Watching the strange leader of the invaders as he gestured toward our section of the wall. I was peripherally aware of something going on behind me, but was too distracted to look. At least until I felt more than saw Amy dash to my side, holding her shield up high. Snick.. From my spot standing atop the wall. I turn to the sound in time to see the back of Amy's head explode in a shower of blood, bone and brain. Four others also fell at almost the exact same time.

  But all I see is Amy falling. Time almost seemed to stop. I didn't even try to wipe her blood from my face before I screamed and the world turned white.

  In the blank sky above me, I could see two gems pulsing in time to my heartbeat. The brown gem gave a pleasant, steady feel to its beat. The green one I could only describe its sound as screaming. It looked to be crumbling, as pieces fell off to vanish into the surrounding nothingness.

  "You should sit down my Nalle." Said a man's deep voice behind me. Strangely, it did not frighten me, it felt, safe.

  "Who are you? No, forget that for now I need to get back, Amy needs me." I say in a panic to the... "Are you an angel?"

  "Once upon a time, I was an angel. Happily living with my wife and two children. But now I don't really know myself, I should have returned to the cycle of reincarnation by now." The familiar man said with a thoughtful and sad look on his face.

  "As for returning to your sister, you cannot, not yet at least." He turned to stare at the green gem. "Soon, you will answer most of your questions yourself."

  I turned to follow his gaze. "What are they? I feel like I should know, but something is holding the answer back."

  "Ah, yes, sorry your brother and I have been keeping much from you. I can't tell you how much trouble it has been keeping you from going mad." He said with one side of his lip turned up.

  "Before you start, can you please introduce yourself, you know me, but I don't know you." I say with a bit of irritation. However, after my demand, there was a tiny giggle and a voice I could hear from his jacket pocket.

  A tiny head poked out a moment later, "yeah Mathew where are your manners, introductions before lectures."

  "Well, you have done introductions for me, so I will introduce you instead. This here is Trina, my faerie companion, just like Tayna is for you."

  Suddenly panicked, I rub my birthmark "Tayna are you okay? Speak to me."

  "She can't talk now hun, when us fairies' emotions spike too extremely, we go comatose for a time. With your connection, she got a double dose, so she may sleep for a long time. We're a cheerful bunch by nature, so we don't take loss well."

  "Anyway," said the man... I mean Mathew. "The green gem is hard to explain, but I shall do my best. Although you will know anyway, once the chrysalis shatters and your memories return."

  "When a faerie bonds with another's soul, the bond is permanent even after death. Most will simply continue on into their next lives, where most likely they will be born near the same region and will meet again. However, others who truly love their partners, and want to preserve their memories, can wrap a chrysalis around themselves and the soul of their bond. When this happens, the cycle of reincarnation is broken, and their souls will be sent to another plane outside of time. Reborn into what many races call angels, The fairies, however, will remain in the chrysalis's, until it absorbs a sufficient amount of essence."

  "Well, unless someone has tampered it with as much as yours, over tens of thousands of years."

  "Is this the part where you get to the point," I ask, teeth grinding from impatience and possibly the more massive headache I Can feel coming on. But he seemed not to hear and kept talking.

  "You're fairy has been absorbing not just essence, but mana too, in massive quantities. She has also been strengthening your body.. your actual body, I mean. I don't mean your dungeon core. no, I am speaking of the true body sealed inside a tiny dimension, alone inside the core."

  While listening to Mathew continue on, I kept seeing flashes of scenes I could not place, all jumbled together. I even saw myself wandering the dungeon with Charlotte and Stacy, through what seemed to be Amy's eyes. I could feel her worries when I fought in the front alongside her, instead of staying in the back like a good little mage. No, not just her emotions, I knew her... our... my thoughts. Grabbing my head screaming, I fell back into warm arms that wrapped around me.

  "It is going to be okay, just let the memories in, don't fight them."

  Turning my head, there was a ghostly image of Amy smiling down on me. Holding her tight I yell "please don't leave me, I need you, don't go please."

  "Silly, I can't leave you, I am you, or I will be you, eventually." She said as she began to fadeaway.

  With a resounding crash that shook the white space, the green gem shattered into millions of pieces. In their place, a tiny faerie with pure white hair floated down to lie in my cupped hands. Bringing it closer, I could see the familiar features of both Amy and Sally merged together.

  Tears streaming down my face, I turn to Mathew "I want to sit down now."

  With a warm melancholic smile he replied, "this is your mind think it and it will appear."

  Closing my eyes, a memory of when Amy and I were four years old came to me. When I opened my eyes a fort made of pillows and blankets sat atop our bed and I crawled inside, shutting the pillow door behind me.

