Waking to the sound of clacking noises outside, Cer abruptly notices another presence sitting in the room.

“Who’s there? How did you get in?”

“I’m sorry. Didn’t Nova tell you I was coming to get you? I am a friend, not a foe. Otherwise, I would not be allowed in this building,” responds a voice from a chair in the corner of the room.

Looking towards the source of the voice, Cer examines the aura and energy of the voice, and discerns that the source is no threat nor is it magical. “Are you of Ursa Dormis?”

As the presence stands to check the activity outside through the window, she responds, “I don’t think you’ll remember me. I am Pixie, and no, I am not a witch. I have been the caretaker of this place since the members of the Ursa Dormis hospitality group left it. I am a friend and fan of Kalypso. She left this place in my care a little less than 2 years ago. I was scribed a talisman that allows me to enter and leave without giving away its nature. Nova has sent me to retrieve you. It is almost kiki time. I was told you will be joining us for the kiki.”

Hmmm. For Kali to have had a talisman scribed for her means that she can be trusted. Afterall Kali would never let anything happen to me, and scribes are hard to come by. Smiling with a sense of relief, Cer offers Pixie a single candle engraved with The Apiary sigil. “Since you are a friend of Ursa Dormis, I can trust you with this then.”

GASP. “The Apiary. I didn’t know you work for The Apiary now. You brought us supplies!! We were running low, and no matter what we build to supplement the magic here, we can’t replicate honey. Did you also bring honey?” squeals Pixie with excitement.

With a bit of confusion, Cer responds while fumbling to tidy the bed, “What do you mean replicate honey? What is it that you all do in The Mecca?”

Grabbing the wooden box and handing it to Cer, Pixie announces proudly, “We have advanced our technology after the war! Mech and tech were cursed but we have have been blessed in The Mecca to continue to advance our own craft and technology without being attacked! Because WE DEVELOP OUR OWN WITCH-TEK!!”

Pausing to process what is being heard, Cer throws the wooden box over the left shoulder and responds, “Then why am I here if you have your own way to fix things?”

“Aside from the honey supply delivery, I don’t know why you are here. You’ll have to ask Nova why she called for you. Also I heard from Neko you are blind, so I doubt it’s to help us deal with the invisible hoard.”

For the first time since stepping into Cherub’s portal, a sense of excitement over the familiar joy of home washes over Cer’s body, “Wait... Neko is here? What is she doing here outside of Scryer’s Tower and Haeven? When do I get to meet her?”

With a look of confusion washing over Pixie’s face, she responds, “Ummm, you already met with her. How else do you think you got past the shield? Only Neko or Yasmina can let people in or out.”

Sensing Pixie’s aura of confusion, Cer responds tersely with disbelief, declaring, “Yasmina, I can understand. She is probably the one that made the bubble shield and she lives here. But Neko? That’s impossible. That can’t be my Neko. Neko is a scryer from Haeven. Unless she has a cat, she can’t port. And we all know cats are almost extinct from poaching… That can’t be Neko. She wouldn’t leave the tower. Scryers usually don’t leave the safety and comfort of their tower.”

“You don’t really visit your friends, do you? Two years ago, we found Neko outside our bubble trying to get in. Apparently Neko can only port to places she can see in her mind- places she can remember or visualize,” Pixie responds with a bit of fact.

“Yes, that is how porting works. I know, I used to port a lot. But unless you have a cat or have feral blood, you can’t port. Neko is a scryer, she can literally see anything she wants to; the trick is getting a scriber to draw the image or memory so a cat can see the place. So is there a cat and a scribe here in The Mecca?” Cer inquires with confusion and impatience growing.

“Maybe we know of different Nekos. Because our Neko can’t scry. AND our Neko IS A CAT. She is a strange cat that wears a funny top hat, the same one we found her with outside our bubble 2 years ago. Shortly after she arrived, the black mass appeared outside our bubble to the West, and the conquys, demons, monsters, and souls or ghosts all started gathering to the west. We have been getting increasing attacks, which is why we need the honey for our defensive bubble,” Pixie explains as she shudders from the thought of what lies outside the bubble.

So I am not the only one cursed? Did Neko get cursed at the same time as me? How did she end up out here? While holding curiosity in, Cer responds “So, you are getting strange attacks too. I wonder if that is the reason Nova asked for me. I wonder if your Neko can get me home as well. I look forward to meeting your Neko nonetheless to thank them for getting me in. Apparently they recognize me from somewhere, so it’ll be nice to get acquainted. I need to also ask why there was no presence or living thing between Aisling and here. Maybe it is something Nova can explain to me later.”

While pondering about who this Neko could be, Cer is suddenly interrupted by three long blasts of a horn blaring through the air.

Pixie, also experiencing the daze of being startled by the horns, fills with excitement, “This is our first signal. Listen for the crowd to pack up and disperse. When the horn blares three more time, we can head to the City Center for our kiki.”

Listening intently to the noise of the crowd outside packing their wares and stations up for the nightly lockdown, Cer and Pixie drift off into their own thoughts- awaiting for the next three sounding blasts of the horn.

-break-

“Help! Help! Help! My dad is stuck!!!” A little freckled pink-haired girl screams while running through the streets of Aisling, a small and quaint but industrious town made of wood, stone, brick, and metal. Smoke can be seen from a great distance away as the buildings catch fire one by one.

The smell of burning wood and roasting flesh taints the air. The faint nodes of copper and iron burn the edge of Cer’s nose as a terrifying revelation washes over Cer- some of the people in Aisling are trapped inside the burning brick buildings behind the visibly melted metal doors. The trapped people are baking alive. Their blood is boiling and Cer can smell their despair.

