The water rises up and deposits Sky and Lady Alma on the floor of the glimmering pool’s cavern, Sky holding her protectively. He sets her down and uses his oceanic divine sphere to whisk away most of the water. He cannot dry her off, like Somrak can, but he can at least make sure she’s not dripping wet. He hears splashing behind and turns to see that Dion is in the water. It takes Sky only a moment to be sure that this is his Gwydion, Sergeant Gwydion of the Three Rats Guardia Dei and not Senator Gwydion of the other universe. Aside from the uniform, this Dion is built like the rock-solid martial artist he is, and not a soft político. Extending a hand and waving at the water, Sky creates a lifting swell and sets Dion on solid ground as well. Then he looks back at Lady Alma and sighs, cursing “Demônios e diabos…” under his breath in the local dialect of Three Rats.
Dashing water from his eyes, Dion demands, “What have you done? Where is Alma!?”
Lady Alma, who has been looking down at her wet dress, hides behind Sky with a little squeak at Dion’s outburst. “Oh, daisy stalks…”
As the pool’s magic fades and its light fades along with it, Sky summons another glowing globe of water from out of the puddles across the cavern floor. It gloops together and births an aquamarine luminescence. “I am sorry, my friend. She… I…” He gestures helplessly at Alma. “Lady Alma…we have crossed over to the other Insula.”
Dion’s fury is gradually replaced with a helpless expression. “Our Alma saw something…leaned too far. It was like the world tilted and she and Sky both went in. I dove in after her but…”
“The God Striker?” Sky asks, putting a comforting hand on Lady Alma’s trembling shoulder and pulling her a little closer without thinking. “Is that what she saw? Did she get it?”
Alma stays close to Sky. “Did I…” She swallows, her voice shaking. “Did I do something wrong?”
Sky can see the conflicting emotions battling across Gwydion’s face: shock and grief at his Alma’s disappearance, the desire to comfort this smaller, frightened Alma, repulsion at how closely she resembles his Alma and yet is not, self-recrimination for being so rude before a delicate, high-born flower of his own class.
“He is merely worried for his own Alma,” Sky says after seconds of awkward silence. “She has switched with you, and is now with your family. He is worried for her.”
Dion straightens, regaining some of his composure, though his dampness and shaken state cannot allow for a full restoration. “Forgive me…Lady. I…I am Gwydion, Sergeant, Guardia Dei. I wish we could have met under better circumstances.”
Alma hesitates a moment but then comes out from behind Sky and holds a hand out for him to take. Playing her familiar role as a Senator’s wife gives her comfort and confidence, Sky notes. “Hello. I…I am sorry for this horrible mess. I just saw a glimmer in the pool and I thought it might be what we were supposed to be looking for and–”
Alma’s eyes widen and her momentary confidence evaporates. “Oh no…oh no… My baby! I-I must go back. My baby will starve!”
Dion looks confused while Sky’s brown skin, lightened a bit by all the weeks he has lived underground, turns even more pale. Sky stammers, “I-I’m sure they’ll think of something. Perhaps Alma…” He hesitates. His thought is that Acting-Inspector Alma, with her Life sphere, may well be able to feed the child, but the thought of another goddess letting her baby suckle might not go down well with Lady Alma. “Well, they’ll think of something.” Dion, who has had a decided lack of babies in his life, gets a look of dawning comprehension after a moment.
“He is just a baby! He is not eating solid food yet. And he has never had any other types of milk.” Alma looks very worried. “Oh, Dion will be in a panic, not knowing what to do. He loves the baby, but he is not very good at such things…”
“You have Rose and Cherish and May there,” Sky reminds her, putting his big hands on her delicate shoulders. “And your world’s Sky. He, um, has helped raise a few babies, believe it or not. It will be all right.”
Dion looks from one to the other, and seems to swallow some considerable impatience. “Ahem…well, what is the situation there, Sky?”
Sky puts his hands on his hips, considering back over the past day. “Calm, for the moment. They are all in the caves. It’s Somrak and Machado, Cala and Aliyah, the Senator – you know about him?”
“Yes, yes, you – the other you told us all that,” Dion says impatiently. “Are they in danger?”
“They should probably move soon,” Sky says. “Oh…the other Sky wouldn’t know… Saira is with them. As a prisoner.”
“What?!” Now it is Dion’s turn to be pale, or at least more than usual.
“She led a team of assassins,” Sky explains. “Apparently she’s working for Nekh, not knowing he had her gang killed.”
“Uhm…excuse me…does this…does this mean they are still in danger even after moving to those dreadful caves?” Alma asks. “And are we in danger as well?” She looks pale, frightened.
Sky says, “We are not in danger here. But Doria was murdered in the cave, and their Oracle seems to have disappeared. I do not think Somrak will allow them to spend another day in the Grotto.”
