“Seeking to forget makes exile all the longer; the secret of redemption lies in remembrance.”

  Richard von Weizsaecker, German Politician

  Milly and Hephaestus spoke until the first rays of dawn began to crest over the horizon. Hephaestus was a curious listener, asking constant questions about how things worked and why things happened. More often than not, she had no answers.

  “My family. My friends. We’ve only been here five or six weeks - I’m starting to lose count of the days. There’s still so much we have yet to discover. So many unanswered questions.”

  “And you say my people went through this God Contest long ago, and that myself, Oracle, and Dr. Taydon Cizen were the only survivors?”

  “Yes. It seems to be a sort of rite of passage for every sentient species in the universe. A mandatory test that must be passed,” Milly explained to the skeptical Oriane.

  “And then we became these… god things?” Hephaestus asked.

  Milly shrugged. “It seems so. The three of you designed the contest where we now find ourselves now. This Archipelago is part of that world, though it seems cut off from the rest of it.”

  “It’s a hard story to believe,” Hephaestus said doubtfully. “God Contests. Monsters. Magic. This Nexus creature. It defies everything known by my people, and, you must understand, we take great pride in discovering every fiber of our world.”

  Hephaestus took a deep breath and exhaled. His face was set with a deep distrust of what he had heard.

  “Ms. Brown, I’m going to be honest. I’ve had a hard enough time looking past the absurdity of magic and gods, even with the powers you’ve shown me tonight. But it all comes down to this. I cannot believe that, after watching our families and friends die in our God Contest, Oracle and I would choose to spend an eternity together inflicting this terror upon others.”

  A small, gentle hand came to rest on Hephaestus’ shoulder, and he turned to see the shining eyes of his beloved.

  “It wasn’t a choice given to us,” Oracle answered, her voice touched with exhaustion. “The Nexus picks its architects, and once it does, there’s no denying its call.”

  “Oracle, you’re awake,” breathed Hephaestus, as he leapt to his feet and wrapped her up in his arms. Oracle tensed as if she’d been embraced by a stranger, and it took her a few moments to wrap her own arms around his barrel chest.

  “Hephaestus – I’ve missed you so much,” Oracle whispered.

  Milly saw the truth reflected in Oracle’s eyes. The scared woman that had fallen asleep in the bed only hours ago was no more. The woman – the goddess – that had taken her place carried herself with a confidence borne from a thousand lifetimes. Her words to Hephaestus weren’t meant for the man who now embraced her. They were meant for her husband – the god who had chosen to die rather than be consumed by the madness.

  Their embrace ended, and Hephaestus stood there awkwardly, sensing something was amiss.

  “Then what Ms. Brown said…”

  “Is the truth, at least as far as she knows,” Oracle answered, her voice flat and logical. “A long time ago, the God Contest descended upon the Archipelago Research Alliance. Our civilization had advanced far enough, and our society was chosen to be the target of the Nexus' final test. We passed, but at a terrible cost. Over the course of ten years we fought against the terrors that were thrown against us, and we watched our friends and family die one-by-one. In the end – when the decisive battle was upon us – only you, me, Taydon, and Syune remained. Two pairs of lovers with the fate of the world in their hands.”

  Oracle reached out and grasped Hephaestus’ trembling hand.

  “Syune didn’t make it,” Milly added solemnly. “But you three did, and your reward was to be ascended as Gods, to watch over the next sentient race, and the one after that.”

  Hephaestus looked like he was watching his entire world crumble away, piece by piece. Milly’s heart ached for the Oriane.

  “Hephy,” Oracle said sweetly, adopting the tone of her younger self. “Milly and I need to talk privately. You’re exhausted. Get some sleep.”

  “But…” Hephaestus protested, as Oracle gently led him to their bed. “Oracle, I… I don’t…”

  “I’ll inform the chief you won’t be at work today,” Oracle insisted. “And tonight, over a good meal, I’ll tell you what you need to know.”

