“Joey, don’t take this the wrong way, but you take dragon science to an unhealthy level, despite being an alchemical genius.” Angela is rubbing gently at where she’d just taken a blood sample, and she’s examining it with interest in the vial. She’s also taken scales, her feathers, a few strands of hair, and saliva samples. She notes that there is something odd about her blood sample. Why is her blood so blue? She’s definitely not cyanotic. So why does it look more…purplish? “Joey, you’re peering at my blood like something’s wrong with it.”

She sets the sample down into a centrifuge and gets it running. “Uh, Angela, dearie, your blood is fine. If you are a mana-based organism. Which you are.”

“I sense a ‘but’ coming out of this.” She realizes that the last time she'd had her blood taken, that information had been fed to agents of the Talons, and her parents are now in the safe house and haven't said one word about what had happened thirteen years ago, and her mother yesterday indicated she’s willing to piss everyone off with keeping some secrets. Including being elven?

That’s a turn she didn’t see coming. Julia had, and had promptly snagged more than a few prized Magic cards from James. Just when she couldn’t hate her parents enough, this particular bit of information dropped, and they were already in legal limbo. Supposedly, they were feeding everything they knew about Magitech Industries, and based on the lack of arrests and sightings of murderous Siberian Hellkites, meant that their information was worthless.

And through all of this, Thanksgiving has come and gone, and Christmas is only a week away. She's eighteen now, same as James, formally an adult. It still sends flutters to her stomach. Their nascent adulthood has been anything but normal. They had been training after their ordeal in Asqualia, nonstop, and she’d used every moment to full effect. And then a short reprieve at a tropical resort and–

She blushes and tries not to think of that particular moment. That had been quite the scene. Sam, however, has different ideas and a mischievous laugh emanates from her drakensoul.

Guess he made a lasting impression, Sam whispers coyly. Joey peers at Angela, an eyebrow raised. She taps her temple for emphasis.

{Context, please?} She’s gotten pretty good at keeping a tight bandwidth between most of the members of the team with her psionic communications, and Angela knows when she’s tuned in. Usually.

The ranger and the bard, sitting in the tree…K-I-S-S-I-N-G…

Samarina Aveerna, where on Earth did you learn that?! Even Joey recoils mildly from Angela’s internal outburst. Her dragon chuckles politely.

You, obviously.

Joey tries her best to not react, but her eye twitches at this childhood nursery rhyme, and Angela’s face feels heated more than before. “Um, well…”

{Oh, is that what happened? Oh, Angie, you have got to tell me everything!} She tries to block out that singing voice of Joey in her head, who is silently grinning at her lab bench–and still holding a normal conversation. Keeping both going must take mental gymnastics. “Anyhow, this phenomenon has been reported in many mages, dragons, and some kitsune. Blood color is related in part to the bioluminescent properties of organic mana.” {And I wanna hear all the steamy details!}

She might still prefer to remain in her human form, but that grin on her face is the most fox-like thing she’s ever seen out of her! “Joey, instead of talking about this other thing, let’s focus on weird blood samples. So, what’s the verdict?” Angela asks calmly. Joey's been twirling her hair–great. She's anxious. She isn't saying a word through the psionic link, which means it's either awe-inspiring, bizarre, or really bad news. She puts a sample on a microscope slide and takes a quick glance. “Joey, you've gone awfully quiet, do I have an expiration date or a countdown to godhood I don't know about?” She leans in, but Joey is singularly focused on the slide, and saying something whisper quiet. “Or, eldritch horror.”

Joey slides back on the rolling chair, rubbing the bridge of her nose. “None of the above. You just have an abnormal amount of mana in the bloodstream. It's a common thing seen in mages, and other Kin with high mana capacity.” She furrows her brow before grabbing a beaker, taking a drop of the sample and placing it in, then watching as the color turns purple, then a sky blue. “Uh…very high.”

“So, is it bad?” She crosses her fingers hoping that this won't be bad news. It probably is. Joey takes the sample, puts it in a metal probe, and plugs it into a small device on her belt. The small digital display shows an error sign. “You know, we gotta work on these people skills, you like, lock onto a puzzle at times.”

“People aren't puzzles,” she says while tapping the sensor display. “Magic is a puzzle, though. This reading doesn't uh…I can't read this high of a reading. Wow.”

“So back to basics, mana is in the bloodstream and organs, and some of it crystalizes. Right?” She's done her reading for this.

“Yep. A crystalline lattice network. It can be very pronounced in some individuals. You know. Like they glow at night. They have to take suppressants, so they don't stand out like sore thumbs.” Joey grabs another sample, places it in a centrifuge, and waits a few minutes. “Look, the mana in your body is perfectly fine. Raw mana crystal is different.”

“Um, Nick says I glow.” That evil grin is back on Joey’s face. She awkwardly rubs at her arm in response.

“Must have been something…intense.” She’s trying to hide her laughter, and Drenar perks up like he’s been mentally alerted, and looks at the two of them in confusion. He’s busy doing maintenance work at a bench, putting together a custom autobow, and he’s got grease on his hands–and a streak on his cheek? How does this boy get so messy?

