The rest of the ride to the mall was made in silence as Ryan thought over his circumstances. He wanted to try returning to his own time so that he could save his mother. At the same time, he feared what would happen to force him to remain until the paradox seal shattered, if he was right about being the first Gray Mage.

When they arrived at the mall, Ryan followed Kyra inside, observing everything he could to see how it compared to the mall in his own time. As far as he could tell, the differences were minimal. It was a place for shops and restaurants, where people gathered.

"Malls are a dying thing," Kyra said as Ryan frowned a little. "A lot of people are moving to online ordering now rather than dealing with stores, so-what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Ryan corrected his frown into a light smile. "Just thinking about stuff."

He shut off his senses and navigated with Kyra, confirming after several shops what he had noticed. The fact that the mall remained nearly two centuries later amazed Ryan, as was finding out he was in his own hometown, just more than a century and a half prior to his own time.

Until then, he had thought he was transported to where the first Gray Mage made their appearance. With the mall's layout being identical to the one in his own time, which he visited with Tyler on several occasions, he learned he had only traveled home.

"We're by mountains, yes?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah," Kyra answered. "We're on the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains."

Ryan snorted when he heard the name of the mountains. It had changed over the past two centuries. Or next, if one looked at it from the point of view of someone in the time he was currently in.

"Okay," he said, then expanded his senses back out, continuing his wandering of the mall with her.

As they walked, he felt a sudden, but slight, increase in magic in the air. At the same time, he felt a shudder through the seal, his first time properly sensing it.

So, he thought. I was right. Someone is trying to force their way in, now that the seal is weakening.

He wasn't sure he knew why someone wanted to force their way onto Earth, but felt confident in his ability to handle them if they came after him. Whatever force they were, they were no god, and he was Earth's godking. It would be a vast difference in power, and even if they didn't come after him, Ryan knew he would lay down the law on them if they intended on taking over the world.

However, he also knew he had to wait until the seal broke to find out why someone or several someones would want to enter Earth. Without being able to speak with them, there was nothing he could actually learn about the situation.

"Tell me, Kyra," Ryan said as they entered the food court, the human teen leading him to a sandwich restaurant. "Your people have stories of the end, do they not? The apocalypse, and all that?"

"We do," she answered. "You're thinking of what's to come?"

"Naturally," he answered. "It's rather near, after all."

"Kids," the man in front of them in line snorted, then looked at them. "You're really going to believe the word of whatever organization is claiming the end this time?"

"Organization?" Ryan frowned. "No, I'm not. Actually, I'm the one who's stated the end is coming. Well, a form of it. The end of this era, and the beginning of the next. When it comes, the world will be changed. For the better or for the worse, who can say? It's the era after that when things will get truly interesting."

The Age of Gods, Ryan's personal age. He intended to have as much fun as he could during it, until he eventually grew bored and changed things up again.

"What makes you think that will happen?" The man scoffed, and Ryan realized that he was speaking to someone of the Order of the Gray Staff.

"Oh, dear," Ryan sighed. "You're one of those people. I was hoping to avoid you."

"Excuse me?" The man turned around fully. "One of 'those people'? Are you being condescending?"

"To someone who thinks they can scare off a god?" Ryan scoffed. "It's in my nature to think that's a foolish course of action. The Order of the Gray Staff is a bunch of idiots, except for those in the Order of the Silver Staff. At least those mortals acknowledge that fighting a god is pointless."

The man narrowed his gaze at Ryan, and the young god simply stared back. At least, he hoped he was staring back, as he couldn't be too sure if his eyes were actually fixed on the man's.

"You are wishing to scare off," Ryan said. "A being of immense power. A being who could end your lives with a snap."

As he said the last word, he snapped with his right hand, and the man jumped slightly.

"The Order of the Gray Staff is the group living the fantasy," Ryan said. "Not someone who knows for a fact the end of this era is nigh."

"Who are you?" The man asked.

