Chaotic belongs to TCDigital.

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Stars

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Fortunately, all Pepper seems to have heard was the "God of Perim" part. Unfortunately, she DEFINITELY remembers the "God of Perim" part. None of Atrapol's explanations to the contrary have persuaded her so far.

I'm probably not helping all that much, to be honest.

"Is that why you can manipulate earth?" Pepper asks while she ties a rope around the sticks that used to be the shower frame. "You being a god, I mean?"

I flash a grin at her. "Call me the King of Dirt." I resume sealing up the waterskins that were used for the shower. "But no. Atrapol there can manipulate earth as well, and you don't hear me calling him a god." If she hasn't attributed that power to the vlaric heart I'm wearing, then she doesn't need to know.

Pepper stands up and folds her arms. The pout on her face is almost adorable. "I know you are taking me less than seriously. There is much that you have yet to explain."

I stare at Pepper with as much deadpan as I can muster, but she doesn't budge, instead matching my look with a glare of her own.

The escape from the palace has done wonders for Pepper. She had broken down sobbing with gratitude when I gave her one of the Danian-made tunics Atrapol brought for me, and, although her first reaction to a surprise is still to cower away from it, she has gotten quite bold in her newfound freedom.

A boldness she is putting to use on me. "You have not denied that you are a god."

"Haven't confirmed it either," I shrug. I pick up the bundle of sticks in one arm and the waterskins in the other, then make my way to the hovercar. "I don't see how it's important."

"I... You..." Pepper interrupts herself with a wordless growl of exasperation. "The UnderWorlder denies that I heard correctly. I know I did. You deny that it is important. But it is!"

Atrapol is sitting near the hovercar, already done with all the packing he was in charge of. He shoots me an apologetic grimace.

Pepper marches past me the stops in front of Atrapol. "So, what DID I hear, then?"

I drop the last two items into the back on the vehicle, then turn to the two creatures and lean against its chassis. "You're getting a little bit power-high, Pepper. You might want to take a deep breathe and calm down a little."

Honestly, the contrast is hilarious. Pepper is a red-eyed, white-furred ratwoman nearly as tall as I am. She has basically no muscle, is built like a twig, and in general looks as if a stiff breeze could knock her over. Flinching away from this entirely unintimidating creature is Atrapol. He's half again as tall as I am and built like a freaking mountain. Hairless, jet-black skin, yellow and red eyes that glow in the dark, and muscles that look like they could block bullets.

Pepper glances at me. "What are you laughing at?"

"Atrapol's face," I answer.

Atrapol raises what would be an eyebrow if he had any. "Charming." Then his face becomes grim. "Michael, we should check whether your ruse succeeded."

Right. "Yeah, we should."

Pepper's eyebrows pinch together. "Which ruse?"

"I need to see whether Chaor believes I escaped on my own or was kidnapped," I answer while I walk over to where Atrapol is sitting.

Pepper shakes her head. "You left no witnesses. What else would he think than that you killed that soldier and escaped?"

I think I'll just explain that little detail later. "Make room, Atrapol."

Atrapol spreads his knees apart and crosses his ankles, and I step in the diamond of his legs and sit down, my back against his stomach.

"Uh." Pepper stares at the two of us. "What are..."

"I need a psychic's help to do this," I explain without really clarifying anything. "Doesn't matter how strong a psychic, but Atrapol here only barely qualifies. Close contact helps."

Atrapol wraps his arms around me and tucks my head under his chin. Pepper's face turns pink under her fur. "I, um, but he's... naked... and..."

"Good point." I twist my head up as far as I can so it's clear that I'm speaking to Atrapol. "Make yourself some clothes as soon as possible, okay?"

Atrapol grunts. "The sooner we finish this, the sooner I can work on that."

I face forward again and close my eyes. I focus on my breathing, on Atrapol's as well. In. Out. Breathe in sync. With all my practice reset in this new lifetime, the less discord, the better. In. Out.

I hear Atrapol's heart beating. I feel my own. Let the world around us fade away, just breathe and listen. In. Out. In... Out...

Now. Eyes open.

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I can do something nobody else can do. Even the might of the greatest creature in Perim pales next to this. In the wrong hands, it can be a terrifying weapon. It can, and in some past lifetimes, it has.

Stretched out before me is an expanse of stars. Each of them is a mind, a life, the entirety of a person's being, from birth to this very moment. All of history lies before me. This life's history, anyway. Because of who I am... of WHAT I am.

I feel a shiver of lightning run across me. Across Atrapol. He knew what he would see, and the sight is still too much for him.

"I can feel myself coming apart," he whispers.

I don't hear it, not with my ears. I don't have any here. I just know what he says. And I know that he is right, as well. His mind is flickering, losing itself.

Hold on, Atrapol.

