Reflecting Equation - 15. Exodus

This was a nightmare.

I wondered how Ryan and Killian were doing, but I couldn't grasp the strength to search them out through the destruction. My brother, with his broken wrists, met my eyes. Two princes of Atlantis, wrecked, on the ground and beaten. What a sight we made.

This must be what the angels felt during the Last Great War. Victory was a longshot dream against an enemy that shrugged off attacks like a mild breeze. I was exhausted and tapped out. I suppose that was his plan all along. I hated it when they were smart, but he had been planning this moment before we were even born. Eons of preparation, of circles within circles, and now the final act was playing out.

A thunderous boom resonated in the air.

A red streak shot forth from the sky like a bolt of lightning onto Entropy.

Entropy and the bolt of light struck the ground like a hammer. I fell over off balance as the earth splintered and cracked where the destroyer landed.

I slowly recovered and managed to shakily stand with a grunt of pain. A shattered riverbank greeted me. The area around the Thames was nothing more than a cratered trench with the water diverted into like a lake. The remnants of the bridges and buildings of the surrounding cityscape were little more than ruins.

Omega stood at the edge of the crater, wearing a pristine white cape that fluttered in the breeze. His armor was similarly colored and adorned with scarlet red piping at the edge of his collar, boots and cuffs.

Omega looked back at me, his eyes glowing like twin stars. "Hey."

It seemed like a dream. If so, I didn't want to wake up. "Adam?"

"I saw planets emerge and collapse, empires wither into dust," he said softly, turning to watch as Entropy floated up out of the crater, water dripping down his body with an assessing expression on his face. "I walked out of time, to the very end of existence, and stared back. I understand now."

Distracted by the sheer mind-blowing revelation, I asked faintly, "Understand what?"

"Everything."

Entropy's eyes widened and for the first time, uncertainty crossed his face. "You've reached the Omega Point."

Space behind Entropy bent outward, and I barely caught sight of space far behind Omega bending inward. There was a sudden vague pressure of air molecules snapping with shocking force, and reality warped in a flash of white light.

Fields of purple grass replaced the city of London, and looming above was an enormous red sun turning the sky shades of crimson. Entropy and Omega faced off in the same positions on the alien world. Solaris, Halo and the Executioner were beside me now, and we immediately closed in together.

Halo studied the surroundings with a bewildered expression. "We're on Ambrosia? But that's in the Borson Galaxy."

"The energy it would take to teleport us all is astronomical," the Executioner muttered.

Omega smiled, not taking his eyes off Entropy. "I can even see you're curious." He began. "I'll keep it as simple as possible. I perfectly calculated the mass of the space in front of me and behind me, and then performed a really advanced math equation to set the mass behind me much higher, and set the mass of the space in front of me into outright negative terms."

"Negative... mass?" Halo tried to wrap his head around the idea.

"The mass difference allows a continuous movement to ride a wave of collapsing space at two or three times the speed of light at the lower end, and hundreds of billions at the higher." Omega continued. "What's really ridiculous about this is that there's no real energy expenditure involved-" He laughed a little. "Algorithmic imaging is little more than a compilation of mathematical equations so advanced they have a tangible effect on reality itself. Of course, there's a slight problem with that." Omega brought his thumb and index finger close together, but not quite touching. "Namely, rewriting reality with math has hellish effects on causality, so I have to actually pump power into physical canceling laws to convince the conversation of energy to look the other way. The entire process from start to finish only took a minuscule fraction of a second."

Entropy didn't look impressed. He crossed his arms and shook his head. "With your new knowledge, then you see exactly how futile this is."

Omega's shining eyes narrowed. "The extrasensory ability I possess tells me more than you know. I can count the number of blades of grass on an island on the far side of this planet. And looking at you with that same powers tells me your skin is made up several layers, getting exponentially denser as you get deeper. Harder than aluminum alloy, but flexible and has some type of nullification component in the cells. You were designed, someone created you."

"Shut up," Entropy said, hands tightening into fists.

Omega continued. "It would take fifty trillion atmospheres of pressure to overblow your null ability in your skin and damage you." He shook his head. "No wonder you can shrug off attacks."

Entropy apparently had enough. He rocketed toward Omega with an ominous growl. His hulking body visibly warped. It wasn't a trick of an eye. A swirling point of dark black light pulled him backward, dragging him and all of the space behind him, toward the single point.

"A directed singularity," the Executioner whispered, entranced.

I did a double take. "Like a black hole?"

Entropy did some type of flip in the air that sent him barreling into the ground. He dug his hands into the earth, holding on as the singularity seemingly amplified. A savage wind blew through the field, and yet we seemed to be protected. Omega watched Entropy with a speculative gleam in his eyes. The singularity faded from existence, and Entropy quickly jumped to his feet.

A semi-visible hexagonal gridlock shield covered our position, then Omega stared at us and said calmly, "Prepare for antimatter explosion backlash."

There was a split second before a titanic beam of energy was unleashed, and then everything exploded.

I've been through many explosions before. This was something even more violent. It left a bloodshot afterimage on my retinas. The ground wouldn't stop shaking. It felt like the planet was about to crack open to its core. Fire and thick clouds of gray dust were everywhere. I hardly recognized the devastating plain the fields had become. The first thing I noticed the mountains in the far distance were outright vaporized, turned to subatomic dust, by the apocalyptic deluge of energy that thankfully was held at bay by the incredibly efficient defense Omega managed to form around us before the blast.

"What the fu-" Solaris trailed off, staring.

We all did.

