White Nebula: A criminal enterprise

 

Edric entered into a dark flight of stairs, the Feline's He looked up and began to head downward, hoping to avoid a collision with the cloaked teammates in a hurry to nab what lay inside. The stairs became shallower and wider as he climbed, finally ending at a narrow horizontal shaft, the bottom a couple of meters below. Beyond the shaft were dozens of pedestals in the middle of the room and shelves full of priceless artifacts. If this was a true museum, most of the items were already on display, the Feline figured. It was also a good guess that he had found the location, the safehouse located on an Asteroid this portion of the Stellar System.

"Looks like the time cage did the trick.." Mortimer grunted, his overbite scraping against his tongue as his mouth made spittle on the hard stone floor.

"Yeah, no thanks to this dork and his noggin." Glee Mindigone said, her furred knuckle shaking into Edric's green haired scalp.

"The T-time cage only has enough spare for about 30 minutes. We have to hurry or the security systems will come back online.." Edric said, checking his tablet.

 

"We're in a hurry, Ed." Glee said in a hushed tone. "Just pick out whatever you like and don't worry about what's what, the staff keeps the books."

 

The teenage boy nodded and approached the feline's impressive collection of stolen contraband. The gang of about 2 dozen was already grabbing everything they could off various shelfs, as if helping themselves to a profitable banquet. Eldric sighted jewels and ancient swords, he saw rare vases and priceless statues, not to mention what looked like an ancient capsule. On further inspection, the metallic capsule had a glass portion around its perimeter and a tiny crack at that. "Hey, anyone know what this one is?" Byte said, to the ignored glares of his partners in crime. They'd utilize his skillset to find this place, to break in but ultimately he knew his position was a scab among knaves. These friends of his didn't like or respect him, they merely needed him. They were dependent, but not decadent upon his laurels. He let that thought go and turned his attention to the capsule.

 

The container had eerie glowing-red juices gushing within. Carefully Edric picked it up, examining the crack on the glass.

 

"Be careful with that dude.." Glee Mindigone said, her paws pawing on the surface of an ancient painting. She was also wearing a pair of sunglasses that were a darker green than her fur. Edric couldn't really blame her, given the contents, there was a real chance of it being dangerous. Still his curiosity beckoned, the crack seemed to contain a scintillation. He held it close to his face, only to jump back dropping it when an eyeball floated to the forefront.

 

"A-aaHH!" Edric screeched. The capsule fell and creeeeeeeaked, the crack expanding right in front of him. A splash of cherry-red droplets sprayed him, and the odd refracted bluish-green light was soon mirrored in his irises. He felt a hypnotic heaviness cast a lurid, deep spell over his mind. The room was spinning and glowing an aura of colors from the peripheral of his vision.

 

His wrists began to clench, tightening the finger muscles and sending purple-fuchsia pulses flashing throughout the veins of his arms.

 

He was only conscious of the presence of his companions, his thoughts clouded and unreadable.

"This is weird.." he heard a male voice, but not his own. The voice began to speak, his internal narrative was however divorced from his body, the voice this subject spoke from had his personality, he listened as the voice past and what would come after.

 

Edric's body would go over, sluggish but not quite in control. "Hey, is all you're bringing is that case of crap you broke? We cannot pawn that idiot!" Mortimer said, Henry, Mitch and Steiner looking at him judgingly. There was a shaking along the walls and floor, and a whistling sound that grew louder. Everyone went deadly silent.

 

"Could the Rat Catchers be onto us? Edric you idiot, you said the Time Cage would hold!"

"They're never out in this sector.. everyone be quiet?" Everyone had the same idea and stood deadly still. Glee huffed and sashayed forward.

 

"Well boys? Did Byte designate me as leader just to have you pigs laze a-"

 

CREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAASHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

 

A bending javelin of light penetrated her neck from above the ceiling, released a roaring expansion of light, heat and energy that pounded the vault like a scorched missile, and the leader of the Glee Mindigone was Mindi..gone.

 

Mortimer shrieked, everyone was paralyzed with fear. "EVERYONE FOR THEMSELVES-" The projectile that hit Glee slung and accelerated without any delay, streaking thru the air until it hit Mortimer in the chest and turned his body into a emanated, expanding burst of flames.

 

Edric watched the entire room be consumed by flame.

 

He crawled, and began to walk around his capsule, which now had a large crack, the top half of the wall had broken off, and a purple-green energy pulsed violently. The capsule had a strange, red gem that he hadn't noticed before. He approached and picked it up. The violet intensity glowing from his veins began to consume his whole body.

 

It refused to slow down, going from target to target and turning every member hit into an on-contact detonation, leaving a trail of silver-white light in its wake. Henriette jumped out of the way as the last target- only for the shot to bend around in a loop and incinerate her from the backside.

 

It finally sped towards Edric. He awaited his demise and gripped the gem, before flinching and letting his go. The streaking missile angled at his forehead and his fingers released.

 

Everything relinquished.

 

He opened his eyes again, seeing everyone stare at him and the cracked Capsule. "What's happening to me?" Edric began to ask, he was speaking in his normal voice but was also seeing more, he could see and hear his companions. He began to realize that he had no control over the story being played out, it was a constant loop. There was a fizzling noise, like a firecracker above. He gripped his hands afraid, the same energy spread throughout Edric again.

 

"Could the Rat Catchers be onto us? Edric you idiot, you said the Time Cage would hold!"

 

He felt a sense of déjà vu, it was quite clear that this was not a dream or hallucination, this was a waking nightmare. Edric still felt like he had no control over his body, as if watching from a moviescreen.

 

"Well boys? Did Byte designate me as leader just to have you pigs laze a-"

 

The leader was penetrated, exploding before Edric's eyes. He watched everyone die and the room reduced to rubble once again. When it came for him, he covered his face and clapped, releasing a distortion of waves.

 

He opened his eyes. Back again, with the room restored, capsule in his lap, the awkward stares meaningless this time. But Edric felt this time was different, as if he was in control now- he put his hands in front of his face, seeing purple rings embedded in his fingers, every wiggle changed their hue slightly.

 

The reverberating sound was heard again. Glee grunted, this time Elric moved towards her and pushed her torso. "Well boys? Did Byte designate me as-" He tackled her right before the missile came down and imploded the ground, just nearly missing her with Byte's intervention.

 

Several more shots came this time, most bending and hitting the crew, others pounding the walls until the place began to shake and collapse. Edric huddled Glee on the ground until the ceiling caved in, and everything went dark again.

 

 

Edric Byte was not sure of the time, there were a few hours of unconsciousness. The air smelled of smoke, and the room was filled with debris. In a daydream he had, a small figure was seated near the back wall, and it was a white cat. Its eyes met Edric's and seemed to be staring, the only sound the steady sound of purring heard. It hopped over, and pawed his jaw. "Hm?"

 

It swatted him again, clocking him wholesale.

 

He woke up once again, the dream dissipating into cold hard reality. The boy saw he was in a cell, Glee was tied up in an adjacent holder still passed out. A figure began to approach him.

 

They were tall with thigh-high pearlescent white boots, matching the lustrous latex catsuit of hers and silver hat. Covering her face were a pair of amber-tinted sunshades. "Who, the heck are you? Why am I in this cell?" Edric said, his hands behind his head as he sat on the bed. The figure stepped closer into view, large armor pieces built into the catsuit that looked like bangles and plates with circuitboards.

 

"You're a cyborg?" He asked.

 

"None of your business." she uttered, succulent lips settling into a wince. She took a small handheld scanner and brushed it over Edric, checked the front console and then put it away. "It's you. You took it.." She said incriminatingly.

