~2,317 years ter~

  The circle was finally complete.

  It hovered in the sky like a second sun. Massive, complex, and pulsing with power. Endless lines of delicate script spiraled inward like a gaxy, with each rune pced exactly where it needed to be. It looked almost alive, glowing with a faint light that shifted through every color at once, as if it couldn’t decide which world it wanted to be.

  Emma was probably the most magically proficient individual in the world. This doesn't equate to strength or power, just the ability to solve equations using mana. Achieving something of this scale and accuracy would have taken any other third-rate mage millions of years to complete.

  Ava stood at the edge of it, arms crossed, a satisfied smirk pying on her lips. "Damn," she breathed, "I thought it’d take longer."

  Emma stood beside her, eyes locked on the finished product, a bit of pride bubbling in her chest. "We only got this far because you finally stopped skipping books."

  "I didn’t skip books," Ava said, grinning. "I just read the summaries."

  Emma didn’t even look at her. "And I cross-checked every summary with the full text. You’re welcome."

  A beat passed. Ava snickered. "Yeah, well, now we’ve got a portal to anywhere. That’s cool as hell."

  Ava’s gaze lingered on the circle for just a second.

  Without warning, she stepped closer to Emma and gently bumped her shoulder into hers. "Hey."

  Emma gnced over, one brow raised. "Hm?"

  Ava didn’t say anything right away. She just looked at her like she was taking in every little detail. It was really like looking in a mirror. The blue glow from the circle made Emma's eyes glimmer faintly.

  Ava stepped in front of her, closer now. "You know," she said slowly, "if this thing works, we might not be coming back. Like, ever."

  Emma’s smile wavered slightly. "I know."

  Ava leaned in slightly, her voice quiet and almost teasing. "You scared?"

  Emma gave a tiny shake of her head. "Not really. You?".

  Ava didn’t answer. Instead, she slipped a hand behind Emma’s neck and pulled her forward, pressing their foreheads together.

  Emma froze, caught off guard.

  Ava’s voice dropped to a whisper. "Would you believe me if I said yeah?"

  Emma didn’t move. "Of course not."

  Then Ava tilted her head slightly, nose brushing hers.

  A pause.

  And then Ava kissed her. She kissed her like she'd been holding it in for centuries. Lips pressing hard against lips, hungry and rough.

  Emma’s hands instinctively came up to push her back, but Ava caught them and pinned them to her sides. "Ava-" Emma breathed, but Ava was already moving. She pressed closer, her body flush against hers, one thigh slipping between Emma’s legs with just enough pressure to earn a gasp.

  Emma’s breath hitched. Her thoughts were a jumbled mess, barely holding together. She wasn’t used to Ava being like this. So incredibly hot

  "Say stop," Ava murmured against her mouth.

  Emma didn't.

  Ava grinned and kissed her harder this time. One hand went to the back of Emma’s neck, fingers tangling in her hair, while the other found her waist and yanked her forward. Their hips bumped. Emma’s breath caught again, and her knees about buckled.

  Ava’s weight pressed into Emma, their breaths short and ragged between kisses.

  Emma stumbled back a step, and then another until she lost her bance and Ava fell with her, catching the descent with a quiet grunt as they plopped onto the soft clouds. They hit the cushion with a thud, their tangled limbs and warm skin intertwined. Emma’s hair fanned around her like a halo. Ava hovered over her, propped up on her elbows, and she wasn't smiling.

  She looked wild.

  An orgasm ter, Emma y there catching her breath while Ava hyped herself up to jump through this portal. As soon as Emma got herself together, that is.

  The twins stood in front of the circle once again, and this time they were ready to activate it. "Let's do it. I'm ready," Ava said while bouncing on the balls of her feet like a boxer warming up for a fight.

  Emma closed her eyes and lifted her hands toward the circle. The wind began to pick up, even above the clouds. However, it was not a natural wind. It was thick waves of mana rolling across the world like heat off metal. The circle overhead responded to Emma’s presence like a living thing as she made motions with her hands that Ava didn't understand the point of.

  The moment she fed mana into the circle, it woke up.

  It began to spin.

  Initially, a gentle rotation slowly disturbed the clouds around it. Then it moved faster and faster. The colors threading through it deepened: reds, blues, silvers, and golds all twisted into one another. The pressure in the sky doubled, then tripled. The clouds thinned and evaporated. The air crackled with static.

  Ava stepped back instinctively, squinting against the brightness. "Emma?"

  Emma didn’t answer. Her focus was absolute. Her hands moved faster now, calling out the final sequences. Runes began breaking away from the main circle and floating around them, forming smaller satellite glyphs like moons orbiting a star.

  The circle pulsed once, and then it let out a scream.

  A blinding shaft of light shot down from its center, striking all the way to the ground. The earth shook, clouds split open, and the entirety of the sky turned white.

  Mountains in the distance cracked in half. Oceans boiled at the edges. The very crust of the pnet whined as mana surged across its surface like a tidal wave.

  Ava could barely stay on her feet. "Emma, what the hell did you put in this thing!?"

  Emma’s sapphire eyes glowed with power, and her hair whipped around as if she were caught in a storm. "Everything," she said. "All of it."

  The circle fred brighter than the sun, and then the ground beneath them vanished. The world folded in on itself. There was no explosion or anything visually stunning- just an absence of everything.

  The entire realm they stood on colpsed into a single point of light and blinked out of existence, swallowed by the overwhelmingly powerful magic. And in the empty void it left behind, two threads of red and blue light twisted upward, and into a new life.

