Try as she might, Val failed to find Ross over and over again. She endured migraines galore until she experienced a different kind of psychological torment.

When she shut off her lights in preparation for another dive into the past, the pressures of this most recent month came crashing down on her. "I can't do this!" she cried out. Her back pressed against the door to her room and she slid down. Val cradled her head in her hands, already pounding just at the thought of another migraine. "I just can't anymore," she murmured.

Despite her poor mental state, Val did not cry. She had enough grit to push past this, and she did so by reminding herself of her ultimate goal.

One day, Val would ascend to godhood. Every demigod strived to attain power with their divine blood until they had reached this apex, but she would outwork them all. She would actually become a goddess.

Clenching her teeth, she pushed herself onto her feet. There was something about encountering that icy barrier which increased her time limit in the tunnel whereas before, Val had never had an opportunity to improve Past Insight like this.

So far, she had worked her way up to eight seconds over the past week. If she could push through this for today too, then she would win herself another second onto her ability, permanently.

The journey to becoming a goddess was grueling, especially while she felt directionless here in the mortal world. Nevertheless, Val had to try something to find Ross and join him in the hunt for the Summit of Ascension, so she kept doing this.

The additional seconds gave Val an opportunity to investigate the barrier longer than any of her previous tries. With her ethereal form, she tried to phase through the surface and enter the weave of time like she normally did for a vision.

When this failed, she tried running her conscience around the edges of the barricade to find a way to slip through. Val did not get to explore the entirety of the perimeter before being cast from the tunnel of time.

She threw up in the bucket in her lap and flopped over with the stinking bucket too close to her face. As much as she wanted to, she did not have the strength to move it until some of her mind-rending pain had diminished.

When she had already exhausted herself with Past Insight for the day, Val took to walking around the city. She sought out birds, mice, and squirrels—anything small and nearly mindless that she could hopefully control. Progress on this new ability was painstakingly slow, made worse by the fact that she had lost her personal trainer in Ross.

If he had told her to develop an ability to calm hostilities, then Val would definitely try her best in his absence. Worst case scenario: she would continue his grand prank in making her chase after squirrels.

On a more sentimental level, Val would not mind preserving Ross in her memory in that way with his last joke. Sometimes, it felt like she would never see him again.

When she held her phone in hand, it almost seemed like he could be one text or phone call away like he used to be. Since he had called their mom, he most likely received the messages from Val too, assuming he had not blocked her.

Once upon a time, she would have scoffed at the idea of getting blocked by her brother. Ever since he had left for the Summit without so much as telling her, Val did not feel so certain about anything with him anymore. Regardless, she kept faith that he would reply to her one of these days.

Every once in a while, she left a few aimless texts whenever she was feeling particularly nostalgic.

Val: I still can't believe that you left me here.

Mom is making me go shopping for new school clothes.

I tried telling her that we cannot afford it, but she keeps insisting on buying me things as if I care what I look like around the masses.

The two of them had always been intensely unpopular in school, though Val had a bigger penchant for trouble. At least Ross had been studious, so other students generally respected him while also avoiding him. Val fell closer on the spectrum to delinquent than studious, so she tended to receive more flak from her peers.

If she had things her way, she would just drop out. A demigoddess had no use for a high school diploma, but both her mother and Ross insisted that she needed to graduate. Val would have agreed whole-heartedly if only she had been a mortal girl.

Other times, Val would send more desperate texts to Ross.

Val: Please text me back already.

I just want to know if you are okay.

Have you made any progress?

I'm still chasing squirrels like you had me do.

Usually Val kept her feelings to herself rather than sending them out to the technological void. Sending pathetic messages like that only sowed the seeds of contempt for her brother. That was not the way that she wanted to remember him, so she preoccupied herself as best as she could.

Val spent some of her hours browsing the Internet, particularly the underbelly of forums. There were vials of golden blood and some living demigods advertised for sale. Nothing ever gave her any particular clue if Ross would be involved.

Similarly, Val searched the site for the Demigod Project, a supposedly legitimate organization that helped demigods connect to their immortal relatives and arrive at the Summit of Ascension. They presented themselves as if anyone with divine blood were dumb enough to fall for their trap.

For certain, demigods who involved themselves disappeared, but probably not to the Summit. More likely, this was the government's way of capturing demigods to use in some state-sanctioned experiments.

In the event that Ross had run into trouble on his journey, Val had no idea how to find out, much less help him. Past Insight seemed to be her only way to discover anything, so she continued trying until September came and her senior year of high school had begun.

Character Update:

* New information is marked in cyan.

* All entries are based on what Val knows.

Valentine (Val) Title: None Rank: Demigoddess Attributes: None Abilities Name Class Description

Past Insight

cognitive

- watch a replay of the past

- four pieces of initial information are required

- can stay in the tunnel of time for up to ten seconds

- real time passes slower in the vision

- one day cool down after a failed vision