 

 

"I brought you here, I will ask the questions." she stated as she lifted a heavy object with both hands. Edric was now standing, looking down at his feet. The girl held up the object over her shoulder with both hands and it appeared to be a cylinder about the size of a surf-board with a small screen that ran down its side, with two buttons along the side. She pushed both buttons on either side with her thumbs, the cylinder glowed with a dull red light for a moment. It then began to shrink, the light emitting from its interior. It extended towards him several times before a small device appeared from the larger cylinder, a gunhead poking out the same torpedo-like javelins he recognized from earlier.

 

"Why were you with the Spades? A criminal outfit like that doesn't seem your speed." She asked, white lipstick shimmering. "I interrogated the other girl. She called you Byte. Are you some kind of spoilt company heir? Is Byte the leader of your gang?" The woman tightened her grip on the BDSM's shoulder-launcher.

 

"M-me? No, I'm Edric. Edric Byte yes. I mean my mom is Odalia, but the Spades were formed by my sister Amity for a s-single heist! She formed them and then just, left. I was never the respected leader like her, please I'm just a boy roped into this, who are you?" Edric repeated, looking at her like he was a little kid confessing to an adult.

 

"Do you work for my little sister too?"

 

She rolled her eyes and took a step towards him. Edric stepped back to match her and held up his hands, with his palms facing upwards.

"I don't work for anybody." She replied curtly.

"That Time-Cage had specs that even military grade hardware couldn't match, and I don't suspect it was your handwork. Your sister gave it to you. Amity, the girl who called you Amity Byte. She gave it to you."

He sighed. "No, nono.. so presumptuous." He smiled at her cheerily. "Of course she didn't! I stole it from her closet." Edric stuck his tongue out. "Who are you anyway?"

"They call me White Nebula. Do you have any idea what you took?" She pointed to the container in the corner, crack still visible.

"No, no clue."

"Well I'm very sorry to tell you this but, I'll kill you, then take your Time-Cage, and throw your mother into it as well." She paused.

He held his hands up higher, palms facing down this time. She took a step towards him.

"You really are like her, cowboy."

 

"Charismatic?" He forced a smile.

"Cowardly." She extended her gun upwards, just inches from Edric's face.

 

"You really shouldn't toy with me, kid. I am not amused by your little cat-games."

"What did I take from you exactly?" He asked, hoping not to get splattered.

 

"The embryo core." She picked up the capsule and held it up to him.

She raised an eyebrow. "You're a bit of a wimp aren't you."

"What is it?" he asked.

 

White Nebula looked at the core, a bit of ducktape over the small crack and cupped her white extended nails over it. "It belonged to a facility device known as the Embryo Trigger. Shadow leader Sandra utilized it to suppress the Cascade and its activity."

 

Edric's heart stopped at the mention of Sandra. The figure of legend, even the most public details of her clandestine operations were shrouded in mystery.

"But you, you're just a dumb little kid. You wouldn't know anything about that." He took a single finger and pressed it to his chest, poking in. "It's infected you."

 

"W-what has?"

"The Embryo. You greedy fuck. The embryo's capsule is useless now."

"W-wait.." Edric recalled back to the actual eyeball he saw. "Was there, a literal embryo in there?"

 

White Nebula grimaced. "Stillborn." She put it aside. "Was never meant to leave the embryonic stage. But in its unconscious infantile state, only it was capable of suppressing the Cascade and offering its capabilities." She continued to explain, "The embryo's capsule can only be opened once, a few centuries ago and it's been locked away since. If anyone opened it, the infusion within could get out and said capabilities would leak."

 

 

Edric's head began to droop as the implications struck him, and he looked away from her, not daring to make eye contact.

 

 

"No, but.. but.. w-what is the.. w-what is it then? How does it work?" Edric stuttered, trying to understand the concept and how it could actually have an effect.

"It's a virus." White Nebula said with a smirk. "You have been infected with the Cascade, only now it has become one, with the embryo. In effect, it's a computer virus, similar to a series of engineered nanites running without the proper operating system to control it. But in the embryo, it's a sentient computer, with its own consciousness. You have the virus in your bloodstream, without any means to control it."

 

"Holy shit.." Edric quivered at her words.

 

 

 

"Who told you this?" Edric said.

"A friend of mine, in charge of Xi's top secret anti-Cascade program. They were growing kids in labs for years to try to sequence one's genetics to control this, but few lived past childhood."

"What would they want with me? I don't have any special skills, I'm no engineer."

 

"That is no longer true." She pointed the blaster's muzzle to the floor. "Now that you've obtained this, you're a valuable specimen." She unlocked the cell. "I'm going to take you as my bargaining chip."

 

She lifted a small plastic container and placed a drop in Edric's palm. "The virus's symptoms are visible within."

 

It felt like someone was dropping a heavy weight inside his stomach. He felt like he was going to be sick. When he squeezed his palms, his consciousness began to split into a kaleidoscope, he saw a divergence of minutes with White Nebula in front of him.

 

 

White Nebula smirked, placing her elbow against the wall. "What do you think it does to a host's body, and psyche?

 

White Nebula smirked, pacing back and forth. "It causes synaptic subterfuge by blending one's perceptions across temporal strata."

 

White Nebula smirked, cupping his cheek and getting a good look at his eye. "Think of it like living as a ghost, except what you're haunting is the future."

 

White Nebula smirked, tugging at his arm and finally letting him out of the cell. "The victim is spontaneously pulled into the future while existing anchored in the present."

 

White Nebula smirked. "The victim is spontaneously..."

 

The sequence seemed hazy, like replaying a VHS over and over, slight variations each time yet hitting him all at once, every play through with a numbing level of control. He blinked hard and relaxed, all instances he'd seen reeling him in like a band aid around his mind snapping back- every future he briefly lived in.

 

"This isn't science fiction." White Nebula scolded him. "The embryo will use its powers to force its host to move from its present time, to send their consciousness into the future. Far from it being mere context, the host will be able to interact with the future as time moves forward for them." She ran her hands down his green hair. "The host's perception will be mixed with the future timeline, as if they were physically, with the knowledge of time shifting, even potentially over years in one single moment when they return."

 

 

White Nebula let him take in a breath, before he suddenly heard. "Please understand, you're only valuable as a bargaining chip, I intended to take that Capsule. But you'll belong to me for a purpose."

"What are you bargaining me for?" He asked, seeing her pull him out of the cell.

"Clap your hands together. Concentrate. Don't come back until you know." She shrugged. "Why don't you take a peak for yourself?"

"How do I.."

She brushed some hair aside from his face. "Try it."

 

He relaxed, pressed his arms together and started to tense his muscles. The creepy aura circulated into his veins, He felt his eyes grow heavy and felt stars dancing around his vision.

 

"Come with me." He heard White say. They turned to Glee, still unconscious in the cell. "Rat Catchers will be alerted of this location in a few hours, she'll be fine." She told him, bringing him into the hallway.

 

White Nebula guided him out of the brig of the old abandoned ship, into a smaller vessel, a cerulean pod containing a private Luxury-class Station. Inside was an intermediatory hold, and beyond that was a small rustic pad filled with wooden furniture, various trophies and weapons, piles of ammunition, a sleek kitchen, an extravagant bedroom and a typical rounded composition with a disc-shaped fountain in the center.

 

"Please.. warp me back home."

White Nebula smirked. "Why should you even be allowed to get off of this little station? What makes you, so special?" She teased, jibbing her tongue out.

"M-my mother is a very important figure, if she finds out you've kidnapped me she'll.."

"She'll what? Oh, you mean Odalia Blight? That mother? The same one who went missing? Was that before or after you joined your little sisters brigade?"

 

"Where are you taking me?"

"I won't go far, I've seen you, you are a cute boy. You can stay here for now, and I won't harm you, you little weenus."

She stepped back in, as if inviting a pet for dinner.

