Interlude 1.2

Content warnings: alternate self, mentions of abusive parents (detail below; skip if you prefer surprises)

• A character communicates internally with an alternate version of themself, involving heavy self-loathing. This is not mean to be an accurate depiction of DID (see disclaimer here).

• A character mentions the fact that their father implanted a tracker in their arm.

~.~

When Juli walked into the pocket dimension kitchen to reap the rewards of their labor, Haku was asleep at the table. In front of Haku lay a chess board, and sitting across from Haku was someone Juli had never seen before: a lanky man with dark skin and an undercut. Their hair was streaked with indigo, and they were dressed in a black over-the-shoulder crop top. As soon as Juli entered the kitchen, the other person looked up in surprise.

“Oh,” they said casually. “I see you got Haku’s letter.” They stood and extended a hand for a handshake. “I’m Ridwan—the seventh member of the Ennead.”

“O-oh!” Juli said sheepishly, accepting the handshake. “I’m, um. Wait, you already know my name don’t you…?” Ridwan bit back a smile.

“Yes, I do.” They took their seat again, staring intently at the chess board. For a second, Juli stood awkwardly, cursing the fact that no one else had reached the kitchen yet. It wasn’t like the others weren’t here; Juli could hear Lian chattering excitedly in the foyer. With nothing left to do, Juli tip-toed up to the table, peering at the chess game with curiosity.

“How are they playing right now?" Juli whispered theatrically, gesturing towards Haku.

"They're not," Ridwan grumbled in reply. "Haku fell asleep halfway through the game."

"...Oh," Juli replied. A slight flush rose in their cheeks. Another awkward silence. "So, um, do y’know who gave me powers? I figured it was Minerva, but…”

Ridwan shifted uncomfortably in their seat. “It… it was her, yes.”

At some point the rest of the mortals had filed into the room. Lian was talking amiably to Joshua, who was listening with an irritated scowl. Dani was glaring at Peter, and Karyme and Rae were speaking in low voices. Morgan was hanging out near the back of the group, her arm still in a sling. It was so very similar to the way the group had first met that Juli couldn’t help but smile.

“On the subject of powers, who gave me my power, and why is it so useless?” Rae grumbled. A wry smile crossed Ridwan’s face.

"That would be me,” Ridwan replied. Rae immediately stiffened. “Don’t worry—I’m not insulted. After all, I didn’t decide what power you’d get. I simply awakened a power that was already inside you.”

“Did you hear that, Rae?” Karyme teased. “You were useless to begin with!” Rae glared at Karyme, but there was no real heat behind it.

The mortals started to take seats at the table, though Joshua and Morgan elected to remain standing. Juli took a seat next to Ridwan, and Peter plopped down in the seat on Ridwan’s other side.

“So. Who usually wins these games?” Peter asked eagerly.

"Take a wild guess," Ridwan sighed.

“Okay, okay, so it’s Haku,” Peter replied. “Then why do you even play with them? Sounds boring.” Ridwan's expression shifted a little.

"Not sure how much you know about chess, but if you look at the board, these aren't really your typical chess pieces," Ridwan explained, gesturing to the board. Juli didn’t know enough about chess to say for sure, but they could at least tell that the number of pieces on each side was unequal. "Haku was using this game to puzzle through a timeline problem."

Juli had no idea what that meant, but they weren’t going to be the one to ask.

“I guess I can’t recreate the ‘eating chess pieces’ meme then,” Peter lamented with a sigh.

"Why would you...?" Ridwan said with a frown. "Oh wait. Aren't you the kid who ate a lime?"

“He didn’t eat the lime,” Dani grumbled, walking up to the table. She took a seat next to Peter. “He got Juli to set it on fire.” Peter nodded sagely, as if Dani was describing a completely normal course of action. A sheepish smile crossed Juli’s face as the immortal looked between Juli and Peter with a bemused expression.

"Is Haku going to wake up by themself, or should I blow an air horn in their ears?" Lian asked, pointing at Haku with a mischievous grin on their face.

