“Are the Vodun always that fun?” Alia asked as we left the House of Age. “We should’ve brought Ivan with us. He decided not to build a deck, he’ll be part of the force that I lead. He doesn’t really like Smiting, but he would have loved that Plant game we played. Agê and Jo are so nice.”
I was glad that she’d had a positive experience with the Vodun. When I met Jo for the Smiting Exhibition on her disc, she wasn’t nearly as nice to me at first and she expressed her distrust of me, but we ironed it all out eventually, though the experience with her and Agê was infinitely more pleasant.
“Should he accompany us to Agbe’s Disc?” I asked and she thought that he should so we went back to the Smiting Chamber and found Ivan with Clay watching the spectacle that the Smiting Chamber displayed in its blue mists. It was a rare occasion that Yana was not in the mists, she stood spectating next to Owuo. Tracia and Metatron were there as well, along with Maria, also known as Wazad the Transverse since she’d returned from Outer Spacetime.
“What are you all watching?” I asked as Alia and I stood next to Ivan and Clay.
“The Junction Universe,” Maria said. “It’s the location that the Chamber has identified as hanging in the balance, meaning there is heavy Pito Presence but the universe is not yet lost.”
“It’s nice to see you again,” Tracia said with a smile. We’d met on the mmoatia’s planet-sized ship when Zacchaeus was infected with the Bludonian’s worst Daemon enemy, Minyak.
“I heard you two left.” I had heard from Pultine, the last time I saw her with Zacchaeus, that Tracia and Metatron had fled the Fonlands and the planet Endla in Prime 5, relinquishing their responsibilities as leaders to live quiet lives on a planet called Rycoia.
“I tried to get away, just enjoy existence without the weight of responsibility,” Tracia said, “but then terrible things happen and I would be heartless not to lend my talents. Are you joining us on the expedition to the Junction Universe? It would seem that we could use all the help we can get.”
“Issac has other duties,” Maria answered for me.
“Do you all plan to save this Junction Universe from the Pito?” I asked Maria. “Is a Vodun going with you with the might of their deck?”
“We are planning a real life exhibition,” Maria explained. “We’re devising a way to travel there quickly without detection so the enemy isn’t aware of where we came from, so it can’t infect the Fonlands.”
“It’s bad enough they’ve already begun their infection of my realm,” Metatron says.
“We’re taking a small team,” Maria continued, “just in case there is more aggression in Prime 5. Metatron and his archangels have studied the Pito’s infection of the Daemon Minyak and they’ve been scanning their Universe for traces of that energy signature. He will call on you and Zacchaeus if they detect anything. Tracia and I will go with Clay and a group of warriors that the Vodun have chosen.”
“Gu said the 4Warriors aren’t chosen,” Clay said, “they rise to an occasion.”
“You met them?” Alia asked and he nodded.
“They’re coming to the Chamber. Gu said they’re experienced enough to report back on their war strategy,” Clay explained. “They’ll lead two armies, one based on a deck that Gu made and another based on one of Jo’s. We don’t think they’ll win, but we’ll get information to know what reinforcements are needed to actually help that Junction Universe.”
“We’re sending them to slaughter?” Alia asked with horror on her face.
“Of course not,” Tracia said, slightly offended by the implication. “We have contingencies to port them out if they meet overwhelming resistance. We expect no casualties. Of course, we do hope to lean on the very expansive powers of the Master of Multiversal Arcana for this, if it is something you can do.”
I am able to scan a universe for spells and secret names and I have a lot of practice using arcana, so I was definitely up to the task, and proud that my colleagues knew they could count on me for something so important. This was a test, it didn’t have to end with any casualties, on our side at least, it would be hard not to unleash fury on them for what we know they are capable of.
“Glady,” I said. “I will have to join the party, of course. When is this happening?”
“When you are done being the deck bearer,” Metatron said in a mocking voice and everyone chuckled.
“Alia and I are going to visit Agbe,” I looked to Ivan, “and we came back here to see if Ivan wanted to get out of the Chamber.”
“I think I’ll stay here,” Ivan said. “Owuo is teaching me to scry with my flame. Apparently it’s called an aspect here.”
I glared at Owuo who chuckled then said, “Don’t worry arcana Master, I am not corrupting the Earther. Just making sure he knows all of the magical tricks to keep up with his lover. I wonder if he should be jealous about Clay’s seeming obsession with the Vodun Gu…”
“The fuck is this nigga taking about…” Clay said aggressively and I noticed a spark of green energy in his eyes. It seemed that his body bulked with his aggression.
“You see how defensive he is, Ivan? His protest is a harbinger of his lust I’m afraid.”
“Why do you insist on drama?” Yana asked Owuo firmly, stopping Clay before his anger raged.
“What? I’m sure we were all thinking it,” Owuo said.
“Maybe you should go with Alia,” Clay said to Ivan.
“I will stay here and train with Owuo,” Ivan said and the annoyance in his voice was obvious. “We can talk about this in private.”
Alia and I watched them walk away from the heptagon.
“Not this again,” Alia mumbled under her breath. “I swear Ivan is a magnet for evil bastards.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“It seems like Owuo is trying to get between Ivan and Clay and I have seen that happen before with a guy about as evil and creepy as Owuo is. It almost broke them up.”
“Then I will insist that Ivan come with us and keep him away from Owuo.”
“Can’t do that, Issac,” Alia said, shaking her head slowly. “This is for them to sort out. You intervening will only draw you into it and you don’t need to be.”
“Ivan and Clay belong together,” I insisted. “And Owuo is evil incarnate, whatever his intentions here, they can’t be good for anyone.”
“Don’t underestimate Ivan. You don’t think he’s noticed how close Clay seems to be to the Vodun Gu? He’s said that name more times than he’s said Ivan’s since we’ve been here. It seems like Ivan is doing this specifically to make Clay mad. It’s petty, but I get it. Plus, I think him spending time with Owuo is a great thing. He could end up with the confidence to build his own deck and lead his own forces. Let’s go to Agbe’s Disc.”
I followed Alia away from the gathering, eager to return after delivering the Enchanted Green deck. It seemed that a lot was changing in the Smiting Chamber every time I was away.
The Disc of the Fonlands that I was least enthusiastic to visit was Agbe’s. She is the Vodun of the Waters, and you can guess what her Disc is like. The flat plane of the Disc is the surface of an incomprehensibly large ocean, and even though there are islands that dot the surface, they are so small compared to the total size of Agbe’s Disc that they were impossible to perceive from the air over it as Alia and I traveled to locate Agbe.
“Please tell me we’re meeting her under water,” Alia said with enthusiasm. “It’ll be like going to Tlālōcān!”
“Does Tlālōcān exist in your universe?” I asked, genuinely curious. I’d read about the Aztec city underwater in my home universe, but if it had actually existed, it was long ago.
“Only in a movie I saw once,” Alia said with a laugh. “You don’t look as excited as me to meet Agbe under water. I’m sure you got some spells to make that easy.”
“Of course, but look at all that water,” I said with apprehension.
PRL Serials 