3.0

Content warnings: communication with alternate self, bordering on possession. This is not mean to be an accurate depiction of DID (see disclaimer here).

~.~

Ilia woke with a gasp, clutching her chest. For a second, as she gaped at the dim rainbow walls, she thought she was in Dimension X, and she almost bolted out of bed. Then recognition settled in, and she relaxed a little. The pocket dimension was not Ilia’s favorite place on the planet, but it was worlds better than Dimension X.

Ilia shifted experimentally in bed, then winced as the movement elicited a wave of pain through her whole body. She could still feel the agony of having her soul destabilized in Dimension X—whatever attack The Necromancer had used on The Ennead had also hit her. It had felt like her soul was being rended from her body. At the time, Ilia had been sure she was going to die, but then a familiar hand had pieced her shattering soul back together—Haku’s hand.

Ilia couldn’t remember what had happened after that.

Ilia groaned as she sat up, eyes clenched shut in pain. With the image of a royal blue flame at the forefront of her mind, Ilia took in a slow breath, and then another, focusing on the sensation of cold air flowing through her nostrils. When she opened her eyes, she was in the red-tinted mindscape, surrounded by glowing blue objects in the periphery. The most salient feature, however, was the holographic video screen hovering front and center in her vision: the timeline. Ilia swiped left on the screen, perusing the timeline for any hint as to how she’d arrived here.

As images from the past flooded her mind, Ilia let out a sigh of relief. She still wasn’t clear on the details of how they’d escaped Dimension X—but then, it seemed no one knew the answer to that question. At the very least, she was safe. Ilia exited the mindscape with a snap of her fingers.

Ilia’s head still throbbed, and it hurt to move, but she kicked the sheets off and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. She needed to eat something, and that meant walking to the kitchen, no matter how tired she was. As Ilia rose to her feet, her gaze fell to her left wrist. She inhaled sharply.

Enclosed around her wrist was a string bracelet with a single, glowing red bead.

It wasn’t particularly beautiful or breathtaking by any means, but Ilia found it hard to breathe regardless, because she knew what this bracelet meant.

There was only one bead on the bracelet this time, so maybe—maybe it was a mistake. Maybe it was all some twisted practical joke. Maybe she’d find Haku in the kitchen, sardonic smile on their face as they laughed at Ilia’s panic.

Maybe.

Possessed by a sudden need to confirm her fears, Ilia darted out of the infirmary and sprinted down the hallway, her breath rattling in her chest.

When she reached the kitchen, it looked as if dinner was wrapping up. Karyme and Rae were clearing away dirty dishes, and Dani was standing at the sink, dish rag in hand. Peter, Juli, and a kid Ilia had not met yet—Joshua’s brother, maybe—were crowded around a laptop while Lian chatted eagerly with a man Ilia had never seen before. Joshua had a second laptop at the table and was scrolling through records with a frown. Morgan was pretending not to look over Joshua’s shoulder.

When Ilia walked in, all eyes were suddenly on her. That just made it harder to breathe, but Ilia pushed through. She couldn’t let her nerves get in the way—this was too important.

“Ilia!” Karyme said warmly. “You’re okay! Do you want something to eat? We have leftovers—”

“Your wrists,” Ilia interjected, her voice strained. She held her left arm in front of her and plucked at the bracelet with her other hand. “I’m not the only one with one of these, am I?”

“Nope!” Peter said cheerfully. He held out his wrist, revealing a bracelet with an orange bead. “Don’t know what this is, but it’s been there since we got back.”

Ilia felt like she was sinking into the depths of hell.

She had to lean on the wall for support. Her legs felt like they were going to give out at any second, and the room was spinning around her, and maybe that wasn’t all related to this new piece of information, but Ilia could feel herself spiraling into a panic attack regardless.

“Ilia? Is something wrong?”

Karyme’s voice echoed in the periphery, and Ilia used that to ground herself. She took in a shaky breath.

