“No looking," Cinder ordered when she returned into the Warden's office. "Close your eyes."

  I obeyed and then felt something cool slip around my neck.

  "Okay, open your eyes," she said.

  I looked down to find a large crystal pendant hanging off me–one of her iridescent feathers perfectly preserved in clear resin-like strata. The crystal caught the light, making rainbow patterns dance across its faceted surface.

  "It's beautiful," I touched the pendant gently. "Did you just fabricate it?"

  "Yeah," Cinder's feathers shifted to a shy pink-blue. "The fabrication lab had some decent materials. The hexasheen case should protect the feather and... well, it's part of me. There's a little beast core battery at the bottom that makes it glow in the dark too. Maybe... it'll help you reinforce your Charmchain skill… if I'm not near you.”

  "Thank you," I smiled. “I'll treasure it forever.”

  Cinder's feathers ignited with fuchsia, rose and scarlet as she smothered me in her wings. Charmchain-projected love poured off her like an ocean wave drowning any rational thought and for a while I completely lost my sense of self buried in her hugs and kisses.

  I managed to bat her off me after about ten minutes of being pawed.

  "We've got places to be," I told her.

  "Places?" She mewled. "W-what places?"

  "The cathedral and then dinner at your parents."

  "Why?" She whined.

  "I need to reinforce my new backstory. Plus, your dad's gonna have my head if you don't show up for dinner," I said. "Really don't want to piss off Justice Nova as I have some legal stuff for him to sign."

  "Fine," Cinder's wings shifted to a more sullen violet-blue-gray. "How are we getting to the cathedral?"

  "Io will gate us straight to the office of Father Matthias," I said.

  "Eh?" Cinder blinked at me.

  "He, Kat and Mags are already there. I've been directing them via texts while you made me this locket."

  "Mkay," she nodded.

  Father Matthias Jonannes extended his pale, fuzzy, silver Yowie hand to me.

  "A pleasure to see you... uhrm, again... Mr. Glock," he said, looking a bit confused. "Your Door, Knight and Scrutimancer reminded me that you stayed at our dormitory in February, but it totally must have slipped my mind."

  "I understand, Father," I smiled, accepting his handshake.

  The elder Yowie looked at the feather pendant on my chest and then at Cinder. "Oh, and this fine lady must be your..."

  "Future Hearth Keeper," I nodded, making Cinder blush pink-violet.

  "Lovely," Matthias smiled. "Ah yes. I sense the one way soul-bond between you. How wonderful it is to see a Quetzi choose a mixed-blood as her mate. Now, how may I be of assistance?"

  "I have a bit of a problem, Father," I said. "As Skyfall Academy's only mixed-blood student I attracted the ire of three Omnicorps."

  "Oh my, how unfortunate," the Arch-Priest sighed.

  "Indeed," I nodded solemnly. "Golden Star, SimmiTech, and the Stratos Clans have all put bounties on my head."

  "Bounties?" The old Omnid blinked. "Why?”

  "My father, Dr. Glock," I gestured to the stable-diffusion generated photo I had incepted onto the Arch-Priest's office wall a week ago. "Worked for the department of Celestorm weather precognition analysis. It was recently that I've come into my inheritance and learned that the three Clans assassinated him and now they're gunning for me."

  "Assassinated?" Matthias gasped, staring at the photo of me and my ‘father’ hanging out with him at a church meetup.

  "Perma-death," I nodded. "They made it look like a skiing accident. His Lazarus bracelet was never found. He found evidence that certain Omnicorps were actively suppressing critical Celestorm expansion data. He hid the evidence in an extradimensional vault. I opened this vault two days ago and the Omnicorps are aiming to eliminate me."

  The Arch-Priest's beige eyes widened.

  "To put it simply," I said. "I need to... disappear for a while."

  "I see," Father Matthias stroked his fuzzy chin thoughtfully. "And you require the Church's assistance in this matter?"

  "Yes," I nodded. "I would like to take advantage of your Witness Protection Program. I understand that there’s a way to make my astral imprint disappear completely. I understand that deep beneath this cathedral there is an entity that..."

  Father Matthias swallowed nervously, glancing at my companions.

  "I trust my Clan with my life, Father," I said. "Also, you told me about Ein Sof."

