I was too weary to recall much after I woke from sleep. I knew we'd arrived at Tristan's location, but the details were quickly blurred and lost. I blinked a couple of times, the brilliant light both ambient and direct, somehow. It was like waking in a pristine, angelic hospital room. Sterile but somehow soft. Comfortable but not familiar. The bed I was on held brilliant white sheets, soft pillows covered in the same material.

The walls were translucent, tinged light blue and purple. There was no furniture, no decoration, nothing but the bed and the shimmering walls. No one else was in the room with me.

One of the walls shimmered more intensely a few seconds, then Tristan stepped in. "Morning," he grumbled, looking a little haggard.

"Where am I?"

"Caracus' realm," he replied, then sent me directly, He's listening to everything, even this.

"Is everyone okay?"

Tristan nodded and crouched down close to the bed, "Fine, just fine."

"Juliet?"

"Safe."

"I bet she's freaking out right now..."

Tristan shook his head and said, "No... she's being sedated, in a sense. Not doing more than dreaming right now, won't remember a thing."

I blinked again, unsure if I liked the idea of keeping the young woman trapped like that without her consent, but I was still quite tired and couldn't dwell on such things. "So, what now?"

"Well," Tristan said, swinging his hips up to sit on the bed next to me, "I think we're secure here, for now. Caracus has offered us a hidden shelter, and that's no small thing. But," he paused, shuffling the folds of his brown and black leather blouse, "he wants something from you."

I tensed. "What?"

"He wants protection, I expect, for a start."

"Huh? Isn't he a god?"

"Demigod," Tristan corrected, "but immortal, yes, in a way. But, I'm sure you know, when gods and those of great power quarrel, there are fates worse than death on the line..."

"How am I supposed to protect an immortal, Tristan?"

"You use the essence, of course. Your power, whether you can tap it fully or not, is beyond even that of Caracus. He's picked a side in this fight, and he's going to suffer for it if he doesn't get help from his new, err, friend. I don't know quite what he has in mind, Tera, but... Right now, he's our only ally capable of providing what we need."

I stewed a moment, then exhaled loudly. "I should meet him, then..."

"He said to expect him away for a while. I don't know when he'll call for you. Are you rested enough to continue searching?"

I didn't really feel strong right then, half-awake and sore, but I knew time was the most valuable thing we could preserve. "Rested enough..."

- - -

I took us back to the shelter since Dad thought it might be worth trying there again for Becky. I couldn't feel her, and looking to find out quickly, my father went in to the building and asked after the woman. He came back pale. "Dead. Heart attack, they thought. Five days ago."

"Jesus," Abby groaned beside me.

"Sorry, Dad..."

He looked on the verge of tears. I wondered if he'd gotten any rest while I was asleep. "Don't be sorry for me... be sorry for Juliet..."

I nodded, let out my breath, and said firmly, "We can't linger... Where next?" I paused, then added, "I know where we could try..."

- - -

"Uni too?" Abby asked breathlessly a second after we traveled close enough to the house for me to detect two sparks inside. "Who didn't you sleep with?"

Dad didn't reply and I tried to ignore the issue. I began to construct two of the frameworks needed to move May and her daughter, our friend, Uni, to Caracus' realm. "Here goes..."

An instant later, I got confirmation from Tristan that the two had arrived. "Okay," I said, weak and nauseous, "Now us." I blinked us quickly to the brightly-lit realm and fell under immediately.

- - -

It took time. How long, I wasn't sure, surely several days of Earth time, but we'd managed to track down most of Dad's remaining partners. Like Juliet and Becky, the results were both heartening and mournful. Shelly and Bobbi were both dead, as was Stacy and her friend, Milly. Danielle, the drunk bride-to-be had appeared to pass in her sleep, we heard. The mother and daughter, Candice and Gemma, who had shared my father, had likewise died in unusual ways, slumped together on a park bench in the middle of the afternoon, no sign of foul play according to the newspaper article about them. Shawna, the prostitute, was found dead of an expected heroin overdose. Starla had died in the hospital a day or two after we'd been there. That one made us all quite sick.

