Wish upon the Stars chapter 985

Reaching out to the gate was an odd experience. It was a bit like calling for my soul weapon, but also not. For one, I could FEEL the doors, and they were much more powerful than my staff was. Something in me though, my bloodline, or maybe my position, seemed to resonate with the massive metal slabs though. I focused hard, and there was a flash of power through those skeletal eye sockets.

The skull, to my surprise, began to open its mouth slowly. Inside the mouth, a slow vortex of purple lightning began to coalesce. It started as just a small spark, rotating faster and faster, collecting power from around itself as it grew, siphoning in energy from the universe.

Grinning, my grandmother’s eyes locked on it. “Ah, so THAT’S where we’re heading.”

“You can’t see the door?” I asked her in surprise. “Like, that vortex is in its mouth, you can’t see any of the metal?”

“Nope, just the portal. I did hear you two talking about it though.” She shrugged. “Wyndam business, right? The Wishmaster is much more powerful than either of my parents. Among the six, the Queen, the Emperor, and the Wishmaster are considered the strongest.”

I nodded, having heard that before. “Alright, well if you can see the entrance lets head in.” Then I paused. “Wait…why is there a door at all if the skull opens a portal and people can’t see it?” The metal was powerful I could feel that, but I didn’t see the point.

“If you saw a big door with chains all over it, what would you do to get inside?” my dad asked dryly.

I blinked. “I’d…I’d try to open it. Huh.” That was either brilliant or really dickish. Possibly both.

“Yup. Doors don’t open. The chains bind the metal to the void so only the portal can allow admission.” He chuckled. “If someone DID manage to pry them apart, it wouldn’t even reveal the entrance. They’d still need to open a portal into the Void.”

Grinning at the old man’s deviousness, I nodded to my grandmother, who gestured the pilot forward, into the swirling purple lightning vortex.

Passing through it was…disconcerting. It felt like I was getting vertigo, but with my soul. I’d been through the Void before, but this felt different. It only lasted a moment or two and then the ship rocked and we were through. The purple lightning cleared like clouds parting over a morning sea, and we got our first good look at the Wishworld.

“Well…this is nice,” I said dryly. “I mean, I kind of assumed that a godworld would be idealized, but it’s nice to know that the old man prefers to go with a more natural feel.” The words were pure sarcasm. The place we were currently waiting was a barren wasteland. Cold black rocks under dim blue skies filled with dark clouds. Purple lightning danced in the clouds, but with all the winter shades even that just looked washed out and bleak.

My dad rolled his eyes. “This is an entry path, Shane,” he said with an exasperated chuckle. “It’s not the Wishworld. It’s the outskirts. And it’s designed to be inhospitable and hostile. Which is why we should touch down.” His eyes flicked nervously up to the clouds. “That lightning isn’t a special effect for ambiance. It’s a defense system. Shane’s presence should cover us, but the ship might be a bit too conspicuous, and the defenses aren’t people.”

My grandmother grumbled, but nodded to the pilot, who took us down to land on a nearby plateau of dark stone.

Once we touched down, we filed out of the ship and, with a swipe of her hand, my grandmother made it vanish. I assumed she’d pulled it into her Domain. As soon as it vanished, I could see the lightning above flicker slightly and then dim. My dad breathed a sigh of relief.

“So, how do we get to…wherever we’re going?” Callie asked as we all headed over to the edge of the plateau to look down into a canyon of black rocks. A canyon I didn’t plan to enter, because staring down into the dark I could see faint movement from blurry shapes I couldn’t identify. I absolutely did not want any part of those things.

A sardonic voice came from off to one side. “I’ll be taking you.”

I jumped, both in surprise that someone had approached and in shock at WHO had just spoken. We all turned to stare, taking in the sight of Aiden Wyndham sitting on a rock nearby, looking as bored as I’d ever seen him. “Heya kids,” he said in an almost sleepy sounding voice. “Welcome to the Wishworld.”

“Aiden,” I nodded. “Didn’t expect to see you so early. Don’t you have better things to do than escort a bunch of children?”

“One would think,” he said sardonically. “But this comes from the top. The old man doesn’t want any accidents with the Void so active. There’s a VERY small chance that a Void entity might have slipped through the barrier when you came in. Plus after we drop them all off at the palace, I’m supposed to escort you to your meeting. Now that you’re here…he wants to see you.”

My stomach dropped. He wanted to see me. The Wishmaster. My ancestor. That was…intimidating. So intimidating. Like I’d met gods before, but he was the first god involved in my life. The origin of my bloodline.

I’d known I’d be meeting him. He couldn’t come to the coronation for political reasons, but he always met with the incoming Wishmaster. Hell he met with promising runners up sometimes. My dad and Zeke had met him. But there was a difference between academically knowing and being aware that I was on the way to a meeting with him.

