Somebody Stop Him [A Progression Fantasy Epic]

Dr. Greyfield paused, his gaze sweeping over the class, his expression serious now, all traces of his usual eccentric cheerfulness gone. "Now, These Numbers, aka Absolute Concepts are not gods or archangels in the traditional sense, even though many otherworlders address them as such. They are more like forces. Principles. Immutable ideas, self-aware Laws woven into the very fabric of existence. And they are incredibly powerful and dangerous. More powerful than most Omnids can even comprehend."

Vespera put her hand up. "Where do they come from?"

"They are projected into existence from Endalaus," Dr. Greyfield explained. Per his manipulations with the runestone a large sphere appeared in the middle of the lab. "Endalaus, Inaria, Eureka. A world made from worlds, the heart of the ever-expanding, infinite Omniverse we inhabit. A self-replicating, magitek engine set in motion long before we Omnids came into existence. The cradle of everything, the heart of all magic."

The Instructor made a deep pause.

"And no, I will not tell you the true names of the other Numbers," he said. "For knowing their true names summons them. Just know that we are dealing with their existence as best we can."

He tapped a finger on the Astralscope. "The Stabalist Order," he said, a hint of pride creeping into his voice, "Dedicates itself to understanding these Laws. It maintains a semblance of balance by cooperating with the Numbers. And it is a precarious balance, I assure you. What you saw today was a show of that, cooperation. Summoning a Number and then assuring it that everything is fine. Forcing a potential manifestation before it occurs naturally, letting some air out of the tank before it explodes. Etcetera."

A heavy silence fell over the classroom, broken only by the hum of the Astralscope and the faint rustle of feathers and scales. Dr. Greyfield's words hung in the air, a sobering note of the vast, unseen forces at play in the Omniverse, and the precarious position of those who dared to screw around with them.

The bell rang, loud and sudden, shattering the weight of his revelations and signaling the end of class. Students began to gather their belongings, the hushed atmosphere surrendering to the buzz of post-lecture chatter.

I remained in my seat even when everyone left. Vespera and Cinder stood up beside me, but didn't leave, waiting to see what I would do.

Dr. Greyfield arched his eyebrow at us as he turned off the magitek projector and the Astralscope.

"Was that a lesson for me in particular, Dr. Greyfield?" I asked. "Are you a Stabalist?"

The old Omnid smiled. He reached up, his long, gray spindly fingers delicately pulling back the pristine white lapel of his lab coat. Beneath, nestled against the worn fabric of his tweed jacket, was a pin.

A silver pin. A sword cross piercing an upside down triangle.

"Indeed, Mr. Glock," he confirmed. "I dove into my five-fold dimensional bag shelter when the doomsday sirens sang across Skyfall. Let us just say that certain… events have brought your Clan to the attention of our Order. The release of an Archangel, a worldwide dimensional shift, the perfectly stable Dagaz rune hanging over your soul. It's all clearly interconnected and is of great interest to us."

He let his lapel fall back into place, concealing the pin once more. "We are aware that it was Vespera's actions that freed her family's Archangel and caused the Resonance Cascade which awakened the Wormwood Star."

Vespera shifted where she stood beside me. "So, what?" she asked with a look of defiance. "Are you gonna arrest me for destabilizing reality or something? Cus' there's no such law as far as I'm aware. Or maybe expel me?"

"Arrest you? Expel you? My dear Miss Simmi, such drastic measures are hardly necessary. After all, you're still young Omnids on the cusp of adulthood. Instead, we will educate you here at Skyfall."

"So I'm not in trouble?" The Thunderbird asked.

"Not as such," Dr. Greyfield said. "Per Firstborn Clan law, Archangel Zadkiel was property of your family to do with as you desire. The Stabalist Order is a lawful, Omnithornian organization. We cannot force Omnid Clans into obedience with guns blazing, as many of our members belong to these Clans. We warned the Clan Elders of the dangers of the Archangels, told them of the possibility of the Resonance Cascade and a worldwide dimensional shift, but they did not take heed. This incident was a lesson and due to it, we will be able to push a desired law through the Omnithornian Parliament–to dimensionally isolate and relocate all bound Archangels from Earth."