“You guys better not be talking about me, I can sense it.” He taps his temple for emphasis.

“For once, we aren’t,” Angela sighs. “Alright, so back on track Joey. how does this relate to the crystalline scales that emerge on me?” She gazes at the far end where Nick and Levine are going over logistics. And more training. It's a good thing that Drenar has learned fast and he expects everyone to pull their weight, and work together as a team. She glances down at her chest and rubs uneasily. “It's a little creepy knowing that thing inside of me was put there, I'm all but certain of it. But, my parents have decided they don’t want to talk about why there’s a crystal shard in my heart. Because of course, they don’t. I can’t believe Kiera hasn’t tried to strangle my mom.”

“I still might!” Julia calls out from reassembling Matilda at a bench–that draconic hearing, again. She and Kyle have been busy upgrading that beast of a rifle. The new barrel and improved recoil suppression system would improve the impact of the weapon, and keep it from breaking her shoulder. “We should just beat the information out of her. She's had long enough.”

“Family is off limits to threats by Tsundere dragons,” Angela calls out with a contented sigh. Though I wouldn't entirely oppose it. Joey catches the comment and tries not to smile.

“Alright, but remember, it's free Angie! And it's just practice, so I don't have to flex muscle as my means to solve all the problems!” Julia assures her. She is so willing to go to bat for her friends–even if it’s not always the most advisable move.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“Noted. Now, where were we?” She directs the question back to Joey. “Do we know what my scales are?”

“You mean before they decay to ethereal energy?” Joey had managed to get one scale and run samples on it before it disappeared. “External crystallized mana with trace organic compounds. It's almost like the on-demand armor scales from your Maridian silver background, but immensely more powerful. It’s a shame the transfiguration is temporary. It's kinda…well, kinda like switching between forms. I can't really hold a shape between human or Kitsune, after about a minute, people usually revert to one or the other. It's like a morphal elastic band.”

“That's a mouthful, Joey.” She finishes with the centrifuge and takes more readings on the separated fluids. “So dragons have superpowers? Like more powerful superpowers?”

“Bloodline abilities. They are in a league of their own when you compare them to draconic lineage. Drenar's teleport ability? Totally crazy. Mages normally need teleport pads. Fast movement, sure, that’s been documented But slipping into the aether? Totally nuts.”

“I can’t possibly be tearing through realities with my ability.” Drenar with his messy hair like he lost a fight with a bird saunters over, looking confident. “Are we sure that's where I go when I do that blink thing?”

“That is a terrible ability name,” Joey counters. Something about the exchange triggers a memory. Of seeing something…someone. “If you're gonna announce your moves like it’s a shounen comic, make it at least sound good.”

“Pfft. I don’t call out attacks when I’m in a fight for my life.”

“You totally did!” Joey points out. Sometimes, Angela has to remind herself that despite his oh-so-serious attitude at times–usually when they’re right in a crisis–he could be such a teen. “Make it sound cool if you’re gonna do it, like an aether strike!”

“Pretty sure the names have been taken,” he points out. He ponders something for a second. “Guys, when I do that blink, all I see is a blank white space for a split second. But, what do you guys see?”

“Honestly? Same thing,” Joey responds. Angela still remembers that flash of silver scales and green draconic eyes, hauntingly beautiful, in that strange place.

“Um…should I mention I saw someone in there?” She decides to take the plunge on this one.

Joey and Drenar look at each other, then back to her. And they both start talking in a low tone, with Joey going first. “Okay, I’m dealing with one existential mystery at the moment, I don’t think I have the capacity for two. Or three. Or however many we’re up to. What do you mean, you saw someone?”

“Joey, don’t be skeptical. Remember what we saw?” Drenar reminds her.

“I’m not convinced it wasn’t a stress-induced hallucination, coupled with my psionics in overdrive,” she states flatly. “Because if it’s something other than that, we’ve seen some really weird stuff.”

“You two mentioned something about seeing Lyssa. But…I get this feeling you saw something you can’t understand.” Angela folds her arms and taps a finger gently. “Come on, guys, we don’t need to keep secrets. No one here is crazy. Well, except Drenar.” He rolls his eyes in response.

“Angela, who did you see?” he finally asks the question that’s been gnawing at her for a while–but with everything else going on, it hadn’t been given much thought.

“I’m not sure if it was a who, so much as a what. It might have been a dragon. I saw a glimpse of silver scales and bright green eyes. And then…” she rubs at the residual scars just beneath her shirt. Why are they itching now? It hasn’t bothered her for a long time, not on a physical level. Joey and Drenar lean in, and others haven’t noticed. “She said, ‘It’s not your time to be here.’ Drenar, I don’t think you’re supposed to be ripping holes in reality.”

“I’m not trying to rip holes in reality, it just comes naturally.” Angela joins Joey in giving him a scornful look. “Okay, real talk? I think there’s more to the aether than everyone lets on, or knows about. But who is lurking in the Aether? It’s not exactly a place people go to chill out in. As far as I know, I’m the only person that can do it. And maybe Mom.”