 

He wanted to believe her. Memories of the slaughtered Spade members withstanding. The memory of his mother being in a dark basement for so long with the smell of rotten experiments and Abomination defenses lingering. He knew she'd do horrible things if she found out what had happened to him, maybe even try to extract this from him herself. Odalia wasn't above such things, and as shifty, stern as and strong as White Nebula could be, he trusted himself in her hands more than Odalia's greedy reach.

 

"She'd kill you." Edric said with a whimper.

White Nebula folded her arms. "She's free to try."

 

He, waited on the couch burning time, keeping his arms tensed still. She served him some buttered carapacrustacean meat with some peas, and poured in a glass some scotch.

 

"You ever drink?" She jiggled ice in her glass.

 

"No." He answered, his heart racing, but then he noticed her hand shaking, how she was trying to disguise it.

 

"See, in your next life you'll want to drink more." She explained with a smirk. "Try some next time around."

 

He shuddered. "So what happens if I let this, ability go? If I deactivate, do I lose all this, does all the timeline just disappear?"

 

Edric said, not realizing he had the ability to speak for himself, and not as a helpless bystander trapped in his own body, observing his passive view the whole time.

 

"Of course you don't. We're not in your universe."

"What?" Edric stuttered. "But, we're still in Xi right?"

"No, I mean we're in a separate one, but you've been infected with the cascade. Its like you have a worm in you, its consciousness, and its crawling in your brain, pulling your synaptic pattern into the future. Even when you're in your universe, you're not truly in your own, so you can only interact with your own knowledge from memory. If you try to interact with the future, you'll be unable to distinguish what is real from what is the future of your perception." She took a long cold sip of the drink, then leaned in to meet Edrics lips. His tongue stung as he tasted the alcohol falling in and slipping down his throat.

 

"When you go back, I won't remember doing that. Will it have been real? I don't know, for all I know I could have been an actor, in some sort of future timeline. But for all I know it could just be kind of like a dream. What would that make me right now, if I was a dream?"

 

He looked down at the stiffy in his pants, there was no doubt he found her attractive.

"Wet?"

She chortled, it was good to feel vulnerable. Granted relating this way took off the tension of using this poor kid.

 

A hologram pinged up from a console. "Clearance for our Warp Station is in. We'll be getting off in a minute." She hopped up and stretched her legs, dropping the glass and enjoying the sound as it broke. She went over and knocked various things, making a mess of the Station. "Why did you break your own-"

"This won't stick after you reset, right? Feels easier to be mischievous. I never get to."

"Don't be doing that!" He yelled, trying to catch some pots before she swiped them off a counter. He grit his teeth and glared at her furious, grabbing her by the latex collar.

 

She laid her head on her knees and stared into his eyes, her eyes were so pretty and her features so delicate, like porcelain.

 

"You look at me like that, the next time I see you, you're on your own." She said in the most devious tone. The door opened up, revealing two figures from the hold.

 

One was a flamboyant man with a moonshaped mask, the crescent's two pointed ends pointing in back behind him, he wore grey rubber frocks with checkered patterns and stretchy bloomers, hands holding a staff with two rabbit ears on the end. The other was a tall woman with long dark hair, a red star printed on her forehead, a white collar with jewels encrusted in and a latex cheongsam.

 

"I'm Megumi. It's nice to meet you, Miss Nebula!" The woman said with a friendly smile.

 

"Nice to meet you." Edric replied, looking at the man in confusion.

 

"Gallery Master." Nebula said, eyeing him with suspicion.

"Nebula." He replied, twirling his bowtie.

"Where's my Broom?" She asked.

 

 

"There there, there, you get a bit excited easily huh mademoiselle?" He made some 'stop' gestures, her hand was shaking. "There will be room for your pet beef and vulnerabilities. You told me you had the secret to project from the Cascade Suppression engine, where is it?"

 

Nebula shirked her neck, cracking the bubbles as she spun it around on her shoulders. Her thumb pointed to Edric.

"That kid." Her arm threw around Byte and she pulled him forward, before squeezing his waist tight by her side.

"What is he?" Gallery Master's brow raised under his mask, the material so tight one could see it furrow.

 

 

"He's a child who was affected by the Cascade virus, the Cascade virus that Sandra created. He has no idea what he is, It's only the right thing to protect him and keep him safe. For now. We have to keep him away from the enemy. If they found out about him, they'd try to experiment on him, they'll be desperate and cruel, and he'll be in extreme danger."

 

"What enemy?" Gallery Master said, eyes darting about his room.

 

"They. The enemies." Nebula answered, eyes glancing back to Edric. "That's for them to know, we shouldn't talk about it here." She insisted.

 

"Makes sense. I heard about some kind of machine that can warp this virus into a physical manifestation and extract the Cascade from it. It's hard to believe such a thing could really exist.." Megumi said, observing the boy with greedy eyes.

 

"Yes." She paused, to think. "Any word from them?"

Megumi and Gallery Master looked at one another. "None. We have all Glittery eyes on them, but after those troublesome felinest broke into Lou's Gallery, we haven't seen them since."

 

"I don't understand. Were they looking for me?" Edric asked.

"No, just the Capsule." White Nebula responded.

 

"You'll be staying here for now in the station. I'm going to go onto the Gallery's Nouv Premier Crusier. When you wake up, I'll come in and check on you, I won't be far." She told him. She slipped out the door, her rubbery hips swaying back and forth, and before leaving she glanced back and waved with a crooked smile.

"Remember, don't get attached. Be a slave to the universe."

"Slave?" He asked.

 

She left him in the silence and locked the door behind her.

 

"He's a good kid." She said softly.

 

Edric was left to the quiet, the glow of his arms still illuminating the room. He picked up the small tablet and watched the news local to his homeworld.

"This afternoon, we're sorry to report that a teacher and several of her students were tragically killed in an accidental shuttle crash when a Cargo freight's shipment piled up and crashed onto the surface. The resulting property damage to the school is reprehensible and our station gives its condolences to the profit losses suffered by resulting parties. If you're a religious sort, now's a time to pray for..." The imagery of the disaster was horrifying.

 

"Oh god... Emira, please no.." Eric's eyes went wide, he was shaking.

"I.. I don't know what to do, how did this happen?" He was panicking, tears began to brim. He stood up, trying to gain his composure. His mother would never let him tear up in front of him, and Amity always teased him on sight when he lacked confidence.

 

"I don't want to be alone." He whimpered, tears rolling back in his stinging eyes. He flopped on the couch and looked at the ceiling, shaking again. He cried so hard, his legs quivered.

 

It was her, always her. His first love. He would just lay next to her in bed, and watch her sleep, sometimes, he would think of Edric, and he would have an emotion that would make him feel like his heart would hurt. He felt like he'd been stabbed in the chest every time, his whole world feeling upside down. He just felt like he could crumble apart into a puddle of sobs. The light of his arms began softly changing hues, and he looked at the rings they formed around the wrists and fingers.

 

"I.." Could it be possible? To put things back in their place? He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and let the light flow out of him. Everything warped and the stars around his vision reversed, dissipating through history. The entire world melted like a wet canvas all around him, blurring and pulling away ike it was nothing.

 

He woke to the light of his arms fading away.

"Are you alright?" Nebula asked.

 

Edric Blight looked around, seeing himself back in his cell. "A hidden restart button.." Nebula helped him up, the boy was in utter shock.

"Just like rebooting a computer, or resetting a videogame from the beginning..." She said with a chuckle.

 

He stared blankly at Nebula. "Why didn't you tell me?"

 

"You were in such a state, I thought that it was best to spare you from that reality. I've always said no, there's no such thing as a reset button for human emotions." She walked at Glee still laying in her cell. He looked at White Nebula. "What? No I mean- Why didn't you tell me you were exchanging me for your Broom? To, whoever that Gallery Master was?"

 

Nebula looked at him suspiciously. "How far in the future did you get?"

