Out of practice, Alexander lost his grounding in the transition. He tried to stabilize himself, but the Root pushed back—a reminder of the Mother Tree's dislike for his ilk. Though eventually, one of them yielded, and he broke through into the inner dimension.

It was difficult to explain where he was. Even after years of traveling between fragments and worlds, Alexander still hadn't found a comprehensible explanation for these strange spaces between spaces that the Mother Tree formed. Every time he tried, it descended into pantomime and euphemisms to describe a feeling. A warm yet unwelcoming feeling that radiated with the desire to destroy him. Something he was experiencing at the moment, so at least he knew he was in the right place.

He pushed forward, scouting the region with his energy, but he couldn’t get a complete read. What he did know was that he was not close to Michael. He pulled on their contract only for it to push him away.

"Great," Alexander said, ending his command. "We're supposed to be doing this together."

He buried his complaints and refocused his attention on the search. If he found them, he would find the Aspect. The only trouble was, he was rusty, and the fine control he used to have in his true form was… not there. It had been a while since he spent any time in it.

With a slim clawed hand, he wrote out a set of simple symbols. These sigils of the Mother helped to stabilize him in the space and give him limited access to the Root's network. They also proved an unspoken benefit of protection from outside detection. After all, the last thing they needed was an impromptu demon invasion on top of everything

The sigils burned green in front of him then dispersed. Soon, a path formed before him. Along with that, a recognizable connection crackled to life.

"By the Mother, you're trying to die," Dahlia's voice came in hazy, distorted by the wavering signal. "Vines!" she cursed before fading out. It shrank to a whisper before exploded.

"There we go!" she exclaimed. Though, unlike before, there was no monitor. "Alexander, Alexander, can you hear me?"

"Unfortunately," he grimaced before fixing himself. "Yes, I hear you, Dahlia, but I'm busy." He pushed forward, trying to catch the tail of Michael's energy.

"Busy, that's rich," She tsked, "try being me." Her head petals rustled as she shook her head. "Anyway, you and Michael need to get back to your hosts. The Root can't support both of you."

"Can't do," Alexander said.

"Why not?"

"First, I don't know where Michael is. Second, if we go back, this fragment is finished. You might not have noticed, but there's an Aspect destroying it."

A noise came over the line. The only way Alexander could think to describe it was as the bastard child of a confused chuckle and a panicked whine.

"There's, there's a what now?" Dahlia stuttered.

"An Aspect, and by our assessment, it's Bloodlust. We entered to deal with him but were separated. I am tracking Michael, but it's difficult. Can you help?"

"Aspect? Bloodlust?" The thought overwhelmed her as various Caretaker horror stories filled her mind. Demons, voidlings, intrusive Fae, she was more than happy to fight. But even the veterans of the Overworld hesitated to mention the monsters. "No, no, that can't be." She breathed. "On my screen, I only see yours and Michael's signature along with the world signal," her voice turned irritated. "Don't think you can avoid your work by lying."

"I'm not lying," Alexander said agitatedly. He didn't have time to argue about this. He needed someone experienced with this kind of trouble. "Is Boss there?"

"Yea, he's meeting with the other team leaders," She replied.

"Call him back now. Tell him it's the Aspect of Bloodlust and that Michael went off to fight it on their own. Damn," he cursed as he once more lost his trail to shadowy intervention. With a sneer, Alexander brainstormed alternative ways of tracking his partner. The shadows were not on his side, but he thought of something. "Also, give me a route to this Root's guardian spirit. I need her."

"Since when were you my boss?" Dahlia snapped back, but she worked her magic. Once the path appeared, Alexander took it and raced into the personal domain.

Beneath him, a town came into view. He was miles above it, which turned the buildings tiny and delicate as roads snaked their way between them like silken thread. But under the barest of scrutiny, it became clear that he wasn't miles in the air. Instead, the town was the size of a child's playset. A diorama that sprawled out from a massive banyan tree and went far off into the horizon. As mundane as it was, when Alexander looked at it through his other set of eyes, it blossomed into a labyrinthine display. Roots spread out, twisting and turning under every building and structure. On the horizon, a larger tree beat with the same light as the banyan.

While impressive, the destruction they had witnessed in the mortal realm marked this domain as well. The town was crumbling. The same harsh red energy infected it, and even the banyan trees, for all their majesty, were waning. Alexander watched as the small golden shield barely covered the Maiden's tree. It beat with such fragile life that he was sure even an imp could crush it.

He went to step down, only to sense a burst of aggression. Pulling back, he avoided a flail of green roots that whipped at where he had just been. It followed him even as he tried to escape it. Frustrated by the onslaught, he forced out a spell in the aggravating caretaker's tongue.

It worked, catching the roots mid-air. It struggled against the restraint but could not budge. With the annoyance out of the way, Alexander hunted for its mistress. It was easy when he used the right eyes.

The Banyan Maiden glared at him, a hint of fear covered by a fierceness that would kill a normal man. He gave her a half smile. For all her intimidation, she was weak. More than half of her form was burnt and withered. Her massive canopy of hair now turned into a collection of twigs with only the barest leaves clinging to it. She was dying.

"The Banyan Maiden, I presume?" He nodded and adjusted his golden glasses. They perched dangerously low on his nose, having slide down during the attack.