“It’s not okay,” Ilia said weakly. “These bracelets—the Ennead—” She couldn’t find the words.

Allow me, the soul splinter said smoothly. Lost in the throes of panic, Ilia couldn’t even put up a fight as her soul splinter used her mouth to speak.

“This isn’t the first time this has happened,” the soul splinter croaked. “These bracelets—they’re not just jewelry. They’re soul cores.”

“Soul cores,” Joshua repeated. He slammed his laptop shut. “What the hell does that mean?”

Ilia wrested control back from her soul splinter. If she was going to explain this, it was going to be as herself.

“Immortal souls are—they’re like objects,” Ilia explained. Her voice shook as she spoke. “And objects sometimes break if you place too much strain on them. When an immortal soul shatters, the core of the soul gravitates towards whoever that person trusts the most, and the rest of the pieces fly off to locations of emotional importance to that person.”

“Oh, I remember hearing about this,” Peter said nonchalantly. “Kai said a soul can shatter when it’s stolen.”

“Stolen?” Lian murmured. “But when did they have their souls stolen?”

“I don’t think that’s what happened,” Karyme said slowly. She turned to Ilia. “Can someone shatter their soul intentionally?”

Ilia swallowed. Her mind went back to the week of training she’d received from the Ennead—from Jinal specifically. Most of it had been silent control training and meditation, but on that last day, Jinal had mentioned—

“Yes,” Ilia answered. “And when an immortal intentionally shatters their soul, it releases a directed burst of energy.”

“Enough energy to break a teleportation barrier and force someone out of Dimension X?” Karyme pressed.

Ilia didn’t answer the question. She didn’t have to. A grim silence settled over the group, broken only by an electronic ding from a laptop.

“So, that’s it?” Dani snapped. “The Ennead are in pieces now?” She held up the crystal Haku had given her. Its orange glow had faded a little, but there was still a flickering light at its core. “Will these even protect us for that much longer?”

“No,” Ilia replied, shaking her head. “The crystals are limited use now. I can make more, but—” Ilia took a deep breath. “I don’t think the crystals I make will be all that protective against The Necromancer. I’m not on the same level as The Ennead.”

“So we’re stuck living here forever, then,” Juli said miserably.

Ilia let out a bitter laugh. “There is one alternative.” She twisted and turned the bracelet on her wrist. “Like an object, an immortal soul can be pieced back together again. If all of the soul pieces and the soul core are united in the same place, the soul will become whole again. And once the soul is whole…”

“A body should regenerate around it,” Rae reasoned.

Dani groaned. “And we have to bring one of these asshats back for our own safety, because we need these crystals to hide from The Necromancer. God fucking dammit. This is like the world’s worst scavenger hunt.”

“Tell me about it,” Ilia said miserably.

“What did you mean when you said this wasn’t the first time this has happened?” Peter asked, cocking his head to the side. “Is there anything we should know from the first time?”

Ilia sighed. She didn’t really want to expound on her failures, but Peter was right—her experiences were relevant.

“Fifty years ago—back when my powers had just awoken, The Ennead got shattered trying to protect me. I-I tried to piece them back together again, but I had no way of knowing where the soul fragments were, and I was only able to gather four or five pieces of Haku’s soul. The Necromancer almost killed me, and in that moment… Haku managed to teleport me away and freeze me in time.”

“Shit,” Morgan breathed. “You were in a coma for fifty years?”

“That’s not important,” Ilia mumbled. She didn’t want to talk about this, because talking about it just made her remember that everyone she knew was either dead or old now.

“Okay, so you didn’t know where to look,” Peter mused, stroking his chin as if he had a beard. “If we go into this blind, we’ll probably end up dead.”

“About that,” Karyme interjected. “I think I have an idea.” She turned to Rae. “If you attuned to a soul core… maybe you’d be able to see where the soul pieces are.”

