The Campbell Chronicles Part Two

Chapter 1

One Year Ago:

Nicholas and Forge moved together in unison.

Nicholas wrapped his arms around his mother, "Mom, is that really you?"

Alexi Summers hugged her son, her blonde hair hiding her blue eyes from view, "Of course it's me. Do you really think I would give up a chance to return to life?"

Nicholas glanced over his mother's head to see more people from Brigadoon coming out of the obelisk, including his many-time great-grandmother Penelope Campbell, her husband, Jeric, a Green Martian, his father Samuel Campbell Junior, and many more.

Pulling away from his mother, Nicholas approached his father and embraced the dark-haired man, "It's good to see you, Dad." Stepping back from his father, Nicholas looked at his gathered family, "Did everyone from Brigadoon decide to return?"

Alexi shook her head while brushing her hair out of her face, "No, many of those that originally survived decided to stay in the afterlife and let their descendants shape the future."

Nicholas glanced up as Pamela, Gaia, Salvé, Yolanda, David, Bailey, Jade, and Mai descended from the sky. Wanda shimmered into existence beside Nicholas, slipping her hand into his.

Each of them had gained muscles and wore a toga the color of their element.

Nicholas glanced at Wanda, his mouth drying at the red dress she wore, which seemed to be painted on, as it highlighted every curve of her body. Her Auburn hair cascaded down her back in a wave, and her green eyes glowed with an inner power.

"Wow," Nicholas breathed.

Wanda's bright red lips curled into a smirk before she turned her attention to the others. "Aren't you going to introduce us?" she gestured to Nicholas's family.

Nicholas cleared his throat, his skin heating slightly as he felt his parents' gaze on him. He gestured to his mother, "This is my mother, Alexi Summers Campbell." He gestured to his father, "That is my father, Samuel Campbell, my grandmother, Penelope Campbell, grandfather Jeric, Forge, his wife, and my grandmother, Arcanna Jones."

Alexi stepped forward, her eyes alight with interest. Her gaze flicked to Nicholas and Wanda's intertwined hands. "Who are your friends, Nicky?"

Nicholas winced; it had been millennia since he'd heard that nickname. Nicholas gestured to Pamela and the others standing a short distance away, "These are the elementals that helped me terraform Mars into a habitable world."

"Really," Arcanna moved past Forge, her head cocked to the side, "they seem to be more than elementals."

"There were other energies involved, and that's before the Celestial's manipulation," the rest of the Campbell family stared at Nicholas, but he waved his hand, "I'll explain later."

He turned to stare into the forest; a dark-skinned man with close-cropped black hair and ruby-red glasses emerged from the trees at the side of a dark-skinned woman with blue eyes and white hair.

"Right now, we need to decide what to do. Our family wasn't the only ones resurrected." He turned to the former elementals, "You three control the elemental energies of this world. How do you wantto go about building cities?"

Pamela raised her hand, and the trees around them shivered, "I suggest we manipulate the forests to grow our cities."

Mai stepped forward, "What about the planes where there are no trees?"

Pamela gestured to Gaia. "Gaia could manipulate the Earth to form buildings with enough practice."

Bailey snorted, "That gives you a lot of control over the people in this world."

Pamela opened her mouth to respond, but Nicholas cut her off. By hijacking the 25,000 inactive satellites surrounding the Earth, we will gain other materials; we can also mine metals from asteroids.

He glanced up in thought, "As a matter of fact, I think there's a nearby asteroid, Psyche 16 if I remember correctly. It has more than enough gold for us to start an economy."

"I don't think the earth will like us stealing their satellites," David commented.

Nicholas shrugged, "We're only taking the inactive ones; if they don't like it, they shouldn't have left them lying around."

"Why do we need gold?" Jade asked.

"Until we understand the currency of the wider universe, it's best to stick with what we know."

Pushing off the ground, Nicholas launched into the air. Settling high above the trees, Nicholas closed his eyes and linked with the world's energy. "Mutants of the multiverse, I welcome you to cradle, a place that will nurture and help us grow. However, it is still young and a newly formed world, so we must build it together."