"My name is Ryan," Ryan smiled as he slipped into the man's mind. "I am a mere observer to that which is occurring. I do not believe it is within a mortal's ability to stop a god. In fact, would it not be logical that if gods did exist, as you so believe, attempting to chase one off might end badly for humanity as a whole?"

"You-"

"Was having a discussion," Ryan said. "With my friend with benefits. And then, because of my words and your own personal belief in the foolish thought that mortals could do something to a god, you decided to enter."

"You-"

"I am aware," Ryan said. "Of many of the mythologies your people hold regarding the gods. It seems to me that if a real god had even a fraction of their power, the Order of the Gray Staff would do well to leave it alone, James."

"How do you know my name?" The man asked.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"I'm an observer," Ryan said. "I already mentioned that."

"You have your credit card out," Kyra interjected. "He got your name off of it."

The man looked in his hand, where his credit card was out, his first name visible.

"The god who comes will bring a wave of destruction," James told Ryan. "It is our duty as the keepers of this knowledge to ensure he does not stay when he comes, to preserve this world."

"This world?" Ryan laughed. "Oh, you foolish man. The world changes all the time. Let's say this prophecy your organization believes is true. Why do you cling to the stupid thought that you could do something to a god?"

Ryan looked at Kyra.

"You know," he said. "I think I'd rather try to appease the god than chase him away, if such an event were true. I'd also not butt into a theoretical conversation between a couple of teens over the apocalypse just because I want to prevent it. Only an idiot would do that, and only an idiot would believe they could stop the apocalypse."

He watched as James's anger rose, then as the man stormed away, and Ryan laughed, then moved forward in line.

"There we go!" He said. "Now we don't have to wait as long for our food!"

Kyra groaned beside him, and Ryan knew she was wondering why he decided to challenge the man's belief before it was even brought up.

"That stupid order has been getting on my nerves lately," he yawned. "Have you ever listened in on one of those meetings? 'We must prevent the god from staying for too long, or he shall bring about destruction'. The thing is, they've never actually come up with a viable way to chase off a god. James is one of the leaders of the local branch of it, so I guess being challenged on that really hit home."

"When did you sit in on one of their meetings?" Kyra asked.

"I overheard it," Ryan shrugged.

As he hadn't told her he could sense anyone thinking about him, he couldn't explain it beyond that. At least not in public, for those around were paying attention to them, even if just because of the altercation.

"They're a bunch of morons," Ryan told her. "And actually, we went to school with his daughter. She complained about it a lot. Unlike him, she's not a believer. From what she said, she believes her father and the entire Order of the Gray Staff are idiots."

"And you?" Kyra asked.

"Well," Ryan said. "Let's say their belief is true. If a god really comes and brings destruction with him, would mortals really be able to stop him? Gods are beings which can only be killed by other gods, and they possess power on a cataclysmic scale. A nuke would likely only annoy one. How would they convince him to leave? If what they believe is true, then this world is currently godless. Wouldn't a god want to leap at the opportunity to claim it for their own?"

"You have a point there," she gave him a look which asked him if that was his plan.

"Let's get back to what I was asking before he interrupted," Ryan told her. "The end of an age is coming. For better or worse, society is advancing rapidly. That can be considered one form of apocalypse. When society shifts so much so fast, what else could you call it?"

"I suppose you have a point," she said.

"Now," Ryan said. "That kind of apocalypse? There's probably no issue with not preparing for. What about the sort of apocalypse the Order of the Gray Staff believes in? What would you do, if that came to pass?"

"If a god came to this world, then brought a wave of destruction?" She asked.

"Let's say," Ryan said. "All technology stopped working, its electricity no longer a viable means of powering it, even through the backup generators and such. No phones, no cars, no sewers, or anything. Would you be prepared for that?"

"Permanently?" She asked.

"Nah," he said. "Let's say… two decades?"

"I think most of the world would die off," she told him. "If we lost all power for two decades."

"Perhaps you would," he shrugged.

Less than one billion people survived the Great Collapse, so Ryan knew it was true.

"So what would you do?" He asked.

"I'd try to survive as best I could," she answered. "It's our turn to order."