Impossible as it was Entropy had survived the cataclysmic attack that was even now breaking the planet apart around us. The outer layer of his skin was simply gone. Muscle tissue was exposed, oozing a tarlike ichor resembling blood, and the bones of his arms glowed red hot, from where they crossed in a defensive position in front of his face. Behind him the ground was a vast canyon that was so deep I couldn't see the bottom, continuing on miles into the horizon, the destructive shockwave was still spreading across the planet.

Entropy lowered his arms. Most of his face was a gore of melted skin and one his eyes had boiled within its socket, leaking thick mucus down his mess of a cheek. I shared a stunned look with Halo and something like hope was clear in his eyes.

"This doesn't matter," Entropy spoke, his voice was hoarse but full of promise. "The rupture in time will rip reality apart. Your universe is doomed."

"Then let's end this." Omega brought up his hand, fingers clenched. "Be destroyed by the very universes you've killed. Behold the Grid! The fabric of pure energy that separates all universes."

It wasn't a beam or ray of anything of the likes. The very fabric of space was torn apart inside of Entropy. Tight lines of blinding white light appeared crisscrossing Entropy's entire body like a net, thin fiery blades of silent destruction. I turned away as the light intensified, brighter than the sun by several orders of magnitude.

When I opened my eyes, our surroundings had changed again. We were back in London and Entropy's neatly bisected body was falling to the ground. And in the air, the rupture in time was now a large hole in the sky the size of a city bus. It was unnatural and my senses screamed danger and to run as fast as I could.

"I don't suppose anyone has a plan for that?" I asked weakly.

Halo frowned heavily. "It's going to spread across all of time, cracking the past and the could've been future, and when that happens, we won't have ever existed."

"Unless I seal the breach," Omega said.

"Remind me to stupidly kiss you when we're not all about to never have existed," I said and then narrowed my eyes suspiciously. "This isn't going to involve some heroic sacrifice, is it?"

"Nothing so drastic."

He smiled at me, that sweet smile that I loved, and it was positively radiating with his shining eyes piercing me with their otherworldly brightness. Omega gestured at the broken pieces of Halo's staff that lay where they fell, which seemed like a lifetime ago, and they shot up into the air to obediently hover before him.

"The gears of quantum physics has been broken. Time is an unforgiving force and hates to be meddled with," Omega said, tracing symbols into the air. It was an equation, I realized. Only one so complicated that I couldn't begin to make sense of it. The numbers and symbols hung in the air, blazing white fire. "It can be appeased with sufficient actions."

The glowing algorithm suddenly merged with the broken pieces of Halo's staff. Flowing into a new shape like it was being reforged, and I suppose it was. It became a six-foot-tall spear, pale as milk glass topped by three gleaming prongs of adamant.

"Vigilance, I name thee. The spear of tomorrow and the Swaying Way to Peace," Omega proclaimed, grabbing the new weapon with both hands and thrusting it toward the crack in time and space, that was our doom. "The Omega Point was not mine to reach in this lifetime. I took the promised future, and now I give it back because Time is owed."

A terrific wave of power surged upwards, leaving us untouched and the portal trembled.

And then, high above Centennial, a fantastical image of time itself being healed was witnessed: fate was rewoven, gears turned once more. The temporal imbalance was repaired by the promised power of humanity's future. The rupture sealed as the seems of the hole in the fabric of cosmos fused together, wholly anew. The dark clouds above were torn asunder by the backlash, spiraling off in all directions, bathing the city in dazzling sunlight.

We stared.

The power tapered off, and Omega fell to his knees, utterly spent. We rushed to his side, and several city blocks lay in wrecks all around us.

"Adam!"

He smiled into our faces, slightly dazed, but it was genuine. "I feel all floaty inside," he muttered, then tugged a piece of my hair above my ear. "Gorgeous."

His eyes were normal again. I couldn't help but laugh. It felt like the first real one in years. "Someone needs a nap."

The Executioner clapped him on the shoulder, beaming. "He deserves it."

"Anyone want pizza?" Solaris asked, perking up. He looked positively giddy. "I'm buying."

My eyes lit up. "Not going to lie I could eat an entire buffet right now."

Halo's eyes were wet, and he sent me a trembling smile. I reached over and squeezed his hand. This meant a lot to him, maybe more than all of us. The being that had slaughtered many of his friends and loved ones was dead. The universe was going to survive, and it was due in part to the sacrifices of all the ones who came before us.

I wrapped one arm around my brother, and the other went around my boyfriend. Solaris and the Executioner were on Omega's other side, supporting him. I grinned and said, "Let's go home."

We settled on pizza, in Italy.

Then we all ended up crashing together at Nathaniel's place. None of us wanted to go home. Not yet. Our houses were still empty because of the evacuation, and people were still either in shelters or had entirely left town. Some of those people, like my family, were in the Dreamlands for sanctuary until we brought them home.

I slept like a baby, falling into easy dreams filled with laughter and sunshine. All my worries and burdens had been laid to rest. It was like I could finally breathe again. I woke up before anyone else. The others were arranged in various positions around the living room, sleeping where they fell after our impromptu celebration.

I untucked myself from Adam's side, lifting his arm and getting up from the lounge we laid on. He frowned in his sleep just a little. I kissed away those lines until they went smooth and his body pliant. I stood up and tiptoed toward the large bay windows, grinning at Kevin sprawled on the floor below the couch where Killian and Ryan cuddled.

A glance at the grandfather clock confirmed it was late afternoon. We had been sleeping for a little over twelve hours. I looked out the window upon the green lawn and the clear sky. Minutes later, a pair of arms wrapped around me from behind, and a familiar weight pressed against my back.

