Sky’s heavy sigh makes Pharaoh wake up. The gangly dog blinks sleepily from his position on Sky’s lap, then thrusts his snout into Sky’s hand, insisting on getting his head petted and scratched. Sky smiles a little and complies, but complains to Gwydion and Alma, “This has been the longest day of my life. I’ve crossed over into another timeline, and they only thing I’ve done is made friends with a dog!”
Gwydion smiles. “At least there’s that. He was really barking at you at first. You know we couldn’t let you leave the Grotto. You would have done more harm than good.”
“Too many people know your face in this ward,” Alma adds. She stretches, having woken from a nap snuggled against Gwydion, seated on a blanket-bedecked stone bend in her Sky’s living chamber.
Most of this long, boring day, at least one of them has been here, though after some time they trusted him to spend some time with only Doria to watch over him. Now that midnight approaches, Gwydion returned from his research to join Alma, reporting that he has been unable to find the God Striker in time, nor find much information pertaining to crossing into another timeline.
Alma continues, “Our Sky says hello to everyone as he passes them on the street and he’s come to know most of the people he sees regularly. The news of his return would spread like a wildfire.”
“I know…” Sky feels glum. It is hard to imagine having the life this world’s Sky has. So many connections, while he himself keeps connection to a minimum. As a devil, he should have no empathy – it is something that all those of Hell lack, all except for the rumored, legendary Enlightened One, demon with a complete soul who is supposed to be a kind of saint. Just that legend…and Sky, who was created so as to have it, because the previous agents sent into this world by Hell did not, and were too easily detected and destroyed. Sky, and however many other such agents Hell created, has empathy, and sometimes there is nothing more painful. The most creative tortures of Hell are nothing compared to loving someone. Sky found that out in his years on Earth.
Apparently, this world’s Sky forgot that lesson. Or decided that the love is worth the pain. Sky feels simultaneously jealous and contemptuous of his counterpart. But the jealousy has the upper hand.
“And why exactly would that be a problem?” Sky asks. “You said the guy was almost recovered from his torture. If this crossover doesn’t work, I can pretend to be under the weather. Help ease him back into society, for when he does return.”
“And what do I tell my children when they hear that their beloved friend and protector has been seen walking about but didn’t come home to them?” Alma insists, arching an eyebrow at him. She has stopped being so very cautious about him, even laughed with him once or twice in the course of the day, but still she resisted telling him very much about the world outside, unless it seemed to directly pertain to Math and Nekh. “To his family, who misses him dearly? They would be distraught. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to trick Bunny noses and ears? How many spells we need just to conceal the fact that Sky never left the ward? That we visit him every other day?”
Sky is quiet for a moment before he asks, “They’re really that worried about me? Him, I mean. Beloved protector? How did that happen?” The more he thinks about it, the more unsettled he feels.
Dion – Sky finds it easier to think of him by that shortened name, as he is so unlike the Senator – explains, “After Nekh’s death, there was a trial. Alma and I were detained in the first Ring for weeks. Sky was left alone here, the only Dei in the station. In the middle of the Shard War, the massive Dukaine criminal organization shattering and fighting. And Sky was in charge of looking after the Bunnies as well. That’s how they came to see you as an uncle, especially the younger ones.”
“Uncle Sky…” He still can’t believe it. They mentioned it before dawn, but since then the discussions have mainly been about the death of Nekh, other information about the Council, the Dukaines, the God Striker, and so on, as they have gone in and out. Suddenly Sky feels an urgent need to know more about how his counterpart fits into all this. “Well I wouldn’t want to mess that up. But I’ll tell you what, those three on my side will hardly look at me without turning pale. And I think they’re even more scared of Somrak…though come to think of it, they look at him a lot, when he’s not looking. I think it’s the tight leather pants.”
Alma snorts, and Sky feels glad he could make her laugh again. Careful…you’re letting your guard down because you think you’ll never see them again after tonight. That’s not necessarily the case. What if it doesn’t work? What will you do then?
“Bunnies can detect the strangest, tiniest things,” Alma tells him, looking at him as if she too knows she is letting her guard down and isn’t certain of the wisdom of that. “Attraction, jealousy, fear…you would be amazed. But my Bunnies hardly let a day go by without mentioning Sky. These weeks of his healing have been grueling on us. And them. Please, I know it is a tremendous vote of confidence we are asking you for but there are so many people who have been asking, nagging and begging just to be allowed to visit Sky. If they were to meet you, then you and he change places again and he cannot go home immediately… It will break their hearts.”
