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Chapter 16
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By some miracle in disguise, Diamond Grace passed a man watching a video on his phone at full volume. She had always been annoyed by people who turned up their phones all the way for any reason; where was their sense of privacy? This time, however, she overheard the video and discovered that it was the local news. It pointed her to the center of the district she was currently in.

She could follow that, she thought. It seemed more doable than street names for a city she hadn’t lived in long enough. So she hurried in the direction she thought was right. She knew that major landmarks were where people tended to gather more often than not, and if the runaway . . . thing out there was going to draw near a crowd, it would cause a panic or worse.

There was a town square with a fountain in each of its corners, and a larger structure in the middle from which the major streets could be seen. Sure enough, there were a ton of people all around the area. They either didn’t know nor paid any mind to the thing that was coming, if the news was right.

Suddenly, screeching could be heard in the distance. Then came the honking of a loud horn. Diamond Grace saw the oddity coming. She shouted for everyone to move while she grew a suit of ice armor and lunged at the vehicle barreling their way. The next few seconds were a blur, but she remembered either hitting something, or something hitting her.

Diamond Grace fell on her ice-clad butt, and feared that what she did was not enough. However, the truck finally stopped, and not a moment too soon. Just another second, and she would have been flattened. Two or three more seconds, and so would the important looking monument in the middle of Founder’s Creek.

She breathed heavy. She steadied it by force of will.

During that time, a man on a cell phone passed by, talking aloud. “Yeah, I’m fine. Did I ever tell you about the time Pixeletta led some heroes in saving a parade from a strange new villain?” He was gone in seconds. His timing was odd, Diamond Grace thought.

Then a young woman sprang up on the back of the truck. “That was awesome! Who wants to do that again?”

Diamond Grace groaned and let her upper body drop before her ice armor shattered. There was some arguing—something about one man trying to get to safety, a bomb, and taking a few wrong turns—but it was all beyond her that moment. Life in this city was far more overwhelming than she had imagined, and her brother . . . her sister made it sound like a daily walk in the park.

A soft shadow passed over her. Diamond Grace opened an eye to find that young woman from a moment earlier. “Are you alright?” she asked.

“I will be,” Diamond Grace said.

“I’m glad. Mary will be too, both that you tried to help and that you’re safe.”

“How do you know Mary?”

“It’s a long story. Here, let me help you up.” The young woman offered a hand, and Diamond Grace accepted. “My name’s Judy.”

“Mine’s Ja . . . I mean, Diamond Grace.”

“Yes. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person.”

Ohm Wire walked up to them then. Diamond Grace looked at the crowd by the truck, and saw Mortar Mage and War Lagoon standing with a couple other costumed men she did not recognize. Another costumed figure was being escorted away by the police.

She knew now that she was among friends, though staying here meant living in their shadow. Diamond Grace still didn’t know if it was right to try to outshine it, to make a name for herself elsewhere, or what she was going to do. Right now, none of that mattered.

Judy suddenly looked shocked. She was looking past Diamond Grace and in the general direction of the monument Diamond Grace had helped to save from the massive vehicle.

Diamond Grace looked back and found a number of people, but only one wasn’t fooling around with a phone or camera, or gabbing with the others. The same woman, who wore a cloth to cover half of her hair, took a few steps forward. The officer closest to her tried to stop the woman.

“Wait, let her through,” said Judy as she pushed past. It was enough for the officer to let the one woman through the line of people. “It’s you.”

The mysterious woman said, “Yes. Welcome back to the living.”

Devon examined the bookshelves that he had seen so many times since moving to Paragon City. He assured Vidnyanta that he had already seen everything here, but she told him there was yet one book here he did not see. Strange was how she said the book existed, but she did not know its contents.

Here they were, Devon and these so-called gods whose names he never heard before, along with a few of their countless minions, at the largest public library in the city. The sun was just past setting, and the library was otherwise empty.

That was an early time to close for a Friday.

Nervaeus dropped a book on top of the table where Vidnyanta sat. He turned away and walked off into some unknown part of the library as far as Devon was concerned. He had no idea what the man’s problem was, and he didn’t care.