Lips touched my ear and Adam's warm voice whispered, "I got lonely."

"I figured you were going to sleep all day, rock star," I replied, unable to resist my lips from tugging into a beaming smile. I was so freaking happy. It was ridiculous. "I thought we agreed you were going to take it easy."

Adam hummed under his breath. "Are you trying to get rid of me?"

"You've figured out my dastardly plan," I murmured.

He placed a tiny kiss against the pulse point of my throat. "Oh yeah, do I get a prize?"

"You guys do realize we're here and can obviously hear you?"

I glanced around Adam to see Kevin, sitting in an armchair and wrapped in a blanket, with a highly amused expression. "What point are you trying to make?"

Killian yawned, lifting his head from Ryan's shoulder. "He means to get a room, perverts."

Adam made a show of looking around. "Is that not what this is?"
Ryan sat up on the couch and maneuvered Killian, so his boyfriend's head now lay in his lap. "I assume that means you're better. No lingering effects from the Omega Point?"

"Aside from this?" Adam tugged a lock of snow white hair above his right temple.

Killian shrugged. "You're gay. Everyone will just think you dyed it."

"Tactful," Kevin muttered.

I rolled my eyes. "I think it makes you look dashing."

"Just like Rogue from X-Men," Ryan pointed out.

"I knew you were a fan," I said triumphantly.

Adam snorted, then squeezed my waist before letting go. He leaned back against the windowsill and said, "It's just hair. I don't feel anything but a loss." His eyes, no longer those twin stars of fire and ice, looked distant and melancholy slipping into his voice. "I saw entire worlds born and die all in the same moment, every war ever fought, every calamity, every high and low. I stood at the edge of the universe and wept. The whole of reality was in the palm of my hands." He frowned, staring down at his fingers. "Now it's all gone. All that knowledge and incredible beauty. And I would give it up all over again in a heartbeat."

Kevin rubbed his lip, gaze thoughtful. "So that's humanity's future."

"A billion little moments, in millions of years, and the stars will shake."

I glanced at Adam. "So, you saw the future?"

"No," he said. "Time isn't linear. The present is still happening and so the future is still changing, constantly in motion, nothing is set in stone except the past."

"Fascinating," Ryan said. He carded his fingers through Killian's hair, drawing a smile of contempt from him.

Killian turned into Ryan's hand and mused aloud, "It's crazy to think about, but I think we're done."

"As much as I hate to agree with Killian," I grunted and grinned at his exaggerated glower. "He has a point. We pretty much punched every hole in our big bad villain card."

Kevin shook his head with a little, wondrous smile. "Peace. I wonder what's that like?"

"Sounds like a dream," Ryan sighed.

I tugged at Adam's wrist a little. "Looks like you might get to enjoy your senior year without worries."

"Oh yay," Adam deadpanned. "Finals, essays and prom."

Killian sat up and pointed at him. "Don't knock prom. I have it all planned out, and we're taking pics beforehand for social media. I already have a camera and makeup team booked."

We all stared at him.

"What?" He asked, cocking his head. "If just one of those posts goes viral we're probably getting booked on a talk show. We're gay teenagers going to prom. Folks will eat that up. Who knows what type of sponsorships we can swing from that social media currency."

Kevin snorted and Adam shook his head, chuckling.

"Okay, now that makes sense." I met Ryan's exasperated stare and admitted, "I almost thought near death made your man sentimental."

Ryan raised an eyebrow. "Don't let him fool you. He has a heart drawn around the date on his calendar."

Killian rounded on him. "You know I can sue for defamation, right?"

"Anyway," Kevin interrupted, smiling at Killian sweetly when the glare was turned onto him. "What are we going to do about the fallout with the Power Rangers?"

I grimaced. "The masses probably still think Cobalt's countdown is in effect. Maybe we should do an iOS press release and upload it to IG like all the celebrities do?"

This time they all stared at me.

Adam cleared his throat. "I vote we don't say anything. Once they see that nothing has happened past the deadline, they will move on and call off the terror alerts."

"That's not a bad call," Ryan agreed.

Killian shrugged. "It's not like they've needed our assurance before. The authorities will just make up some bogus excuse like they always do, and everything will go back to normal."

He had a point. There had been numerous occasions where humanity faced extinction only with being saved by us at the last minute. Even in the face of such catastrophes, they still managed to explain the trauma of it away with some rational explanation. It was mind-boggling the way the human mind tended to cope with such insurmountable odds.

It was decided to call a break for now. We spent way too long worrying about the fate of the world. Now we all just wanted to take time for ourselves. I immediately grabbed Adam's hand and made our way outside. It was the middle of autumn, but the weather hadn't turned yet. This was southern California, after all. The lake nestled on the west side of the house was a quiet place, and where I often came to think. We strolled along the path holding hands and basking at the quiet moment.

"I thought I lost you earlier," I said quietly. I just barely managed to keep my voice from shaking. "The shock didn't even hit me, because I thought I was joining you next. You saved all of us."

The pad of Adam's thumb traced the back of my hand. "Everything in my life in hindsight feels like it was leading up to that."

I looked out over the lake waters. "We were each gifted a particular skill set. It's not outside the realm of possibility that the First Gods knew from the very beginning we would fight Entropy."

Adam shook his head and then said wryly, "And now, after all that, the most life-changing thing I have to look forward to is seeing what college I get into."

"The savior of the universe and future theater major. This is the gay agenda," I proclaimed, poking him in the side.