But we'd located my former babysitter, Kylie, as well as the waitress, Molly. Mira and her daughter Keisha were found safe. Yvette was still alive, though with two broken legs, and she was soon secured. As far as we could tell, that just left the young Kacy, the girl from the pool, and we were having a hard time tracking her down.

We tried several times at the gym where Dad had had sex with the girl, but I never sensed her there. If I'd known her mother's name, I could have easily snooped their home address and sent us there, but I had nothing at all to go on.

I'd spent some downtime reinforcing Abby's doppelganger, adding nuance and more details, enough that the clone was able to be out and about. I didn't tell Abby how odd this might be for her whenever she could go back home, how her doppelganger would have done and said things the real girl didn't know. At a minimum, it would take some effort to avoid serious setbacks. Regardless, the clone worked well enough to keep the girl's parents from noticing her absence.

We were, again, outside the gym and pool, and like all the times before, I felt no sign of Kacy. I'd begun to wonder if she, too, had already been killed. I was just about to suggest I could use another nap when the world shimmered for several seconds.

We all felt it, and my first instinct was to go back to Caracus' realm.

My attempt to travel us away failed utterly.

It was like I'd been disconnected, somehow. The shimmering continued, and I could feel Earth time slowing, both Abby and Dad appearing to melt slowly into reality as if drowning in a vat of molasses. I fought for control of my fear, digging into my powers and pushing out blindly to try to remove whatever yoke was around my neck.

I heard laughter, aware that I was no longer near the pool but in something like a massive, voluminous valley between towering, snow-peaked mountains. I whirled right and left, no sign of Dad or Abby anywhere.

The laughter continued to roll, echoing off the hills. Then a dark, deep, and feminine voice boomed, "You meddle like a child."

I spun, trying to find the speaker, but failed completely.

"Why do you struggle, host?" More laughter, then, "I asked you a question. Do you not know the answer? Why do you struggle?"

"Who are you?"

The speaker ignored my question. "You struggle," the voice said evenly, "because it amuses me."

I fought my panic and swallowed, remaining quiet.

The laughter rolled, "Do you believe you have control of what you carry enough to survive those who seek it?" More laughter, then quiet. The voice continued, "It is much more fun to push you on, to watch you struggle."

I broke my silence, "I control enough," I boasted, not even convincing myself.

"Hmm," the amused voice hummed, "if only that was true. Now that would be amusing. Maybe I'll ensure you get closer than I'd planned..."

"Are you saying you'll help me?"

"Help you?" the voice cackled, "I only help myself, silly girl. Your fate was sealed eons ago. I only seek to postpone it..."

"Fuck off," I growled, my anger overcoming my fear. I refused to digest her words. "Leave me alone."

"Struggle, you will," the voice purred, "but only for so long. Take comfort, if you wish, knowing that your end will come swift and certain soon enough..."

The valley shimmered and I fought for breath. I felt hands grabbing me as I plummeted. "Tera!" Dad's voice boomed in my ear. I retched once, then again, my stomach thankfully empty.

"I'm... okay," I said weakly. When I'd caught my breath, I explained briefly what I'd experienced. Only a few seconds had passed for Dad and Abby.

I knew immediately the powerful being had assisted me, despite her words. In my mind was the now-obvious place to look for Kacy. "That bitch did help me..." I swallowed hard, then blinked us close enough to the girl's house to send her quickly to Caracus' realm.

- - -

Caracus had been absent over the days spent collecting the survivors. I'd managed to regain most of my strength by the time he finally sent for me. His realm, what I had seen of it, was sterile and surreal. Bare surroundings seemed the norm, little color beyond white and bare shadows of grey. Food could be conjured easily enough, and we had all we needed for beds and general comfort there, but it was like spending time in an especially non-offensive waiting room, albeit spread out and, from some minor exploration, endless.

Dad, Theresa, Tristan, and Abby went with me down a hallway like all the others, shimmering light-blue and white walls like glass, nothing terribly solid surrounding us, not even so much as a sound made on the tangible tile-like floor below us. It, too, shimmered.