“You know, maybe your mom ripped a hole in reality and got stuck there?” Angela proposes. “And it’s why Kiera isn’t telling us anything about where she is?”

“That would be…pretty bad, Angie,” he concedes. “Joey, theory speaking, if no one has ever gone to the aether, then how could anyone describe it or infer anything about it? The lack of gravity is one consistent thing the books got right, now that I’ve read about it.”

“You know what? I’ll throw out a crazy idea. I say it’s the guardian soul of our world, Gaia,” Joey says after tapping a finger calmly on the lab bench. “Do you guys even know who she is?”

“Joey, people told us jack diddly. We’re still learning.” Drenar is the first to chime in on that one. “I know that Gaia was a real Valkyrie and that she died at the tail end of the Schism wars. She went down in the most badass way possible, and stopped the existential threat to our world pretty much single-handedly.”

“I thought Gaia was dead. Or, that’s the mythology from the Followers of Gaia, gone but not forgotten, her soul lives on, keeping the planet alive,” Kyle chimes in from the bench nearby. Everyone is taking an interest now. “Angela, why didn’t you tell us about this?”

“We were in a bit of a crisis moment, and it sort of fell to the wayside in light of everything else? And I…forgot?” What’s strange is that it almost felt like until Drenar mentioned it, it hadn’t even entered her mind. It’s almost as if it had been subtly obscured, that moment rescuing the hostages. It wasn’t until she was thinking of the aether that it triggered what was missing Then, another memory crops up. Their entry into Asqualia. The mana crystals. “Sam said something else about this.”

Angela, this might not be the best time to bring this up–

Sam. You said it yourself. The crystals ‘talk.’ What if they’re one living extension of the source? What if you were right? That she isn’t gone, but trapped? Joey freezes, her eyes widening.

“Angela? Are you suggesting that–”

“Gaia’s trying to reach me. Through the crystalline shard in my heart.” A dull ache emerges from the faint scars, and she rubs at them uneasily. “She’s not dead. She’s trapped. Someone hid her away.”

Everyone has stopped talking and is paying attention. Joey is the first to take a stab at saying something in light of the mind-boggling theory. “You’re saying that the shard in your heart is some kind of conduit? Channeling power just like all the other crystals, even though it’s not embedded in the earth like the rest of the crystalline networks across the world? And that conduit is plugged into what most people think is a goddess? Forgive me if I shoot a hole in this, but there’s no theoretical resonance. There’s no way. Unless all mages are idiots and just never imagined this possibility.”

“Hang on. Let me see if I’ve got this right. Gaia has a connection to the crystals?” Drenar asks. “One of the books I read once called the crystals the lifeblood of Gaia. I thought they were just using flowery prose. What if they weren’t?”

“You are jumping onto this madhouse theory way too fast,” James interjects.

“I’m saying, we have a new theory to test.” Angela glances around, and notes the small shards of mana that Joey had been using for testing. They need something bigger. Way bigger. “Joey, that deposit of mana crystals by Asqualia. I know the reactor took damage and they’re still making repairs, but I want to go test something with those raw crystals by the library entryway.

“Uh, there’s one other site, much closer,” Joey suggests. “One that I think might have a more important bearing. The small deposit by Drenar and Evan’s house. It did trigger your first temporary overcharge.”

“Hang on, are we all delusional? Gods don’t exist!” James protests. “I know you guys have seen some really weird shit in the past couple of months, and mages have their own church of crazeology, but c’mon! Trapped deities? And we’re the first people to stumble onto this? No way. I think you guys are stretching for something that has a much more plausible explanation. Stress-induced mental trauma. We’re walking basket cases, after the nightmare we endured!”

“James, what’s the worst that could happen? Worst case, we prove that nothing happens,” Angela states adamantly.

“No, that’s not the worst case. The worst case is you’re all right, and that we’ve got another world-breaking revelation to worry about. Apart from Drenar’s mother being alive, the Conclave is rotten to the core, and King is playing a dangerous game with all sides.”

“No, I think King knows something.” Everyone turns to see Julia, wearing a somber expression. “He called what’s happening now as a battle for the soul of the world. He might have been throwing us a hint. We need to go test this, or do something!”

“Or, flowery prose, and he’s screwing with our heads, yet again. Are you guys ever going to not fall for this?” She would chastise her brother for the millionth time, but there’s one worrying fact: So far, everything that King has said has been the truth, or carefully veiled reveals. She’s worried about when he actually tells a lie, because they’ll never see through it.

“Nice being volunteered for this one,” Angela says with a contented smile. “Okay, let’s finish up here today, and get some kind of test planned. Joey, Kyle, what’ve you got?”

Joey purses her lips, and Kyle rubs his goatee for a second before his eyes light up with inspiration. “I’ve got an idea.”

“Ah, Fates. Here we go again,” James sighs. “I’m updating my bingo card. ‘Piss off a slumbering goddess’ just made my new list.”