The next evening goes the same as the first one. Bartemaeus Moonflower fills the silent woods with his stories and anecdotes from the moment Vellie opens his eyes to the largest crackling fire he’s ever seen. Vellie hurriedly hits ‘record’ in his brain to make sure he doesn’t miss anything. The pace of The First’s words is dizzying. It is like he is trying to download a lifetime in the span of a couple of days. He does not leave any time for Vellie to think very much about the fact that this is the day when he finally gets to meet Her Supreme Eminence, eternal administrator and creator of all worlds.

When the Moon Man is still high in the sky, but definitely after midnight, Vellie feels a distinct shift in the thick Ether all around them. The intractable sensation is confirmed for him when he sees that the blue butterfly in front of them is multiplying at a dizzying pace into tens and then hundreds of electric wings.

“It is inevitable.” The First says, nodding wisely at the cloud of butterflies. “Her presence infuses the Ether around here with a very fertile element. We are not far now.” As with most things Bartemeaus Moonflower says, Vellie has a hundred questions which he is given zero time to formulate or verbalize. The First launches immediately into a story about the time he almost died while chasing wild horses back on Ipomoea IX. The flow of his word-river is reaching a fever-pitch. So, in the space of a few minutes, Vellie learns about the love of Bartimeaus’ life, Princess Omriketiri. If it weren’t being told in such a rush, Bartimeaus’ story about outliving Omriketiri and all of their eight offspring after his appointment to the Seers would have reminded Vellie of his own experience, with family left behind after his lifespan stretched beyond anything he’d thought was possible. But there is no time for such empathizing.

Without further warning they come upon her. It is unceremonious and unexpected; The forest path curves sharply to the right and as the two Seers round the bend, they see a glorious, glowing, nearly-naked being. The forest gives way here, quite abruptly, to a clearing of soft grass around a swimming hole created by a wide section of the river. She is wading in the water. Her translucent gown billows all around her weightlessly. Vellie knows instantly it is her. Something within him responds instinctively to the presence of the creator of all worlds, something that simply sends a silent but resounding yes through every one of his bones and muscles and tendons until his very being is resonating with the presence of her. The First has stopped talking and both of them simply stare at her, mouths agape. She has not acknowledged them yet (though of course she must have registered their arrival, Vellie knows).

“Is this…?” Vellie turns to The First and speaks for the first time in two days.

“Yes,” he replies, nodding.

“I thought, I thought… we would be in her chambers.” Vellie realizes now that he had anticipated something like the Chamber of the Council of Seers, with impenetrable rock walls and ancient, minimalist stone furniture.

“For HSE, her chambers are wherever she is,” says Bartemaeus Moonflower, and Vellie knows instantly that the forest which he didn’t know existed, the one they have been walking through, which stretches from the Seers’ office all the way here, is her creation.

“She made this forest for our journey,” says The First, apparently reading Vellie’s thoughts. “She has been watching the whole time. She has chosen this moment to be seen herself.”

“Bartimeaus. Moonflower. Thank you for coming.” Says HSE slowly, in a voice that fills Vellie with a warmth like bathing in late afternoon sun. The forest all around glows with aggressive vibrance as she speaks; the leaves glow green and the browns and yellows sparkle with a golden light that overpowers the Moon Man’s glow. She emerges from the water and smiles an all-encompassing smile at them. Vellie feels at once bound to her and also repelled; her beauty is attractive even as it is too much to bear.

“Your Eminence,” says The First. He bows deeply so his pointed Seers’ hat touches the luminescent grassy floor. “I am filled with honour.” Vellie watches this and thinks he should bow, too. As he leans his torso over the forest floor, his hat topples off, and he spends a very embarrassing minute fumbling around with his two top hands to put it back on again. His cheeks burn as he stands up and he can’t look HSE in the eye.

“This is the one?” HSE asks, but it is more like a statement. She already knows this is the one.

What is ‘the one’? Who is ‘the one’? Thinks Vellie.

“This is the one.” The First echoes.

“You have tested him?”

“Yes. I assigned him to the orb bearing the lost Earth children, as you suggested. And he intervened to help them, as you knew he would, your Eminence.”

“Good.” HSE smiles again, prompting the forest into another vibrant crescendo. The random bird calls and scuttling of creatures seem to arrange themselves into an orchestral finale. HSE smiles at Vellie, who is more confused than ever. “We need one with a heart like his to balance the bureaucracy of the Council,” she says to The First.

“I agree, of course,” says The First. HSE must sense Vellie’s extreme confusion, because she says,

“Tell him, Bartimeaus. It is time to explain now.”

The First turns to Vellie then:

“Seer Vellie. Upon return from HSE’s chambers, you will be promoted to the Council of Seers. It is time for me to release my spirit into the Ether.” His tone is not sad or happy. Bartimeaus is merely stating facts. Vellie stares at him like he is insane.

“We are supposed to be here to fix my error. I deserve to be punished.” He whispers, as if this means HSE will not hear. The First ignores him.

“I will convey my full blessing and support to all Seers via my final tele-text,” he says. “So you will be promoted expediently.”

“But, but I committed a grave error! I deviated from the Pattern! ” Vellie hisses in a heightened whisper. Bartimeaus goes on ignoring him.

