The Academy Of Space And Time

Where I hear of how everything changes, again

I could barely recover from the blow, that the room around us changed. I couldn't see anymore... I couldn't breathe... and then I realised Set was trying to drown me in a whirlwind of sand. I tried  to use my own power over the wind to break free, but I could barely move my hands... much less think.

Set must have seen it, and wanted to stop me, because my head started hurting like crazy. Somehow, he'd hit me. I think it was magically.

I tried to concentrate on something, anything. For some reason I thought about my friends telling me that I could do it, I could defeat Set, about Vitaly who made a sacrifice I didn't think I would have had it in me to make... about Edgar telling me that he trusted me.

I tried to reach my powers. Everyone always told me I was very powerful... uncontrollable. Well, I didn't want to be in control at the moment.

I unleashed as much magic as I could muster, and freed myself from the sand. A gust of wind as forceful as a little hurricane hit Set right in his chest, and I sent the god flying and landing with his back on one of the stones.

"Wait," Set rasped. "I wasn't lying before. You don't know anything yet. Vitaly did try to tell you everything, but he couldn't. He couldn't. He swore an oath of secrecy to me. I am not a god... Well, I wasn't always a god. I am an Enchanter too, very much like you!"

I laughed maniacally. The whole thing was so insane, it was somehow funny to me.

To my surprise, Set laughed too. And maybe I was seeing things, when I was hit on the head, because I'd just noticed something.

It was hard to see beneath his Typhon exterior, but Set laughed a lot like I did. And even though I looked a lot more like Vitaly Malinov, Set looked a little like me too.

"Oh, look at you!" he exclaimed. "The perfect mix of myself and Vitaly Malinov. I had my doubts about it for a while, you know. Brooke and Nathan's son, I thought, could very well grow up to look like that."

"I don't understand. Am I Nathan's son?" I asked.

"My brother tried to keep your birth a secret for a while, because he couldn't marry your mother. And then, you disappeared. Everyone who knew about you thought I had killed you. I knew I didn't, but I had no idea where you were."

"Your... your brother?"

I was starting to feel nauseous.

"You're Samuel Winter?"

"Now that you know, do you still want to kill me, Patrick Matthew Winter?"

I was too shocked to think. Of course, Vitaly had tried to give us clues... Samuel was a Typhon and the leader of the Reapers. This was true. But he'd never died. He became a god. And this was why Vitaly worked on the council. Brady had told us the two had never abandoned each other. Vitly had warned me that I might hate him when I found out the whole truth.

"You... you killed Jeff's mother!" was all that I could say.

"Being a god drives you crazy," he said. "Didn't you hear it before? Take your time. It's quite a lot to take in. Are you angry? It's my fault your dad died... the foolish quest was my idea. And Jeff might be my own son --- I wonder if he'll hate you when you tell him the truth --- but you are my nephew after all. And who can you trust now? Vitaly Malinov? Me? Mr Winter? So many people are involved in this... so many people knew."

It was true. I was confused. But I knew my uncle would kill me if I hesitated.

I needed a plan, and I needed it as soon as possible.

I tried to mask my thoughts. I didn't want him to know how much this made me feel weak and defeated.

Set cast a spell that could kill me — but I was prepared. I shielded myself again.

And finally, I had a plan.

I took a piece of the Empty Mirror from the pocket of my military jacket.

"I did manage to complete the quest," I said. "I'm at the gods' council, and I am bringing you the very thing you wanted."

Set looked frightened. I wondered what it was that scared him. I didn't think the Empty Mirror could still suck out part of his powers.

I cast a spell towards Set. He prepared to cast one at me.

It's now or never, I thought, one of us gets to live and the other dies. I just had to be faster than he was.

It wasn't the Mudra for killing people. It was one of the basic Mudras, one of those my friends learned as children and Ohda had taught to me one of the first days. To make objects bigger.

The piece of glass from the Mirror became as big as the blade of an axe. I doubted I could wield it without hurting my fingers, but I had to try.

The best thing about my plan was the element of surprise. Set stopped whatever spell he was itching to do, to look at me. I calculated that I had about five seconds, and I wanted to use them right.

I used the air around me to propel me in Set's direction. It wasn't like flying, but it was better than jumping. I could never have covered the distance, and I was never coordinated.

When I landed next to the god, I could have thought about many things. How Vitaly, or possibly even Jeff, wouldn't want me to kill him. How I didn't want to kill him. But it was now or never --- I'd wasted too much time, I'd never get another chance again.

Besides, I had no idea if my plan was going to kill a god or just incapacitate him.

I swung, and severed Set's head from his neck. When I landed on the ground again, I couldn't even look at it. I feared I was going to throw up. My fingers were completely red from both my blood and Set's blood. My head was exploding from the pain of the previous concussion.

I was hyperventilating. I didn't even notice how much time had passed. I just knew that at some point my friends found me, knelting on the ground, Set behind me. Killed, destroyed, maybe forever. And I was pretty sure I was covered in both his and my blood.

"You made it," Edgar commented softly. "I never thought it possible."

"Didn't you trust me beyond belief?"

Edgar arched an eyebrow. "Then it makes sense. I'm never wrong."

Brady was there, too. "Vitaly is free from his oath, now. There is something I have to tell you," he added. "Ryan already knows it. Jeff, Set is your father."

"Are you joking?" Jeff cried out in pain. He looked at the corpse of the god, his head still severed.

"I wish I was. He's always been the leader of the Reapers. They never betrayed him. I will explain everything to you fully when we get home, you need to sit down to hear the whole story," Brady said apologetically.

I realised I'd been so out of my mind I hadn't even asked if Vitaly was alive. And he probably was --- otherwise someone would have told me.

"I killed him," I could only say. "Jeff, I killed your father. My uncle."

"Wait... we're cousins?" Jeff asked.

Brady looked at me. "You did the right thing. Set is not dead --- this is not how gods die. He will find a way to stitch his body again, but it will take some time."

"Perhaps," he added. "We will have time to come up with plans by that time. But for now, you have to come back to the Academy. Vitaly and I are staying there, and there's someone we'd like for you to meet."