I’d known Eira since we were kids, and I’d rarely seen her like this. On one hand, I found her anger and concern endearing—beneath all that snark, I knew she loved me as much as I loved her. The sisterly bond between us cared little for blood ties. At the same time, I was tempted to take away any sharp objects from her vicinity. When Eira got mad, she got mad.

“What are you gawking at me for?” she asked me, her skin still glowing blue.

“Sorry,” I murmured, realizing that I’d spent the past minute gazing at her, lovingly. I put my hands out as Taeral’s crew curiously gathered around us. “You guys might want to keep some distance,” I said to them. “I’m not sure how our bodies will react.”

“Or Acquis, for that matter,” Eira added.

Taeral and the others were considerate people, so they stepped back, leaving a three-yard radius of empty space around us. Bane stayed close to Raphael and Amelia, watching Eira and me with understandable concern.

“Do they always glow like this?” Bane asked quietly. I noticed the orange shimmer on my hands, concluding that I, too, had begun lighting up from the inside. It was a funny thing to experience, since I couldn’t actually feel any of it. These glow reactions were clearly linked to our emotional spectrum, and I was nervous. Eira was angry. So yes, we were both… incandescent, albeit in different colors, pertaining to the elements that had created us.

“It’s connected to their feelings,” Raphael briefly explained. “To answer your question, no, not always. Just when they’re pissed off.”

“Or sad. Or scared,” Amelia added, correcting him. It earned her a raised eyebrow from Raphael. There was a playful way about him, especially when it came to teasing her. Oh, he loved teasing Amelia. I found it sweet, coming from a creature like him.

Glancing at Taeral, I noticed a reassuring half-smile stretching his lips. As if he was still telling me, in his own way, that everything would be okay. Deep down, he probably knew it wouldn’t be. We both knew. But neither of us had the courage to say it out loud.

“Inalia, deep breaths, okay?” Eira said, drawing my focus back to her. “We’re about to go look for my dad. Hopefully without drawing the other bastards’ attention.”

“Your dad,” Bane mumbled, slightly confused.

“Yeah. The Water Hermessi. In short, both Inalia and I have Hermessi fathers. Inalia’s was Fire, mine is Water. And an unreliable schmuck who only half helps when he’s around,” Eira replied dryly. Bane nodded slowly, reluctant to ask for more details. Not that I could blame him, given Miss Snappy holding my hands. “And no, we haven’t done this exact thing before. Not the two of us together. But I caught a few tips and tricks from what I’ve read so far in here.”

“That explains your self-confidence,” I whispered, stifling a grin.

“It’s true, though. We’re both halves of different wholes. But our energy is more or less the same. So if we channel it and direct it at Acquis, we may have a better shot at finding him, specifically,” Eira explained. “We just need to do what we normally do on our own when looking for the Hermessi, but together. Our minds need to be specifically set on Acquis, though. I don’t want us to draw the others out.”

“For good reason.” Herakles chuckled. “I’m just getting comfortable here.”

Indeed, comfortable he was, lounging atop a pile of old manuscripts. It didn’t take long for Riza to knock him over. “Dude. Precious materials here!” she chided him.

Herakles shrugged. “I’m precious material, too.”

It prompted Raphael to let a chuckle loose. A short and sharp one, enough to irk Herakles a little. I loved these two. The dynamic between them was rare and hilarious. I only wished I’d get more time to spend with them—at least before it all went down the drain…

“Come on, focus,” Eira said to me.

I did. Closing my eyes, I let myself go. We held on tight to one another as darkness engulfed us like a silent storm. I had Acquis at the forefront of my consciousness, just like her. We searched for him through the fabric of the universe. We became immaterial wisps of pure energy, spreading and stretching outward, with little regard toward the known dimensions of cosmos.

For a while, all we saw was utter blackness, with the occasional twinkling star somewhere in the distance.

“Focus on Acquis,” Eira said to me.

“I am.”

“Then where the hell is he?”

We seemed to stop for a moment, swirling around, looking for him. Only then did I see how Eira looked outside her physical body—a humanoid figure made of glowing blue water, infused with ethereal shimmers impossible to reproduce in the real world. I looked down and noticed my own, liquid-fire veins that flowed together and formed me. A version of me I’d never seen before.

“Whoa,” I said. “Last time I was in this place, I didn’t have a body at all.”

“We were just insignificant blips. It’s different this time, isn’t it?” Eira replied, checking herself. “It looks cool, though.”

“Yeah, it does.” I giggled.