“And it would most likely force us to reveal his secret,” Dion reminds him.
Sky holds up a hand, the other now gently rubbing Pharaoh’s belly. “Very well. I agree. Though if I don’t go back to my world tonight, we shall have to come up with an alternative to keeping me in here for the rest of my life.” He looks down at the happy dog, who is falling asleep again. “You’re making me envious of this version of myself,” he admits. “How he thinks he can have all these attachments without revealing his true nature, though…” He looks up at Alma and Dion. “It’s going to happen. You’ve found out, and others will, too. I’m glad he can have a couple of good friends like you who know and accept him. Mortals though…”
“Yes…we know,” Alma breathes, morose at the thought. “And considering he is in love with Mayumi and she with him – but…” Alma shrugs helplessly.
“That…has been hinted at, too,” Sky stammers. “That’s really hard to believe.”
“She is currently at the Academy, looking to become Guardia,” Dion says. “We haven’t even told her about Sky being wounded yet…” He grimaces at the difficulty of the situation.
Sky shakes his head. “She’s – I mean, the one I know – has hardly said a dozen words to me, just politenesses. And here she’s a cadet. I mean, I know your Sky must be lonely but…” He looks at Alma, almost cringing. “And…you don’t have a problem with this?”
“Should I?” Alma’s voice is calm, reasonable. Though at the same time, Sky thinks he can detect a slight strain. “He is an adult, she is an adult and he knows that should he wrong her, I’d have his soul for a rattle.” A little puff of air from her nose, a silent snort at the idea. She looks into Sky’s eyes. “I have very good reasons to trust Sky. I know he wouldn’t be bad to her. Unless she wanted him to.”
Sky opens his mouth at this, but the last five words make him shut it for a moment, and he feels his cheeks warm with a slight blush that brings a smile to Alma’s lips. He clears his throat and says, soft and serious. “He wouldn’t do anything bad to her, directly. But…did he tell you about Earth? His family? Lara?” He hasn’t mentioned that name to anyone else in many years, and bringing up such close-held memories is not easy for him.
Alma nods, sympathy in her eyes. “His picture album was one of the few things we managed to save when his sanctum was destroyed.”
“Oh…thank you.” It feels a bit strange to be grateful for something she did for the other Sky, but grateful he is. “I should really get that duplicated… Anyway, he was able – rather, I was able to tell Lara about what I really am, because at some level she never really believed it. Even though the religion she was raised in primed her to believe in devils, it was just beyond her comprehension. So she thought, ‘My husband is a devil. That’s very strange, but all right, because he is kind.’ Here…people really understand what creatures from Hell are like. And they generally don’t believe there are omnipotent gods holding them in check. On top of that, there was nobody on Earth to rip that knowledge from her unprotected mind, or to threaten her with prison just for knowing classified information. So revealing his secret to her is…it’s just a bad move. And…he couldn’t become fully, uh, intimate with her if he can’t do that. If he thinks he can, he’s just fooling himself.” As he speaks, Sky finds himself becoming more and more exasperated with this world’s version of him.
Alma and Dion both listen with sorrowful expressions. “All those things are true,” Alma says. “But all those things are for him to acknowledge and act upon. And they are for Mayumi to decide as well. Even before I knew Sky’s nature, I warned her that affairs with a god, any god, seldom have good outcomes for mortals. All I can do is be ready to ensure her safety or dry her tears. The rest is up to them.”
“Put me in the same room with him and he’ll get a punch in the guts,” Sky grumbles. He looks at Alma and Dion, and points a finger. “One of you, tell him what I said. He knows it already. He’s just not listening to himself because he’s in love, the idiot.”
Dion crosses his arms and smiles sadly. “And just a few minutes ago you were envious of him. I might think the idiot is still coming out on top.”
Sky shakes his head. “If this does go forward, May’s going to need to understand down to her bones the need for secrecy. It’ll make her feel a little apart from her siblings. And she’ll need a spell, an enchantment, an item, a medallion, something to protect her thoughts from leaking out for any telepath to catch.”