Vespera smiled.

"The relocation of bound Archangels was a matter that has been debated within the Parliament for decades. Your actions have expedited the process considerably," the old Omnid winked at Vespera. "Consider this… a practical learning experience and go on with your life. Now, don't you three have another class to get to?"

"Thanks Doc," I got off my chair. The girls followed me out into the hall.

"Aww yuss," Vespera clicked, "Everything's turning up Vee! Now we can move onto the next phase of my plan!"

"What phase?" Cinder demanded.

"Fixing you two knobs," Vespera grinned.

"Hrm. What's wrong with me?" I asked.

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"You're emotionally absent, my dude," Vespera said bluntly. "You're almost constantly wearing your 'Alexander Glock' soul-mask like a second skin, hiding behind it."

"What's wrong with that?" I asked.

"Last night's dream-shippery... was fun. Physically," she smirked, leaning closer, her breath warm against my ear. "But... I barely sensed your feelings. You're deliberately holding yourself back, suppressing sooooo much."

"I'm being efficient and focused," I shrugged. "I don't want to burden you with my shit, especially not when Ci needs our help to heal."

"This," Vespera pointed at my face. "Isn't helping her heal, dummy. Your smile is fake as fuck. You do get that we can sense your emotions through the kobold-dragon link, right? You're basically a zero on the emotional scale right now."

Cinder nodded.

"Emotions are... messy," I said. "They get in the way. Slow things down. The Architect keeps me on track, focused on the objective. Prevents me from... spiraling into a mess. Lots of people died because of me on Arx. Lots of people lost their memories because of me on Earth. I've twice the memories in my head. I don't want to mentally deal with any of that."

Vespera's voice softened slightly, losing some of its teasing edge. "Lexxy, it's okay to feel things. It's okay to be vulnerable! To be... messy. It's what makes us... real, ya kno'?"

"Real is overrated," I snapped back at her. "Real is painful. Real is... losing mom. Real is… everything falling apart because I stop escalating things."

"And real is also… this," Vespera said, hugging me and Cinder. "Us. Together. Rebuilding. Remembering. Healing. You can't have the good without the bad, Lexy. You can't have joy without sorrow, love without loss."

Her silver-gold eyes searched mine, a plea in their depths. "Don't shut yourself off," she whispered. "Don't hide behind the Architect. Let yourself… feel."

I wanted to argue, to push back, to retreat behind the familiar safety of the Architect's cold logic and detachment. But… I couldn't. Not with Vespera looking at me like that, like she could see right through me, to the fractured, hurting mess I was trying so desperately to hide.

"It's... hard," I sighed. "Opening up. Letting go. It feels like... I don't know… like falling into the ocean of darkness behind me. Like losing control."

"I know," Vespera said, her thumbs gently stroking my cheeks. "But you're not falling alone, Lexy. We're here. Cindy, me, Mags, Io, Kat, Lilith… We'll catch you. We'll hold you. We'll be your safety net. You have us. All of us to fall back on. Trust us. Trust me."

"A safety net made of feathers, claws, and snark?" I teased, trying to lighten the mood and deflect the intensity of her gaze.

"Stop deflecting," Cinder growled.

"I'll… try to feel things. Maybe," I said. "After classes. Okay?"

"Mkay," Vespera chose not to push me further. She just smiled, a knowing, slightly mischievous smile that told me she saw right through my stall tactics, but was clearly willing to play along, for now.

Advanced Mathematics was next, held in a large, circular lecture hall with a domed ceiling. The instructor, a wiry Redcap droned on and on about fractal mathematics, her voice echoing through the vast space, red pointy hat bobbing.

Holographic projections filled the air, displaying intricate, ever-shifting patterns that spiraled and unfolded in mesmerizing complexity. Simple formulas, the instructor explained, could produce infinite structures, mirroring and manipulating the very fabric of reality itself.

I buried myself in jotting notes from the lecture.

