233 - The Oracle

Unlike before, when Lexie had explored Dewie’s pathways, this time he wasn’t on the medication that suppressed his soul magic; now it suffused his pathways, concentrating on those in his brain and his eyes.

It was a dark cloud that seemed to cause his pathways to glitch, and Lexie could also see the Pyner's twists, concentrated on his eyes.

Lexie also felt the effect of Xena’s light on it. It straightened out the twists, but it also drove back the soul mana cloud that had surrounded his pathways.

When Xena’s light suddenly increased, the mana cloud retreated entirely, and the glitching stopped.

But then Xena managed to control her light, and it came back. 

Meaning that whatever Dewie's power had was both helped and impeded by the light.

Was Dewie's soul magic somehow Eldritch in nature? Or was there something else, some other creature that hated light?

Either way, it seemed like a more complex problem than she had anticipated.

Lexie started to feel sick from the aggressive light on display, but she held on, increased her mana capacity, and dove deeper into it.

She analyzed the glitch of a specific pathway and asked Dewie, “Are you still seeing the same thing?"

"Yeah. It disappeared for a while, but now it’s back.”

“You still can’t translate it.”

“No.”

“Hmm.” Lexie knew that Dewie’s soul magic was most likely a result of his heritage since it tended to be passed down through DNA. Meaning someone, either on his father’s or mother’s side, had a similar magic, and that meant that they were associated with a Guardian that could tell the future.

From what Lexie remembered in the Grecoroman mythology that Earth 9 guardians seemed to be derived from, a god who could grant others the powers to see the future was Apollo. He gave such powers to a few people, including Cassandra, a Trojan Princess, and the Oracles of Delphi on Mount Parnassus. 

Perhaps one of them–or Earth 9's version of them, anyway–was linked to someone in Dewie’s lineage, and that was where he got the skill from.

But how come no one ever told him about it? Despite the Guardians being regarded as greedy and evil, most people were proud of their historical association with them and their champions.

Most of the Lords and old royalty in District 9 bragged about it often. Sometimes it was the only thing they could brag about, seeing as how they didn't have much political power anymore. So they liked to mention that their ancestors had made deals with the Guardians.

It seemed like exactly the kind of thing Mr. and Mrs. Azure would brag about.

The fact that they didn't suggested to Lexie that it wasn't from Mayor Azure's line.

It was from Dewie's mother.

As Lexie focused more on Dewie's power and the shifts, she noticed something that she couldn’t entirely describe, at first.

Then she realized that when Xena turned up her light, and the glitch stopped, some parts of the pathway were missing. It happened really quickly, and she had to use DECODE to kind of freeze-frame the moment.

It was like parts of the pathways had disappeared, and it was always different parts too.

Sometimes it was most of the pathway.

Sometimes it was only a little.

And upon further decoding, it seemed like those parts shifted into another dimension.

No, not dimensions. Planes.

The shift of his pathways correlated with the shift of his vision through different visual planes, or different…realms?

Yes, that fits better. Realms.

Understanding dawned.

So Dewie's basically enabled him to see into a different realm, but since it was only part of his pathways that shifted, it was more like he was overlaying that different realm onto the human one.

It was like when Lexie had concentrated deeply during her blackhole exercises and entered the magical plane.

Except for Dewie, he was constantly in this other realm, but also not in it at the same time.

This was why Xena's powers sometimes felt ineffective. Because sometimes, all it did was remove the glitch randomly, and that would mostly still freeze about half of Dewie's visual pathways in one realm and the other half in the other, twisting around what he was actually supposed to be seeing. For his brain to make sense of it, it mixed the visual stimuli he was receiving from both realms to form a strange combination of the two realities.

This made his visions unpredictable and unreliable because the mix of pathways wasn't the same all the time and what he was seeing actually wasn't what he was supposed to be seeing. It was only partly the truth, so it wasn't entirely predictive.  

But Xena's light, when effective, could do one of two things. It could either push a majority of Dewie's pathways into one realm or the other.

So either his visions would disappear entirely, or he would see them more intensely, because most of his pathways were then in the other realm. He would then be seeing the true image he was supposed to be seeing, and this would be something true and predictive.

For example, if he saw a goat getting slaughtered and translated it to mean a strange disease, it would always mean that, no matter the situation.

This would be an improvement from how Dewie's visions, which, as Lexie remembered, could have one image mean several things or mean nothing at all.

Then, the translation would come from straightening his Pyner's twist, enabling him to actually interpret what he was looking at instead of its visual representations.

So the key was, how to get his pathways to mostly appear in the other realm when he wanted them to, instead of at random? What was this other realm also?

Lexie focused on the other realm, diving into it.

It felt familiar somehow, like she'd been there before. It took her a few seconds to realize why.

The realm felt like when she’d been on the mountain. 

Hang on.

