The Sphere of Time

by TIME, S. O.

  “I understand,” I say. These Tears don’t seem to be coming from anywhere specific. No matter how I look at it, it’s suspicious. A part of me can’t help but wonder if Naomi is behind them. But that’s impossible—Death can’t interfere with the lives of the living like this. Her powers should fail if she even tried...except she already has tried—and succeeded when she brought the nymian to attack me and Kou. A cold dread settles in my stomach. To have the abilities of Death but be able to bypass their rules...no one should have such power.

  As the pod weaves through the forested path down the mountain, I find myself staring up at the dimming sky. The air feels heavy, charged—doubtless due to the storm clouds thickening overhead. I notice Aldrea looking up as well. Her hologram is almost perfect—if I weren’t aware of her state, I wouldn’t have noticed that her fingertips sink just a bit too far into the surface where she rests them.

  “How far can you go in your present state?” I ask her.

  “I have a link in this pod. I’ll be with you until you’ve closed enough portals. Then I’ll return with mom to the manor to continue our work.”

  “Wait, what about me?”

  “There’s a single pod cycle that detaches from this one that will take you to Hitori and Kou’s location.”

  “I don’t know how to ride a single pod cycle,” I reply as my eyes switch between them.

  “Don’t worry, they’re fast and easy to pilot. You’ll be fine,” Aldrea responds casually.

  I look at Hana and she just shrugs. “It’s the fastest and easiest way to get you into the city undetected,” she says.

  We approach the first Tear shortly after our conversation. It’s smaller than the one from the lab explosion. Our pod pulls up along the corner of a building, a dozen meters away from it. Both Hana and Aldrea nod at me when the pod stops. The entrance opens and we hear nothing.

  “Don’t worry, we’ll let you know if we get any readings,” Aldrea says, briefly gesturing to a hovering surveillance drone.

  I nod and head out of the pod. A chill breeze seems to cut right through my clothes, and I find myself missing the Fall’s temperate weather. The Tear in front of me is silent and calm. Despite its random materialization, it’s surprisingly stable. There’s no way this wasn’t put here on purpose. I shake the thought from my head as I extend my arms out. A bit shaky and short of breath, I focus my energy onto the Tear. To my amazement, as I bring my hands together, the Tear decreases in size. It’s working.

  As my hands touch, the Tear ceases to be and I can feel its energy coursing into me, startling a grin onto my face. Once it is fully closed, I head back to the pod where both Hana and Aldrea clap and smile. The relief running through their energies is infectious. Maybe this won’t be so hard after all.

  “Efficient. Do you think you can do more?” Hana asks.

  “Yes,” I respond, truly confident in my abilities for the first time in months.

  Hana smiles a bit more comfortably after my words and I can see the relief continue to flow through her body as she loosens up in her seat.

  “Alright, on to the next one,” Hana says. After she says that, all of our holos let out a warning buzz.

  “Oh no…” Aldrea breathes.

  The message is an automatic SOS sent from the surveillance drones.

  Portals all over the city are simultaneously welling with activity. Hundreds more nymains are coming to Maluii.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  “W hat’s going on out there?” Hana yells as our pod speeds to the next Tear. Kou’s voice crackles over the comm.

  “Nymians are pouring out of these portals. Isao’s guys have broken off their attack and we’ve all separated to fight them off.”

  “What about the civilians?”

  “Hitori, Tramil, Cortez, and Andrew are helping them escape—” loud explosions and people screaming fill Kou’s background as he stops mid-sentence. “Take the left shoulder from the top, buy us time!” he yells away from us before turning back to the holo screen. “I’m here with Try and a few other red users. We’re clearing our way through the Cannin District, heading east.”

  “Cannin District, Cannin District,” Aldrea mumbles to herself as she scans the layout of the city. “Got it!” She pinpoints a location on our screens and sends it to my holo. She pulls up images from building cameras in the area and we catch glimpses of people rushing to escape the fighting. “We’re about two kilometers south of your location.” Hana turns her attention back to Kou. “We’ll close as many portals as we can out here.”

