"..."

I just realized I had a pet octopus named Pi that floated in the air and looked like a puppy—felt like a puppy, too, although it gave me a headache to think about.

I was smiling.

Eating breakfast with Jade, Sophie was taking a shower—

Speak of the devil.

"Look, look!" She ran out of the bathroom from down the hall.

In her birthday suit.

Dripping wet.

"Some hair grew, and so did my boobs, I think!"

Hey, her wounds are fading it seems…

The cuts and wounds and strange reverse in her body might really be the manifestation of her mental pains, if no more show up from here on out.

Jade got up in a manner that spoke words, seeming to say: let me take care of it.

Sophie ran away from her. I heard her room open but not close.

Jade had to change Sophie's old bandages, anyway.

Like I was trying to say...

Sophie and I had early morning training, it would be a regular routine from here on out, and she decided to go shower first.

No arguments from me, she was soaking wet with sweat after what I put her through, while I was just a normal amount of sweaty.

Drills with a bokken, a wooden katana. Those things are surprisingly heavy, she learned this morning.

It was September 11th, Saturday, the first weekend of the school year.

I'd never been so happy in my life.

Even if the young girl I took in was being 'rebellious.'

She needed the attention, as far as I was concerned.

I got up to wash my plate and pour some more coffee.

I sat down on the love seat and an indeterminate amount of time later Jade sat down close to me, close even considering it was a love seat.

She was in my lap.

"Oh hi," I said. "I was just thinking about you."

"What would you like to do today, Tayler?"

"I'm going to that Mage tonight, but I haven't decided otherwise. How's Sophie healing?"

"Gradually, no new wounds. She told me to ask you about yesterday."

I told Jade about Sophie's hypersexuality, briefly—Jade asked no questions but listened intently.

"I'm glad she went to you," Jade finally said. "That sounds like what she needed, a hobby and some exercise."

"You should see how good she is—she's a natural. Born talent. I had a feeling she'd be above average, but she'll be better than me with some time and training."

"How'd you assume she would be good, hm?"

I couldn't exactly tell her I saw it in a dream, could I? "You just get an eye for it when you're good at something. Can you think of anything else to motivate her?"

Jade made a thinking man pose for a moment. "I probably could…"

"What're you thinking?"

"Buy her something she wants, maybe? As long as it's not a vibrator, ha!"

"She might really get addicted to one of those..."

"Now that I think about it, when I talked to her about what she struggled with, she never mentioned being unmotivated or getting bad grades. We both know what she's lacked in her life, and now we know what she personally struggles with."

When she put it like that, it was ironic. She needed love from others, but had a problem with 'loving' herself too much—so much so that it was like a curse to her.

The duality of man.

I sighed, "let's just wait for her to come to us, otherwise we'll just be brown nosing."

Jade nodded.

The answer may be that we're putting the cart in front of the horse with this one. She may need no extra motivation.

Only time will tell a lot of things.

Yesterday I had planned to go to the spot where Jade was told to go—or else—but I had that dream—those are rare dreams.

Sacred dreams, you could say.

They seem to be my future, they foreshadow the truth.

And they scare me.

And with Jade living with me now, I'd say: there was nothing to worry about...

But in my experience, I can always worry, and in this case it was especially true to worry.

She'd been threatened.

The saying here should be something along the lines of: go ahead and worry, it'll do you no good.

It'll make you come undone, you'll break apart and blow away in the wind. That's what happens with enough anxiety.

I was walking with Jade, layer that day, with Sophie following behind us.

We were downtown, in the Old South District, basically window shopping.

"Where do you guys get money…" Sophie said with a pout in her voice.

"I have prize money from tournaments—if you're good, Soph, you can win some too."

"I have rich and generous parents," Jade said. She'd just bought some birkenstocks for herself. "I'll buy you something cute, Sophie. Do you need anything?"

"Those clothes you gave me are actually really comfortable, but I'd like some sick new shoes?"

"As long as it's under eighty."

It was hard to believe I'd known these two for less than a week.

It felt like they'd always been there.

It felt like I'd always known them.

I'd call the week turbulent, but it was more than some turbulence. This week was life changing.

Nothing would ever be the same.

I'd love to tell you about the rest of the month—but peaceful times make for horrible tales.

That's just a rule of thumb.