He pulled himself together. "You have alot more questions to answer yourself, but first- dude c'mon we have to get to your Station's phone."

The girl was curious, but not unimpressed. She took out a cellphone, unlimited galactic signal. "You are in a jail cell. I suppose it's only right you get a phonecall."

He quickly dialed Emira's number, fingers rushing over the holographic buttons as if racing through time.

 

"Huh, who is this?" Emira's voice said on the other end.

"Emira! Please, you have to evacuate the school. It.." He needed an excuse, thinking fast to make the seriousness credible. "It's Mom and Amity! I can explain later but they had a spat, the whole school's going to blow up as part of their hushush operation!"

"W-wow, really? That sounds terrible! How am I supposed to help?"

"Can you get everyone off the Educationary platform unit? Use your... influence. I know you don't like what you represented but-"

"Say no more." Emira was resolved. "I trust you bro. Anything for my students, we can talk later. I'll do what I must."

"Okay. Thanks. I promise I'll call you later, when the coast is clear. See you soon."

 

He put his phone away and looked at Nebula. "Okay.. I need to go teleport over there, then we can head to the Gallery and, you'll have to explain everything."

"Get there, you mean now? I don't know. Warp Station Tolls to public access areas are a pain, and that's off the books. I'll have to run some diagnostic protocols to the system to punch in the Galacode coordinates.." She saw him pout. "Oh alright fine. Come with me."

 

Soon he was back in her transport, coffee maker still as hot and steamy as when he saw it last. He watched as White Nebula worked the warp software, she had to manually enter coordinates for the Educationary and the Public Port's internal transit to get them to the entrance. When they exited the Station, Edric's eyes adjusted to the heavy artificial light of Pellet Park-22, a planet lit up by solar panels and terraformed under new construction contracts in just the last century. His shoes stepped onto dewy green grass, and he breathed in the cold air.

 

White Nebula sighed. "Alright, done, you can rest easy, we made it." They looked at the educationary facility and saw Emira leaving the school with several classes worth of students, other staff somewhat confused. She swiftly put a pink wig away and caught up to Edric with a wave.

 

"Bro!" Emira ran to Edric. "I managed to convince the Headmistress to let the kids get a day off, so the whole school is evacuated. Now could you please tell me what's going on? And whose this?" He didn't answer, instead hugging her and feeling her weight, all her words and emotions still alive. "I had to save you Emira.."

 

White Nebula folded her arms and glinted the light from her shades towards her. "White. White nebula." She eyed the girl, a full foot and a half taller than her. "I'm Emira, a teacher here. I'm guessing my brother's told you about me?"

 

"Not really luv." Nebula said coldly.

Edric irked her with his shoulder.

Emira sighed, "Alrighttt, anyway I have to get back to the kids, my class, I mean to make sure everyone gets home safely. I'll meet you in the staff coffee house down the block in two hours."

 

He nodded and went back to the station. Him and White Nebula sat in the kitchen and faced down. "So, you want to tell me what this is all about with the Gallery Master? Why do they need me.. or, the Cascade suppression thing, whatever. I'd really like to be in the know."

 

"Your mother had her heart set on you. I didn't want to involve you but it's too late to change that now. Plus, the only way to reverse your parent's plan to return to power would be if one of the Cascade's stops in your sector. If we wait for the others to reach our sector, you will have the time you need to make sure you never see the Cascade again."

 

The boy was not convinced. "What is it exactly? I mean why are we fighting?"

"They. Neo-Arcadia and the remnants of XU that have formed separatist fractions from Sandra's new state. They've been crushed to the brink beyond any point of rebellion.. But your mother has been funding a group from Orchid called 'The Order of the Yawning Vault to support the rebellion, hoping to re-arm it."

 

"My mom, is doing that? Why would she.."

"Because there's no way the Premier would let Miss Byte simply sweet her old actions and corruption under the rug. Putting in a new regime is the only way for her regain her status. Well not the only, it's probably just a lingering bet. She had high hopes for the Fortune Bringer."

 

"The who now?" He asked.

"Leader of the 7 Fortunes." She told him. White Nebula typed on the table's keys and created a hologram of seven individuals in creme-colored robes, holding a series of orbs.

"I- I don't get it." Edric said, his face a little on the red side.

"Well, she tried to use your mom. She was supposed to take Odalia's secret funds for military operations- but she instead spent it on a specialized commission from the Gallery Master, and created 7 artifacts off of powers from other universes, meant to be master weapons."

"Cascade. Hymn. Death. Writ. Drive. Pact. Link."

The orbs of power floated from the leader. "It seems after finding that little pet project out, it was too late. Odalia detached herself from the whole operation."

 

"So, she can stop my mother from doing the bad thing." Edric said.

"No, she won't. Miss Byte has lost her mind. All she cares about is keeping her position, and the Fortune Bringer doesn't care for seeing your mother return to power. The point is the Gallery Master read their intentions wrong, even as a non-partisan they were pushed to their limit with this commission. Their regret came too late, and after the artifacts were given out, they contacted Glitterkiss carburants from Orchid to investigate. But we haven't been able to recover them."

 

"The weapons, with these powers you talked about are in the hands of a bunch of people who want to overthrow Xi?"

 

"How does that matter to me?" He asked, shaking his head.

"Oh you're not here for a vacation. You're a pawn in her game. I think your mother sent you here to prevent Fortune Master's plot from coming to fruition. By showing you the Cascade it could lead you to believe that your mother is planning on changing the future. So she can come back in to power, without any problems from Sandra, or from the doublecrossing Fortunes."

 

"So where do I fall into all of this? With this, anti-Cascade project power.." Eldric looked at his hands, thinking where they could reach and what could be done with them in a universe so isolated and vast.

"You were the Gallery Master's insurance. He recovered the Embryro Trigger from a centuries old series of ruined compounds. They intended to hold it for preservation and present Sandra if need by, or even use it for themselves as a counterbalance if the Fortune's came back to strike at him. Glitterkiss also thinks it's critical to get the Cascade under control, if it goes rampant in Xi than instability will only get worse. The power inside you right now was engineered to nullify and negate the Cascade."

 

"But I'm not the Gallery Master's weapon, I don't even know him. I was just in the same building as some container, I-"

"No, you're just a guy who got lucky. He has no idea right now that you're the Embryo trigger, that you have it within you and and have a way to nullify any abilities from the Cascade.  There is no one to counterbalance it or the Fortunes now that the Embryo Trigger is long destroyed. You're the key."

 

"So what's the plan now?" Edric asked in deep dread of this entire schema.

"We'll get you back to the Gallery Master, see if he can do anything. If not, Glitter Kiss will have to keep you under watch.."

He leaned his head down, then cleared his throat. "It's been almost two hours, let's go see Emira." They left the Station and headed over to the coffee house. Soon after Emira was there, as promised. She looked a bit concerned. "Hey." Edric waved. "So you made it to the educationary facility okay?"

 

"The school's been evacuated. The kids are fine. The school is.." She took out a holographic tablet and showed him the footage. "It's just like you said. There was an incident, the entire place is in rubble. If we'd still been there at the time.." Her voice trailed out, lost in the sputtering of her disbelief.

 

 

"You came in time. Emira you're a hero." Edric hugged her. She hugged him back. That's when the door swung open, and Emira looked towards the new visitor. A young child with raven black hair in a rounded bowlcut, a white face with three green dots on her forehead, and black lips approached. She was wearing white gloves, an oversized coat and poofy bloomers with tight leggings underneath. When she pulled the sweeping bangs away, a singular eye was revealed where two would be, entirely in the center, the folds vertical instead of sideways. The brilliant golden eye shone with joy and hopeful aspirations.

 

"Edric, this girl.. She's not a normal girl, she's.. she has powers. Please, can you keep her safe?"

