Chapter 25

Istood on a stony beach, the ocean receding before me, further and further beneath a gunmetal sky.

A wave formed that was higher than any mountain, so monstrous it took up all I could see. And there, out in the shallows, stood my family, my friends, and the rebel army, all raising swords and bellowing battle cries at the undefeatable ocean. It was a force no sword, no magic, no Phoenix flame could destroy. And it was coming upon them with a certainty that left no room for other fates.

I tried to cry out to them, tried to run and save them, to tell them there was no defeating this enemy, but my voice was lost to a roaring wind. And when I attempted to run, the stones at my feet shifted, giving way to sand that sucked me down, clogging up around my legs and dragging me deeper into its embrace.

I couldn't escape it any more than I could save those I loved. And despair washed over me as that terrible wave came slamming down on the army and swallowed them all, the flicker of Phoenix wings extinguishing in the dark water. I roared their names until my throat was raw, but the wave came tearing towards me next, and there was no way out. The moment it impacted, I jerked out of the vision, coughing heavily, the taste of saltwater on my tongue. Pain carved through the inside of my skull, my visions causing me agony now in the wake of all Vard had done to me. I feared I might never be free of it.

"Gabe," Leon gasped, rushing over and gripping my arm.

I blinked at him, reaching for his face and taking in the bright golden hue of his eyes. My friend. He was alive. But what of the others?

"Where are they?" I croaked as Leon placed a glass of water in my hand.

"Dante's taken them for a flight," he said, moving to sit on the edge of the armchair I was in. "Everyone's fine. I swear, dude. Just take a drink."

I did as he said, draining the glass of water and the taste of the ocean finally left my mouth as I placed the empty glass on a side table. I gazed around the familiar cabin, the wooden walls and scent of pine clinging to it, the crackling of the fire in the stone hearth settling my heart rate.

My life had been remade in this cabin once upon a time, solidified into the reality I could hardly believe had ever been in doubt.

Normally, I recovered fast from my visions. I was well versed in seeing my loved ones die, and as soon as my mind returned to the present, I could usually break away from the terror. Something about this one kept troubling me though. It had come to me many times already and left me with an impending sense of doom. It was no true fate; it wasn't the sea we had to fear. Oncoming, unavoidable destruction was what it signified.

"You need to get all those nasty little visions out, then The Sight will chill out and you'll be back to normal," Leon said, taking something from his jeans pocket and unfolding it. The aluminium foil had been fashioned into a sort of cap and he reached out, smoothing my hair down and sliding it onto my head, taking his time to adjust it. I was so exhausted mentally that I didn't even bother to stop him.

"And what do you think that will do?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's a vision hat, Gabe. It will help slow down the vision flow. Duh," he said confidently.

"Don't call me Gabe," I said, rubbing a hand over my face.

"Oh I totally forgot, Gabe!" Leon jumped off the seat, ignoring what I'd said as usual and heading to the kitchenette. "Your second favourite H.I.L. made you this." He held up a glass vial with a glittering yellow potion inside.

"What is it?" I frowned.

"Err, he gave it some fancy name that I don't care to remember, but I like to call it snake-juice-sleep-time-jamboree."

I pressed my lips together. "No."

"Oh, come on. Don't just say no like a grumpy grandpa. This will give you dreamless sleep for two whole days. It'll give you the rest you need to recover. And when you piss your pants or shit yourself, I swear to you, Gabe, I won't just leave you all soiled in your chair." He walked over to me, patting my shoulder. "I'll make sure Dante changes you every hour, dude, like, no lie. I'll have him scrubbing your crack ‘til it gleams if I have to, okay? I've got you. You won't wake up with a crusty-"

"Your love knows no bounds," I cut over him. "But no. I don't want some fucking sleep potion and a diaper."

"A diaper!" he exclaimed. "That makes way more sense. What size do you reckon you take?" He looked me up and down. "You've got a kind of flat ass, no offense – it's still great and all, like two tidy slabs of concrete, but you don't have my shapeliness or Dante's peachy posterior or-"

"Leon, you're not getting it," I snapped, pushing out of my seat. "I need to get back to the academy. My sisters need me. I can't waste any more time here. I sense something terrible is coming."

"No," he growled, his Lion coming to the surface as he stepped in front of me. "You're not leaving. I'm going to look after you Mindy style, bro, and if you don't like it, you can fight me and see what happens."

"This war is coming to a head faster than you can imagine," I hissed, grabbing his shoulders and making him listen to me. "We have days at the most, don't you get it? It's over, Leon. When our army clashes with Lionel's again, it will be the last time. The stars are showing me nothing but failure. His army grows each day, it outnumbers ours vastly. Don't you understand? I cannot stay here because another day could cost us everything."

Leon's throat bobbed, true fear entering his eyes. "Do we make it?"