They placed their orders, then Kyra paid for their sandwiches and drinks and the pair made their way to a table to eat. Ryan could feel Kyra's concern, and knew what she was thinking.

"I have it on good authority," Ryan told her. "That you're probably going to survive at least nine more months, and the calamity will begin before then."

"Why do you say nine more months?" She asked.

"Just a thing," he shrugged. "It's complicated to explain."

By that, he meant he wasn't going to tell her he'd met her children, nor that he was seven generations beneath her. At that point, there was no tangible biological relation between them, so it didn't matter.

"How soon will it happen?" She asked. "You said you know it will happen soon."

"Yeah," he took a bite from his sandwich and began chewing, comparing it with sandwiches he had in his own time. "Sandwiches where I'm from are tastier. There's something… off about everything here."

"Different worlds, different cultures," she told him. "Your taste buds are adapted for the food of where you're from, not the food of here."

"Yeah," he shrugged. "Anyway, I can feel the seal's state, sort of. Something is ramming it. Now that it's weakened due to my arrival and use of magic, there's potential for it to be broken, and an outside force is trying to break it the rest of the way. At the rate it was fading passively, it would be decades before it actually broke, even with my current rate of magic usage."

"How often are you using magic?" She asked.

"At all times," he answered. "I'm blind."

She stared at him as he felt her disbelief rise, and the young god laughed.

"Your expression is quite amusing," he told her. "I'm actually 'seeing' through the elements. It's taken me a few months to work on getting my eyes to move to match other peoples' eye movements, and a lot of effort to be able to tell the finer points of expressions."

"You can't actually see?" She asked.

"Not with my eyes," he answered. "I was born without optic nerves. I do a good job at imitating sight, though, don't I?"

Kyra chuckled a little at Ryan's question and slight smile.

"Come on," he said. "Let's finish eating lunch. I want to check out the shop for stuffed animals."

They finished eating, then made their way to the store Ryan had detected. There, he began feeling the stuffed animals, comparing their fur to the fur of the ones from his time. Some were soft and plush others were scratchy. By the time he finished feeling the toys, Ryan had decided that not much had changed in a century and a half in regards to stuffed animal production. The same was true for clothes as well, as most clothes he found felt similar to clothes from his own time.

The pair of teens finished walking around the mall and checking things out, then Ryan and Kyra returned to Kyra's home, where Nick and Sabrina were watching a movie, cuddling on the couch.

"Hey, Kyra," Sabrina said. "Tracy Wells called me a little bit ago. She says her father came across you and Ryan at the mall, and you two started harassing him?"

"Wait," Kyra looked at Ryan. "I did go to school with his daughter?"

"Hm?" Ryan asked, then remembered the incident. "Oh, yeah. Tracy. I plucked that information out of his mind."

Sabrina knew Ryan was a magician, though she hadn't been told he was a god. It bothered her a little to know her future sister-in-law was dealing with a being like him, but she put up with it as Ryan seemed mostly benevolent and there for his own amusement. He could tell she was bothered a little more after hearing he could pull information out of minds.

"What happened?" Nick asked. "Tracy was in tears with her laughter, so it was hard to understand."

"Ryan pointed out the foolishness of thinking mortals could challenge gods," Kyra answered as she and Ryan moved to the love seat. "Her father's part of an organization called the Order of the Gray Staff, and they want to prevent a god from staying on this world and bringing chaos to it. According to Ryan, their attempt at chasing him off isn't something which is even plausible."

"They think a god would do that?" Sabrina asked.

"More like," Ryan said. "They were told a god would come, and chaos would follow, something like ten thousand years ago. Anyway, when I realized who the guy was, I couldn't resist poking at him. He ran off in anger, and then we had lunch."

"Sometimes," Sabrina told him. "I can't help but wonder if you're not a sadist."

"Oh," he grinned. "I'm quite sadistic. It just doesn't come out unless I'm annoyed or around someone I don't like. Or who I think is stupid."

"Everyone shush," Kyra said as she snuggled against Ryan. "Let's watch the movie."