“Away from the pool,” Dion grinds out. “Away from any chance to switch back!”
“I…I am sorry.” Lady Alma hides her face behind her hands, her voice betraying tears. “I am so sorry. I did not mean to – this is all my fault!”
Sky puts a comforting hand on her back. It all feels very strange – though he has comforted his Alma before, she certainly would not be wasting so much energy on pointless self-blame. But he has to remind himself that this is not his Alma. Her life took a very different path from early on, and she is overwhelmed by all that has happened in just two tumultuous days. “It is not your fault. We are in the Hands of the Fates. And the people there are armed with a mighty weapon, now, and a warrior who will put it to good use. We will get you back home, and our Alma back home as well. Be assured of that.”
“Oh, my poor husband…” Alma’s voice is miserable despite Sky’s words. “He will be so worried. We have never been more than a few hours apart. He will be so lost. And our children. They have never known danger. And now all of this happens and…” She trails off at the sound of boots crunching on gravel and debris in the tunnel leading into this room.
The litany of woe is broken by the scuffing of rock chips and dust in the rubble-strewn hole that serves as doorway to this chamber. “How come I never get invited to pool parties?” Somrak looks in, a fiery orb floating by his head, bringing a warmer light to the chamber than Sky’s watery one. “Oh right, it’s because I hate swimming. What, no ‘Somrak, what are you doing here? Did you get kicked out of the Guardia again, Somrak?’” He looks at the three of them, then his looks settles on Alma, and his brow knits.
Dion sighs. “We have…a situation. Why are you here?”
“I just finished a case. Few days off. Thought I’d come…” As he speaks, his words slow, and his eyes never leave Alma. “Did you…change your hair?”
Lady Alma looks at him, then at Sky. “He is smiling!” She grins. “The other one never seemed to do that! And the scar is gone. Has he come to protect us?”
Somrak frowns. “All right, what’s going on? Is this some…alternate-universe Alma or something?” He chuckles, scoffing at the very idea.
Sky nods slowly.
“Shut the Hell up!” Somrak exclaims. “What’s going on, really? Come on!”
Gwydion mutters, “They may not be able to return to the pool in time. There must be other ways…” He looks at Sky. “I need to consult the library at the Academy of Magic.”
Sky considers this for a second, then nods. “It would be best to have a backup plan. I will stay by the pool. I won’t budge.”
Dion nods. He looks at Somrak, his eyes carefully avoiding Alma. “Can I leave the station in your hands?”
“Holy Fates,” Somrak whispers. “You people are serious. Uh…yes,” he says aloud. “I’ll take good care of it.” Dion starts to leave.
“Dion?” Alma speaks up. “I mean…Sergeant?” She walks up to Gwydion, blushing a little. “I-I know you are worried but…I assure you, my husband will not let any harm come to her. She will be protected and well cared for.”
Dion stops at her words, half turning but not quite facing her. “Thank you. And you will be safe here.” His tone is perfectly polite. He almost says something more, but then leaves quickly.
Damp and miserable, Alma momentarily shivers from cold and fear. Sky comes to stand beside her and puts a protective hand on her slender shoulder. He can tell how much she is in need of comfort by how the Senator’s lady not only allows this, but leans against him for warmth. “He is upset. Frightened. He will do all he can, as will we. Come…you need to warm up.”
“He hates me,” Alma says, voice barely audible, sounding all the more miserable for talking about her husband’s counterpart in this world.
“I don’t think that’s true,” Sky says, softly.
“Would somebody tell me what is going on?” Somrak asks. “Are we in for some trouble here or what?”
“We’re safe,” Sky says. “Alma is in an alternate timeline. Which I’ve just returned from.”
Somrak looks around at the claw marks, astonished. “You dug all the way to another world??”
Alma squeaks and squeezes a little more against Sky. “Oh, he is getting angry again.”
Sky shakes his head. “That’s just Somrak’s resting expression. Let’s have some tea, and I’ll fill you in.”
神兎神兎神兎神兎神兎神兎神兎
After bringing breakfast and meeting Lady Alma, Doria, priestess and servant to the Oracle Nevieve takes her leave, leading Sky’s puppy – another surprise for Somrak – out for a walk. It’s only after she’s gone that Alma sniffles and wipes away a tear, and relates to Somrak how she sent the ghost of the other world’s Doria to the Wheel, to rejoin the rest of her soul. Somrak finishes boiling another small pot of coffee on the palm of his hand, and pours the powerful, dense brew into the tiny cups in Sky’s room. “So over there, Doria’s dead, the Oracle is missing, I still have the scar, Dion is a bigwig politician, Alma is…here, and Saira is trying to kill us all. And there’s a war going on.”
Sky nods.