"I wouldn't bother with the airhorn,” Ridwan answered, raising an eyebrow. “Haku will probably wake up in a few minutes anyways, considering they fell asleep about..." Ridwan checked their watch. "Two minutes ago."

"I see! I never met you so hi, name's Lian,” Lian said brightly.

“Ridwan,” the immortal replied. “It’s a pleasure to meet you in person.” Karyme looked around the room with a frown as she slipped into her seat.

“Where’s Ilia?” she asked.

"Ilia is… busy,” Ridwan said carefully, brow furrowed. “Her immortality set in over the last month, and she is learning to control her power right now.”

“Control?” Juli chimed in, perking up. “Is it tough t’control all that power?” Juli sometimes had trouble controlling their flames, so they could sympathize.

“Nothing is ever easy when Yaran is involved,” Ridwan muttered. “So, yes. It is extremely difficult to control. Ilia likely won’t be able to safely speak with other people for at least a week.”

“The hell does that mean?” Dani pressed. Ridwan gave Dani a withering look.

“It…” Ridwan sighed. “Imagine being able to see the future—except there isn’t one future. It’s more like a constellation of possibilities, and every time you look at someone, you see all of them at once. That’s migraine-inducing enough, perhaps, but we can’t turn it off.”

“That sounds like my power,” Karyme mused. “It was really overwhelming when I first got the ability to—to see everything at once. But, um, my power at least has collapsible boxes and pop up windows and stuff, so I can filter through the information.”

“It’s not the future vision alone,” Ridwan said miserably. “It—”

At that moment, Haku’s eyes flew open, and Ridwan abruptly fell silent. Juli could feel the tension in the air as all of the mortals looked at Haku expectantly. It seemed that the chief guest of the party was finally awake.

~.~

Haku's eyes flew open, and they bolted upright, their breathing slightly panicked. They gripped the table tightly, and for a second, their hands flickered bright orange. The tension in their body relaxed somewhat when their gaze landed on Ridwan.

“Fuck," Haku breathed, taking off their glasses and rubbing their eyes. "How long was I out?"

"Long enough to miss your visitors walking in," Ridwan said wryly, gesturing to the mortals in the room. Peter was in the process of putting a chess piece in his mouth while Lian snapped a picture and Dani looked on in disgust. Joshua was glaring a hole in the floor. Karyme and Juli were both looking at Haku with concern, and Rae was pretending not to be interested.

Oh, cool, they’re here, Haku said telepathically, their tone 100% sarcastic. Ridwan suppressed a wry smile.

Yes, your guests are here, and quite angry by the looks of it, Ridwan agreed.

"Are… are you okay?" Juli asked, leaning hesitantly towards Haku.

"I'm fine," Haku said thinly.

"You're not fine, you big clown,” Lian shot back. Ridwan bit back a comment about how no one would be fine after being imprisoned for fifty years. Haku sighed, pinching the bridge of their nose, their eyes closed. They forced a deep, shaky breath through their system.

"Sorry, just—I just need a moment to recalibrate," Haku said wearily.

Bad nightmare, huh, Ridwan guessed. They directed their thoughts solely at Haku.

Yep, Haku said miserably. I don’t like watching mortals die on my behalf. Ridwan nodded in understanding.

No one does, they said dryly. The immortals were so engrossed in their conversation that neither of them noticed Morgan approach.

“You,” Morgan growled, fist clenched at her side. Haku froze in place as Morgan spoke. They were facing away from the group, so only Ridwan could sense the fearful flicker of orange in their eyes.

Do you need me to stall? Ridwan asked.

Y-no. I mean. Maybe, Haku replied shakily. I don’t have as strong of a grip on my soul splinter as I’d like.

Noted, Ridwan said wearily. I can relate.

Truthfully, Ridwan still felt absolutely drained from their stay in prison. The soul splinter—the part of their soul that had been split off from the rest and infused with negativity—kept whispering in their ear, throwing their emotions off kilter, and as a result, their aura was erratic, too. At the edges of Ridwan’s senses, the visions threatened to press in closer, giving the immortal a pounding headache.