We'd discussed over the previous day what we should do next. Tristan and Theresa had spent many hours on the various investigations, coming no closer to understanding the bracelet which had self-destructed or to figuring out the nature of the spark found in Abby and the other survivors. They didn't even know which powerful being had summoned me, briefly, before directing me towards our final survivor, the young girl Kacy.

To call it all overwhelming would be an understatement. I didn't feel like we were any closer to figuring out our next move, and instead, felt stuck in place with no direction. It was desperately frustrating.

There was no door to the place where Caracus awaited me. I instinctively knew how to find him, guiding the others along until we breached a large, arched opening which led into a massive chamber somewhat similar to a medieval church, but instead of gothic darkness, the place was shimmering with white and gold and light orange lighting. Candles were intensely bright on walls and stands, not so much burning as radiating light. Where a church hundreds of years old might have been constructed of stone or brick, rough wood, polished metal and marble, housing dark shadows in the many recessed places, Caracus' room was brightly-lit, shimmering walls and floors and a ceiling which was lost well above our heads. I saw ribbons of light blue and golden whites which never stayed in place long enough to trace their patterns with my eyes. In place of stone or wooden benches or platforms, there were no seats at all, no platforms, not even a self-serving throne or dais or any markings of power or royalty. It was like Caracus knew the power he held was enough to awe those who saw inside his realm.

The man, if you could call him that, stood near the center of the room, back turned to us. He wore a flowing white gown, not so much a dressing outfit as a simple covering for a being who held no need to impress. His hair looked less like human strands and more like braids of silvery metal and tightly-woven bands of golden silk, hanging down to his waist and drawn into a thick, single knock at the bottom.

He seemed both tall and imposing, not thickly built but clearly physically impressive.

Caracus turned and I wondered immediately why he chose the face I saw. Clearly, the entity had picked a human-like appearance, not showing his true form. I knew instinctively that his nature was something much less comfortable for those of us in the room with him. But his face was something deeply disturbing and somewhat frightening.

His nose was thick and appeared to have been broken sometime long before, off-center and pointed to one side quite noticeably. His skin, if that was the correct term, was greyish-green, textured more like a basketball or a golf ball than a human face, dimpled and rough, shadows deep in places, higher skin reflecting more brightly. Ears were visible and almost human, though rough and twisted at odd angles. And those eyes, Caracus' eyes, were clearly less human than his other features, a deep orange fire, sparkling and casting light with his gaze, radiating a warmth which was neither friendly nor comfortable. I swallowed hard and tried to shut away my fear enough to think straight. Instinctively, I embraced the essence and tried to mold some sort of protection for myself and the others, though I wasn't sure exactly what sort of barriers might be effective with such a being.

"Host," Caracus boomed without moving his lips, his tone thick and deep.

"Caracus," I said, my voice as even as I could make it despite my trembling body. "Thank you for your assistance."

He nodded once, then swept his hand in front of him slowly. A small, bright-red carpet appeared between us, low seats which looked to be made of tied brown silk in a circle on top. He sat first and the rest of us joined him, me opposite Caracus. His gown seemed to mold modestly to his form, not quite defining his shape so much as suggesting it. He folded his hands in his lap.

"I need your assistance, as well," Caracus boomed without motion.

"Tell me," I breathed, not exactly trusting my voice as my nerves threatened to turn my light trembles into visible shakes.

"There are powers beyond any you can imagine playing this game," he began, "and I have decided to take part. Unlike most, I do not seek what you hold, Host, but only to ensure it is not consumed by any others. The consequences of such things are unacceptable."

I shifted my legs but remained silent.

"There was a being, once, who knew me unlike any other. An immortal. Unique. Long ago, this being chose poorly and was banished beyond my vision. For your sake, I shall refer to this being as a female named Fenya. Her real name and her physical form are far beyond your comprehension, but a shortcut will suffice. Fenya was my lover, as but a drop of our true relationship. We created cosmos together, we changed reality when we interlocked. I have sought her ever since our separation, ever since she was sent away."

"By whom," Tristan asked quietly. "Who banished Fenya?"

