Episode III — Shadows Lurking in the Darkness

Chapter 2: Unpleasant News (Part 2)

Julie looks down, avoiding eye contact. “It was agreed years ago that once you turned eighteen, you would move to Agartha. I’m sorry!”

“How come I wasn’t told about this? What does Dad think?” Michael shouts.

“As a non-mage, this is none of his business!” Perseus jumps in abruptly.

Julie turns to her father. “Can at least one of us come with him? This transition may be difficult, so some family support wouldn’t be bad—!”

The Archmage interrupts his daughter. “I’m your father and his grandfather, which makes me family, too!”

Julie gives a long sigh and tries her best to talk as calmly as she can. “I meant his closest relatives. What about Ember? She has never been to Agartha.”

Ember smiles and turns to her grandfather with sparkling, hopeful eyes.

“Under normal circumstances, I would say yes, but she is a non-mage. Non-mages are not allowed to visit Agartha!”

“She is your grandchild too!” Julie raises her voice as Ember’s expression shifts to disappointment.

Perseus shuts down his daughter. “We have rules! And if, all of a sudden, I let a non-mage family into Agartha, I’ll have to do that for everyone!”

Michael angrily stands up as he gets ready to leave.

This grabs the Archmage’s attention. “Where are you going?”

“I’m going to meet with friends,” says Michael, not looking back. “Gebmar, wanna come?”

“Sure!” the deva replies as he stands.

The two exit the room, unaware they are being followed by the Whistler, still embedded in Michael’s shadow as it stretches along the floor behind them.

“Great idea; that way you can say goodbye to all of them at once!” says Perseus, but they ignore him. Julie turns around and shoots him a dirty look.

“What?” her father asks indignantly, but Julie walks out without saying a word.

The Archmage turns to Dorgia. “Have you seen Nyx? I need to renegotiate a deal with her. Agartha’s power source is failing, and we need new Quantum crystals.”

“A deal?” Ember repeats him, intrigued.

“Yes. Nyx, like many elementals, loves striking bargains with humans,” Perseus explains. “You offer her something she wants, and if she accepts, she will grant you a magical object in return—or even special powers.”

“Grant you a magical object or even special powers?” she repeats, her face illuminating.

“Last time I saw her, milord, she was looking for something sweet to eat!” the toad tells his master.

The Archmage rolls his eyes. “Of course she would; that sweet tooth!”

“Sweet tooth, huh? I’m pretty good at baking,” Ember says with a smirk. She looks up at her grandfather. “Hey, Grandpa, do you think Nyx would like some of the stuff I make? Take a look at this photo of the Black Forest cake I made a few weeks ago!”

Ember opens the photo gallery on her phone, searching for pictures of her latest dessert creations. Perseus ignores her and continues speaking with Dorgia.

As Ember’s gallery loads, however, the first images that appear are the most recent videos and photos—those she took inside the Sah’s Pyramid the day before. Ember frowns at the screen. “That’s odd. I don’t remember downloading these. Why does this purple guy look like Mike?”

Her comment immediately catches Perseus’s attention. He looks down at her phone, studying the videos and images intently.

“It does look just like him,” he says, surprised. “When did you shoot that video?”

“I . . . I don’t remember. Maybe it’s an AI video I forgot about. I made a bunch of them in my free time, some with Mike in them to tease him. Looks so real, right?” Ember replies casually as she scrolls through her album.

“Right,” the Archmage repeats. As he watches his oblivious granddaughter scroll through her phone, he catches glimpses of more photos from her time inside the Sah’s Pyramid.

Julie’s voice from the hallway interrupts their conversation. “Ember, can you make some brownies for dessert, please?”

“Oh, perfect timing. Maybe I can save some for Nyx and get something cool from her in return,” Ember says under her breath. Louder, she calls, “Coming, Mom!” and walks out of Michael’s room.

“Missing memories; such a Nyx thing to do. Fortunately for us, devas are technologically illiterate!” Perseus says, then turns to his chamberlain. “Dorgia, I’ve got a special mission for you. Get Ember’s phone and send any pictures and videos containing anything regarding this ‘purple Mike’ to me. Once done, delete the message and all the images. Understood?”

Dorgia nods and smiles in complicity, turns himself invisible, and follows Ember.

Thank you for reading Chaos’s Key.

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