  Time passed as I lay weeping inside my fort and I lost track. It could have been seconds or centuries. Images of my past kept pouring in, some happy, some sad, but more often than not they were terrifying. Eventually the tears stopped and my face became more and more impassive until I couldn't say if I felt anything at all.

  Standing, I banish my fort. "Come out Michail, I can feel you watching."

  A man with golden wings slowly materializes, "hello little sister, I would say long time no see, but keeping your memories blocked was not easy."

  "Oh, and whose fault was it, I needed my memories blocked in the first place?" Snapping my fingers, black chains erupted from the floor wrapping Michail's arms and legs. The look of surprise and a hint of fear made me smile coldly as I approached him slowly. Stepping right up to him I wrapped my long fingers around his throat feeling immense pleasure as my long black fingernails drove into his flesh.

  "Tell me big brother why I shouldn't rip out your throat this very instance?"

  "Dad, are you really going to just watch this?" Michail says, looking over my shoulder.

  Turning my head slightly to look, raising an eyebrow at him.

  Mathew cougher'd into his hand "I think it's better if I stay out of sibling fights what do you say Trina?"

  Trina who was sitting on his shoulder looked up from pretending to do her nails. "Hmm? oh yes, we should let children work things out for themselves."

  "Sis, wait, it was the only way the faction wanted to kill you. I made the dungeon core punishment to save all your lives."

  "Save our lives have you looked at Dad he is not alive anymore he is a spirit lost between planes and Trina is stuck there too. What about the hundreds of others like me who the ___ing fairies tortured are they okay? But more importantly, where is Mom!" I shouted that last while digging my nails deeper in.

  "Stop! I'll show you I sent her some place safe where no one can harm her."

  Releasing my grip a little, I hiss, "show us."

  "You know your black eyes are really creepy. Okay, sorry ill show you. Um, can you release an arm I can't use my power like this?"

  Dad quit pretending to ignore us and walked forward, excitement in his eyes.

  "Seriously, in the last forty thousand years you never showed Dad?"

  "He never asked besides I don't even know if he can enter the universe I placed her. I don't know if you realized yet, but you require mana and essence to live now. You can't sustain yourself on power alone."

  Grabbing my head, "'ouch' heads still messed up. What is the difference between essence and power?"

  Dad responded before Michail could. "Power is what angels are born with we don't get strength from the world, stars or whatever else other species can. Our power is inside us all and grows with time the older you get the more power you have simple as that."

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  "Or it was that simple," Michail added while pointing at the brown gem still calmy pulsing, although more rapidly as I might be a tad flustered. "With the cores mixed in, you are far more powerful than you should be. Otherwise how could my baby sister keep me chained, even inside her own head it should not be possible?"

  "What about Dad?"

  "Don't worry about me, I gave up my body and strength for a good cause, the best actually I got to save my daughter's life. Now I can just entertain myself giving cryptic messages to mortals, it is surprisingly fun. Also, could you at least take your fingers out of his neck its making a mess?" Dad said while giving a disapproving look at our feet, where a puddle of golden blood had formed.

  "Fine," and with a squelch I pull my fingers out, but heal his wounds in a way the scars are permanent.

  Hey that was uncalled for. Now how will I ever get a wife?

  Smirking both Dad and I say "it's been over a hundred millennia if you ain't married yet it isn't happening, anyway."

  "Isn't it the same for you too then,?" he asked, looking at me.

  "No, it's different for pretty girl's."

  "Whatever, lets show you where Mom is placed." He said in irritation and a bit of fear as I move my fingers closer.

  Michail slowly reached into his shirt pocket, retrieving a small object with buttons on it, and began pressing them, pointing the device off to one side. "Ah, here we are."

  The view of a red planet appeared before us. "I don't see a core," said Dad, and I could feel a chill present in the room that wasn't there before.

  "That's strange this planet was lush and thriving when I last checked on Mom. There was even a small tribe of humans living at a nearby village that she interacted with."

  Staring at Michail, I clenched my fist and rivulets of blood began flowing around the chains holding him in place.

  "Give me a second I just need to scan for her she is the only core in that universe, shouldn't take long."

  The view zoomed out and refocused on a blue planet nearby: this world was completely different. There was movement everywhere, huge metal boats entering and exiting the planet. Zooming in again, we could see cities that spanned entire continents, even a few floating over the oceans. People are flying this way in that either by their own power or in smaller metal ships.

  "What is the essence and Mana levels on this world?" I say in awe at what they had built. Temporarily forgetting that he said there is none in this universe.

  "Zero on both," he said shocked, "theirs noway that can be right. Wait, these humans are using power like ours, but how?"

  Dad finally spoke up, "I don't care what these humans can do; I want to see Mary now!"

  "That's the problem. My scan is picking readings of her from three different locations. Stop! Nalle you're going to cut my hands off if they get any tighter, let me check the other location."

