“Mother! Mother!” Gameala called through the halls. “Mother, she is getting worse!”
Meliora strode quickly through the brightly lit hallways, following the shrill voice of her daughter’s shouting. She already knew exactly what was happening.
For weeks, or, in human time measurements, years, Chronia had been becoming increasingly ill. As Meliora in her all-knowing being saw no cure for Chronia’s illness, they now simply waited for her inevitable end, and tried to extend her life whenever possible. Gameala said that there were only two sides to the coin that now flew through the air, waiting to hit the floor. Either Chronia would die, and time itself would simply cease to exist, as it was already beginning to unravel, or Chronia could relapse from her illness and everything would return to normal. Though it was blindingly clear that the latter was far less likely, much to Meliora’s dismay.
She strode into Chronia’s sickroom to stand before her dying daughter.
“What is it now, Gamaela? This had better not be another game of yours. You know full well that your cruel japeries are simply unacceptable in these situations.” She stared daggers into Gamaela’s eyes, awaiting an answer.
“It is not a game, mother. I promise you, look.” The prankster motioned down to the bed, where a young, orange haired woman lay motionless and unresponsive. “Yesterday when I came to give her her dinner, we had a nice conversation. Sure, she was quiet and weak, but now she will not so much as wake. The illness is claiming a much stronger hold on her, I’m afraid. She does not have much longer now.”
A large crash behind them announced the presence of another person, and Meliora turned to greet yet another of her daughters, Knoeli. While Gamaela wore low cut shirts and high skirts, and wore her purple hair in two long braids, Knoeli prefered to be more modest, preferring her long sleeved blue coat, and long black shirts, with her long, jet black hair hanging at her shoulders..
“Mother, I apologize for the sudden interruption, but I fear I come bearing bad news.”
“Well, with your sister on the brink of death, I do not know how your news could possibly seem all that bad. Proceed.”
“Due to a minor paradox occurrence, one of the planes of Earth has been destroyed. It fell apart at the seams,”
Meliora had honestly been expecting far worse. “That is no surprise. Paradoxes are far from unheard of. Besides, it only affected one universe, it is not like an entire timeline has been affected. Why is that so bad?”
“One of the human inhabitants of the universe survived. She fell through a crack in the universe into the space between planes.”
“That is not possible! That would mean that she was not originally from that world, correct? Somehow, she entered into the wrong universe. Which means that we have the first case of space and time travel in hundreds of millennia!”
“Yes, it is true. She originated in universe six, and somehow managed to wind up in number nine when it fell apart. She could very well be the cause of the event.”
“And, if she were to enter into another neighboring universe,” Gamaela cut in, “She could continue to wreak havoc on space time.”
“Someone has to go find this girl immediately.” Meliora insisted, and turned to Gamaela. “How about you? You can take your baby sister, and Kasanadria as well. We will sort this all out when you return with the girl.”
When Gamaela left, Meliora asked for Knoeli to fetch her a glass of wine. When she and Chronia were alone, Meliora could not keep from breaking into tears at the sight of her daughter. It was no way to live, comatose in bed at the age of only seventeen billion.