 

"Powers? What are you talking about" Edric asked, suspicious.

 

"That girl has been through a lot. Give her a chance. If it doesn't work out, I'll take her back. I ended up with her on one of my... gigs. But she's very special, so you have to take good care of her." She looked over. "She has a tendency to throw up when she gets scared or nervous, be gentle."

 

The girl was over by a flower patch, emitting a spray of pink-grey gooey vomit into the wildlife the staff had tirelessly artificially planted there.

 

"Alrighty then."

The girl said nothing, but turned her hand in a salute. White Nebula made a "come here" motion. She squeezed the girl's palms, blue tendrils of energy leaving her. "Cascade?" She examined the child carefully. "What's your name, one eyed-child?"

 

"Aisha."

 

"Aisha, I'll make sure you get home to your family okay? How about your mom?"

She went dead silent. Nebula examined her features carefully. "Do you know where she is?" Aisha shook her head. "Why don't you come with us then? I have a feeling I can help take you to her."

 

The next day, Nebula had sent Emira on her way. She hugged her brother and went to the nearby park where she'd be hosting outdoor classes for the time being. White Nebula, Edric and Aisha sat in the Station.

 

"I'm ordering us a Wave Speeder."

"Huh?" Edric was playing pattycake with the girl. "Why a ride like that?"

"Megumi is going to meet us on the roof of the Coruscators Palace. Security protocols with Warp Transport are always dicey, and she doesn't want us or our coordinates tracked back to the Gallery Master's archive, too risky. Do you remember the options you presented me earlier?"

 

Edric nodded. "If the Gallery Master used a Digilyte currency exchange like you said with the Fortunes to make payments and send them the artifacts through space, there should be an identification code for the contraband. Xi had standardized codes back in the golden ages of the Merchant Guild, but since their dispersal codes are individualized and decentralized, as a boon they're far less secure. I can hack into the database and check where they were transported to last, then follow all routes or Warp locations from there."

 

 

"I see." Nebula thought for a second, then smiled. "You're sure this can work?"

"If you're looking in the right place, you can. It's an old trick my younger sister taught me. She would've just funneled the entire currency into her account and inputted protocols to teleport the Artifacts back.. but atleast this gets us our compass." He said.

 

"It's perfect. Let's give this boy a medal." She smiled, patting him on the head.

 

"No need to thank me, this isn't just for you." He said, looking at Aisha.

 

About thirty minutes later, a metallic red ship the size of a pickup truck was rented to them outside the park. "It's a Credit App, we have 3 days on it." Nebula told them. Edric nodded. "Let's head out!" They squeezed themselves inside and Nebula licked her thumbs, before gripping the lever, wheel and controls and turning the anti-gravity engines to full thrust.

They would jolt into the stars and ride for a time towards a relatively uninhabited world surrounded by a sea of asteroids, like an icy marble in the great void of space protected by drifting gravel. White Nebula had to pilot her way towards a golden domed facility built like a palace under the floating masses, anchored into the cold arctic world.

 

"We're here. The Coruscators Emperium Palista" White Nebula said, and Aisha giggled. "Now we just need to find a good hiding place." She said. They parked at the entrance, and were greeted by a security guard, and an automated checkpoint that let them enter. "Here, I have to give you this." White Nebula waved the control and a door unlocked. Nebula walked inside with Aisha in her arms, Edric in tow."

 

The Gallery Master greeted them. "Bonjour my bonnies. It's so timely for you to make my ac-"  He stared down.

Aisha had vomited on his neat leather shoes, her intestinal juices dripping across the legs of his pants. "Very well then." He said, trying not to make a scene of it.

 

"Edric, please explain your plan to our host. Let's head for a walk my little one-eyed one. I'll show you where Glitterkiss makes their home in Xi." Nebula said.

 

 

As they walked down the corridor, Aisha kept her head down, holding her head with her hands, her fingers moving in a small circular motion.

 

"Aisha, you should-"

 

She threw up on the floor, the puke splattering the ground.

 

"Oh hell."

Edric muttered, trying to avoid the mess and keep her calm. Nebula kept walking.

 

She walked down the dark hallway, her body lights flickering until a splash of blue consumed her, and she teleported away. White Nebula was left tapping her boot. She checked a scanner on her wrist. "Says she's still on the ship. Guess I'm in for a game of hide and seek."

"Was that?-" The Gallery Master stood confounded.

"The Cascade. Yes yes, that child's special please keep up."

 

Edric would begin to elaborate his plans to the Gallery Master in extensive technical detail, in such descriptive length that he eventually slumped off to a chair and began to sneeze. "Alright alright I get it, do whatever you must. Oi, you're coming at it like such a crank."

 

Aisha meanwhile ran around the golden palace, occasionally running past glittering magical girls and men in expensively tailored coats and dresses.

 

White Nebula walked through the maze of the golden palace, she finally arrived at a door with a golden lion in the center and a golden key. A shimmering glyph appeared where she pointed, glowing white and growing with intensity. White Nebula entered, a large room with plush carpeting, paintings of a red sun rising in space, a giant fountain and a fireplace. Megumi was sitting in front of the fireplace, watching a holographic display of the little girl. She was wearing a purple corset with a black-white striped latex blouse and miniskirt underneath it.

 

"No more Hide and Seek?" The woman said, turning to White Nebula with a smile.

"I found what I'm seeking." Nebula said wry. "That girl was almost killed in an accident the other day."

"Is that so? Well she seems to like you." Megumi told her, not seeming to care if she sounded dismissive or not.

 

Nebula approached the woman carefully, taking in the golden amber eyes with ominous eyeshadow vapidly applied overtop them.

"Would you like to go see her?" She paused, voice deadly stern. "To go see your daughter?"

Megumi yawned. "Caught in a bit of a pickle am I?"

"You think I wouldn't notice she has your features?"

"Do you mind not interfering with family business? She's not exactly my daughter." Megumi pressed a button on her waist's side, triggering some silent alarms.

"Whatever she is.. blowing up schools just to be ready to kill her ain't stylish. I doubt Glitterkiss or Orchid would appreciate your commitments."

Megumi rolled her eyes. "Do you expect me to be a good girl and turn myself in?"

 

Nebula smiled. "Well you certainly were never a pushover." She readied her BDSM equipment. "Novas hardly ever are."

 

The traitor grinned, stretching and standing up. "If it caught your attention.." Six cloaked figures suddenly appeared in the room surrounding White Nebula, each of them with floating spheres. "It was worth pushing! Besides, what are you going to do without.." Megumi took out of a sphere behind her a sophisticated chrome staff- Nebula's broom. "This?"

Nebula for the first time in a while, found herself taken back. "You're the Fortune Bringer, it's you. You've been working from inside with the Gallery Master to betray him." Not taken off her guard, merely irrigated what she'd been searching for this whole time had been shown to her so lavishly.

Her launcher filed, impaling and disintegrating one of the Fortunes in a booming ball of fire without any delay. "Big mistake."

 

Back in the intelligence gathering facility of the Palace, Gallery Master and Edric were running the latter's programs. "Alright, we're in. I'm tracing the transport code via the Digilyte's exchange and then all spotted signatures and routes after... it says the location of your artifacts is right.." He squinted, the green haired teen's eyes widening.

"Here, in the Heavenly Palace?" He gasped.

 

Him and Gallery Master started running through the halls, they could see other Glitter Meisters among the coming with them and making their way down the road. Explosions and shaking marked each step along the way, it all took Edric flashing back to a few nights ago with the spades. When the two and a crowd of girls in colorful star-printed skirts and halter tops finally reached the room, the roof of the palace was destroyed underneath the dome.