"So, see anything interesting?" Ridwan asked wryly, facing Haku. Haku shook their head and shoved their glasses back on with trembling hands.

"Just the usual blood and gore," they sighed. There was an almost undetectable tremor to their voice.

And how twisted you are to believe that blood and gore is a usual thing, the soul splinter hissed. Ridwan flinched. They hated when their soul splinter got vocal.

“Haku. Look at me,” Morgan said, her voice eerily calm. She was still wearing a sling on her left arm, but her right hand was already drawn back. Haku tensed. Then, with the practiced calm of someone who was used to dealing with anger, they materialized a pen and paper and began to write, ignoring Morgan completely.

Morgan struck Haku across the cheek with everything she had.

“That’s for what you did to me—no, to us,” she spat. Haku frowned and readjusted their glasses.

"Valid," Haku said calmly. They erased the streak on the paper that occurred as a result of their hand moving during the slap.

She’s mad, Ridwan noted.

No fucking shit, Haku snapped.

"Okay, is now seriously the fucking time to do this?” Dani asked, turning to face Morgan with a scowl. “You had a month to—I don’t know, cope?" As Dani spoke, Lian snatched the piece of paper Haku was writing on, read the contents, and then handed it to Peter.

"So what's up with this?" Lian asked, gesturing towards the paper. “I'm slightly concerned, but overall annoyed by whatever implication this has.”

"What does it say?" Juli asked, peering over Peter’s shoulder. Haku finally looked up, having reined in the orange flicker in their eyes.

"I wouldn't put too much stock into what's on there, considering it's not set in stone," they said coolly. "It's simply an account of what I saw when I went to sleep."

"And you saw that maybe me and Peter are going to die—couldn't you just tell us that to our faces?” Lian shot back. “You were considering warning us, so spill the beans, glasses."

Haku took off their glasses and rubbed their eyes with the back of their other hand.

"Okay, first of all, dreams tend to showcase the worst possible timelines, so again, I wouldn't put much stock in what I saw,” Haku drawled. “Secondly, that dream vision was one of many possible timelines, and I haven't taken a look yet to see what the odds are of that particular vision playing out. And third—" Haku took a deep breath and put their glasses back on. "Why on earth do you think I'd let you die like that?"

“Yeah, let the timeline management person do their job, Lian,” Peter said, unfazed. He materialized another sheet of paper and handed it to Haku. “Here you go!”

"Thanks," Haku muttered, and they continued writing where they left off.

“Is it really hard for you to believe that some of us think that since you used us once you might consider us expendable goods?" Lian asked, rolling their eyes.

“Stop harassing the dude who just woke up and start harassing the dude who’s just sitting here,” Peter suggested.

"Oh, darn," Ridwan said sarcastically, earning themself a glare from Morgan. They were secretly relieved—they could see the cracks in Haku’s facade, and it was unnerving, because Haku was almost never rattled.

“If any of you have an idea what you want to ask for, I can start sorting through those requests,” Ridwan decided. “And before any of you ask—we have ways to keep you hidden from the Soul Stealers, so just assume that’s a given. You don’t have to specifically ask for that.”

“And what are these ways?” Joshua snapped. Ridwan could practically sense the anger radiating from him. “Forgive me for not trusting the people who lost to the Soul Stealers fifty years ago, but I find it hard to believe you can do anything against The Necromancer.”

He has a point, the soul splinter hissed.

Fuck off, Ridwan grumbled, biting their lip.

“Those crystals you have—they act as screens, preventing The Necromancer from finding you through future vision,” Ridwan explained. “They also block any power detectors, and they allow us to create shields that protect you if you do get attacked. But we can do more with them. For instance…” Ridwan snapped their fingers, and Joshua’s wings disappeared from view.

“I can manipulate light. If you would like, I can use that crystal to keep your wings hidden.”