Unless you want to read three hundred pages of nothing, then I'd consider writing it.

- - - -

Friday, October 8th. 7:00 AM.

Just about a month later.

I always look over at Jade when I first wake up.

Sometimes she's reading a book, we've been reading a lot lately, both of us; sometimes she's up already and cooking for us.

My favorite sight to see is her sleeping face, completely at peace, vulnerable and naked next to me.

I'll never tire of the sight.

This morning I was lucky and got the sleeping face, complete with a little droll.

Somehow even normally gross things like drooling are enduring when she does it.

I got up quietly, hoping I could make breakfast in bed for her.

It was Friday, after all. Who doesn't want to take it easy on a Friday?

I closed the door with a creek.

Sophie came out of her room at the same time, just across from me.

"Oh, good morning!" She loudly said.

So much for Jade not waking up…

"'Morning. You look better and better everyday, Soph."

She blushed.

When I met her, it looked like she hadn't hit puberty yet.

Now she was filling in at a quick rate, frankly it was fast enough to be alarming if you didn't know the supernatural reasons for it.

Everyday she looked more like a woman, that was the bottom line.

"When is your next tournament?" I asked.

"Next week! Wednesday! Are you coming?"

"Of course, I wouldn't miss it even for a free Triumph Bonneville…"

"Why did you sound so suspicious when you said that?"

I cleared my throat. "How confident do you feel?"

"On a scale of bronze to gold, silver."

I nodded my head and we sat down at the dinner table together.

"I need some underwear, if only because some of the other girls at the dojo notice I don't wear any."

"Sounds embarrassing."

"It is! But I don't need panties, just a bra or two. You're an aesthetic person, Tay. What do you think is the best looking bra?"

"Aesthetic… where'd you learn that word?" I got up to make some coffee in the kitchen.

"It's all the rage nowadays. Doesn't it mean good looking, and matching a theme or 'look?'"

"You're not exactly wrong… traditionally, though, it means the appreciation of beauty."

"Yeah, that's you, definitely! Unless you're saying breasts aren't beautiful, huh?" She gave me a suspicious look, eyebrows raised.

"Oh, no, I'd never say that! Breasts are the most beautiful thing out there, by a country mile!"

"You didn't have to agree so enthusiastically…" She looked grossed out now.

"Boobs are like pieces of fleshy art, that's what I always say."

"'Flesh art' makes you sound like a cannibal, that's what I'm saying! And do you really always say that?"

"Oh yes! Ha-ha-ha. I'm always out on the streets, passing out flyers about the joys of that fleshy meat!"

"Oh my god, just tell me which bras you like!" Her cheeks puffed out.

"You only need a sports bra," a calm, soft voice said, rubbing her eyes—Jade.

Sophie, cheeks still puffy, turned bright red now. "You didn't need to tell him that…"

"You're asking the wrong questions," Jade said evenly. "The real debate is the best color. Oh, and don't bother asking anyone unless you're matching your undies together, or it doesn't matter."

"Okay, Gatekeeper Jade!"

"It's your privilege as a woman to be able to match your underwear, and yet you refuse to wear any. That's practically a crime, that's what that is," Jade said softly.

They both looked at me.

"Sophie should wear white, I think... while Jade's red lacy pair is unrivaled on her."

"That's not what we're asking! Stupid! What's the best color in general, all around!"

"Don't call Tayler stupid, he's just absolutely insensitive."

"Hey!"

I was about to tell her the color, but Jade put a finger to my lips.

"Why don't you wear underwear, Sophie? It's a little unsettling. I'll buy you some comfortable pairs, in the best colors, so please try them."

"What color?"

"Black. Everything else is inferior in the face of black matching underwear."

"It's true!" I threw in.

"...Okay, but you have to get a purple pair too. Dark purple!"

You probably won't believe this, but Jade has been on a mission—more like made this into a crusade—of hers, all this past month, to get Soph to wear underwear.

As you can see, she had finally given in.

I've no idea why it took so long.

I've no idea why we have conversations like this.

1-0 Jade Vs. Sophie.

3:00 PM, after school.

It was a nice Autumn day, very seasonal, indeed.

How'd the rest of the last month go? Uneventful after that, thankfully.

I didn't propose. I wasn't sure when the right time would be, but it didn't feel like right now.