  “I’m not going to just leave you with her,” Hephaestus protested. “Oracle, I need to know what’s going on. I can help. You know I can.”

  “Shhh… lay down, my love,” Oracle soothed as she beckoned Milly to her side. “Milly, can you help him sleep? It’s a mixture of air and healing, directed at the temple.”

  “Oracle, what are you…” Hephaestus started to shout frantically, until Milly tapped the massive Oriane’s forehead with a finger charged with the magic blend. Hephaestus’ eyes rolled back in his head, and he slumped down into the bed, instantly asleep.

  “That was one of Syune’s little tricks,” Oracle explained as she pulled the blankets over Hephaestus and gave him a gentle kiss on the forehead. “You’ll find it useful when you need to use stealth again.”

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  “He’s not going to be happy when he wakes up,” Milly said.

  A tear – a regular, sorrow-filled tear – formed in Oracle’s eyes and dripped down her cheeks onto the blanket. To Milly’s utter surprise, Oracle sat down on the edge of the bed, buried her face in her hands, and began to sob.

  “Are you… alright?” Milly asked. It felt like an absurd question. Of course she wasn’t alright, but what else did someone say to a crying goddess?

  Oracle didn’t answer directly. Tears streaming down her face, she grasped Hephaestus’ unconscious hand and squeezed it tightly.

  “We first met in the Prime Library historical wing. It was past midnight, but I refused to return to my chambers until I figured out a pattern in my data. I remember how immensely frustrated I was. Hephy was there, fixing a chandelier that had nearly crushed Dr. Nury earlier that day. I… well… I used him to alleviate my tension. Not that he complained, of course.”

  Oracle looked at her lover with a sad smile. “Half-way through our coupling, the answer to my pattern came to me. I jumped off of him, half naked, and jotted down the solution in my notebook before I forgot it. That was when I first heard him laugh. It was a laugh filled with a deep sense of understanding and dedication, without a hint of disappointment or selfishness. He carved himself a place in my heart that night, and he did so every night after that.”

  Oracle closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “And, for a past few weeks, I got to be that innocent girl again – back in that library and lost in the throes of passion. The God Contest didn’t exist. The lifetimes we spent together hadn’t happened. We were young and in love – the best of all our days.”

  The goddess released her lover’s hand and strode over to the balcony, staring out at the city beyond, as if seeing it for the first time in a very, very long time. “When you returned my memories, that woman – the young woman who Hephaestus’ loves – died. We can’t turn back the clock on love, Milly, no matter how much we might want to.

  “You could still try,” Milly said, her heart clenched with guilt. “If the spark is there…”

  “My husband died a decade ago, a victim of the madness,” Oracle interrupted, her tears still falling. “While our love may have been forged in that library, it was tempered in the fires of the God Contest and throughout the eons we spent at each other’s sides. It was one-of-a-kind – a love that cannot be replicated.”

  Milly’s heart clenched with guilt. “I’m… I’m sorry, Oracle.”

  “You are not to blame, Milly. I know you did not mean for this to happen. I’ve seen your inner spirit, and I know you to be a brave and true person,” Oracle said with a resigned sense of inevitability. “And you are in the God Contest. You’ll be forced to make harder choices than this to protect those you love in the months and years ahead.”

  “I need your help to protect them,” Milly said hopefully. “You know we need to win this.”

  Oracle was silent for a long while as the city below her came alive. Early morning shouts from down at the docks carried up the hill, and the smell of freshly baked bread wafted in the air. Fruit vendors unfurled their awnings to attract customers, and the first students rushed up the street towards their classrooms, anxious to begin their day of learning.

  “It’s… emptier than I remember it,” Oracle said forlornly.

  “The black orb hasn’t resurrected everyone yet, but more pop into existence every day,” Milly explained. “I haven’t checked this island’s orb yet, but if its anything like Research Station Omega, everyone will be fully resurrected in two years.”

  Oracle raised a curious eyebrow in her direction.