She stilled, then gently touched my face. It felt like cool water pouring down hot rocks. A soft sizzle as her Hermessi energy came in contact with mine. “I don’t want you to go,” she said, her voice low.

“I don’t want to go, either,” I replied.

Something moved, not far from us. We both turned, still floating in the nothingness, and saw it. A seemingly endless column of water surging toward us, spiraling through the depths of cosmos at an incredible speed. Everything about this Hermessi plane excursion was different from the last time I’d been here. Whether it had something to do with my inner growth since Brann’s death or my energy partnership with Eira, I wasn’t sure. But I had a lot more clarity than before.

And I knew that it was Acquis coming at us.

“Thank the stars, he’s alone,” Eira said.

“What are you two doing here?!” Acquis hissed. He didn’t seem too happy to see us. He circled around us, a great snake of the purest water, flowing endlessly. Ancient Cerixians had seen this form of his before. I remembered somewhere… They’d referred to it as the “Ring that Gives Life.” Oh, if only they could see him and his brethren now.

“Hey, Dad,” Eira replied. “We need to talk.”

Acquis seemed to look at us, though there weren’t any eyes. It felt like all his attention was pointed at us. “You know it’s dangerous to seek me out like this! The others might find us!”

“Well, like I said. We need to talk.”

I could almost hear the sigh he let out. Clearly, his daughter exasperated him. Good.

“What do you want?” Acquis asked.

“You never told us you’re not the original Water Hermessi,” Eira said. “And Brann wasn’t the original Fire Hermessi, either.”

Silence gathered between us, the pressure thick enough to make the air crackle here and there, like microscopic thunderstorms. “I take it you’ve found the original library of the Cerixians,” Acquis replied.

It was my turn to get angry. “You knew about it, and you didn’t tell us.”

“Why would I tell you anything, Inalia? I betrayed my kind badly enough as it is. I couldn’t risk doing worse,” Acquis said. “What I did, however, was merely to protect Eira. Someday, she may be the one to take my place.”

Eira pointed an angry finger at him. “If that day ever comes, I will leave and let Cerix die of thirst. You hear me?! You selfish bastard! You and your brethren have done nothing but harm! You caused the deaths of many innocents. You killed your own elemental brother. You made me without ever wondering what life would be like for me, as a Hermessi child. You don’t get to trickle around here like you’re pristine and all-powerful and ever the wise one, Acquis. So spare me the I-wanted-to-protect-my-daughter crap. If you really wanted to protect me, you wouldn’t have had me in the first place!”

“I still can’t get over the fact that you knew about the original library and kept it to yourself,” I grumbled, crossing my iridescent arms.

“There is information in there that is of no use to you whatsoever,” Acquis replied.

“Then why didn’t you tell us?” I asked.

“It didn’t cross my mind, dear child. I have bigger things to deal with.”

“Like destroying entire worlds in an epically cosmic reset?” Eira asked.

The water serpent stilled for a moment. “It needs to be done.”

“Why? Why do you want us all gone?” I replied.

“We only want the worthy to survive,” Acquis said. That was new information. So, the annihilation wasn’t going to be total, but rather… selective?

I shook my head. “It doesn’t make sense.”

“Acquis, for once in this lifetime… can you please… just be honest with me?” Eira asked, her shoulders dropping. She sounded sad, almost spent. Tired of dealing with this kind of vague encounter, over and over again. “Just tell me.”

A few seconds went by in absolute silence, while Acquis seemed to make up his mind. “What is it you wish to know? If I can tell you, I will.”

That was better than nothing. Eira and I both agreed with that, without having to say it out loud. Eira stepped forward, getting closer to the water. I could see her luminescent figure reflected onto the rippling surface.

“You’re not the original Water Hermessi,” she said.

“I’m not. I was once a Hermessi child like you and Inalia. Half elemental and half Cerixian.”

“Brann, too,” Eira replied.

“Yes. It’s why our hearts are so weak toward the Cerixians. Why we’re inclined to help, even when we should be focused on the ritual. On wiping the slate clean,” Acquis explained. “Some Hermessi can be like that, too, though they’re extremely rare across the universe. In my case, my father was the original Water Hermessi. Brann was second generation, which would make Inalia third. His father was also a Hermessi child. His grandfather was the original fire. Brann and I didn’t know what happened to him, but we do remember what happened to our fathers many eons ago.”

“They died and you replaced them,” I said. “The same way I’m supposed to replace Brann next, right?”

“Indeed. It was because of this same ritual,” Acquis replied.

