Chapter 18
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Find Valkyrie’s group. That was all Whisper had to do. Find a pair of world-conquering masterminds who had gone into hiding. Easy enough. After all, it had only taken a year to find Tlön. And, technically, it had been the Aerialist who had worked out the location of her hideout.

Whisper wasn’t even sure if he should be doing this. Lucas seemed to believe that he could convince Valkyrie to give up on her plan and help them fight Valpurgia, but Whisper was doubtful. What could he possibly offer her at this point? And even if he did succeed, how could they be sure she wouldn’t stab them in the back at the first opportunity?

And then there was Krisztina. Elise was inclined to trust her change of heart, but Whisper, as always, was more doubtful. After all, if Valpurgia needed Lucas, didn’t it make sense to keep Krisztina as close to him as possible? He wanted to leave her behind somewhere safe while he searched for Valkyrie, but he wasn’t sure where to begin with that search and Krisztina already had a plan. Furthermore, Elise pointed out that they needed to put everything they had towards fighting Valpurgia. Hesitating out of caution could grant her an advantage. So, despite Whisper’s better judgment, he brought Krisztina to his apartment.

Far too many people were getting to know this location.

While Krisztina used a piece of chalk to draw on his coffee table, Whisper entered what he had come to think of as Shudder’s bedroom. Whatever Lucas was doing was out-of-costume, so it was easy to borrow Shudder’s baton. They might not have anything belonging to Valkyrie, but Tlön had given this baton to Shudder. He returned to the living room and placed it in the center of the circle on the coffee table, at Krisztina’s instruction.

“I really don’t like scrying,” Krisztina admitted. “But it’s the fastest way to get an answer.”

She sat down on the floor and placed her fingers at the edges of the circle. She didn’t give Whisper any instructions, so he remained standing, looking down at her. She stared at the baton, her eyes growing distant, and Whisper wondered if there was a visual difference between ‘entering a trance’ and ‘being in a trance.’ Would he know when she was having a vision?

The question received an unexpected answer when she let out a piercing scream.

Whisper froze, not sure how to help her. Should he remove her hands from the circle? Or would that make things worse? As he hesitated, her scream continued unbroken.

He decided to risk it when smoke began to rise from her face, reaching across the table to gently lift her wrists. As soon as her fingers were off the chalk she pulled away, collapsing sideways onto the carpet. Whisper shifted the coffee table aside and knelt next to her. There were no visible injuries, but there was still a little smoke rising from her eyes, ears, and nostrils, quickly dissipating in the air.

She moaned. “That sucked.”

At least she was alive. “What happened?” Whisper asked.

Krisztina shifted until she was laying more comfortably on the floor. “I don’t know. I’ve never heard of a mystical defense like that. Usually they just cut off the scryer and alert the target. A really good magic user can scry you back. But this?” She waved a hand vaguely. “It felt like a blowtorch to the brain.”

“Do we need to get you help?”

“I should be okay. Vampiric healing and all. But I don’t think I’m going to be able to help you find Valkyrie.”

Then, unless Whisper could think of something, they were at a dead end. “How does Lucas think we’re supposed to do this?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be some brilliant investigator?” Krisztina asked from the floor.

“Investigation takes time. I need to look at public records, research online, contact informants.”

“Then you’d better start making calls.” Krisztina’s attitude was beginning to get under his skin.

He rose and glared down at her. “I might as well throw darts at a map of Fairfield. Or the entire world, for all we know. I don’t know anyone who’s already tracing—” He cut himself off, suddenly seeing the answer that had been staring him in the face. “I do know someone who’s tracing Valkyrie’s movements.”

“Is this going to involve getting up?” Krisztina asked.

“Yes. We’re going back to the bar.”

There were a number of people who might have information on Valkyrie. STRIX could have a lead and were waiting for backup to pursue. Other local superheroes might know something. Arachne could be keeping an eye on a potential threat. But all of these were maybes. There was only one group who were certain to be watching Valkyrie as closely as possible because they were a group she was known to target. Small fry.

As they made their way back to Serpent’s Lair, Krisztina seemed to recover quickly. It seemed that whatever had happened wouldn’t leave any permanent damage. For his part, Whisper was already missing the convenience of Lucas’ portals. Even a journey of a half-hour felt like ages compared to the seconds-long trips from earlier that evening.