  “You didn’t know?” Milly asked, astonished. “About Cizen siphoning away the life of the Nexus to bring back your people?”

  Oracle’s curiosity shifted into surprise.

  “No, I had not a single hint of Taydon’s plan, and that concerns me greatly. Though, I must admit, the Tear did not fully restore my memories – only fragments – so it is possible I did and simply don’t know it. Come, show me this black orb, and along the way, you can tell me everything you’ve discovered about Taydon’s plan.”

  * * *

  Oracle gazed through the Spectacles of Hidden Design, which revealed to her the black orb resting in the palm of Cizen’s statue. She couldn’t see the threads of life descending down from the heavens, but Milly had described them along the way.

  “Taydon was always the cleverest amongst us,” Oracle said in awe. “But the war we fought also made him the most ruthless. He did things – terrible things – to keep us alive, and, in the end, it still wasn’t enough to save her. The guilt he must have been harboring all this time… he buried it deep – so deep even Hephy and I couldn’t sense it.”

  Oracle handed the Spectacles back to Milly.

  “Are… are you sure? The glasses, and this dress. They’re yours, aren’t they?”

  “They once were,” Oracle answered. “Now, they are yours. I am mortal, Milly. I’m not even a player. They would be but simple clothing to me. And you’ve more than proven your worthiness to wear them.”

  “I… thank you, Oracle. I won’t forget it.”

  “Besides, it gives me an excuse to go see Edna,” Oracle said, gifting Milly the first genuine smile she’d seen from the once-goddess. “I assume she’s the fashion genius who made those alterations. Very daring. You look beautiful. And powerful.”

  Finally, someone noticed!

  “You’ve grown so much since you first arrived in this world, Milly,” Oracle complimented. “I saw it as I tumbled through the Nexus on my way to this world. For a time we were interconnected – two souls as one – and I lived your most precious moments. I felt your grief, and I cried with you as loneliness threatened to overwhelm you. My heart soared as you found your family-to-be, and I screamed for Cally as you were pulled into the rift that brought you to the Archipelago.”

  “That’s… um…,” Milly started.

  Creepy?

  “You want to say creepy, don’t you?” Oracle chuckled.

  “Are you still in my head?” Milly asked cautiously.

  “No, but living inside it for a month gave me rather good insight into the woman that is Milly Brown. Just think of me as another sister, like you do Rain. A much, much, much older sister.”

  “Wait, did you see everything I did that month? Even… that night… when Cally and I…,” Milly’s face turned beet red, and she could feel the heat reach all the way to the tips of her ears. “When we… um…”

  “Ahh… we should probably inspect this orb, before someone sees us,” Oracle said quickly, avoiding the question, though Milly saw the same heat reach the tips of Oracle’s ears as well.

  Hot enough to make a goddess blush? Damn, Cally, we really are good together.

  Milly pressed her hand against the stone pathway and created a platform beneath them. Oracle stumbled as it shook beneath them, and Milly caught her with telekinesis.

  “You’re getting quite good at the instinctual part of magic,” Oracle observed. “But you have so much still to learn. You’ve hardly scratched the surface of your Scarred Witch talents.”

  “If only I had a teacher to help guide me,” Milly suggested.

  “Perhaps. Though know I have no memory of the designs of this God Contest, and we won’t find that knowledge stored away in another tear. I believe the Nexus took that knowledge from me on purpose. Despite its judgment being skewed by the madness, the Nexus still requires a fair God Contest before it will move on. And having one of the contest designers give you all the answers is anything but fair.”

  Milly’s heart fell.

  So much for the easy road. But I shouldn’t be surprised. Luna said the same thing when we first met. The God Contest must be fair, or the whole Contest will be rejected. And if that happens, it might be the end of everything.

  “Shall we?” Oracle asked chipperly. “I’m anxious to see what Taydon has created.”

  Milly wrapped her winds around the stone, and they ascended into the sky towards the black orb.

  The Non-Canonical Aftermath: