The feeling of being dragged along woke me up. I was surrounded by the shrieks of Anathema. A light finally triggers my eyes to open. A group of battlesuits held off an army of monsters. Riona was holding me up the best she could. She is ready to die with her sword. I heard General Fist call my name. As I turn, I see him through a breach. On the other side was another base. Their world. Not the John Thomas I just absorbed. He was mine, a copy of me that somehow arrived before me. I knew this to be true because I had his memories, at least partially. By absorbing this clone back into me, it granted me all his memories, but something was blocking me. A presence inside of me that, once absorbed, became more assertive. This wasn't Helena. This was some other being.

I look at my right hand, seeing the black A.D.I.O.S parasite already taken hold. The runes were now a gold color, shimmering. Five of them now. The Runes of Sovereignty, Dominance, Authority, Legion, and Time. Of course, time would be one of the signets. They are coming faster now. Just two more before I have all seven, and I still don't understand what is going on. Now, I have two different parasites inside of me. For the moment, both are dormant. At least, that's how it feels. It hurts badly to see. The mere act of having them open hurts. My left eye processed too much data from foresight. My right was a concerning worry. The General's voice drew my attention back to him. Between him and us was Anathema. Too many to reach the breach.

"The projector on your side is damaged! You must get through the breach now, or you'll be trapped and die!" General Fist yelled.

Soldiers on his side held the line, pushing the monsters back. The breach is collapsing, growing smaller every second. I heard the two girls; that was my sister's voice. Somehow, Dad had taken them to another world during the war. 'The Projector, my father created one. Long before the war. One just like this damaged one. I remember he disappeared shortly before the war with my mother. I never saw him again, but my mother was rescued sometime later.' Still, we have no hope of reaching the breach from here, and there's little time to do any repairs.

'Think! What can we do? If we stay on this side, we'll die in short order. There has to be another way. How did Riona and I even get here? The Hunter Anathema? Did it open a breach? Impossible... an emergence blast would have devastated the area. In my world, we never had a Projector. We used the breaches created by the monsters to go back and forth. Here they had the technology. The same technology Dr. Spencer was experimenting with when I was summoned. Then how did we get here?' more pain creeps into my left eye. I grow light-headed, and everything goes dark.

____

"It's about time!" A voice said.

As I open my eyes, I see. There is something wrong with this picture right away. It's all upside down. An exact copy of the world was below me as if I was inverted. I was home in Pine Point. In the field next to the lake in my backyard. The lone oak tree by the lake now stood an eerie white with a mirror gold mirror version. Helena stood by the version that was inverted like me. Something else stood by the mirror version. Looking at the being struck an immense dread inside me. A terror that I had not experienced before. This being's skin was the color magenta. Chartreuse green short hair with a long braided ponytail on the left. One Neon green eye is on the left, and one neon lavender is on the right. Her body is tall and thin, yet toned, with moderate breasts. Despite its female appearance, I knew this being was powerful. Both are chained to the trees by a giant chain hooked to their necks. While Helena's face seemed to convey comfort, the others were anything but comforting. More intense anger.

"Do you want my help or not?" the other being snapped.

Her teeth were sharp and dangerous. I had to steal my nerves just to remain calm. Then, finally, she took a step forward, and everything shook with violence. "Hurry up and choose. I would rather not be bound to a dead person," she snapped.

"You don't have to choose anything, John," Helena whispered.

"Little girl! You have no desire to die here just as much as the little boy you saved. So take my strength and live. Or do you want your precious siblings to die from monsters?" she snapped.

I only just met them, yet they are my sisters. Likely, my father is still alive. He brought them here to protect them from the breach. So, I'll defend them until I get answers. 'The question now is, who is this being? Someonewhot was absorbed? I doubt this world has the fantasy races of Annetheria.'

"Who are you?" I questioned.

"Firosa...," she whispered.

"What are you?" I asked.

"Your salvation...," she whispered.

I look at Helena. She'd saved me twice now. The last time I heard her voice was after the breach in the world of Annetheria.

"Make your choice before it's too late...," Firosa said.

My stomach tensed up. This choice was going to have strings attached. That much I knew. What and where Firosa came from would have to wait until another time. Minah and Marie weren't safe, and too many others counted on me.

"Alight... help me," I whispered.

"Finally, someone with some common sense! Let's get this party started! Close your left eye and say these words," Firosa ordered. "Egressus Incognitus...," she added.

I closed my left eye just as she asked. Then spoke the words she said.

"Egressus Incognitus," I whispered.

I felt like I was back in that vortex for a brief moment. Then, a splash of cold before I submerged. Everything swirled in my head so much that I couldn't get my bearings. Finally, something yanked me from below, pulling me to damp sandy mud. I was back on the banks of the river. Right where Riona and I had been during the attack. I looked up, and the templar was staring down at me with the face of someone glad to be home again. A group of voices came from the river.

Eight battle suits stood in the water. A dead, burned Anathema lay across the river on its bank. The hunter that stalked us is finished. From the looks of it, one of the battle suits dealt with it swiftly. After all, one on one, a battle suit had the edge.

"What just happened?" Riona said.

"Welcome to the war...," I said.

"I can't believe all this...," Riona said.

"I will try to explain if you help me in exchange...," I said.

"I won't betray the Dark Templars!" she snapped.

"You won't because there is only one true Dark Templar left, and you already met him. Your friends are not who they pretend to be. That monster wasn't just after me. It wanted you, too," I explained.

"John... What is going on here? This isn't...," Erin said.

"This is Riona's world. Not yours, as you might have guessed. Don't ask me how we got here yet. I'm still figuring things out. For now, just trust me," I said.

Following their agreement, the six others were given orders. The aftereffects were felt as soon as I stood up. First, I was struck with severe vertigo. My body collapses in a heap of bile and blood as I vomit it up. I felt like my insides were being devoured. My chest clenches as I try to breathe. A sickening sensation grips my right hand and arm. A force pulls me back to my feet. I barely have balance as this forces my legs to move. Everything in my body burns with sheer pain. Muscles inside, I never knew I had moved on their own, pushing me across the river. Like some machine, I trek to the dead monster in moments. Now, both my hands had this uncontrollable urge. These appendages come out of my hands. Dozens of them, like worms or snakes, lash out at the dead creature. Ripping, tearing, and, to my shock, eating the Anathema. I can't believe what I'm seeing. The process disgusts me beyond my ability to hold back another wave of vomit and bile.

My head spins as voices around me call my name. I can feel it. Again, I'm losing consciousness. Slow darkness crept into my mind. I fought the feeling with every ounce of my mind.

"Fight it!" I whispered.

The feeling subsided and faded away, leaving me drained to the core. A distinct feeling took over now. One of fatigue and weakness. The last thing I saw was Riona's face.