Eventually, however, they were back in the comfortably dim lights and stiflingly loud music of the bar. Whisper scanned the room. Things had picked up since his previous visit and both the tables and dance floor were crowded, but neither darkness nor rapidly-shifting crowds impeded his ability to scan the room for someone he recognized.

Soon enough, he spotted a table with four women. None were in costume, but Gremlin’s pointed ears stood out nonetheless. As they got closer, he also recognized Bodkin’s red ringlets. The other two, a short, rough-looking woman with a buzz cut and a dark-haired woman with supermodel-perfect wing-tip eyeliner, were unfamiliar to him. Whisper’s instincts urged caution. They were outnumbered, and while neither Gremlin nor Bodkin were much danger unarmed, it was anyone’s guess what the others could do. However, the part of him that was Elise urged him forward, reminding him that they would be foolish to start a fight in Euryale’s sight.

As he reached the table, Gremlin was the first to speak. “Whisper. Taking a night off from harassing Shudder?”

“I need your help.” Trying to wriggle around the fact that it was a request for help would not do them any good, and Whisper usually preferred a direct approach.

Bodkin giggled. “I didn’t know we were having entertainment with our drinks.”

Buzz Cut gave a smirk. “Alright, this has got to be good. What possible reason could we have for helping you?”

Whisper wasn’t sure if this would really be the outcome of whatever Lucas was doing, but decided to pretend he was. “If I can find Valkyrie, I can help ensure she’s no longer a threat to you.”

Buzz Cut’s expression was a mixture of surprise and excitement. She opened her mouth to reply, but Wing-Tip spoke first. “Interesting choice of phrase. Not ‘stop her’ or ‘arrest her.’ ‘Ensure she’s no longer a threat’? How?”

Buzz Cut tightened her jaw, looking more suspicious than ever.

“He’s probably planning to join her,” Gremlin said.

Whisper resisted looking at Krisztina for some idea of what to say. Looking unconfident would only make him look more suspicious. But how to convince them? It was best to stick to the truth in case Buzz Cut or Wing-Tip were psychic, but how much of the truth should he reveal? Leading with Lucas’ effort to recruit Valkyrie would put an end to any chance of their cooperation, so another approach was necessary.

“There are worse threats out there than Valkyrie.”

Buzz Cut scowled. “People like Valkyrie always say they’re out there to stop the real threats. But for some reason they always end up stepping on people like us instead.”

“There’s already Nova Legion and Heaven,” Bodkin added. “What do we need Valkyrie for?”

“Heaven is the problem,” Whisper said. “Valpurgia’s betraying STRIX and attempting to summon an army of demons.”

The expressions of amusement and annoyance around the table fell away, replaced with doubt. Only Buzz Cut’s remained stern. “So you’re planning to work with a fascist to stop her?”

Whisper was beginning to suspect that Buzz Cut was Quetzal, a supervillain known for her outspoken left-wing views. This was something Elise knew how to use. So it was more her than Whisper who spoke next. “No, Valkyrie isn’t a fascist. She’s an authoritarian, but not a fascist. Valpurgia, on the other hand, is a fascist.”

“How so?” Quetzal asked.

“She wants to create a dictatorship with herself in charge, she romanticizes the past, and…” Now Whisper looked at Krisztina. “...I assume she believes in a strict hierarchy?”

Krisztina nodded. “It’s pretty complicated, but she thinks vampires and other immortals are naturally superior, people with innate magical powers are just below them, and after that it gets a little confusing and not super consistent, but the people at the bottom are basically just livestock to her. And that’s not even getting into the racial stuff.”

“Okay, yep, that’s good enough for me,” said Quetzal, eyes wide. “Yeah, I’ll work with pretty much anyone to put a stop to that.”

Gremlin frowned. “Wait, aren’t you…? Yeah, you’re Angelfire. You’re going up against your mom?”

Krisztina nodded.

Wing-Tip, who Whisper now suspected was Ifrit, since she was an associate of Quetzal and matched the body type of footage Whisper had seen, was unconvinced. “But if you’re working with Valkyrie, what’s to stop her from finding an advantage and seizing power for herself?”

