For as long as I can remember…

Things have grown and changed, but in some form… remained the same.

Great things happened for us,

as did sorrow.

At times… great sorrow.

You forgot who you were, and remembered.

I remembered who I was, and forgot.

Was it that we had always known?

Or was to forget an inevitability of life?

Of death?

Our death.

Though in everyone’s life, there comes a time.

A time to decide.

A time to choose.

Not just the decisions you make to get to the present, something more.

A choice with no options.

A choice with many wrong answers.

Though choose we must.

Just one. One pick. One choice.

And unfortunately, it is each of ours alone to make.

There is not a soul to recognize or give advice.

For you see, God has blessed us with free will.

…Which at times may have been our curse.

For how many of us truly chose correctly?

Any? All?

This choice cannot be recorded, for it is so sudden, not a one of us remembers.

Most pass it by, thinking it no more than another crossroad.

Not for us.

Alas, I was then presented with that point of my own existence.

So I chose a road, and headed on.

I then froze. Doubt. I thought… and realized something was amiss.

I turned, returning to the crossroads, and reflected.

What was this path? Was it the road I had picked?

Something did not feel right. The road had changed.

So much had happened in so little time.

So many changes! So many blessings!

But this… was a new blessing.

God had given me the choice. The one all seemed to miss.

Raising my head to the heavens, I cried out;

“God! I need not change, but to be anew! Refresh my soul and being!

Make me new as a color with no name!

For this is the awakening, and my choice has now been made!"

I looked back to my path; again it had changed.

The road felt safe under my feet.

My steps were sure.

My heart was strong as I marched along my new path!

Now I see; my foolish oath shining bright.

I did not notice. I was afraid. I had failed.

… I was unaware …

My friends, my loves.

The horrors I caused you in my foolish pride.

The horrors we caused ourselves was unseen…

Along that path I held my head high; in my ignorant mind I cheered!

I was here to save us all!

You were here to save us all!

For the point in one’s life…

That we all seem to miss.

For better or worse…

I knew!

I had found it!

I had chosen correctly!

… What fools we were. So arrogant…

And here I say and witness before my Christ and you all:

It was worth it.

~the Missed Awakening

~Feldyn Goldchord, the Endless Bard

* * *

“I feel it best if I begin without any introduction,” Feldyn began, soon as people gave him their attention. “When and if it comes time or is appropriate, our own personal pasts can be shared, if desired.” He looked around at the gathering of faces, “Agreed?” He saw no objections and smiled. Well, so far, so good! “That said, for me to explain recent events, a rather long tale is needed. I beg thee, no interrupting, throwing, hitting, tantrums, fits, et cetera.”

Gigi’s expression was blank as she silently mouthed, “Et cetera.” Everyone seemed eager for the rules to quit, and the show to start.

“In order to properly tell this tale, I must start at the beginning.” Feldyn took a large swig of orange juice, and let it wash away his anxiety. “In the beginning, there was God-” Pazely hit him in the face with a thrown hairbrush. Feldyn held his pose, gritting his teeth. “Don’t be a dumbass!” Pazely snipped at him. “I wasn’t, dear child,” he sighed, trying to ignore the stinging pain, and the heat of his anger. First the punch to the groin, which he had to admit was deserved, now she was striking him in the face with objects.

Why was he so anger? To an extent such feeling were normal when being struck, but not to the extent he was experiencing it. Feldyn had always had a rage problem, although it was based on emotion not physical, and was rarely acute. My God, had you truly not taking this from me? Is it now worse?

“This is a very long, very complicated tale," Feldyn continued, "I need to start at the beginning. The beginning. As in, where our entire existence started. Do ye understand?” The last was said kindly, but like a teacher that was teaching. A teacher on the verge of sending you to a very long detention. None of the other students even risked a snicker. Pazely looked down sheepishly, and to the surprise of most, muttered an apology.

His anger already abated, he chose to ignore the problem for the moment, having more pressing matters than his emotional instability. “An understandable objection, Pazely. I didn’t really explain too well, and you did meet me while I was acting like a fool,” Feldyn smiled, pouring as much charisma into his words as he could. “Yeah,” Pazely mumbled, eyes widening in curiosity, “what was with that?” She looked sheepish again from beside Caleb, as she realized she had yet again interrupted, jumping the gun on her questioning. This time, she made a pouty face, and hid in Caleb’s hugging arm as he laughed.

Feldyn was starting to see why they put up with this mean, aggressive, little turd of a tween. It was appearing more and more to him that the rough exterior was fake. Pazely was adorable, kind, fierce, and brave. But above all, still a child. That was a knowledge he would keep to himself, lest -he feared- a retaliation worse than a hairbrush would be aimed his way.

Another drink of orange juice, and he restarted, “In the beginning, there was God. And as ye know, He created the heavens and the Earth. He brought all into existence by His will alone. What ye do not know is that your planet only has the knowledge of the, shall we say, abridged version of creation?”

“Wait, our planet?” Stryker asked, then clasped both hands over his mouth, looking honestly horrified that he had interrupted. The girls and Caleb all laughed, and Stryker waved for Feldyn to ignore him and continue. So he did!

“What God created were the heavens and the earths. God, in essence, is the Holy Trinity. Three beings, yet one and the same; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: God. As God is, so is He with creation! For God created in threes, and brought all into being with the trinity elements, with which all reality is created, based, and held together. Magic, force, and science.”

He had their attention now! “With these trinity elements, all reality was and is formed and manipulated into being. Force is the skeleton of creation. You would call it matter. In this case, solid matter. True solid matter cannot exist on our side of the Creation Veil, for it is too heavy. Pure mass. It is what creation is built upon. Outside of science it exists, and unable to be manipulated by magic, holds all reality. Force just is. Not a one in existence can wield or shape it. For its very essence is unmovable and infinite.”

“Science is the base with which all creation works. It’s the how and why. Everything you can learn, see, touch, or feel, happens because of this element.” Feldyn was impressed with his audience. They were listening attentively, despite concepts that should at a minimum, ruffle a few feathers. Aside from some concerned or contemplative gazes (or Bryan’s scowls), they were good listeners. Better than how it had gone for him before. He hoped it held.

“Magic is where things get hairy. And where so many things went wrong!” Masque made an unhappy sound in the back corner, drawing a few concerned glances. “Magic is the element used to manipulate things in creation. A lot like your fictional concepts of it in this world. It’s a…” Feldyn hoped this reference was worded correctly, “programmer’s back door. Cheat codes. Magic was put into place for God to adjust, alter, and manipulate reality as needed without his creation crumbling down around him.” Feldyn smiled, quickly eating a piece of cheese, giving his audience a chance to let his words sink in.

Another sip of juice, and he gave them a wry grin. “A world with magic has magical things. Creatures, plants, items... You see, God brought many things into existence that were magic by nature. Many of your legends and mythical monsters once resided here on Earth.” It was Gigi’s turn to interrupt. “Like unicorns?” she asked in a breathless wonder. Feldyn nodded, and she squealed, clapping her hands. Pazely barely kept from smacking her in the head. Did she have to act like she was two AND retarded?!

More than a few of his students were now starting to look speculative. He prayed they continued to listen. “All of this said, God’s greatest creation, the embodiment of all God’s amazing glory, blessed with free will and the ability to create, was man.” Feldyn smiled sadly. “But two of them messed it up. You all know Adam and Eve. What you do not know is that they were but two of millions of men on Earth at that time. Eve was not the first woman. She was just created specifically for Adam. The first true soulmate, if you will.” The half-elf was surprised none of the Christians seemed to have ruffled feathers yet. Curious… “God had chosen Adam to tend His own garden, Eden. That story you should know well, so I shan’t get into it.”

He drained his glass of orange juice. “What you humans don’t know is what that caused. What it really caused. You see, God is good, so what is bad? Technically, nothing. God has no counterpart, no equal; antithesis or otherwise. But there is an existence that is a… well, a necessary evil, as it were. A counterbalance to keep reality from tipping out of control. It is the sentient embodiment of what you call sin. It is a negative trinity. Zen. Think of Zen as an... intentional computer virus in God’s video game of reality!” Feldyn flourished his arms and beamed at his creativity! “Necessary glitches, for if man were to rebel, the glitch must already exist, or reality would unravel, becoming unreality. Impossibility. Nothingness. And the Alpha would be faced with the Omega, once again alone in the void.”

As he spoke, Gigi grabbed his cup, hopping off Caleb’s lap to refill it, and handed him another plate she piled cheese on, with some crackers, and fruit as well! Bless this child! She knew the way to his heart! He mentally made a note to spoil her later. Quickly eating some food, to more than a few eye rolls, he washed it down with juice and continued.

“The Fall of man at Eden,” he said as he set his cup down, “caused the release of Zen from its quarantined area, and the creation of the currupsin. The currupsin is basically what happens when sin taints magical creatures. Well, magical anything really. Even magic itself. God may have cursed the land, but in many ways… magic cursed itself.” He let his voice start to sound heavy, “And as man and magic fell… there inevitably came a man of magic, with a very foolish idea.” This time, Masque growled.

“He wanted to build a tower to God!” Feldyn let his voice raise, filling it with the sound of exasperation. “To reach such a height, that was something he wanted to prove. To prove to God Himself that His creations were not such feeble creatures as to be destroyed by the currupsin! To prove he was better than Adam! That he would not betray the commands of the Holy One, and deserved to be glorified by the Creator! To prove man were worthy of His personal attention! To build a tower to the Kingdom of Heaven! Showing the Holy One that even His throne was not out of reach of His own creation! How incredibly ironic.” Feldyn let that sink in for several silent seconds.

“This man’s name… was Antioch.” Masque snarled loudly this time. The sound was not human. Once Feldyn was content that he was not about to be eaten, he continued his tale.

“Now you see, in the beginning, man was whole. Their entire minds were accessible to them. Man also wasn’t divided into race. There was no black or white. No Asian or Hispanic. Everyone was just… man.”

“Everyone was gay?” a wide-eyed Gigi asked, eating a cracker. Feldyn laughed and leaned over to ruffle her hair. “Not males, child: Man. You know how they call humans man or men sometimes without meaning boys? Like when someone says, ‘Hey guys!’ to address a group?” Having leaned back to his seat, her look of complete understanding (though still pretty vacant, if such things could combine) amused him to no end. She nodded and said, "uh huh."

“In this context, I mean it as the name of a different type of people. Like the pretend-” he smirked the word “-races of your world; Elves, dwarves, gnomes? They are different than humans, right?” Again she nodded. “Well I mean man like a different race, like elves and dwarves. They are not human.”

As much as Ally disliked the bard, she couldn’t deny his ability to explain things. Gigi never got anything. She either understood, or you just didn’t bother. Yet he can explain things to her. At least he’s good for something… That said, what the hell?! He’s saying humans didn’t used to be human? He is crazy. A good story though. After telling Gigi how smart she was (to an eye roll from Pazely) he went back to his tale.

“As man were whole, their bodies and appearance were much more, how should I put it… creative than today. According to the old texts, they had features that would be currently impossible. They were as if you took the colors of skin, hair, and eyes, skeletal structures, racial traits, everything you can think of; from your current day human, and fictional, races and, well, randomized the outcome.” He shrugged, as if it was hard for him to comprehend as well, and had just accepted. “Man was whole, beautiful, and unique. God’s ultimate creation.”

His juice was empty again. No one moved to fill it. At least the mountain of cheese Gigi had fetched him was lasting. “Because of this, man was a serious force to be reckoned with. They were not actually so foolish as to think the physical height of a tower could reach God. Antioch was a genius of genius. He had the greatest knowledge of magics any had ever seen, and his knowledge of science would have put your current day scientists to shame. But he did not have today’s understanding.

“Under his command, the entire world united together to build the Tower of Babel.” To this, Masque once again emitted a deep, guttural, demonic snarl. This time no one seemed to care. Feldyn, however, was paying almost as much attention to this demon’s reactions as he was the words to his tale. Perhaps he had truly experienced the sealing? Was that even possible? Could he really have been around since almost the dawn of time? If so, it currently made no sense, and would take a good deal more information for Feldyn to be convinced.

“This tower had all the technology and knowledge of man put into it. You see, Antioch’s great strategy, were the angel gates.” Juice pitcher empty, most food items now eaten… yet no one complained, or moved, so interested were they at his words. “The angel gates are what the angels themselves used to travel from their heavenly realm to here and back. These gates were high above the ground. So high there would be no oxygen, almost in space itself. Far too high for man to reach.” The half-elf winked. “But Antioch, like current day humans, always had to reach too high.”

“What occurred next is known as the Sealing. God sanctioned an all-out angelic siege on Babel. To knock it down and destroy it, and to destroy every single man involved in its creation. The heavenly host attacked the tower in the greatest force of angelic might the Earth had seen.” Masque, who had so much anger a moment ago, now seemed to shrink, as if remembering a horrific memory… or a great guilt. Curious.

“But, to the surprise of the angels, they were halted by the combined forces under Antioch’s banner. They repelled the angelic assault! Even worse, they were not just repelled, but met with a counter attack. And the angels were losing.”

Feldyn gave that a moment to sink in, and was surprised no one objected. “Needless to say, God was pissed.” At that sentence, Masque sunk completely back into the shadows. “That’s when it happened. The very sky, the very reality of the sky, was torn open, and the Hand of God, as in God’s actual Hand -not a metaphor- struck down the tower!” Feldyn realized he was shaking, and started to reach for his empty glass, before remembering nothing was in it. “The minds of no creature can fathom what is God. So, that moment, they -all sentient beings present- were destroyed completely as Babel. And God chose to... make some adjustments to his creation.

“He took all the traits of man, and split them into different peoples. Each new race was given a different curse, and then their minds were sealed. God severed the gift of word, scrambling their tongues, and removed the knowledge of magic from their minds, whilst banning it, and, well, encrypting it, creation-wide.

“But what of the magical creatures of existence? Of Earth? Should he destroy them to extinction? Just to protect his planet which now had magic forbade, and locked away? What kind of awesome God would do that?” Feldyn finally smiled a smile of peace. “God is good. He took mercy on the mystics and currupsin. He severed what was one mass of land, and in the great west, where we are now, void of people, he allowed at least one of each currupsin to live, then sealed them away; to forever sleep until the day of judgment. And he took a few of the races of man, and placed them on the new land to watch over and guard the seals.

“The mystics, however, were sent to another world entirely. My world: Aethra.” Bryan sighed and rolled his eyes, turning his attention back to fixing Pazely’s hair barrettes. Feldyn ignored him; the look John and Reba shared had him far more interested.

“Aethra is one of three main planets in creation. The third is Erthern. Erthern is sort of... natures ark. It houses every plant, animal, insect, you name it, in all of creation, and is tended to by the angels."

“Aethra, on the other hand, is much... more. See, Aethra and all its natural laws and rules, while still bound to reality, are governed by magic. If Erthern was the backup, Aethra was the testing site. For example, my world is many times the size of Earth, yet things like gravity work exactly as they do here, even the day and night cycles. In fact, it feels very natural and mundane in most aspects.”

“That’s impossible!” Bryan interrupted. “I’ve stayed quiet during this bullshit so far-” Pazely hopped from her chair and left the circle as Bryan began bitching, “-but this is too much. If a planet was that big, it would cause huge and drastic differences and changes to, well, everything, regardless of your type of science fiction or magic.” His voice was judgmental and rude, as if he was speaking to a complete moron. “Bryan, what the fuck?” Ally asked, stunned. He was never rude like this!

And because of such, no one warned the pissy nerd about Pazely. Instead, Feldyn answered the know-it-all shithead, “I told ye, it is based around magics. Normal rules of science do exist, but they do not always apply. Have you listened not to a word I’ve spoken?” Bryan was already shaking his head in exasperation before Feldyn had finished speaking. “This is stupid,” the teenager lectured, adjusting his glasses on his nose with one finger. “If you want us to even pretend to believe this crap, at least make up someth-”

And Bryan screamed like a little girl when Pazely grabbed him from behind and yelled, “Uba duba do!” in his ear.

Everyone, save Masque, exploded into raucous laughter at such an unexpected shriek from the super serious teenager. Bryan, red as a tomato, got up and stormed out of the room in a fit. Poor John felt horrible. He meant to stop the boy and chasten the little Asian, but he could hardly even breath at the moment. He had not thought such an expression or scream could occur like that in life, unscripted! God, his face! John continued laughing so hard, he was worried he may actually wet himself.

Masque remained unflinching. He did not find the situation amusing. Then he noticed Gigi, her laughter no less than any of theirs. And he remembered her screams. Masque supposed levity was not such a bad thing... The one with the glasses was being an idiotic brat, as it were. All he had wanted to see Gigi again. He wanted to see the only human he had ever known to fight alongside him, alive and well. Unwittingly, he smiled. Maybe he had made the right choice. If so… What does it all mean? Where is this all leading?

Feldyn, almost composed, still giving little gasping giggles, wiped his laughter-induced tears on his short sleeve. He honestly had thought Bryan might jump or get angry (and he sorta deserved it), but that reaction was so out of place extreme! The humor was unbelievable! Bryan’s friends were evil to allow her to do that!

Once everyone was more or less quiet and just snickering Feldyn began to continue, or started to as he was stopped by John. “Wait for the boy,” he said, and to his own horror, squeaked ‘boy’ and had to clear his throat, “to return.” John finished his sentence, to a few more snickers. Feldyn rolled his eyes, and gave a crooked grin. “Aye, that would be polite. Though, what if he were to have stopped just outside the doorway, in order to not miss anything?” At that, they heard Bryan scoff from the hall, before walking away.

“Now then,” Feldyn smiled, “shall we? Bryan expressed no interest, and if he is as smart as he likes to think, figuring it out on his own shouldn’t prove to be difficult.” Then with a shrug, “He is more than welcome to return if he wishes, and we will allow him to enter, and sit unmolested.” Feldyn then pointed a finger at Pazely and gave her a playful, lecturing sort of stare. She smiled back sheepishly as he wagged his finger. Reluctantly, she conceded, saying “Fine,” in a whiny voice, though her blue eyes twinkled mischievously.

Gigi hopped off of Caleb’s lap to go take Bryan’s vacant seat and Pazely didn’t miss the opportunity to take her place. As she was climbing in Caleb’s lap, Ally grabbed her, causing a squeal, and Caleb assisted in putting the girl in a dual head and leg lock, playfully pretending to be punishing her for being naughty. She pretended to be irritated at the attention from her two friends.

“God had the host move the mystics to Aethra through some very specials portals,” Feldyn abruptly spoke, startling everyone into trying to refocus on the tale. “Portals are volatile and hazardous, though they were the only option to travel the staggering distance between worlds.

“God then made one final change to man. He took the remnants of their magic, and instilled it in the elves!” Feldyn flourished his arms around and grinned in joy. “The elves were the least of the mystic races, closer to being mundane. But with that final piece of man, they became equal to what man had become. Some believe it made the elves more than what man became. For by taking that last piece, it changed what was left of the glory of man that remained. Turning man into what we now call human. Hu is of the Angelic language, meaning, ‘lesser than.’ The elves were then appointed as the caretakers of Aethra, before too being sent through the portals.

"However, no creature is without sin, and just like man, the elves had a fall of their own.” His voice sounded ashamed. He had the blood of both human and elf. He had twice the reason to feel such as anyone here about the topic. “Where the humans wanted the knowledge of God, to be equal and like Him, the elves wanted to be different and separate.” John finally looked intense and thoughtful. Feldyn found that odd. Did that mean everything up until now, he had already known? Just who was he?

“An environment God could not reach to, nor intervene. Which, of course, is impossible. Yet, God gave them, in a sense, what they wanted; their actions caused Zen to formally enter Aethra.

"And God? God turned away from my world. He abandoned the planet, refusing to intervene.” Feldyn clapped his hands, startling everyone. “But God isn’t just going to leave his creation to be doomed! He extended the gift of Salvation to Aethra, the Gospel and stories of Christ making their way to my world. Many a Christian exist there, and the knowledge of the truth is available.” He sighed. “Sadly, about as many believe there as they do here. And Aethra has many more people, of many different races.

“Some of these races," he topic changed, hoping it wasn't too rough, "no one knows when they had ever not existed, others have creation stories of their own. Gnomes, dwarves, pixies, fae of many types actually, the rah’kit’karr cat people, the tikirin and kinender as well.” Those last two lowered his mood. “Well, some stories are best left for later due to length.”

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

Taking a deep breath, “Aethra has several Earth’s worth of cultures on one planet. It is a planet as rich and deep as yours, just with… more. More countries, more races, more histories, more problems. But above all, less favored by God. Christ, His very Son, walked this earth!” He seemed completely amazed. “An angel -which is still up for debate- had to deliver the word to Aethra. Can you imagine? Here, where Christ walked, people still do not believe. If the gospel was preached about Christ being an alien?” That raised a few eyebrows.

“Yes, many believe Earth to be fictitious. Little knowledge exists on Aethra about your world. Most on Aethra have forgotten as much, and are as dead on the inside spiritually as you humans are here on Earth. Or the ones on Aethra. Did I forget to mention we have humans?” Then he sheepishly added, “Though I suppose ye figured that out already, being as how I am half-human, no?” Their looks said no. Maybe they weren’t as smart as he thought…

Disappointed, he kept his tale going, “And just like here, Aethra has an end times prophecy. Only ours is… problematic. Yours affects all of creation. Its outcome already written, known, and revealed. However, on Aethra, the outcome is unknown and undecided. God will not involve himself directly, hence no guarantee. Aethra also has its very own devil of sorts. And that devil... is Antioch.”

Masque was on his feet in an instant, “That is impossible!” he roared. “We saw the tower fall! We saw it smote to ruin!” The fear Masque was currently feeling… “HE DID NOT GO THROUGH THE PORTAL! HE COULD NOT HAVE SURVIVED THE WRATH OF GOD!!” Turning in her chair, Gigi held one finger to her lips in a ‘shh’ motion at the ninja. So surprised was he, that it actually seemed to work.

“The specifics are unknown, but somehow Antioch ended up on Aethra. And supposedly has a... deal, for lack of a better word, with God,” Feldyn spoke, looking right into the demon’s eyes. The others, shaken at Masque's outburst, did a good job of pretending they weren't. “The deal is thus: Antioch got to write a prophecy; if he can make it happen, he will rule all of Aethra for two thousand years, after which, the end times or close to them will start. So, basically, torment until the end of creation for Aethra. Until Christ throws the enemy into the Pit.” Feldyn moved his eyes from the motionless Masque, back to the group. “Antioch’s catch to this entire deal was that God could not intervene. At all. Anyone and anything could try to stop him, but God himself could not. Period. Ever.

“Of course God wasn’t going to just let this madman run freely amok, destroy, curse, and maim his creation, regardless of what world it may be. Conditions were given, allowing the angels to find someone on Aethra to deliver a counter prophecy. This prophecy, whatever it may be, God would not guarantee its success. And if fulfilled, Antioch would be thwarted, the good guys winning the day! Two prophecies, one good, one bad. Both sides of the coin trying to fulfill their end, and stop the other. All without God’s direct intervention.”

Feldyn looked around the room, and clapped his hands, “Anyone need a restroom break? I fear this tale may still have some telling left.”

Gigi and Stryker, led by Reba (who apparently needed to go bad), hurried from the room. Paze, who was lying on her belly across Caleb and Ally’s laps, gave a mock sigh, “Guess I can just pee here since I’m lazy.” Her lower half was residing in Ally’s lap. “You wish!” Ally teased, and spanked her. Pazely yelped out a, “GROSS!” that turned into a laugh. “Oh, that’s funny, huh?” Ally smirked and gave her another spank, this one harder and louder. “Jeez,” Caleb remarked at the impact. Pazely remained unflinching. “What was that? I didn’t feel anything,” Paze tried to sound confused, as she looked at Feldyn, then John, who was not seeming as amused at the situation.

Lifting up Pazely’s shirt to her shoulders, fully exposing her booty short-clad butt, Ally gave an evil smirk as she gave spank that sounded terribly painful. Even John grimaced, trying to avert his eyes. Pazely yelped in earnest, and Ally did it again, harder. When Pazely got her arms under her on Caleb’s leg, good enough for leverage so she could escape, Ally said, “Oh no, you don’t!” and gave her butt a good double-handed grab and squeeze. The sudden butt grope made Pazely fall back on her stomach and screech, trying to reach one hand back to stop Ally.

Ally didn't stop, and Paze kicked and squirmed, surprisingly quiet now.

John cleared his throat loudly, getting the creepy-faced Ally to look up at him. “Um… I believe she needs to… use the facilities,” he struggled to say. Sighing dramatically, “I s’pose she should,” and Ally let go, leaning back with a pout. Pazely rolled to the ground and looked up, horrified, at Ally. Caleb had no idea why she had been doing that, but he sure hadn’t minded watching.

Pazely stood now, blushing, and glaring at the beautiful blonde. Without a word, eyes suspicious, Paze slowly turned to leave. “Well, you gotta pee or what? Hurry up,” Ally punctuated by leaning over to give her another good, hard, spank. Pazely fled from the room, giving a whimpering, crying, whine as she ran down the hall - the wrong way.

Looking calmly at the three males near her, and ignoring the silent Masque (who hadn’t moved nor opened his eyes since the rest break started), Ally tried to act like the entire event was casual teasing. “Least now I know her weakness,” was the shrugging explanation.

Once everyone returned, Pazely displaced Gigi, taking the seat by Stryker. Gigi didn’t mind too much, crawling into Caleb’s lap. “The hell happened?” Stryker asked, as Pazely was uncharacteristically quiet and motionless next to him. “A genre outside my current tale, I fear,” Feldyn sighed, rubbing his forehead with the back of a hand. That caused a double eyebrow raise from and frown Reba.

Feldyn decided to reel things back in. “Shall we?” he asked softly, mixing in the right amount of eagerness, and increasing his volume to subtly fill the room. He was a bard, after all; people paid him to manipulate them into paying attention! “We are drawing to what is most pertinent, as well as how I came to be, well, here,” he motioned to his surroundings. No one objected, and Masque finally opened his eyes. He would take that as good a sign as any to continue!

“Therein is where the problem began! The writing of the prophecy, that is, if ye remember. You see, a prophecy that God himself is not the one to give... well, it isn’t truly much of a prophecy,” Feldyn picked back up so fast, everyone tried to not look confused as they listened. “What is a prophecy but not the cryptic future as shown by God himself? Some clue, or hint, or sign of things to take place, that would prove he was absolute. Indisputable proof, that it was not luck, but the will of God taking place. The Messianic Prophecies themselves are so astronomically impossible to pull off, even the most cynical has to admit Jesus is the Christ in their fulfillment. Or just be good with looking ignorant.” Feldyn gave a, ‘what can ya do?’ shrug, to a few smiles.