My jaw tightened, and I so wanted to comfort him with a lie, but he had to understand the seriousness of this situation. If there was any chance of changing fate, I had to find it before it was too late.

"No," I breathed. "If we face him now, we lose. Lionel will win this war, brother. And he will not leave a single one of us with breath in our lungs. He won't risk another uprising; he'll slaughter us all. The day of reckoning is almost upon us. And we will fail."

Leon shook his head, trying to deny the truth of my words through sheer stubbornness. "There must be a way."

My mind flashed with a vision of me and the rest of my family making a break for it at the final hour, of us carving out an existence hiding from the wrath of Lionel and using my Sight to keep us all alive. But that wouldn't help my sisters. And it wouldn't help this kingdom.

"We could run," I told him honestly, though he balked at the idea. "I don't want to consider that unless all else is lost," I reassured him.

"What about the others? What about us winning this fight? Is there any hope?" he pushed.

I started to shake my head then slowed. There was a whisper of something, so indistinct that I hardly dared pin any kind of hope on it at all, but it was all we had. "There is a chance that I might find a new path for us to follow, but I can't do that here. I must be with them so that I might guide their fates. Orio has the Guild Stones, I've seen it. There are possibilities in their union, but I cannot be sure of their potential yet…"

"The stone I gave him, the topaz stone, that was one of them, right?" Leon asked.

"Yes," I said.

"By the sun, fate has to be on our side then, Gabe. Do you know how easily my dad could have never ended up with that stone, dude? It was all the way over in The Waning Lands. Like a hundred years ago, this old King Imai gave it to my great, great grandma in his will. Totally unlikely, right? And the barrier blocking all travel to and from the Waning Lands was erected like two days after it was delivered to us or some cheese, so it easily could have been stuck there beyond our reach and yet it wasn't! That means we've gotta be on the right track, because dots don't just join themselves up like that randomly. There must be all kinds of invisible strings pulling us along, leading us to our destination, bro. And I'm sure that's victory."

I wanted to take courage from his optimism, but a vision ripped through my skull and pain cut into the backs of my eyes as I found myself upon a field of death. The bodies of those I loved were scattered everywhere, blood seeping from open wounds, and my gaze fell on the nearest of them all. Geraldine's eyes were glassy and the look of a warrior was still about her as she lay frozen in death. A jade green Dragon sailed through the ashen sky, a bellow of victory booming from his throat.

I jerked out of the vision, finding myself on the floor with Leon leaning over me, pressing a hand to my forehead and sending healing magic into me. But it didn't seem to touch the pain in my head.

"I have to go back," I panted. "The clock is ticking. Every second is counting us down to the end, Leon. And if we don't change fate, we'll all perish. One by one, we'll fall."

"Alright, alright. You can go," he conceded. "But the others won't like it. Maybe when you tell them, you could leave out some of the doom and focus on a few happy thoughts. Did the stars give you any of those?"

I shook my head.

"Not even one?"

"No."

"Okay, well, right, cool. How about I do the talking then? I can put a positive spin on anything. We're all gonna die? Well let's get the party started in the afterlife, huh?" He tried to smile, but I could see the terror in his eyes as he leaned closer to whisper to me. "Not to pressure you or anything, but I like totally need to reach legendary status before I go out, bro. I know, I know. I'm pretty legendary already, but I've got plans, Gabe. Big plans. And also…I really like being alive along with everyone I love being alive. So could you find a way to save us all? But like I said, no pressure." He clapped me on the shoulder then pulled me to my feet.

"No pressure, hm?" I said with a frown.

"Maybe a teeny tiny bit of pressure," he said, holding his finger and thumb close together. "But at least rest between trying to rescue us all."

"I'll rest when Lionel rests in his grave," I said darkly, moving to pick up a pouch of stardust from the table. "Bring everyone back to the academy when they show up."

"You're really not wasting any minutes, are you?" Leon said, adjusting my aluminium hat again. "Just keep this on and baste it with oil twice a day."

"No."

"I think you'll find it helps."

"I think you'll find it in the trash can shortly," I said, taking a pinch of stardust and handing him the pouch.

"You're as grouchy as a snake in a top hat today," he said, and I blew out a breath of amusement.

"See you soon, Leon." I threw the stardust over my head, thinking of Zodiac Academy and I was pulled away into the embrace of the stars, travelling through the material of the universe to reach my destination.

I arrived outside the gates, hurrying toward the guards and letting them security check me before I was allowed inside. They told me the twins were in The Orb, so I pulled my shirt off, tucking it in the back of my jeans and letting my wings loose, taking off into the sky and heading that way.

I was soon landing outside, striding into the golden dome and finding my sisters hosting another war council.

Orion shot to his feet then came at me in a blur, hugging me tight, and the twins weren't far behind him.