  “We’re working our way to Cerros Towers. We’ll take the civilians there, have Eiji meet us.”

  “Got it.”

  My holo flashes once more and a route is displayed for me leading to Cerros Towers. The air echoes with nymian cries as the ground shudders with the impact of red explosions. Dust hangs in the air, mixing with the ash that drifts from a few burning buildings. In the distance, I hear an infant’s wail. Is this what ancient humanity was like? With fear and the smell of burning and blood haunting the avenues where people were dancing and playing just a few days ago? I can’t feel the souls that fade throughout the battle, but I don’t need my old powers to know that death is here. I only hope that Naomi is guiding these souls—for now I can only help the living.

  “Here’s what’s going to happen,” Hana says to us. “We’re going to clear the four remaining portals in the outskirts of the city near the mansion to ensure nymians aren’t close enough to attack us while we evacuate, and then—then I’m going to try and open the escape portal again.”

  I stare at her in shock, remembering the horrifying explosion that opened a portal into space. “But last time—”

  “Was sabotage. I’m certain of it now. I’ve been rebuilding. You’ve seen what the nymians did to the South. We have to get as many people off this planet as possible before the same devastation happens here.”

  So many hopes riding on this...do I dare risk disappointing her—and an entire planet—if I fail? My entire body heats up and my gaze fights to look anywhere but at her. But I force myself to face Hana and I respond.

  “I’ll open that portal for you.”

  Aldrea and Hana stare at me as the pod hums along.

  “How?” Hana asks, with the slow caution of someone suppressing hope.

  “I couldn’t open the portal you needed before because I had no energy. But closing these portals...I’m getting it back. Each closure gets me a bit more.”

  Hana’s eyes widen. “How many more do you need?” she demands.

  “I’m not—”

  “How many?” she snaps.

  “These four,” I manage to say without stuttering. “We need to clear the path anyway, right?”

  I actually have no idea if four is enough. But if I need more than that, we may already be out of time. Hana nods, accepting my answer, and I see a hopeful smile blossom on Aldrea’s face. Suddenly the idea of being torn apart by nymians sounds downright comfortable compared to the thought of failing to fulfill that hope.

  The second Tear is located near an abandoned structure not far from the base of the mountain. From our perspective, it looks like it was evacuated in time. I pulse out to feel for nymians, but I am met instead with a wall of potent, negative energy, forcing me to stop. Even after the pulse has faded, my body feels as if a lingering poison still sizzles through my veins. With a shudder, I realize it’s similar to the unseen energies I felt in the Fall—but these energies are stronger and more malevolent in nature. I turn to both Aldrea and Hana, but neither of them have noticed anything amiss. Hana focuses on her holo, rechecking calculations for the evacuation portal and Aldrea watches the battles from her screens.

  Feeling sick, I resolve to refrain from pulsing as much as possible. I can’t risk being affected by whatever malicious energy enveloped me when I pulsed out.

  “Here,” Hana says, handing me a pair of gloves as we approach the next Tear. “Wear these as you close the portals. I
’ll be able to gather more data this way if I can see how your hands and energy interact with it.”

  I nod and take the gloves. They appear thin and a bit flimsy, but the material is heavy and durable, with just enough stretch to allow them to fit onto my hands. The moment I step outside of the pod I am weighed down by the sudden press of negative energy. It feels like additional gravity, pushing at me from every direction and slowing my movements. I keep my guard up as I move in closer to the Tear.

  I reach the short distance necessary to close it and position my body straight with my arms outstretched, like before.

  My body grows even hotter than before, and I need to take a moment to gather my breath. That’s when I realize that it’s much quieter now. We haven’t covered much distance, yet I hear only the stillness of the breeze around me.