“Here, Devon. Come take a look.,” Vidnyanta said. That creepy mask of hers still gave Devon the shivers.

“What is it?” he asked.

“It is a written record with entries from the late 1800s, by your recollection, and four years ago. There were more like it by the same family, but none of them relevant to your interests I don’t think, not unless you seek dealings with city politics and the activities of the Hobbs family, who were close allies to the keepers of these records.”

“You know a lot about these records.”

“I know a lot about most things. Unlike some fools who ignore certain . . . holes . . . and claim to see everything, I recognize those gaps in what I know. I do not like having the unknown beyond my grasp where it might strike and prevent me from doing what I will. No matter. This book is one that interests us both. Once you know its contents, I shall learn of them myself.”

“Pardon my saying so, but it strikes me as odd that you would have the others here with us. I also thought you wanted me to stay at that temple.”

“The temple was doomed to be compromised. I foresaw it. It will have been trashed by now, its purpose fulfilled. I can only hope the minions left behind did their job against the one I have trouble seeing. He escapes my sight, just as the future does mere days from now.”

“Days from now?”

“Don’t you worry about that. You have a book to read by two writers over multiple periods. Let the world outside burn on its own for tonight. It won’t matter when the time comes. The flames now are a mere hearth to the inferno we bring.”

“So you keep telling me. Very well.”

He took the book and found a comfortable place to read. It was going to be a long night.

Judy was glad that Warren and Jeff weren’t too hard on her or Kyra for her going out, or for using the necklace behind everyone’s back, but she should have seen it coming when her mom and Tatiana practically squeezed the life out of her with a single hug. That was probably when she received the most endearing berating in the history of the universe from both of the older women.

That was it, everybody, go home; or so it seemed without their new guest.

The afternoon was getting on, and the Dallevan League, plus Judy’s mom and Jackie, sat around the lounge facing the woman who sat in a comfortable chair with a cup of tea.

Her name was Halah. “Everyone is finally here,” she said. “It has been a long time since I’ve seen most of you in the flesh.”

Walter said, “Six years, and there were seven of us then.”

“You hadn’t met your eighth yet.” She nodded to Kyra. “Two of you are important as well, but not of the eight I saw that day. Eight of you cast shadows leading from before we met until next Monday morning. I saw these shadows since my awakening.”

Everyone was as quiet as Judy was apprehensive all of a sudden. What was supposed to happen Monday morning?

“I don’t know what happens. I doubt anyone does. It’s like a gleam of light beneath a black door in a dark, rainy night. Tell me, Judy, do you remember what I said to you during the mass invasion those years ago?”

Judy said, “You had told me something about choices we all had to make.”

“You all did then, and everyone does now. The eight of you will impact what we see beyond that door, if we are lucky enough to see it at all. It frightens me more than anything.”

“You knew my baby girl was going to die,” said Judy’s mom.

“I did not know for sure. As I said, there were choices. She made hers, and I cried when I heard that she paid the price for it. I cried for her soul and her loss, and again for what it could have meant for the few days ahead. There were gaps then, and discord, before I saw her shadow again, but it was always there. I could hardly understand it, but it was meant to continue for these few days before everyone’s shadow suddenly stopped. She’s not the only one.”

Halah looked in Warren’s direction. “Yours torments me most of all. It weaves in and out of time as we know it. When I look at your shadow I cannot see you as I can anyone else. Yet, here you are before us.”

War Lagoon said, “This talk of shadows is unnerving, even for me.”

“The unknown does that. It’s why our kindred were feared and despised like the other two.”

“Other two?”

“The Demon Thorn, and a group of banished gods you’ve only begun to meet.”

Warren said, “The Circle and the Vanquishiri Bahitians, you mean?

“The same,” Halah said. “You know their name?”

“I know they shouldn’t be here. But, what’s this about a kindred?”

“You mean Jeff never told you? The source of his power is the same as mine. Our powers hail from the Sillinisu, or ‘Shadow Kin.’”

