Wish upon the Stars chapter 984

Finally, the last day or two passed, and it was time to go. I had to admit, I was nervous. Coming here had been amazing. Feeling the warmth of family, spending my days relaxing, I had learned and grown so much in ways that weren’t possible to track on my stat sheet. But now…now it was time to go back to the real world, where the kind of growth I’d need was ONLY the kind that showed up on my stat sheet.

The closer I’d gotten to this day, the more afraid I’d become. Not that I would die, or be destroyed, or what have you. Afraid that I’d never get this back again. That I’d never just be able to live in peace with my family.

Despite how many friends I’d had, and how much Zeke had cared about me growing up, this was…new. You don’t know what you don’t know, and I hadn’t understood what having a normal (for certain definitions of that term) life was really like until now. Part of me didn’t want to leave. But…I knew that part of me wasn’t real. I was scared, hiding behind the familiar and considering burying my head in the sand because it would be easy.

Which is why I wasn’t going to do it. I gathered my friends and family at the landing pad where the Acheron waited. “So,” I asked my dad as we all gathered together. “How do we get to Wishworld? I’ve never BEEN to a godworld before, but aren’t they anchored in specific galaxies? Like great grandma can only manifest inside Black Sorrow territory easily, right?”

He made a contemplative sound. “You could say that. But also not. Space in the Void is more…fluid than realspace. There are several methods for constructing a world there. Some are condensed, solid spherical constructs like a planet that occupy fixed locations in realspace. Some are mobile. Wishworld is…sort of a combination of the two. Different points in the Void correlate to different points in realspace. That’s how the Vanished gods are able to travel there so easily.

“Of course, there are other ways to travel in the Void besides teleporters,” he amended. “But the Roads of Void are complicated and difficult to navigate. They’ve been closed for centuries, and the insides are infested with Void spawn.”

I waved my hand to indicate that he should move it along. “Right, so HOW is something both stationary and mobile?”

“It’s not exactly,” he admitted. “It’s more…diffuse. Because of the nature of the Void, traveling even a few feet in one direction can bring you miles away in realspace. The old man took advantage of this and created his world in a highly irregular shape. Because of the odd construction, it connects to many WCP Branches in different galaxies rather than just being a big lump of expanded space that overlays a single area.”

I imagined a kind of giant twisty starfish made of clear tubes…which was probably not an accurate representation of what the Void was like, but it made me smile.

“So we need to head for a nearby Branch?” I asked with interest. “Are there any in the Holy Dominion?” I didn’t actually know what the situation of dispersion was like for the WCP inside the various powers, only that they had permission to establish locations. The Holy Dominion though, was the core of the Church’s territory, so I cloud understand if they didn’t want us around.”

“Yes, but that’s not where we’re going,” he said with a grin. “The old man is a visionary. Connecting the Wishworld to a few high ranking branches is great, but he wanted more than that. He wanted shipping routes. The Wishworld doesn’t just connect to realspace at those branches, there are several connection points that allow easy travel into a variety of faction territories. There’s a reason the WCP is the only universe spanning faction, and it’s not JUST that we have more S-rankers.”

That was…brilliant. Using the Void to travel with teleporters like the vanished gods did was useful and scary, but it was temporary. For a god to build their whole world around the concept of tactical and financial flexibility. “Is that even possible?” I asked in astonishment. “Creating some kind of unnatural spatial construct like that to hang in the Void?”

“It is,” Callie said as she sidled up next to me. “Hey hon, sorry I’m late. I was helping Bethy uproot her grapes and transplant them into her Domain. She doesn’t want to lose her progress.”

My dad hummed with interest. “It’s fascinating research. A bit niche, but I could think of quite a few alternate applications. Bethany is a brilliant girl. Strange and occasionally frustrating, but brilliant. You’re lucky to have her on your side.”

“Don’t I know it,” I chuckled. “But what were you saying about the Wishworld, Cal?”

“That it’s possible to make a Void construct like that,” she clarified. “I mean, I couldn’t. Not yet. But with my Adherent Fire, I’ve started to pick up some interesting information about the Void. Like did you know that technically Domains are personalized Void shallows anchored to a human soul?”

I opened my mouth to respond, but came up short. I hadn’t known that…but it made a weird amount of sense. God worlds were anchored in the Void, and almost all spatial effects touched on the Void, so it logically followed that Domains were at least partially in the Void.

The sheer scope of what the old man could do was staggering, and I wondered how much of it was from the library. Like he was obviously deeply gifted before that since he created it, but still, the idea that I might someday be able to do something similar (despite the differences in the expression of our powers) was pretty intoxicating.

We all filed into the ship, and Callie and I headed for the bridge to check in and to hopefully get a view outside the ship. I wanted to see what these connecting points looked like.