"You would call him The Paladin."

Tristan audibly groaned.

Caracus asked, "You have heard of this being, then?"

"Righteous protector of old ways of the Gods? Ego the size of the multiverse? Anger which can undo reality itself? Yeah," Tristan spat, "I've heard of him."

"Then you know his power is rivaled only by few, and even those would carefully consider crossing him. The Paladin is one of those who seeks the essence which was lost so long ago. It is his forces which move against you now, among others. The Paladin seeks only his own power, almost beautiful in his dedication to taking it from others. He's destroyed those who should have bested him and grown stronger by taking from his foes whatever powers could be torn away."

"How am I supposed to help you, Caracus?" I asked, "Something that powerful has abilities beyond anything I can control right now."

Caracus sat quietly a moment. "What an enemy believes is his strength can be turned into a weakness. The Paladin believes he controls enough that none but the most ancient and powerful of beings can even challenge him. I believe he is wrong. I believe his single-minded pursuit of power leaves him overconfident and vulnerable to a sharp, carefully-timed assault."

I swallowed hard, "And you have planned this assault?"

"Not at all."

"Then we have nothing to go on right now..."

"We will plan it together. I know enough to get us started, but you will have to learn yourself, the essence, the bond you have with your source of power, before we are ready."

"That's gonna take time..."

"Yes, and we have it now."

"What do you mean?" I asked, feeling the pressure of my situation as nothing less than a frantic search for answers before the impending collisions must take place.

"Recovering the slivers of energy, I believe you refer to them as 'sparks,' which were left on Earth took away a key source of information from those who seek you."

Theresa spoke up, "You mean the partners? The ones recovered... those still alive?"

"Yes, those."

I asked, "What are those sparks?"

"A beacon, of sorts. The essence kept track of each piece and it allowed it to plant false trails for those who sought it."

Dad queried, "Why were they being killed, then? If they were something useful in tracking down Tera, why kill them?"

Tristan answered first, "Because some beings don't want the essence found, and they are willing to kill mundanes to ensure The Paladin and whoever else wishes to possess the power never finds it."

Caracus nodded. "Correct."

I shook my head, trying to piece things together, "So... if those traces are gone, how exactly does that give us time? I'm sure there are countless ways to track down the essence..."

Caracus nodded again, "There are so, but my realm is beyond the reach of any except those I allow to see it. No search, no matter the being conducting it, could reveal its existence. This was one of the results of my relationship with Fenya. We found a way to make reality itself forget a small piece of its existence."

"Powerful beings have wrongly believed themselves hidden safely away many times, Caracus," Tristan growled, "what makes you so confident?"

"Because The Paladin has sought me out ever since he learned of Fenya's involvement with me. Ages beyond your imagination have passed during his search, and not once has he so much as gained a hint of this place."

"But you don't know that," Tristan said more passionately, "you cannot know his mind!"

Caracus smiled a little for the first time, "Oh, but on this issue, I can. Fenya knew her banishment seconds before it was enacted. Her parting gift to me was to place a tiny speck of her power in The Paladin's corporeal form. Hidden from him, but allowing me a secure, one-way glimpse into his thoughts about me and about Fenya. I have watched his search all this time, allowing me to always stay ahead of him if I was away from my realm and risking his discovery. He has no idea where I go when I disappear from reality."

There was silence a moment, then I asked, "So what you want from me... is to find Fenya?"

"Find, and if possible, recover her. Yes, this is the deal I make for providing sanctuary. That, and to fight at my side should I turn out... mistaken."

"And what happens if I do that. What happens when my end of the deal is done? I'm guessing this whole fight is far from over at that point. Will you continue to provide sanctuary?"

"Oh, yes," he nodded, "for, as I have said, I've chosen a side in this fight. The Paladin may not find me here, but he will undoubtedly learn of my involvement nonetheless. Once he knows, he will not rest until I am discovered or he has captured your essence. Both scenarios are bad for me..."

I let out a long breath and looked around. Tristan was slowly shaking his head but saying nothing. Theresa looked both concerned and fearful. Dad was rather stoic though I could see his jaw clenched tight. Abby was staring at me with a margin of sympathy in her expression.