He grabbed my fingers, and I didn't even see him move. The next thing I knew he was tickling me under my arms. I screamed like a final girl in a slasher film. Adam was some kind of tickling ninja. He only released me when I licked the side of his face like that one Pokemon with the fat tongue.

Adam wiped out his face, trying to look stern, but his grin gave him away. "Real mature, baby girl."

"I'm just trying to match your energy." I batted my eyelashes at him.

We couldn't help but burst into laughter. Adam's face sobered, and he looked at me with such fondness that it made my laughter die off. He reached out and laid his fingers on my left cheek, gentle and featherlight. He looked at me like I was the only person in the world.

"I'm really going to miss you next year."

It felt like someone reached inside my chest and squeezed my heart with a humongous hand. "You have a boyfriend I can teleport in you confide at supersonic speeds. California to New York, piece of cake."

"Still," he replied, biting his lower lip. "The next four years without you by my side every day, I won't ever get used to."

I tapped him on the nose, smiling at him warm and sure. "Four years of being a part compared to the rest of our lives together is nothing. We've already bonded soul to soul, practically married by Atlantis customs."

Adam grinned rather ruefully, scratching the back of his neck. He was giving the full force of his puppy eyes, all with floppy hair hanging into his face adorably, and I wanted to just kiss him and not stop until we were both dizzy.

"Then I suppose it's up to me to study hard for our future."

"I like the sound of that," I said softly, barely able to speak through the bursting feeling building between my lungs.

Imagining the future with Adam and my friends, growing up and living full lives was a secret dream of mine. It was the future denied to Emrys, and I wanted it fulfilled more than anything. After everything and how far we have come, it felt like a reward. We deserved peace.

I gave in to the urge, tipping forward and then we were kissing. His lips were smooth and warm against mine. There was a hot rush in my chest, spreading out into my limbs, rolling down my fingertips where they're wrapped around Adam's arms like they were the only thing tethering me to the earth. I felt hot all over, breathless.

I moved back when Adam tried to deepen the kiss, meeting his eyes. I wanted more and was ready to have it all right here and now. Adam's face was flushed, his hair was sticking up in all directions and his eyes were dark with arousal. A slow smile was aimed at me as if he knew exactly where my thoughts were taking me. Then he pulled me back in, softly, slowly, taking his time to open my mouth, sliding his tongue over every inch of my lips.

Adam suddenly froze, clenching the fabric of my shirt into his fingers. "Something's wrong," he said faintly.

Before I could question it, a loud electronic siren broke us apart.

We were panting from the heat of it all and the surprise of interruption. Adam looked adorably bewildered to not be kissing anymore, pulling out his phone from his pocket at the same time as me. There was an emergency alert notification displayed. We traded looks as something like dread began to sink into my veins, dousing any arousal like winter ice.

Before I could review the notification, Kevin appeared in a flash of silver light and momentary sound of fluttering wings. He sighed, rubbing a hand over his too pale face. He looked upset and more than that, defeated.

I immediately felt so goddam tired and knew, without a doubt, something terrible had happened. "What's going on?"

Kevin shook his head and just said, "You have to see."

He made a gesture and that divine power rolled over us and spirited us into the Command room in the outpost below the mansion. The first thing I noticed was the screen above the central console. It didn't make sense at first. It was showing a view of large white structures that slowly gained familiarity the more I stared until it made sense. My knees shook and I gripped onto the console. It was the Eiffel Tower that I recognized first. The famous landmark was covered in a thick layer of ice. Only glimpses of wrought-iron gray and the general shape were visible underneath the cover.

"How?" I asked shakily.

I felt my bones turn to lead and I looked beside me at Ryan and Killian. They held hands and their expressions were an echo of my own feelings. Mounting horror and fear warred until I felt my entire body begin to combust with it.

Ryan reached over and pressed a button the console. The screen split into three, revealing the iconic Berlin skyline, along with London, and both of the cities were frozen like Paris. He sighed heavily, wearily, like the sun was never coming out again.

"It's faster this time and spreading rapidly across Europe," Ryan said softly. "It's jumped into the Atlantic ocean and will reach North and South America within the day. We're talking around twenty-four hours or less until the Earth is fully frozen."

Kevin growled low in his throat. "This is Entropy's doing. I just know it. It's just like him to have the last laugh."

"It's possible." Adam clenched his fists and stared thoughtfully at the ground. "His outermost skin was denser than neutronium, and only grew more hyperdense toward his inner layers. At his core, he was so heavy that he should've fallen through the planet. I calced his durability at 10^55 joules."

Ryan's dismay made him stumble. "That's the GBE of the entire Milky Way Galaxy. The gravitation alone should have-"

"Dumb it down," I said patiently. The idea I was getting was looking horrible.

Adam was still staring at the ground, thinking. "Entropy's mass was spread across multiple dimensions at once, whatever his core was made of allowed his body to warp physics; the core was essentially a doorway to project the mass." Adam spread his hands out, miming a globular object. "We're talking about a spiral galaxy worth of matter to reach the very center of his body. It's why I used the Grid. It severed him in every dimension. That's the backstory. Now my theory is Entropy could've taken a piece of the ice before Halo destroyed it."

Killian frowned. "But wouldn't it just have frozen him?"

"Not with how hyperdense he was," Adam shook his head. "If he shunted some of that ice into another dimension, then it would mature without any prying eyes. It was probably a plan B if he had to leave Earth to finish destroying the remaining Prime Points."

I closed my eyes as the realization hit me. "And with Entropy dead, the ice was free to leave whatever dimension the asshole locked it in."

