"After everything I've done for you?!" he was pacing back and forth as he shouted. "After all my gifts, my generosity?!"

 

The yellow light shining in his eyes told her this was the God, not her husband. But she knew that already. She hadn't seen Alexander in at least three years. It was always Him now. Always the God, never the man she married.

 

Charlotte cringed as he shouted at her again, "I should have known!"

 

He stalked up before her and looked down at her, shaking his head slowly in disgust. "You're no better than that Roman swine who betrayed my people fourteen centuries ago!"

 

She shook slightly in fear as she looked down at the carpet, unable to meet his gaze.

 

She was on her knees now. He'd forced her into that position of subservience, his magic and his will had taken charge of her body. It was another demonstration of his power, to show her she could no longer trust even her own flesh and bone.

 

The angry God stalked away again, then turned towards her once more. He held up a small empty glass vial. "Poison?! You sought to end us both, for what? Some sort of foolish romantic notion? Would that that were so, woman! That I could have forgiven!"

 

He turned and threw the vial into the fire, then turned towards her once more. Now he held in his hand her private journal. 

 

Charlotte tried not to react, but she was sure he'd seen the shock in her eyes. Had he known of her writing all along? Or did he just find it now, after she'd attempted to act. Either way, she felt fear like never before. She knew the best she could hope for was a quick death, but she doubted he would be so merciful. 

 

What she feared most was that he'd put an end to her days of clarity. Leave her as the happy docile obedient wife for all eternity, with no hope of ever again being free. Worse still, if that happened no-one at all would remember her beloved Alexandra. 

 

For the past thirty-two years Charlotte kept that hope and those memories alive, if only for a handful of days each year. She'd finally figured out the pattern last year. It was always on days when the moon was full, but not every such day. Last March she noticed something, and confirmed it when she became aware again in September.

 

She regained her faculties on days when the full moon fell into eclipse.

 

Armed with that knowledge, she was able to plan ahead. She made arrangements, she made preparations. Using what time she had, she confirmed the full moon would next fall into eclipse in March seventeen-thirty-seven. It was tricky, and risky, but she arranged for the poison to be delivered to her on the very day she'd next become lucid.

 

And it worked! 

 

Her mind was clear today, and the delivery arrived on schedule. She immediately took it to the kitchen and administered it to the food that would be their evening meal. Charlotte had thought in doing so, she and Alexander might die together in sacrifice. To save the world from this God they'd unleashed in their ignorance.

 

Now her attempt was in vain, she'd sacrificed herself for nothing. Her last hope was that her journal would survive her, and through it the world would learn of her folly, and her warning. She'd also hoped it would keep Alexandra's memory alive, after Charlotte and Alexander and their God were gone.

 

"Please," she begged him, "Don't burn my journal. It's all I've got."

 

He looked from the book to the fire, but instead he tossed it at her. 

 

Charlotte winced as it struck her in the chest then fell to the floor before her.

 

"Take it," he sneered. "Retire to your chambers and make your last entry. I'll be along later this evening, to see you one final time."

 

She shuddered, then reached out and picked up her journal before slowly getting to her feet.

 

Before she left, she looked at him and asked nervously "Might I ask, what you are going to do to me?"

 

He stared at her a few moments, as if contemplating her fate. Finally he replied, "First, I am going to complete the task you and your precious husband began thirty-two years ago. In all that time, I've merely been sharing this body with him. Today I am going to take it for myself alone."

 

After a slight pause, he added "Of course, that will be the end of Alexander. His 'soul' will be destroyed, and all that he ever was will be gone forever."

 

"No..." Charlotte half-sobbed. She shook her head slowly as tears filled her eyes.

 

The God just smiled, "Oh yes. And then my darling Charlotte, after I have ended your husband's existence, I shall come and send you to your fate as well. Now run along. I'll see you in a little while. I'll give you time enough to write this down in your precious journal."

 

The tears were streaming down her face as she left the lounge. She no longer worried so much for her own fate. Her thoughts were on Alexander, and the memory of Alexandra.

 

In her private room, Charlotte sat at her desk. She hoped the God wouldn't burn her journal. She hoped he wasn't letting her write one final entry as some cruel taunt. With a shaking hand, she opened her jar of ink and took up her pen, and began to write out her final words. 

 

 

"Ok, wow." Zoe sighed, looking up from the journal. The last third of the book was empty, after those final few pages written in March of seventeen-thirty-seven. "That's really, really bleak."