"Fine. We have a deal," I said confidently. "I suppose we should get started, then."

Caracus rose to his feet without effort, gliding into a standing position. I did so in a more mundane fashion. He said, "Soon. If I am correct, you must first finish your memory placements."

"Memory placements?"

"Your visions of your father during the time loops. I believe you are close to the end."

"Why do I see those? Is there a purpose?"

Caracus spread out his greyish-green hands, "I suspect the essence is learning something, or changing something in reality, or trying to discover something lost, or, perhaps, teaching you about a key aspect of reality which you must know. I cannot do more than speculate. I had hoped, Host, that you might have learned to understand them by now..."

"Well," I frowned, "I haven't. And if we're going to work together, my name is Tera."

He nodded, "Of course. Then we will await the completion of your visions. Then, I believe, we can begin to teach you how to control the thing you host, Tera."

- - -

Skip.

I knew I was watching Dad's encounter with Stacy and Milly immediately. He had described the girls, roughly my age, while we searched for his partners. I felt despair when I saw them talking to him behind a building. Both girls had been killed before we could find them.

Skip. The two girls, naked, Dad watching as they kissed. He dropped onto his knees and started licking one of their pussies.

Skip. My father pumping hard in and out of the larger girl. He clearly ejaculated right inside her.

Skip. Dad pulling out of one girl's asshole and right into another. Over and over he switched between them until he came inside the smaller's one butt.

Skip. The larger girl cleaning Dad's soiled cock as if she loved the taste of her friend's ass on it.

Skip. Dad and I were alone, my legs over his shoulders, his face gently moving between my thighs. He was eating my pussy. I willed the vision to let me watch the whole thing. It was an overpowering moment to see. I looked so blissful, flushed and sweaty. And Dad was clearly enjoying tasting me there. But the vision cut out too quickly and I flashed of frustration for just an instant before I returned to myself.

- - -

For several of what I assumed passed for days in Caracus' realm, there was honestly little to do. Tristan and Theresa disappeared at times to research or investigate, but never returned with much progress to report. We were still stumped all across the board. Caracus stayed away from us completely. I'd walked several times to the chamber where I'd first met him, but it was without his presence. Tristan thought Caracus was probably inside the realm most of the time, but I could not detect him at all. The realm had a full, fuzzy quality which made detecting even Dad or the others difficult and imprecise. It was something like feeling drunk when I projected and tried to map people and the structure around me.

Dad and I had taken to sleeping together and we made love a couple of times. Abby started to become sullen and withdrawn. She was missing her parents and any sense of normal life, but there was nothing we could do but keep her with us. We didn't know how to remove the spark, nor did we understand what might happen to Abby if we did.

I did my best to practice, to learn, working with Tristan at times, but the nature of Caracus' realm made it feel like my control was slow to take hold, like I was jogging in water instead of sprinting along a concrete path. It left me tired and frustrated, but I kept at it as best I could, slowly picking up a trick here and there or refining my understanding of projections and other powers. It wasn't much, but each day I learned something new.

Abby was snoozing on what was essentially a low couch in a room near our sleeping chambers. Dad was napping, and Tristan and Theresa were off doing research. I sat quietly across from my friend and tried to figure out how to make things better for her.

Abby's eyes fluttered open and she watched me watching her. "I'm still here..."

I nodded.

"Was dreaming about being home..."

"I'm sorry, Abby..."

She yawned and stretched, offering me a weak smile, "Its fine. I'll be fine." My friend didn't sound enthusiastic or convinced.

I looked away, my mind more tired than usual. I was considering going to join Dad in his nap.

"Can I ask you something, Tera?" Abby asked quietly.

"Yeah."

"You like girls, right?"

I shrugged, "I do..."

She paused, looking at her hands, "Me too."

I let her continue without asking her where she was going with her thoughts.

"Just, like... not all girls, like... some... And... you know... do you like me, Tera?"

I smiled, "Very much, yes..."

"You, uh... you watched me and your dad together..."