Aiden seemed to sense my internal conflict. “Don’t put him on a pedestal, kid,” he advised me. “You’ll just end up disappointed. Gods are strange, and often unknowable. Just treat them like natural disasters. If a hurricane is coming, make sure you strap down all your stuff and board up your windows. As long as you prepare properly and treat the situation with respect you’ll come out of it fine.”

“Respect?” my dad asked wryly. “From you? I didn’t think even the old man warranted that.”

“I’m contrary, not stupid,” Aiden snorted. “Or at least not usually. Winning the succession war in my day might count. You son of a bitch. You couldn’t have tried a LITTLE harder? I was so smug when I beat you, then I had to spend years surrounded by sycophants and backstabbers while you ran off and married a holy princess and became a devil. That sounds so fun!”

“Didn’t you marry Azazel’s daughter?” my dad asked mildly. “Davina is supposed to be an impressive warrior.”

For the first time since I met him, Aiden’s bored and condescending expression softened. “That she is. Only good part of this job. At least usually. She’s pretty gung ho about me doing my duty though. Always killing my fun at work ‘Go to your meeting Aiden’, ‘don’t kill the messengers Aiden’, ‘he’s an elder Aiden, you can’t light him on fire’. Which was NOT true by the way, that guy went up like a torch.”

“I think she maybe meant that you…shouldn’t do that?’ my mom said dryly. 

He shrugged. “Probably. But that’s not what she said. Sounded like a challenge to me. Even if she did make me personally host the next ten council sessions to make up for it. Anyway, I’m free now, fuckers. All I have to do is deliver the kid to the big man, wait out the end of the coronation, and then I can retire to the warfront where I can spend my time with my lovely bride, immolating Void spawn en masse. You know, the easy life.”

“Damn,” I said in disappointment. “That actually does sound really nice. Is being in charge really that bad?”

He opened his mouth but was cut off by my mom shoving a burning finger in his face. “If you make my son any more nervous than he already is, I’m going to kick you off this plateau and into those clouds to see what happens.”

Putting his hands up defensively, he glanced at my dad. “I take it back. Only the devil thing sounds fun. My condolences.”

“Keep them,” my dad said with a wolfish grin. “This is my favorite side of her.”

“Excuse me,” my grandmother said with a sigh. “As much fun as your posturing is, children, we DO have an occasion to get to. Shane’s coronation is almost here, remember? That’s why we brought Wilkie.” She jerked her thumb at an inconspicuous crew member who had followed us off. “He’s going to get the whole thing on camera. Oh, and Shane dear, we were hoping you and Calliope might post for some late wedding pictures. I’m afraid the quality of the ones you gave us was a tad low.”

My eyes widened. “Wait…you brought a PHOTOGRAPHER?” I asked her in horror. “Like…a personal one? Grandma, they’re going to HAVE photographers.” I stopped to look at Aiden. “I mean, I assume.”

“More of a live broadcast to certain interested parties,” he corrected. “But yeah basically.”

“See,” I said desperately. “A videographer. That’s even better. You can have someone back on Seraph record for you.”

She snorted. “Don’t be absurd. This is your special day. We need photos to commemorate. We’ll take the wedding shots, then a few of you accepting the…is there an actual crown? It doesn’t matter, we brought one just in case. We even have a matching tiara for Calliope. Oh, you two will look so darling together all dressed up in your best. Of course you’ll need to wear a suit. That armor is very impressive dear, but it’s hardly formal.”

Every word increased the pressure on me, and I turned to shoot a pleasing glance at my mother, who grinned back at me vindictively. “That sounds like so much fun, mom. In fact, you should have Chelsea pose with them. Maybe Bethany and Gabriel as well.”

“Nonsense,” my grandmother chastised. “We’ve had plenty of pictures of Chelsea. This is Shane’s day.”

I cleared my throat. “Hey, I have a meeting with a god. We should go. Do you guys want to go? Let’s leave immediately.” I tried not to let my desperation show in my voice. I felt…weird. On one hand knowing my grandparents cared so much and were so excited to share this with me was nice. On the other having them dress me up in a suit and what I was pretty sure was a custom made crown to take family photos in front of my future subject was the most mortifying experience I could imagine, and I had been in the literal presence of a TORTURE goddess.

Aiden laughed. “Sure kid, let’s go.” He waved a hand and a glassy wall of fire consumed the air between this plateau and the next. As it faded away, it left behind a kind of…mush in the air. He flicked his fingers and the melted air solidified, giving him an easy path across.

Callie blinked in shock. That had been spatial fire. He’d melted SPACE. The burned remains had created a solid surface to walk on, but being able to do that at all, especially here, was…impressive. I glanced at my wife, who looked back excitedly. She hadn’t been able to learn much from Abel, because his power didn’t work like hers, but it looked like Aiden’s might.

So, as we followed behind the older man, I made a mental note to try to ask him about helping Callie with her training. It probably wouldn’t be one to one, but I was betting he could at least help. Walking along behind him though, I was brought up short by something. I felt…relaxed. My family had helped calm me down. I couldn’t help but smile. I was pretty lucky to have them.