Most of everyone was staring at Jeff now. Jackie was staring blankly into whatever was in front of her, and Judy reached out to comfort her. This was all far beyond anything Jackie thought she was ready for, Judy imagined as she caught a glimpse of the woman's expression. It was a lot for her as well.

Walter, Judy noticed, didn’t look the least bit surprised at the revelation about Jeff’s powers. Intrigued, perhaps, but not surprised.

Jeff said, “I swore to help people with it. It was a promise they were happy to hold me to. It’s not like I can just go around saying I do this for an entity locked away by the people they’d sworn to protect ages ago.”

Halah said, “It was they who advised that I come to this country and watch over the forces of good and evil, and help those whose shadows were shorter than the rest, to give them comfort or direction where they might best know peace. When I saw your shadows, bound to converge by this time, I had to see for myself. All shadows fade and run out, but the eight of you, and all you care for, will mean the difference between life and oblivion.”

Kyra said, "You mentioned seeing our shadows upon your awakening. What did you mean by that?"

"A few months after Jeff and his friend left for home, I was given my abilities by the same people who bestowed Jeff with his own powers. I saw so much that I needed time to fully awaken to them and walk among mankind again. Your eight shadows were among the first that I saw. Your eight shadows were so strong, so right, so ready to change the world. Our kin charged me with my mission for when I was ready, but I slipped away too soon. For months still I must have seemed like I was out of my mind from substance abuse or worse. I still had to come. I still had to come and meet you all."

"What can we do to save the world?"

"I do not know. The door I alluded to is closed, and I know not the outcome. I know only that you have choices before you great and terrible. These are the choices that will decide if the universe remains to see another Monday or beyond."

Warren, who stood up straight, said, "The universe will exist. It has to. I have seen into the end of everything."

"Have you the sight? Have you seen beyond next week?"

"Neither of those. There was a war beyond mortal eyes, and yet it affected this world. I was among the gods in their realm when I saw it. It's shape folded and renewed to something else in moments, I thought. What I saw was reality shifting, my own eyes and mind bending to comprehend it as time and matter ceased around a single point. You say our choices will decide the outcome in a few days, but every choice made is a million bends or more around oblivion. If this door opens, as you say, and this point is behind it, then this conversation neither mattered nor happened. The universe won't just end. It simply will not be. So, you see, there's no way what you say can be right, Vanquishiri Bahitians or otherwise be damned."

"Then this is a fate that we must all avoid. Make your choices, the best ones you can. Make the best choices you can so that any of this will matter."

When Halah had left, Mary took her sister with her to another room to comfort her from a state of trauma. The talk of demons, multiple gods, benevolent beings of shadow, and a potential apocalypse must have caused her to shut down. Kyra could only guess.

Warren was examining a shard of the pearly white crystal in the garage, which had been enchanted several times to safeguard against explosions.

Everyone else was sitting around the main living room like a social circle, but they were silent. Judy looked to be dozing off in her mother’s arms.

Knowing Walter, he was planning everything in his head as to what to do next, with or without any pieces of a puzzle offered by whatever Warren discovered. Kyra wanted to offer something, anything, but ideas weren’t her strong suit. Sarcasm, yes, but not ideas.

Silence was broken abruptly when the emergency radio received a broadcast meant for all heroes. There was a major disturbance at The Asylum, a high security facility for the most dangerous metahumans.

Those who heard it groaned. As if it wasn’t already a long day.

Wyatt got up. When Tatiana grabbed his arm, he said, “I don’t know about you guys, but I can do with a little kicking butt. It’s OK, love, I promise to stay safe and only provide my healing. I’ll be home when I’m done.”

“I know,” said Tatiana, “but still. Be safe.”

He kissed her, once on the lips and again on the forehead, patted her belly softly with one hand, and left the room to change into his hero costume.

As tired as Kyra was, she was considering whether or not to go with him. While she thought about it, Kyra went upstairs and followed the sounds of a woman sobbing. She turned into a guest room, and saw Jackie crying into Mary’s shoulder, as well as Mary rocking her. No, this was where Kyra needed to be tonight.

She sat on the bed and leaned her head on Jackie.