"Yes," I replied, "I really loved it..."

"Yeah, it was great, uh... I was wondering, like... Can I just, like, hold you or something..."

I said nothing as I stood and moved next to my friend. We embraced a moment, and I could feel the need for physical comfort in her grasp. I drew back and looked into Abby's eyes. "Can I kiss you?"

She nodded, her lips parting, and I sank myself against her, her warm tongue soon sliding around mine. I shuddered with excitement to share a kiss with Abby. My hands moved over her back, caressing her, moving lower, lower, soon I held her just above her hips. She breathed, "Tera... Mmmm..."

I kissed her neck, then nibbled her earlobe a moment, sliding my tongue down her neck again as my hands slowly drew away the thin blouse which covered Abby's top. She didn't resist, shrugging out of the shirt and baring herself for my eyes. Her beautiful breasts were topped with tight, dark-pink nipples over pale areolae, lightly puffy, her tits full and pert. "Oh, Abby..." I started to fondle her, kissing my way down her chest, soon sucking gently on one nipple then the other. My hands drew down her soft form and, as she rose up slightly, I drew down her leggings until she was completely naked.

Abby's cunt was wet and looked swollen, a downy light-blonde fur over and along her labia, the pink lips there already parted and ready for my tongue. I sniffed her, her arousal sharp in my nose, and I tasted my friend for the first time and fell in lust with her like never before. Her pussy tasted like rosewater and cotton candy, a little tart and sweet, like a glass of perfectly aged cider. I lapped up Abby's fresh juices, sniffing her between each lick and finding my friend's scent intoxicating.

When I turned my attention to her clit, Abby's hips rose to meet me in jerky, rocking movements. "Oh... Oh... Ohhhh... Ohh... Ohh..." I slid a hand between us, gently stroking her slippery labia a moment before sliding one finger into her vagina. Abby purred her approval, "Mmmmm... Yesss... Mmmm..."

For lovely long moments, I licked and fingered Abby's beautiful blonde pussy, her cunt clamping down, clenching tighter as she rose higher, higher.

As she began to orgasm, Abby let out a beautiful sigh, full of pleasure and release and relief. "Ohhh... yesss... Ohhh... Ohhhhhhhhmmmmm... Mmmmmmmmmmm... mmm... mmm-mmmmm... mmmmm..."

I rose over her on instinct, kissing her, knowing Abby was tasting herself on my lips and tongue. I whispered, "I want to fuck you, Abby..." Her eyes showed a little hesitation. No, it was confusion, instead. I smiled to her, "Trust me?"

Abby nodded. I blinked away my clothing. When Abby felt my penis form against her Mons, her eyes darted down in surprise. "Tera... oh, my god!"

"Would you like this?"

She nodded more enthusiastically, "More than anything!"

Abby braced herself, holding her legs up and open, offering me full access to her body. Taking hold of my erection, I pointed it right against her slick opening and began to penetrate the girl. Wet heat enveloped my length as I slid into Abby. She gasped, wrapping her vagina around my cock as I pushed forward.

I hit her cervix which withdrew a little, allowing me to sink another inch into Abby's pussy. I leaned down and kissed her again, "You feel so good, Abby..."

"Tera... You're inside me! Uhnnn..."

We kissed and began to mate slowly, our bodies pressed together as Abby let her legs relax and fall back down, her hands pawed at my puffy breasts from the sides. I moaned into her mouth and she did the same in mine. We began to sweat together. I felt like I was in heat, randy, raw desire for my friend driving me forward again and again and again. Abby's pale cheeks were rosy, her breasts, squished between us again when I ground down on her, were swollen and hot against me. She wrapped arms around me, pulling me tight as we rutted.

I started to ejaculate in long, slow waves of pleasure. I was able to control my orgasm, if I wanted, but I merely allowed it to build and go slower than normal, small spurts of cream firing out of my cock and into Abby's cunt, followed by more powerful bursts, all the time my body moving over her, pumping my seed into Abby's body. I filled her with full, sticky squirts of my semen, easily overflowing her hole, much of it splashing back against my groin when I pushed back inside of her to deliver another load.