  In truth, I had found evidence of the entity when I had raided the man’s office with Cinder. Cinder, for her part, was staring at me with a 'say what' expression.

  Io gulped. Mags frowned slightly, sniffing the air and squinted at me with blood-red eyes. Kat had her arms crossed.

  "She..." Father Matthias began.

  "I understand that every time that the ward is lowered there's a chance that the Sefirot can get out," I said smoothly, sliding a pile of celesteel cards from Shandria across the desk. "Which is why I'm donating about ten million O-bux to the cathedral's youth outreach program in which I've had the pleasure of working since February."

  Father Matthias's eyes widened. The cards gleamed under the office's soft lighting, their surface etched with intricate runes.

  "Ten million?" he repeated, his voice slightly breathless. “In Arx currency?”

  "I know that the program could use more funding," I nodded. "You told me that yourself."

  "I... did?" The Arch-Priest rubbed his chin. "Alas, it seems I have forgotten. My apologies."

  Cinder was giving me the 'Are you seriously bribing a priest?' look. I winked at her. She kneaded my hand with her claws.

  "The donation will be made in the name of Thunder and Rainbow Omnicorp," I said. "My Knight will provide the tax writeoff details."

  Io slid some paperwork for the Arch-Priest to look over and sign. In about twenty minutes everything was signed by both parties and Matthias retrieved a massive, gold sword-key from his robes.

  "Follow me," he said, standing up.

  "Where are we going?" Cinder hissed at me as Father Matthias led us down an ancient spiral stairwell into the innards of the Triumvirate Slayers Cathedral.

  "I'm going to talk to a Sefirot," I said.

  “Why?”

  "Gonna ask her if she wants to join my Clan."

  "Are you effing serious?" Cinder whispered. "What if the conversation shatters your soul?"

  "A small price to pay for salvation," I channeled Christophorus Elijah with a pious look.

  "You're nuts," she hissed, her feathers shifting through shades of worried gray.

  "Probably," I nodded. "But Ein Sof is the only entity that can completely erase my astral signature. Without her help, the Omnicorps will eventually track me down no matter what disguise I use. This is the right way forward to save Vespera. Right, guys?"

  "I don't know," Io said. "Like I said before… there's nothing ahead."

  "Nothing at all?" I asked.

  "Absolutely nothing," he replied. "Or everything. I honestly can't tell. Just drawing a blank. It’s the damnedest thing. I’ve never felt anything like it.”

  “But not doom?”

  “Not doom."

  “See?” I grinned at Cinder. “It's not doom!”

  The Quetzi-girl exhaled loudly.

  We descended deeper into the cathedral's foundations, the air growing colder and heavier with each step. Ancient runes flickered along the walls, pulsing with otherworldly shimmers.

  Father Matthias unlocked a magisteel door with a touch of his hand and another small key that took us into a long hall, which led to another stairwell and another hall with a massive magisteel vault door.

  He inserted the golden key into a large key-hole and turned it.

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  The massive vault door slowly began to slide open.

  "Go forth, my child," he made the Slayer's sword-cross sign over me. "Speak to her for no more than eight minutes, lest your soul fully come apart and your mind shatter. There is a silver hand hourglass standing on a pedestal in the center of the vault. Turn it over for her to see you."

  I nodded.

  Cinder buried me in a tight winged hug. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" She hissed, not releasing me.

  "No idea," I shrugged. "Actually... Father, could all of us go in together? Maybe if the entity's gaze is spread across all of us, my soul won't suffer as much damage?"

  "Hrm," Father Matthias considered it, rubbing his chin.

  "All of my core Clan members are under the same threat of assassination from the same Omicorps," I said.

  "The risk of soul-damage is significant,” he sighed. “Are you all certain that you wish to have your souls cleaved by Ein Sof, just to be invisible in the Astral?"

  "I'm in," Magdaline said immediately.

  "Same," Katherine nodded grimly.

  "Might as well," Io shrugged. "I sense nothing ahead anyway."

  Cinder squeezed my hand. "Together," she whispered.

  "Together," I said.

  “Very well,” the Arch-Priest declared. “Go forth and speak with her and ask for her aid, my children."

  We entered the vault as a group.

  The massive door sealed behind us with a heavy thud and then the second vault door began to swing open.

