My eyes cracked open. Slowly I became aware of a bright glow over my head. My eyes blinked several times before my vision cleared.

Goddess’s face came into focus. Her thick silvery hair rippled around her in an invisible wind around our faces as she leaned over me. Her lips curved up in a gentle smile as her silvery eyes framed in thick black lashes narrowed affectionately. “Good morning, sleepy head.”

I blinked at her a couple more times. “Morning?”

She smiled wider. “Ah, I suppose it’s actually afternoon right now.” She reached out and gently brushed my hair back, like I was a child.

I was curled up with my head on her lap. Her legs were tucked under her, long white dress fluttering around us like her hair. She was sitting on … nothing?

My eyes widened and I sat up … only to gasp in shock.

We were floating in space, surrounded by a clear bubble. The earth and the moon floated in the void of space before us. Its rich colors — blues, greens, and browns — were bright against the star-studded black background. There was no glaring red rip in the sky and even most of the black spots that it had been sporting when I last looked at it were gone. The ones that were left were the ones that humans had put there with nukes, trying to get rid of the monsters. Earth looked so serene, slowly turning in peaceful silence.

“It’s still there,” I whispered. “It didn’t collapse.” I turned back to Goddess. “I mean, we are still alive right?”

She laughed. “Yes. We are. We were successful, although it took some time. That’s why it took so long for me to wake you up.” A seriousness touched her gentle smile.

That was when I noticed what was behind her. The parasitic planet floated there. It wasn’t blue anymore, but white. It was also smaller than it used to be, barely larger than the moon. It was like a beautiful giant diamond, shimmering against the star-studded blackness of space. The hundreds of remnant planets caught in clear orbs chained to the parasite were gone. If I was alive, then the parasite was dead and this was its leftover ‘body.’ It didn’t pose a threat anymore, but my mind was still trapped in my last moments on that planet.

I looked around frantically, my whole body shivering uncontrollably. “Where’s Kesstel?” My voice broke and my throat started to burn. “What happened to him?”

I stabbed him. No, it wasn’t even just stabbing, I practically killed him. My clothes were clean now, but I could still feel his slick blood on my skin. “I didn’t … he didn’t …” My throat closed before I could choke out the rest of the sentence.

Goddess frowned and waved her hand.

Kesstel appeared, floating flat in a bubble next to us. His clothes were clean, like mine, and all traces of injury were gone. Even his armor had been repaired. But his eyes were closed, his thick lashes dark on his pale cheeks.

I lunged at him, propelling myself toward him. My bubble moved with me, and Goddess came with it. As soon as the edges of our bubbles touched, they merged, creating a larger bubble that encompassed all three of us.

I stopped at Kesstel’s side, my heart squeezing painfully. My fingers shook as I reached out and touched his face. Something between a gasp, a sob, and a sigh burst out of my mouth when I felt his warm breath on my skin. Unable to stop myself, I reached out and grabbed him, hugging his head to my chest and holding his broad shoulders tight.

He was breathing, but his body was limp in my arms.

“What’s wrong with him?” I asked Goddess, my voice still shaking.

“Sleeping.” Goddess floated over to my side, her dress and hair ever moving in an invisible wind. “I didn’t have a way to send you back to earth or heal you while I was wrestling with the parasite. So in order to protect both of you, I put you both in suspended animation.”

I nodded. I’d kind of already guessed that. Gently, I brushed Kesstel’s soft hair off his forehead and traced his handsome features. “How long were we asleep?”

“In the other dimension, it’s been fifteen years. It took me five years to subdue and eradicate the parasite, although I was able to intercept its communication and connection with the Gates on Earth after a week. After winning, I fell asleep for eight years to regain my energy and integrate fully into the leftover shell of the parasite.” She let out a small laugh. “I never thought I’d possess the body of the being that tried to kill me. But I need a new planet — I can’t stay in you forever — and there were free materials just sitting there.”

She smiled at my shocked face, assuming I was reacting to her story. “I had to wait for three more years to wake you up from the suspended animation I placed you in. We were in the other dimension still, and I had no way of providing you with bodily needs. Yes, a god can make whatever they want, but that’s only if the right atoms are there. Those three years were spent figuring out how to get my new planet into Earth’s gravitation without damaging Earth or my own new planet.” She glanced at the white globe. “I was able to create a barrier around my planet that locked in its own gravity, so that it didn’t mess with Earth’s. For now, it will be just like another moon for Earth. As long as my people and the humans stay friendly with each other, I don’t mind staying here. If not, well, there’s still room in the life belt around the Solar System’s sun to move my planet to.”

I gaped at her, still stuck on her first sentence. “Fifteen years?” Oh my god. My family! They must think I was dead! I could tell by looking at my hands and body that I looked the exact same age as when I closed my eyes — nineteen. But everyone else in my family would have aged fifteen years. All the while thinking I was dead. What were they going to do when I appeared?

She nodded to the side. “Although it's only been five years on Earth.”

I swallowed hard and nodded. That was a little better. Sort of. Still, my heart hurt at the grief they must be feeling. My arms tightened around Kesstel. Even though he was unconscious, I still found myself seeking him for comfort. Idiotic maybe, but I couldn’t resist.