I close my will around him, pressing the pieces of his consciousness together. He lets out a sigh of relief, a sigh that feels like ice-water.

"Thank you."

How much do you think you can handle.

"I do not know. Enough, I hope."

A few as we can, then. The soldier that I killed, him first-

"What?"

...I did not learn his name.

Without a name, searching this sea of stars might be too much for Atrapol. The next best one, then.

The stars shift, and in front of me twinkles the mind and soul of my second choice.

"Him."

You know I'd rather not, but I need to know.

Atrapol's hesitation is wordless but clear.

I take the star and feel its path. Not too far. Hours at most. I would rather not have to sit through too much of this creature.

"I am not looking forward to this."

Neither am I.

I dive in. I feel the mind grow, time rushing through me. I lose myself in it, a spiral of thoughts and sensations. Faster, further, more and more, until I am reliving the life of another...

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You love this, Human. I know you do. The proof is splattered all over your chest and stomach.

The Human called Michael clutches at the sheets. His teeth are bared, his eyes screwed shut. His chest heaves with each breath.

I tighten my grip on his hips and thrust forward again and again. Gods below, he is so tight! If I could bury myself deeper, I would, but the Human might break. Plenty of time to train him, though.

It is too much. I roar, my chest shakes, my seed flows. The Human lies limp, brought low in ecstasy, no doubt.

I roll onto my back, cradling my little treasure, still seated on my girth. More valuable than all the gems in the UnderWorld, he is. Mine, now, and every now forever. He will tell me the secrets of Perim, and I will shower him with whatever he desires. The choicest of meat, purest of gold, rawest of my passions, all his, and all of his will be mine.

Bells. Damned bells. I am trying to sleep with my Human.

...Where is he?

One of my guards bursts into my chambers. "Lord Chaor! There has been a murder!"

"Where is Michael?!" If the dead creature is not him, then the dead can wait. Where is he?!

The guard stammers, "The Human? I do not know. He and one of the slaves are missing."

An escape? No, he could not have. We bared our hearts to each other. I drank of his seed and filled him with mine. A lie? Could it? "How long ago was this discovered?"

Behind the guard is one of the men who stands posted in front of my chambers each night. "I last saw the Human heading away with the missing servant and the victim."

Impossible. But, maybe. "Bring me a mugic." They will know which I refer to.

No time to get dressed. Every second counts. I must hurry to the scene.

The dead creature has already been prepared when I arrive. A guard presses a red crystal into my hand, then backs away. It is the one.

"Song of Revival! Return my servant to life!"

The creature's body erupts into sound and light, white, yellow, and red. It fades, and before me he lies, whole and alive.

He does not yet finish his first breath before I am upon him. "What happened?!"

"We were attacked!" The creature cowers in front of me. "The Human said he felt as though we were being watched! I saw nothing, neither did that OverWorlder, but then I was struck from behind!"

An invisible attacker. The Mipedians. But, no. It does not match. Made to look as if it were done by Mipedian hands? I see the weapon. Stomach, chest, and neck. Those had been the wounds. Who would be so precise, yet so savage?

"Find Agitos and wake him. We have much to discuss."

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I gasp for breath with lungs I don't have as I spiral out of Chaor's memories. It takes seconds for the sensations to fade, seconds too long for my liking.

"I do not know how to call this," Atrapol's thoughts muse.

Me either. At least he seemed to buy it for now. Hopefully, I didn't burn that bridge.

"Do you WANT that bridge?"

Not really? Still, better to have and not need.

"I think I have enough for one more."

Van Bloot? Or, you said Piabo told you-

"I must know what Van Bloot told my brothers."

I don't answer. I simply take us to a new star. Touch it, feel it, dive in-

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I open my eyes. I'm not in Bloot's memories. I spent only a fraction of a second in there. Long enough to know how much trouble we were in, though. "We need to move. Now."

Pepper looks baffled, but, hops into the hovercar without arguing. I scramble to my feet and climb into the back, along with the gear, while Atrapol rushes to the driver's seat. He reaches down and pulls the engine's cord.

The engine sputters, coughs, and falls quiet.

"Damn it!" Atrapol punches the hovercar's chassis and leaves a huge dent in the metal, then tries starting the engine again. "At least to UnderWorld City, not EXACTLY to UnderWorld City! Start!"

Pepper lets out a squeak and covers her mouth. I also see what she sees, and my stomach rises into my throat.

The fraction of a second that I had seen in Van Bloot's mind was him watching another of the Red Hand riding away from Gothos Tower. We thought we had the distance to spare, time to rest. We did not.

Riding on a skeletal steed, trotting slowly toward us, is a figure clad in the same kind of armor Atrapol just destroyed. His eyes blaze yellow, and an unnatural wind carries dust in his wake.

"Jakjak," Atrapol whispers.

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Chaotic belongs to TCDigital.