This was a doubt Whisper himself had. For now, he decided to assume that whatever Lucas was planning would ensure Valkyrie’s trustworthiness. He could always reassess when Lucas returned. Of course, he couldn’t tell that to Ifrit. “Valkyrie’s dying. We found out she has a few days left at most. She won’t have an opportunity to seize power.”

Ifrit nodded. “Alright, I think we can trust that you aren’t going to screw us over, deliberately or accidentally.”

“At least enough to share what we know,” Bodkin agreed.

“She’s holed up in Sapper’s tunnels,” Quetzal said. “In the remains of his central base.”

 


 

Despite Valpurgia’s words, Lucas had extensively tested his portals.

Lucas could open a portal to any location he had seen, even in a photograph or video or sufficiently realistic illustration. Distance hardly mattered. There was a small strain if he created a portal past a certain distance. It took a bit of a push, like opening an unexpectedly heavy door, but he could keep making portals for hours without getting tired.

Direction and orientation were easy to manipulate. A north-facing person could be dropped through a horizontal portal and land facing south. Likewise, a vertical portal could be manipulated to be upside-down on one side, giving whoever passed through it the strange sensation of gravity suddenly switching directions, and likely giving them a head wound in the process. It wasn’t a trick he had found much use for.

Since anything he had seen was fair game, he could easily open a portal to space. He had done so, once, to remove the air from a burning building and put out the fire. He had also, as an experiment, opened a portal to Titan’s home planet, based on a publicly-available image. This had felt more like pushing a boulder and had left him exhausted.

He was also keenly aware that he could open a portal to the sun, instantly incinerating himself and anyone nearby.

Even before Valpurgia had mentioned it, he knew he was capable of opening portals to other dimensions. It wasn’t difficult, though it felt a little strange, like opening two portals on top of each other.

There was one type of portal, however, he had never tried opening. Somehow, instinctively, he knew it would take more effort than any other. So, in the muggy late night air of a ruined town, he drew a large circle in white paint and filled it with three other circles, and a host of magical symbols which would simultaneously protect him and enhance his power.

Shudder and Adam looked around while they waited, obviously confused about their location. He wondered when they would work it out. Shudder might already suspect. They’d only discussed one location which would have flattened houses overgrown with a couple of decades worth of plants.

When he finished, he called his friends over. He instructed each to stand within one of the three smaller circles and stood in the third himself.

Shudder spoke up, looking apprehensive. “If you’re doing what I think you’re doing, you should tell us. It would change everything for me. I’m willing to make that sacrifice, but we should at least talk about it.”

Lucas smiled. She’d worked out more than he’d expected. But she was still only halfway there. “No, that’s not what I’m doing. If we do this right, nothing’s going to change for you or anyone. Just trust me. Don’t do anything even if it seems like you have a good idea, and we’ll be able to save her.”

Shudder swallowed and nodded. She looked more nervous than Lucas had ever seen her. “Can I at least ask her a question?”

Lucas considered this. “As long as you don’t reveal anything.”

Adam raised his hand. “Are you two going to tell me what you’re talking about? You’re not about to sacrifice us, are you?”

Lucas sighed. “No, I’m not sacrificing anyone. Just don’t mess around, don’t talk about who you are or where you’re from or anything you know.”

“Okay, but I still don’t know what’s going on.”

Lucas didn’t say it out loud. Because if he said what he was doing, Adam might try to stop him. Instead, he adjusted Snapshot’s camera bag, which was slung across his shoulder, and focused on the center of the circle. He pulled out his phone, with the photo of the three Norns at Tutamaqui already pulled up. He had witnessed the moment before that photo was taken in his vision, but he hadn’t seen what had occurred right after the photo.

The tattoos on his arms began to glow. He knew without looking that the others all over his body were glowing. The center of the circle was the exact spot where the tripod that held that camera had sat more than twenty years ago. Surrounding it were three people who each had a connection to one of the Norns. All he needed to do was open a portal on that spot which led to the very same spot…more than twenty years ago.

