Tear in the Megaverse WATTPAD VERSION [Inter-Universal Protectors Series: 5]

25 - HETSIPARA

Hetsipara. A famous galaxy. Former galaxy. Destroyed centuries ago by a pissed off Queen trying to escape the jaws of a living Sun. Apparently. No one knew if that was the real story, but that was the story said Queen gave whenever she was asked. Technically speaking, the galaxy still existed, it was just the remnants of what it used to be. Less a 'galaxy', more a 'dying, broken cluster of rock, gas and dust'.

As the sole galaxy in the galactic neighbourhood, the entire area was now practically dark. Only the light from other far-off worlds could been seen in the distance. The only sources one had were the things they brought with them, assuming they could survive the vacuum and below freezing temperatures that came with deep space.

The perfect place to search for Death.

Leo and Nikki stood on one of the partially-destroyed landscapes, looking over the damage in awe. From the outside, this planet was only half intact. The other half looked like some massive beast had taken a gigantic bite out of it. Oceans had evaporated along with the vanished atmosphere, leaving planes of dirt and stone in its wake. The pair were walking along one of these seabeds, their immortality and personal shields the only things protecting them from instant death. They may have been immortals, but they were by no means Gods.

There were no signs of life anywhere. No fossils, no tiny organisms, no evidence that anything had ever inhabited the long-dried ocean. Perhaps it had been destroyed along with almost everything else in the area.

"This is ridiculous," Nikki said, sweeping the beam of her torch across the black-brown dirt. "You can't tell me a living sun made her do this much damage."

"To think that this is only one world," Leo sighed. "We need to enrol her in another anger management course."

The 'her' they spoke of was Amneris, the one who'd destroyed the galaxy a long time ago. To this day she still said it was a living sun that made her do it. If there ever was a living sun—very few believed there was—no evidence was left of it now. Not even a tiny particle.

"There are other worlds still around in this system," Leo said. "We may have to search a few before we find anything."

Nikki asked, "Should we try closer to the system's centre? That was were the blast apparently took place."

"We're on the outer edge of the galaxy."

"Then we should move closer to the centre."

Leo gave his girlfriend a look of disbelief. "You want to get closer to the supermassive black hole?"

Nikki considered this. "Fair point, but I still think we should get closer."

"Of course," Leo muttered. "What could possibly go wrong."

* * * * * * * *

At the same time, in another part of the galaxy, Colt and Bast fell with surprised shrieks through a portal opened by Imum. They landed in the middle of a boulder field on one of the worlds still in one piece. It had been lucky enough to survive the explosion, but only because it was so far from the epicentre. There was still a long way to go to get to the middle.

Bast rubbed her butt as she knelt on her knees. "Owww."

Colt laughed. "Come now, the ground isn't that hard." He pat the dirt pile they'd landed on. "It could have been worse."

"I know, I know." With a frown, she looked around the grim landscape. "This place has seen better days."

Colt followed her gaze. "I believe this is as good as it gets here."

"I thought Amneris destroyed the galaxy."

"Technically, she did. This place, from what I have heard, is uninhabitable." He pointed to the gold gemstone around Bast's neck, a gift from Imum and the triplets before they left, and the one around his own. "These are personal shields. They are the only things keeping us alive."