Kevin nodded grimly. "And now we're all left with his last fuck you."

Killian looked at Kevin with hope blazing in his eyes. "But you can stop it again, right? You did it before."

Kevin was quiet for a long time. Then, finally, he shook his head. "That particular skill used Earth's karma to obliterate the ice. I can't do it again. The planet's fate is sealed."

My shoulders slumped. "So this is the end, then?" I asked, low and exhausted.

I swallowed. It felt like someone had taken cold water and filled my entire body with it. Sorrow was a feeling of unmanageable despair. I couldn't handle looking at my friends right now, seeing their faces etched with grief, and yet, on the other hand, I needed to show a brave front. If not for me then for them, because it's what I did.

"Maybe it's not the end," Adam said.

I reached out and took his hand, squeezing it. It was a lifeline that I so desperately needed right now. "What do you mean?"

Adam and Kevin locked eyes, and my boyfriend spoke one word, "Avalon."

"How do you even know about that project?" Kevin looked at him with wide, startled eyes. Then he grimaced and shook his head. "It doesn't matter. The Lords in Shadow burned all Atlantean assets in this solar system during the Fall."

Adam tapped his head, a spark of something like building confidence in his tone. "It was a classified project, but at the Omega Point, all of the past was mine to see. And when I returned to Earth, I sensed an installation on the Moon."

"But how?" Disbelief was thick in Kevin's voice.

"The entire thing was taken out of the phase with reality, rotated ninety-one degrees from our point of relative index. A trick taken from the faeries. It's how the fae survived the Lords in Shadow, and so did Avalon. They never detected the spatial shift."

I tugged Adam's hand and gave him a pointed look. "Clue us in. It sounds like there's a way to stop this, after all?"

Kevin shook his head. "Nothing can stop it."

Ryan frowned. "Then what's on the Moon that can help?"

They traded glances again, and it was Adam that said, "Sanctuary."

"Avalon was a project planned by our father, a sister city to Atlantis. It was going to be a marvel that eclipsed our capital city. He intended it as a principality ruled by you and me until I came of age to take the Imperial Throne on Atlantis. Construction was stopped when the war started to get worse."

Killian lifted his head and stared. "Complete or not, are you saying there's an Atlantean city on the moon? Even after all this time."

"That's exactly what they're saying," I answered him, then looked at Adam and my brother, searching, questioning. "You're talking about an exodus. You want us to leave Earth."

It was a sobering thought. One that was only explored in science fiction in dystopian themes of humanity reaching for the stars after Earth was left with dwindling resources. The shock of my announcement made Killian gasp and look to Ryan, who was already no doubt following Adam and Kevin's line of thought.

"Logistically we couldn't take everyone," he said aloud, glancing at Killian sadly. "No city has the kind of infrastructure to support the billions on Earth."

I didn't want to start thinking in those type of terms yet. "Can we go to Avalon first and check out how this place has held up after 15,000 years. There's no use planning anything yet."

"We can't just pop up," Kevin said. "Avalon is armed to the teeth. We're talking particle cannons, anti-proton weapons, isomagnetic disintegrators. Its defenses can take out an Orion-class battlecruiser with ease and lay waste to an entire armada."

"So we need a key or something?" Killian speculated.

The answer came to me because I had known it all along. "Remember what King Oriens said when he gave you the Imperial Scepter, Kevin?"

"When all hope is lost," Kevin quoted. He put his hands together like he was praying. "Its light will guide you through the darkest of times."

From between his palms shined a light and from it appeared the elaborate silver and jeweled rod that was the chief emblem of our royal house. It was ancient, easily the oldest thing on this side of the world and forged in the first age of our long-gone empire.

Kevin grinned a little shakily at me and shrugged. "Let's hope the old emergency passcodes are still active."

"Or we're all dead," Killian muttered.

It was a dark thought, but he was right. I glanced at the map of the world on the screen. With every passing second, we were losing more land mass to the ice. Whatever we found on the Moon had to be better than being eternally frozen.

Kevin ran a finger down the center of the scepter. "Upsilon-Upsilon-Theta-Break-Seven."

"Activation codes recognized, Prince Gaius Cor." The disembodied voice spoke.

"Open the way to Avalon."

"Subspace search for external Avalon network link. Successfully opened data port. Connection with Avalon command core established. Awaiting final unlock authorization."

"Omicron-Gamma-Tau-Nine." Kevin took a deep, calming breath. "Light in Darkness. We show the way."

"Access granted to Avalon. Prepare for translocation."

We crowded close, as Kevin said, "Execute."

Rainbow colored light filled my vision and my feet lift off the ground. The world was torn away, and I barely held back a scream. It was insane, terrible, speed beyond speed, all of space was spread out before me and stars in my sight and all gone in an instant. We catapulted through the vastness of space, nowhere and everywhere, entire planets spinning off into the audient void.

The Moon appeared with its lifeless gray surface rushing up to us, or we rushed up to it. We descended upon it like meteors. There was a flare from the scepter that I realized for the first time had been flying ahead of us as if piloting.

And from the surface of the Moon was a similar flash and the whole of space rippled.

I ended up stumbling on a shiny platform, momentarily surprised at finding a solid footing once more. I gulped down a desperate breath. I vaguely registered the others having similar moments to orient themselves. Here, here for 15,000 year old transporter technology. I calmed myself to look up to witness a vast smoky sky glittering with far too many stars.

Earth.