Sophie started bringing over her girlfriend somedays, but most of the time she was too exhausted from kendo.

She was really putting everything into it, you could tell.

The Mage at his magic shop—behind a car dealership—told me about time and destiny, but it was in such nebulous prose that I didn't understand the hint.

The Priestess explained it better and much more briefly than him when I last saw her—when she told me about Deirde.

If I had to summarize what the Mage said, it'd be this: have patience for The Emperor.

But that's all I got or understood.

I was heading over to the library to return a book and maybe check out a new one, depends on if I found anything interesting.

The library is just a few blocks away from the seniors building, that huge mansion.

I was walking up to it when I noticed in the parking lot—there was only one word for it, huh?

A horse and carriage. The two horses were panicking, and a ragged man was freaking out with them, but trying to calm the horses anyway.

I started to get chills.

You could say I had a bad feeling about this.

I walked into the library like I didn't see anything.

Someone was yelling when I got through the second set of doors into the library. A man in a white… half robe? Almost like a shawl.

His legs were covered in steel armor… real steel plates overlapping like scales, I'm sure he had more than what I could see on.

He was speaking loudly to the librarian. "Where am I, are you lady, or surf? Do you know who I am?"

He had his paws wrapped around the librarian's jaw.

I tapped him on the shoulder and he turned with a glare.

I punched him square in the jaw.

He wasn't expecting that, I could tell. Call it a suckerpunch if you'd like, I just can't stand seeing women being hassled.

I proceeded to drag him out by his scruff, outside to the carriage, throwing him in. I jumped in with, closing the little door behind me.

"Who do you think you are!"

"I should be asking you that," I replied. "Did you get lost on the way to a ball?"

"No… I was on the way to the brothels and lost my way!"

"Of course you did. What year is it, do you think?"

"What a stupid question… its 9,856, obviously."

"Do you call where you're from 'Earth,' as well?"

"Earth? That's been long abandoned! This is a strange place on Mars, surely?"

I noticed when he wasn't yelling he had a posh accent.

Fitting.

"You got transported to Earth, I'm afraid. And you're stuck with me. You wouldn't happen to be royalty, would you?" I chuckled.

"Next in line to be King of Mars! To fight against Venus!"

It was a joke… but isn't a king, like, the same thing as an Emperor? What's the difference, again?

Something about the amount you rule, and control of religion? Nevermind, I'm getting sidetracked.

This guy has got to be the next 'card,' The Emperor.

"Wait… Did you just say there will be an interplanetary battle in the future?"

Isn't telling me that… pretty bad?

"They're a nasty bunch… I've got to defeat The Apostle once and for all! For Mars!!" He raised a fist up high.

It looked like an amateur drama performance.

"I wonder if this Apostle got transported here… would you know where to look?"

"As part of the royalty, I can feel them if they are nearby, as a matter of course."

"Well… can you?"

He put his hand on his temples.

What a guy.

"They're that way!" he pointed south.

"Let's head to my car," I opened the door to the carriage and crawled out, with him following close behind.

He was obviously taken by the sights around him as we made the couple of blocks back to the school parking lot.

"Is that a cherry blossom tree? I've only seen those in books!"

"What's those steel, horseless carriages called," he pointed at a car.

"Can I eat this?" he'd picked a lily from someone's garden.

Basically, he had the fascination of a child. But his strange accent made it almost unbearable.

'Tell me about Mars," I asked finally.

"The planet of eternal war… and I'll be King, if I'm not assassinated by my own when I ascend."

"That's frightening…"

"Not especially. See, I'm a War Wizard!" He was definitely expecting a big reaction from me, pointing to himself like he was the shit.

"No such thing exists here. This is 2014, by the way."

"Ah, The Dark Ages II."

Something about that infuriated me. What an inelegant name, too...

"Well, a War Wizard is someone who can destroy whole armies by themselves. Would you like to see?"

"...Hold the theatrics for now."

I didn't want him to set off a magic bomb in city limits, that's all.

"I think it's in that glorious mansion…"

Hm—I looked around. Maybe his foe didn't arrive in a carriage like him?

I was curious, but I was weighing if that same curiosity was going to kill me.

"Let's go check it out."

He was amazed by the mansion—not like I can blame him. The really crazy thing is that I ever got used to it.

