“I’m telling you,” Matatron said, “we can ignore it.”
He was naked and his wings were relaxed at his back. He stood over Tracia, smiling down at her on the large bed with the finest Rycoian silk sheets. She wore only the chestplate of Metatron’s armor that was big enough to hang loosely off of her shoulders.
“Those aerphim traveled a long way to find us here,” Tracia said. She put a foot on Metratron’s chest and moved it gently up and down until he grabbed it and kissed each toe.
“They traveled for nothing,” Metatron said. He had gotten out of bed to see the emerald sun of Rycoia rise from the balcony of the large building that he’d bought upon the couple’s arrival to the planet with the chests of rhasd he’d carried on the ship he and Tracia had taken when they left Endla for good. The vision of Tracia on the bed made him linger there as the sun rose outside over the bustling city. They were in Rycoia’s largest city, known as Fytor, and even though the sun had just risen, the Rycoian day started hours before sunrise, so the action of the city had been going for a while.
“What did they want exactly?” Tracia asked and pulled her foot away from Metatron. He smirked at her.
“Nothing important, Excellence. None of that should worry us anymore. We have new lives as beings of influence on this wonderful planet, in this wonderful city. We agreed to enjoy this life like the previous one never happened.”
Tracia frowned. “If and when my sisters call me asking for help, I will not hesitate to go to them. There were caveats in our pact. You are aware that there is a multiversal threat looming, blighting existences and killing countless innocent beings in the process? I wonder if they came all this way with an urgent update?”
“They worry about the new leadership of Endla. I am gone, Agiel and Zazel are in the Fonlands, and Raphael has asserted himself to ensure that the Aerphim known as the Daemon are not discriminated against in larger society. The other archangels are content to leave all that business to him, and some aerphim are chafing under Raphael’s leadership. I am confident that Raphael will figure it out and the aerphim that came here are just desperate to prevent change from happening that threatens their comfort. It is not important, Tracia, and it will not derail our life.”
“You didn’t ask them about the looming multiversal threat, did you?” Tracia asked. “You just sent them away when they said things you didn’t want to hear?”
“Can you blame me? I love this Tracia, I love all of it. I’m not interested in anything that interrupts that.”
Tracia nodded, removed Metatron’s chest plate, then stood from the bed as naked as Metatron, her brown wings relaxed at her back. They wrapped themselves in robes, then she grabbed his hand to walk to the balcony.
“I’m not calling them here.” Metatron said and wrapped his arms around Tracia’s back. The feathers of her wings were soft against his chest and he enjoyed the smell of her brown hair.
Tracia put two fingers to her lips and blew a high-pitched sound that was too high to be heard by most others. But the aerphim heard it and were hovering at the balcony in no time.
“I should have never taught you that, and you made it your own,” Metratron said into her ear, still holding her from behind.
“You seek Metatron’s help maintaining your positions in Aerphim society?” Tracia asked the group of three aerphim who were all older males in clothing that was reminiscent of the archangels but with less armor.
“Raphael seeks to abandon the ancient system of superiority among the aerphim,” one of them explained. “No mature aerphim should be subject to the whims of those younger than them, and Rapahel’s new ideas of elections are causing just that. We just want Metatron to remind Raphael how things are done.”
“None of his changes to society threaten anyone within the society,” Metatron said dismissively. “This is not an issue worth the time it took you to travel here.”
“Metraton will speak with Raphael,” Tracia said and she silenced Metatron when he protested. “He will speak with Raphael but he makes no guarantees that he will be able to change Rapahel’s mind.”
“That is all we ask,” the aerphim said as they bowed at the waist to show their appreciation.
“In exchange for this, we need regular updates from the Smiting Chamber in the Fonlands. The beings there can reach us instantaneously in the event of a serious emergency, but I want to know what is going on day to day. Find Gabriel and speak to him when you return, tell him what I have told you. Tell him that he should send messages regularly with updates.” As she spoke to them, Tracia planted mental suggestions in their minds so that they would give Gabriel direction just as she spoke it.
The aerphim bowed again, and then left Tracia and Metatron alone.
“It is inconvenient that Gabriel is immune to psychic communication,” Metatron said and sat in one of the comfortable balcony chairs with his feet up.
“I wish Jophiel was able to go to the Fonlands,” Tracia said. She sat on the railing of the balcony, smiling down at the city below.
“You’ve been looking for someone to be your eyes in the Smiting Chamber this whole time haven’t you?”
“Pultine isn’t able to be as open as I need her to be to really see everything. It’s easier to have someone else observe and report. I’m sorry, I really do love all this, too, but there is this giant dark thing lingering and I just can’t ignore it. You make it much easier to ignore, but noy impossible.”
Metatron smiled at Tracia, they smiled at one another.
“I love you,” he said dreamily.”
“And I you.”