The faded crescent hung above the horizon, its predominately blue features a stark contrast against the cloudy sky. There was atmosphere here, replicator tech, a little kernel of knowledge told me. I dragged my eyes away from the heavens and beheld a skyline, the likes of which took my breath away.

The crystal skyscrapers caressing the sky were like none I had ever seen before. Atlantis had been a city of metal with its tritium towers and sharp ultra-modern angles. Avalon stretched out underneath the stars, crystal monoliths climbing a kilometer into the sky. Starlight refracted throughout their opaline structures. Numerous winding sky bridges connecting buildings, stretched across crystal blue lakes and many green parks, interspersed among the city.

"It's incredible," I murmured, staring entranced at an aurora borealis effect that haloed a rocky mountain range in the distance.

We stood upon the roof of one of the crystal monoliths. Below our feet was a circle filled with delicately carved stars, symbols and Atlantean letters in glittering gold circled the border bidding welcome to travelers. So we arrived on some of receiving observatory, I wondered. It was a nice touch and afforded a view of what looked like most of the sprawling city. If Atlantis structures leaned more toward science fiction, then Avalon's architecture was its counterpart in fantasy.

Ryan kept shaking his head as if he couldn't believe his eyes. "I thought this city was incomplete."

"It's supposed to be," Kevin said, confused. He and Adam were just as shocked as us. "Father halted construction and pulled back all personnel to our holdings when the outer territories were besieged."

"That would be because of me."

We spun around and faced a handsome man with brown skin and thick wavy dark hair. He wore an official looking uniform. It was a pants and tunic combination in beige, with lavender belt and cuffs and a high collar that was the style before the Fall.

I narrowed my eyes. "Who are you?"

"I'm Patroclus." He bowed. "I've taken the liberty of downloading the data archive of the Atlantis command AI in terran outpost, designated Sigma Tor. I know of the reincarnation event, and have an understanding of the current situation, Your Grace."

Kevin was visibly startled at the name. "That's not possible. Patroclus oversaw the Atlantis Science Academy. You should be long dead."

"If I were flesh and blood, Your Grace," Patroclus said, dark eyes amused. "I was activated during the Fall. Your father's backup plan, if all other lights went out. My prime directive as custodian of Avalon is to perform maintenance and improvements of the city in anticipation of Atlanteans arrival while attempting to find a solution to enemy threats. I'm the consciousness of Patroclus and of an artificial intelligence."

Adam stepped forward. "You're a VI," he said, nodding his head, "A virtual intelligence has spent the last 15,000 years not only finishing construction but improving on it. This is beyond what I imagined."

"If you would please step on the Farpoint relay," Patroclus said, gesturing to a red metallic platform nearby.

I raised an eyebrow. "Where are we going?"

He pointed in the distance toward a massive crystal dome sitting prominently at the city's core. It glittered like a diamond and there was dancing blue-white light reflecting from its surface that was positively mesmerizing. Four towers were arranged around it at cardinal points.

"Nova Reach sits at the center of One Senate Square and is the seat of governance of Avalon," Patroclus said. "And for what you plan to do it is also a place of power."

Kevin eyed him speculatively. "Of course, you saw the footage in the Command outpost. You know what we're planning."

He nodded solemnly and gestured at the platform again. "And I know we're under pressing time constraints."

Right now, I was not in the mood to second guess every motive. At the end of the day, the VI was right. We were short on time. So we allowed Patroclus to input the destination on the control pillar and we were whisked away in a stream of light. The teleportation field cleared and we were in alcove nestled at the and of a brightly lit hallway with walls that reminded me of the interior of the Imperium Tower in Atlantis.

"Is this Nova Reach?" Ryan asked, observing the corridor.

The corridor went off in both directions, and ahead of us was a closed door with a hand size control panel. I studied the tiled walls, curiously then shrugged.

"I don't know. I expected something grander."

A faint streamer of light flickered into existence through the open space taking the shape of Patroclus. "We are approximately half a kilometer below Nova Reach in the auxiliary command section." His dark eyes regarded us with a measure of mirth at our visible surprise. "The main control room is meant to be operated with a full staff of at least thirteen. The secondary systems here can be staffed by minimal personnel."

"After you," Kevin said, gesturing.

Patroclus stepped forward and the door hissed momentarily, as space beyond was depressurized, sliding open with an accompanying breeze.

"You, of course, are granted full access to Avalon's systems," Patroclus said conversationally, continuing on into another the hall that had opened up while guiding us with quick steps. "The infrastructure was completed using a combination of drones, molecular construction arrays, and a majority of the buildings were grown."

"Grow buildings..." Adam picked through his general overview. "The... crystal structures?"

The VI simply nodded, not having bothered to stop his forward progress or even turn around, which I appreciated. We were on the clock here. The longer we took, the more people were being trapped in a frozen prison. Ryan, of course, jumped right into the specifics. "And how have you been powering Avalon? If we proceed, energy consumption will increase."

"Avalon was intended to be the next step in Atlantean civilization. Our engineering team created a pocket dimension around a protostar near the galactic rim." Avalon stopped to face us when we came to another door. "We opened a micro wormhole into that dimension directly into the heart of the star, and using an artificial quantum foam, as a safety measure, solar energy is collected."

Kevin frowned. "I vividly remember the project being abandoned. I thought you were using Helos Reactors because the simulations kept failing."

"I completed the project two thousand years after the Fall." Patroclus smiled wanly at the ground even as the door of ahead of him opened. "I had a lot of free time."

By the expressions on Ryan and Adam's faces, I'm guessing this was a big deal. "How much power are we talking here?"

