Anareth had feared that the Pah-tala, Pah-wraiths, had sent their emissary ahead of time, but she was relieved that her fears weren't realized. She looked at the men, and assessed them very quickly; they were nothing more than hungry beggars, they would be easy to handle. Each of the three came from a different age group, she noted, one in his late fifties, another in his mid thirties, and the last was in his late teens, perhaps from the same family. She assumed that Garak was already well prepared to deal with the men, his previous experiences with the Obsidian Order made that clear, to her at least. Kira would have been just as ready to deal with the men, had she not been carrying the orb.

Garak did exactly what Anareth expected him to do, of course that was why she had wanted him to come, he stepped forward and waited for them to speak.

"Why are you here, what do you want," the eldest man demanded, making a good show of aiming his weapon at them.

Garak held out his hands in a gesture of peace. His voice was calm and amiable sounding when he spoke, clearly to set the men at ease. "We are here on official business. And seeing that we are finished, it makes sense for you to allow us to continue on our way."

With that, he walked forward a few steps, and the middle-aged man spoke up as he raised his weapon. "Stop! Give us your food. After that we may let you leave."

Garak's lips pressed slightly upwards, a smile, but an almost condescending one. "Well my good gentlemen, if you would have told us that you had wanted food we would have been delighted to give you what we have." With that, he pulled a bottle of kanar and several other food items out of a pouch that hung on his back, and he held them towards the men. With a motion from the eldest man the youngest one rushed forward and took it all from Garak's hands. He rushed back just as quickly, and on his way, he began to eat some of the bread.

The middle-aged man nodded to his companions, and they left up the stairs.

Not trusting that the trio wouldn't lock them in the tunnels, Kira, Garak, and Anareth followed up the stairs as quickly as they could. When they reached the top however, they saw that the three scavengers were nowhere in site. This was a relief to all of them, and after a moment's rest, they began their long trek back to their shuttle.

Garak had managed to obtain lodging for Kira and Anareth during their short time on Cardassia. The room the women would be sharing was supposedly as good of a hotel room that a person could get on the planet, given her experiences of the final battle of the Dominion War, Kira believed it. The hotel had been constructed as a shelter for all of the homeless Cardassians in the city, now that homes had finally been made for the citizens it was used as a hotel for off-worlders and native travelers. The room was dark, bare, and small. There were two cot-like beds next to each other at one end of the room, a small worn sofa against the wall, a desk with a computer interface in it, and a single ceiling light. One window was in the room, but the view was only of ruins and dirt. There was one bathroom on each floor for all of the guests to use. To get food, one had to walk down the street and go to a cafe. Despite all of that, Kira was glad for the hotel, because as soon as they returned to the capital she went to her room and slept. She had assumed that Garak would do the same; she didn't have a clue what Anareth would do, but it didn't really matter to her either.

Anareth didn't need sleep, she never had and never would. However there were times when she wished that she could, because then time would go faster; time, such a relative term to a non-corporeal entity. She sat on the sofa and closed her eyes while Kira laid down to sleep. Anareth reached out with her mind into the folds of space, searching for the other minds she wanted to reach. Within moments she was in the Light Space, and she had the attention of the non-linear realm.

"I know you can hear me, and that you understand what I have come here to say. We have given you consciousness at the same level of awareness that we possess. Now it is time for you to prepare yourselves for the battle. All of you, even the ones who left the linear realm when life in this universe was young. I understand your fears, even the fears of my people who can hear me as well. It must take place, don't fear."

From the whiteness murmurs of positive and negative feelings came. Then a figure emerged, it was a male. Anareth recognized his visage, and was curious as to what he would say.

"Why should we help?"

"You already know that answer Q."

Q- known for tormenting certain crews- smiled. "Of course I do, but indulge us. After all, we do have eternity to discuss this."

"No, we don't, that's my point. All of you, Q, Iconian, Thasian, Organian, Medusan, Zetarian, Nacene, Komar, Traveler, Pah-tala and Pah-jara, and countless other entities know what will happen in the coming days and why. I've told all of you and you have learned for yourselves that corporeal and non-corporeal time are connected! We must have the Final Reckoning, we must unite the realms."

From the white another figure emerged, a tall male with Cardassian features and glowing red eyes. "Why must we involve others in our war," Dukat asked.

Anareth was about to answer, when a deep male voice interrupted. "They are involved because they were always involved. The war we all fight must end," Sisko said.

"The Pah-jara are correct. Do I have the agreement of every people that when the battle is fought you will help bring the corporeal and non-corporeal realms into cohesion?"