Mount Parnassus.

Was the mountain the same as that of the Oracles? Was that who she had met?

The Mountain that could show her present, her past, and her future, that had the answer to every question. It fit the profile.

If so, then Dewie might be related to the Mountain.

How incredible.

“Lexie.”

Lexie’s eyes popped open, and she stared at Xena, Dewie, and Vacek, who were all staring at her. 

"You've been in that position for nearly thirty minutes. Do you want to stretch?"

“No, I feel fine. It’s already been that long?” It didn’t feel like it, but Lexie had already accepted that her sense of time was shot to hell.

“Did you figure it out?” he said. 

“Almost,” Lexie said. “At the very least, I think I know where your powers come from.”

“Where?”

“Did anyone in your family have similar strange powers? Either on your mother’s side or your father’s side?”

Dewie shook his head. “No. My dad doesn’t like to talk about my other mom, and he has never mentioned anything like this happening to him, either. They all thought I was lying at first, and then they just thought I was a little crazy."

"They're the crazy ones," Xena muttered, which made Dewie smile.

“Hmm.”

Lexie was starting to form a theory that just like the Eldritch all had their realms, so did the Guardians stuck in the tower.

She didn’t know exactly if the Mountain was a Guardian herself, but perhaps she was a piece of one that had been trapped in Yasycht’s dungeon and used to facilitate Vulcan’s powers. Or maybe the dungeon simply had access to the Mountain's realm. In any case, the Mountain or whatever Guardian she represented had a realm of her own, which Dewie's pathways helped him access.

The good news was that now that she knew how it worked, she could create a card for Dewie that would bring him the perfect combination and direction of light to send his pathways into the right dimension and straighten out his Pyner's Twists.

She'll also have to look into how to make it healthy for him. She was guessing the danger probably had something to do with his pathways constantly passing into different dimensions, which is why Oracles died early.

If she could mirror the ability into a card, then he wouldn't need to use his powers at all.

Such a card would be complex and probably extremely difficult to make. But there was no harm in trying.

First, Lexie needed to know if her theory was right, if someone in Dewie's lineage really was an oracle, and how they worked in the past.

“I need to do more research,” she said. “But I’ll have the card ready within the next few days.”

Vacek looked pleased. “Good. In the meantime, Dewie, we’re increasing security on both you and Xena.”

Dewie nodded. “Okay.”

Before Lexie left campus, she walked Dewie back to his room, where Jett, Jace and Anais were all waiting. Ava was there too, listening to the other three have a conversation.

They all fell silent when Lexie, Dewie, and Xena walked in. A gasp rang through the atmosphere, and their jaws dropped as they took in Lexie and the crew. No one said anything for a few seconds, but Ava was the first to move. 

Surprisingly, she walked to them, but she didn’t stand in front of Lexie. She stood in front of Dewie. 

“Are you okay?” she asked Dewie.

He nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

She then eyed Lexie from the corner of her eye. Lexie eyed her back.

“Hey,” Ava said. 

“Hey,” Lexie said. 

“Are you coming back to school?”

Lexie shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

Ava  nodded and said, “Okay.” Then she returned to her room and closed the door. 

“Good to see she’s as friendly as ever,” Lexie remarked, and Xena smirked.

That seemed to galvanize everyone into action. They all rushed to Lexie at once, talking all over each other, hugging her, saying how much they missed her and how sad they were when they thought she was dead.

Lexie laughed at their exuberance.

She also told them all about her adventure in the dungeon and what that had been like. The PG non-Eldritch version, of course.

She could only spend a few more minutes there before they had to go.

When Lexie was leaving with Vacek, it was breakfast time, and a few more students were out and about campus.

As she passed the courtyard, she could feel their stares, their hushed whispering, and some of them were taking pictures with their PHORBS. She also heard a few people call out her name, and when she glanced over, they waved. Lexie was confused by this. She’d never been that popular or liked when she was in school, but when she gave an experimental wave back, they beamed and jumped like she was some celebrity.

Or, like she was Torin Firebringer.

It was strange. 

On the way out, Lexie felt a prickle at the back of her neck. She glanced behind her toward a window in the distance and saw Professor Madswick. He was watching her from his window, and when she looked at him, he smiled and gave her a finger wave. 

***

Lexie’s next stop while she was in Capital City was to the healing house, where Cecilia was held. She went with Aiden, and according to the healer’s prognosis, Lexie expected Cecilia to still be unconscious or awake but weak and recovering. 

Instead, she caught Cecilia out of bed, pulling on jeans underneath her scrub, while having a heated argument with Max. 

“What’s happening?” Aiden asked, and Max immediately turned on him with an angry look, pointing at Cecilia accusatorily. 

“Please talk some sense into her. You won’t believe what she just told me.”

“What?”

“Tell them. Tell them what you’re planning to do.”