"An output of one hundred solar units," Patroclus explained. Seeing my expression, he clarified, "Which would be two terawatts using human terminology."

Adam stared at me and said, "The total power usage of humans worldwide is sixteen terawatts for an entire year."

I blanched. "So plenty of power for a new population."

"Quite," Patroclus confirmed as he stepped up to another door.

This time there was a flicker of data transfer in his eyes, letters and numbers racing across his irises. When he blinked quickly, the stream ended and the door opened, and we stepped into a new set of corridors; these vastly different from the last. Our new environment was a more curved, organic corridor glowing with metallic blue. The surface of the walls seemed to radiate their own light. Like the previous corridors, however, there was little in the way of real activity.

"How many people can we move here?" Kevin asked.

"Avalon was always meant for a large population," Patroclus said, continuing deeper into the new hall that began to curve to the right. "We can accommodate a little over ten million people."

"Ten million?" I stared, but my question was lost in the immediate fire round of questions the others assaulted the VI with.

We barely noticed our journey had taken us to a single room with an array of darkened panels and a large podium with a flat surface central to the interior. Kevin shook his head in wonder, still looking gobsmacked by the sheer number reported, strode past Killian and Ryan confronting the Vi. He continued on until he faced the podium directly, placing his hand upon its flat surface and causing the opaque panels on its side to light up a deep blue for a moment before brightening to light the room.

"Royal override, Gaius Cor, Prince of Atlantis. Visual assist mode," he ordered, and the panels blinked to life, each projecting holographic displays into the open air. We watched the holograms flicker with graphics and Atlantean script until Gaius spoke again. "Citywide status."

The flowing Atlantean script vanished across all nine panels and was replaced by various pictographs. Wordlessly we split up as our attention was each caught by a separate hologram. I spotted Ryan admiring the visage of a multi-colored framework spacecraft conjured before him. He reached into the frame of the ship, at it to magnify the internal structure. It reminded me of the tech in those MCU movies with Tony Stark.

"Is that the Valorescent?" I asked, peering around him for a better view; though the ship was now large enough to take up almost half the air airspace around us.

"King Oriens' flagship." Ryan nodded, continuing his manipulation of the wireframe hologram, spinning it around on its axis to view it from a better angle. Block Atlantean script flowed from the points he touched, technical data that I surprisingly understood. "It looks like it was dry docked for upgrades... The armament was replaced by high energy particle cannons, and the reactors were upgraded to YMIR modules, whatever that is."

"It's a generator that allows macromolecules with a special structure to tap into virtual particles for energy."

I looked at Patroclus for a long minute. "You've been busy."

The hologram shrugged. "I needed a hobby."

"A hobby that managed to somehow build infrastructure to comfortably support ten million people." Adam was intently studying a holo-schematic of the city, swiping through it to view different sectors at speed I couldn't keep up with. "His numbers are good."

Killian nodded. "We obviously will never have a power problem. The matter converters can synthesize food, and there's more than enough shelter that people can live comfortably." He looked over at me, and there was determination there in his eyes. "I say we go ahead."

"We will be protected too. The defenses are impregnable," Ryan offered. He closed his eyes, then nodded once. "I'm in."

An intense look of concentration inhabited Kevin's face. He was staring at a rotating holo, contemplating the string of script rolling beneath the view of what looked like several galaxies conjured into the open air before him. The spiral shape of our own Milky Way galaxy was familiar, and I was sure that the one hovering near his shoulder was the Andromeda galaxy.

"Kevin?" I approached him from behind and softly touched a hand to his shoulder. "What is this?"

"Hope," he replied, continuing to study the script that I realized was numbers. Some type of algorithm, maybe.

Patroclus hovered at Kevin's other side, observing the rotating galaxies with a sharp eye. "Interesting."

"Servants of life angels once were," Kevin muttered. "There are arts to draw on those ancient oaths when the stars come round again to the right positions in the cycle of eternity."

I studied the set of his features carefully. "A weakness?"

He nodded. "Every being on earth is born with a spark, an imperishable flame that even ice can't extinguish." Kevin looked at us, one by one. "It may be frozen, but the energy of that flame will never go out. "In time, we can use our power and the cycle of the stars to awaken that light, all at once."

I finally understood. "A harmonic convergence." I shook my head. A celestial event that was a product of certain planets and stars aligning just right. It was rare and once had given birth to entire divine pantheons. "The last time was even before Atlantis."

"Most energy...celestial, spiritual, divine..." Adam thought aloud, assessing the logic in the theory. "They'll all be in harmony on that day. The ice will be susceptible."

The script stopped flickering, settling on a final sequence. It was a long string of numbers that was a day, according to Atlantean reckoning. The others crowded close and we observed the number, each knowing what it meant. It would take years.

Centuries.

"Good thing Atlanteans live long lives," I said into the quiet, then faced my friends. "We owe it to everyone who is trapped. Even if we have to wait a thousand years."

Adam squeezed my shoulder. "Until the end of time itself."

"We made a promise," Ryan said.

Killian nodded. "In our last life, this one or the next. We'll be there."

Kevin smiled fondly, bumping his shoulder against mine. "Together. Always."

"Okay, then." My heart was pounding in my chest and I smiled with fierce determination. "Let's save the day one more time."

We moved to the consoles and with Patroclus' help began bringing secondary systems online and powering up an entire city for occupation. We ran the diagnostics and inventory to account for the population drawing on resources that had never before been consumed en masse. We didn't have all day, but I didn't want to begin until I knew we weren't condemning people to the lunar version of the Titanic. I trusted Patroclus, but the VI had been alone here for 15,000 years. I was not about to risk innocent lives in case his memory was fragmented.