Tracia and Metatron are celebrities on Rycoia because they are exotic and extremely powerful. The planet is aware of the Mmoatia because Lorv is the one who discovered it for the Soulaxar Galaxy where Endla is located. When Lorv first arrived to Rycoia on Top, the Rycoians assumed that the arrival of a new planet in their crystal green skies meant the doom of their world. At the time, Rycoian technology was primitive, though interaction with Top rapidly advanced the technology of the planet to the point that they are now the planet that exports the most goods to the most planets in universe Prime 5. Rycoia is known the universe over for its broadcasts, movies and serial shows featuring famous actors of the planet that have become universal celebrities, and Tracia and Metatron became stars of the most recent hit movie series shortly after their arrival to Rycoia. Traica and Metatron’s movies are documentaries, the first of which was produced because there was so much curiosity about them upon their arrival to the planet that they agreed to be interviewed and followed by a camera crew for a while. The reception to the first documentary was so warm that they agreed to release regular documentaries.
Tracia took full advantage of her celebrity on Rycoia, and in Fytor where she spent most of her time. She never paid for anything and no door was closed to her Excellence. She was particularly loved among the mystics of Fytor, many of whom still worshiped Lorv, though her trips to the planet were infrequent. Many of the mystics viewed Lorv as the fulfillment of a prophecy that predicted the coming of a being of immense arcane energy who would empower the abilities of the mystics, and that had been true because the mystics of Rycoia are able to utilize Divine Essence, even though the majority of the arcana that the mystics wield was sourced from Outer Spacetime. The ecstatic gland–that allows Fonlanders to utilize Divine Essence–was a gift to mystics from their arcane source in Outer Spacetime once they attained certain skills, and the arrival of an lander with a Third Heart that generated Divine Essence definitely boosted their magical potential because there were so few sources of Divine Essence on Rycoia and in Outer Spacetime.
Tracia loved the mystic temple of Fytor and she and Metatron often strolled around the courtyard and extensive garden behind the temple. After the departure of the aerphim, Tracia and Metratron went to the temple to walk the courtyard.
“You really are worried about this threat to the multiverse, aren’t you?” Metatron asked as he stood next to a tree with large blue flowers that hung down. He enjoyed the smell and lingered there while Tracia stood looking at one of the many panels of warped mirrors that were distributed around the courtyard. Staring into the warped mirrors is a meditative exercise for the mystics and they can become doorways into Outer Spacetime for mystics with the ability to change them.
Tracia nodded. “The calabash that I use in divining is a living thing, and over our long lives, our abilities have changed and evolved. Our relationship to one another has evolved. It is the only relationship that I have that is more intimate than the one we share.”
“Should I be jealous?” Metatron looked away from the blue flowers at Tracia whose reflection was distorted in the mirror and it seemed to move. There were citizens of Fytor taking pictures of them at a distance.
“The calabash is my first love and it led me to you. You should definitely worship the calabash for bringing us together. It has learned to see the future more clearly, or it is so alarmed by the threat that it is obsessing over it. I am concerned because it is genuinely concerned and I want to assure it that we will have an answer for it, that the work of the beings in the Smiting Chamber will be effective against its greatest fears. The Pito are here and they are planning our demise with each passing second and they will attack when the time is most optimal. That time is not now, Yana and Owuo managed to coordinate their resources effectively against it and they are improving their attacks based on their loss. They will come back stronger.”
“Every indication says that Yana and Owuo will be prepared for their return and we will play our parts when we are summoned. In the meantime, when we are not intertwined in the penthouse, I will enjoy the simple pleasures, like standing here under the Blue Mysticisms in this tranquil courtyard with you.”
“Yana and Owuo will do what they can, but there are others who are called to make preparations in anticipation of the coming conflagration…”
“Legba save us, don’t use that word,” Metatron said. He was suddenly disturbed and turned completely from the tree. “Does the calabash show you great fires?”
Tracia nodded slowly. “Three worlds will burn to cinders, a male will give birth to light, and the Lofted Disc will change color for the first time since the birth of the Vodun, then the Pito will come.”
“And the calabash says that we will win.” Metatron said confidently.
“The calabash does not spoil the ending. I do not think that future is written. Which explains the calabash’s worry, and why I am eager to do anything I can to ensure the future that sees this universe thriving. The mystics speak of the Transverse, a legend as revered as Lorv, who has recently arrived to Outer Spacetime and is currently assisting in a fight in another universe against the Pito. They had success against the Pito but the threat keeps ramping up, just as it will here, and I am very eager to see how that goes. Is it possible that the Pito’s power could increase to the point that they overpower even the Vodun? Is there a limit to their adaptability? What even are the Pito? There are so many questions, Metatron. I know that we have had a wonderful time here…”
“Don’t you dare even suggest it, Tracia. I am still in the process of untangling myself from the worries of previous issues and entanglements that we escaped, I don’t want to get involved in something else right now. Let’s enjoy this for as long as we can.”
“I fear that we have. We have had a good time, now I am too distracted with questions to properly ignore it and be present here. The calabash agrees that it is time for us to act, and that action is not in this universe. What we learn there will be pivotal to the survival of our existence.”
“But what about the updates from Gabriel?” Metatron asked. They were walking side by side toward the entrance of the courtyard. “He won’t be able to provide updates to another existence.”
“I put an incantation on the aerphim so that when they speak to Gabriel they will say another incantation that should allow Gabriel to communicate with me despite his resistance to psychic communication.”
“Your whistle to summon them was protracted,” Metatron said. “I guess there is no talking you out of it, and I will not let you go alone. I cannot bear to be separated from you, Tracia. How do we get there?”
“Through the Smiting Chamber, I hope,” Tracia said.
PRL Serials 