There was the usual unzipping of the world as a slice of daytime suddenly appeared in the air before him. Through the portal he could see three surprised women. He quickly put away his phone and made for the portal, gesturing to Adam and Shudder. “Come on.”

From the moment several years ago that he first suspected he might be capable of time travel, Lucas had begun researching the subject. Amongst superhumans it was considered taboo. Superheroes weren’t to do it, even if it meant saving lives. Even supervillains almost always avoided it, and would turn against other supervillains who attempted it.

The reasons why were numerous. Some considered altering the timeline to be the equivalent to killing everyone in the original timeline. There was also a risk of creating temporal doubles, time loops, certain kinds of paradoxes. Not to mention concerns like the butterfly effect. Still, there always remained rumors of suspected instances of time travel. No one knew how Galaxy Man had become alerted to Extinction’s gravity-altering device so quickly, or why he had destroyed it so thoroughly. Likewise, Shadow Lad was famously coy when asked how he knew that an influential senator was secretly Acid Tongue.

Lucas couldn’t guess under what circumstances they’d traveled through time, if they truly had, but his research had uncovered a type of time travel which was supposedly safe; a causal loop. If a time traveler’s actions led to the circumstances that had caused them to time travel, then there was no shift to the timeline. Most believed that causal loops necessarily couldn’t have starting points. After all, if the time travel caused the time travel, there was no way to initiate such a loop. It had to be destiny or some other higher power. Lucas, however, disagreed.

Once they were through the portal, he didn’t close it entirely, but he shrank it to a tiny dot. No need to risk showing the Norns anything that would further raise their suspicions.

Visitantes superhumano,” said Miriam. “No puedo decir estaba esperando eso hoy.”

Her tone was casual and her stance relaxed, but something in her eyes suggested that she was ready for a fight if it came to one.

“Sorry to barge in like this,” Lucas said. They’d spoken English in his vision, but had that been a reflection of reality, or had the vision translated in some way? Did they even speak English at this point? Where were they originally from? “We didn’t have a way to call ahead. But we heard about Tutamaqui and had to see it for ourselves.”

Miriam turned to her sisters with an annoyed look. “I imagine that’s Samantha’s doing.”

Samantha’s expression was impassive. “People are interested in Tutamaqui. They want to know what’s happening here. How we’ve achieved what we’ve achieved. And how they can do it for themselves.”

“Yes, but broadcasting our efforts for the entire world to hear risks bringing unwanted attention.”

“Sisters, you can have this argument on any other day,” Amelia interrupted, watching Lucas carefully. “Or every other day, usually. But right now we have guests.”

Shudder and Adam said nothing. Shudder was staring at Samantha with a longing that made Lucas wonder whether she would break her promise, and Adam shifted back and forth nervously, clearly unsure about how he should feel.

Lucas looked at Amelia as he gestured to Shudder. “My friend here is very interested in Samantha’s scientific knowledge.” Then he gestured to Adam. “And the big guy would love to know how you protect yourselves.

Amelia’s eyes didn’t leave Lucas. “In that case, sisters, why don’t you show our guests around?”

 


 

Adam quietly cursed Lucas’ irresponsibility while Miriam led him down a row of stucco houses. What was he supposed to do now? He’d just been railroaded into one of the most dangerous things a superhero could do. Any wrong move now could…he actually didn’t know what could happen. But it was supposed to be bad.

They passed a group of children playing baseball and Miriam smiled gently at them. She looked nothing like Director Korris. It wasn’t just the fact that she had real skin and a completely different face. She carried herself differently. Director Korris seemed like a physical embodiment of a military. Every movement, every word was preparation for some future battle. Miriam, on the other hand, felt like she was at home. It was a home she was ready to defend, one she anticipated—or even expected—someone to attack. But she wasn’t defending it simply because that was her role. She was defending it because it was full of people she loved and cared about. It made her happy.

Or that was the impression he got from her smiling at a group of children.

She paused to look at him. “I’m not sure how much I should show you. I agree with Samantha that we should share our experience with other anarchists, but neither her nor Amelia seem to understand the danger spies pose. Based on your accent, I’m guessing you’re American.”

It sounded as if that alone was strike one. Would lying and pretending to be Canadian be strike two? “Yeah.”