Watching Seraph fall away was bittersweet. Even as we left I could feel the shackles of caution and homesickness that had been pinning me down earlier loosen in the face of the call of adventure. A new world. More family I hadn’t met. Power and influence and a great quest only I could undertake. My heart was starting to race a little. Callie had been right, I’d been going stir crazy already and had been in denial. I’d miss my family but this was going to be fun.

“How far out are we?” I asked my dad as we all lined up in the bridge of the Acheron. My grandparents and uncles were there, along with Zeke.

“Not far,” he smiled. “You know how fast this ship is. There’s an entrance a few systems over. I’d say at top speed we’ll make it in an hour, maybe a bit less. Assuming we are going at top speed?” He shot a questioning look to my grandmother, who sighed.

“We are,” she said in a sad tone. “I’d hoped we might have a bit of time to sightsee, we’re passing through the Elohim cluster, and it’s so very beautiful.” she shot Zeke a grin. “My new apprentice only left her home planet a few months ago, and I think she ought to see the sights in the greater universe. You should look into that.”

My Uncle, well used to this ribbing since Stella had started studying under my grandmother, just rolled his eyes. “If I wanted to hear from someone’s mother about my relationship I would still be in contact with mine. Why must you hound me?”

“Because Stella is one of my disciples now,” she said gently. “And because you raised my grandson. Like it or not, you’re family, boy, and that comes with as many demerits as it does perks.” Despite the harsh words, her tone was warm and welcoming, and I could have sworn I saw Zeke’s lips twitch slightly.

Stella herself, who had become almost pathologically quiet since arriving on Seraph, cleared her throat. “I appreciate the thought, Master, but I really would prefer you let me handle matters in my own relationship.”

My mom cackled in glee. “Hah! You tell her. She spent years hounding me about my relationship with Eli. Don’t let her get away with that!”

“YOU ran off with a degenerate and left us all worried sick,” my grandmother snapped. Then she smiled at me apologetically. “No offense, Shane. You know we love you and your sister, and we wouldn’t have you if that never happened, but at the time it was quite jarring.”

My dad raised an eyebrow. “What about me? Don’t I get a no offense?”

“You can be offended if you like,” Celine said with a shrug. “I’m not YOUR grandmother. Though I will say I’ve grown to see your value over the years. Doesn’t mean I’m not still unhappy that you absconded with my daughter.”

“He did not ABSCOND with me, mother,” my mom said with an exasperated groan. “I was an ADULT and I left home.”

My grandmother’s eyes narrowed. “You didn’t even leave a NOTE. You sent a message back after the fact. I-” she closed her eyes, cutting herself off with a sigh. “No. No that’s not productive, it’s ancient history. You’re right. I only meant to tease. We like you perfectly well now Elijah.”

“Yes,” my dad said dryly. “I could FEEL the love during my visit.”

She shrugged. “That wasn’t US. You’re a devil. You ought to have assumed there would be some friction in the Holy Dominion. Besides, it was just a couple of pointed looks and unsubtle comments. We made sure no one tried anything.”

My mom looked sorry she’d brought it up, but oddly, the whole experience seemed to have acted as an icebreaker. Everyone split up to talk amongst themselves, and I dropped into the chair next to my grandfather. “Hey, you excited to see some old friends?”

“Is this where you make a joke about how all my friends are old?” he said wryly.

“No,” I lied unconvincingly. “I wasn’t going to say that.” He stared at me flatly until I grinned and admitted. “Ok, I was. But it was right there.” We bantered for a bit, and it was nice. Just comfortable back and forth with family. It helped keep my mind off the trip, though I only needed that because I was so impatient to see-

“We’re here,” a voice interrupted my reverie. I turned to see my dad standing next to us, staring up at a floating holo screen in the air displaying…I blinked. “Is that…a door?” I asked incredulously. “Just floating in space?”

It was a rhetorical question. The doors were FAR too large to mistake for anything else. A huge pair of double doors made of black metal, criss crossed with heavy looking chains. Under the chains, a skull inside of a lamp emblazoned the surface of the barrier. Its eyes were locked on us, or at least looked like they were, glowing the same eerie purple as my lightning and the flames of my stat page.

Along the length of the chains, similar light flickered in the shape of complicated symbols. My dad smiled. “It is,” he said with a laugh. “But it’s safer than it looks. No one but a Wyndham can see it. The chains cloak it, as well as keeping unwanted visitors out.”

I nodded in awe. “Yeah, I can see why you’d need to. The damned doors are huge. How do we get inside though? Do we have to unlock them? Is there a key?”

“In a manner of speaking,” he said, a bit smugly. You should be feeling it already. I can’t open it anymore. Not since my trait altered my bloodline.” Sure enough, as we approached, I felt a sort of buzz inside my head, like something was trying to make contact. “Go ahead then Shane. Request permission to enter your kingdom.” So, with a slight flex of my will…I did.