Raphael and Lorv brought the Daemon asteroid onto Top. They supervised the work of the aircrafts that had been deployed from Top and attached to the Daemon asteroid to guide it through the entrance in Top’s outshell. Raphael hovered over the asteroid as it came to rest in a grassy field and Lorv landed in the grass. The field had tall grasses as high as Lorv’s thigh and it was light brown, golden in the soft light of the artificial sun overhead. The entirety of Top’s surface inside the outshell is landmass, and the majority resembles a high-tech city that houses all of the ships components and its personnel that was made up of Aerphim from Endla, Hafjeris from Wiis, Bromeris of Bromeran, Humans of Earth, Druintes of Druont, Eeling and Fhetatians of Eel, and beings from a few other distant planets that Lorv had discovered while on distant voyages into universe Prime 5. The field of grass was far from the city that contained the mechanism of the ship, but it was swarmed with personnel of the ship who stood ready to protect their ship in the event the Daemon were aggressive.
When the ship landed, the human known as Zacchaeus was seized by an oily blackness that emerged from his body and he was suspended in the air like a continuously exploding and then reconstituting oil bomb.
“What is wrong with him?” Lorv shouted up at the Queen Rowen who shrugged and looked to Issac Washington, who was from the same universe that Zacchaeus had traveled from.
“I think it is the Daemon, Minyak,” Issac explained. “The Needy tried to consume him, but I guess that was harder than he anticipated. I can still sense Zacchaeus’s mind. I will continue to observe from a distance. You all deal with the Daemon.”
Raphael landed next to Lorv. “Tracia and Metatron have arrived with the ship to take these aerphim back to Endla. Can your crew safely transport them to the ships?”
Lorv nodded and looked back at the members of her crew that stood at the ready. A group of them jogged to her position. She gave them orders as a large ship landed in the field. It was shaped like a disc that could accommodate thousands and Lorv’s crew went to work loading the still sleeping Daemon onto the ship as Metatron and Tracia oversaw everything.
“So you’re done then?” Metatron asked. He was angry, but he controlled his voice to avoid yelling. There was a lot going on around them, and he didn’t want their disagreements to be obvious to everyone.
“Don’t do this now,” Tracia said, shaking her head. “We don’t have time to dwell on stupid things. Zacchaeus needs help.”
“You’re the one making snide comments in front of the lesser beings…”
“You are so disgusting,” Tracia said in a calm but angry voice. “Your superiority complex is the reason all this mess exists in the first place…”
“I didn’t mean it like…You’re such a hypocrite. You traipsed around for centuries as the most Supreme of the Supremes and you think you can lecture me about superiority…”
“I only did that because I had to, but I don’t owe you any explanations, I don’t have to explain myself to you. When I think about my past and the horrible things I was forced to do to keep as many safe as I could, I am pained by the sacrifices made and proud of what I have accomplished. Agê’s Disc is not the same place that it was when I came up there, and I am proud to have been part of shaping that.”
“Do the Azizas share that pride…” Metatron started but he was stopped abruptly when Tracia slapped him across the face. Her hand glittered with her Essence and she left the side of Metatron’s face scratched and scarred like he had been drug across pavement.
The activity around them stopped abruptly and Tracia was aware of everyone else in that moment. She stammered as she saw the eyes on her, and then Lorv was at her side.
“Alright, back to work,” Lorv commanded the members of her crew who carried unconscious Daemon onto the ship that would take back to Endla. “You two, a word.” She pulled Tracia and Metatron into the air and they all flew away from the commotion, Zacchaeus still exploding oil and collecting it over the asteroid.
When they landed on a hill, Lorv glared at them like they were children and they looked equally embarrassed. Metatron scratched at the back of his head and his elbow pointed up at the artificial sky.
“This is the wrong time for the two of you to finally have the conversation you’ve needed to have for a long time now,” Lorv scolded. “But obviously, everything’s boiled over and you’re acting like idiots in front of people who are supposed to respect you. So go, you’re both relieved of duty here. Settle your shit and Tracia, keep your ears open if I need you. Take a ship if you want, or portal, I don’t care. I will see you both when I call you.”
With that, Tracia cast a portal and slapped Metatron hard enough that he fell through it.
“The will they, won’t they is boring now,” Owuo said.
Yana woke up to see the mist of the Chamber engaged and Owuo resting in it, the vision of the events on Top projected by the mist.
“I mean, just get together already, am I right?”
“Get out of there,” Yana said as she climbed down from the wall where she had been hanging upside down.
“Fine, fine,” Owuo said and he began to descend into the body of the mist before he walked out of it on the floor of the Chamber.
Yana glared at him as she took his place. She walked into the Essence blue of it and soon she floated to rest on top of it with a clear view of the picture created by the mist.
“What’d I miss?” Yana asked.
“Metatron got slapped, and those two are finally gonna settle their relationship once and for all. It’s so riveting.”
Yana laughed despite her dislike of Owuo; if he wasn’t the Vodun of Death, he was definitely the Vodun of Irony.
“Is Zacchaeus ok?” she asked.
“Not yet. Maybe you’ve misread the mist. I could pop in…”
“He’ll be fine,” Yana said, reassuring herself. “He has to be.”
PRL Serials 