“And I’m sure you’re well aware of what your country regularly does in Latin America.”

Instigate a lot of coups, from what he understood. “More or less. By the way, what country are we in?”

“You don’t know?”

“Unfortunately, Lucas’ portals aren’t like choosing a fast travel point on a map. He can look at a photo and open a portal there, but that doesn’t mean he knows where that place is.”

Miriam started walking again. “Then perhaps it’s best if I keep that to myself.”

She led Adam to a large building, where a man was shuffling his way out, armed with a machine gun. He looked extremely pale as he lurched past Adam and Miriam.

“Henry,” Miriam greeted.

“Miriam,” he replied in a ghoulish, raspy voice.

As he walked away, Adam stared after him. “Is that an einherjar?”

Miriam was surprised. “You know about my talents?”

“He doesn’t look local,” Adam observed.

“We’ve had to defend ourselves from attackers a few times.”

From who? Had STRIX already attacked them unsuccessfully? Or someone else?

“You turn your enemies into zombie followers?” Adam asked.

Miriam led him inside, and he decided to assume he wouldn’t cause any structural damage that would be felt before STRIX’s attack. Here, another einherjar sat at a desk and nodded them past. “The people who carry out a war aren’t the ones who order it. They’re poor people who are tricked, extorted, and sometimes outright forced to kill innocent people. I offer them the chance to protect the innocent instead. And I offer the same courtesy to our own fallen, of course.”

This was starting to sound significantly more supervillain-y.

Miriam unlocked a door with a key from a large keyring on her belt and led Adam down a hallway.

“So you force them to fight for you instead?” Adam asked.

“Do you really think my defending a town is the same as others attacking it?”

She had a point. What she did felt grotesque, but most people would go to any length to defend their homes. “I guess I don’t know how this whole einherjar thing works. Is it like mind control?”

They were through another door now and heading down a set of stairs. “It’s not quite refined enough to call it mind control. When someone dies in battle, I can gather up their soul and place it in a vessel, usually just their original body. But I don’t have to use the entirety of their soul. I can cut away pieces, usually just old loyalties and misconceptions, to ensure they’ll protect Tutamaqui.”

Yeah, she was definitely a supervillain. Even back then. “That doesn’t seem very ethical to me.”

“Perhaps, but ethical concerns are secondary to the lives of my friends and family. The people of Tutamaqui have accepted my talents and allowed me to assist in their defense.”

“You mean, you have control over their defenses, and the town has to do what you say.”

They reached the final door. Miriam took out her keys again to unlock it. “You have the wrong idea. These doors are locked only to keep children out. The einherjar upstairs is there to keep inventory. Everything in this building belongs to the community and they have free access to it. Believe me, with or without my help…” She pushed open the door, revealing a storeroom packed wall to wall with machine guns, claymore mines, rocket launchers, and countless other weapons. “...the people of Tutamaqui are prepared to protect themselves.”

 


 

Shudder handed Samantha another tool.

Repairing solar panels was quite different from building a mind control device—she could practically assemble Orbis Tertius on her own, but here she didn’t even know the names of the parts—but it held a comforting sense of familiarity. She’d developed an instinct for anticipating Doc’s needs. She knew just when she needed some support to stay balanced on the rooftop, when she needed something held for her. She could tell which tool was needed just from a gesture. Samantha may have had a different face, but her mannerisms, cadence, and speech patterns were all the same.

“What brought you to Tutamaqui?” Shudder asked. She wanted to ask what Tutamaqui even was, but if she was playing the role of a curious visitor she couldn’t exactly give the impression that she had no idea where she was.

“My sisters and I were travelers. We were all from different places originally, but we first met each other in France. We spent a few years in the United Kingdom, taking on new names, before we decided to explore the world. However, wherever we went, we found the same thing. Resources, land, and even people’s lives were controlled by a few wealthy people. There’s more than enough of both necessities and luxuries to go around. Everyone should be living healthy, prosperous lives, and yet we’re forced to participate in a system that doesn’t allow that all as part of what’s little more than a sport for the rich.”

She held out a hand. Flathead screwdriver.

