, I could feel my mouth form the word as I froze. My nose cleared up as the fuzzy pain in my head faded. The noise around me faded into silence as only my heart beating painfully became all I could ascertain.

A strange feeling was bubbling in my chest, and its anticipation was familiar. Why did I feel like crying and cheering at the same time? My head whipped around furiously, but all I could see was the thick throng of people on the street and Wyatt's puzzled eyes.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

I scanned the passing people as the feeling grew and bloomed in my chest. What I was looking for was absent, yet I knew it was close.

"Wyatt, watch Darius!" I said as my feet took me sprinting down the street. Why do I feel this way? Why was every pore of my body opening to scream at me to run forward with all my might?

I didn't dare to ignore this feeling, so I slipped, pushed, and shoved my way through the throng of people.

I didn't have to think as my instincts took over my body. I followed this fervor, burning me inside out.

The last time I had this feeling was at the spa. Something had guided me to the plane before I could find out why it had disappeared abruptly. I had a hard time recovering from that last time.

I needed to succeed this time and find the source of this intense longing.

"Gwendolyn." An all too familiarly annoying voice popped into my feverish headspace. I blinked and looked up at my annoying ancestor Mordecai.

I was in a rather embarrassing pinch. A beefy dude hadn't moved when I tried to wiggle by, and another man walking the opposite way created a mini traffic jam. I was now stuck between the two.

Instead of helping me, Mordecai grinned at me with mischief in his eyes.

After several apologies from all parties concerned, I could separate myself. I didn't bother acknowledging Mordecai and took off running immediately. The feeling was fading rapidly, and in its place was grief so poignant I was yearning for the heat of before.

I needed to find it again.

"Gwendolyn," Mordecai repeated my name, and I ignored him again.

He was clearly here just to be annoying, and I needed to find the source of my desire.

"I found your father." He said.

My feet stopped, and I pivoted to stare at Mordecai. He was grinning and rolling an all too familiar coin in his hand. "Care to play a game now?"

I opened my mouth to shout some obscure obscenity, but an explosion interrupted me.

They wound up calling the tragedy the Main Street bombing. An extremely wealthy man was driving by, and several assailants were aiming for his life. No one ended up hurt by some strange miracle. The bomb that was supposed to take out the car was disarmed partially in some way. The attackers were prepared, though, and tried throwing grenades.

Mordecai did one good thing. He whisked Darius, Wyatt, and me out of the blast radius. Though I'm sure, it was just to watch the news on the TV. Like Wyatt, he was far too big of a fan of TV and video games. After we returned, the two were glued to the screen while I was scrolling on my phone. Darius was conked out in his room, luckily sleeping through the scene change.

The weirdest part about all of this wasn't that this strange event happened or that that feeling had overcome my senses again. No, the most bizarre part was that the rich dude who had his life targeted wasn't named. I suppose it made some sense because people were out for his life.

Chalking my curiosity to my innate nosiness, I scrolled and scrolled social media to no avail. There were no images of the man. I saw several men and women, but none were named the target.

My head throbbed, and I could feel my brain power fade as my nose slowly became painfully stuffed again. What if the unnamed man was the reason for that feeling? This was the second time I'd had it, and that feeling led me to someone who was somehow heavily blocked off from me.

I could have made it to him, but at what cost? I might have been hurt, but there were no bad feelings, only good ones.

I looked up from my phone to glare at Mordecai. Clearly, his appearance was the most suspicious. He distracted me long enough that I didn't catch whatever I was chasing and escaped whatever bombing went down.

My scorching eyes didn't escape Mordecai, and he peeled his own from the screen to smirk at me.

"You interrupted me on purpose," I said. Every fiber in my being was screaming sabotage of the highest order.

"Yes." He said languidly with a slow smirk. "It's no fun if you discover things ahead of time."

"Why do you seem to exist only to make my life difficult?" I shot back as that painfully poignant feeling started back in my heart. There was a growing suspicion about what I would find when I finally chased down that feeling, but I couldn't allow myself to give it the time of day. If I allow this seed to fully sprout, what would become of me if I was wrong? It would be worse to be incorrect.

"Trials and tribulations. Why should your suffering be any less than those that have come before you?" Mordecai said. His long, lanky body slowly unfurled, and the sight was inhumane as he walked towards me.

I stiffened as his hands grabbed my chin and lifted it up, "Why should you waltz through without these things? Everyone must go through this, and if you fail, I will get to start these games all over." He said.