For once, Joshua was not a bastion of barely controlled rage; he seemed genuinely thrown off guard as he flexed and extended his (invisible) wings. Ridwan did their best to hide the strain that Joshua’s movement placed on them—they were loath to admit it, but even this simple use of their powers exacerbated the pounding in their head. Haku seemed to notice, because they took over.

“Any requests?” Haku asked.

“I specifically would like to go last,” Peter said formally, his tone suddenly serious.

"Okay. By the way, you're not limited to one reward, so go wild," Haku said with a shrug. "We owe you our lives." As soon as the words left Haku’s mouth, they knew they’d made a mistake. Peter’s eyes were suddenly alight with a dangerous fire.

“Wait. How much is your life really worth if you’re immortal?” Peter asked, waxing philosophical. “Life is really only valuable because it’s so fleeting. You owe us your life, but your life literally never ends, so is it really worth anything?”

Haku sighed, massaging the space between their eyes. "You could take the opposite approach, you know. That an immortal life is literally priceless because of the limitless opportunities contained therein.”

“Okay! I want an Xbox,” Peter said brightly.

“Dude, just steal an Xbox,” Dani groaned, giving Peter a side-eye.

“...Anyone else?” Ridwan said flatly.

“I-I know what I want,” Juli said carefully. Their gaze was downcast as they spoke. “I want to leave the mafia, and—and I’m not as gutsy as Dani. I don’t think I could just outright cut ties and live in fear for the rest of my life.” Juli took a deep breath and looked Ridwan in the eye.

“These crystals—would they be able to disguise me?”

Ridwan nodded. “Yes, I could easily arrange that, and we could fake your death if you wanted to go that far.”

Juli’s expression brightened. “Okay! Okay.” They paused. “One more thing. This is probably—well, it’s not as big as hiding my powers, or keeping me safe. But…” They smiled sheepishly. “I’m kinda broke? So a bit of money would be nice.”

Peter materialized a $100 monopoly bill. "Here you go." Juli took the bill with a confused look on their face, then burned it to ashes.

"Thanks, Peter,” Juli said flatly.

“Well, I can't materialize money. It's always slightly not detailed enough," Peter lamented.

“Mateen should have Silpa’s bank account info—I can get him from the training room so we can transfer some money to you,” Ridwan said earnestly.

“I want something pretty similar to Juli,” Dani interjected. “I want money, too—enough to pay for me to get a university education.” He looked at his hands, contemplative. “I was never able to go to college, and that’s not what my folks wanted for me, anyhow, but I want to study biomedical engineering.”

“You should talk to Silpa,” Ridwan mused. “If you want to, anyway. She and Jinal invented part of the field of biomedical engineering.” Dani’s eyes went wide for a split second, and then she schooled her face back into a neutral expression.

“I… okay,” Dani said slowly. “Yeah. Yeah, I’ll do that.”

“I’ll go next,” Karyme ventured. “I…” She looked to Morgan. “I have been informed that there are a lot of written records about the Ennead in this pocket dimension. I want permission to formally record your written history, for archival purposes.”

Ridwan raised an eyebrow. “What for? We have done nothing but wrong you. Why would you want to work with us after all of that?”

“Call me a nerd, but recording history is my job,” Karyme said with a shrug. “And—correct me if I’m wrong, but The Necromancer has wiped any evidence that you existed straight out of the history books. I think that restoring some of what has been lost is crucial to undoing the system The Necromancer has built.”

“That ties neatly into my request, actually,” Rae chipped in. “As most of you know, I do a lot of activist work—a lot of mutual aid, a lot of harm reduction, and a lot of pro bono legal work. I want money to support these activities—but more than that, I think the experience and ability of nine immortals could be… useful, to say the least.”

Ridwan was starting to understand why the power they released had gravitated towards Rae. Back in the day, Ridwan, too, had been involved in activist work, especially in the leadup to the 1960s.

“We’ll help however we can,” Ridwan promised. “The state of the world is our fault, anyway.” Ridwan turned to Lian. “Have you thought about what you want?”

"Endless baking supplies," Peter suggested. Ridwan ignored Peter.