Rae grimaced. “I probably could,” xe agreed. “But only with one or two cores at a time. More than that would be overwhelming. In other words… we need to decide who to go after.”

“How do we even tell which core belongs to which member of the Ennead?” Juli chimed in. “I guess the colors are all different?”

“Yeah, that’s how you tell,” Ilia explained. “I think they’re divided based on who you got your powers from. So…”

She pointed to Morgan’s bracelet. “Sky blue for Jinal.”

Next, she gestured to Peter’s. “Orange for Haku.”

Then Juli’s. “Hot pink for Minerva.”

Lian. “Yellow for Ven.”

Joshua. “Forest green for Kai.”

Rae. “Indigo for Ridwan.”

Karyme. “Lavender for Silpa.”

Dani. “Turquoise for Felix.”

And lastly, her own bracelet. “Red for Mateen.”

“Well,” Juli sighed. “We should go after Haku. I don’t love the bastard, but they probably have the best idea of what’s going on.”

“Damn. Hate it when you make sense,” Dani grumbled. “So I guess—”

“I’m going after Kai,” Joshua interrupted, rising to his feet. He looked around the room, as if daring anyone to challenge him.

“Okay,” Karyme said carefully. “Haku and Kai, then. We can easily split into two teams without spreading ourselves too thin. The question is who wants to be on each team. I think it’s best if I stay here and act as support for both teams.”

“It’s going to take most of my concentration just to locate the soul fragments, so I should probably stay here, too,” Rae noted.

“I want to help,” Ilia said slowly. “But…” She tried to stand, but her head was still spinning, and every time she breathed, a sharp pain shot through her chest. “I’m in no condition to be out there.”

“Rest,” Morgan said firmly, placing a hand on Ilia’s shoulder. “We’ll handle it.”

“I have to go after Haku,” Peter pointed out, raising his wrist. The orange bead on his bracelet shimmered in the light.

“I’m with Peter,” Dani said quickly. “I still don’t trust you.”

“You could just admit that you like working with me,” Peter said with a mischievous smile. Dani groaned.

“I’ll go with Peter and Dani,” Juli decided. “I don’t mind looking for bastard man.”

“That leaves Lian, Joshua, and Morgan to find Kai,” Karyme noted. “Is that okay?” She looked nervously between Joshua and Morgan. The two were engaged in another silent glaring contest, though it seemed less heated, somehow.

“Fine with me,” Joshua said through gritted teeth.

“Whatever,” Morgan muttered.

Joshua’s brother had been silent so far, but seeing an opening, he piped up.

“I want to help!” he said fiercely, eyes shining with determination.

“Absolutely not,” Joshua shot back. “It’s too dangerous.”

“Aw, Joshua, c’mon!” the teen whined. “You probably need as many sets of hands as you can get, and I’ve got a good eye!”

Joshua opened his mouth to reply, but Rae cut him off.

“How good are you with computers, Joel?” Rae asked. “We’re going to need a cartographer.”

“Cartographer?” Joel cocked his head to the side. “What’s that?”

“Someone who makes maps,” Rae explained. “Karyme and I will probably have to work together to figure out coordinates for all the soul fragments, but we’ll need someone to write those down and plot them on a map.”

“Think of it like being the man in the chair,” Juli said with a grin. "Like in those hacker movies. You'll be in charge of all of us!"

Joel’s face lit up. “I can do that!”

“Great!” Lian said, clapping their hands together. “It looks like we have a plan, then.”

Ilia swallowed. She couldn’t help the nervousness rising in her chest. Yes, there were more people helping her this time than the first time, but that didn’t guarantee success. If anything, it just meant placing more people in danger, and that was the last thing Ilia wanted to do. Still…

Ilia looked around the room, her gaze travelling from Karyme’s silent determination to Rae’s weary resignation to Lian’s hopeful optimism to Morgan’s fierce bravery. Ilia took a deep breath. Maybe this time things would be different.

Maybe this time, things would turn out okay.

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