Cer, being no more than 18 years old, stands in the street with furrowed eyebrows, smelling the air and listening for signs of people. “Captain Hellion! Free the people in the stone, brick, and metal buildings, your battalion’s mech-armor suits can break through! The people are being baked alive!”

“On it! We will not let these people down,” responds Captain Hellion. “Gen-U squad, you are with me! We are Team A. We are going to secure the people at the bank of Aisling! Our suits can get through the metal and cool the area for safety. Everyone else of the 24th battalion, you are Team B! Get to the people in the brick and stone buildings. Get those people out and over to the bank! We are the reason death came to their door, we must be the reason they all live and see another day! May Mana flow in our favor!”

“AT NO EXPENSE OF OTHERS” shout, the members of the 24th battalion in unison as they quickly disperse to search and rescue people.

Trying to organize efficiently, Captain Hellion shouts commands to Team A “Ai and Woody! Go secure the bank. Apeks, you are with me. We need to stall General Rodon and the Dorylus soldiers. Cer, do what you do, take care of the souls and demons. We can’t see or sense them like you can. I have a feeling the General is getting help from a shade or demon. There is no way our empire would do this!”

“In my short life, I have seen many atrocities, Captain. I know Rodon is feeding the demons and they are aiding Rodon. I can smell them. I know, the Empire has always been about colonizing, so I am not surprised if Rodon has the blessing from the top of your Empire. I am just glad you and your battalion chose to defect. You do realize, you may all be killed on sight for treason and mutiny? You won’t even be given a trial for defecting. Rodon will have you massacred on sight.”

“Don’t worry about us. Right now, we need to save these people. We can worry about our fates later.” shouts Captain Hellion with a nod of chagrin before running towards the bank of Aisling.

“Help! Help! Help! My dad!!!” Cer hears the young girl shout again.

“I got you. Stand over there away from the buildings” Cer shouts while running towards the animal shelter of Aisling.

As Cer runs past the freckled pink-haired girl, Cer’s reflection in the glass windows of the building reveal Cer’s eyes changing from light golden honey umber to a dark red umber. “Allister and Alastor. I will need you both for this!” Cer shouts, as visible energy and mana of changing colors cover Cer’s body.

“Famished after our Fallow! The third eye calls upon you! AWAKEN! It is time to Feast.” growls Cer as a dark shadow starts growing out of Cer’s back, just out of sight from the pink-haired girl.

Cer shouts back to the pink-haired girl and reassures her as Cer disappears into the smoke pluming from the fires, “I got your father. This won’t take long at all.”

In a flash of an instant, without warning or trace, Cer vanishes and re-appears inside the animal shelter of Ailsing. Hmm that was reckless bravado. That was dangerous. I could have ported into the wall itself. Well, let’s get her father and these dogs out first and… wait… that mana…that aura…

Startling Cer, three long consecutive sounds of a horn blare in the distance.

Becoming more aware of the daydream Cer just awoken from, Cer’s mind slowly departs from the darkness of the memories. Realizing that they had both withdrawn into their minds, Cer draws attention back to Pixie and nudges her out of her thoughts with an endearingly warm tone, “Pixie, earlier you mentioned that I may not remember you. But I remember exactly who you are. About 10 years ago a conquy was tearing up Aisling and it was about to devour your dad. You were that little freckled pink-haired girl. This is when the 24th battalion defected from Rodon and his empire. I believe it was your dad, Wyndel, that I saved.”

Responding with excitement at Cer’s memory of her, Pixie adds, “It was the first time I have ever seen a demon shriver. It was amazing watching you in action. You saved me, my dad, and the dogs. That was also the only time I’ve ever seen a conquy up close. You literally won single-handedly. I was sure you wouldn’t remember me. You have made such a big impact in my life.”

Grinning warmly, Cer reflects Pixie’s joy. “How could I not remember you? The mind will recall what the heart cannot forget. We often will impact people’s lives even when we do not think we are a part of it. You have definitely had an impact on mine.”

“WHAT?!?! I made an impact on you? It has been so long, and the world has changed so much. You were saving so many people and hunting ghosts, demons, and conquys, I wasn’t sure you’d remember me,” Pixie announces with great surprise. “You saved us from the conquy in Aisling…That day was so chaotic…”

As Pixie continues recalling the past, a dark aura of loss and immense pain engulfs Pixie. “…Then the Dorylus army came…”

Picking up on her mood as Pixie trails off, Cer chooses to redirect her thoughts, being very careful with what words are spoken. “Yes, I remember. Your dad was trying to rescue the puppies at the shelter in Aisling. I remember the battalion and I arrived there just in time to get the dogs and your father out before the building was devoured in flame. It was an epic save..”

While trying to avoid triggering Pixie’s dark memories, a sudden emptiness also begins to fill Cer after failing efforts to circumvent the pain of the past. “That was a less fortunate day for so many people. We failed to save Aisling in the end. I am sorry… Aisling fell and so did everyone else in it…”

Noticing Cer’s tone of defeated guilt, Pixie interjects Cer’s thoughts with the facade of gleeful ignorance, “But you did save me, my dad, and the dogs. They are the last known dogs in our part of the world. They are still alive and safe. My dad still takes care of them. He’ll be happy to see you again. You also sealed the conquys, demons, and monsters.”

Feeling more despair and guilt, Cer continues to ruminate internally while remaining outwardly composed. I sealed EVERYTHING. Demons. Conquys. Monsters. I sealed every soul of the deceased, the lost, and the despairing. I am no different than the devourers of souls. I am no different than Morrigahan. We paid a great price of pain to contain the spread of pain- that price may have been too great.

Hiding Cer’s pain and guilt, Cer looks up at Pixie’s wavering aura and chooses to also hide behind the facade of gleeful avoidance and ignorance, “You are right. I am glad we saved what we could and sealed what we needed to. Come, I heard the horns again. It’s time. Let’s go.”