Parallels- an MCSM AU [COMPLETED]

THIRTY-TWO- Divergent Equivalents

happy birthday here's an infodump chapter

i'm sorry i'm just so full of dialogue i can't help it-

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The treasure room of the Order Hall slowly formed around me, midmorning sunlight streaming through the windows. Julia appeared right behind me, glancing idly around.

I didn't know what we were going to tell the others. How was I supposed to break the dreadful news of our failure when I hadn't even fully come to grips with it yet?

Every new failure was taking a bigger toll on me. After seeing what had happened to Jo, I no longer felt the least bit sure that we'd honestly be able to win this fight.

I felt tired already just from the thought of having to search Beacontown for Lukas and Radar. I needed to tell them what had happened, of course, but I was getting sick of the repetitive pattern we'd fallen into.

Luckily for me, it was simpler than that. Aiden came suddenly hurrying into the room, seeming like he'd come from the direction of the library. "Oh, thank god, you're finally back. I thought I heard that weird gate noise."

"Where are the others?" Julia immediately asked.

"Out dealing with a...situation. We've been making sure at least one of us is here at all times, since we knew this was the place you were most likely to come back to. Things have gotten fucking wild; you won't believe it." he said.

Before I could ask what exactly that meant, he gestured out towards the town, already backing up. "I'll go grab Lukas and Radar. They're going to freak when they hear you're finally back."

"Wait, finally?" I echoed, but he'd already turned away and was headed towards the doors.

Julia looked at me. "How long were we gone?" she asked in a low voice.

"I don't know. But based on that reaction, I'd say longer than they expected us to be." I replied, a little apprehensively.

She glanced over at the tall window that looked out to the mountains, and did a double take. "Whoa...Jess, look at the sky!"

I turned, and felt my mouth fall open in shock. Through the light-blue stained glass, the sky was an ominous greenish colour, mixed with shades of yellow and blue. It reminded me of how the In-Between looked, albeit with a different colour scheme.

"That can't mean anything good." I muttered.

"No kidding." Julia huffed. "Do you think Jo's death caused that? Or something else?"

I studied it for a moment more, still sort of hoping I was seeing things. "I'd say Jo is a pretty good guess. I can't imagine that a Prime's death wouldn't have any ridiculous consequences."

The doors to the building slammed open, and Radar darted into the treasure hall with Lukas and Aiden right behind him.

"JESS!" Radar exclaimed. "What on earth happened?! Where have you guys been?"

"Please, please tell me you failed. Look at me right now and tell me the timelines aren't fixed." Lukas said at the same time.

Julia gave him a funny look. "Why?"

"Because," he started impatiently, "if you honestly removed the missing constant and things still look like this, that would be far worse than a flat-out failure."

"Wait. Back up. How long have we been gone?" I asked.

"Almost a week. This is the sixth day." Aiden informed us. "Though things only started getting really wild about three, maybe four days ago."