He didn't wait around to see my reaction before vanishing into smoke.

"The Gods test their children." Wyatt's quiet voice cut through the tension. "The tests vary, of course, but none of Mordecai's children or descendants have ever passed."

I managed to snort and could feel the heavy throng of emotions in my chest disperse with that exhale. "I can see why none do. No one fits his criteria."

"You've lasted longer than most," Wyatt said.

I couldn't help but hiccup in surprise at this revelation.

"Only a handful have made it longer than you. I think he's crueler to you because he thinks you will pass."

That wasn't comforting. That meant there was a lot more to come. "I don't get what his end game is. Did your father test you?" I said.

"My father doesn't test like Mordecai. For him, it's survival of the fittest. He takes the children born during a century and leaves them together to fight. He then keeps the victor as an heir."

I blinked rapidly at this. The smiling kind Acuzio was even worse than Mordecai. "What if they're still a baby?" I said.

"Dragons don't age like normal children, but there have been times where there were young ones…"

"How did you survive?" I cut him off, unwilling to hear the end of that sentence.

"I didn't. My mother sacrificed much to toss me into a small world hidden from most Gods." Wyatt said.

"The world that we met?" I said, remembering what he looked like in chains. That wasn't the first time I had met him, but the first he had met me. What would have happened to Wyatt if I hadn't returned in time?

"Yes. I had given up by that point. Gavin captured me upon my entry. He tortured me but was unable to kill me."

I made a face. Gavin treated me with kid gloves in comparison. "He tried to actually kill you?"

"My father doesn't allow outsiders to harm his children. He paid Gavin a visit after shedding my blood the first time."

I gulped. "So he is protective," I said.

"Only protective enough. It doesn't do to have outsiders able to kill his kin." Wyatt said with bitterness.

I watched the icy detachment in Wyatt's eyes with concern. He looked unshaken by the words out of his mouth. "Wait, if you're supposed to be competing for the century duel thing...why did he allow you to be with me?"

"His hands are forever tied when it comes to me now," Wyatt said with a grin that almost broke the tension. Before I could stop him, Wyatt's hand was on my wrist, and his thoughts were transmitted into my head. "Aphra is my father's favorite. If I'm with you during your trials, he wont do anything to prevent it. Whether you like it or not, he sees you as an extension and likeness to his favorite. My being with you is protecting you and doing what I should as a 'brother.' He'd be overly pleased to see us together to do anything about it."

This was the first time Wyatt had done this, but I shouldn't have been surprised. The fucker was constantly showing off new techniques and abilities when it pleased him. I made a face, knowing he was reading my thoughts.

"Is that why you're with me?" I said out loud, scanning his azure eyes. It was impossible to read him, but I would try my hardest to pick up on any cue.

"It didn't start that way. I wanted to be there because you rescued me. Then I found out who you were, made a deal with Mordecai, and brought the rest of us here and now." Wyatt said out loud as he sat back.

"Is your deal with Mordecai over?" I said, looking away to look at Darius, who had dozed off again.

"I don't know," Wyatt said. "I did what was required, but I've never heard anyone escaping from the Keeper once he starts to play. Not even death gives you a break."

I snorted, recalling when my soul left my body and was in the afterworld. Mordecai had been in his own little office as the Keeper.

"He only let's go once he's bored or has no more use," Wyatt said as he sprawled his long-form out on the couch.

I doubt my ancestor was going to get bored of me or Wyatt. And I had no concrete idea what he wanted from me. There were hints, and I had more than a few ideas on what it was. All of them were strangely jarring.

At the end of the day, I was being tested and tried through a somewhat unfair game. I was still alive, but that didn't mean I was winning. Like my life, my humanity was intact, but that didn't say much, either. My brother, grandmother, and other relatives had gone through these trials and failed in some way.

They lost their mortality, and Mordecai dropped them from his games and his descendant roster. What was worse was the expectation on me to produce a child for this annoying God to start the cycle all over again should I fail.

Which begs the question: if I was just learning all of this history about the Girru family line…what else did I need to find out? Were we really hiding our library home from the rest of the world? Was it really so important to keep that knowledge safe?

Or had my family decided to stop the cycle and hide me from Mordecai? The latter theory was scary. It sort of matched up with the conversation I had heard Augustus and my grandmother say.

That little trip that my brother thought would end all too soon had far-reaching consequences because Mordecai found me, and then everything went to shit.