DEXTER CHRONICLES: REBIRTH
There is was. Plain as day. My children would die. Come back changed. I put on a brave front but inside I was terrified. How can you protect your children from death? What lies beyond it?—J’ino
Looking back, the Weave was preparing me. What arrived after that coffin opened? Changed the very foundation of our world. The Multiverse, everything.-Lorain Lanis
In a way, we had always been on the cusp. Resting close to that final Wall. What dwelled within the Path of Ancients wasn’t for us. Not yet. Maybe never. But therein rested our salvation. For it was the only way to directly connect with that Which Dwells Above. The Weave was a bridge. We had to fill the gaps. My sister still has waking nightmares. Lorain, besides myself, is probably the only other person that knows how deep that battle ran. Eliza is still that bastion of good cheer and gentle humor. Yet that battle left a gulf of wisdom her younger self had yet to experience.—Dexter Murphy, Recollections on the Past.
I was living each day as well as I could manage. Memorizing what I could. A feast for the soul. I had to. I know, all the signs and portents proclaimed it would use my deepest fears against me. Yet I couldn’t help myself. I wouldn’t let it change me. Or so I thought. Hard-won wisdom followed me back to the land of the living. Each step was bolstered by the ties of love and friendship. That is what kept me sane on the Path.—Sleeping In Starlight, a memoir of the 23rd century (vol 2)
The Inbetween
Black’s Domain
January 2nd, 2105
He was no longer required to hide here.
The world had changed. He was half in the open now. The scales of the Ouro birthed more souls. Capturing some from neighboring Universes. Nodes to other Thrones went dormant as Unity devoured more sectors. Black’s Domain gained substance. Black gossamer threads shimmered above. Each thrumming with the echoes of more Ouroborous Chains. He reinforced those strands. Hoping to keep the corruption of the Soul Cycle outside of Eden in check. They would need to connect more Arcways to Eden’s hub. Eliza saw it as a mighty tree. Its tendrils encircling distant vistas.
Black bounded from Dexter’s sash. “We must venture into enemy territory.”
Threads parted. It was not Unity’s Originverse but one adjacent to it.
The one housing the evil mirrors of his parents.
Dexter stepped through the portal. His clothing warping to hide him among the masses here. It was Earth but unlike any Earth, he knew. Those around him were dressed in simple robes. Ancient Egyptian scrawls littered everywhere. The buildings are straightforward huts. A handful of electronic signals pinged. Urraden origin. Earth was enslaved. Giant monolithic stones told the story.
The Golden City? Known as the Anubis Gateway. His father ruled the planet with an iron fist. Dexter shook his head. Pulling his cloak about him tighter. His body was covered with white robes, with green armor under it. The side patch proclaiming him Inquisitor 3rd class. The words flowed over his mind. Automatically translated. The Silver Lady called. His mind hooked to her words.
Black has dampened your Typherian heritage here. Be wary. Find the home of Renenutet. She is favored by the despots here. She steals lifeforce from the population to fuel the higher classes. Known as the High Hand of the Anubis Trifecta. You and your sister never existed here.
Black tested the air. His form smoky. Dexter could barely connect.
The giant tiger padded off in a northward direction.
Murphy followed. The sand crunching under his feet.
*****
J’anu Urraden smirked, “What has my dear husband found today?” She poked the slave in his midsection. The human reeled back. Pain distorting his haggard features. She gripped the sensate pike. Toying with the man as Ta’rammon’s black bushy beard tickled the top of her head. The Lord of Earth poured wine on the floor. Laughing as the dehydrated slave scrabbled for it.
She launched an armored boot at his chest.
Bones cracked and the slave passed out.
*****
Dexter shuddered. Monsters.
Yet why was the Weave showing him flashes? His heart thudded in his chest as the human misery around him grew. His eyes rested on the grand temple rising before him. Its pillars crusted with gold. Gems. To mock the souls flowing around it. As he stepped inside, Black stalked towards the back of the building. Dexter strode forward. Keeping his head up. Confidence infused in his features.
Just pretend you belong here.
As he reached the rear pillars he stopped. His jaw hanging. On the bust of every statue was Eliza’s face. Some half-formed but the structure of the lips, the jaw, her overall hairline. Under each pillar was a listing. All variations of the same theme: The Slumbering One. One guard nudged Dexter, “Yeah. The Old Lady is obsessed. Not half bad looking body though.” He leered. The other continued, “She wants the perfect mate.” Dexter remained silent, not trusting himself, feeling the blood boiling under his skin.
Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!
Black hissed, <
Dexter jerked his thumbs into his belt, “Like anyone will satisfy the old one.”
The guard nodded, “But I’d pay good money to see what she does to this Slumbering One.”
Dexter made for the refreshers. Denoted by the symbols that crackled when he passed by. So the “gods” got modern facilities. He turned. Finding himself in the guard refresher. Black phased through the wall. <<30 more seconds. Exit, go right, then take two lefts!>>
Dexter arrived at an elevator. It hissed open. Sending him to space. As he gazed out at the curvature of the planet he winced. All the normal landmasses were recognizable but in orbit? Urraden vessels. No other Houses were represented. Typha was a united world. Everything the All-Father wanted. The room around him was bedecked in splendor. The shelves are filled with various relics and magical potions. He strode towards the personal terminal. She didn’t even have a password. Her wretched face appeared. Wizened mummified features. Black empty sockets for eyes. Bits of white hair around a golden headdress.