He tried pushing over the Statue of Venus in the lunchroom, cursing it as an object of evil worship.

But otherwise was without incident.

We found ourselves at a familiar place, so familiar that I almost decided to turn back right there…

The soaking pool.

I looked through the mosaic glass on the sides of the door leading into it.

Two people were clearly going at it in the pool.

I coughed, saying to him, "What'd you say your name was?"

"I didn't. But you may call me Morgana. What is yours?"

"Tayler Lovelace. Look, Morgana, maybe we should come back another day." The people in there were really going at it.

"Nonsense!" He stuck a finger out at the door. There was a bright flash of light...

BOOM.

I covered my ears, ducking.

I could just barely see through the now broken mosaic from where I was crouched, it was exactly as I feared.

Holding a torrent of water that looked like a whirlpool, and in another hand pushing back the man that'd been fucking her moments before:

The Seductive Counselor, AKA The Priestess, baring her fangs.

I tackled Morgana to the floor, screaming, "You idiot!"

He easily pushed me off, like I was nothing.

"I'll take care of it from here."

He held two fingers up now, I saw through that a wave of water was coming at him—a flash, again—I couldn't hear.

I couldn't see through the steam, either.

For that matter, suddenly at max humidity, it was impossible to breathe.

A wind came at his back and flushed away the smoke and steam.

He drew a sword I hadn't seen before, and she had a mace up in the whirlwind going around the two.

The naked man she'd been with was curled up in the corner.

Suddenly, the two with weapons drawn met in the middle—clashing.

Clang–clink—CLANG.

They both jumped back.

"Stop this madness!" I yelled, "at least go outside, for fucks sake!"

They both stopped.

"—That's a fair idea."

"Yes, this is too confined a space," Morgana agreed. "I'd feel bad if we ruined such a mansion."

The counselor—really beating myself up for never getting her name—she went around and picked up a blue robe, but not before she kissed the shivering scared man in the corner.

"I'm Scarlet Lockhart, name yourself my adversary."

So that was her name!

"Call me Morgana, I'm from nearly 8,000 years in the future."

"...What!"

"Something tells me explaining yourselves will solve this issue, it's probably just a misunderstanding," I tried to reason, to mediate.

"Yes… the church has long ties to Venus, it's how they started their magical lineage. Mars, on the other hand, genetically engineered it."

"So that explains why you detected her…" I sighed.

All we did was go into the counselor office across the same floor.

That abnormally plain office for this insane building.

"Well, why am I here then?" He asked, annoyed.

"There are obviously bigger things in store for you," Scarlet said. "Hey, Tayler, do you have a place to put this man for the night?"

"...There might be a place I could put him. If you do stay there, and you cause any trouble, you'll be killed."

"Please, I would never trouble a host. I'm not a brute, I'm royalty!"

"Then let me ask…"

I took out my phone and called Deirde.

Riiinng, riiiinnnng.

"Hola, Tayler Lovelace."

"Hey, Debo. Do you think you could have someone from the future stay over?"

"I'll kill them if they inconvenience me, or my child."

"I already told him that. He's royalty, so I don't think he'll have bad manners."

"...Royalty, huh?"

"From 8,000 years in the future… and also from a different planet."

"Tell him he'll need to help cook and I'll allow it. Was that all, Tayler?"

"Yes, I'll see you later."

Beeeplep.

"You've got to help cook—but if you do you can stay. What're you gonna do everyday, though?"

"Search for the enemy," he said matter of factly.

"There was something I needed to tell you," Scarlet, the Priestess, said. She adjusted her blue robe, looking like something a priest really would wear, but with a lot more skin... "The Lovers and The Chariot are symbolic, this time around."

"Please speak in English," I said.

"...It means they aren't embodied in a person or place. They're likely affecting this town in some supernatural way, pulling strings. The Lovers already brought you together with your true love, no?"

I didn't ask how she knew so much, although I really wanted to.

"Wait, that means that there's others out there being affected like that?"

"Certainly," she replied like it was obvious. How irritating. "The Chariot has not shown itself yet, there's no way to be sure how it'll present itself."

I wondered who else may have been affected by true love.

"Where can I find The Hierophant?" I pointed to Morgana, "This guy is The Emperor, I'm sure of it."

"No idea. Right now you'd be smart to seek out The Wheel. While it's not impossible to be a person, it's always shown as a place. I can feel that it's already shown itself, somewhere in this town."

