In the end, we decided to return to my bedroom at Lavender’s house to give the ancients a chance to settle in. Iolathar was surprised when I explained to him that they were the only living beings on Luna.

I wasn’t sure if Shiv returned to Gaia or decided to spend the night at Lavender’s house. Kalli seemed perfectly content to have a sleepover, which always made me happy.

I probed my core as we sat together in bed. Her presence beside me informed me that Kalli was along for the ride. Do you think you can remove the poison somehow?

The problem was, no matter how much I poked and prodded the particles, they just dissipated and reformed out of reach. There was nothing to target. Nothing to delete. It was like my mana was the poison. The only saving grace seemed to be that my core was too resilient for it to do any damage.

Kalli shared my immunity but only because our cores were connected. I couldn’t do that for the rest of the universe, so the poison was effectively cutting me off from using mana to heal or awaken anybody else.

That alone wouldn’t have been bad. The problem was Orpheus and Scuawk. We had to save them. Unfortunately, I couldn’t think of anything and had to give up.

I can’t figure this out.

Kalli rested a hand on my arm. Do you want me to try what I did last time? What you taught me?

I blinked at her.

What is that?

She twirled a finger through my hair. You know, run my fire through your mana. It worked after you fought with Mrs. Shaw.

I had repressed that memory. The moments after I was nearly killed by the vampire were still a jumbled fog in my head. Kalli wasted no time running her hands lovingly up and down my arms.

Then I felt burning mana pouring into me. The sensation was warm and it tingled. My nose tickled as the spicy smell I associated with Kalli flooded my senses. Her mana pumped through my body in tune with her heartbeat.

I followed her progress and winced as she turned up the heat in an effort to eradicate the poison. She ended up pulling out of me completely when I yelped in pain. Wincing sympathetically, she touched my cheek. I’m so sorry. Did I hurt you?

I responded by leaning over and kissing her.

I love you. Did you know that?

She swooned in my arms. Maybe a little. I love you too.

Congratulations. You have reached level 29

“I love leveling up!” I said, my whole body twitching from the experience.

Kalli rolled her eyes as we tumbled into the dream with the exquisite feelings of a level up. “You know. I can make you feel that way too.”

“Is that a promise?” I asked hopefully.

She climbed on top of me and smiled, pinning me down. “You know we can’t do that in here. Lavender warned us. That doesn’t mean we can’t play though.”

She kissed me softly and I sighed. “You know, if there’s only one person I’m allowed to touch like this for the rest of my life, I’m happy that it’s you.”

Kalli smiled. “Me too.”

We spent the next several hours, or perhaps only a few minutes, making out. It’s hard to tell in a dream. When Kalli climbed off of me to catch her breath, I whispered, “I might have an idea about our poison.”

“What?” She panted.

“Well, it’s risky,” I admitted. “We can ask Mardella. She poisoned us after all. There should be something she can tell us about it.”

Kalli stared at me for a long time. “I don’t like that woman. She nearly killed you. She’s the reason you’re poisoned in the first place.”

I nodded while I listened. “Don’t forget she’s our prisoner. She can’t hurt us in there.”

Kalli raised an eyebrow at me. “Fine but I’m coming too.”

We tiptoed down the hall, not wanting to make our presence known to any of the other prisoners in the ring. Kalli and I looked at one another when we got to the end of the hall. Should we knock?

I shrugged. We had to let her know we were there somehow.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

A weak voice from the other side of the door grumbled. “Really? You knock on a cell door? What do you want?”

I swallowed before replying. “Tell us what poison you used.”

Mardella laughed before erupting into a fit of coughing. She chose not to answer our questions when she spoke. “Did you know that the spirit body doesn’t need food, drink, or toilet? The problem is the soul doesn’t realize this. It’s been torture. I’m starving and thirsty and I keep making messes in my cell. I don’t have the ability like you to make food out of thin air. I’ll tell you what, provide me with a meal and I’ll try to answer your questions.”

Kalli tugged my sleeve. You can’t go in there. It’s a trap.

I echoed her thoughts. “I can’t go in there. You’ll try to escape.”

“Without a body?” She asked in a sarcastic tone. “Not likely.”

“You’ll just steal one of our bodies.” Kalli barked back.

A cackle escaped Mardella’s lips. “Is that what happened to my body? Is some interloper off galavanting around in it? You promised you would do what you could for me but you never returned.”

Mardella sounded desperate. I repeated the question. “Can you help us with the poison?”

Her defiant voice replied. “Not until you do something for me. I believe it’s basic etiquette to provide at least bread and water to prisoners.”

I sighed, debating whether or not to risk going into the cell with Mardella. She hastily added, “Look, you don’t have to come in. Just put it through the window.”

It was true, there was a barred slit running along the top of the door. I stood on my tiptoes, attempting to peer into the darkness. What I saw made me feel sorry for the woman. Mardella was hunched in the corner on the far side of the tiny cell. There was no furniture of any kind. Just Madella and a pile of what appeared to be excrement in the other corner. Mardella, who had been watching me, looked away in shame when my eyes traveled to the poo.