Dion shakes his head, weighing in as a professional. “Items such as medallions and other assorted jewelry are usually a bad idea. They can be easily removed, lost or plainly forgotten. I daresay I can find something more lasting and less prone to being misplaced.”
Alma stands up, adjusting her sword and her vest. “Before you two start making up plans and discussing the strong points of your theories, perhaps we should let my daughter and her paramour make up their own minds and decide on their lives,” she admonishes with a sigh. “We should not indulge our divine natures and forget that this is not our game to play or our pieces to move. And it is almost time.”
“Oh…” Sky puts Pharaoh down, and pets the dog’s head once again. “Let’s get your guy back, huh, boy?” He looks into those eyes for a moment longer, those big bat-like ears, that cocked head with that eternal dog desire to understand what their people are saying, then sighs and, with a mental promise to find a way to adopt a dog once things calm down in his world, he pulls his mesh-reinforced leather jacket back on and makes sure his sword, other weapons, and any other equipment are all in the right place. He looks at Alma and Dion. “Ready.”
He leads the way to the pool. It’s a straight path, and both of the other two have already gone to take a look at the pool, but it is his counterpart who dug the passage, so for some reason it feels right that he takes the lead. He conjures a glowing water glob to light their way, and as they walk, he thinks about all he has learned. The knowledge of Nekh and the Dukaines, Nekh’s lieutenant and the necromancer Nua, the God Striker, all of that is big enough. But it is the less-important things that have him dazed. But are they really less important?
A father figure. I was a father once. A husband. I loved. I was loved. When Lara died I let the rest of it slip away. I left. I meant to come back, but I left and I got stuck here and they’ve all died or forgotten me by now. And I just couldn’t bear it happening again. Only this Sky, he let it happen. Look what it got him. Tortured, soul-flayed, exposed. In love with a mortal girl who deserves better. Yes, that’s her decision, she’s an adult, but she can’t make that decision without all the facts. And all these others, hurt because of him. But would they even be alive now, without his help?
And a further thought refuses to let him shake it. If this doesn’t work, if I don’t make it back, I will be the one who has to live his life here.
He enters the room and walks up to the edge of the water. It is motionless, not glimmering, except for the moon-like reflection from the light-sphere over his shoulder.
He looks back at Alma and Dion. They look so…capable. So strong. And yet he knows they are wounded. And he can see the kindness on their faces. The concern, not just for their friend, their brother, but for him as well.
“Tell him,” Sky says. “Tell him he needs to tell her, or break it off.”
Alma walks up to him and reaches up to cup his cheek, whispering, “What you forgot to mention about Earth was how much you loved your wife. And your children. How you miss them all. And how you closed yourself to new connections for fear of the pain of their deaths. Perhaps that is something you should take with you when you return.”
He feels tears fill his eyes at her words, which reflect his own thoughts so closely. He cannot speak for a moment, but finally he says, “If I had friends like you over there, I might be ready to risk falling in love with someone.”
“You need to be willing to risk being a friend first,” Alma says. “I know for a fact that you can be a very good one. If you try.”
He looks at her pale, smiling face, with those strange, beautiful eyes, and he puts his arms around her. He feels her hold him, and he nearly cries out at how good it feels, to be held, to be loved, by anyone. For so long, this has been so rare, but how he needs it.
“What is that? In the pool?” Alma’s face is turned toward the water, her cheek pressed against Sky’s chest.
“Do you see something?” Dion asks.
“Just…a glint.” She let’s Sky go, and as he releases her she leans over the edge, her hand gripping his jacket so that she won’t fall. “A familiar one…I see it!”
Sky puts his hands on her waist to steady her and leans over to look. “I see nothing, other than that the colors are already starting. What do you see? Hey, don’t lean out further!”
“The portal must be opening. Alma, get away from it!” Sky can hear the concern in Dion’s voice, which grows louder as he approaches them.
“I see it!” Alma cries. “She needs me to help her…”
Sky tries to pull her back, but the ground shifts and spins under his feet and his vision fills with the glimmering colors of the pool. Alma tries to pull away, and, panicking, Sky pulls her close to him. Is she trying to jump into the water? Trying to jump away from the water? Disoriented, Sky can’t be sure which way is to or from, up or down. He takes a step back.
And there is nothing under his boot.
Until the cold wet splash envelopes them both.
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