“Are we all clear then, on what will happen next?” HSE asks in a voice like budding roses in Spring. “I have begun restoring the timeline of the world known as the NowHere. There will be minimal ripples throughout the worlds. Some minor adjustments to the Pattern this moon cycle and it will be like nothing happened at all.” Vellie is still staring around in disbelief. When The First responds, he sounds like he is far away and making an indecipherable string of sounds.

“Yes. I am prepared for the release of my spirit, your Eminence. Vellie will stay with me and port back to the office for his promotion ceremony immediately following my…. departure. Vellie, are we prepared to proceed now? Vellie?” Vellie blinks slowly behind his big glasses. Come on, you have to do this now. You have been waiting for this promotion, you are ready! he tells himself through the fog of his shock.

“Vellie? Seer Vellie!” The First attaches an iron grip to his shoulder. “Let us proceed.”

“Very well.” HSE says with an elegant smile. “I take your leave.” The First bows deeply once more and Vellie pulls himself together enough to follow suit. This time he holds onto his hat with his top left hand.

Almost before Vellie stands up all the way, there is a flash of brilliant light and HSE disappears.

They are alone again, still in the same clearing. The Moon Man has barely moved in the sky above them; The entire conversation with HSE has taken only a few minutes. The First turns to Vellie:

“The oracle you were concerned with will be fulfilled, Vellie. As I release my spirit to the Ether, the Eighth will have his sacrifice of the eldest. You must go back and challenge The Eighth so he ceases his reign of destruction.”

“But how? I cannot — you cannot — I do not deserve to be — I…” he stammers, trying to find a way to express what he is thinking to The First. Bartimeaus gives him a long, drawn-out, sympathetic look.

“Oh Vellie, our destinies are not earned; they are received,” he says sagely, as if this explains everything. “You do not decide when you deserve something, it simply comes to you. And when it comes to you, you are ready. You are ready right in that moment, because your destiny has arrived.” He sounds very peaceful and his tone of voice calms Vellie down a little bit.

“What about vanquishing The Eighth?” Vellie asks. “How will I do that?”

“Use the Earth children.”

Vellie smirks in spite of himself.“Surely, the Earth children are not equipped — that world… it is so backward.”

Bartimeaus smiles at him. “Vellie, Vellie. Good things can come from unexpected places. You must learn this. You know that boy has a gift, and the girl, the girl has a helper’s heart, just like your own.” Vellie inhales sharply at the thought of being compared to an Earth child, but he has to admit to himself that The First has a point.

“Now, can you recall some of the things I told you about my life before, when I was Bartimeaus Moonflower?” The First asks.

“Of course,” Vellie says.

“Well I said all of that for a reason,” says The First. “As a being releases their spirit into the Ether, we want to be observed by someone who knows us. Not just knows what we have done but who we are. That is why I told you all about me. I have been a Seer for longer than a dozen lifespans in Ipomoea IX. No one knows me there, anymore. Sure, the leading officials will know my role is of great importance within the Council of Seers, and they will feel pride on my behalf. But that is not real knowing. I want you to be with me as my spirit is released and to be with me properly, you need to know me. That is why I have shared all my stories with you. I enter death not as The First, but as Bartimeaus again, just like I entered life. Do you understand?”

“I think so,” says Vellie. And he knows on some deep-down level that he does understand.

“And Vellie?” Says Bartimeaus.

“Yes.”

“Do not let your promotion to the Council of Seers change your heart. They are the most important Seers in all worlds, but they can also be a group of callous, cliquey, myopic bureaucrats. Ok?”

“I will try,” Vellie manages.

This seems to satisfy Bartimeaus.“I am ready now, to release my spirit,” he says in the next breath.

“Here?” Says Vellie, not feeling ready at all for what is about to happen.

“Here,” The First confirms.

“Now?!”

“Now.”

Vellie is keenly aware that this is The First’s final conversation. He recalls what Bartimaeus told him about trusting the Pattern. Even as he wills his breathing to slow, he feels a calm rising up within him. This is how things must proceed.

“Please think about my stories, Vellie. As I fade, play back the stories you have recorded of my life. You have recorded them, correct?”

“Of course.”

“Good. Play them back to yourself as I go, then. And Vellie?”

“Yes.”

“Give ’em hell on the Council.”

Vellie searches TULIP for the expression and quickly learns it is an outdated one, from the Earth world. “I will,” he responds uncertainly.

Bartimeaus drops his walking stick and begins to spin in a slow circle. Vellie presses ‘play’ on the recorded stories of Bartimeaus in his mind. The oldest Seer’s robe billows gracefully around him. The golden stars all over the midnight-blue expanse of his robe and hat begin to sparkle brighter and then to quiver. One detaches, then another, then four and eight and ten and more and more of them. As Bartimeaus spins, his golden stars lift off the robe in a swirl of glorious light and ascend into the night sky, where they join the Moon Man and the other stars. Vellie stares up into the sky and he thinks he can see them, shining gold next to the white light of the normal stars. When he looks back down, the robe itself has faded from view. Its midnight blue has blended into the darkness all around.

In a voice like a breath, the forest all around them exhales the name: Bartimaeus Moonflower. Bartimaaeeeuss Moooonflowerrrr. Bartimaaeeeuss Moooonflowerrrr. And then The First is gone and Vellie stands alone among pretty blue flowers and dancing electric-blue butterflies with the Moon Man’s clever grin illuminating everything from on high. It is brilliant, bright as day in the forest. Bartimeaus’ stories are still playing inside Vellie’s head. He decides to listen a moment longer before porting back to the office.