The following morning, 4:30 am at Patty's apartment, she felt immense pain, so much it made a commotion. Lauren ran from her room and checked in on her. She held her stomach tightly as she runs to the bathroom and vomits down the toilet. Her fever was high and within seconds, went into shock. Lauren was terrified and called the ambulance. As they returned to the hospital once again, the doctor analyzed her as it was too early to tell what was causing her agony, but was luckily stabilized, sleeping peacefully on the bed.

At the bunker, Henri stood up and looked at his newly mutated body. His skin was slightly paled and hardened. His five senses improved drastically. With gaining all the qualities his original genetics lacked, he was visibly enraged. Richard walks into the bathroom and sees Henri continuously punching a dent into the wall. He slowly backs out as silently as possible. As he walks to the lounge, he gets a call on his phone and answers it.

"Ahoy madam." he greeted.

"Where is Quade? He's not picking up." said Lauren

"Oh yeah, he's upstairs. Shall I call him?" he asked.

"Tell him it's urgent. It's about Patty." She said.

Richard rushes up the stairs and sees Quade finish typing a letter, prints it out and seals it within an envelope. He was informed and as he arrived at the hospital with Richard, he immediately had a word with the doctor alone.

"What's happening to her doc?" he asked.

The doctor sits him down and after finished assembling a report, he came to a conclusion.

"She is pregnant." he replied.

Quade sighs as holds his face, mildly stressed.

"You gave her treatments, including abortion pills, right?" asked Quade visibly confused and angry.

"I did, the abortion pills should've done the job, but in this case, in all my time, I have never seen a pregnancy diagnosis like this." he replied as he hands the report over, along with photos.

"Her Fallopian tube is being infected with unknown DNA that is not hers nor from a male either. As a matter of fact, it's not human at all." said the doctor with sympathy.

"Okay, okay." said Quade as he stood up, agitated.

"- In truth, that is not the worst part. I've noticed there were traces of Epinephrine, which you gave to keep her heart beating although the chemical reaction within her body is none I've ever seen before, and I've studied this my whole life. Suddenly, it’s like it’s all new to me again." said the doctor shocked and confused.

"What are you saying doc?" asked Quade visibly distressed.

"She's going to die soon, a couple months at best, that is if we keep her levels stabilized, but there's not much I can do for her here. I recommend that she be sent to Capital City.

I have a friend, one of the best surgeons in the country. I will put in the word for you." he said as he hands a Quade a document.

"No, I will take it from here." he replied as he left the room.

The doctor follows him out, giving a subtle aggression against his intention of not sending her away.

"Take it from where, her only hope is with the surgeon but- Quade listen, I can not in good conscious, let you deny her that." he said as he stood in front of him.

"Step aside doc, I know someone who can help her." he replied as he makes his way to Patty's bed and gently carries her out to the car.

The doctor calls the security guard to intervene, but was stopped by Richard.

“Sorry.” he said as grapples the guard and launches him across the receptionist’s desk.

"Hope? What's wrong with her? -What are you doing?!" asked Lauren as she followed.

"Get in, I'll explain on the way." he said as the trio enter the car and drove off to the rendezvous point, to meet up with Niphair.

“What was that all about? What’s wrong with you!” she asked.

“The Doctor can’t help her. I know someone who might be of use.” he replied.

“Are you taking her to Odessa?” she asked.

“She’s gone.” replied Quade.

“Gone? What do you mean gone, gone as in dead?” she asked.

“No, freed. I didn’t get the chance to tell you. Some things happened while I was away but you’ll find out soon enough. Please, trust me on this.” he said while he speeds down the road.

As they waited at the former residence of Odessa, Lauren grew impatient with the wait and asked, “what are we doing here Quade?”.

“Waiting for Niphair. They call themselves the Alyssium. Intelligent beings from the looks of it. They’re also our newest allies.” he replied.

“You think they can help her?” she asked.

“I hope so.” he said as he sees Niphair arrive at the scene.

“Holy shit” said Lauren visibly shocked as she sees the walking humanoid extraterrestrial.

“It’s time to leave, Quade Phoenix-” said Niphair until he noticed Patty.

“I need help Niphair, she’s dying. Can you save her?” asked Quade.

“Dorask will be able to heal her. He’s a universal master in understanding all kinds of Organisms. She does not have much time left.” said Niphair as he waves his hand over Patty, feeling her fainted energy.

“Okay great, thank you. Where do we go from here.” asked Quade.

“Just stand where you are and Relax. You might feel a little light head for the first time.” said Niphair as a bright light shine in front of their eyes and momentarily, a loud sound was heard.