"You're back!" Darcy squeezed me while Tory poked my hat.

"What the fuck is that on your head?" she asked.

"Leon gave it to me," I said, and the three of them nodded, needing no further explanation.

"Are you better now, Noxy?" Orion asked, a frown lining his brow.

"I…" I didn't want to disappoint them, all three of them looking at me with so much hope that I hated to tear it away from them. "I'm well enough. And I'll help with anything I can."

"Gabriel Nox!" Geraldine cried, and I looked to where she now stood on top of the council table, her hands on her hips. "I hereby declare you the official Royal Seer of the dandiest queens whoever roamed the land."

"She made you a fancy chair and everything," Darcy said with a grin. "It's got your name on it." She pointed and I scowled as I found the name Gabe carved under the title of Royal Seer.

Orion sniggered, and I glanced at his seat which was right beside it marked with the title of Guild Master. There was a little embellishment on each of ours, but nothing compared to the ornate carved chairs that belonged to my sisters.

"Well fuck me, this is quite the welcome back," I muttered, already feeling like I was letting everyone in this room down with how little I had to offer them.

Chatter broke out among those gathered at the table and Geraldine waved her hands at them. "Simmer down. I am quite aware it is hotter than an otter's patchouli in here now that the fine specimen of our becoming Seer has entered our vicinity, but we must wrangle our Petunias and Long Shermans, so that we might focus on the task at hand."

"Gerry," Max growled.

"What-ho, dear fellow? I am but a Fae who cannot help the wandering of her waters. But do not worry, my salacious salmon, I only desire your butter upon my bagel." She leapt down from the table and Max looked much brighter as she took her seat and we all moved to join the circle.

"So you'll be keeping the aluminium hat on through the whole meeting, will you?" Orion muttered, and I cursed, snatching the thing off my head but feeling an oily residue left in my hair.

"Do I smell like vegetable oil?" I sighed.

Darcy glanced up at a line of oil which was leaking down my temple. "Nope," she said brightly in a way that told me I absolutely did.

"Liar," I accused.

"You just smell…well-seasoned," she taunted, and Tory snorted.

"Twenty minutes in the oven and you'll be golden brown," Tory said.

"Dibs on his ears," Orion said. "I'll whip us up some guacamole and double dip those crunchy fuckers."

"Your guacamole is shit; I'll make some before you roast me," I said, my heart lifting at the small moment of lightness between us.

"Fair point," Orion said, shooting me a mirthful look.

"Well you came right at the chop of the chipper, fellow flapper," Geraldine said brightly, gesturing to the crystal glasses of fizzing wine sitting before everyone as we took our seats at the table. "A gift arrived from the Sphinx Fellowship – an entire crate of Vega Cava, made from the finest grapes of Galgadon. So let us make a rumbunctious toast to our True Queens for all the hope they have restored in the hearts of their pious people." Geraldine poured me a glass, pushing it my way.

We all raised them in the air while my sisters shared an awkward glance, never ones for enjoying the spotlight.

"To the True Queens!" Geraldine bayed, and everyone cried it back before taking a sip.

I brought it to my lips, but didn't drink, concerned the alcohol might worsen my condition. I'd cut out caffeine and any other stimulant I could to try and stop the headaches, though nothing had made much difference as of yet.

I set my glass down just as the sound of another glass smashing made my eyes dart to Caleb who had risen from his seat. Blood dribbled from his lips and he coughed heavily, clutching his chest.

Seth leapt at him with a howl of fright. "What's wrong?" he demanded, but blood spilled from his lips too and he stumbled into Caleb as he reached for him.

Panic reared, and suddenly everyone was coughing, spitting up blood and vomiting. Geraldine released a pitchy scream of horror, diving at Tory and Darcy as blood poured from my sisters' mouths. Geraldine's face was blotchy and red, but then the affects withdrew, fading as quickly as they had come. It all happened so fast, Orion and Darius scrambling to help but only falling prey to the poison that must have been contained in that wine. Bodies were falling, death was closing in, and a roar of anguish left me as I raced to help.

But then I blinked, and everyone sat around me still, their glasses held high and eyes gleaming. It was a vision, a promise of death.

"To the True Queens!"

"NO!" I bellowed, using my power over water to freeze every glass of wine in the room to stop it from being consumed. I was on my feet, breathless with fear. "It's poisoned."

"That cannot be," Geraldine gasped. "Every food and drink item that passes into this academy goes through a rigorous magical evaluation. I oversee it myself. I could not have made such a mishap, I-I-"

"It's okay, Geraldine," Darcy said then looked to me as she set her glass down. "What did you see?"

I felt The Sight pressing in on me again, the pain driving into my head telling me I couldn't escape it as I was shown a glimpse of Vard. He held a vial of some clear liquid, holding it up to Lionel. "It is entirely undetectable, my King. A poison like no other."