 

Cindy sighed, "Yeah, I know."

 

Today was the full moon, and normally they'd be watching their email and social media to see how things were going. It was September and this would be the so-called 'fifth wave' of changes. If things worked out like the past two months, there'd be another couple million people worldwide using Cindy's transformation spell.

 

Instead, Cindy brought the two of them to her 'cabin' in Caer Aeronwy. She said she wanted to show Zoe something she'd found. Something they'd rescued from Alexander's mansion before it was destroyed last month when they got rid of the Anomaly.

 

Zoe looked at the small sorceress, who was sitting next to her on the sofa. "Why'd you want to read this, cutie? It wasn't exactly a fun read."

 

Cindy replied, "So it was with a bunch of other stuff we grabbed from Alexander's study, and I guess I thought it was gonna be something to do with magic? Like maybe it was a bunch of spells or something? But when I opened it, I found this wrapped up inside."

 

She held out her hand, revealing what looked like a large ruby. The gem was almost a half inch across. It was probably worth a small fortune, but Zoe knew Cindy didn't care about the monetary value. 

 

"So it's a ruby," Zoe said. "What's so special about it?"

 

"I think it's a person," Cindy replied quietly. "Remember what Aeronwy did to Richard? This ruby has the same feel to it."

 

"Oh fuck," Zoe sighed. Then she frowned, "Wait, do you think it's her? Charlotte?"

 

"It was bound up inside her journal," Cindy replied. "I can't think of anyone else it could be."

 

Zoe was quiet for a few moments as she stared at the ruby in her girlfriend's hand. If it was Charlotte, odds were she'd been like that since the last journal entry, some two hundred and ninety years ago.

 

From what Cindy told her, a person wouldn't be aware of time passing while in that state. So it's not like she'd be aware of three centuries of being held immobile, tucked into the binding of a book. But still, the thought of it turned her stomach. 

 

She wasn't sure what would be worse, though. To spend eternity like that, or to be freed after a few lifetimes had passed. Even if Charlotte emerged with no ill effects, she'd almost certainly be traumatized when she realized how much time she'd missed. Not to mention having to adjust to the world of today.

 

After a few moments of silence, Zoe asked "Are you thinking of getting her out of the ruby? Restoring her or whatever?"

 

Cindy nodded, "Full moon's today. And I checked, there's a partial lunar eclipse. It should be a 'lucid' day for her. Maybe once she's out, I can help her."

 

Zoe asked, "What if you can't though?"

 

Cindy sighed again, looking down at the floor. Finally she said, "Well, we could try again at the next lunar eclipse. It'll be in March..."

 

Zoe was quiet for another few moments, then said "We might have to take her to Maria you know? She might need some serious counselling, after everything she's been through."

 

"Yeah..." Cindy frowned. "I just don't know what else to do? I mean, I don't wanna leave her in limbo like that. Whatever happens once she's freed, that's gotta be better than the nothing where she's at now, right?"

 

Zoe shrugged slightly. She really wasn't sure which was worse. Either way it felt like an awful fate.

 

"You should think about what you're going to tell her, cutie," Zoe suggested. "Not just about how she's been gone for three hundred years, but about how you've defeated Alexander. You've got him more or less stuck in limbo now too."

 

Cindy sighed again "I know. I'll figure something out." 

 

Zoe asked, "Is there any way you could save her husband? Or even restore Alexandra? I think that's something Charlotte will want to know, as soon as she gets past all the other shocks."

 

The small sorceress sighed once more, but this was a longer, deeper sigh. 

 

She shook her head, "I've been studying Alexander. I think he did exactly what he told Charlotte he'd do? I don't think there's anything left of his 'vessel' apart from the physical body."

 

Cindy hesitated, then frowned as she started to explain.

 

"So like with Nikki, there's a little piece of the Goddesses within her? Like, part of their shared consciousness or whatever. Mostly though, the Goddesses all stay in their courts. They can possess her and take over now and then, and when they do Nikki can be awake and aware, or she can be like, unaware, unconscious, whatever. But Nikki's always still around in one way or another?"

 

Zoe nodded quietly.

 

Cindy continued, "And like, with me and Aeronwy, I kinda scrambled that up so it's different. There's still a piece of her in me, but it's not a piece of her consciousness or her awareness. It's uh... A piece of her that's mostly just connected to her power. All of her consciousness, all of her personality, is locked away in that statue. That's how I can tap into her power without letting her take over my body and stuff."