After being able to withstand the dizziness, they realized they were on uncharted territory. They were transported to a landing zone, hovering in the middle of a large pit cave. There they meet three beings working in sync, operating highly advanced machinery. They, in sync stared at newly members as it was their first time seeing humans.

“Those are the Ikolis siblings. It’s thanks to them we’re able to travel the universe with ease. Come this way.” said Niphair as he escorts them out a large door, and into a hub of Intelligent beings roaming the Alyssium, with scrolls and artifacts.

He finally introduces them to Dorask, a tall, skinny figure with six arms, simultaneously reading and experimenting with different materials.

“She needs urgent attendance.” said Niphair.

“a human? What happened to her?” asked Dorask.

“a victim of a deep one.” replied Quade.

“Nasty creatures.” said Dorask as he gently analyzes Patty.

“Will she be okay?” asked Lauren.

“She will be just fine. Her genetics is rejecting the foreign bacteria, but it’s spreading to her heart. Interesting-” said Dorask as he discovered something unusual.

He takes a portable X-ray, hovers it over Patty’s stomach and projects it as a hologram. It detected something small, Idling.

“What is that?” asked Quade.

“That is, in human term, a fetus. When a deep one mates with a human female, the pregnancy procedure stays the same but in this case, this one has developed what should’ve taken eight weeks to fully form. At this rate of growth, a surgical extraction is crucial before it takes control of her heart. This will take some time.” said Dorask as he points them out the door.

“Come, Dorask never fails his tasks. Patty is in good hands.” said Niphair as he walks them out.

They walked outside the Alyssium to an open yard, decorated with non earth-like plants and large twisted trees.. Lauren and Richard continue to roam the area while Niphair had a personal conversation with Quade.

“Are we still on earth?” he asked.

“What do you think? You see that sun, it’s artificial.” replied Niphair.

“Artificial as in you guys made that?” asked Quade visibly shocked and impressed.

“Yes, it was not an easy task but we managed. Must’ve been one hell of a beast to swallow an entire sun. A powerful civilization predicted their demise would happen between themselves and after all that ended, this world just became another lifeless planet. This use to be a wasteland before we arrived, now it flourishes once more.” said Niphair.

“Why does that sound familiar.” said Quade as he stood there, contemplating about it.

Lauren noticed several giant rocks, a few feet apart. As she took a closer look, she was astonished as it had viking runes on it.

“Because you’re standing on the very ground the Aesir use to roam. Welcome to Asgard.” said Niphair as he shows the runes on the wall behind them, which Quade didn’t notice before.

“holy sh-.” he said visibly shocked.

“I was surprised to hear from King Senki that you were there during the attack. We’ve sent our emissaries after her but none returned. Your team was the only ones who survived making contact with her.” said Niphair.

“The woman in black? You know her.” he asked.

“Hermaya, a former member of the Alyssium gone rogue. We do not know why she left but what we do know is she freed a dangerous being that is a threat to the universe. Forgive me when I say this, but we’ve been keeping an eye on you for a while and after showing your true strength in the encounter with the Estoric Order, I knew you were the right one for the task.” replied Niphair.

“Which is what exactly?” asked Quade curiously.

“Bring Hermaya to a stop. Right now she is amassing an army to prepare for war, but we think it’s more than just that. What do you know about Ternion?” he asked.

Quade nods his head as they walk down the stairs towards a cliff with a beautiful view over the landscape.

“Ternion was a being that learned everything there is about the universe. The Knowledge It amassed was split into three books. The first one was the Book of Space. The second was the Book of Life, and the last one, hidden and never to be used, the Book of Time. Ternion scattered and hidden it across the universe, after there was some misuse of the knowledge, as you know, witchcraft, alternate dimensions and realms, magical artifacts etc. all were made from those books. Chasing her would be pointless, but if you look for the books, you will be bound to run into her again. We have resources for you to use, should you ever need it.” said Niphair as they regrouped with Lauren and Richard.

“I’m guessing you know where to begin?” asked Quade.

“Not yet. We shall start at several locations in the cosmos, but first, you need to learn to control your strength.” said Niphair as he points his finger at Quade’s chest.

“You have inherited one of the seven mythical creatures, The Phoenix. It is alive within you and eventually you will to learn to tame it. I cannot guarantee that this will be a breeze journey for you or your associates. It will, at some point, become life threatening. If you are not up for it, we will move on with an alternative option. So I ask once again, what is your answer Quade Phoenix?” said Niphair.

He took a moment looking at his teammates which nodded their heads in approval.

“When do we start?” replied Quade with a smirk on his face.