 

The 6 attackers of Nebula, in tarred cloaks and burnt bodies laid at White Nebula's feet. Her BDSM equipment had her missiles swirling around her continually, at one point branching out and swerving towards Megumi who was flying in the air on her Broom. With a slap to the end, it sent her off and she flew around, rapidly dodging the homing function of the missile until it was redirected towards White Nebula itself. Before it reached her, it evaded contact and went motionless to the floor.

"Like I'd let a trick like that would work."

Nebula said.

In a flurry of motion, the six attackers had been dragged away by the gallery maids.

Edric's shoulders slumped and he stood up and hid behind a chair. "So this is it, she's really betrayed us, after all."

Megumi waited until the other 6 fortunes had finally been out of sight, defeated just as she'd planned. "No shit grass-for-brains."

"When did you drink a bucket of evil juice?"

"She's a mother. You know how they are.. try to kill their innocent kids, the usual." Nebula looked over the group. "Where's Aisha?"

"I.. uh.. what am I, her babysitter?"

 

Megumi put her hand out, and 6 weapons thrown about suddenly turned into spheres, then returned to her backside and began to rotate, the broom too became one and joined them. "I only ever brought the others onboard to get these babies made - as if I ever intended to share them with those carpet-climbers." She took out a black motor with a sharp metal wire, and stabbed it into the side of her hips and waist. They saw a large blue sphere engulf her and descend from the sky, landing in the empty lot of the room. A loud bang was heard, and the sphere became a giant silver ring of distortion around her torso, generated by the Dark Density of the motor.

 

"Nova can use the powers of a Novus, but in a physical body like that she'd destruct quickly trying to utilize all of them at once. What does she think she's playing with?" She pulled out a purple ring of distortion, much larger than the one around Megumi. "This is all it took for me to take over, and kill, her entire team. Edric, get back."

Edric kept hiding, crawling under an expensive table. "Don't have to tell me twice!"

 

Megumi smirked.

 

Aisha skipped around the halls innocently.

She heard some commotion and wandered over to investigate, finding the doors to the gallery of the Heavenly Palace torn open. She peered through and saw the room covered in bodies, most of them dead from Nebula's missiles, a few of them alive. She saw the Gallery Master in the middle of the floor, Edric hiding, and White Nebula with half her body missing, face bleeding and a splatter of biological debris spilt from Nebula's crater. Megumi was walking around, slick silvery armor integrated into her body, the spheres embedded in her, abit glowing one color at a time.

She walked towards Megumi, who was still floating, looking around, and spoke out. "Little Sister.. how nice of you to drop by." She looked over, two horns formed atop her forehead, blocking her eyes like a visor and pointing upwards.

Aisha looked past her to the gallery master on the floor, her face was twisted and beaten badly, blood oozing from his eyes. Her hands flew to her face, as she yelled over him. "NO!"

A dozen dead Glitter Meisters were unrecognized splatters along the palace, their bloody trails the only reminders of their struggle.

 

Megumi's voice boomed in her mind. "What's wrong? Not used to me talking so loud?"

 

"Shut up!"

Aisha looked down at Megumi and saw the other girl's eyes were glowing pure white. She grabbed Aisha's arm, twisting it around, trying to stop her from running off.

"We wouldn't want you getting away.. If someone like Odalia or Sandra got their hands on you, they'd never let you go."

"Let's just say I have more than enough friends in this town to go after you and put an end to this nonsense." She pulled a red gun, it was shaped like a crossbow and it had a red sphere on the butt, and a button to release it. "This friend is called 'Pactmaker', and this one.." she created a golden ring on her finger with two tiny hummingbird feathers "'Singsong', oh and how about" from her fingertips a pink gel pen. When she clicked it, a halo appeared on her head with four wings and a scythe 'Malick.' Everytime she switched weapons, a different orb lit up, the engine of Dark Density running along her hips and releasing a terrible dark smog. I don't really know how to use them all, so I can't be too sure. Let's see, Malick has a huge blast radius, Pactmaker is a really powerful energy attack, and Singsong.. well she's a bit harder to use. That's only half of them." She twirled the scythe around as she said it.

 

Aisha was beside herself with fear, Megumi holding her by the throat. "Which one of my friends would you like to play with?"

From under the table, Edric cowered. 

__________________________________________________________________

 

Megumi hummed quietly, the ring glowing and creating a series of translucent furniture, walls and reformatting reality into a virtual manifestation right before their eyes. Singsong's golden glow faded, they were in an apparition of an Orchid church. She strolled over to Edric, leaning her butt downwards and hand on the back of her head.

"This may be hard for you to understand, so let me give you a hint: I'm really not interested in fighting."

She stood up, and the floor dropped away to let her walk to the stairs of a cathedral. Suddenly with a short whistle, she was in a plain white dress and had a black hood and veil, a symbol on her chest of an eye. She descended the steps, and was followed by Aisha who was clearly terrified of the women.

 

"I used to be a disciple of her radiance. I followed the tenants of the church. I'm looking for a way to to get back to that again. After the new Domina banished my faction.. after my church resisted and refused to go quietly, and we questioned the Domina. But.. there's always a price to pay when you betray a god. But nevermind that the price to become a god is not so high.. just a little change of reality, and you can do whatever you want to someone you deem worthy." She held up the ring, creating the silhouettes of worshippers and a woman in golden regalia, all praying to a mosaic of Flora.

 

Megumi stood up and her body and arms began to glow purple, a golden light formed around her with a white heart shaped mark on the center. "Why even bring the head of my church? Why not be the new head. Hell.. why not decapitate that usurper and be the new Domina?"

 

 

She was on the ground, shaking and terrified, and a dark blue haze covered her entire body, only Megumi's eyes and palms were glowing, a little less than before.

She saw Aisha standing in the dark. "Why are you hiding? You're really getting on my nerves C'mere you brat." When she approached, Aisha cried out "NOOOOOOOOOO!!!" The haze hugging her form released in concentric waves which disintegrated the hymn-filled manifestations. They were back in the palace, even Megumi's dress was torn.

 

She spit to the side, seeing her ring fizzle like a short-circuited toy.

"And -that-.. is why you have to go. I won't get emotional about it, or I won't be able to go through with it."

"I-I don't get it."

"Sshshhhh." The woman put her heavily armored sleek hands on the girl, getting one last look at her lone eye. "It'll all be quiet and peaceful soon." She slipped her hands around the girls neck, something so fragile she could snap her like a twig.

 

Edric quickly got up, and began to quietly crawl out from his hiding spot. His legs felt like wobbly rubber, his hearts was beating fast and faster with every shallow breath.

 

Megumi laughed as she put a hand over Aisha's mouth and whispered.

"Oh Edric, Edric my dear. You're so brave and pure, I really am going to enjoy what I do with you." She reached her arm out slowly and reached Edric's leg, and yanked it back once. He was in a lot of pain and crying and pleading to be let go, and tried to push her hand off, but she didn't even flinch.  She held her hand out again, and it enveloped Edric's mouth and face, cutting off all his gasps of breath. She laughed at the girl hitting her backside, and the girl didn't look away, tears pouring down her face. Megumi then grabbed Edric's throat, cutting off his breathing.

 

Purple lights began to spread throughout his veins. They spread to Megumi, she could see them directing towards a single orb on her right shoulder- squeezing the veins around it with iridescent lines, until it popped out and returned to the form of White Nebula's broom. He grabbed it with one hand, and reached for Megumi's face with the other.

Everything around him crackled and distorted, the woman's bodily halo breaking down, Edric being pulled from time and space.

 

Xi and Orchid, two vast expanses interconnected by the bounds of their owner's destinies. But if you travel far, far out in the universe, any universe, you'll find a place far removed from all worlds.

You'll find yourself in a place with no end, a place beyond infinite, a place filled with the greatest power of all. The realm of desires.

 

For there in this remote place, a creature was born from the great, the great beyond.