“Then we learned of Tutamaqui. It’s far from the first attempt at an anarchist commune. The problem is that most communes are closed off. Well enough, perhaps, for the few inside, but they do nothing to help the bulk of those who suffer under capitalism. But Tutamaqui is a place that strives to grow. It welcomes newcomers instead of shutting them out. It pushes back against the government instead of allowing itself to be boxed in. And it seeks to inspire others all over the world; it shares its methods and resources to help them build their own communities free from capitalism.”

It was the same goal as Orbis Tertius, achieved without manipulating minds. But it, too, had failed.

“But, wait, you didn’t start Tutamaqui?”

Samantha shook her head. “A number of people have come under the impression that we are the founders or leaders. I suppose the idea of three superpowered Europeans ruling over a South American town is easier for certain people to wrap their heads around, but no. This community was founded by locals. We’ve chosen to join them and offer them our talents, but they’re neither ruled by us nor dependent on us.”

She handed the screwdriver back to Shudder. “There. It should work now. You make a good assistant.”

Shudder beamed, then descended the ladder with Samantha’s toolbox.

Once they were both on solid ground, Shudder decided it was time to stop hesitating and ask the question she wanted to ask.

“Listen, Tutamaqui is really amazing. Everyone takes care of each other and makes sure everyone has what they need. Everyone can be who they want and no one wants to hold them back. I understand why you decided to live here.” She swallowed. “But what if there was a way to make the whole world like Tutamaqui? All at once. Without hurting anyone.”

Samantha gave her a curious look. “I’m not sure how something like that would be possible.”

“Well, let’s say there was a device that could create a psionic wave, one large enough to pass through the entire planet. And it would filter away everyone’s selfishness and violence and ensure that they take care of each other.” How close was she getting to breaking the rules? Surely describing Orbis wouldn’t be a problem since she would come up with the idea at some point, and wouldn’t be able to actually build it until she met Shudder. “Would that be good or bad?”

“I’m afraid I haven’t studied psionics. I don’t even know if such a device would be possible.”

“It doesn’t matter whether it’s possible,” Shudder urged.

Samantha shook her head. “Even so, I’m afraid there are a number of intricacies to consider.”

She could go into more detail, offer a full defense of Orbis and how it would operate, but that would certainly be revealing too much. Besides, Lucas could be finished at any moment and he certainly wouldn’t want to wait around.

“Please, you must have some idea. Would it be freedom or slavery?”

Samantha considered for a long moment, leaving Shudder feeling as if she was balanced on the edge of clarity. “Based on how you described it, it would completely eliminate the need for both war and prison while changing the conditions that lead to people being left homeless and starving. That would improve countless lives, and seems like freedom on the surface. But those same people would be permanently altered without their permission. I’m no philosopher, but I wouldn’t call that freedom. In the most generous scenario it would only affect people currently alive, leaving future generations free to grow up in a truly egalitarian world, but for everyone who is affected, I believe it would be slavery. Humanity enslaved to itself.”

And there it was. The understanding she had been seeking for the past two years spelled out in simple terms. Doc really was the only one who knew how to make sense of the world.

“So the only reason someone would do that is if they’d given up hope?”

Samantha nodded slowly. “That would be my guess. It’s a unique approach to the common omega supervillain motivation of throwing it all away and starting from scratch. Instead of salvaging a few lives to start over with, you salvage what characteristics you can. Take no lives, but remove certain traits from everyone, while leaving as much individuality as you can. I can certainly understand why someone might attempt such an act, but I wouldn’t want to see my friends and family permanently changed. There are better ways to save the world.”

Shudder refused to let herself be devastated. There would be time for that later.

 


 

While the others split off to see the town, Amelia led Lucas to a nearby bench where they sat next to each other. Even when her eyes were off of him, he felt as though she was staring at him.

They chatted for a time about Tutamaqui before Amelia directed the conversation to the matter at hand. “Do you understand how dangerous time travel is?”

She could tell. That was fine. It was actually easier if she already knew, as long as the others didn’t.

“I figured out a way to do it safely.” Probably, anyway. He was fairly certain it was safe.

Amelia sounded exasperated. “Why do magic users your age always seem to have an arrogant streak? Go back to your own time while you still can.”