What to do… what to do.

"..."

Scarlet stood noisily, saying, "I've got to repair the soaking pool now, you boys get out of here."

I was wondering how one fixes a shattered mosaic, but realized magic doesn't need an explanation.

We both left.

I wasn't too worried about Morgana hurting Deirde. He seemed intelligent, and this was his only option, so I assumed his overall 'risk' was a low one.

For an inexplicable reason, I felt on the contrary that he'd be a risk to her and that him being around could be helpful.

Deirde had a huge risk, she had a Moon Child. It needed protection, that was important, and Morgana could provide this...

After what I'd just seen, I knew he could provide it in spades.

On a whole, as long as he was a decent guest, this solved two problems at once. I was even a little surprised it worked out so well.

"This is the place," I said, parking in the driveway.

He was feeling his temples. "There's an old spiritual energy in that building…"

"Yeah, there would be, there's a Druid baby in there. Called a Moon Child. I need you to protect it when you're there."

"...That cannot be! Those are what I'm made of, what my magical powers are based off of, the blueprints—"

"Well, it's true. Don't be weird, okay?"

We got out and walked up the driveway. I turned to look at his face in the setting sun.

He had a stern visage.

I helped myself inside. "Hey, Debo. Where are you?"

She walked out of the hall, cradling her baby, named Korrin.

When first born, Korrin was opaque and sparkly, but by now he was mostly visible and barely sparkling. He really was growing absurdly fast… and was so damn cute.

Deirde had a face of exasperation, looking at Morgana, and Morgana had the same face as her.

Didn't I just tell him not to be weird? He strutted up to her and… knelt on one knee.

He offered a hand, palm up, to Deirde. His head was down.

"Marry me, Druid Princess."

I felt my face with my hands…

She put her hand in his palm, pulling him up.

"My name is Deirde… and we start as boyfriend and girlfriend."

I did not hear that right…

He took her hand and kissed it.

"I found my purpose, I know why I was brought here. I'll be your shield. Call me Morgana, my lady."

I thought maybe I'd get to see Deirde blush, but she had her same cool expression.

"You must love my child, and our children, as much as you love me. You're their father now. If that's not agreeable, we can never be together."

Our children!

Isn't that jumping the gun?

"Yes, my lady," Morgana gave a small bow.

"His name is Korrin."

"A beautiful name." He took the babe in his arms.

The baby, now about the size of a one year old, giggled and played with his hand.

"Just like that, huh?" I interrupted their moment.

I couldn't help but think of the guy as a real man, a man among men. He made it look so easy.

"Thank you for introducing me, Tayler. I think we'll be fine now."

I guess you really do know it when you see it.

"If you say so…"

Feeling like my company was now unwelcome, and also that they needed some alone time, I turned around and left.

7:00 PM.

It was basically dark out already.

The spooky October season was upon us.

I walked into the house.

Sophie and Jaz, Sophie's girlfriend, were definitely up to something on the couch.

I mean, they were blushing, looking suspicious and fidgeting.

"Go to your room if you're gonna make out."

They got up and waddled away down the hall.

I went to my room looking for Jade.

She was watching more cheesy sci-fi, I could tell by the sound effects alone.

"Hey, wanna go on a walk with me?"

"...I'd love to."

We both put on our coats and took our usual route to the park.

It was fairly typical for us to walk in silence, like we were now. There was something comforting about it to me.

It felt like we didn't need words, as if we could just feel each other's emotions.

When we got to the park, about a mile away from the house, I went to the streetlight lit baseball field this time.

The park lights stay on until 9:00 PM, even the ones for playing baseball.

Jade and I looked at each other, standing near the middle mound of one of the fields.

It was like we were communicating telepathically.

I could practically hear her say 'you've got something important to say, I know,' with those green eyes of hers.

We looked at each other for what felt like an eternity, searching for something in our gazes.

I walked up to her, pulling out the ring box from my jacket pocket and opened it to show her.

"I want to be with you forever."

She made a bittersweet smile, nodding decisively and covering her mouth with her hand.

Taking the ring out as she put out her hand, I slipped the green ring on.

It was the right size, miraculously. And that's what this felt like, a miracle. To have her…

"I'll always love you, Tayler."