  The warmth was the first thing Ava noticed. It was a soft and comforting one. It cradled her from every angle like she was floating in a warm pool beneath thick bnkets. Her thoughts were fuzzy and slow to connect at first, but they did eventually.

  'Emma?' she projected, reaching through that invisible link between them.

  'Present,' came the sleepy reply. '...We're here, huh?'

  'Yeah,' Ava said. 'But, uh… we’re babies. Again. Inside someone.'

  'That’s kind of awesome,' Emma replied, surprisingly unfazed.

  'Right?' Ava ughed in her head. 'Another life, and we even get a comfy reset. Though I kind of miss stretching.'

  They floated in that peaceful quiet for a bit, listening to the heartbeat of their mother.

  'So,' Emma said, 'any clue where we nded?'

  'Nope. You’re the scanner.'

  'Can't scan. Space is basically a whisper right now.'

  'Aw, is Emmy powerless?' Ava teased.

  'You're literally also a fetus.'

  They both "ughed" in the way only thoughts could ripple between souls who had spent thousands of years together.

  The mother sat on the edge of the bed, her hands gently resting on her swollen belly, humming softly as the afternoon light spilled through the apartment window. Her back ached a little, but she didn't mind. Not really. Every kick, every shift, and every flutter inside her reminded her that her babies were growing strong.

  "Mommy!" a small voice piped up, feet spping against the wood floor as her five-year-old son came rushing into the room. "Can I talk to them again?"

  She smiled warmly, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "Of course you can, sweetie. Come here."

  He climbed onto the bed and pressed his ear against her belly. "Hi," he whispered, cupping a small hand against the side. "I’m your big brother. I’m gonna show you all my toys when you come out. Even the robot one I broke. I fixed it. Kinda."

  The mother ughed softly, running her fingers through his dark hair. "They’ll love that," she said. "You’re going to be such a good big brother."

  "Are they moving?" he asked, eyes filled with curiosity.

  She nodded. "A little. They always wiggle around when they hear your voice."

  The boy's smile stretched ear to ear as he leaned in close again. "You hear that? That means you like me already!"

  Regrettably, this wasn't accurate. Ava had no fondness for the boy and hoped he would stop talking. This is why she kicked and squirmed whenever he arrived and rambled on aimlessly. Emma, who wanted Ava to cease this behavior in their shared space, would also squirm in an attempt to counter Ava. A simple misconception, really.

  Her husband appeared in the doorway, a cup of tea in one hand and a towel draped over his shoulder. "How are they today?" he asked, walking over and pressing a soft kiss to her forehead.

  "Lively," she said with a fond sigh. "They’re going to be adorable. I can feel it."

  "Just like you," he said as he knelt beside the bed, setting the tea down on the nightstand. "I still can’t believe it’s twins."

  She ughed. "Neither can I."

  The weeks drifted by, and with each passing one, the household became more spirited as they anticipated the arrival of the two sisters.

  The mother's name was Rachel Morgan, a warm-hearted woman in her early thirties who had always dreamed of a big family. She worked part-time from home as a graphic designer and had a soft spot for warm tea, thrifted baby clothes, and indie folk music. Her husband, Daniel, was a high school science teacher with a goofy sense of humor that had won Rachel over during their college days. Together, they created a cozy home in a modest suburban neighborhood just outside of Portnd, Oregon.

  Their five-year-old son, Ethan, was the soul of the household. His room was filled with crayon-drawn maps of imaginary isnds, plush dinosaurs, and a robot nightlight that flickered whenever it rained. He was overjoyed at the idea of becoming a big brother, even if the concept of twins had originally confused him.

  "Wait... so that means two babies come out at the same time?" he had asked, eyes wide.

  "Pretty much," Daniel replied, ruffling his hair.

  "But how did they even get there?"

  Daniel's face tightened. "Not too sure myself, bud."

  "Aww man, but I thought you were a teacher!" Ethan groaned dramatically, flopping backward onto the couch like his world had just shattered.

  Rachel ughed from the kitchen. "He teaches chemistry, sweetheart. Not baby science."

  "Still counts!" Ethan called back.

  Daniel leaned over and whispered, "It’s cssified information. Only moms and aliens know."

  Ethan narrowed his eyes suspiciously, like that idea made way too much sense. "I knew it."

  As the pregnancy progressed, the house buzzed on. Ethan kept a stack of children’s books next to Rachel’s bed, determined to "read" bedtime stories to the twins even if he hadn’t quite figured out how to read all the words yet.

  And inside the womb, Ava groaned. ‘I swear, if he tells that frog story one more time-’

  ‘You need to calm down,’ Emma replied, her tone the telepathic version of sipping tea.

  ‘He doesn’t even know how frogs jump. He just fils his arms and says, "like this." It’s not even accurate!’

  ‘He’s five.’

  Emma sighed, but there was amusement mixed with her exasperation. Ava could be dramatic, but at least she wasn’t boring.

  Outside their private little world, the Morgans continued to build a life for the two of them. One painted in soft nursery pastels and cluttered with baby books, stuffed animals, and too many bottles for Daniel to figure out which ones actually worked. Rachel developed a strange craving for honey mustard and gummy bears, while Daniel developed a talent for pretending it was perfectly normal.

  "Don’t judge me," Rachel mumbled one evening, dipping a gummy bear into a tiny cup of mustard.

  "I would never," Daniel said solemnly. "But it's nasty."

  The days blurred together, and then finally, after one very long, very emotional bor along with a few unexpected complications that left Rachel exhausted, it happened.

  They were here.