"The Plans"

Wiltshire stood up "I'll let him in... perhaps we should gather in the privacy of the living room for this reunion?"

Maxwell nodded "Yes, let's..."

As they headed towards the house, Caliope looked around and noticed neither Vanessa nor Pronab were to be seen. She remembered the last time she saw them was in the living room, and the tension between both was ready to ignite. As she was thinking about them, her vision blurred and she stopped walking; Amra immediately stopped too and turned to see her. A few steps further the rest did the same.

"What is wrong love?" Amra's words echoed his worries.

She was staring down to the grass, eyes wide open, yet she was watching a scene that did not belong there. She looked up and found herself in the living room, and watched Pronab devouring Vanessa in intimate kisses and touches. She shivered and extended her hand. "Amra!"

"I am here love..." He grabbed her hand and stood still, he got immersed inside the living room as well, watching the same scene. He shook his head, uncomfortable of what they were seen, and tried to focus on what was happening.

Elaine gave a step towards them "What is wrong?"

"Let's stay here for now..." He managed to hold Caliope with his arms and closed his eyes. He focused on her only. She looked away from the scene and heard him speak into her mind. 'My love... thinking about them?'

'I was just wondering where they were... how can this be happening?'

'Your will love... remember I told you... your will...'

'This is too much for me, I don't want this powers... I am intruding their privacy without even their knowledge... I feel disgusted!'

'Relax... we are going to learn to control it... now let me help you... let me in...'

Maxwell spoke to Elaine "Something is telling me she is having another experience with her powers... I will go bring them here."

"Yes please, I beg you. Caly darling, can you hear me? Are you ok?"

Caliope closed her eyes and tried to focus, tried to understand what Amra was telling her. Her will was moving her powers; so that had to mean whatever she wanted it to happen, it would. And she wanted this to stop; she wanted all this confusion and isolation to finally stop. She opened her eyes again, still in the living room, and looked around. She could even hear Wiltshire walking towards the door. She gasped and screamed.

'No! Stop!'

But instead of her vision stopping, she saw Pronab turning around and searching for her. He was so serious and surprised, he had to have heard her. Vanessa was confused and he made a gesture at her to wait, he grabbed her shirt and passed it to her, who still confused, managed to put it back on. Seconds later, Wiltshire was opening the door and walking in with a tall man dressed in an old suit. Just then, Wiltshire greeted both of them and Maxwell arrived behind; he urged them all to follow him. As they started to head towards the outside, Caliope saw her vision blur and faint, becoming her real surrounding again. She looked directly into Elaine's eyes, and she smiled relieved.

"Darling! Are you back? Are you ok?"

Caliope nodded slowly and Amra started to let her go from his tight grip. He looked down at her caressing her face and trying to calm her down, as she was still breathing heavy and fast. Not long after, Maxwell was arriving, followed by Wiltshire, the suited man and Pronab with Vanessa.

"Here they are... Caliope, are you ok?" Maxwell looked at her with concern.

"I am... getting there... Gusion... that is who you are, right?"

"Greetings, everyone... and yes, that is who I am."

"It stopped now..." Amra said as he pulled her closer.

"What happened? Who did you went thru now baby?"

Caliope chuckled and shook her head, not wanting to see her friend directly in her eyes after what she witnessed.

"I... I didn't had to go through anyone..."

Maxwell was now curious "Then what happened?"

"It is... a little more complicated... I need to slow down... can we make the meeting here?

"Yes, yes... here, take a seat."

He pointed out to the chairs near them, pulling one for her, and everyone sat down after. Pronab remained quiet, he knew that whatever was happening, he was part of it involuntarily. He had heard her so clearly, he was surprised Vanessa didn't.

Maxwell proceeded "As you can see Gusion... this has become quite interesting for us... but she is confused, and isolating herself..."

"I heard about the ceremony... when I was told about her uniqueness I saw this happening in the plans..."

Caliope looked up and for the first time focused on the man "Plans? What do you mean?"

After a moment of silence, Wiltshire was the one who decided to explain "Each life in this universe has a... sketch of how their lives would be... how they will become someone, what they will be... just a sketch, constantly changing, adapting, and moving... he calls them plans..."

Amra spoke to her "The plans of life are meant to be seen only by the Oracles... and Gusion, one time ago..."

Amra was hostile towards him, a traitor under his eyes, who in other circumstances would be banned from their presence. He was trying hard to control himself, only because of the possibility of answers for Caliope. Gusion looked at Amra a little angry, but quickly changed into sadness. "It is such a shame that you above all have to judge me that way... you don't mind humans to have free will, but you punish me for choosing mine..."

"You had a privileged place with our Father, a place that most would die the final death just to be considered for..."

"There lays my burden... it was... too much for me..."

He lowered his eyes and sighed, and this time Amra held back, he felt the honesty in his words. Elaine took a deep breath and decided to interrupt. "Gusion, you are aware of her..."

Gusion nodded "Yes, when I heard about her uniqueness I went to the Oracles to see her plan... it was erased... Someone with extremely powerful abilities or influences had erased her plan, which means, she is drifting..."

Maxwell frowned "How is it that our enemies keep getting one or two steps ahead of us...?"

Wiltshire put an arm on his shoulder "Depends on how you see this, my fellow General..."

Caliope looked at Wiltshire. This was the first time he referred to Maxwell as a General directly, but he was also leaving clear he was one as well. Just then, Falshore arrived and leaned to whisper in Maxwell's ears. He nodded at him and made him wait quietly just behind him.

"Please, let us hear what you think my friend..."

"If there is nothing written in her plan, she can make her own..."

"How is there any chance of free will if we have 'plans' already written for our lives?" Caliope asked with evident confusion and frustration.

"It is not as you think, my dear... the plans are just general things, nothing specific... just some basic traits and possibilities... a sketch that shows what you could pick between options A and B..."

Gusion nodded at Elaine "It is a good forth sight tool to see your abilities and powers... your gifts... and how to control them..."

Maxwell finished "A guide... of some sort..."

"Oh great... so the only guide I had that could explain what is going on with me is suddenly erased... does that mean I am lost?"

"It means you have strong powers they are afraid of, and it means you truly have free will."

Caliope got lost in those last words, she remembered how in her encounter with God, he made reference to what side she could choose. He mentioned that most probably she would choose this side, but there was a chance she could end up pairing with them. She couldn't see the last happening easily, she was with Amra, and he was everything this side, the right side, the good side meant.

"They want to force you to side with them... they are trying to isolate you from everyone, to make you desperate, to drive you to insanity... so the only way you could find relief is by taking whatever solution they could offer..." Gusion interrupted her thoughts.

Amra shook his head "They will be disappointed... she is with me, I won't let her lose herself like that..."

"But what if she asks you to let her go? What if she asks you to leave her alone...?"

Amra held silent and looked at Caliope with a slight pain at this new possibility. When she realized this, she took his hand and squeezed it. "It won't be that easy... Amra and I are different... he is not like any of you... I can be with him with no fear..."

Maxwell nodded "Amra is made of a different kind of fabric Gusion... they connected in such way much before she became an Asteria..."

Elaine smiled "Amra shielded himself from any powers that could harm him, and this has helped him now, as they can touch without anything happening..."

"That is your advantage, and I am sure they do not know that... is what will tip the balance again to your side..."

"Why are you here? If you were supposed to be neutral, why did you came?

Gusion turned around and for the first time saw Pronab. Needless to say everyone else was looking at him too as well. He was there, sitting, his sight not parting from Gusion, his hand, however, was holding Vanessa's hand.

"I am here to help..."

'Can you hear me...?' Caliope tried to talk to Pronab in his mind, just as she did with Amra.

Pronab looked directly at her and nodded. Amra squeezed her hand as he expressed his discomfort at the situation.

Elaine smiled kindly "We appreciate you coming to aid us Gusion, and your insight is very revealing..."

'There is something strange in him... I can feel it... can you feel it too?'

'Yes... I don't trust him...'

Maxwell sighed "So what do we do now?"

Amra answered defensively "I am helping her, slowly, to learn how to control it... or control them..."

"Them?" Gusion asked confused.

"She has had more than one power revealed... so far, we count three different and specific abilities... very powerful ones..."

"Maybe I can help her..."

"How?" Elaine asked now very interested.

"I could try to make the connection... it won't be easy... I will have to dig deep inside her head and find that part of her that wills her powers out... when I find it, she will be able to access to it much more easily..."

Amra looked at him with caution, he felt extremely protective of Caliope in his presence, aside from not trusting him. "And how would you try this?"

"I need to get inside her head and read her..."

"No." Amra's voice was clear and simple.

Gusion lowered his head "It was just a suggestion..."

'Maybe...'

'No, my love... no one will enter your head... it's not safe...'

'But he doesn't know you are inside my head too... you can see what he does to me... I... I want to try...'

'Are you sure?'

'I want to try it... but not for the reasons you think... I feel something strange with him... Pronab feels it too... there is something... off... with him... and the only way to find out about this is by pretending to let him in...'

'If he is a traitor, I am going to punish him in ways he would never imagined...'

'Let's see what happens...' she sighed and looked at Gusion "I want to try..."

Gusion smiled slightly and nodded. Elaine was not convinced but she had to let her make her own choice. She watched Amra with curiosity as she saw him lean in the chair, then watched Pronab shift in his seat, changing his pose, aiming for a quick jump. She realized something else was about to happen.

"I need to put my hands on your head... I will press my forehead on yours, and I will ask you to relax... close your eyes... and let me in..."

"Ok... do you mind if I keep holding Amra's hand?"

"It would be better if you had no attachments to anyone, I could be pushed out by his strong powers before I even get in..."

"I see..." she nodded, slowly letting go of Amra's hand, but she spoke to him firmly 'This is not going to end well... he has bad intentions...'

'And you still want to continue with this? I can vanish him right now'

'Let me try this... you said I will my powers to happen... let me see if I can control this... please... trust me... if you see I can't handle it, you can save me...'

Amra nodded, he looked at Elaine as she was looking back at him questioning. She already felt unease and the tension was growing. Gusion walked closer and kneeled in front of Caliope. She nodded her head at him and held her breath, just as he lifted both hands and prepared to start.

"I take it that you are familiar to the dark void?"

Caliope looked at him surprised "Yes..."

"It will start in a similar way... so don't let that scare you... ok?"

Caliope nodded.

"Let's begin..."