“Three, two, one,” Cless’s mum finished counting down.

The moment Ilea disappeared by teleporting away through the strangely silent wizardry of space magic, Cless started her stopwatch. “Mum, stay here. I need to save someone. Just a few seconds! Trust me!”

It hurt Cless a little to leave her mum with whom she just reunited. Cless had finally gotten back to London with the help of Ilea after seven years in the realm of Elos. Travel between realms apparently was a rare occurrence. A freak magical accident had pulled both her and Ilea to Elos through unseen rifts on Earth. No one could explain how the rifts formed, other than by pure happenstance. She knew she would have eventually figured out a way to Earth on her own, but Ilea offered her expertise.

Cless loved Elos for its freedom, its sights, its excitement, and most of all its magic. But it lacked one thing: her family. Even if Claire had ostensibly been her adoptive mother nearly the entire time on Elos, just knowing her parents were out there back on Earth where she couldn’t return until now tugged at her heartstrings. She feared she would had soon forgotten their faces.

Now, while Ilea worked her magic to free her dad from prison, Cless needed to complete her self-assigned mission. She teleported up to the top floor of the concrete parking garage. A dark corner, away from the artificial lights and prying eyes, made for her destination. From her storage necklace she pulled out a painting. Its magic paint rendered a spider in lifelike detail. A floating one.

When she had finished painting the piece a few days ago she showed it to Claire, like she did with most of her works. Claire puzzled for a few spare seconds between her piles of endless boring paperwork in service of running Ravenhall before pointing Cless towards some bestiaries tucked away in her office. None contained the monster.

She had even resorted to asking Dagon, but the living encyclopedia hadn’t seen it before. Spiders don’t float, it would seem. Thankfully she didn’t have to pay for the non-answer from the librarian. He was always so stingy with his knowledge. Libraries in England are free!

But now the mystery had been solved. Cless saw the spider with her own two eyes earlier today in her childhood home. It apparently lived in her attic. Ilea captured it in her space magic to prove to her mum that magic is real.

Cless wanted to save the creature without Ilea’s help. Already her debt to the woman felt endless. First she got her out of a dungeon and gave her a new life in Ravenhall on Elos. Now Ilea reunited her with her family. How do I repay a goddess?

A golden fog of mana built up on Cless’s hands. It infused into the painting, forming a solidified connection. To her senses the painting now acted like a shining beacon. She quickly tucked it away in the shadows, hiding it from any casual glances. She hoped the painting was far enough outside of Ilea’s perception. The woman had a knack for finding things she wasn’t supposed to.

The girl jumped off the parking garage. She let herself free-fall. A smile grew on her face. For some reason using magic on Earth just hit differently. She held freedoms none other had. In Elos everyone had magic. Here? Here she was special. Super. Even Ilea said so. Magic arrested her descent and thrust her onto the floor of the parking garage with her mum.

Her mum spotted her and called out in a hushed whisper, “Cless, where did you go?”

It looked like her mum really wanted to yell at her, but seeing as they were literally in the middle of a jailbreak she held herself back. A quick run later and Cless stood next to her mother once more. Her breath wasn’t even strained, such a short run not putting much of a dent in her Stamina. “Step one of saving someone. It’s a divination thing. Don’t tell Ilea. Act natural.”

“You have some explaining to do, young lady.”

“Sure, later.”

Cless remembered to fix her wind-tousled blonde hair and brought out the stopwatch. She put her finger to her lip, signaling for quiet. Like a movie director she pointed forward and mouthed a countdown. As she lip synced the silent ‘one’ her hand lowered.

One moment: empty air. Next moment: Ilea reappeared with one other. Dad.

“And, time,” Ilea said.

Cless experienced the chorus that the Art always sang in Ilea’s presence. Ever since she gained magic in Elos the Art called to her. Its song came not in words but emotions, impressions, and very rarely images. The images, up until recently due to her growth in power, depicted events currently happening in Elos.

Her magic channeled the Art divination into her paintings. They became realistic snapshots in time, often showing developments in far away lands. Since her upgrade it seemed the Art breached the barrier between realms and time, showing her not only Earth but Earth in the future.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Others called her magic a gift, a rare one. Up until that weird lady came back from the land of the demons she had never met another divination mage like herself. The demon lover didn’t channel the Art like she did though.