DELETE

When it was gone, Mardella sensed it and cracked a small smile. “It’s a good thing there are no flies in this place. That would have driven me crazy. Can’t say as much about the smell. I never thought I could make myself sick but that was before you locked me in this place.”

Looking around the ground, it looked clean. A little too clean to be a traditional prison. There were no rocks or pebbles anywhere. There wasn’t even any dust.

I reached into the fanny pack and pulled out a handful of the pebbles that I kept for editing purposes. Dropping them through the slit, I waited patiently for Mardella to reply. She looked at the pebbles and muttered, “What are you doing?”

I replied. “Place those where you want me to put things. We can start with a meal and I’ll make you other things like a bed, and some kind of commode.”

“It will still overflow.” She grumbled. “Eventually…”

Sighing, I resigned myself to the inevitable. “I’ll come back every week to empty it for you.”

Mardella laughed. “Such an attentive warden. That poison must be getting to you.”

“Not us so much,” I admitted. “Some other innocent people were infected. You don’t want to kill innocent people, do you?”

She laughed again. It was a haughty laugh of contempt. “You know nothing about me. My people were slaughtered to the brink of extinction by your girlfriend’s relatives.”

My first thought was of Kalli. I took her hand in mine. While I could feel her shock at the accusation, she wasn’t letting it get to her. I spoke with a calm that I didn’t know I was capable of. “What are you trying to say? If you are playing games with me, I will never come back and you can drown in your own crap for all I care.”

Mardella seemed to realize I was serious when she replied. “Have you ever heard the story of why the Celesteans were banished from Luna?”

I had to rack my brain to remember the reasons the gods gave me. “They were sent to Gaia for tampering with forbidden technology and draining the planet’s mana.”

Even as I said that I realized they were banished for imprisoning the ancients. But what did that have to do with Mardella? Was she…?

She snickered, looking up at me. “That’s correct. In the distant past, her ancestors and mine lived in harmony in what was truly a paradise. All my life, I heard of the many crimes committed by the Celesteans. Unforgivable sins that were never truly repented for. The truth still lies on the green planet in the sky. You’ve been there. I know you’ve seen the evidence of what I say.”

Kalli gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. Melvin, she’s an ancient. At least, she’s one of their descendants.

Suddenly, something Mardella had to say was more important than the antidote. I found myself growing excited as I said, “You need to tell us everything you know about the ancients.”

It was Mardella’s turn to be shocked. “Who told you that name?”

I decided to be honest. “Iolathar did.”

Mardella frowned. “I don’t know who that is. Okay, make yourself comfortable. I will tell you an old bedtime story. Long ago, the Celesteans and the Ancients lived in peace on Luna. While life did exist on Gaia, they were mostly beast-men and half-breeds. We presided over them from the heavens and did what we could to make their primitive lives better. It was during that time that the Celesteans did the unthinkable. Over time, they became dissatisfied with our duality. We lived longer and were generally more powerful than they were. When the first of our kind disappeared, we turned to the Celesteans for help solving the mystery. It wasn’t until the end that it became obvious that we were betrayed. The last of us escaped to Gaia and hid for millennia among the beast tribes. The Celesteans followed. We thought for many generations that they migrated to pursue us but we eventually discovered that they could not return as well. It was only recently that we emerged from the ashes. Yet, I never wanted revenge. On the contrary, It was always my goal to return to the land of my ancestors. It is my birthright. Or at least it was before you stole my body.”

I almost felt sorry for Mardella. Until I reminded myself that she poisoned me while trying to plunge her sword through my heart. That and Stefanie. I couldn’t contain my emotions. “If you’re so innocent, why did you kill Stefanie? Why did you kidnap Wendy? Why did you try to kill me? Don’t even get me started on that accursed contract.”

“All a means to an end,” Mardella replied without a hint of remorse. “Everything I did was for my family. To get home. On Gaia, we are the darkness that lurks in the shadows. On Luna, we have a chance to change all of that. I doubt you will believe me but I had nothing to do with your friend’s death. As for your contract, I just needed your bloodline. As you have aptly demonstrated, you possess unique traits that allow you to come and go from Luna whenever you wish. Your blood could have solved all my problems. I’ll also have you know that I treated Wendy like family during her stay in Dabia. She wasn’t even kept under guard as you found out when you liberated her. Everything could have been handled peacefully. I was even willing to overlook the fact that you restored Celestea after I went to great lengths to destroy it. The final straw was when you corrupted my daughter. Thanks to you, I will never see a proper heir and our blood will die out.”

I sighed, momentarily stunned at Mardella’s twisted logic. What Kalli said next changed everything. “Mardella, the Ancients still live. They were just prisoners. We freed them all.”

For a moment, nothing happened. Then a whimpering voice spoke. “Fine. I’ll tell you about the poison. I’ll do anything. Just, please tell me more.”