“A group of angels, led by an archangel, whose name has never been revealed, had to find someone upon Aethra that was a Christian, a genius, and their mind and soul had to be compatible with receiving prophecy without destroying itself. They eventually found a human, of all races, on Aethra, that was capable of receiving prophecy. After many convoluted events, he began to receive them.

“What happened was both quite unfortunate, and terribly interesting. The angels lost control of the prophecy immediately. Meaning, they were no longer in control of the plan to thwart Antioch!” Feldyn seemed about to leap from his chair in excitement.

Ally wished he had explained things like this the first time. Before, he had seemed like a lunatic, but now he seemed… like a teacher. Like one whose belief in their own words was a passion for them. Maybe it was just easier for her because of the ritual he had them perform?

“His visions,” Feldyn continued, barely skipping a beat, “were also of things on Earth.” He almost got distracted again, as John leaned closer, the old man's entire demeanor changing to one of fascination, if not borderline disagreement. Reba leaned back, taking her chin in one hand in a cute thinking stance. “From random places and random times seemed to come his visions. And quite infuriatingly, he wrote the prophecy in a gibberish tongue no one could even began to fathom for ages.”

Feldyn had to stop to clear his throat. He was skipping so much… As well as including some, err, more personal views and opinions. At the same time, he could not justify his eagerness. Was this all for Caleb's benefit? “I know there is a lot I am abridging, and trust me, there are libraries worth of detail to all of this. That can be filled in later; for now, I need to explain the important parts, if I may?” This was asked mostly for Reba and John’s benefit. And it seemed beneficial for them, as they both relaxed a good deal in their postures.

“This prophecy has been collected into one big book, its title in common: the Esseff Codex ala Saints. Codex, it is shortened to. Over time, scholars figured out it was written in random languages from random times across our two worlds.” Another half truth. “One sentence could be written in a combination of more than one language, from two worlds, from different times. It was madness! But a good deal of it was translatable, even if it took… some time, to figure out its meanings. You see… not everyone agrees.

“The Codex speaks of one leader. A king. Mostly referred to as the Dragonheart. This Dragonheart’s power will be so great, his soul was broken into numerous shards. Each shard becoming their own individual life, powerful and capable enough to fight alongside the Dragonheart. And they together, the Dragonheart and shards, will find links. Links are those who are... special. They have a uniqueness to them, a power, that allows them -once awakened- to be powerful enough to join the fight. Though on a vastly lower power tier than the shards, mind you. Still, their own prowess is not exactly lesser of being considered mythical heroes themselves.”

The entire room, astonishingly, was transfixed! This was the part of the Codex that caused so many nonbelievers. This ridiculous child’s fiction scenario. A bunch of heroes to save the world! These were games children played, not real life happenings!

“In essence, these links and shards band together under the Dragonheart, go kick Antioch’s ass, and save us all! HOWEVER… it’s never that simple, is it?” His demeanor change didn’t cause one flinch. His shout, not a single start. “You see… the links and shards are all mentioned in the Codex. In riddles, and clues, and obscure passages throughout. The links can exist in different times and different places. They are who they are, when and where they are. And if a link were to die without being awakened, it is said the gift passes to another; that way effectively keeping their existence intact till the day of their awakening.” Not exactly true, but he had to fill in the blanks with something.

“Now, the shards are different. You see, they can only exist once.” Some believe… “Their ability does not pass to others. They are specific souls. It is written that they shall only be when the Dragonheart himself is. So you find a shard, you know the others must be around somewhere. As would the Dragonheart. Unfortunately, a shard has never been identified.” And technically, only two links. Confirmed by faith, and a few cryptic passages…

“If locating all these would-be heroes ‘twas not bad enough, the Codex writes of things that must be done. Events that must happen. Sometimes in ridiculously obscure ways. All of them, lest the prophecy fail!" False. Nothing in the Codex says they are to fulfill the prophecies or fail. Yet it made sense that would be the case, and makes for a more rallying tale.

"There are several Codex sects. The largest -Codexens- claim the Codex will fulfill itself, being a written manifestation of the Christ. They are passionate enough about their beliefs, they are willing to slaughter everyone that doesn’t agree. The oldest, and most volatile of them are the Gelgtuh. They swear their dead King Gelgtuh is the Dragonheart, and will rise again to save them all. Their noble families are all supposed to have links in their bloodlines.” Feldyn couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

“The smallest of the groups, call themselves the Esseff. Yes, like the Codex. This group is the most… influential. They are also the ones that smuggled copies of both the Codex and the Bible across Aethra, and the only Codex sect that preaches Christianity.

"The Codex sects caused many wars, and were also the cause of the one hundred year war. However, there was another war, more of a battle, really, related to the Esseff prophecy, that shook Aethra to its core. Antioch, the prophesied villain whom had fallen to tales and legend… re appeared.

“All over Aethra, he went tracking down the powerful and bending them to his will. Those who did not submit, or were simply in his way, he destroyed. So powerful was he, so unstoppable, the one-hundred-seventeen nations of known Aethra banded together for the first time, to destroy their common enemy. Over a billion soldiers, history writes, the greatest force Aethra has ever known! Antioch wiped out the lot of them.”

Where the events were not a lie, Feldyn literally pulled those numbers out of his ass. He was pretty sure there were over one hundred countries on Aethra... Far as the soldier count, a billion wasn't so unbelievable for that many nations?

“It may not have been quite that simple,” Feldyn admitted, feeling guilty, “but regardless, Antioch leveled the allied forces. The only ones who survived were those who had fled."

“And when all seemed hopeless and lost, Antioch having destroyed the armies of the world… he, and his accumulated forced.... vanished. Sort of. They were not long after located in a vastly unexplored region called Akur. Akur is a desert region, with many small countries. Antioch devastated it with such power that he turned entire regions of Akur to glass. Appointing himself the ruler, he made Akur into a unified empire.. Over the years since, Antioch crowned several generals to champion his cause.”

Gigi had to interrupt that. “What are their names?” Then added, “What?” at the disapproving looks from the others at her interruption. “Don’t yell at me! He’s not gonna say, and it’s no fun when the bad guys don’t have names!” Her hair, now bound at the top of her head again, seemed to thrash wildly as she made her point. Feldyn was beginning to love the little diva, so he conceded. “Fine child, I will name them, but I am not going to give you their life stories, agreed?” She nodded and grinned. Feldyn could not help but smile back. “We have Goldiez Cerulienstah, Darlothz Tch’tlegion, Terkin Lamphrent, and Cryx. Only four with the rank of general. Good enough?” he asked the very confused-looking Gigi. Shaking her head, “Nope. But you can tell me later; it’s okay to keep going!” Yup, he was definitely beginning to love this girl.

