The Academy Of Space And Time

Where I am astride between two worlds

We exchanged glances. We really were. Perhaps it was better to sit out our meeting with Jake --- he couldn't spy on us in another dimension, and take all the help we could get.

At first I wanted to make conversation with the two women, but I was starting to get anxious. However, we thanked Annika and Karine from deep in our hearts for the ampoules they gave us.

Being back at Vitaly's house was like a dream come true --- in more than one sense. During the weeks I'd spent at the Academy, I often dreamed I was back with Vitaly and Brady and we completed the quest.

"Does it have to be today?" I asked Vitaly. I wasn't going to pressure him, but it was the only thing I could say without blurting out the truth about Jake.

"Today might already be too late," Vitaly said. "The sooner the better. I think it will be fitting, if it's you, Ryan, who draws the magic circle in the Stars Room. After all, you're the one who wrecked the ceiling last time."

I took a white piece of chalk and drew the circle like Vitaly explained. Sadly I wasn't the best at drawing geometric figures, but the result was not too bad. It closely resembled a circle, and it was nine feet wide.

Vitaly opened up a book and showed me some symbols. "Draw those symbols here, from number one to number nine," he said. "In the same position as the stars you see on the ceiling."

Well, that was one mystery solved. Now we finally knew what the Stars Room was for. It surprised me that we had one at the Academy, too. Perhaps many years ago, people had space-shifted there. Mabe even Vitaly and Samuel themselves.

"I knew you were non-binary, because Jophiel was genderless," Edgar told Vitaly. "But I never asked you for your pronouns."

"I use he, but they as well."

Everything was prepared for the quest. We were wearing some of the best clothes we had at the Academy and we packed others. We had food and drinks, though Vitaly insisted that we could probably find ways to eat and quench our thirst even in the other worlds. Brady, however, was not convinced, for he said that other worlds tended to be uncharted territory.

"We will tell you a few more things," Brady started out. "First, your ability to create portals will be required, Edgar!"

"Is there going to be water? I want to make myself useful," Raegan said. I wondered when my turn was going to come.

"There surely will be water. As for a portal, it would help you get anywhere in this world, right?" Brady continued. "It works for other worlds too. Not in the sense it gets you between worlds — only space-shifting does that. But in the sense it can get you from one place to another even in a different reality."

"That's good, we might need that," Jeff muttered.

"And I did want to tell you something else about the future," Vitaly said, looking into my eyes. "Since I know the most curious out of you cannot fathom how you can both live in a world where we cannot tell the future, and in a world where there were such a thing as prophecies"

Edgar held up his hand like a nosy student. "You said it yourself that there are rules the destiny follows and quests represent cyclical phases of tropes and..."

"Yes and no," Vitaly cut him off. "You're of course, mostly right. But there is actually an old story, about the gods, and I'd like to tell it to you."

"You told me before that one couldn't see the future," I told Brady.

"This story is a prequel to the Empty Mirror," Vitaly continued. "It's called The Two Faced Prophecy.

Before Asclepius found out about the Empty Mirror, Tyr began to grow suspicious of his brother Set, whom he thought would one day kill him. He travelled and found, at last, a reality where someone could tell the future. The name of this person was Avos and she wasn't happy to help the god. However, despite her fears, Tyr showed her how his powers helped balance the world. His power was justice, not goodness, but it was close enough in that time and age.