"I ask everyone here to try to build a better tomorrow; no matter your power or ability, everyone can be of use. No matter what, if you are willing to try, Cradle will be there to support you."

Determination from hundreds of minds burned brightly in Nicholas's mind. None of these people were freeloaders looking for a handout, and they were all willing to work to build a better life for themselves as long as they were not persecuted for their differences.

Hopping back to the ground, Nicholas approached the dark-skinned couple who had gravitated toward Salvé. "Hello," he offered his hand. "I am Nicholas Campbell."

Salvé grabbed his hand. "I'm Salvé; I guess I'm a new life elemental." The dark-skinned man with Ruby glasses stepped forward. "I am Scott Summers." He gestured to the white-haired woman, "This is my wife, Ororo Munro."

"It's nice to meet you all; I hope we can work together in the future and that you enjoy the life you build here on Cradle."

"Now come. I believe some people would like to meet you. Some of them know your counterparts from other earths." Nodding, the small group made their way over to the Campbells and the other elementals.

As they drew closer, Wanda closed the distance between them, "Cradle," she asked with a raised eyebrow.

Nicholas shrugged, "We couldn't keep calling at Mars."

Wanda's slender, tan hands slid to her hips. "And you didn't think about discussing this with the others?"

Nicholas rubbed the back of his neck, "My bad, it just came to me."

Pamela closed the distance between them, strands of red hair fluttering in the breeze, "I like it, for this world is a newborn just waiting to mature."

"I don't care what it's called," Bailey said, "but he's right in saying we couldn't keep calling at Mars." Her eyes panned around the tall trees and vibrant grass. Birds flying through the sky drew her eye as animals shifted in nearby bushes. "This is no longer the red world it was when we started."

She focused on Nicholas: "More importantly, if this place is supposed to be a haven for meta-humans, then we should start building defenses to buy us time to create infrastructure."

David stopped beside Bailey, "I'm honestly surprised the heroes haven't arrived to investigate."

Nicholas led the group back to the other Campbells, "I have an idea, but I'm unsure if it'll work."

Stopping before his family, Nicholas focused on his mother and Arcanna, "Do you still have your abilities?"

Red threads blossomed around Alexi while blue-white power crackled around Arcanna, "Of Course," they said in unison.

"Do you think together you can re-create Mars and move cradle to the other side of the sun?"

Both women's eyes widened, "That would take a tremendous amount of power," his mother began, with Arcanna nodding.

"I was hoping thatputting the sun between us and Earth could act as an impromptu shield."

"That may protect us from the world's governments," Mai interjected, "but it will not stop the more powerful heroes that call the earth home."

Nicholas grimaced, "that's why I also hoped we could hide Cradle in a dimensional fold for a year."

His mother coughed, her mouth opened wide, her gaze incredulous, "So, not only do you want us," she gestured between herself and Arcanna, "to move a planet and create another, you also want us to fold reality around this one and hold it for a year."

"When you say it like that, it seems unreasonable."

Forge snorted, an amused look shining in his Brown eyes.

Samuel stepped forward, his yellow eyes intense, "you're asking a lot, son."

"I know, but if we're going to build a haven for these people, we need time. The only other option I can think of is to fight anyone that comes close, but that would send the wrong message and make them think we had something to hide."

Samuel nodded, glancing up into the sky, "I should be able to use my abilities to boost theirs to get the job done."

Forge cleared his throat. "If you want to do this, we must gather the materials before entering thefolded space."

Nicholas nodded; "I'll begin breaking down the 25,000 satellites surrounding the earth for useful components and mind the asteroid belt for useful metals." He turned to Wanda, "When I prepare everything, can you teleport it back here."

"Sure," Wanda nodded, moving toward Alexi and Arcanna, making Nicholas's stomach last thing he wanted was his girlfriend talking alone with his mother, so soon after, they had all been reunited.