“As Antioch settled into his new nesting ground, every nation set to rebuilding and fortifying, at first in a panic. Then, after time and with Antioch staying where he was, people once again began to get lax. And forget. Eventually telling themselves, after so many years, Antioch must be dead and was no longer a threat; even if Akur, lead by the immortal generals, very much was."

“Which brings us to more… current times. Not long ago, one of the Ruling Kingdoms, Reveira, made an announcement. The type of announcement they should never have made. They claimed to have an individual which fit the criteria, beyond a doubt, for one of the links. The link who is written to seek out the Dragonheart.” Here it comes. “That link… is me.”

Absolutely no reactions. The disappointment he felt inside was of epic proportions.

“I am the link prophesied to find the Dragonheart.” No one said a word. Finally, Reba, softly and sounding confused, asked “Do you… want us to interrupt this time?”

Yup, epic disappointment. He hid it well with a smile, and shake of the head. Whilst continuing was the best course of action, he was needing to now remember some hard memories. “My friends, this is where I think the story shall change in its telling. Why? Because this is where it gets… personal.”

Feldyn’s entire demeanor had changed. The energetic storyteller of a teacher from a moment ago, now looked… defeated. And far less happy. Like someone home from a hard days work, sitting back to drink a beer, while they bitched and whined.

“No one believed Reveira. Why would they? It was a ridiculous claim to make. Let alone for one such as I. For I am a-,” he almost slipping a truth he did not want to say, and barely caught himself, “-half-blood. And let’s just say we, in the elven worlds, are not exactly regarded… of high pedigree,” he sneered that last. “But I swear to ye, I am not lying!" About being a link... "Not long into becoming a young man, I… Ye have to understand, such views as I am sharin’ with ye would be regarded as insane to others on my world! For truth be told I did not believe it myself…”

Ally was not pleased she was about to say this, but with everything else going on, why the hell not? “I believe you.” The half-elf looked at, stunned into momentary silence. “What reason do I have not to? You may be an overzealous douche, but you have been proven at least partly truthful. We got attacked by a gigantic monster dog, and were saved by a ninja, then my dance teacher ends up being a mad scientist. Why doubt the weird anymore?" Besides, focusing on the weird was one of the only things keeping her mind off the fact Jessie was fucking murdered.

“I believe you!” Gigi announced. “Me too, I guess,” Pazely told him, Stryker following with a consenting shrug of his own. “As do I,” Masque added. “We have no reason to doubt you either,” Reba spoke for herself and John, though she was scowling at Ally for the mad scientist comment. “After yesterday,” Caleb started, “and the fact you risked your life to help us,” now he smiled, “I think I can give you the benefit of the doubt. Demon dogs and all that.”

It wasn’t so much that they all believed his tale, so much as they just didn’t believe he was lying. Which, oddly enough, is not the same thing. Feldyn failed to see this, only hearing their words of acceptance.

Feldyn… who had been ridiculed, betrayed, and tormented because of his beliefs. Feldyn, who had lost so many, and suffered so greatly... was close to breaking into sobs of happiness. That Feldyn… was also feeling shame and guilt. He wasn’t supposed to care, dammit! None of them, not a one, could go back through the portal besides Caleb, Lance, and himself! It wasn’t choice, it just was. Their bodies would be torn asunder! Yet this was his cross to bear. And bear it he would. Too much had already been lost, been sacrificed, for him not to. And if it come down to it... he would... let every one of them die to get Caleb back to Aethra safely...

“Thank you,” he managed to say to the group, and was more than happy his voice was calm and strong. With a deep breath, nerve regained, “When I was barely more than a child, I began to have dreams. One specific dream really. But it was long, and confusing, and full of words and phrases I did not understand. Images, sounds… It was vivid as any experiences in the waking world! Though they were still dreams, vivid or not, much was... cloudy. Forgotten, or hidden in the shadows of my mind. One thing, that was always clear, and never faded... were the emotions.”

A violent chill ran up his spine, and seemed to stretch fingers of ice across his rib cage. 'What was that?' He let his pondering thoughts run in the back of his mind, and kept talking, “These… future memories, were of the best friends I had ever known.” Feldyn’s eyes were now full of tears, and he was struggling desperately to not let his voice crack, shiver up his spine forgotten. “Although I had never before met them,” his voice cracked, and he took a brief moment to wipe his eyes on his short sleeve. No one interrupted as he composed himself. “But whenever I woke, I could never remember their faces.”

'And I lie,' Feldyn thought. There was one face he could always see, and would never forget… Her face.

“What I could remember caused enough of a stir. Turned out they were things of Earth. Mostly. The words and sounds I did not recognize, I now know were mostly Japanese.” Again, partial truths. Not that it should matter. Yet the more he emitted, or lied, the more it was eating at him. Why? These people were basically strangers, and his words, true or false, would not bring them any harm. “An amazing language, though I fear I only have a rudimentary understanding of it.” He gave an exaggerated wince at Pazely and mouthed ‘sorry’ to which she just rolled her eyes. (The fuck did she care what languages he spoke?) He smiled at how easy it was to tease her, and moved on.

He took a deep breath, and abridged. Heavily. “A lot happened, and I started to remember one of those I dreamed of. Or more like one moment. Before a red painted sky, it appeared a sunset, a man stood facing away. Behind him, and before me, were nine other individuals, whom I still cannot remember.” Feldyn resisted the urge to gulp. It was a bit awkward explaining this part, having Caleb sitting right next to him. “And then he turned, to face me. Donned in what appeared to be a variety of a dragon armor,” Feldyn failed to realize they had no clue what dragon armor was, “and in each hand, he wielded a separate blade; one was a brilliant longsword, much resembling his armor, the other was a small curved blade that was colored like a rainbow."

Feldyn closed his eyes only long enough to take a breath, then opened them and turned to Caleb, “That man I saw there before me, was you. Though, admittedly, you were a bit older than now.”

Caleb just stared at him. “Me?” he finally asked, with a smile that made him look like he was eight-years-old. Then snickered. “Sounds cool and all, but really?” He paused as Feldyn’s face fell, “Y-you said ye believed me…” Oh holy crap, he looks emo enough to color his hair! The entire idea of what Feldyn was preaching sounded awesome. And where Caleb didn't exactly think he was lying, it was a bit much to just believe. Other worlds? Mythical heroes? Magic and monsters? That stuff just isn't (So lycanthropeire are commonplace for you?) real. You play it, read (FUCK) it, watch it, you don't live (Imagine yourself dead, you worthless cunt!) it. Do you?