“Oh yeah I’ve known for a month,” Lian said seriously. It was rare to see such a solemn expression on the music teacher’s face. “So first," Lian raised their index finger. "I would like you guys to come to all of my students' musical recitals, one of you, at least. And you have to cheer the loudest."

“Okay. Ven would absolutely adore going to your students’ recitals,” Haku said calmly. “He’s a composer and a performer after all.”

"Nice! Now, you have to go with Ven, too. Think of it as a date or whatever you guys do," Lian said with a mischievous grin. Haku’s face flushed ever so slightly. Ridwan had to wonder when, exactly, Lian had picked up on the fact that Haku and Ven were partners.

“Second,” Lian held up a second finger. “I need you to help my parents. You know, the biological ones. The ones who… faked my death when my powers appeared so that I wouldn't get caught up in the shitty Soul Stealers system."

Ridwan’s expression softened. That request made sense, really. Having powers had turned Lian’s whole life upside down—they’d been forced to fake their death and then move in with a different set of parents under a completely new identity just to avoid the wrath of the Soul Stealers.

“We’ll make a plan to help your parents,” Ridwan said gently. “Together.”

Lian’s expression brightened. “Thanks. I really—I appreciate it. No more having to meet up with them via standing on opposite sides of a crowded restaurant."

There was a brief silence. Joshua and Morgan seemed to be having a glaring contest to see who would go next—or maybe there was a telepathic conversation going on. Ridwan decided to respect their privacy.

Wow, they’re like you and Mateen, Haku teased.

Fuck off, Ridwan grumbled.

“Jeez, are you two just going to stare at each other all day?” Juli asked, breaking the silence.

“No,” Morgan growled, breaking eye contact with Joshua. “I’ll go next. First of all, you fuckers need to heal my damn collarbone. And, I need a place to stay. And then, I—” Her voice broke. “I want help taking my dad down.”

And, she added telepathically, and Ridwan got the sense this was a private message. I want the tracker that my dad put in my arm removed.

“Rest assured, taking your father down was already in our plans, since he is an executive among the Soul Stealers,” Haku said smoothly. “As for healing… your injury has mostly healed on its own. Mateen is the only one who can fix it now.”

“Well, great,” Morgan groused. “Where is he?”

“All in good time,” Haku replied. They turned to Joshua expectantly. “And what is it that you want?”

“Why don’t you read my mind and find out?” Joshua snapped. Ridwan and Haku exchanged glances.

“Are you sure you want us poking around in there?” Ridwan ventured.

“No.” Joshua’s scowl deepened as they looked Haku directly in the eye. “I want all the intel you have on the Soul Stealers. Don’t spare me the details.” There was a dangerous glint in his eyes.

“We’ve been in prison for fifty years,” Ridwan said wryly.

“And yet you still knew enough about conditions outside the prison to find us,” Joshua said thinly. “Which means you had some way to gain information—probably your future vision. Despite all that, you want me to believe that you weren’t amassing information, biding your time until you could take The Necromancer down?” Ridwan inhaled sharply. Joshua was more perceptive than he looked.

“It will take some time to convert that information into written form,” Haku said carefully. “But we can definitely make an arrangement.”

“Fine.” Joshua closed his eyes, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

“Well,” Haku sighed. “That brings us to you, Peter.”

“Wellll,” Peter looked at Haku, a wide grin spreading onto his face. “I want to join the Ennead.” Ridwan’s jaw dropped. Haku’s eyes widened.

That’s new, Haku said flatly.

This kid is either really gutsy or really stupid, Ridwan said thinly.

“You can't become immortal without also picking up Yaran’s curse," Ridwan said slowly. “Which comes with a lot of… unpleasant side effects.

“Oh, yeah, I don’t want any of that shit,” Peter replied, visibly disgusted. “I just want to, you know, fix your mess.”

"Our mess," Haku said flatly. "And what exactly do you mean by that?" Peter laughed.

“Uh, excuse me? The Necromancer literally runs the world? Sounds like your mess to me,” Peter said casually. Ridwan winced at that.