Ever since Ilea slayed a dragon the Art had swelled into a grand crescendo around her. She intuited the Art’s ask and played her part by stopping the watch and cheering, “Thirty seven seconds!”

Good, the stopwatch kept her on track.

Task done, Cless soaked in the sight, letting it sink in that it finally happened, and ignored the words being exchanged. My family. Tears of joy streamed down her face. She had already seen her parents through the Art, but those were fleeting glimpses at best. In-person, her dad looked simultaneously smaller and bigger. The height perceptive difference came solely from her own growth, but he certainly had gained a lot of muscle since she was younger. Fighting the government does that, I suppose. Worry lines creased his forehead and eyes. But he looked at her while hugging her mum. Tension visibly left him, like he could finally stop holding a seven-year-long breath.

The sensation of Ilea’s magic wrapped around Cless and her parents. It paradoxically felt unbreakable yet gentle. A hug from a goddess. A moment later, they all appeared in Elos.

__

After the explanations concluded, the Art’s chorus faded into the distance as Ilea left the Michaelsons with Aki. Well, technically just one of Aki’s machines. Now the enchanted dagger controlled all the Taleen creations at once.

Cless’s dad still wore his thousand-yard stare while nursing a bottle of ale. Her mum looked a little better, but it was clear they both needed time to accept the newly expanded universe they just became a part of.

Cless regarded the machine with a little suspicion. She used to play with Aki when she was younger, but ever since the Iz incident he acted too seriously for her tastes. Controlling a million machines at once that are responsible for the protection of hundreds of thousands of lives seems to change a dagger. Responsibility ruins everything.

The girl put on her most sickeningly sweet and innocent smile, “Aki, do you mind taking care of my parents for a bit?”

The machine’s green eyes increased in intensity. His deep voice spoke, “Cert–“

Her mum interrupted Aki, “Cless, we just got here. It’s been seven years. Tell us what you’ve been doing all this time.”

The woman closed the gap and wrapped Cless in a hug.

“Yes, honey, tell us.”

With a grunt to stand, her dad joined in. Warmth and love suffused Cless. She breathed in the comfort of having her family back. She couldn’t place the intangible difference between her parents’ hug and, say, Claire’s. But that inexplicable something lightened her heart. She squeezed them back, not too hard. Level ones were fragile, after all, even if strength was her lowest stat.

Part of her wanted to stay, however time was fleeting. Her painting-based beacon to Earth wouldn’t last indefinitely. She whispered using English lest a certain nosy robot told a certain goddesses, “I’m going back to Earth. My magic tells me the spider in the attic is special. If I don’t bring her to Elos she’ll die. There’s not enough magic there for her.”

“Why didn’t you just ask Ilea to bring her?”

Cless imitated Ilea’s voice, “Sorry, Cless, only I get to bring new monsters to Elos.” She would’ve rolled her eyes for effect if she wasn’t still mid-hug.

“I thought you couldn’t get to Earth?”

“Not until Ilea opened the way. The window is closing, so I need to leave.”

“Will you be safe?”

“Yes, mum. I’m really strong. Didn’t you identify me already? Concentrate on me like you want to know what I am.”

“Mage? With two question marks?”

“Yeah, one question mark means stronger than you. Two means way stronger.”

“I don’t know, sweetie… can’t you just stay?”

“And doom the spider? No way!”

“I’d rather have a daughter than a spider.”

“Pff, you’ll have both soon. I gotta go. Really. Trust me. And don’t tell Aki.” She broke out of the hug.

Both her parents still looked concerned. They gave each other meaningful looks. A conversation not of words, but mostly eyebrow and eyelid movements with tiny head tilts ensued. Mum cracked first with a sigh. “Love you, my little artist.” “Be safe, kiddo. Love you.”

Cless smiled, “Love you, too.”

The girl flew off, leaving her shocked parents with Aki whose eyes narrowed. Once safely secluded on the mountainside, she conjured her ethereal brush. Focusing on the beacon-marked painting, she began her spell with an excited grin.

Don’t worry, spider. Super-heroine Cless is on the way!