  Pushing aside my mounting unease, I close my eyes and focus my energy to the palms of my hands. I steady my breathing and begin closing the Tear. The moment I do however, a terrible, mounting energy emanating from the other side of the Tear rages toward me. My eyes fly open to see a horde of nymians charging over an icy lunar landscape. They are a distant mass for now, but that won’t last long. I feel the Tears around the outskirts of the city shudder with the pounding of heavy claws on ice, as if they’re all connected and linked to this one location in space. My breathing becomes more erratic and I can feel my concentration slipping. I force the Tear to begin closing as the horde moves in toward the opening. My body shakes as I struggle between fear and determination. The nymians are getting closer and the Tear is barely halfway closed. Several of them could easily get through at this size.

  “Eiji is everything alright?” I hear Aldrea say through my holo.

  I disregard it and try to focus. The Tear continues to close slowly, as if it is fighting to stay open. As the nymians draw closer, I feel fear wash off of them, primordial and tinged with rage. Though I’m not deliberately pulsing, I feel suddenly certain that they are not attacking—they’re fleeing. It doesn’t seem like they actually want to come through, but something—or someone—is driving them out of their home.

  I try to pulse for whatever could be forcing them through, but I’m only met with the same heavy, negative energy from before. It’s seeping into them, as if injecting itself into the beasts—taking over them as black sludge starts spilling from their mouths. I’m forced to end my pulse as two nymians barrel through the shrinking portal.

  “Eiji get out of there!” Aldrea shouts through my holo.

  I continue to close the Tear as the nymian frontrunners skid to a stop on the smooth street. They cry out into the air before turning their attention to me. The black sludge falling out of their mouths and scars sinks into the ground, melting through it. Nearby, a few decorative saplings lining the sidewalk begin to wilt and rot.

  “Eiji!” Aldrea shouts again.

  The nymians steady their balance and take a few swings at each other before charging in my direction. The Tear is mostly closed now, but I fear I may already be too late. The beasts are almost to me and I can’t move over to activate my shield or the Tear will open back up. I close my eyes and prepare for the worst. Let me close this one Tear. Let me at least slow them down.

  “Eiji!” I hear to my left, as Hana sprints to me and activates a shield of her own. Her shield takes two direct hits from the nymians and I wince, expecting the shattering that would follow, but her shield takes the full slashes and holds strong. In fact, the shield seems to repel the kinetic energy of their attacks and redirects it back their way, causing them to stumble back, overbalanced.

  “At least it works,” Hana sighs.

  “You mean you haven’t tested the new shields yet?”

  “Your shield was the prototype! Besides, I’ve never been attacked like this before. This is great research.”

  “Are you mad?” I say with a mildly hysterical laugh as I finally manage to close the Tear.

  “Progress isn’t made from the sidelines!” she declares as she turns back to the pod. “Now let's get out of here!”

  I activate my shield and the nymians attack us from behind. With every blow, the nymians seem to lose their momentum as the energy from their strikes is thrown back at them. Though better, these shields do seem to connect directly to my own energy. That likely means that after its own energy is depleted, it’ll draw from mine until it bleeds me dry.

  By the time we reach Aldrea in the pod, the nymians are still tailing us, though noticeably more tired than before. There’s a trail of sludge following them, destroying the ground as they move through it. Hana and I jump inside of the open pod door as Aldrea brings the pod next to us. We land hard but safely inside as the doors close. The pod wastes no time in speeding up and gaining distance on the nymians.

  “We don’t have much time to close these portals. These nymians are going to ruin our plans!” Aldrea yells from the cockpit.

  “Not exactly,” I respond as I stand up. The energy surging through me makes me feel like I could jump out and fly.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Aldrea responds.

  “Just drive up close to another portal. Trust me!” I feel a smile forming. Despite how dire the situation is becoming, I can’t help but feel like cheering for the return of my strength. It feels like it’s been so long since I got stuck as a mortal. Even this little bit of my original energy is enough to bring my hopes back up.

