The same day; Day 12 (Tuesday, May 10, 2022) Undisclosed location, New Jersey, United States

Peelatchachía told Isaac that being around Ella had become too painful: the power she was emitting felt like sharp jabs. It went on to say that Ella had done something remarkably stupid and was lucky to be recovering.

Isaac had asked what was happening to her or if she would wake up, but the raven had just flown off. Which usually meant it didn’t know.

Both Isaac and Jade were getting restless. Charlie basically was glued to her laptop most of the time, and Ella’s mother spent her time in the room or sleeping elsewhere. Eventually, they both got permission to go on morning jogs with the off-duty guards in the woods. They never saw anything besides trees, but it was something.

These soldiers were unlike anyone Isaac had ever met. Peelatchachía had said they were scorpion people. All of them. They trained rigorously, prayed to Ella as their goddess, and when they talked, were just as likely to mention something that happened yesterday as a thousand years ago or more.

Arcsa was different. He trained with the soldiers but was a bureaucrat of some sort the rest of the time. The other one, Bahu, scared him. She vacillated between remarkably scary to silly constantly. The soldiers called her Bahu the Believer and she apparently was the one to find Ella. The scorpions all said Arcsa was her prophet, but Bahu was her inquisitor.

Peelatchachía returned suddenly and flew to his soldier, Something new has arrived. Something magical. It feels creepy. We should leave.

“What do you mean creepy?” Isaac asked.

Like spiders are crawling up my legs. Like someone is behind me waiting to cut my throat. Like I need to shower for a year. Like the gods have turned their backs and withdrawn their protection. We need to go, now!

Isaac had never heard Peelatchachía so panicked. Suddenly the bird jerked to the side and his talons, normally insubstantial, dug into Isaac’s shoulder.

“Hey…”

Between that girl blasting magic in tsunami-like waves and this new thing, I am going even if you stay.

Ella was tired of being killed. Even in her dream. It had taken her far too long for these bizarre dreams to coalesce into something she could process.

“Yes, I know this is a dream.” she yelled.

“Well, that was entertaining, but even I was growing weary of it,” said a remembered voice. Ella turned around to see that same noseless and earless head, the glowing white eyes and onyx skin.

“Ekerri!”

“Now, now. Certainly no reason to be impolite, my heir-designee and Crown Princess of the Thousand Kingdoms.”

He waited, and Ella tried to resist, but it was hard to stay focused in this state and it slipped out of her, “Your Majesty.” She managed to stop herself from kneeling, but it was a close thing.

“That’s better. You have done better than you had any right to do, and this new magic you have acquired; it is quite wild and impressive. It will probably kill you.”

Ella felt cross, she couldn’t quite think in this state, and so immediately she snapped, “Well then, it will have done a better job than you.”

Ekerri just smiled gently, “Perhaps. But maybe I can just offer you another chance. Walk away. Surrender the crown and whatever this new a magic is, and go back to your family and life. We don’t have to be in opposition.”

Ella had fallen into a fugue while he talked and was watching the pink clouds that surrounded her go by. It was pretty. When what he said penetrated, she forced herself to focus.

“I don’t think I can do that.” What didn’t need to be said is: how could she trust him to leave her alone? She knew of his dislike for humans, but he clearly was also working with them. He had tried to kill her. Oh look there was a cloud that looked like a bunny…

“I will be taking the crown back then on my own. It won’t be pleasant for you. Nor your family.”

“Hmmm…” Ella was having so much trouble focusing. The mention of her family made her sharp though. She felt like the ground was shaking. “You do what you gotta do, I’ll do the same.”

“I do not think it will be so long before we meet again, in person this time.”

The disturbance was growing. She could feel it. She wanted this to end and go back to her normal dreams.

“I think you are right,” she managed.

And then woke up.

Ixus Capital, Midtown, Manhattan, New York, United

Charlie was working through a revised set of investment models for Xu, he wanted a set of hedges for market collapse which meant that actual physical goods rather than options needed to be acquired and then protected.

It was hell since the amount of societal collapse was hard to predict and that made the amount to invest hard as well. She was working through a complete collapse scenario: if you buy farmland and food stocks, then you need to protect them, which meant mercenaries that you need to keep happy and protected and loyal, which meant family housing and schools and privileges that would be unique. It was a maze of thought Charlie had no idea how to handle, a set of thought experiments and game theory that made her head hurt.

May you live in interesting times was truly an apocryphal curse, she thought. Then she scolded herself, ‘apocryphal’, who used words like that except Ella?

And then she heard a noise and looked up and saw that Ella was tossing and turning. Somewhat violently.

Her eyes were glowing again in staccato beats.

She started shifting violently and Charlie put aside her laptop and pressed the call button while holding Ella by the shoulders.

“Come on Ella!” Charlie yelled over outside the room, “She is having a seizure or something!”

The on-call doctor rushed in and started checking Ella but before they got to far, a pulse of light burst forth from her and Charlie and the rest could feel actual physical pressure shoving them back, knocking over the doctor and shoving Charlie back against the wall.

As Charlie regained her bearings she heard something.

“What’s going on?” Ella asked, her mouth felt dry and it was hard to talk.