For the first time since she had entered the Light Space there was absolute silence, then slowly the voices spoke in affirmation. When they left to their parts of the non-linear realm Q, Sisko, and Dukat remained with Anareth. Their minds all reached out to her with one question, "Who is the Fifth?"

"In time all things will be known, in time." With that, they were all gone.

When she woke up she was somewhat groggy and confused as to where she was, it came to her though when she noticed Anareth sitting on the sofa in meditation. The Orb of Clarity had gone with Garak to his home because it was far more secure than the hotel. However many questions remained in her mind, even after the Prophets had cleared up so many of them. Kira was about to think over everything the Prophets had said to her, when Anareth's eyes opened and stared straight into Kira's own. Kira thought that the grey-eyed Prophet-like woman was creepy, mostly because Anareth had a habit of staring at people.

"They told me a lot about you," Kira began. "They said that you weren't completely trustworthy and that you never choose a side."

"I don't choose because I don't have to, I said that at the beginning. You are the second of their Emissaries. Did they explain your tasks to you?"

"Not very well, they said that the four Emissaries are to meet on a day not too far off, and they begin the Final Reckoning. However, before the Final Reckoning can take place, the Fifth Emissary will come and unite the Hourglasses? That part I didn't understand, and I don't believe they did either."

"That's because they don't know, and they don't understand. In time everyone will."

"When!"

Anareth smiled. "The anniversary."

"Anniversary of what?"

"You'll find out soon enough."

With that Anareth disappear, Kira screamed in frustration, and Garak knocked on the door. When Kira opened it, he looked at her with curiosity.

"Where is your friend?"

"Oh, she decided to vanish when she got me mad."

"Oh. Well, if you'd like, I have a transport arranged for you to leave on in a few hours, I thought you'd like an escort to the terminal."

She looked at him with some caution, but mostly friendship –they had become close when living in Mila's basement- "All right," she replied. He nodded with a smile, and then she got ready to leave. Within a few hours, Kira and the Orb of Clarity were headed back to DS9.

Within that Hourglass which has been called both a temple and a wormhole all things exist and do not exist. Predestined to be real in one reality and never to exist in another. The layering of all the universes comes back to the Hourglass. An innumerable spectrum of colors from a countless number of orbs all within the Hourglass. It is our home, and yet it is our prison, because we lacked the understanding of that which lay beyond. So in our minds or mind we agreed that the only way for us to understand all was if we understood that which existed beyond the Hourglass. Some feared knowing what lay beyond, and others embraced the task.

We were the Progenitors so it was our duty to understand the ones who prayed to us. They existed on many worlds, in all parts of the universe, did we create them? Perhaps. Did they need us? Not always. Did we need them? Yes.

Oh, the complexities of whether or not they were created by us or if they were part of some vast evolutionary process. It seems so simple to just accept that one or the other is true without examining either for validity, however such things are too complex to explain. It would make a Q laugh for they believe they hold all knowledge, yet they do not know what lies beyond the Hourglass, and neither do we. For I and they have learned that what lies beyond the Hourglass is another Hourglass. The tears it would cause the devout to hear that which I say.

To make it all seem simple two worlds were chosen: Bajor and Cardassia. They would become examples for us to help explain ourselves. On Terra they experienced similar events as well, they called it the Holocaust. The Great War was just the latest example we made to show what our war was like. So the Federation and Dominion fought until a winner could be found, but it was won because of the sacrifices made by the few, not the many. The tremendous loss of life was horrible, but it was the only way we could show the truth.

The second Hourglass, which lies beyond my home Hourglass, is the true Temple. I finally have realized how to break through both hourglasses and cause the birth of all knowledge. It is the Fifth, the one born from adversity, the one who was murdered, only the Fifth can cause the true Hourglass, the true Temple to open.

TBC…

I'm so, so, so sorry that I have taken so long to update! I lost inspiration for awhile, and then I was busy, plus I'm easily distracted! I don't know how long it'll be until the next chapter comes, but I promise it'll come!

Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing!

Kyra- The bad thing is, the chapter 4 cliffie wasn't supposed to be such a big deal.

Stoko- I love Millennium, it's very complex, but enjoyable. When I read the two wormhole thing and the part about the Prophets and Pah-wraiths having originally been one group I was so happy because I had thought that a long time ago!

Chris- Sisko is an emissary, but the True Emissary is the Fifth, and that'll be revealed shortly.

Lilith Kayden- I know that DS9 stories don't receive many reviews, which is annoying, because this story is so much better IMO, than some of my stories with lots of reviews (oh well, such is life).

jrhughes3068- I'm hoping to get more into Kira's perspectives in the next couple chapters. She does seem like the kind of character that was destined to be great.

THANK YOU ALL!