PART FIVE: ON WITH THE MISSION
The joint wake for Aurora and Leal Alison in Timeline D-3 was set for 11th August 2078. Despite the Alison family’s muddied public reputation, family members, close family friends and former colleagues (from both the Department of Defense’s Space-Time Exploration Division which was once Aurora’s employer and the Golden Knights Agency which was Leal’s former employer) congregated and participated in the Burial rites and rituals of the Wake, honoring their memory and celebrating the couple’s indelible legacy.
Avery had to pick up the slack for her grieving family and was able to handle most of the duties that came with ensuring the Wake ran smoothly including collaborating with the Wake coordinator, handling guests and any other issue the cropped up. Among the invited guests were the Alison Family Matriarch of D-3, Alanis Alison, who volunteered the services of her nuclear family’s Public Relations representative to Avery and her immediate family. Avery thanked Alanis for her kindness but reassured her that Avery’s immediate family’s image would recover in time even without the services of a PR representative. Alanis had then requested a date to meet with the family in order to discuss the allegations Avery’s immediate family were facing among them that the family had offered up their deceased son, Blaize, to the Lord of Fire, a hostile, god-like entity hailing from another Reality in exchange for power. Avery promised to get that meeting set up immediately after her family had been allowed a proper mourning period.
Once everything regarding the Wake had been settled and all the rites completed, Avery went back to her doppelganger’s house together with the rest of the family. Most of the family members were besides themselves with grief especially Avery’s brother, Dewey but Avery had remained strong for her family to lean on. Her brother had been surprised Avery had not shed a single tear since the demise of their parents and when he questioned her about how she was coping with the catastrophic loss. Avery simply replied that it was because she knew that their parents were in a better place then and that she knew she could visit them any time she wanted in Blaize’s Reality. They may have departed from the Physical World in that Reality, but they were not gone forever and so she refused to give into despair. Her family had not been consoled by these sentiments and so Avery had allowed them the opportunity to continue grieving her parents as she busied herself with things that needed attention such as attending to Ada’s children.
Avery was relieved to return to her own apartment after she had parted with her family. She immediately got back into her work space where she had the A.S. Ash reconnect to the Alison-Clarke Machine to help detect the unique Consciousness signatures of Reality Warpers. Avery focused as much mental energy as she could on tracking Reality Warpers before Port and the Darkness could get to them. Reality Warpers were adept at staying hidden and were scattered across the various Timelines of Avery’s Baseline Reality. Avery was therefore surprised when Ash determined the location of the nearest Reality Warper in the most unexpected place- the Florian Ocean in Timeline D-3 present in the Second Physical Plane of Existence where the newly crowned Monarchs of the Selkie Kingdom, Queen Iara and King Rian, reigned.
Avery immediately got in touch with Queen Iara and after exchanging some pleasantries, shared her hypothesis that a Reality Warper resided in the Queen’s territory. The Queen was surprised to learn that one of her subjects was a Reality Warper but allowed Avery to confirm her hypothesis by visiting the Oceanic Kingdom the following day. Queen Iara and King Rian expressed their sincerest condolences to Avery and offered their best hospitality to her, still in her debt for seeing to the Selkies’ freedom. Avery thanked them for their kindness before confirming her hypothesis about the Reality Warper present in the Kingdom, Saoimhe of Kayana.
Saoimhe was summoned before the King and Queen and promptly answered to the royal summons. He was formally introduced to Avery before she explained the purpose of her visit (the Queen acted as a translator between Avery and Saoimhe). Saoimhe was stunned to hear Avery’s theory and when interrogated whether he had used his Reality warping abilities, he had expressed further confusion and denied it. Avery had felt it in her gut then that Saoimhe was lying and though he might have been lying to protect someone or something precious to himself, she knew that if she let him go, he would disappear and she would never be able to catch up to him.
Avery then changed tactics by impressing upon him the danger he was in, offering her own protection to him and his loved ones. Saoimhe did not take the bait and instead continued insisting that Avery must be mistaken about his abilities. Avery had then felt she had no other choice but to admit that she had inherited her father’s ability to tell when someone was lying and Saoimhe had reminded her that since he from an Alternate Reality, her abilities probably did not apply to him.
“So you are in effect admitting that my abilities do not work on you, am I correct, Mr. Saoimhe?” Avery asked him and waited for the King to translate.
Saoimhe nodded.
“How strange. My abilities work on other Selkies just fine but in your case, it doesn’t work, which leads me to conclude that you possess abilities that do not follow the set rules, a perfect descriptor, unlike any other, that you are indeed a Reality Warper,”
Saoimhe was unable to launch a counter argument that could adequately refute Avery’s statement since there would be no reason for her abilities not to work on him if indeed Avery’s abilities worked on other Selkies.
“I know that whatever it is you are lying to protect must be vital but you must heed my warning, Mr. Saoimhe. The Darkness is seeking out Reality Warpers to gain more footing in this Reality. Wouldn’t it be so tragic to escape your native home-world only for the new haven you call home to be taken over by a sinister Eldritch entity? Is the person you are protecting worth destroying all of this Reality?” Avery asked.
Saoimhe remained silent for a while after Avery’s words were translated and then shook his head and looked down. He was suddenly overcome with emotion and began to tremble and wail.
“Your majesty, my King, please have mercy on me! I was inspired by the love shared between you and her Majesty, the Queen, our people’s savior and I wished only to obtain a love of my own. My lord, no one can ever understand our love, in truth, I am unable to find the words to adequately describe it but, my King, I too found love in this Reality. It is an impossible love, a love that cannot be easily deciphered, my King, oh my King, please-“
“Saoimhe, whom have you fallen for? What has your love for this person wrought upon us?”
“I did not wish to harm this Reality, that is why I created a place where we both could be free- where she would be safe from others who would harm her from turning away from the malevolent demands of her race. Once I saw how happy she was away from the evil clutches of the Demiurge we escaped from, I swore an oath to protect her with everything within me. Forgive me, my lord, for not telling you sooner… I did not want to drag you or anyone else into this… My lord, forgive me,”
“Are you saying that you created a world of your own making? What is the identity of this creature you adore so much?”
Saoimhe shook his head vehemently. “I dare not say it, my King. I am sorry-“
“Saoimhe, you must come clean. The fate of this Reality depends on it,” the King insisted.
“My lord, the creature I am madly in love with is a former Keres. That was the fate that the Demiurge chose for her but she fought it- fought the evil urge to serve the Demiurge and the other Keres. She came to me in desperation and my soul was overcome with grief for her situation. I created a world where she could hide, where we could be happy together without hurting anyone. She has been reborn as an entity of pure light, my King, proving that she has truly reformed,”
The other three stared at Saoimhe in shock at the astounding reveal that he was in love with a malevolent Dark Messenger hailing from the World of Monsters.
TO BE CONTINUED…
What shall Avery, the King and Queen of Florian Oceanic Kingdom do after Saoimhe’s shocking reveal? Can his words truly be believed? Stay tuned to find out! Links to previous parts in this Saga are listed below. Enjoy
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