Her voice cracked, “I have found the proper universe. I have found the Slumbering One. I will be as the Lord is here. I will connect our universes. Even better? This Lanis doctor has many similar abilites to my own. It will be perfect.” He downloaded the journal. Along with any other information he could store. Black reached out and the world faded to gray. He watched as the mirror monsters of his parents entered the room. Fresh blood splattered on their armor. Unlike Eden, this Ta’rammon wore Urraden battle armor. Disgusting.
J’anu Urraden accessed the terminal.
“I wonder if your dear Doctor of Mercy made it to this other Universe. Unity doesn’t control that one. Must have been hell to get through.” She eyed the shelves. “She left plenty for us. All keyed to our DNA. We will have many eons yet.” With a wave of her hand, a rover entered. Floating towards the shelves to store the rejuvenation elixirs. They didn’t even have proper security. Dexter mentally kicked himself. Of course! Since only the “gods” had access to modern technology, they wouldn’t hide basic things like this. As their central physician: Of course, she would see them as equals. Yet if they had caught him.
Black winked, <>
Dexter marveled at it. They were that arrogant.
Ta’rammon exited his battlesuit.
His body was a mass of scars. He indicated the bed, “Shall we?”
Dexter bit back a shout as the world faded.
They were back within that familiar misty area.
Black grunted, “I figured you wouldn’t want nightmares for the rest of your days.”
*****
I stated drily, “I don’t think anyone would have wanted to see that anyway.”
Dad remarked, “When I encounter that madman, I will hold nothing back.”
My mother twitched, “Disturbing. A universe of Urradens.”
Lorain was deathly pale. I told her, “I won’t fall for it. I know you in and out!”
She hugged me. Placing my cape back around my shoulders. Her voice trembling, “Yet she is a mirror.”
The healing powers. Doc’s worries were plain as day at that moment, “You won’t become like her.” Those green eyes hardened. “Let’s keep going.” The glow of the chairs infused us once more.
*****
Set knew they walked the realms. Black asked, “Why does he hide it from Unity? Does he wish to take that mantle? As humans say, Fat Chance!” Eliza and White materialized within the Domain. His sister’s face was careworn, “Thoth was and still is a catspaw. Not sure how yet. But looking back on how things went down? Even though he wanted the Golden City he wants more than just Earth now. He wants to destabilize everything.”
White added, “Set wants to be Unity. Yet as a Gray Herald it will know what he plots. That is the price for that kind of power.”
Black brought up the threads of Eden Earth. Sol and its surrounding Terran Alliance colonies, “Now that the Arcways are clear in your main territories….”
Midway through the debriefing Eliza clutched her left arm and sank to her knees. Ur-Eliza took her place. Wearing the white shirt and black pants of Ayeer burial rites. She pulled the map out wider, “Unity has breached the Eden universe even if it doesn’t know who we are just yet.” She pointed towards the Forger sector, “Send me as a Royal Delegation. We must stop the corruption of the Song before it destabilizes their entire species.”
Dexter noted the other areas she highlighted. Her voice faded as she stated, “The Path lies ahead.”
Dexter replied, “We must step carefully.”
*****
I remarked, “It's one thing to know you are pre-loading your path but it's another to see it. Am I that kinda level of chess master?” I was many things but a master strategist? Not likely. Most days I was glad to have Doc around to help me remember to balance my checkbook.
Dexter frowned, his aura dipping into regret mixed with melancholy, “If only. We are dancing to the Weave and higher powers. Fate rides along. Yet if we do not, countless lives will be lost to the dark.” Mom paced about the room, “You call it Ur-Eliza, but I don’t think that’s Eliza. Not really.”
I asked, “Who is it then?”
“Someone that has your memories. Bits of your personality.”
Aether’s voice rang out around us. “Only partially accurate. It is and isn’t Eliza. It is the Ur Stone. Informed by Eliza. The missing limb indicates at what point it’s accessing her memories. The Ur, or rather the temporal matrix imbedded within your daughter, will follow her along the Path.”
Lorain asked, “When we found J’ino and Anna. Got them off Nyx’s ship, why did that Ur-Eliza hug us then? Part of her must be controlling the Ur matrix!” This was news to me. Mom gripped my hand tightly. Her eyes were full of questions.
Aether’s image winked into existence. “It was Eliza’s last wish. Before crossing over.”
Mom’s fingers dug into my hand further.
I observed, “So Ur me is a dead drop of sorts? Last commands and all that?”
Aether nodded. His hands clasped behind him. “The Ur stone is tied to Time and Death. By the Will of the Weave and its higher authority.” He remained silent for many heartbeats. Letting the idea of my “Will after Death” sink in.
I grew pensive, “It's experiencing this Path of Ancients journey with me?”
Aether nodded.
“I have the data. We will need it for the future. Not for us. For the Curator.”
As if summoned my Amarche friend stood next to me. His face serious. The faint outline of his lips compressed together. His white glowing eyes bursting with energy. Unlike the Litari his shadowy shape retained humanoid dimensions. He rested his hand on my right shoulder.
“We will gain the mantel.”
No one else heard him but me.
I sat down. Doc taking a spot next to me. Hooking her arm through mine, “What now?”
*****
The Titan of H’karan opened its eyes. The vibrations around him soothing. This place was the domain of the Weave. He would wait. See who or what commanded this area of space. The taste of Set fresh on its canines. It would find that gray herald and rip it apart. All servants of the Unity would find themselves consumed.
It unfurled its wings. Its paws stretching. The rough white mane around its neck rippling with cleansing light. It noted the sleek ships stationed in orbit overhead. The echoes of the Markav making it grin. Delightful! He reached out. Sensing Hidan as well. The First Dwellers remained! The soothing magma of the planet lulling him into a light slumber once more. He inhaled a mighty breath.
Black and White!
Truly this would be a grand reunion!