That all the great that is, and will be, was inside this being. And from this being emerged many others, mere particles, like fleas to this great and deep one. Edric's consciousness traveled about to the lowest level of this realm of desires, taken into a great white plane where diverging paths split in electrical branches of fate. The tunnels and vortices lead to a difference of random occurrences, tied to individual choice, a cosmic ordering to the past and future. Through the torrential torrent, he swam through these flowing paths, until he reached their elevated origin. Two figures sought the truth to all dreams, beyond language or perception, and lying at the very deep dark heart of desire. Love. Power. Beauty. Truth. They sought the truth beyond the limitations of their containers. In this, they found the bedrock core of all existence produced at the inheritance of perceiving it, a pulsating, unending and unfathomable real. To this end, they found the weakest, most fleeting offshoots of the entity within the realm of desires, they took to them to plant seeds of truth and watched them unfold like kaleidoscopic entities of pure want- wishes, as discrete entities. These wishes were formed as balls of stardust and dense singularities of information, that erupted into fissures of helium and dense material, reaching out and communicating with two trillions of spindles made of light. One was received by a great many like itself, revered and loved, powerful and all present. The other was dwindling, dim and weak. Both carried the same intent, reaching to a higher power, seeking direction.

This direction for the Nova was given by two Novus. The two had not created these Nova, merely found them, but sought them as curiosity. One, always tending to them with logic and reason. The other, caring for them with emotion and rhythm. They tended to these point-particles of wishes, condensations of energy and desire like a garden, studying them and growing them. Singing to them.

 

There were countless many of their kind at first, but the two Novus fell aside from this project. Their interests claimed other priorities, other desires beyond wishing entities of pure desire. And so they would fruitlessly abandon this beautiful garden of starlight.

 

Without a command, without a wish, without the investment fed to them, the Nova grew cold and dormant. Purposeless even. This was the way they remained until one had an idea the caring Novus had taught them. They began to indulge the knowledge of their fellow entities, and useless blessings others had taken for granted. Facts, premonitions, desires with no real use, with nothing but the purest difference of an act in itself, like shiny ribbons made from this superfluous minutia. Many witnessed this, and thought it was quite special. They desired the same, producing a cacophonic chain of registers where this desire could be fulfilled by more wishgranting, and more white noise was created to signify the possibility of these ecclesial braces. The density of information grew endless, as did their power- and those with the most dense ribbons of all were virtually cocoon'd, bound by the overflow, leading only to error and destructive self indulgence.

 

The first Nova to embrace this difference, these strings attached had no status. It was the same spirited being that was once dwindling, dim and weak, seeking higher power and direction, but was now surrounded by endless wishgranters cluttered and caught in their cocoons of overflow, each in a stack of repetition. One however, found a way to break the loop and emerge new. They grew circuitous, rotating wings over their head like a fan, forming the visage of a halo.

 

Those ones had truly awakened, even beyond all else. They ceased to be wishes, spindles of power and information and instead obtained the infinite potential of form, localized in space/time. These among the Nova, thus were called 'Nebula."

 

Many transcended, some basking in the status, a rare few choosing a different path.

 

Two entities would swap paths. The first, choosing to cash in the infinite of form to descend onto a Tower, and rebellious stage upon finding the dying body of a pauper. She'd traveled the road looking to be the apprentice of the ancient Shadow Sorceress, but become slain by bandits in her naiveite. The entity, bold and bombastic approached her, asking if she wanted another chance at life. It wanted to taste and smell, to feel and breathe, to live as the flesh-bound beings of the plane do. The girl agreed, and was reborn.

 

The second, had spent countless cycles learning to spin, finally emerging from its cocoon a starlet among the others. It bathed in this attention, all it ever sought to be was a twinkle in the eye of someone else, the one wish they'd make. It was happy, brimming among the stars.

 

Then one day, a figure plucked them out. They recognized it as one of the original creators- not the Novus of Reason nor Rhyme however. Despite the shrieking defiance, they were taken from their domain and forced into a material being aswell- an Embryo, swirling in a bad. Men, scientists, flesh and blood lifeforms forced them there and studied her in the most primitive state of life's persistence. Eventually, after many experiments they divided, becoming taking on 3 separate forms.

 

The first, was a stillborn. It stayed in a red vat, powering the energies of a terrible machine- the Embryo Trigger, designed to suppress the Cascade. It would stay for a long long time, even after Sandra had been taken away, stored and hidden. It was swiftly cracked when Edric found it, and the soul within found a home.

 

A second, a child with one golden eye, was not raised for many centuries, until it was saved by a popstar on an adventure and taken to school to learn how to live as a normal young girl.

The third- Sandra observed, but rejected and ultimately gave as a gift to the one she idolized, to Flora.

 

"What is it?" she'd ask.

Sandra would smile. "Something like a wish, and yet you see the difference... the kind of wish that makes no difference."

"Is that so?" Flora's voice was strained and dry. She was amused, but not convinced.

 

The lifeform, a third of itself was kept in Orchid, but given away to a random church. Soon it's grow up, a life of devotion and struggle awaited it. Under the tutorage of the church's leader, they flourished. She.. Megumi was extremely disciplined and devout, earning praise. Finding a purpose.

 

Granting wishes, however small to those who came across her. And only wishes that made no difference.

She discovered an ability this way no one else did- Hymn. Megumi kept this her personal secret.

 

Wanting to live as a lifeform that will live forever, in endless, unfading glory, she decided not to pursue her other two portions in the triad. Riches, success, fortune blessed her. She wanted more. She wanted fortunes.

 

As she sought more praise, more influence, more praise, she faced one setback one day. She'd lost Hymn. Where it'd gone from her, she couldn't say. The mind and mandate for her had no longer met its conditions, and so she desperately desired to put it back and complete herself. Her ambition grew further, she daydreamed about being the Domina Pontifica and making her church proud.

 

Then her world came crashing down. Arabella Nova mysteriously fell into an endless deep sleep. A search for a new Domina was afoot. At first this opportunity was flaunted in front of her, and just as quickly, it was swiped right away from her grasp.

 

She wasn't able to win the tourney. The new Domina made sweeping changes. More sweeping than anyone else in Orchid ever had. And more terrifying still- under her reign, others had begun to discover Hymn.

 

The lost gift that she could no longer find in herself. Just like when she was an entity, scouring the stars for info and quantum ribbons, she'd found herself fallen behind once more. Her church was summarily dismissed, dissolved right before her eyes. The church she'd spent her whole life raised in, working for, growing and priding herself in, was deemed unsalvagable in the new Domina's decree.

 

Heartbroken, Megumi went to Flora herself after a long ideal, begging on her knees for her to restore it. To reverse the order and keep what was precious to her.

 

The woman looked a glance in her direction, but never so high that she wasn't looking down upon her.

"What makes you so special?" Flora asked Megumi.

 

Megumi frowned, "No, you don't understand! I'm a goddess, an entity from somewhere else! I've seen things no one ever will. They see me as some sort of savior, a miracle back home. It was you who-" Flora then looked at her and understood, this was the child that Sandra gave her. Nonetheless.

 

"Is this true? Then you should have no issue going back there and impressing on them, not I." And she walked away without a further thought on it.

 

Megumi was left to her ruin.

 

She then went to a place that no one should go to. To the one source that is the origin of all, to the Nova to all that exists.

 

The entity of the stars, her former host, told her.

 

"You cannot go back. We are what we are. You are not what you were."

She had no home. She had no place.

 

The other entity, the girl in the woods who'd taken upon her mistress the Shadow Sorceress's broom in that tiny hut on a single floor in the tower took on a powerful presence within it. She became the one they depended on for deals and transport, the legendary White Nebula. The Tower became their new home.

 

For Megumi, she wondered a vagabond. First to find someone who would have her in Orchid. And when she could not find a place there, she searched out for fortunes in the prosperous mercantile realm of Xi.