After running through the data with a fine tooth comb, there was nothing left to do but proceed. I squared my shoulders and nodded to Patroclus. He closed his eyes, and the constellations depicted on the floor began to span, the central podium retracted into the floor in a series of mechanical noises. Four metal rings arose 10 paces away from each other in a loose circle. They fit into position within the foundation with a solid click. It was complete.

Then we moved into position and each Chosen stepped into their assigned ring. I went to the center of the formation. I met Adam's eyes, smiling softly and there was so much I wanted to say. I was sad for the future we wished and hoped and planned for wasn't meant to be. Adam met my eyes, and the reassurance in his gaze chased away those thoughts, sending me unwavering support that I held close. I closed my eyes and said goodbye to Chad Summers. My clothes shifted, replaced by a formal midnight blue suit, with silver lacing and a white belt and cape that flowed over my shoulders. I could feel the circlet settle around my brow.

Prince Emrys was returned.

I didn't open my eyes, but I knew the others carried out similar transformations. What we were about to do we needed to tap our Atlantean selves. I reached for the bright spark inside that I associated with magic and it surged through me, waiting. I opened up my celestial bindings and link to magic, feeling the energy crackling through my veins like electricity.

All around me, I felt other energies besides my magic. The others tapped into their bindings and the primal forces of the universe roiled through the room. The rings set into the floor began to vibrate as they came online, channeling power to the towers circling the dome of Nova Reach above us. I hoped they didn't blow up from how much energy we were channeling through their crystalline structures.

I slowly gathered all that frightening power that crackled through the air. Working with overwhelming amounts of energy was what I was gifted at, and I weaved it together, until its sum was greater than its parts, transforming it, remaking it. I knitted it together into a spell of such magnitude that it transcended into something unspeakably beautiful, something cosmic.

The towers above resonated as one, opening a breach in the lunar spatial pocket and allowing the power to enter the planular domain of real space. Two billion people were frozen in ice.

Two billion.

The number was rising. After all, there was no haven.

Sanctuary wasn't to be found on Earth. The planet's fate was sealed and its people were sentenced to imprisonment through no fault of their own. It was a divine act that couldn't be undone for countless years yet, but it was not to be everyone's fate. There was no way I could save the remaining population.

For some, there was hope.

Like called to like. Those with Atlantean blood heard the voice in the darkness first. My voice called out to them. Harkening to those descendants who were the survivors of Atlantis' fall all those years ago. My voice was full of hope, compassion and light.

"Don't despair," I whispered in their minds, bolstered by Adam's telepathy. "It will be many years before Earth is freed, but there is a home for you on Avalon. I will never leave my people behind. And if you think of your loved ones they will be safe, too, I will protect you all."

Countless numbers of people looked up and rejoiced because they knew of their origins, as fables and tales passed through families, and those who knew nothing of their legacy looked toward the sky in wonder. The power of soul, Ryan's power, found the connections of families and friends that tied spirits together and I embraced them, as many people as possible, letting Killian's light judge and severe the links to those who had darkness in their hearts or impure thoughts.

The cosmic spell swept the whole of the world faster than the speed of light, racing against the spread of ice as it swept through Europe and part of Asia, gaining a foothold on the east coast of both North and South America. For every billion people the ice took, I gathered millions. As if sensing opposition, the speed of the ice increased exponentially.

It spread through the whole of Brazil in seconds. Faster and faster, it expanded. The cosmic force strained against my willpower, making the Earth tremble with its might, and I did not yield. The Pacific Ocean froze. Australia froze. It continued on until the majority of the world was encompassed. Those I gathered moved through space and time ferried by Kevin's power, even as the Earth left behind rapidly locked in frozen slumber.

Then I let go of all that cosmic power.

I opened my eyes and for a long, dizzying moment I was entirely disoriented. Then Adam slid his hand into mine and his smile was like an anchor, grounding me. The other hand cupped my cheek and tilted my face to press a kiss against my temple.

"We did it," Adam beamed, practically glowing with happiness. "I can feel them."

Patroclus must have activated the arrays because holoimages swirled up around us. Dozens of screens showed different sections of the city, but they were all of similar sights. People were cheering, laughing in relief, hugging their neighbors in a shared combination of joy and liberation that united them. To face the light after coming close to the dark was an exuberant feeling.

Killian clutched tightly to Ryan and looked at us with a shaky, but happy smile. "Over ten million souls. No turning back now."

"We saved them all," Kevin said. There was a noticeable cadence in his voice that was nobler. "Now we have to guide them."

Ryan grinned tiredly but looked immensely pleased. "And a king to lead us."

I beamed at my brother and nodded. "Later, I suppose we need to have a coronation. It's a long time coming." I looked at the holoscreens, feeling a thrill shoot through me at all the visible joy. "But crowns can wait. I imagine it's going to be pretty crazy for a while."

And that was better than the alternative.

I would take chaos over cold silence any day. It was going to take a lot of work, but I was willing and ready to do whatever it takes to make sure everyone was settled. I made a promise. All of our training, every triumph, and even our losses had prepared us for this. Our childhood days died when the Earth froze. So many people depended on us now, but I knew that as long as we stood together, we would get through this. The sun may have set on Earth for now, but it had risen on Avalon and one day, many centuries from now, we would bring the dawn to Earth again. With the universe saved from its ancient enemy, well, we had nothing but time.

There were no other people I would rather spend it with.

[End.]