  "I think she spent a lot of time on this world, and it seems she left her power to permeate this planet. Not sure if it is intentional or if they damaged her core." Michail said worry in his voice, I don't care im going to hurt him more, anyway.

"We need to find her." No sooner did I say that the view changed to a world filled with sand. Zooming out further, we gasp at the scene, "is that a planet or a moon," I ask in confusion.

  "Scan shows the desert world is roughly the same size as the previous world. So the one in the center.... that's not natural, Michail said."

  Dad huffed grabbing the device "lets poke our noses in then see what's up." Soon the image zoomed so close I could see blades of grass before we were inside the planet. It is hollow Dad said, intrigued.

  I was about to tell him off for wasting time and to get back to the search for mom but.

  "There's a signal, its week and diluted, but Mary's power is at the center." Dad exclaimed.

  At the center of this artificial planet, we find what appears to be a human woman stuck in place by massive tubes covering her hands and feet. We could feel power being drained from her at a constant rate. Putting my hands over my mouth, "they are using her as a battery to keep this world going."

  Suddenly the woman's eyes snapped open, and they glowed with an eerie green light in the darkness. "Freedom is a lie. Father was right, he told me. The evil of humanity will follow wherever we go. Just like there is good in the people here, even if you all refuse to see it. I should have listened to him. We thought we escaped the sickness spreading across our world. But it followed us, it changed us into monsters. However, the most evil are the ones that look the most human, the ones who call themselves elves." As she said this, she stared hatefully at me, then she slowly closed her eyes and said no more.

  "Okay, that was spooky," I say.

  "Hmm," I hear from Michail "according to these readings this woman is old I mean really old, probably around sixty thousand years." Raising an eyebrow at him he says. "Hey, I mean for a human okay, that is really old for a human. Anyway, if my guess is correct, these people are a splinter from that red planet's civilization."

  "Yeah," Dad said, "I would say all the races on these worlds are descended from humans or mutated from. But that's not our problem," he hands the device back to Michail. "Show us the third location."

  "Alright, the next place is actually nearby and moving, that's strange." The view settled onto a metal box that seemed to be flying through the void between stars.

  "Haven't these people heard of gateways? this seems like a good way to be eaten by void beasts." I say, not sure if I should be angry or impressed at their stupidity. Suddenly the brown gem in the sky pulsed.

  "Hmm, interesting the ship seems to be a dungeon," Dad said 

  "Kind of small, isn't it," I say before I can stop myself. Yeah, I know stupid; Dungeons are bigger on the inside.

   As we zoomed in closer a child in a red dress appeared before us holding a hand out for us to stop. "No, you will not drag my humans into your stupid childish wars we will talk here."

  "Mom?" I ask.

  "Mary?" Dad asked.

  "Why are you wandering around in the void and not on the red planet?" asked Michail.

  "First off, Mathew come here you’re finished with your part, I can see your a spirit now. Second Nalle, why are your wings and eyes black have you been naughty?" Mom ignored Michail's question, looking between Dad and I.

  "I haven't I promise they locked me in my mind for most of the last forty thousand years," I say defensively. "Can't you come home, I could smash that ship apart and retrieve your core."

  "You think so I designed this ship myself and I intend to explore this universe with it." She said crossing her arms over her chest.

  "Don't you want your body and life back," I say.

  "Nope, you kids were already old enough to make your own decisions before that stupid war tore our plane in half. Now I am going to do what I want it took forever for me to get a human with the correct ratio of my power to keep me company forever. Or at least until he gets bored with traveling, but considering who he is that's not likely."

  "What do you mean, correct ratio?" Dad asks, "it shouldn't take much to let a human live forever."

  "I needed someone who could likewise protect me and those I let inside my ship. That wasn't difficult, but he also needs to stay sane."

  Mom, then turned to me with a sad smile, "besides I can't survive outside this universe anymore just like you can't leave yours. Once you stay in one plane or universe to long the laws lock you in. Oh, don't let your brother go, keep him locked up for a few thousand years he is the only one who knows the location of our brethren. I know you plan to rescue as many as you can honestly I would do the same but im the only one here."

  "Chuckling, oh don't worry, I had no intention of letting him go back. Alright Mom I Can feel time beginning to flow again on my world take care of Dad and Trina they did too much for me already and deserve a rest."

  Dad walked up to me and wrapped his arms around me. "Make me proud, my little Nalle."

  Trina fluttered up to my face, kissing the tip of my nose, "you're the best daughter I could never have." Then they both jumped into and through the viewer.. gateway I guess, turned and along with Mother waved as they vanished from sight.

  "Hey you were joking about leaving me here, right?" My dear brother asked with a bit of panic in his voice.

  With a sweet smile I snap my fingers and re-chain his loose arm then running my finger over his lips, they seal shut then I turn and vanish.