 

"Ok," Zoe nodded again.

 

"With Alexander, what I think's happened is the God fully moved all of himself into the vessel's body. Like, there's no part of the God left in some heavenly court somewhere. He completely moved into the body and took over, and when he did that, it probably destroyed all the other intangible parts of the vessel?"

 

Zoe sighed, then frowned. "Why would the God do that, though? I mean, apart from being a sadistic asshole, what's the benefit to him?"

 

Cindy explained, "So Gods can't live and exist on Earth, can't interact directly with the mortal realm right? They always hafta go through a vessel. It's because there's something Gods don't have, something they need to exist or whatever on Earth. Call it, humanity or mortality or whatever. I think by taking over the body completely, Alexander the God was able to let himself exist full-time on the mortal realm. He used magic to keep the body young and healthy and basically immortal, so he could just stay on Earth indefinitely."

 

She added, "That might be the only way a God can actually exist and live on Earth directly, as themself. Like permanent posession instead of the temporary stuff that happens with the other Goddesses and Nikki?"

 

"Hmmm," Zoe was still frowning. Finally she said, "So you figure the Alexander or Alexandra that Charlotte knew and loved is gone forever. Their body exists but you've got it entombed in stone because of the asshole God who took it over..."

 

Cindy sighed, "Yeah."

 

Zoe shook her head, "None of this is going to be easy to explain to Charlotte, if you bring her back."

 

"I know," Cindy pouted. "But I still think it'd be better for her, than not existing at all? I still think, or hope that maybe I can help her somehow?"

 

"Ok Cindy," Zoe nodded. "I guess we'll see how it goes."

 

The small sorceress carefully set the ruby down on the floor, a few paces away from the sofa and chairs. Then she moved back. Cindy's eyes lit up with the lilac-coloured glow as she tapped into Aeronwy's power, and a swirling column of light expanded out from the gem.

 

After a few seconds the swirling light faded. The ruby was gone, and the woman was there in its place. 

 

Charlotte stood no taller than Cindy, she was about five-foot-two, but was beautiful. And as her journal suggested she looked no older than someone in her early twenties. Her hair was almost black in colour and hung down past her shoulders with a slight waviness to it. Her eyes were blue, her lips full and red. She was wearing a rather fancy looking dress, in a style appropriate for a wealthy woman of the first half of the eighteenth century. 

 

The brunette stood there for a few moments in silence. Her eyes were wide with shock or fear, and her face was pale. Zoe could see the woman was breathing in short, shallow breaths. She looked somewhere between terrified and confused.

 

As she stood still, her wide eyes darted around, taking in her surroundings. She looked at Cindy standing before her, and at Zoe sitting on the sofa nearby. She undoubtedly took in other details of the cabin. The large fire, the statue of Aeronwy, the furniture, perhaps even the mountains visible through the windows.

 

Then without a word, she crumpled to the floor in a faint.

 

"Well," Zoe sighed, "That's probably one of the better reactions we could have hoped for."

 

"Yeah," Cindy sighed as well, then moved to help the unconscious woman.

 

 

"Well?" Lauren asked, an expectant smile on her face. "What do you think? Be honest."

 

Charlotte looked down at the brand-new paperback novel she held in her hands. She slowly turned it over, admiring the realistic artwork on the glossy cover. She opened it to some random spot near the middle, and stared for a moment at the crisp black letters on the clean white paper.

 

She closed the book again and stared once more at the cover. There, embossed in flowing white letters across the top was her name. Charlotte Teasdale. Ostensibly a work of fiction, the book was in fact her autobiography. She'd rewritten her journal in the form of a novel. The main character had a made-up name of course, and a few other personal details were altered or omitted. For the most part though, everything in the book was true. 

 

The two women were in the living-room of her comfortably-furnished upscale apartment in downtown Melbourne. 

 

The blonde sitting across from her was Charlotte's agent. Lauren was in her mid- to late-forties. She was smartly dressed, with beige slacks and a matching jacket over a white blouse. She wore white heels on her feet. Her hair was professionally styled, trimmed to just above her shoulders, and her make-up and jewelry were subtle but attractive. 

 

Charlotte wasn't quite used to the style and fashion of the modern world, but she was making an effort. Today she wore an ankle-length sleeveless dress. It was light and flowing, and suitably cheerful with a floral motif over a black background. The material was lighter than she was used to in her day, and of course the bare arms and lack of petticoats seemed slightly scandalous to Charlotte. But February in Australia was like August in England. 

