“You are not supposed to be here, Cloud Drako,” Miss Seventh said as she approached them.
Ben startled at how close she was. He never sensed her presence.
She looked directly at him, spearing him with unblinking, mysterious eyes.
“Nor you, Benjamin Larkin D’Angelo. You have not been invited to this realm. Papa has not issued a new quest.”
Ben couldn’t help himself and spat, “Fuck the JE’s fucking quests.”
Miss Seventh’s eyes swirled strangely. It was like a flash of warning mixed with wry amusement.
“Papa is busy…dealing with unforeseen disturbances,” she said, and Ben straightened at that.
“But he will soon be made aware of uninvited intruders. You must leave this realm while you are still spared from his displeasure.”
“What is he doing with Ere? Where did he take him? Is Sorin here too? Where are they?” Ben asked in a rush, unconsciously stepping closer to the small female, crowding her space.
She didn’t budge, despite his far superior height and body mass. She simply tilted her head back to keep their gazes locked.
“These are not the questions you should be asking,” she murmured, having eyes only for him, both of them barely aware of Cloud standing arrested beside them.
“What should I be asking then?” Ben pressed, his voice low and dangerous.
He was generally a patient man. Full of light and optimism, secure in the knowledge that he was well loved by his family and friends.
But right now, his heart beat too fast. His breath came too shallow. He wasafraidof what the future might bring. He wanted to fix everything that was broken, but he didn’t know how.
Miss Seventh tilted her head slightly to the side, watching him closely, intently.
“I see…” she murmured to herself. “I see now.”
“What?” Ben asked, stepping so close their feet almost touched.
“What do you see?”
But Miss Seventh finally looked away, a small smile tipping up the corners of her lips.
“Come with me, Pure Ones. I will show you the way.”
Ben and Cloud shared a look and decided wordlessly that they didn’t have better options at the moment. So, they fell in line behind Miss Seventh as she led them across the Palace grounds, through a grove of peach trees ripe with fruit, across a golden bridge that arched elegantly over a carpet of lily pads with the flowers in full bloom, each one as big as Ben’s head, until they arrived at the edge of the Mirror Pond.
“Warrior,” she turned to Cloud to address him, “White Dragon will take you back to the human world. Tell those who await you what transpired here.”
Cloud bowed slightly in acceptance.
She turned to Ben, her eyes glinting sharply.
“You, young human, have a choice to make. Either return with Cloud from whence you came, or…”
“Or?” he prompted when she trailed off.
“Or step through the Mirror Pond on a new quest in the past.”
Ben’s brows drew together.
“I thought you said the JE didn’t have a new quest to be fulfilled.”
“It is not a quest for the Jade Emperor,” she said. “It is a quest for Ere, for Sorin…and foryou.”