I vibrated with bliss, emptying myself until I felt satisfied, letting my pleasure peak and relax. I came back to myself, my head against Abby's neck. She was sobbing lightly. I leaned up, "What's wrong?"

She smiled despite the tears, "That was... moving!"

Maybe I had allowed myself to enhance her experience, too. I started to cry with her, overwhelmed by the moment, in love, sated, deeply appreciative of sharing that wonderful experience with my best friend. We cried lightly, kissing, caressing, my cock in place, twitching out small spurts of cum as my cream leaked out around my penetration. Abby tightened her vagina around me, then squeezed my body tight to hers, "I love you, Tera..."

"I love you."

- - -

We all began to feel isolated and a little claustrophobic. Caracus' realm was endless from what we explored, but never did the style or setting change. It was just shimmering hallways and rooms for sleeping or sitting or eating. The bathrooms felt rather tacked on, an accommodation for us humans which Caracus himself had no use of. They were simplistic and stale, not entirely comfortable to use, but functional for our needs.

Abby had cheered a little after our coupling, though I knew she still held sorrow for her lost normal life. She and Dad shared a private moment together while I dosed one day, which offered both of them a little release and comfort which was much desired.

I was seated on a bad attempt at a ceramic toilet, the material feeling more like rough bone than smooth stone. As I urinated, I heard Tristan's voice inside the room, "Tera. I've discovered something."

"I'm peeing," I replied, a little bit too harshly, "I'll be out in a minute..."

He didn't reply, so I hurried up, wiped, then pulled my leggings back into place. I found Tristan, Theresa, Dad, and Abby already huddled together in a sitting room nearby. "Well?" I ask, pacing around where they sat.

Tristan pulled a small item from a pocket in his vest and I recognized the Spirit-Binder. "I've been studying this, and I think I have an idea how it got in the Sanctuary. Like the bracelet you wore, this one calls out. My guess is, it will essentially report a location and whether it has trapped anything interesting. I was careful to pay attention to its signal, and what I found was an endpoint. It's not so much a place as a concept, a unique position in reality which can be monitored. When I watched even more carefully that endpoint, I discovered it was being checked regularly. Almost constantly. I don't know yet what or who is doing so, but I believe if you were to travel to that point, your powers might detect what I, myself, cannot."

"Is it dangerous?" Dad asked.

"You know by now, Quinn, it's always dangerous."

Dad growled but didn't respond.

"I have no idea what we might find, but we're at a dead end otherwise," Tristan explained. "It might not be the most important thing we're on right now, but I'm getting really frustrated doing nothing while we wait for Caracus to sign off on the next steps."

I nodded, feeling a similar frustration. "Then I go to it."

"I'll go, as well, so that I can help you understand things," Tristan replied. "I suggest everyone else remain here."

Dad started to protest but Abby took his hand, silencing him. I wasn't exactly sure what had just passed between them.

"Then I'm ready now," I told Tristan. "Show me the way to the endpoint."

"Grasp tight onto your powers, Tera," he told me, "we don't know what we might find..."

I felt him push the sense of the position to me and I blinked us there without another thought.

Tera, Female, 15

	- Narrator, host of the essence, daughter of Quinn

	- 5'7, pale-beige skin, 135lbs, shoulder-length bright copper-orange-red hair

Quinn, Male, 41

	- Former host, father of Tera

	- 6'0, beige skin, 190lbs, wavy blonde-brown hair a few inches long

Theresa, Female, mid-40s

	- Former mortal

	- 5'10, beige skin, 155lbs, shoulder-length wavy golden-red hair

Tristan, Male (Morph), 40s

	- Former mortal

	- 5'4, tanned-bronze skin, 155lbs, wiry, tangled dark-brown hair

Abby (Abigail), Female, 16

	- High School Sophomore, friend of Tera

	- 5'11, medium-beige skin, 155 lbs, back-length yellow-blonde hair in a braid

Caracus, Male appearance, immortal

	- Demigod

	- Tall, grey-green dimpled skin, compact form, metallic-silver and golden hair