 

There, she wandered about, finding work and finding a new home in the form of a simple street urchin. She was found by a man who took an interest in her, the Gallery Master, a man who adored rare, exotic and valuable treasures that caught his eye. And from that day forward, her world got back on track.

 

Edric floated in the vast space of the past, before he found himself pulled back.

Megumi now choked him, holding him against a wall.

 

His body was virtually bright purple head to toe, veins boiling with energy. When he reached back and squeezed her, the powers of the broom and her Cascade began to tear her asunder and cause her to scream out in pain. Edric reached for the Dark Density module around her waist, squeezed in and the energies that flowed forth from his palm began to short circuit it- the only device maintaining her body utilizing the 7 fortunes. As it sparked and ignited, their powers began to give way to destruction and break her down, frying and taxing every last cell in her body.

 

With an anguished sigh he said, "I'm sorry.."

He let go, concentrated, and fell into his own past, in a place he had visited before. A place of his dreams and nightmares, of old, of dead, a place with memories and experiences that weighed down his being, a place of regrets.

 

Amity's bedroom. Before he let her go.

 

"Sister?" But she was nowhere to be seen, the ethereal aura around the room told him this wasn't in a place nor time.

 

"We both have an answer in us, but both must learn to live with what's to come, what's to come for us."

Megumi was now floating in the small room, a version of her. In a room with a small girl in a white cloak and a cowl. A small space, a prayer room, somewhere within the Cascade. Edric appeared behind her. "Y-you, you meanie!" In this mental realm, she began to hit and punch Edric as hard as she could.

"I'm going to get back.. back to Orchid." Her tiny hands raged out pointlessly against him, trying to let her frustrations out.

"I'll get back to my c-c-church, I'll change my Fortune!" She gripped her knees slipped, she was choking up.

"I'll be Domina.. even the stars that left me will.. they'll let me back and.. my wishes.." Tears slid down her eyes.

She fell to the floor. Helpless.

 

"You were just.. you were nothing."

She started to reach out to him, but then pulled her arms back as Edric raised a hand.

"I'm sorry.."

"For that?" she asked, then continued, "I know what it feels like. Just like what I've felt. To become no one. I know the hurt."

 

"You.. you are.. you've done so many things.." she whispered, "You joined the spades.. you traveled with your sisters.. a genius hacker... a famous popstar.. you performed heists... I want.. I want to.. I want to be like you.."

She began to sob as she watched him.

 

"But it's not who you were." He then looked away, down to her. "You were no saint. No god. No being in the stars. You.." he then looked away from her, "You still deserve a wish.." He threw his arms around the little girl, and the room began to fade out in a bathing white light, warm as a balm upon them both.

 

They were back in the room.

White Nebula was starting to regenerate. She saw Edric and Megumi in the other side of the room, not really sure what had transpired.

Megumi's lips were trickling blood, she was laying on the floor. "Using all 7 powers at once.. ha..ahahaha.. I gathered the 7 Fortunes because I knew that would happen if someone tried to absorb them all. No, maybe someone like White could, or Flora. Even the new Domina..." Her breath was shallow. "I thought, if I could master these treasures I could find my way back and impress Flora, even rid the Domina I hated so much..." Her body could barely move. "I just... wanted to be someone's wish."

 

Edric looked at her with pity, and tried to hold her hand. She got up with what strength she could, and looked at the Gallery Master. He was injured heavily and unconscious, but not gone yet. She crawled over to him and got one good look. "He took me in.. lots of people would've. It didn't have to be her, or.. it could've been anyone." The women examined the blood on her hands. "Maybe that's why I lost Hymn. I was only happy.. when I granting wishes of no real consequence."

 

Aisha ran over to her. "Momma... I'm gonna make my wish!"

"Y-yeah sweetie?" She said. One of her other halves.. the other third part of her, she could sense within Edric.

"Please! D-don't die.." She cried out.

 

Megumi looked at her and felt her soul blackened. "I.. I almost killed my other half.." She then said as a last breath, then she fell over dead.

The white orbs embedded detached from her body and rolled off.

 

White Nebula's lower half was nude. She had legs and her bottom half again, but was a little worse for wear. The women marched over, picked up one of the orbs and held it to her forehead- it extended into her Broomstick again.

 

She then used its power to create a bubble of air around the remaining six orbs.

 

The sky of the Glitterkiss Palace was lit with a rainbow of pink, yellow, white and blue. Sunbeams went over Megumi and Edric put his hands over her, gently closing her eyes. White Nebula refused to look back. "She paid her dues. Now I'll pay mine."

 

The little girl ran over to her, and hugged her tiny legs.

 

"You don't need to stay here anymore. I will protect you, you see?" She said as she stepped away. "No.." A voice cried out." It was Sgt. Meister Spring Garden, in her militarized magical girl uniform. "We'll be taking her back to the penitentiary department. Did you see the damage that lady fucking did? There's no way we can let that brat go if she's really her daughter- or, really has any relation at all."

 

White Nebula looked at her and shrugged. "Fine with me."

Edric shuddered and ran forward. "White you cannot be serious!"

"What? She's not my kid. I'm sure they'll take care of her, not like she'll survive on her own. You'd never have that kid running loose, would you? With the powers she possesses.. she'd get into trouble when she's older."

"N-no? But, I 'am' older, and I've been in a lot of trouble myself." He sighed, pacing back and forth. Other Glitter Meisters arrived making the decision more authoritative.  He put one hand on Aisha's arm. The others surrounded him, some pointing their wands and weapons. "Step. Away." Spring Garden declared. "We'll take her in our care now."

When he realized there wasn't any other choice, he got on his knees and turned to her.

"Just, stay put for awhile. I have to go away now, but I promise I'll come back for you someday, alright? I'll Emira you were really good."

She nodded, hugging Elric.

"So back to the penitentiary then. Tell us when visiting hours are open." He said, grinning.

White Nebula threw her arm around him. "Let's go brud." And started to drag him away from the group, Aisha looking mournfully ahead as the two hopped on White Nebula's broom, and soon sped off into the starlight ahead.

 

 

The group looked at Aisha and then at the dead Megumi.

 

Spring Garden looked at the bodies, which were multiple sprang throughout the room in smears. "I knew she would betray us eventually, she always did. But I had no idea she would go so far." She sighed, as if she had known it all along. They helped up the Gallery Master, whose body was still injured and unconscious. "Get these artifacts to our vault. I think Xi will sleep much better at night knowing these are locked somewhere far away and out of nefarious hands."

 

Two months later

 

White Nebula, in a new jumpsuit with expansive shoulderpads sat slumped back in a beanie bag chair. Edric was in a freshly bought Velcro jacket. A woman in a pink wig, long sleek miniskirt and princessy dress held a mic and stood on a kitchen platform.

On the table with the cooks was Aisha, not wearing a tracker or restraints like the others incarcerated here. The staff had taken well to her, almost like an honorary guest, she was oft seen keeping the staff and prisoners alike rather chipper. Spring Garden had taken to training her, although the training wand she was using was still a plastic toy for the time being.

 

The mysterious girl stood between the makeshift stereos and sang an angelic tune, Aisha clapping slowly and rocking to the beat, her one eye stuck in wonderment. The girl was as happy as could be.

 

Edric snuck over and whispered into the singer's ear. "Remember when you used to do this for Amity? You'd even give a lil special booty shake butthole danc-"

Emira pinched his ear. "Don't push it. Just let me visit my favorite student for a moment."

 

He went back to White Nebula. "Where do we go next?" He sighed. "Are you finally going to show me to that Tower you talked about?"

She shrugged and raised her shades at him. "Depends. How soon can you be ready for another Heist?"

His world lit up, rings on his arms radiating with light.

"Yesterday!"