Lêgba was cured of Owuo’s venom and he was back to his normal self in no time. When he could see clearly through his eyes, he was surprised at the company Owuo kept.
“You let him in your caves?” he asked Yana.
“Desperate times,” she said.
“If only you knew what was out there,” Lêgba said.
“The Smiting Chamber has revealed true horrors,” Yana said. “It was so frightening that it called to me for help. There is something dark creeping into the other realm, and it left dead existences on its trail here.”
“But don’t worry, Lêgba,” Owuo said. “We here are saving that other realm we have come to care about.”
“You are aware of the Pito?” Lêgba asked and he looked around at everyone assembled with amazement. “And they are in Prime 5?”
“Were in Prime 5,” Owuo corrected. “These Pito used the crazed Daemon exiles from Endla and corrupted them, which led to the infection on Bludon. That would have been their footing in Prime 5, but Yana’s team has kept them off balance. Are the Vodun aware of the nature of this threat?”
“We are discussing it presently, with the same urgency that you all have shown. There are warriors who can withstand the Pito? Is this Earther among them?” Lêgba asked and indicated towards Issac Washington who was small compared to the Vodun, but still formidable in his presence.
“This be an Outsider,” Owuo said jokingly. “He is probably in Xêvioso’s deck by now. This is Issac Washington, the Master of Multiversal Arcana from a universe known as Dark. A real powerhouse in your color, Lêgba.”
Lêgba knelt before Issac who levitated to speak with him eye to eye. “I am honored to know you, and I feel kindred in your arcane aspect.”
“The honor is truly mine, Vodun Lêgba,” Issac bowed before him. “Owuo manipulated me and two of my friends here many years ago, but we have stayed because his battle, Yana’s battle is just. I have faced these Pito with my friends and competent allies of Prime 5. They are formidable and relentless, and still very mysterious after so long. But my friends and I are dedicated to ending this threat here before it can even touch our existence.”
“This is such a relief to hear,” Lêgba said, still in his kneel as he looked around himself. “I was so worried after witnessing devastation across the multiversal structure, and my most powerful allies have been worried as well. I have seen these Pito devastate an almost exact copy of the Fonlands. But you all are seeing success. We will compare notes and thank you Multiversal Arcana Master for your aid. Please, catch me up on everything. But first.” Lêgba stood, then walked to stand nose to nose with Owuo. “Can we trust you? This thing we face is death. Why do you oppose it?”
“Because Death is content with the seeming infinity of one universe; there is enough death in our set up that I can be happy forever. This thing is greedy and is trying to steal what is mine. At least that would eventually be my reason after much more suffering and innocent casualties. I’m in it early because Yana bested me in a game of Smiting and she won my loyalty.”
Lêgba smiled at Yana. “Very well, I see that you are properly leashed.”
“Maybe not,” Issac said. “He just killed half the population of an entire planet. And he didn’t discuss it with Yana before he did it.”
“That is true,” Yana said. “We should have discussed that before you pulled the trigger.”
“It was them now, or so many more later,” Owuo said. “I’m sure Lêgba would agree with my decision. After all, you are aware of the feral Bluodnians of that junction universe of Node 2?”
“How are you aware?”
“I am on the hook until this threat is no more,” Owuo explained. “This is a multiversal threat, so I have been in contact with allies in other universes.”
“You’ve traveled the structure?” Lêgba asked with genuine curiosity. It had come as a complete shock that the Smiting Chamber was even able to connect to other universes, Lêgba had no idea that other beings were as familiar with the multiverse as the Vodun were.
“As only Death can. I am a recurrent being. I exist in enough iterations of existence that I can commune with others like me across realities. I am in tune with my multiversal counterparts, like this Alia character who will arrive soon.”
Issac Washington was as confused by all of this as Yana was. Only Lêgba seemed to truly follow what he was saying.
“It is not easy, but I can speak to myself across the multiverse and you were there on the junction universe to stop the feral Bludonians.”
“My iteration,” Lêgba said, “I was there. The Bludonians were peaceful at some point in history, but then they were tainted, infected by something that turned them into a society obsessed with conquering other planets. They were ruthless. But there was an Earther there, and he was their only hope, but even with his power, there were too many Bludonians with too many weapons of mass destruction. Talj, the junction universe, is a sentient being and I have communicated with it. It was afraid that if the Bludonians succeeded, it would die and I couldn’t just watch that happen. So the Earther and I stopped the Bludonians once and for all. There was no other way.”
Issac and Yana were horrified by the story.
“As I said before, it was them now, or so many more later,” Owuo said. “Before I snapped Bludon, I spoke with the Queen Rowen. She has immense power that dwarfs even mine at the moment. She contracted the Minyak disease and basically saw the designs to bring about the future that Lêgba stopped in another reality. I did the right thing, and I took pleasure in doing it.”
Issac nodded. Lêgba nodded.
Yana said, “We can get this done faster with all our cards out on the table. We have to discuss these things so we’re all on the same page. We can help each other.”
Just as she finished talking, they heard a female voice echo from a tunnel in the rocky walls that none of them had noticed before. An Earther female and two males emerged from the tunnel that wasn’t there after they stood in the Smiting Chamber.
“Are any of you Owuo?” she asked everyone inside. “I’m Alia. I was sent here for answers. I have witnessed a universe drained of life by the mycelium of a fungus. I was told that you would know Une.”
“Who is this?” Lêgba asked. He had heard the name Une when he was in the universe known as Paradise.
“Recurrent being,” Owuo said snidely. “I mentioned it before. Keep up, I don’t like repeating myself. Welcome, Alia. I hope you and your friends are ok to stay a while. We all have a lot to discuss.”
PRL Serials 