“Don’t be dramatic, Max.” Cecilia pulled on her jeans entirely and sat back on the bed to put on her sneakers. Max kicked the shoe out of her reach, and when she reached for it again, he kicked it again underneath his chair. Then he gave her a smug look. 

She rolled her eyes. “Real mature.”

“She wants to go back into the dungeon,” Max told everyone. 

“She does?”

“You do?” Lexie asked Cecilia.

Cecilia nodded. “I never planned to come back to Earth in the first place. Not without Lara.”

Aiden stiffened at the sound of his wife’s name, and Max said plainly. “You’re being stupid."

“I don’t think I am.”

“Lara has been gone for years.”

“So have I. You've been gone for months, and it might have been longer if Lexie hadn't found you. If I managed to survive that long, then Lara did too. She's a lot smarter than both of us. Maybe she’s in another dungeon heart, trapped, without a way out. Maybe I just need to go save her.”

“Oh yeah? And how are you going to jump from dungeon to dungeon without Lexie’s help?”

“I can help,” Lexie said. 

“No,” Max and Aiden said instantly. 

“Why not?" Lexie looked up at her dad. “Don't you want me to find my mother, too?”

“I just got you back, Lexie, I’m not risking you like that again.”

“But you don’t understand, Dad. The dungeon won’t hurt me. I even have one of my own now, and since I can teleport, I can go in and out at will."

“That’s nice,” Aiden said dispassionately. “The answer's still no.”

Lexie sighed and shrugged at Cecilia. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay.” She smiled kindly. “I didn’t plan on including you anyway. I can handle it on my own.”

“You’re not going, either.”

“You’re not my keeper, Max.”

“Yes, I am. And you just wait till I sic Emma on you. You won’t be going anywhere, even if I have to declare you a clinically insane dungeon-hopper and have you banned from every dungeon on Earth."

Cecilia looked stunned. "You would go that far for me?"

“Absolutely.”

Her eyes melted, and she looked like she couldn't decide whether to be mad or to smile. She seemed to be caught in that indecision, staring at Max’s fuming expression. 

Aiden cleared his throat to interrupt them. 

“Maybe we should table this conversation,” Aiden said. “Cecilia, I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but you’re not healed enough for that. The healer says the attack disrupted your pathways and you need a lot of rest before you're back to normal.”

“Nonsense. I feel fine.”

“You might feel fine, but it doesn't mean you're fine. I'd much rather you rest than go looking for Lara."

“You don’t understand. It’s my fault that she was missing.”

“It’s no one’s fault but Vulcan's,” Aiden swallowed. "That's a pill I’m starting to swallow.  I'm not giving up on finding her. I will find her, and I will make the one who trapped her in that dungeon pay. But for now, we'll table it. I promise we'll go later. Please."

Cecilia chewed her lip. Then she reluctantly nodded.

"I'll wait at most two months," she said.

“How come you listen when he says it but not when I say it?”  Max asked.

“Because he doesn’t yell at me."

"I wasn't yelling until you started acting crazy."

"Bit of advice, Max, if someone is really acting crazy, the last thing you want to do is tell them that they're acting crazy."

The bickering continued, and Lexie and Aiden left them to it.

On the way out, Lexie asked her father, "When did those two get so close?"

Aiden smiled weakly. "I've always thought there was something there, but Cece was really shy when we were younger. She could barely talk to me, much less Max, and they didn't see each other much, and didn't interact outside of Lara. But now, Max has been visiting Cece almost every day." 

"Really."

"Really. She's about the only person he can stand for lengths of time now. Probably because they went through the same thing, getting stuck in the dungeon, so they understand each other."

"So are they going to start dating soon?"

"What do you know about dating?"

"Not a lot," she admitted. Romance was never something she understood much of, even as a human.

It was probably never going to be in the cards for her.

Then again, she was only twelve...or something like it. She had a very long life ahead of her. She might change her mind in the far future if she met another Eldritch monstrosity like her.

Then again, probably not.

Their next stop was Arcadia, and Lexie wanted to go to the library, but she decided to stop by the dojo first.

Sadly, only Conrad, Boris, and Lane were there, training for their fight.

Lexie appeared right in the middle of the mat where Boris and Conrad charged at each other, and they both came to a screeching stop.

"Lexie!" Conrad exclaimed in shock. "Shit! Don't do that! We could have hurt you."

"No, you couldn't," Lexie said, but she got cut off when Boris snatched her up in a tight and boisterous hug.

"Oh yeah? What do you say now, tough stuff?"

"Put me down," Lexie rasped, but she ended up giggling as he swung her up and down, quickly and aggressively, until Conrad made him stop.

"Stop that, she's gonna be sick. Gosh, I'm so glad you're alive, Lexie." Conrad exhaled harshly as he embraced her, too. "You have no idea how tough these last few months have been, thinking of you, you know..."