"And I'll always love you, Jade."

We hugged there, at the park, for a long while.

- - - -

"I've been thinking a lot about my identity. Who I am," Jade explained to me, with her head on my chest.

We were lying in bed, the two of us wrapped up in the blanket.

"I think I'm non-binary… or maybe that's the direction I'm going for?"

I took a big drink of the water on my nightstand and looked at my alarm clock as I set it back down.

It read 11:00 PM.

"What's that mean? Non-binary."

"That you don't identify as either male or female, kinda of like being androgynous, but not quite…"

"That sounds fitting for you."

"Many would say I should pick being a man or a woman, even given the circumstances."

"Don't listen to other people, stuck in their ways—do whatever makes you happy, Jade."

"Easy to say."

"Harder to do, yeah. What would change?"

"Both very little, and a lot. For me it would be a massive difference, but for everyone else it wouldn't be much."

"You should do it even if it was a hassle and inconvenience, if only on principle. You have the right to be happy… by the way, do you want to keep wearing my boxers?"

"I bought some for myself today, actually. They're far more comfortable than lacy panties, at least when you're growing a penis..."

"I could imagine… What kind did you get?"

Jade threw the covers off herself and pulled down her pajama pants, showing me some black briefs. They were Calvin Klein.

"I realize now I've always felt uncomfortable as a woman. Even though I certainly have the distinctive body of one, I never wanted to be. But I don't feel like a man, either."

"Maybe you're neither—don't other cultures have more than two genders?"

I think I heard that somewhere...

"Yeah, but usually it's in a degrading way. I'm still sorting it out, but I think this is progress."

Brrrzzzt. Brrzzzt.

I picked up my phone.

It was Deirde.

"What's the problem?" I answered.

"Rude phone manners, Tayler. Don't you know you're supposed to say hello?"

"Hello, Debo."

"Everything in order, hold your giraffes. Here's Morgana."

Giraffes? You could hear the phone exchange hands—

"Tayler, can you hear me in there?"

I wanted to say I wasn't inside the phone, but held myself back.

"Yes, what's the problem, Morgana?"

"Do you know why I didn't fight back, when you punched me?"

What was he getting at… did he hold a grudge? "I couldn't fathom," I replied.

"It's because I can feel intentions, and yours were good. I understood you were going to help me, even if you did clock me."

"..."

That made a lot more sense, I was wondering how he could shoot explosives from his fingers, yet didn't fight with me at all.

"That Scarlet woman, she's definitely wicked. She had malicious thoughts the whole time, and killing intent. Especially when you called Deirde."

I was putting two and two together.

"You think she's an enemy, I take it?"

"No, make no mistake, she is an enemy. Stay away from her, for your own good. I've never been wrong about this."

His story made sense, in a way. If he really could feel intentions, which I wasn't doubting, this was valuable information.

He could sense the location of magic, why not sense intentions?

"Thank you for telling me. This will be helpful in the future."

"I cannot have my 'girlfriend's' benefactor die on me."

The phone rustled with another change of hands.

"Mr. Lovelace, I will be needing a plan b and condoms tomorrow. Ice cream would be appreciated, as long as its Ben and Jerry's. Understood?"

"Crystal clear. I'll make a trip in the morning."

Beeeplep.

She hung up. I put my phone back on the nightstand.

I ran a hand through Jades pitch black hair, the softness of which always seemed somehow artificially smooth.

"What're you thinking about?" I asked. "You're thinking so hard I can almost hear it."

"...If I want kids of my own, I think I really do now, after seeing Deirde give birth... And I'm thinking if I'll even be able to have kids if my genitals keep growing at the same pace."

"That's a lot of ifs! One is more than enough to worry about."

"I was thinking maybe I could take hormones to make my gender more neutral. It makes me happy just thinking about it… but then I might not be able to have kids."

Huh. This really was a complicated problem. After we helped deliver that baby, things have really changed… our values are different.

"If you can wait till you're a bit older… around when we're both twenty-two years old. Then we'll be in a better situation to tell. We can always be foster parents or adopt, too."

"We're too young for kids, I know. My gut says wait, but I feel… disgusted with my own body. A lot."

I kept stroking her hair. I didn't have an answer for that one.

So I said the only thing I could, and I knew it was true.

"No matter what decision you make, I'll support it."