I took a shaky breath as I found myself back in the now, the ache behind my eyes making me dizzy.

"Vard," I growled, hatred coating that name. "The poison is newly designed. It's undetectable."

"Motherfucker," Tory hissed, slamming her glass down too.

"Ohhh!" Geraldine wailed, throwing her hands to her face. "I poured your deaths into crystal glasses, I am a treacherous braggard who must be hung, drawn, and quartered for this most ghastly of crimes." She flung herself onto the table before my sisters. "Do it now, here, before your court. Let them see what becomes of wretches such as I!"

"You couldn't have known," Darcy said, trying to encourage her back into her seat. "It's undetectable."

"But I am a Cerberus," Geraldine sobbed, gathering her crimson hair away from her neck like she was readying herself for a beheading. "Poison is my pastime."

"If it's undetectable, what do we do?" Tory looked to me in concern. "More of our stores could be laced with it."

I turned to the stars for answers, and for once they gave them clearly, a pang of pain accompanying the truth offered to me. "Geraldine, you were affected by a mere rash on your face in my vision. Your Cerberus Order fought off the poison. You don't have time to give to this task, but I've seen who has. Justin Masters. He can recruit a team of food and drink testers from the other Cerberuses and they can look for signs of such a rash. That will be the key."

Geraldine wiped her tears from her cheeks, sitting upright on the table. "Of course," she exhaled. "What a boon of an idea, my winged fellow. Justin is just the spritely earwig for the job. I will send word to him once our council is done."

"That solves that then," Darius said. "We need to talk about recruitment."

"I have a list of potential allies," Geraldine said, shuffling off the table back into her seat and taking a scroll from a bag at her feet. She laid it on the table with a flourish.

"The Icekian Polar Bear shifters in the north," she said. "Gus Vulpecular has told us of a Nebula Inquisition Centre holding many of them captive. There are others there too, of course. But the Polar Bears possess brute force and a keenness for war that few other Orders possess. They would make fine allies indeed."

"Our plans to hit the Inquisition Centres are coming together, we can do some research into that one too," Darcy said.

"Seth and I will take it," Caleb offered.

"I always wanted to see the Polar Capital," Seth said keenly, and Caleb smiled a little like he'd known that.

"Very well." Geraldine ticked it off her list. "We shall discuss your strategy for that as soon as a snaffety sniff, but first let us speak of another viable alliance. The Voldrakians."

A murmur of discontent passed through the room.

"They've been hostile ever since the Savage King threatened to invade their land and took Merissa Vega as his bride," Tiberius said with a head shake. "Their marriage forged a tentative alliance - if you can call it that - but her death threw the relationship between Solaria and Voldrakia back into turmoil. We are not enemies, but we haven't been able to claim a true alliance with them since her demise either. There is too much bad blood between our kingdom and theirs."

"The Voldrakian royals sent a chest to Lionel while Lance, Gabriel and I were held captive," Darcy said, and I nodded in confirmation. "We saw it. There was a monstrous snake thing inside it that killed one of his Dragon shifters. It was a message of refusal to ally with him."

"That is jolly news indeed," Geraldine gushed, slapping her hand down on the table.

"Not necessarily," Tory said. "Just because they sent a fuck you to Lionel doesn't mean they won't send one to us."

"But the emperor is your grandfather." Geraldine looked from my sisters to me, and I realised I was very much included in that statement. "Perhaps he only awaits the call of his lineage to thrust the might of his army into your command."

The Sight cut through my skull like a hot knife, and I was gifted a view of a faraway palace where a man with cold eyes sat upon his throne. I watched as my sisters' summons was passed to him and he scoffed as he read their request for help, then scrunched the parchment up in his grip. "Let my granddaughters prove their worth in their war. I will consider offering them my allegiance if they claim the throne they seek."

I blinked, coming back to the room, the grave news rising to my lips. I despised being the bearer of such news, and I sighed as I looked to Darcy and Tory. "The Voldrakians will refuse to ally. The emperor wishes to have no part in this war."

"Oh badger balls," Geraldine cursed.

"Well that's that then." Darcy leaned back in her seat with a sigh. "Is there anyone else, Geraldine?"

"Oh, um, hmmm, just give me two shakes of a billy goat's gruff." Geraldine fussed over her list, but I could see there was little else written on it.

"Let's talk tactics on hitting the Nebula Inquisition Centres," Max suggested, and everyone fell into discussion about that instead.

The sense of terror I'd felt all day washed over me again. A scent of death hung around me like a bad omen, and the ticking in my head said that time was running out for everyone in this room. I might have returned to the centre of this war to help, but despite my determination to change the fates of all those who were sitting around me, all I could find when I looked into their futures was the inevitability of the end, and I feared not even my foresight could save them the next time death came knocking.