Goddess smiled gently and touched my head. “Silly child,” she whispered lovingly, even though she looked younger than I was. “Everything will be alright.”

I looked at her helplessly, but didn’t push her hand away. Just like the first time I met her, I couldn’t resist the instant love I had for her. “What happened on Earth while I was asleep? Do you know?”

“Of course I know.” She laughed like I made a joke. “I am now the owner of the energy crystals. Every single one is my eyes and ears on Earth. I hear every conversation, see every interaction.”

My brows wrinkled as I tilted my head to the side, thinking. “That sounds awful.” I can think of a number of situations I’d never want to overhear.

She waved her hand. “It’s always been that way for me, ever since my children were created. In fact, those many long years when all I heard was silence were unbearably excruciating for me. I was so lonely.” She tapped her finger to her mouth and gave a hopeless shrug. “But those situations you’re worried about, I also choose to ignore. The information I collect is a bit like a radio on Earth. I can choose to change the ‘channel’ at will and even mute it in the back of my mind.”

I shook my head. It still wasn’t my cup of tea. I never wanted to know that much about anyone. Well, that might not be exactly true, I admitted as I gently brushed Kesstel’s silky hair.

“All the Gates and Portals on Earth collapsed the day after you ‘disappeared,’” Goddess explained.

I looked up at her, listening intently.

“As I said, I intercepted the signal between the parasite and them as fast as I could. Without it, they became unstable. The parasite pulled back its energy to fight me, which stopped its invasion on Earth. In that precarious moment, I was able to weaken the connection between Earth and the dimension the parasite was in. Although the two dimensions weren’t separated completely, it caused all the holes between them to close.”

She shifted over to my side and folded her legs under her, as if sitting. Her big silvery eyes stared down at Earth with me. “The monsters that had already exited the Gates were still on Earth. The Hunters have done a good enough job dealing with them, but they are limited now.” She hummed under her breath. “Since all energy crystals are controlled by me, I removed the most dangerous monsters from Earth. The rest of the monsters have been weakened, both physically and magically. Just like the Hunters. Monsters are now acting like normal animals. Some are even breeding, though their offspring don’t have energy crystals and are weaker because of it. Earth’s animal population has almost become extinct, and it will be some years before the scientists are advanced enough to clone the DNA they saved from the original animals. These new monsters will most likely replace them in the meantime.”

I blinked at Goddess. “What happened to the Hunters?”

She glanced at me. “Their power came from the parasite. It was sifting out the humans that were most likely to make the best monsters when it ate the planet. Without the parasite, the power that was supplying them cut off. At that time, about four years ago, all Hunters lost half their strength. E Hunters are pretty much glorified humans now.”

I lifted my hand up to my face and turned it this way and that. I didn’t feel any different. Or I should say, I didn’t feel any weaker, even though I lost nearly all my levels before I passed out. I felt just as strong as I did before we left Earth — an S Hunter. Out of curiosity, I cast Mist. The thin vapor pooled around my hand, lacing in and out of my fingers like ribbon.

Goddess reached out and poked the mist with a slender finger. The mist swirled and created a misty round diamond, its pointed pavilion hovering above my fingers. Like the planet behind, light glowed from the inside of it. “Of course that doesn’t apply to my children. I will not send them down there without the means to defend themselves.”

I tapped the diamond. It spun around like a top, the inner light reflecting off each perfect facet. “What about the humans?”

She shrugged. “They’re not my children. Why should I waste the power that is meant for my children on them? Humans were not originally designed to house magic. It was injected into them from an outside source. But since it’s there, the genes that have mutated will of course be passed on, but it will weaken with each generation. I imagine in a thousand years or so, the Hunter gene will be completely gone. If Earth’s God decides to give it back to them when he wakes up, then that’s his choice.”

“I guess that makes sense,” I muttered.

The people on Vapria had magic, but they were peaceful. It was actually the time before the Warriors of Mist, before magic was given to the people, that they were war-torn. But since Goddess was physically there to maintain peace, there were no wars after the people had magic. Humans didn’t have that supervision. I mean, look at the brutal caste system that was created after Hunters came into the picture.

“I am still supporting humans. Since Earth’s God is still unconscious for maybe another millenium, I am the one preventing the world functions from stopping or falling apart. I have also kept the energy crystals on Earth and continue to provide them with energy to power the human world. Clean energy — so that the Sleeper disease has been eradicated with the help of the cure that you graciously provided.”

My eyes widened. My hand shook as I reached out and grabbed her hand. “Then my mother and sister …” My voice broke.

I couldn’t tell what emotion bubbled in my throat, cutting off my words. Excitement? Doubt? Anxiety? I wanted to know, but a small part of me didn’t want to hear. My mother had been a Sleeper for so long, and I didn’t know how long it took for the cure to be developed.

She turned her hand and grabbed mine in return. “It’s okay. Healer Jonovan upheld his side of the deal. He figured out the disappearance of the Gates was connected to you, and he passionately fought to ensure your family was taken care of as compensation. Three years ago, your mother and sister woke up.”