“It’s all about what I know and don’t know,” Lucas explained. It was tempting to talk fast to get out his explanation as quickly as possible, but he remained calm and confident. It was better to sound sure. “For example, I know you’re one of the few people who can be trusted with knowledge of the future. As Urd, you understand the importance of protecting the past, my past included.”

“Then why visit this moment? Did you come to retrieve something?”

Lucas looked out across Tutamaqui. It just seemed like a normal town, completely disconnected from the rubble he’d seen in the present. Would it really be destroyed within the year? 

“I wish I could. But there would be too much risk involved. With you, however, I have a little bit of freedom since I can be sure you won’t change the future. Because, see, I know in the future, you’re going to meet me. And shortly after meeting me, you’re going to die.”

He paused to give her a moment to process this, but it seemed she took the news in stride. “Even Norns don’t live forever.”

“Right. But I don’t know every single thing you do in the future. For example, even though I know you technically have access to Skuld’s power to extract souls, I don’t know whether you ever use it. While I know Skuld’s power doesn’t normally work on other Norns, I don’t know whether a Norn could break that rule by using it on herself.”

Amelia’s head turned to stare wide-eyed at Lucas.

“I don’t know whether you knew about your impending death ahead of time, or whether you used that knowledge to extract your soul and hide it in a temporary vessel.” He pointed to a pouch on the side of the camera bag. “And I don’t know what’s in this pocket.”

“You think you can create a causal loop,” Amelia concluded.

“The pieces are already there. You save my father’s life in the future. You said that doing so prevents some kind of disaster. I imagine that someone dangerous who, at the time, I trusted would have used my grief to talk me into doing something terrible. Maybe you saw the future or maybe you knew about it because I’m telling you now. In the case of the latter, it created the circumstances that led to me traveling through time to tell you about the future, completing the loop.”

“And, you think, allowing you to fudge the details and save my life in turn,” said Amelia. “But why go to all this trouble to save me?”

“Because I need the Norns’ help. And for that I need you both alive and in my debt.”

Amelia’s expression turned suspicious. “Trying to control us won’t work out well for you.”

Right, without any idea of who he was or what his goals were, he had to look sinister.

“We’re trying to stop someone dangerous who will kill a lot of people. Honestly, I think the future you would probably help us. In fact, I’m starting to suspect that you’ve been secretly protecting Fairfield for years. But your sisters aren’t as cooperative.”

“Why wouldn’t my sisters—” She halted mid-sentence, her expression becoming worried. “Why am I spending years in an American city?”

“It’s best if I don’t tell you,” Lucas replied.

“You know I won’t change the future, so the only reason you would say that is if it’s something terrible.” She looked into his eyes desperately before despair filled her face. “Something happens to Tutamaqui. It’s going to be destroyed, isn’t it?”

Was this her power to view the past, or was she just guessing it based on his slip?

“Do you have any idea how cruel it was for you to do this?” she continued. “Obviously my sisters and I live, but what about everyone else? What about Carlos?”

“Who is Carlos?” Lucas asked, instantly regretting the question.

“He dies, doesn’t he? You’d know him if he didn’t. He’s my husband.”

“I’m sorry.” It was all Lucas could think to say.

Amelia drew a deep breath and let it out slowly, the grief on her face smoothing into a neutral expression. “If you’ve completed your business, perhaps we should gather up your friends so you can depart.”

Shortly afterward, Miriam returned with Adam. Together, they found Shudder after a short search and, while she was clearly reluctant to leave Samantha, she followed them back to their arrival point. Opening a portal back to their time of origin was much easier for reasons Lucas didn’t know but resolved to ponder later. After some brief goodbyes to the Norns, the trio stepped through and found themselves back in the ruins.

Having seen the town alive just a moment ago, the overgrown remains had a melancholic aura.

“Did you do what you needed to do?” Shudder sounded more sad than hopeful.

Lucas checked the pouch in the camera bag. As he had told Amelia, neither he nor Elise had opened it yet. Now, however, it contained a large white piece of crystal.

“Cognicrystal?” Shudder asked.

“That’s a lot, isn’t it?” Adam added.

Lucas held up the crystal to admire it. He felt a small amount of his guilt relieved. “I guess it would have to be to contain Amelia’s soul.”

24