Lunch in the Refectory was made slightly less awkward by the presence of Io, Kat, Magdaline, and Lilith, who had joined our table at the Silverfox section. About five minutes in, Team Hydroblades showed up.

"Mind if we join you?" June asked, glancing at me and Io.

"Go ahead," I said. "Grab one of the empty tables and pull it closer to us."

Team Hydroblades used a water elemental to pull a hexagonal table across the floor to connect it with ours. The Water mages all had Wormwood House robes on.

"Hey, um," June began. "Io… we, umm. Ugh," she tried to recompose herself. "I'm sorry. I totally forgot that we started dating before the shift and stuff. I feel like an absolute knob, honestly. I felt something… when the Sword put you into Silverfox, but just couldn't get my shit together to talk to you. The Scruts made me remember everything yesterday though. So, here I am.. Talking. Can we trade numbers again? You… liked our movie date on Friday, right?"

"Right. The... movie." Io said with a nod of his wide-brimmed hat, "Yeah. It was... nice."

June's liquid hair drooped slightly, raining on her table. "Nice?" she repeated, her voice a little flat. "That's all?"

"It was very... disaster-y," he offered, as if that clarified everything.

Vespera leaned forward. "Come on, moth-butt," she encourage-teased. "You can do better than that! Tell the lovely Kelpie how you really felt about spending the afternoon with her, watching buildings crumble and cities flood."

Io mumbled something unintelligible, his gaze fixed on his drink as if it held the secrets of the universe.

"Smooth, Jan. Real smooth." Kat chortled.

Magdaline inhaled deep. "He loved it, June," she commented with a sharky grin. "He's just shy and still somewhat confused about the shift and about his place in the universe. So you're gonna be our Hearth-Keeper, yes?"

The Kelpie blushed with dark blue.

"Good," Magdaline nodded. "I'll take Prima Sword then."

Io opened his mouth.

"Yes, yes," Mags waved him off. "You like her, but water bothers you. I know. We can get some colloidal silica from the Foxglen Artifactorium and sprinkle it all over your wings as Alex suggested, or we make a water-repelling runic chain for you to wear. Either way it's not a real problem. We are stronger together."

She reached out with her muscular hands and pulled June's chair along with the Kelpie closer to herself, sniffing the girl.

"Water and shark," Magdaline commented after a few seconds of sniffing. "A solid combo."

She dipped her hands into June's mane and splashed the gathered liquid over her face. "Ah, refreshing! Smells like the ocean. Tinge of particular... salt. Hebrides, yes?"

"Yep," June nodded. "I'm from the Isle of Canna. My family owns a cottage there."

"And an old, meshless Strand-Glider?" Magdaline rumbled. "You love gliding over the Sea? Sounds like a good place for a six-pack date!"

"Us and…?" June tilted her head.

"These knobs," Magdaline pointed a finger at Vee, Ci and me. "Duh. The Isle of Canna is only twenty four clicks from Skyfall. Bet you can call up your Strand-Glider with a direct beam from our tower. Vee can handle the logistics of that, she's a clever cookie."

"Yass," Vespera high-fived Magdaline. "Ship re-boot'! We should make t-shirts! Or maybe... get matching 'ship tattoos? 'Re-booted and Ready to Rumble'?"

"Tattoos?" Cinder blinked. "You're a fuzzy bird, how would that even…"

"You can Holofractal tattoos onto me!" Vespera clicked at Cinder. "We ain't going out as ourselves with the Frontenachii Scruts scrootening for Lexxy. Gonna construct alternative wicked personas with tattoos. Obviously!"

"Going out of Skyfall seems reckless," the Quetzi pointed out.

"Eh," Vespera shrugged. "We have a Deathmoth and a Scrut shark. Between the two, I'm certain that we can avoid a disastrous future. Right?" She looked at Io.

Io nodded.

A female figure in gold and red robes stepped away from the Pyroclast section, heading directly to where I was sitting, ruby mane sparkling in the light, elongated face set in a deep scowl, orange-red scaled hands closing into fists.

Ember.

I mentally prepared myself for draconic-violence.