“Terrific.” He looks over Alma again, marvelling. Especially while she was sleeping, curled up with Pharaoh the Pup, she has been reminding him strongly of the first time, the very very first time, he met Alma. He had been sent to the home of the Death Clan with a message from the Commander to Lord Death, and encountered a feverish little godling, and had helped lower her fever until her nurse could come. It wasn’t until much later, after he’d known the adult Alma for awhile, that he realized he’d met her long before. Alma herself had not remembered him at all from that fevered encounter. He wonders if they met in that alternate world. “What are we going to do with you, then?”
“I…I do not know,” Alma replies, shaking her head. “I guess…whatever does not upset this Dion of yours any further? He seemed ready to bite a limb off me.”
“Nah, that’s the kind of thing Sky does. Dion’ll be fine. Besides, there’s not really much we can do that won’t upset him more right now. He really, really, really wants his Alma.” Somrak looks around Sky’s quarters. “You know, keeping a lady here is cruel and unusual punishment. ”
“Somrak, if she leaves, she could be seen.” Sky sounds doubtful.
“We’ll just say she’s Alma’s identical cousin,” Somrak replies. At Sky’s skeptical expression, he says, “Come on, that’s one of those ridiculous lies that people just nod their heads at and go, ‘Oh yeah…identical cousin. Yeah, I’ve heard of that…happens with some god families, sure.’ They don’t want to sound ignorant, so they believe it. Besides, she might be here for a reason. And if she is, it’s not likely to be found here.”
Alma, who almost started giggling at Somrak’s fabulism, blinks and says, “Oh, I would not want to impose.” She pauses. “Is it true, then? That in this reality my other self is a Guardia Inspector, unmarried and with seven children of her own. No father to raise them with her?” She sounds doubtful and lowers her voice to a whisper. “And that she killed that dreadful Archon Nekh who murdered my husband’s uncle?”
Somrak says, “All true. Though Nekh didn’t murder Math here – Math’s still the same schemer as ever. Probably arranged the whole thing to knock off Nekh.” He knows his voice is full of grudging admiration. “So do you want to sit around with this guy, or take a look around the neighborhood? You can meet the kids…”
“Somrak, we shouldn’t…” Sky cautions.
“It’ll be fine,” Somrak insists. “Look, why else would I show up at this moment? Because the Fates need someone as irresponsible as me to play a part, that’s why. So she’s supposed to visit the station. Obviously.”
Alma finally giggles aloud, unable to stifle it further, and Somrak has to admit, it’s pretty adorable. “Oh, you are much kinder than your other self. I would love to meet the children. But…is it not dangerous out there? The ward was so grim and gloomy…”
“Oh, we took care of all the really bad people in this ward,” Som says. “All right, Sky, Dion, and Alma did most of that, but I helped here and there.”
“Helped,” Sky grunts.
“I did help! Most of the time. And you haven’t slept in a couple of days, have you?” Somrak gives Sky a stern look. “I can tell. You let Alma here sleep for five hours – that’s a very cute snore you have, by the way, your Ladyship – and you’re not going to sleep until our Alma’s home, are you? Yeah, well, you’ll be rotten company then. I’ll tell Doria to keep the coffee coming.”
Alma can’t stop giggling, but gasps and insists, “No, I do not snore! Do I? You’re just teasing, aren’t you?”
The way Sky’s shoulders slump, Somrak knows his old partner has surrendered. Speaking in Batepepo, the local language of Three Rats, Sky insists, “You need to protect her as you would Alma. Our Alma. Even more so, for this one is much weaker.”
Somrak replies in the same tongue. He’s not as fluent as Sky, but he learned quickly in the periods he was stationed here. “I’ll keep her safe. Come on, brother. You know I sometimes see things. She’s meant to meet the others here. I don’t know why, but it’s important.”
Sky looks at him very seriously. Then he gives the same look to Alma. “Lady, go with him. But regard him as your protector, more knowledgeable than you in the ways of this world.”
Alma looks back at him, then nods, equally serious. “I will. Will you be all right, left alone here?” She puts her delicate hand on his.
Sky’s expression brightens a little, and he pats her hand. “I have been alone here a great deal. I will be well. Besides, I need to speak with the Oracle. If she is here, at all. Doria said she is not in her usual cave.”
“Come on, he’ll be fine,” Somrak says. “And by the way, I’m not calling you Lady. You’re undercover. Let’s see, Alma doesn’t have any sisters, so we can’t say you’re her little sister even though that’s exactly what you look like. Cousin it is…fine, fine, I’ll drop the ‘identical’ bit. So what are we going to call you?”
“Oh, I…I have never been undercover before, I…” She looks rather befuddled.
He stands, offering her his hand. “How about…Malma? Dalma? Come on, help me out here.”
She giggles as he helps her up. “Oh, those are horrible names!”
“We could do an anagram. Lama? Or reverse it: Amala!”
Over the giggles, Somrak hears Sky snort in almost-laughter behind him as they leave.
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