A/N: this chapter had been planed since Chap6, so it's finally started!

REPLIES:

prin69: yeah, Jade won, but it didn't do a whole lot of good, did it?

Maglenan Princess: you're welcome, sam-sam!

Jamieson Z: you're welcome! thanks tons for about the fighter scenes: that last one I didn't think was that good, I went back and realized I could have done a lot more with that. it really IS easy, you just need words in your vocabulary like: 'juke' and 'bank'. sorry, I read too many Star Wars: X-Wing books. :P

eris: you have NO idea how much of a life this story is taking! I'm on chap36 in my notebook, and I'm putting in things I never thought of when I first did this! Rhade will be in Chap31, I promise!

Iara: I have to give my villains a reason; I like to make my characters seem as real as possible.

L.C. Brotherton: thanks tons! so happy you liked it! but like I said before, there's a LOT more I could have done w/ the fighter scene, it wasn't that good!

Chapter 30

In the morning, in the middle of breakfast, Trance, Gaheris, Apollo, and Veghn were interrupted by a squad of Avatars in black uniforms with black helmets. "You are to come with us, Trance Gemini, Gaheris Rhade, and Veghn Rhade," the leader announced, and his tone allowed no argument.

"Yes, Corporal," Trance responded, getting up and motioning for Gaheris and Veghn to do the same.

The lead Avatar reached to tie Trance's hands and Gaheris growled low in his throat in warning. The leader took a step back. "Remember your place, human," he ordered.

Gaheris made a strangled sound at being called a human. He took Veghn by the hand and put his free arm around Trance's shoulders. "It'll be all right," he whispered in her ear as the three followed the other Avatars. "You'll see. It always works out in the end."

"I'm not invincible, Gaheris," Trance told him. "This will be far worse than anything I've ever experienced."

"We'll be with you," Gaheris replied, stroking her face. "Veghn and I both."

Trance smiled at the two of them. "I know."

The squad of Avatars stopped in front of the Chambers of the Suns and Moons, and just like that, they were gone like a morning mist burned off by the sun. The doors creaked open ominously. Trance reached down and squeezed Gaheris's hand, then walked through.

Unlike the other times, the only Avatar visible was the gold leader. "We shall begin," he announced, and his voice echoed throughout the antechamber.

The same guards that had escorted them over pulled Gaheris and Veghn away from Trance.

"No!" Gaheris yelled, struggling against the guards as Trance walked to the center of the chamber. "Trance, no!" He growled helplessly as his arms were restrained behind his back. He lunged forward and was hit in the stomach by some kind of metal staff. Gaheris fell to his knees, gritting his teeth against the pain as the staff sent waves of electrical shocks coursing through his body.

"Stop!" Veghn pleaded, pulling at the guard's arm. "Stop hurting Daddy!"

Gaheris collapsed, and the guard pulled away the staff. Trance turned an anguished glance at him but kept walking toward the center of the chamber.

Veghn knelt down next to Gaheris's motionless, crumpled form. He closed his eyes and gently placed his hands on either side of his father's head. A soft silvery glow moved from Veghn's hands and bathed Gaheris's head in silver light.

Gaheris woke with a start, breathing heavily and looking at Veghn with wonder on his face.

Trance reached the center of the chamber, and the gold male nodded solemnly, sadly.

A gold ring of light flickered into existence around Trance's feet. It began to spin, faster and faster, and rose up, still spinning, enveloping Trance like a cocoon. Gaheris could hear her breathing grow labored as the spinning curtain fully covered her.

Suddenly, figures appeared out of the gold cocoon, figures that Gaheris realized must be Trances from other futures. There were tailless purple Trances, gold Trances with tails, Trances of other colors. They all left from the inside of the cocoon, and when Gaheris focused hard to see inside the light, he could have sworn that they were stepping out of Trance herself. One turned toward him, and Gaheris heard Trance's voice in his head.

"We are the Trance that you love, Gaheris," the Trance-voice said. It had a slightly different inflection than he was used to hearing. "We are separate, yet the same. At the core, we are all your Trance. We are the possibility of every crossroad, the future that Might Have Been."

The other Trances, hundreds of thousands of them walked over to the opposite wall. Though there was no possible way Gaheris could count them all there were so many; they only took up a small area.

The golden light surrounding Trance cracked and fractured, shattering into thousands of pieces, exploding outward in a cloud of golden particles. Gaheris instinctively covered Veghn with his body and shielded his own head, but as soon as the particles touched him, they faded into nothingness. Trance screamed a long, anguished cry that sent shivers down his spine and tore at his heart.

"Trance!" Gaheris yelled, scrambling to his feet and taking a step toward her.

"No, Daddy!" Veghn lunged forward and grabbed Gaheris's hand, bringing his father to a halt. "Don't distract Mommy."

Gaheris looked back and was struck by the seriousness of the young boy. The Nietzschean could feel energy building in the room, starting at Trance, whose screams had become dry sobs, and slowly growing outward. Gaheris squinted as if in a high wind, trying to see Trance.

Suddenly, like a wave crashing onto shore, the energy rushed back in toward Trance, and she fell to her knees, screaming. The energy was seemingly absorbed by her, and all was silent except for the dry sobs. Then, in a mute explosion the energy exploded outward, racing in a pulse through the room, knocking Gaheris and Veghn to the ground.

Streams of golden light erupted from every pore in her body, and the screams doubled in intensity. Trance fell to her knees, spreading her arms out wide as light streamed from her fingertips.

Gaheris squeezed his eyes shut as the light became too much to bear. Even with his eyes closed, he could still see the golden light. "They are cutting her link to our sun," Gaheris heard whispered in his mind. "Only two Avatars have ever survived this stage."

The light cut off, and Gaheris opened his eyes to see Trance still on her knees. Her lovely golden skin had turned a sickly off-white pallor, and only Veghn's small, warning hand kept him from going to her. Her eyes were glazed over, and she slowly collapsed to the side, motionless and limp. Trance's chest heaved in one final breath, then let it out, and didn't breathe in again.

"No!" Veghn yelled as tears spilled down his cheeks. Gaheris wrapped his arms around the little boy and buried his face in Veghn's thick mop of hair, letting his own tears of anguish fall freely.

A/N: I had a snow-day off from skool today, so expect at least one more chapter!

Preview: Telemachus learns about his sister's whereabouts, Harper confronts him on the breakup.