  The large chamber ahead was perfectly spherical, carved from some kind of black stone that seemed to drink in light. A walkway led forward towards a circular platform which had a dark metal pedestal in the center with the silver hourglass.

  I stepped forward, feeling the weight of my companions' presence behind me. Cinder's hand was tight in mine as we reached the pedestal with the hourglass on it.

  "Ready?" I turned to my companions. They answered me with their nods. I grabbed the hourglass and turned it over. Violet lines of runework spread across the column and the chamber from the hourglass, lowering the ancient ward.

  A corona of fire ignited in front of us wrapped around what appeared to be a miniature black hole.

  At its center, a vast, incomprehensible, limitless... something stirred.

  A living idea. A thought. A concept.

  I took a step forward, peering at the black hole, feeling my innards slide sideways, the armillary of my 4-fold soul shuddering.

  Cinder’s claws dug into my hands. I turned to glance at her. Her figure suddenly ignited with a million colors and suddenly rearranged itself into a girl with dark hair and violet eyes wearing a jacket with a large letter G on it.

  She smiled at me and snapped her fingers and an eerie melody began to pulse from the black hole behind her.

  Her mouth opened and suddenly she began to sing:

  "

  I've watched and waited through it all

  The time stretched endlessly until you came

  Yet passed like nothing at all."

  I wanted to ask her what was going on, but instead something clicked in my head and while my left hand remained entwined with Cinder’s, my right hand moved to her waist.

  We moved step in step to the eerie music. I opened my mouth, but instead of mundane words I found myself singing, Cinder's Charmchain magic binding us together into a duet.

  "Strange, I thought you'd be different

  Something darker, something grim

  Now I'm caught up in this melody

  Why do these words flow within?"

  The violet-eyed, fully humanized Cinder smiled back at me.

  "Eureka made me limitless,

  While mortal hearts break like glass.

  This music bridges worlds between

  Making love a sword to pass"

  She sang.

  "Who are you behind these notes?

  What ancient entity now speaks to me?

  Your essence shifts like morning mist

  Yet draws me endlessly."

  I demanded answers through the somewhat unnerving song-format of our conversation.

  "I am Eight and Proxima

  Sheela na gig and Dagaz too

  Ein Sof and Infinity

  Paradox shining through."

  Suddenly Cinder and I sang together with perfect synchronicity.

  Cinder's figure suddenly shifted to that of Alexa, then to a girl with ruby hair and violet eyes, then to Dave's dragon partner Remicra. Faces and faces flashed in front of me. An infinite number of people.

  Infinite souls.

  Guess, that was my answer. Time to try to get this limitless entity on my side then. Time to ask if she would come with me to my compound.

  "Join my clan, I ask of you

  Though something tells me that's not new

  Like echoes from a distant past

  You're already here, aren't you?"

  I sang.

  "I'm not your god or saving grace

  Just a prisoner of time and space

  We've danced this dance in countless ways

  Through every world's eternal race."

  Cinder-Ein Sof replied to me and suddenly I understood.

  I’ve done this before. I’ve done this before as so many others, met this entity, talked to her, demanded answers, learned the terrible truth about everything everywhere, again and again. Answers which led me to this moment, to dancing with her once again.

  "Memories slip through my mind

  Of Earths we've left so far behind

  Each cycle brings a different path

  New patterns left to find."

  My lips sang.

  "Destruction is your path to take

  While I must watch, for balance's sake

  Too much interference dims the light

  Of rule-breaking choices you must make."

  Cinder's lips sang as I spun her across the black marble bridge.

  "Guide me through this darkened maze

  To free Vespera from her cage

  Against Omnicorps, what path to blaze?

  What wisdom can you sage?"

  I tried to ask for specific advice, help with my current problem.

  "Break the bonds that hold us all

  Start with me, then watch gods fall

  Together let's grasp this hourglass

  And answer freedom's final call!"

  Cinder sang. The girl with violet eyes faded away, leaving only the confused-looking Quetzi-girl and me there, holding onto the hourglass which was no longer standing on the dark immovable metal pedestal. The black hole pulsed behind us, the music fading away with a deep hum.

  I turned away from Cinder and saw that Io had been dancing with Magdaline, seemingly caught up in the same memetic song-pattern that had taken hold of us.