Yes, you did leave quite a mess behind when you let yourself get captured, the soul splinter cooed. Ridwan couldn’t even deny it—they’d shattered their own shackles, after all. And if they’d always been capable of that, then… how could they not take blame for the state of the world?

“Anyway, I’m basically a less powerful and more useless version of Haku,” Peter continued, “so I can’t promise I’ll be super useful, but at least you’ll have a less powerful, more useless Haku in the field.” Haku closed their eyes and started flipping through timelines again, their hands moving as if they were manipulating an invisible touchscreen. Ridwan frowned.

"So, let me get this straight,” Ridwan said, looking Peter in the eye. “You want to join us in our efforts to eradicate the Soul Stealers."

“Yeah? I think I was pretty clear about what I said,” Peter said flippantly. “I’d kind of like to be able to use my powers without that asshole’s permission, you know? And besides, it sounds fun!” Haku opened their eyes and shrugged.

Looks like Peter joining us increases our chances of success, Haku noted.

Well, great. Now we can’t say no, Ridwan said sarcastically.

It does feel wrong to use these kids like this again and again, Haku agreed. But is it using Peter if he’s explicitly asking to be used?

"All right," Ridwan said finally. "Welcome aboard, then."

“Sweet! Just tell me what to do, and I’ll do it!” Peter said with a salute. “Unless it’s against my morals, but so far, it seems like that won’t be an issue!”

“Wait,” Lian interjected. “I would also like to work with the Ennead. Like, if you go and kick Soul Stealer ass, I want in.” Ridwan blinked in surprise.

“Are you sure about that?” they asked. “It will be dangerous, and the path won’t be easy.” Lian nodded, their eyes shining with determination.

“We’ll start your training tomorrow, then,” Ridwan decided.

"Train? Me?" Peter gave Ridwan a blank stare. “Why do we have to train?”

“Fighting the Soul Stealers in earnest is too dangerous without training,” Haku replied.

"Didn't we just... fight the Soul Stealers... without training...?" Peter muttered.

"And we kind of almost died,” Lian noted with a small grin. “I think Haku means the ones that actually have powers and not just dumb guards that go around pew pew pew-ing everyone, though.”

"I mean, okay. I guess that could be fun,” Peter said slowly. “Isn't Haku a better fit to train me, though?"

“Haku has enough on their plate,” Ridwan said quickly, before Haku could jump into the conversation. “And Haku has never taken a student before. Most of the students go to me, Jinal, Felix, and Kai.”

"Oh, I see." Peter frowned. "What is there to train, exactly? Just stamina? Or are you going to share some cool and mysterious secrets of the universe with us?" Ridwan and Haku exchanged bemused glances.

“No secrets of the universe here, I’m afraid,” Ridwan said with a laugh. “Just long, hard stamina and control training.”

"I like control training. Like trying to remove a tire from a car while it's in motion!" Peter said happily. Ridwan gave Peter a withering look.

“Think you can handle two students?” Haku teased. Ridwan shrugged in reply.

“Felix can help. When he’s back, of course.” Ridwan turned to the rest of the group. “We’ll follow up on everything we’ve talked about today. In the meantime, don’t lose those crystals—it will be very hard for us to help you if you do.”

“Great,” Joshua said, his speech clipped short. “I’m leaving.” He exited the kitchen before anyone could stop him, and Morgan followed, presumably to go find Mateen.

“Peter, Lian, we’ll meet tomorrow morning at eight,” Ridwan instructed. “Don’t be late.”

“That early?” Lian groaned.

“C’mon, Lian, early bird gets the worm!” Peter said cheerfully. Juli gave Lian a look of sympathy as the three of them left the kitchen. As the mortals drifted out of the kitchen in twos and threes, Ridwan turned back to the chessboard to analyze their position. Their eyes narrowed in suspicion as they realized something was off.

“Dammit, Haku, did you really make a move while I wasn’t looking?” Ridwan grumbled. Haku smiled that characteristic bastard smile.

“Maaaybe.”

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