 

She'd taken up residence here primarily because it was close to the home of her benefactors. The young sorceress and the feline witch who saved her from her fate lived in this part of the world. They and their friend Sidney had all been very patient, helpful, and understanding, while Charlotte adapted to this new and very different world into which she'd been released.

 

Her thoughts finally returned to the meeting at hand. She looked up at her agent and smiled, "It is really quite remarkable, Lauren."

 

Lauren gave her a warm smile, "Isn't it, though? It's always exciting, getting your hands on your first author's copy of your first published book."

 

Charlotte nodded, "I'd never have imagined such a thing might happen. Thank you, Lauren. I don't know what else to say."

 

"Not at all! It's a remarkably engaging and well-written novel. Honestly it's hard to believe it's your first, and that you're only twenty-two."

 

That brought a slight blush to Charlotte's face, but Lauren just grinned and continued talking.

 

"I admit I wasn't all that enthusiastic when I first saw the premise. Romantic tragedies sell ok of course, but it takes more than that to grab my attention. The supernatural element was good though, that's popular again these days of course, but your take on it was quite fresh and unique. And setting it in the seventeen-hundreds, well again period stories can be popular but only if they're done well. And my goodness Charlotte, you really did it well!"

 

The enthusiasm in the older woman's voice was unmistakable as she went on, "The level of detail you put into the historical aspects were honestly what really sold me on it. Before we met, I actually expected you to be a retired history professor or something? Or at least someone who'd spent a few decades researching that period. Seriously Charlotte, you casually wove aspects of that era into your story with more authenticity than some historical texts."

 

Charlotte blushed again, but smiled politely and said "I suppose I have something of a gift, when it comes to clarity of vision for that period of time."

 

Lauren continued, "It was another bit of genius, the way you left the ultimate fate of the main character somewhat uncertain. I mean, the book stands well on its own as a tragedy of course. But I can tell you've left the door open for the possibility of a sequel."

 

The agent paused, then with a sly smile and a conspiratorial tone in her voice she asked "Tell me, what have you planned for a follow-up? Will Lady Georgia ever be released from her enchanted prison? What does the future hold for her?"

 

A look of melancholy came across her face and Charlotte breathed a quiet sigh. She stared down at the novel in her hands, then answered in a soft voice.

 

"It is nowhere near as glamorous and captivating as the original story, but... After the passage of nearly three centuries, her enchanted prison was discovered by a well-meaning young sorceress and she was freed into the modern day. She is forced to adjust to life in a world very different from that which she knew. A world where three hundred years separate her from all she knew and loved. A world where she has very few useful skills, and all her knowledge is badly out-of-date. Fate brings her Australia, and one of her few useful talents is writing. So she attempts to find utility as an author. She ends up publishing her memoirs, disguised as a work of fiction."

 

An uneasy silence settled in the air between the two women. Charlotte continued staring down at her book, almost afraid to look up and see what Lauren thought of her thinly-veiled confession.

 

After a minute or so, the older woman finally spoke.

 

"It sounds very different from the original... I suppose I'd need to see a more in-depth synopsis, or even a rough draft, before I could give you a professional opinion. Going from a period romantic-tragedy to a contemporary fish-out-of-water story is probably going to be too big of a genre-shift to bring most readers along."

 

Lauren added after a few moments, "Still, if you could work some romance and tragedy into it, that could work. Perhaps Lady Georgia divides her time between writing and trying to find a way to resurrect or restore her dear husband Alexander?"

 

Charlotte half-whispered, "Or her beloved wife Alexandra."

 

Before Lauren could respond, Charlotte forced a smile and pulled herself up out of her melancholy. "Of course, we should wait and see how the first book is received before we delve too deeply into thoughts of a sequel, don't you think?"

 

"Indeed," Lauren nodded. She added with a grin, "Though from the preliminary reviews I've seen, I don't think you need to worry too much about sales."

 

Charlotte nodded quietly, but it was hard to maintain the mask of happiness while her thoughts remained in the distant past with Alexandra.

 

The older woman glanced at the clock then stood up "Anyways, I'd better dash. I'll talk with you in a day or two about some publicity. We'll see about getting you out doing some interviews and appearances during the first two or three weeks of sales. As much as I think your story sells itself, it never hurts to give it an extra push."

 

"Thank you Lauren," Charlotte replied. "I'll look forward to your call."