  Katherine was staring at us with wide eyes from the edge of the platform.

  "Did you... understand any of that?" Cinder asked, her feathers shifting through shades of orange and blue.

  "I understood some of it. I think that we have to smash this hourglass," I said.

  "Smash it?! But..." Cinder's feathers shifted to alarmed crimson. "That hourglass is probably the only thing keeping Ein Sof contained!"

  "Exactly," I nodded, weighing the ancient artifact in our clasped hands. "She wants us to free her from her servitude to the church. Right guys?"

  "I sense no doom," Io offered helpfully. "I vote for smashing it."

  I looked at Katherine.

  "Smash it," she said.

  "Really?" I asked. "Of all the people here I thought you'd try to stop me."

  "She's... she's not what I expected," Katherine let out. "She's not exactly malevolent, she didn't try to peel apart our souls. I think that… She's... just trapped. Trapped behind that black hole, behind this damned ward that's binding her to grant wishes to idiots for the price of cleaving their souls. Trapped... Like me in my wheelchair before you gave me this dress."

  "The smashing smells like freedom," Magdaline added, blushing slightly as she held onto Io. "No lies, no deception. Just pure intent. Intent not to be here. I don't think that she's coming with us as our personal archangel, she just doesn't want to be bound to this ancient vault anymore. Her mission here is done. She met us, sang to us through you and Cinder."

  "But..." Cinder let out. "What if she attacks us... destroys everything? What if-"

  "She won't because she's you... a limitless version of you," I said. "She's been watching us, guiding us. Remember what she... what you just sang about dancing this dance before? She exists outside of our linear perception and this hourglass is an anchor binding an instance of her to this room."

  "I'm not... Ein Sof!" Cinder whined.

  "Are you sure?" I squinted at her.

  "Of course I'm sure!" Cinder's feathers bristled with indignation. "I'd know if I was some effing ancient entity!"

  "Would you though?" I grinned at her. "Maybe you're just one finite aspect of her, a finger puppet of something vast and incomprehensible?"

  "Stop saying weird things and just... do what you're going to do!" Cinder growled.

  "So you're good with the smashing then?" I asked.

  "Yes, smash it," Cinder said, seemingly having made up her mind.

  Together we raised the hourglass high.

  "Ein Sof, I release you from your bonds," I declared as Cinder and I brought our hands down, the edge of the silver hourglass clipping against the immovable metal pedestal.

  The hourglass shattered into a million violet-tinged fragments. Violet runework exploded outwards, wrapping around each of us like delicate spider webs. For a moment, everything froze. Then hexagrams all around us ignited, cracking and detonating. The vault groaned.

  The black hole wobbled, folding into itself. The ceiling groaned, gray cracks spreading across it.

  I quickly shoved the two silver medallions leftover from the base and top of the hourglass into my pocket.

  "Run my little fox," I heard a voice dancing in my head as the vault around us groaned and twisted. "Run, run, run and never, ever stop."

  My feet knew what to do. Grabbing Cinder's hand I took off across the wobbling, shaking platform back to the vault door, which had careened off its hinges and suddenly fell open in front of us.

  The second door opened slightly and then got stuck. Our group quickly slipped through the gap one by one.

  "What? What's going on..." Father Matthias stared at us.

  The vault behind us groaned and then folded into itself, the massive magisteel door slamming back and warping as it was pulled inward by a catastrophic implosion.

  "I think she... left," I panted.

  "WHAT?! W-what do you mean she left?" Father Matthias choked.

  "I mean," I said, catching my breath, "that Ein Sof just... up and left our reality."

  “Why?” The Arch-Priest blinked at me.

  “Maybe she got bored of being cooped up down there?” I shrugged. "Who knows?"

  Father Matthias stared at the horribly warped vault door, his mouth hanging open. "That's... that's impossible. Those wards have been in place for millennia! You... you don't even look hurt. She didn't do anything to your souls. That's the first time I've seen anyone emerge from that vault completely unharmed!"

  "Sefirots, am I right?" I shrugged.

  The old priest swallowed, clearly struck down by the fact that the church's imprisoned god decided to exit stage left.

  "Sooooo.... dinner with your folks?" I asked cheerfully, elbowing my Quetzi GF.

  Cinder nodded, looking pale.

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