She didn't respond, but she didn't need to as Dahlia spoke up. "She doesn't like you."

"Surprising," Alexander rolled his eyes. "I don't need you to like me, Maiden. I just need you to help me."

At the word ‘help’, the spirit moved back. She didn't know why, but part of her said not to trust anything that came from the demon's mouth.

"She's quite clever for a young one," Dahlia said, "Knows a forked tongue when she sees it."

"Dahlia, if you have enough free time to provide commentary, then you have enough time to work on preventing the end of the world," Alexander hissed before returning to the Banyan Maiden. "You don't have to trust me, but if you want you and your world to survive this, then I need you to take me to where Michael is." As he said his partner's name, a shadow curled around his throat before disappearing. It added a dimension to the name, all in hopes she would recognize it. After all, his partner had given her energy in the past.

Just as he predicted, a hint of recognition flashed on her face. But before Alexander could ask more, the spirit whipped around. Her attention focused on the town. An abrupt surge flooded a street, corrupting the thin root that rested beneath it. It chased its way down the path, crumbling pavement and building before a spear cracked against the golden shield. It remained standing, but one of the Maiden's few leaves fell.

With a tsk, Alexander went over. He ignored her attempt to threaten him and drew out a pair of sigils. Familiar symbols, they floated there for a second before merging with the shield. The blood spear retreated as the root faded yellow. Relief washed over the Maiden, and the shield glowed brighter. Alexander still worked as he pulled at a loose stream of black and red energy that slowly converge into the sigils he created. Solidifying, they sank into his palm.

A dark look overcame Alexander's face. He figured the Aspect was using Michael to hide, but the sigils should have extracted only Michael's energy.

"Take me to Michael now," he demanded. This time the Maiden didn't delay as she laid a path for them. It wasn't hard for her, but she didn't dare to approach the aggressive presence. She still didn't get close as they arrived at a massive swirling wall. A tempestuous storm of black that threatened to consume everything near it.    

Unafraid, Alexander stepped forward and rested a hand against it. It was unyielding beneath his charcoal palm. Though for all its threats, a soft shadow ran over his hand before melding back into the storm. In that brief caress, he saw the world blocked from him. His body trembled, and for a moment, destabilized as a various of appearances slithered across his form before he got control of himself.

"Damn it, Michael," Alexander cursed. "Dahlia, is the Goat there yet?" As he asked, he worked out a series of sigils. There was little else he could do. Even with lifetimes of experience, he was nothing against this maelstrom. The only area he could challenge it was with his command over their contract.

"Not yet. The message just got sent out," Dahlia absentmindedly said as she tried to understand her readings.

Alexander didn't reply as he drew faster. He was still dexterous as the few symbols soon turned into a massive collection of writing. Among them were sigils he rarely used for fear of calling upon his old enemies. But he didn't have time to worry about them. As he finished the fourth line, he dug at one of his left eyes until a smooth orb of dark blue goldstone popped out. It pulsed with faint, frantic energy.

Good, that meant it was still viable. It had been a while since he had bargained for a void seer's eye, but luckily, this one still had enough life for his plans. He shoved it into the middle of his work.

"Alexander, you need to get out of there," a deep voice cut over the line.

"No can do, boss." His writing shimmered and surrounded the embedded eye. It gazed out at him panicked, a hint of false sentience informing it of the danger. "Michael needs me."

"What Michael is dealing with is something far beyond your ability," the Goat said. "Get out of there and return to your host. We'll see what we can do here to support them."

"Dahlia couldn't even tell that there was someone else mixed in with their signal," Alexander said as he finished the second to last row of sigils. "I will not leave my husband's rescue to anyone but myself."

"Look here, you might have cheated your way out of the demon realm, but this is far beyond anything you have ever dealt with. If you even get close, if that is an Aspect, you'll be dead before you can say a single word."

"I feel like you're underestimating me."

"I'm protecting you."

"How kind. I didn't think you liked me that much."

"This isn't for you. For all my distaste about the match, Michael loves you, and as their guardian, I can't let you endanger yourself when they made such an obvious attempt to keep you out."

Beside the black-furred goat, Dahlia squeaked as her monitor blew up. After setting up an emergency hotfix to Michael's signal, she had tracked some disconcerting fluctuations. But it overwhelmed her system.

"Boss, I don't know what to do. Michael's original restraints are shot, and the untamed energy is overloading the fragment."

With a flourish of his wrist, Alexander finished his massive circle of sigils. Right in the middle, that stone eye swirled frantically, unable to escape from the shadows. "Protect the Maiden. Michael will feel guilty if they hurt her."

"Alexander, stop! Don't do it."

Alexander responded with a cocky grin, "My husband needs me. We'll see you soon. You have my word."

With that, he set off his spell. The collective sigils tremored, glowing brightly against the darkness. The wall shrank away from the light, releasing the eyeball from its place. It floated weightless until the sigils condensed and slammed into it. The eye blazed, forcing Alexander to shield his vision as it exploded.

The barrier gave way as the light grabbed and subdued it. But as Alexander systematically contained the shadows, something new came to free.

He didn't have time to react as a rush of red spewed out from the hole he had created. In the torrent, his connection with the Overworld was severed as he drowned in blood.

A/N

Worlds between worlds. Times between times.