The Center of The Universe - A Wrinkle in Time Sequel

Chapter 5: The Soul of Canis Majoris

Meg saw the great light of the star. It didn't hurt her eyes. The suit she was wearing changed her eyes somehow to where it wouldn't hurt. She looked around. Her hair swished in a sudden wave of wind. She turned to see Calvin and Charles Wallace standing there.

    " Where now?" Meg asked.

    " Well, we have to find the soul of this star. Canis Majoris. I would guess that she was in the giant building in the center of this place." Charles Wallace suggested.

    " I agree. We should go, quickly. Those weird creatures we saw on Earth are on this star." Calvin urged. They ran to some kind of car-like thing. Meg clicked a green button and then they were flying.

    " What in the world?!" Sandy shouted as they floated in the air. " How do we start this thing anyhow?"

    " I think it's this thing-" Dennys couldn't finish his sentence. For they were going 123 mph! Meg had found the gas pedal... Then they came to a sudden stop.

    " We're here!" Meg exclaimed as she jumped off of the parked vehicle.

    " Meg. Don't EVER do that again!" the twins ordered.

" Whatever. Let's go in now." They walked into the giant building. Some guards were blocking the elevators. So they quickly ran to the stairs on the other side of the building. Meg gestured for them to follow her up the stairs and to some kind of throne room. In a giant chair was a completely white person. As if they had never had just one breath of life.

    " Miss Canis Majoris. We come with a que-" Calvin started. Then the star shook. And something drew out of it. Some kind of life. As if, a soul of the star flew out. It flew into the pale person. As it did, the person came to life and it was no longer pale. The person was a girl. She looked around and saw her human form and frowned. She was Canis Majoris. Canis had lost her life as a star, like Mrs. Whatsit. The star didn't disappear though. The Black Thing defeated her. Poor star.

    " Canis Majoris?" Calvin asked.

    " Call me Canis. Or Mrs. How since I'm in human form." she sighed sadly. " I'd rather Mrs. How. I ought to get used to it I'm afraid." she stood there silently.

    " So you didn't defeat the Black Thing?" Charles Wallace asked.

    " Well, I did... but not in the same way as Mrs. Whatsit." Mrs. How replied.

    " You know Mrs. Whatsit?" the twins exclaimed together. At least they knew who Mrs. Whatsit was now.

" Yes." she agreed. " I defeated the Black Thing in a different way. You see, when Mrs. Whatsit won, she gave up her life as a star, and the star disappeared so it could defeat the darkness. I, on the other hand, was fighting as well, but I realized the galaxy we are in, the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy, needs this star. So, I fought to where the darkness can never take over Canis Majoris, and to where Canis Majoris will never go away. But, that part of the Black Thing hasn't disappeared. And yet, I still lost my life as a star." Poor Mrs. How. She only wanted to protect the star, the people on the star, and the galaxy. A lot protected, and a lot sacrificed. Such a big burden to carry. The whole galaxy depending on you, and to save them you have to give up something dear to you. Meg thought. " I guess we better go."

    " Where?" Calvin asked. " How did you know we needed to go somewhere?"

    " Happy Medium sent me some Tess-Mail." Mrs. How explained.

    " What?"

    " She told me what you were coming here for. To defeat the Black Thing, right?"

    " Yea." Dennys agreed. " Where we going then?"

    " I'll explain after we get past the guards. They won't believe that I'm actually Canis. Well, at least the Black Thing's weird creatures have evaporated." Mrs. How replied, worried. Meg looked out a window and saw that the weird robot-like creatures that they saw on Earth were gone.

    " Can I call you Canis?" Meg asked.

    " I already said you could." Mrs. How, Canis, said in a sweet voice. The five of them followed behind Canis. Meg looked at her with admiration. As she lead them, she looked straight ahead. No looking back. She had a serious, but gentle look on her face. Canis had long, fiery hair that, when she ran, looked like a blazing fire, out of control. And she was beautiful. She was the most beautiful person Meg had ever seen in her life. Canis was wearing a long robe-like outfit. It was just as fiery as her hair was. She was also really tall. About seven feet tall. And Meg was so focused on Canis, that when they finally got out of the building, Meg was confused on how easy it was. " Ok. The place we need to go to is the Center."

    " We? You mean you're coming with us?" Sandy asked happily. For he wanted her to come with them. Meg could tell by the way he was acting...

" Well, someone has to protect you from the Center!" Canis exclaimed.

    " What do you mean by 'protect you from the Center'?" Meg asked, as all of her fear  swelled up inside her.

    " I'm not going to let you kids go in there by yourself. You'll be ripped apart!" Canis explained as if they knew what she meant. " You don't know do you?" They shook their heads. Canis sighed. Her sweet, soft voice turned dark and cold. " The Center, is the center of the Universe. Well... the Center is a massive black hole. And... that black hole is where... um." Canis hesitated a minute. She took a deep breath and spoke in the most serious tone Meg had ever heard. " It is where the Black Thing is. Where it originates. To defeat all of the Black Thing, and all of the darkness, you must go into the black hole."

A wave of fear and shock swept through them. But how? How would we survive in that thing? How? Meg's thoughts seemed to bounce around in her head. How? Meg guessed that was why Canis's other name was Mrs. How. For she seemed to know the questions she had in her head. She seemed to know that she was wondering, how.

" How. You ask. Simple, I go with you when you tesser into it, and I use the power I got from being a star to protect you. But the way to defeat it is to defeat yourself."

" What?" This time it wasn't just the twins who were talking at the same time. It was all of them. Calvin, Meg, Charles Wallace, Sandy and Dennys.

" You must defeat the shadow versions of yourselves. Around here they say that your biggest fear is yourself. In this case, it's true." Once again, shock, panic, fear. All of these emotions flowed through Meg. " By the way, the Happy Medium told me all of your names as well. So no need for introductions. Sandy and Dennys. You two will be in there with one shadow version. It will be twice as big as their shadows because yours is both shadows combined."

" Great." Dennys replied sarcastically.

" Well then. Let's go." Meg said as she swept them into tessering. By herself. She was controlling the tessering. She was strong enough to pull the six people across the universe! Maybe that's what Mrs. Whatsit seemed to realize on Uriel when I got there before them. Meg thought. Suddenly she felt something wrap around her. Her question was, was it something protecting her, or destroying her.