Again, new and downright shocking information. “Hold on. The Hermessi have tried to pull this stunt before?”

“Yes. It didn’t end well. The ritual was never completed, and both our fathers were destroyed in the process,” Acquis continued. “Brann and I always believed the other elements to be responsible. But, shortly after they died, something happened. Something of cosmic proportions. The Hermessi were all suppressed. Reduced to mere functional elements. It wasn’t until the Blackout of Strava that we were able to truly ascend once more.”

“If you were lying dormant, how did you and Brann conceive us?” I asked, slightly confused.

“The great sleep caught us both in Cerixian bodies, while we were visiting our homelands. Brann and I were never affected, but we kept a low profile, for the most part,” Acquis said.

“But the other Hermessi were suppressed,” Eira concluded.

“Those who survived the phenomenon, yes.”

“What phenomenon?” Eira and I both asked at the same time. Acquis had suddenly become quite the chatterbox. I figured we could milk all the intel we could before something went wrong. Knowing myself well enough, something was bound to go wrong. It always did.

“We don’t know. When we ascended as the new Fire and Water Hermessi, the others wouldn’t tell us,” Acquis replied. “We only knew that it had killed many of the originals after they’d attempted to perform this same ritual. Shortly after Brann and I became full Hermessi… the great sleep happened. Mind you, the two of us still longed for our Cerixian lives, so we’d often possess a body to be around our people. So, we were left out.”

“I’m willing to bet we won’t find any of that original information in the library,” I muttered to Eira.

“You might find a vague reference to the great sleep,” Acquis said, “but I doubt you’ll read anything about the phenomenon that stopped the first ritual.”

“You really don’t know who did it, huh?” Eira replied, sounding doubtful.

“I swear to you, I don’t, my child. Maybe the others knew I’d be weak enough to tell you, but they never shared that information with me. Or Brann, for that matter. But I admit, I am worried that, this time around, the Hermessi have gotten a lot farther with their ritual.”

“I’m surprised no record of the first attempt was saved, past a few solitary mentions in ancient books,” I said, trying to understand who had been alive, back in those days, to witness it. How would it have manifested? Like now, with fallen fae and dangerous death cults? Or different? Perhaps subtler?

As if reading my mind, Acquis answered. “There were earlier species of your kind, back then. Ancient Cerixians, fundamentally different in physiognomy and culture. All across the universe, the worlds were still young, reckless, and curious. Peculiar species of fae and Druids that no one’s even heard of today. Other times completely, Inalia. And records weren’t kept then, the way they’re kept now. You know that.”

“They only had spoken legends, passed down from generation to generation,” I said. “Maybe the occasional clay tablet, but… yeah, I can see how an event of such magnitude might get lost in the annals of history.”

“You said the Hermessi have come a lot farther with the ritual now,” Eira interjected. “What did you mean by that?”

“They’re on track to acquire the bodies they need to complete it,” Acquis replied.

“The five million fae, you mean,” I said.

“You know about that, too…”

“Our bodies are in the original library as we speak,” Eira retorted. “Come on, you’ve got to give us some credit.”

The water serpent contracted and gathered into a large ball. I could see my own reflection looking back at me. I was strange indeed. Just a myriad of glowing orange vessels built in the shape of a Cerixian female, but with no specific facial features that would set me apart from others like me. This was my essence. My Hermessi spirit.

“Inalia, I need you to understand something,” Acquis said, his voice softening. “I cannot openly help you, but I am staying close to the Hermessi. I do my best to be faithful to my kind, but I’m not at peace with what is going on. If I learn something of value, Eira will be the first to know—unless my brethren suspect me of playing both sides. My point is, no matter what happens next, Cerix needs its Fire Hermessi. Brann had to leave everything behind, too. But he did it. He stepped up to save his home world.”

“What are you trying to say?” I asked, though part of me already knew the answer.

“It’s time for you to step up as well,” he replied.

I’d yet to find the courage to do that. How had my father done it? How did one go about performing such a conscious sacrifice? My heart tingled at the thought of Taeral, and it bled merely from the idea of never seeing him again. My life on Cerix. My mother. The handful of friends I had. The future I’d planned to have, trekking the stars and discovering new worlds.

Why did I have to give all of this up? It wasn’t fair.

But maybe Acquis was right. Maybe I was the only way to save Cerix… Nevertheless, I held on to my deadline and raised my chin, determined to get as much information from Acquis as possible before our time together ran out. He’d said it himself: the other Hermessi would eventually find us. And we needed to know more about any possible way of kicking their elemental asses.