  “Are you sure?” Aldrea asks.

  Hana looks at me and with the grin forming on her face, I’m sure she’s noticed it, too.

  “Do it,” Hana says reassuringly.

  “Alrighty then. Next portal, coming right up.”

  It takes us several minutes of driving along the edge of the city to reach the next Tear. We’re about twenty minutes away from the mountain now, and we’ve lost the nymians. The Tear we find is in the air above us. I haven’t seen a Tear in the sky since Naomi’s Tear months ago—the one that started all of this. I still can’t grasp her reasoning. I can’t bring myself to understand why she’s done what she has. Or why she can’t tell me what’s really going on.

  “Eiji, we’re coming up close now. What’s the plan?”

  “I need to get on the roof,” I say.

  “What?” both Aldrea and Hana shout.

  “Trust me!” I say as I open the pod door once more.

  Both of them yell behind me, however the rush of air that hits me as I exit the pod muffles their words. The pod itself is flush and built for aerodynamics, so there’s not much for me to grab hold of, but I take a deep breath and leap upward as I try and bring my body up. I instantly slip and almost fall off—but then my body rises as I normally would when I fly.

  “Yes!” I shout as I bring myself up to the top of the car. I land with a thud as I begin sliding off the roof, but I flatten my body and extend my hands to give myself some grip and let the air flow over me. Soon I’m able to confidently stay on and I slowly stand up. By this point we’re almost directly under the Tear and at our speed, I have mere moments to react. I focus my energy to my hands much more easily, and with a quick clasping of my hands, the Tear closes and its energy pours down into my body. No resistance from this one—just a rush of pure, sweet energy. The motion causes the wind to throw me back and it flings me off of the pod as it races away in front of me. As I fall and near the ground, I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I channel my energy throughout my body.

  When I open my eyes, the wind has stopped rushing around me and everything goes quiet once more.

  I smile as I hover above the ground.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  A fter a few moments, I realize how quickly my energy is being used up—something that was once so simple now drains me like sprinting at full power. I lower myself onto the ground and walk for a few steps until I see the pod stop ahead.

  “Eiji, are you okay?” Aldrea’s voice rings through my holo.

  “I’m fine, I’m fine,” I reply with a grin. I can feel the ener
gy flowing through me, and—my grin falters. I’m still draining energy. Even without using any, it slips out of my form and trickles away. Mortals were really never supposed to have the powers of Death, I recall with a sigh.

  I pulse once more as I turn to the pod, and I sense the energy of the people in the city. I can feel their pain, their sorrow, their dread, and the sudden weight of it stops me in my tracks. This ability is one I wish I didn’t have to experience anymore. I’d almost forgotten what it was like to feel everyone’s energy all at once. My entire body aches, nausea stirring in my stomach. I force myself forward several steps, trying to pull myself back together. I wasn’t expecting everyone’s emotions to hit me this hard. I feel tears welling up in my eyes and I immediately want to stop everything I’m doing and hide. I want to cry. I want to run away, scream, beg, fight, hurt—

  “Eiji, are you sure you’re okay?” Aldrea’s voice snaps me back.

  I shudder, jolting free of the flood. “I’m fine,” I reply.

  However, as I start forward, every part of my body tenses up as I sense one last thing. Naomi. I can feel her energy moving through the city. I freeze, unsure of what I should do. I could go and confront her now, but I’d be leaving Hana and Aldrea behind. I could demand answers. I could ask her why she hasn’t contacted me, why she made me mortal and then left me.

  But I’d be abandoning the mission. Who knows if I’ll even make it to her in the first place. I take a deep breath and sigh. I can’t leave Hana. I can’t go back on my promise to her and Aldrea. I’ll get my answers when I head to the city to join Kou and the others. I will get my answers. I run to the pod and can’t help but do a short skip into the air, gliding the last few meters to the door.