"In the meantime, I'll work with Alexi and Arcanna to develop a spell circle that can focus and amplify their powers."

Alexi smiled while taking Samuel's hand. "Thank you, dear. While we work, maybe you can tell me what Nicholas's been up to and how the two of you met."

Nicholas ran a hand down his face while the former elementals snickered.

After a moment, Mai smoothed her features. She looked at the other elements. "If it's okay with the rest of you, I would like to teleport shipwrecks unknown to the surface world here to be used as materials and help stabilize the ocean's ecosystem."

With Gaia close behind her, Pamela lifted into the air, "While Mai does that, we will begin weaving the trees and earth together to form shelters for our new arrivals."

Bailey and David stopped talking with Salvé, the life elemental, "We will go with Salvé to calm everyone and see who can help Pamela and Gaia build shelters."

Mai disappeared in a swirl of water while Salvé, Bailey, and David took to the sky, leaving Jade alone.

Nicholas opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off when Roslyn Grey Wayne descended from the sky. "Since this world is about to be cut off from reality for a year, I would like to bring Logan and the meta-humans in dire need of safety here." She looked at Jade. "Can you help me with that?"

Jade looked at her with narrowed eyes and lips pressed into a thin purple line, "I don't need your pity."

Roslyn's eyes burned like green stars, "It's not pity if I'm helping you better understand what you can do with your powers; you call that training. Now, do you want to help me or not?"

Slowly, Jade drifted into the sky.

'I'm so glad someone else took care of that,' Nicholas thought as he left, heading toward Earth.

–XX –

stopping about a mile from the earth, Nicholas reached out and connected with the earth's magnetic field. Spreading his arms wide, the satellites that had been left in space for decades broke apart into various pieces, showing the progression of technology over the decades.

Glass, computer chips, various metals, some plastics, wire, and the occasional tube or tank soon floated around Nicholas. With a force of will, each one was surrounded by an aura of power, protecting it from the vacuum.

With eyes closed, Nicholas reached out to Wanda, "Wanda, I'm ready for you to teleport the components I've gathered from satellites. There's a lot of it, so make sure it has lots of space wherever you put it."

"Your grandfather has returned to the archive with Penelope and Jurek. I'll drop it off with them."

"That's a good idea. Remind me later that we need to build science facilities above ground."

"One thing at a time, Nicky, one thing at a time."

As the satellite pieces disappeared, Nicholas turned away from the earth. He headed toward the asteroid belt to begin mining, but not before he saw the flashes of blue beneath the ocean that signified Mai beginning to move ships.

–XX –

Six hours later, Nicholas returned to Cradle.

Landing in a small clearing, he eyed the complex spell circle beneath his mother, Arcanna, and Wanda's feet. His father stood in the center, tendrils of energy snaking out from him and connecting to the three women.

The elementals entered the clearing, forming a larger circle around the trio. Energies representing each element, white for life, opaque for wind, black for death, blue for water, gold for earth, and green for plant life shot out from them, weaving into the circle to form a complex net through it.

"Are we ready," Samuel asked.

"Yes," the group said as one.

Nicholas glanced up as the sky began to shimmer. His connection to the planet's magnetic field allowed him to see reality ripple as Cradle moved, and the original red planet took its place. He saw the stars blurring as Cradle appeared on the other side of the sun in the same position as Earth.

Nicholas turned back just in time to see the elementals sag. In a blur of motion, he was by Wanda's side, catching her. She leaned on him, peering up at him through barely open eyes.

"Are you alright?" He asked, guiding her out of the circle.

"Fine," she said blearily, "just tired."

Together, they turned to stare at the group's handiwork. A runic spell circle sat in the center of the clearing, glowing with lines similar to those of a dream catcher. In the center of the circle sat a holographic representation of acradle.

Above the planet hovered a clock.

Nicholas stared at the clock. He could hear a ticking in his head. They had one year to make theCradle strong enough to survive the larger universe.