"Councilman…it's beautiful."

He smiled softly. "It was a gift from your father."

The princess smiled in response, the tears threatening to fall down her cheeks. She tried to keep her composure. She held the brooch out to him. "Would you be so kind as to help me pin it on, Councilman?"

"Of course, Your Majesty."

He gently took the brooch from her fingers and carefully fastened it over her black lace choker. Although she couldn’t see how it looked on her, she brushed her fingers across the stone, feeling its warmth. In a way she hadn’t felt since he was alive, she felt as though her father was with her. It was a moment of comfort, one she so sorely needed. Overjoyed, she lost her decorum and embraced the Councilman.

"Thank you so much," she whispered.

He returned the hug, the smile still wide on his face. They stood there together for a moment, appreciating the slow moment in the midst of the chaos.

But of course, the chaos always returns. Their embrace was interrupted by a tap on the door frame, and then Rika appeared, an urgent expression on her face.

"Um, your Highness,” Rika said, clearly feeling awkward about her intrusion on this moment. “We're ready."

The two released their hold, and Sete bowed to the princess with a smile.

"Go in honor of the fallen," he said.

This was precisely what Anya needed to hear. She joined Rika, and the two descended to the aircraft on the first floor. Caleb and Vinnie were visible through the cockpit window, both checking controls and buttons with urgency. The captain’s chair would, of course, be reserved for Anya. After she climbed into the ship’s underside, she found her way to her seat and then watched the Knights prepare for takeoff.

Once they were ready, a crackly voice sounded over the cockpit’s radio. "This is the radio tower, speaking to the Knights of Auran.”

Vinnie spoke all of their call signs into the microphone with a nervous smile.

The crackly voice spoke again. “You have clearance. Please proceed take-off."

"Copy that," Vinnie replied.

Caleb began to flip the power switches, and the ship hummed to life. As he continued to ensure the energy levels throughout the ship were equal, a blinking light on the console caught Rika’s eye.

"Princess, we have an incoming message,” she said. “Retrieving now."

A hologram projector descended from the aircraft’s ceiling, displaying the image of a man in his late sixties, decorated with medals of all different shapes and colors.

"Greetings, Your Highness,” he said. “This is General De Grandis. We have orders from the Elders to accompany you and your Knights. We will provide backup as needed on your mission."

"Thank you, General.” Anya felt a bit of relief wash over her. It would be good to have a bit more manpower on a mission of this magnitude. "With your help, we can cover more ground. I am very grateful.”

"Commencing lift-off in T-minus ten seconds,” Vinnie announced. “Nine, eight…"

As he continued to count, the general offered a proper military salute. The transmission ended. Once more, Anya found herself thinking about her father.

“…three, two, one.” When Vinnie finished his countdown, he pressed a button to his left and powered up the thrusters. The engines roared, and the airship hovered above the hangar floor.

"We have lift-off," Vinnie said with a smile.

Caleb nudged the controls forward and began to guide the ship out of the hangar.

As the Princess watched their trajectory on the navigation screen, she caught a glimpse of her reflection. She looked grown-up, like she was really ready to step into her birthright and look after her people. She stared at the brooch that now rested against her neck. It was beautiful, and when she reached up to touch it, the red gemstone shimmered. For a moment, the stone looked like it was alive.

As the ship pulled out into open air, Anya pressed the gemstone with the tips of her fingers and closed her eyes.

"Father," she whispered to the gem. "Knights of the past, please listen. If you can hear me, we need your help. Please grant us—the power to defeat our foes."

Unbeknownst to her, the gemstone emitted a high-pitched elegant hum that not even a halfling like Vinnie could hear at her touch and her words. This frequency expanded out beyond the ship and sent a signal farther than any human technology could. Deep in a sand-buried temple far from Auran, a similarly beautiful palm-sized ruby glowed in the dark. It emitted the same sound and shot a beam of red energy through the sand and into the sky above. Three other stones at three other temples—stones colored green, blue, and gold—emitted the same sounds with different tones, shot the same beams of energy up high, and glimmered in the dark temples where they rested. The four beams merged into one pillar of light, creating a beautiful and harmonious sound that flowed through the galaxy, unheard by everyone but impacting them all.

— ✧ —

"What the hell is going on, Doc?" a voice demanded. "We gave you more time, as you requested, and you decide to play House? You’re no closer to the results we asked for."

Kevin opened his eyes and scanned his surroundings. He was young again. Two soldiers restrained him, his pregnant mother, Alexcia being escorted into a black SUV by members of the Advent Guard. His father, also restrained by two soldiers looked at the agent with the eye patch worried but also like he knew the Agent interrogating him. Kevin felt his heart drop. It was the same vision. Again.

"Please don't hurt him!" his mother begged, but no one turned to acknowledge her plea.

"I gave you what I have," Kevin's father pleaded. "Please let us go. I promise, I can try again."

“Your promises mean nothing,” the Agent—Agent Parker, Kevin remembered—said to his father. "Your time is up, Doc. I have orders, and unlike you, I actually follow them."

Parker turned away from the father and began to walk toward Kevin. Kevin felt his body freeze. His younger self trembled with every step Parker took. When the Agent got close enough, he kneeled to the boy’s height.

"Hey, kid,” the Agent said. “What's your name?"

Too frightened, Kevin remained silent and looked away. Why was he here again? It made no sense.

The Agent let out a sigh. "Shy are we?” He reached into his coat, clearly exasperated by the kid. “Let me introduce you to a friend of mine. He’s been known to get people talking.”

Then, Agent Parker pulled out his gun. Kevin's eyes widened. At his age, he’d never seen one in-person before. He was sweating bullets, his father, David begins to panic.

"Parker, what are you doing?" his dad shouted.

The Agent ignored him, focused on the boy. He held the gun gently in his hand. "Let’s try this again. My name is Parker. What's yours?"

"K-Kevin."

Kevin’s present self couldn’t interfere with what was going on. He could only watch the vision’s events. He knew it was just a dream, but that was hard to believe when there seemed to be a real gun right in front of him.

"See? Works every time," the Agent replied with a smirk, unbeknownst to the older Kevin’s presence. "Now, Kevin, I'm going to ask you some questions, and I’m going to need-“

Before the Agent could finish, the young Kevin headbutted the Agent square in the nose.

The sheer force of the attack pushed Parker off-balance. Blood began to pour from his nostril, and he used his finger to wipe the blood and slow the flow to a drip. Clearly, his nose was misaligned from the impact. Anger flowed through him. He raised his pistol and smacked Kevin in the face with the butt of it.

"You little brat!" he yelled.

Parker's blow knocked Kevin from the soldier's grasp. He landed hard on his back, his head tilted toward his father and his eyes wide with shock. He’d never felt that kind of impact before.

"Kevin?! Speak to me!" his father pleaded.

Present-day Kevin tried to respond but his body wouldn't listen.

I need to wake up. Kevin shouted in his head. I don't want this.

Then, his vision blurred. He heard his father continuing to cry out, but his voice quickly faded to silence. Then, a small voice spoke to him. His voice.

"What do you desire?"