CHAPTER#136

"Here they come." Abella's face scrunched up. "What the fuck is that?"

"What the fuck is—" a large shadow leapt over the top of the cars, landing on six thick, meaty legs. It had four large claws that clacked together hungrily and a ten foot long tail that whipped back and forth. Eyes adorned every side of its body, sinister eyes that blinked and then fixated on Yuki.

"Time to squash this bug." Yuki made a fist, her hand freezing over with ice and forming into an icicle. The icicle unfolded, forming a giant claw made of ice with glistening talons.

"Let's." Abella slammed her fists together and charged.

---

Stepping through the portal, Mike took a quick look around, his fingers touching the hilt of the dagger. Tink's workshop was unchanged from the last time he had seen it, and when they walked upstairs into Zel's lab, it was the same story. The only thing different was how cold it was, and when he silently opened the door to the garden, the chill that hit him sent a shiver down his spine.

There was snow everywhere, and his breath collected in a cloud before his face, then vanished into the air. In the front of the house, he could hear the sounds of fighting punctuated by roaring, growling, and the occasional blast of magic.

"You weren't kidding," he told Tink, who stood in front of him. When Tink had returned, she had explained with wide eyes that Yuki and Abella were in a large scale fight with the Society in the front yard. However, based on the sounds he was hearing, it sounded like a full scale war was being waged.

Tink tugged on his pant leg and pointed. When he lifted his gaze, he felt his heart drop through his stomach.

Though he had been warned, he couldn't properly prepare himself for the sight before him.

Naia, frozen in stone with her hands outstretched.

His Naia.

Was she in pain? Aware of her surroundings? It was impossible to know, but he blinked away his tears and moved closer to the fountain.

A large, snowy mass sat next to the fountain. He stopped long enough to wipe the snow away, frowning at Sofia's frozen form. When Zel had told him about the centaurs, he hadn't properly appreciated the grief she must have felt seeing familiar faces frozen in time.

"You should hurry." Ratu put a hand on his shoulder. "If nothing else, we can use the emerald to get them back."

He shook his head. The goal had been to arrive, turn the dial, and then take down Yuki, but with the Society at large, the plan had changed. If Yuki died, the emerald could be used to unstone everyone. However, that meant retrieving the emerald, which Mike wasn't certain he could do.

"Now or never, I guess." He turned to Tink. "Do we still have eyes on the front?"

She looked at a nearby rat who nodded back. "Rats make good spies."

As the battle for his front yard had progressed, Reggie had taken a vested interest, just waiting to give the order. Apparently the rats were planning to fight if the Society breached the front door, which wouldn't happen until the geas was broken, which would take them hours.

"Okay, let me know if anything changes." He walked up to Naia and just looked at her, his heart clenching once more. Fighting the grief that threatened to distract him, he placed his hands on her and closed his eyes.

"Naia, can you hear me?" It didn't surprise him when she didn't answer.

"Go deeper," Ratu advised him. "You said she was part of you, yes? You need to speak to that part, not the statue in front of you."

"This isn't a statue. It's Naia."

"For your purposes, she's just a statue. Visualize." She gave his arm a squeeze. "I know it's hard, but you need to do this."

"Yeah." Ratu was right. He would have to distance himself before he could accomplish anything. Closing his eyes, he took a few deep breaths and visualized Naia, not as she stood before him, but as he had seen her on that first day. Full of life and in his bathtub.

Minutes passed, but no amount of meditation seemed to accomplish anything. He slowed his breathing and concentrated on the magic inside of him. Naia's presence always seemed to find him during sex, and he wondered if he could replicate that feeling in order to summon her.

His magic crept along his skin, aimlessly wandering. He sank deeper, aware that his senses were slowly dulling to the outside world. Letting everything go, he asked the magic to move onto the statue before him, to connect him with his beloved nymph.

He stood this way for far too long, just breathing and letting his magic manifest. The frustration built in him and he finally let go of her, frustrated.

"It's not working," he said, but no longer spoke in his own voice. Startled, he opened his eyes and saw that he stood in front of Naia's fountain, the nymph still frozen before him. However, her garden extended in every direction for untold miles, as if planted in the middle of an infinite meadow.

Trying his best to relax, he looked around, letting the vision take him.

"Where am I?" he asked in a feminine voice.

"In the Sanctuary," he replied to himself in the same voice. He held up his hands, finally able to see the delicate fingers he now wore. Looking down, he saw that he had an ample amount of cleavage packed within a pure white dress.

I'm wearing a woman's body. Must be a Tuesday. "Who are you?" he asked.

The woman's laughter surrounded him, and tiny lights like fireflies lifted free of the garden, swirling around him in a swirl.

"I am you," she said. "And you are me."

"I need the emerald." Ignoring the scene around him, he approached the statue. "Naia tucked it deep within her spring somewhere, and I need it back to help her."