“Do you?” Caleb said, and Feldyn furrowed his brow. The teenager closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to think. All these unwanted thoughts were confusing as fuck.

“I mean,” Caleb restarted, eyes still closed, “do you see how someone you just met telling you that you are this legendary hero could be…” With a sigh, Caleb opened his eyes and smiled at his new friend, “How it can be a lot of crap to take in?” His eyes widened and he held his hands out defensively, “I meant not bad or fake crap! The believable kind, you know, the good… crap?” Reba facepalmed and Feldyn -not for the first time- wondered if this boy had any hope.

Caleb started laughing at his own stupidity. Eventually, the others joined in with some smiles and laughs of their own. Stryker wasn’t sure why, he just went with it. He desperately needed to stretch, and wished this story would hurry up. It reminded him of the time he sat in on one of those pencil and paper games the kids were playing. He had been so freaking lost it was humiliating. Francis took a little extra time to get the creative crapola flowin’, but he was more than above average intelligence. And knew it would make sense to him eventually, so why stress the small stuff?

“It wasn’t the easiest for me to accept at first either,” Feldyn admitted, taking back the lead. “Remember, on my world, your planet is a myth to most. Then, there I was, saying the Dragonheart was an alien, and I was the one destined to locate him!” From their expressions when he put it like that, he saw they were finally starting to get his dilemma.

"How I came to traverse a portal to Earth... was anything but pleasant.” He shuddered. “But I made it. The locals were not exactly welcoming when I arrived, but after fleeing them, thinking I had lost my mind, having trouble accepting I was not still on Aethra, I found a friendly town. Which only reinforced the belief I was still on my world. Why? Because I encountered humans who spoke the Trade Tongue.”

John raised his hand. “Trade Tongue?” the old man asked when Feldyn motioned to him. This part was about to sound hard to believe… It even had been for him. “On Aethra, after the first great war, when the countries were trying to form a peace, they decided to make a language. A language that belonged to no people. It was designed to be so convoluted, so ridiculously complex and full of rules, that no sane individual would learn it without a reason. By learning it, you showed you took world trade, peace, or politics, seriously. It, to this day, is taught in every developed country, and is considered the common tongue. Near everyone speaks it to a certain degree. And it just so happens to be near identical to your English.”

“Common?” Pazely sneered. “Seriously? English is freaking common?!” She was beginning to come back from the Ally groping, it seemed! “Are you trying to be a retarded stereotype?” Feldyn had no idea what she was so angry about. It did seem quite a hard to believe coincidence. How could one country on one planet, happen to have an identical language to another planet, neither having any connection to each other when they were formed? The names of plants, spices, foods, and even a good deal of (but not all) slang was identical! But what storyteller would use such a blatantly stupid excuse to explain why a completely alien world spoke his own native tongue? It was amateur! If not lacking a great deal of creativity. Surely he could weave a tale better than that! Only the truth could ever be so… unbelievable.

“I assure you Pazely, I am telling you the truth. I am not sure what is so stereotypical though. It seems quite hard to believe myself, nor have I ever heard of such a thing.” He eyed her cautiously as he kept talking, totally missing the similar looks of disbelief on the faces of Caleb, Ally, and Reba.

“Not delaying long, I immediately proceeded to gather information and the explore Earth, searching for the Dragonheart. I experienced amazing cultures, and walked amazing lands! I even went to the Holy Land itself!” Humans were so diverse across this planet, and their cuisines were amazing! Thinking of food, he briefly forgot what he was saying.

“Um, where was… Oh! To sum it up, I eventually ended up in Russia, briefly staying with a family of nudists.” Gigi snickered. She was a nudist in Russia! Well, she was when she traveled with her cousins. Her own parents rarely ever left the town they lived in. “I had met them because, as I had been walking naked down a beach (after a bad encounter with some wildlife), a family with two daughters were picnicking. I panicked at first, being naked and all. Then, I noticed the entire family was also nude. And there were other people farther down the beach, also without clothing. But that first family stood out. Instead of old, ugly, and hairy: they were youthful, in good shape."

“Oh no,” Ally groaned loudly, as it just dawned on her who he was talking about. Who else could he be describing? “You can’t be fucking serious.” Everyone looked curious. Feldyn nodded sheepishly, “Aye, ‘tis afraid I am.” Ally felt a bit sick. “WHAT IS IT?!” Pazely screeched, tired of no one explaining. Ally looked out from between two fingers as she now hid her face in her hands. “Uncle and Aunt Jacobson.” Saying those words tasted bad in her mouth. Sally and Jessie’s parents. That explains why he had been so damn intent on being in disguise when he came to the studio! She knew there had been more to it! “You met Sally and Jessie before coming here.”

Luckily, the name Jessie managed to slide by without causing any disturbances. Though the bard noticed and quickly continued, before someone thought of the poor girl’s recent, and horrible, departure from this world. “Aye, I had. Your aunt and uncle were both quite generous in their hospitality, despite me crashing their family vacation.”

“That’s because my aunt’s a slut,” Ally groaned, still hiding her face. The half-elf ignored the comment, unsure what her aunt’s promiscuity had to do with anything.

“Three full days with them, before I noticed a picture that had been on a shelf in their little cabin.” He sighed. “I had seen it each day for three days, and didn’t notice. In the picture stood the Dragonheart!” Caleb knew the exact photo. Sally and Jessie’s mom had taken it. Him, Ally, Jessie, Sally, Pazely and Gigi were all in it. “You can imagine my surprise! I could hardly believe what I was seeing!” Feldyn laughed, and shook his head. He had been leaving that day too, and almost missed it entirely!

“Of course, I inquired about the boy in the photo. It didn’t take long for me to learn who you were, and where you resided. When I finally left them, I made my way to America for the first time. Yes, I said the first time. I had not… heard many good things about your country. How surprised I was, however, that law enforcement didn’t shoot me on sight, and not every citizen was grossly obese.” Feldyn couldn’t believe he had avoided this country! It has held so many pieces of so many unanswered questions! What could he say? Everyone knows when you go to a new land (world?), you avoid the empire that everyone is afraid of! Honestly though, he truly wished he had come here sooner. Despite the ignorance, there was a freedom unlike any he had encountered on Earth!

And did he mention food? This country had so much food!

Feldyn occasionally worried he thought of food too much...

“I eventually made it here, meeting up with Caleb, Ally, and Pazely at Caleb’s girlfriend’s property.” Caleb blinked rapidly at that last. “Um, I don’t have a girlfriend,” he interrupted the bard. Pazely clapped her hands and started cackling. “Did you seriously forget her?” she snorted more than once in her giggles. “This is freaking awesome!” Ally and Reba couldn’t help but smirk themselves.