"I guarantee it was probably tougher for her," Lane pointed out.

"Yeah, I know, genius. I was just saying."

"I missed you guys, too," Lexie said, feeling oddly emotional, her throat getting tight. "I think I'm just realizing how much."

"Cara is going to eat her jacket knowing that she wasn't here when you came over."

"Sorry. I was supposed to come yesterday and the day before that, but two separate things came up."

"No, we get it. Of course, you'd be busy after everything. We didn't blame you at all."

"I'll probably come back another day. I just have to stop by the library real quick."

"Sure, sure." Conrad balanced his hands on his waist. "We should all grab a bite at that restaurant that opened up across the street. We'll do it after Boris' fight, this weekend."

"Sounds good," Lexie said.

Then they each took turns swinging her around and making her show off her new teleportation powers, along with her magical prowess, with some friendly sparring.

"Damn, you sure you don't want to come back to the AFC?" Boris asked as he tried to catch his breath after keeping up with her for five minutes.  

"Yeah, pretty sure," Lexie said, although a thought niggled at the back of her mind.

After she left, the next stop was the library. Aiden had gone off to visit the University and check in on Abernathy (who he'd set up to work with the substitute professor who now had his job), so Lexie went there alone.

She had approval from Vacek to access even the most forbidden files. With that, she was able to look up the Guardians and found that the version of Apollo they had was called Vies.

He did indeed also have a group of women who acted as his Oracles, and they worshipped him on a mountain. There, he granted them access to knowledge, but the mode of access always differed from person to person. Some accessed it through dreams. Others through prophecies. Some through targeted vision.

No one seemed to just get it randomly, and Lexie figured that Dewie's problem might be that his mode of access had been corrupted somehow.

Or he wasn't accessing it properly, which was why he wasn't in control of the visions he received, and it was all passive.

So, to make his powers more active, he had to either pick a different mode of access or refresh his mode of access.

This was gotten mostly through a ritual of worship o and pilgrimage on the Mountain. There was no further information on that, so Lexie knew she would need to ask more questions.

And she knew just the person to ask.

***

The Mayor's office was on the top floor of an extravagant skyscraper. Lexie floated herself outside his window and checked to ensure that he was alone. 

Then she teleported herself indoors.

He didn’t notice her presence at first. He was too busy talking on the phone, chuckling at whatever joke the person had said.

When he finally swiveled his chair and saw her standing there, he jumped right out of it.

“Holy mother of Pegasus! What are you doing in here?"

Lexie waved awkwardly. ‘Hi.”

“Lexie Sparrowfoot? How did you get in here?”

“Teleportation. I have a question for you.”

“You can’t just teleport in here," he stammered. "This is a highly secure building with a security protocol you must pass through before you can come up here."

“Well, I’m here now. So..."

He peered at her in disbelief, so she continued, "Can we get to my question now? Or would you rather I call Vacek over first and let him go through your security protocol?"

The other man paled at the mention of Vacek, and he cleared his throat, assuming a dignified pose. “Well, I will let you off just this once, because you're a friend of my son, but do not make a habit of this, young lady. What's the question?”

“You or Dewie’s mom. Which one of you is related to the Oracle?’

He froze. "What?"

Lexie used <Charades Champion> to read his body language. "The faster you tell me the truth, the faster I can get out of here."

“I have no idea what you’re talking about."

Lie.

“Is it you?”

“No.”

Truth. 

"So it’s his mom. Did she ever use her powers?"

"I don't know what powers you speak of."

Lie.

"So she used it. How? Through dreams? Did she ever go to a mountain for pilgrimage?"

"Listen here, little girl, I don't have time for such childish games. My wife never went to any pilgrimage."

Truth. Lie.

"Thanks, you've been very helpful," Lexie said and registered his shock before she disappeared again.

As Lexie went home with Aiden, a plan began to form in her head. She needed to take Dewie on a pilgrimage. Just a land card attaching him to the mountain, which she wanted to do earlier, might not be enough to make his skills active.

The problem was that she doubted her father or Vacek would be happy with this plan.

But sometimes, it's better to ask for an apology than to ask for permission.

The other problem was that she had a dinner at the Firebringer's tonight, and Dewie was all the way back on campus. It would be difficult to get him out given their robust security features, and she couldn't just teleport there...

Or could she?

"What are you thinking about?" Aiden asked on the train, tucking her against his side. They'd decided to take the train back to Hovelton, for old time's sake.

"Nothing much," Lexie said, bearing the sting of a lie.  

A new idea began to take form.

***

And an unknowable amount of time later, Lexie was in Dewie's bedroom shaking him awake.

"Dewie," She says

He blinked at her, reaching for his glasses. "Lexie? What are you doing here?"

"We have to go."

"Go where?"

"To the Mountain."