Caleb looked horrified. He felt horrified. He had a girlfriend?! That sounded more unbelievable than anything he'd heard yet! “Well, who is it?” If his eyes were any wider they would have fallen out. Pazely was almost in hysterics now. Stryker even had to grin at the terror on the boy’s face. “It’s Rashelle Clausington,” Ally informed him, matter-of-fact and with a sigh. May as well get this over with. “Who the hell is that?” Caleb asked, voice quavering in fear, and Ally laughed despite herself. Caleb frowned, “This is bullshit. I’m dating someone and I don’t even know who. Why is it so funny? Is she ugly or something?”

Ally sighed a bit dramatically “You should still remember her, even with the holes in your head. You can remember school?” She made sure her words sounded as condescending as possible. “Rashelle's skinny, pale, thin, black hair, about to here,” Ally held her hand an inch below her shoulder to show. “No ass, tiny boobs, so polite and charming you want to light her on fire and see if she smells like marshmallows? Yet when you do, you realize it’s all fake, and smells like the horseshit that it is?” Pazely fell out of her chair, gasping for breath between breathless laughter. No one paid her much heed. Completely missing the venom and super bitch in Ally, it dawned on Caleb whom she meant.

… Rashelle was kinda hot. And older than him. Which seemed odd. How the hell did he get an older girl’s attention? They never give younger guys the time of day! And Caleb wasn’t exactly popular. He guessed Rashelle did stare at him a lot, and was rumored to be a slut.

“Did we have sex?” Caleb asked Ally without blinking. Feldyn’s winced. Ally felt like she had a mini-stroke, but was thinking better now, so it was much easier to keep her usual control. Giving him a confused look, “How would I know, you creepy dumbass,” she laughed. “Cuz I tell you everything, don’t I?” he answered with a teasing smile.

“Anyway,” Feldyn continued, wanting to wrap things up. Now he needed to pee, “I met you two, and Pazely, who may be unconscious beside the chair… Oh, she moves! Good. I then explained more or less what I just did. Only with much less detail. None of you believed me. Then the manastorms started.” He saw that was going to take at least a mild explanation.

“Manastorms are those flaming arcs of electricity in the air, occasionally accompanied by earthquakes. They are like… God’s countermeasure to magic use. When magic takes place in your world, it creates a manastorm to burn away the residual mana. Like cauterizing a wound, in a way. Though it’s best to just know that -on Earth- magic causes manastorms. The stronger the magic, the stronger the storm.

“Being worried at their appearance, I did some… research and discovered manastorms had been being reported all over Earth the last few years, yet none had ever been officially recognized by any government. Even with the appearance of the storms, I still could not get you to believe me."

Time for his first bold faced lie. "A couple of days ago, while I was... walking near the studio, I discovered the presence of what I presumed to be a weakening seal. Yes, the very one broken yesterday." He intentionally did not make eye contact with Ally. "I then knew that to be the cause of local storms." Masque didn't flinch. Was he choosing to go along with the lie? Give the bard enough rope to hang himself? "I knew if I fixed the seal, the storms would stop. I thought, if I gave ye all... a bit of a placebo, I might gain some trust." Ally aimed at him a deathly stare he couldn't avoid. “The ritual,” she stated, and he nodded sheepishly.

“Real rituals do exist, though I would never intentionally use magics on Earth! Instead, I simply wanted to convince you all, so made up a story about how the ritual would stop the manastorms. After, I had intended to hurry and repair the seal, proving the... lie.” He felt ashamed of himself, and his voice showed it.

Feldyn had not known about the seal, and had minimal knowledge on how they functioned. Though he did know what was causing the storms. Or so he thought.

“What caused the memory loss then, and the weird way we’ve been feeling?” Ally asked, looking unconvinced. “As I have stated, many times, I have not the slightest of notion what caused it.” Feldyn answered, pouring truth into his eyes and voice. After a moment, Ally looked away with an eye-roll.

That last was the honest truth. He hadn’t the foggiest what caused the severe storming, nor the effect on their memories.

“I fear this brings me to current,” Feldyn concluded abruptly. He never was good at ending tales.

Pazely (sitting back in her chair) didn’t look happy. “What about that dumb wig and stuff? And you being at the dance studio?” Her expression looked deathly cute. Feldyn couldn’t say no to that face! “The studio, well I had planned that before I ever met you all in case I could not find a chance to approach Caleb. A little research turned up information about the master classes, and that master instructors were always wanted. So I, uh, forged my credentials, and contacted the studio.” He gave Reba an apologetic smile, though she seemed too lost in thought to notice.

“Which reminds me,” Feldyn turned a sudden and suspicious look to Pazely, “after the ritual, and before class, you were the one who gave me the disguise. Yes, you. Though you also gave me an incredibly foul-tasting drink you claimed was for energy, which I now believe was drugged.”

Pazely’s eyes grew huge, her expression still cute, just with a mischievous twinkle in her blue eyes. "Wait… was it in a rainbow-colored water bottle and tasted like dirt?” She already knew he would nod. For some reason, she had helped him to dress like a hippy, and gave him a bottle of shroom tea. She didn’t eat psychedelic mushrooms herself, but had recently… errr… acquired a good deal of old nasty ones she had been trying to get rid of. She traded stuff to people in town for other stuff she wanted, and had ended up with a ton from one of her last trades.

Wow, to do that to Feldyn, she must have really thought he was retarded. It explained why he was acting so dumb. She actually felt a little ashamed of herself. “Sorry,” she mumbled.

“Hallucinogenic mushrooms, made into a tea,” Caleb assumed. Pazely blushed in confirmation. Ah! That would explain it! Feldyn should have been irritated, but in a different situation he would have probably drank the foul tasting tea willingly, so he let it slide.

John stood suddenly. “After such a story, I would say we are in need of a good meal.” He looked back to Reba, who didn’t share his eagerness. “We… also should tell you our own.” John appeared to almost grow older, his expression apologetic as he looked to his granddaughter. “I fear we may have been meant to cross paths with you.” John smiled weakly at Feldyn. “For you though, that is a good thing.” As John was leaving the room, Reba asked, “Where are you going?” sounding irritated. “Everyone get freshened up,” John said, turning back to the group, “and we will gather in the dining hall. Reba will show you the way.” And he once again turned, and left uninterrupted.

Looks like there were more tales to be told! Feldyn stood and stretched. Everything was going so well! Now to find a portal, open it, and return home. And figure out a way to get Caleb to leave the others behind. That last would probably be the only hard part left. The lycanthropeire? Feldyn was sure this world’s modern security forces, once the beast became known, would easily dispatch it. Big and deadly it was, but it could be destroyed like anything else of flesh and blood, given enough firepower. Surely that was the last and only danger they would face.

Or so he thought. If he knew of the real danger lurking near, or the events soon to take place…

He would not have been smiling.