Page 47 of Langiappe & Lost Legends

"Hard to say," the dimensional witch replied. She adjusted something on Phi's tracking equipment that made it emit an alarming series of beeps. "Time doesn't flow normally between realities. What feels like minutes to her could be hours here. Or vice versa." She paused and her expression grew serious. "But the human mind isn't meant to process that many versions ofreality at once. Even with your enhanced abilities, she can't last indefinitely."

"What exactly happens to someone trapped between realities?" Dre asked, though her tone suggested she didn't really want to know.

Maeve's response was unnervingly clinical and made me shudder. "Imagine experiencing every possible version of yourself simultaneously. Every choice you ever made or could make. And they played out all at once. Most minds shatter within hours. The fact that she's still maintaining enough coherence for us to detect her at all is remarkable."

"That's our girl," Lia said with forced cheer. "She’s too stubborn to let a little thing like dimensional displacement break her. It’s a family trait. Or maybe she’s shifted into her dragon. That would help, right?"

One of Maeve’s eyebrows rose to her hairline in surprise. “Having a thicker skull and scales would block most of the magical energy and keep her grounded. Let’s pray she did exactly that.”

"Just in case she didn’t, we need to work faster," I said, fighting down the panic that threatened to overwhelm me. "There has to be a way to trace the Legends’ energy signature."

"Actually..." Lia said as she picked up what looked like an ancient ledger. Its pages crackled with age. "I might have found something. Remember how the guardians showed us the crystal's original purpose? How it was meant to bridge understanding?"

"Yeah," I replied, already moving to look over her shoulder at the text. The leather binding was warm under my fingers and humming with old magic. "Before the Lost Legends corrupted it into a weapon."

I watched Lia reach for the Oathkeeper with the kind of caution usually reserved for defusing bombs or handlinghungover shifters. I couldn’t blame her. The last time we'd consulted Athena's ‘gift’, we'd ended up with a possessed jazz band and property damage that took three days to clean up. The book had a twisted sense of humor for something divine. And it rarely gave us anything useful.

But apparently, today was special because that ancient pain in our collective ass practically purred as it landed in her lap. I nearly choked on my coffee as it tripled in size. Its weathered pages even fanned out like it was showing off. My eyes scanned the cover. Now that was something. Gold lettering spelled out "Oathkeeper" (ancient artifacts were allergic to subtlety only when it came to their identity), and was surrounded by a wreath of olive leaves that would've made any jeweler weep. Each emerald set into the golden branches caught the light like it held its own tiny sun.

"Well shit," I muttered as I set aside my Pepsi. The tallboy was warm now anyway, and I couldn’t drink it unless it was ice cold. "Either we're in more trouble than we thought, or that book's finally developed a personality disorder."

"Both?" Kota suggested from behind what I'm pretty sure was her third emotional support pillow of the day. I had to admit, that even in crisis mode, my sister's taste was impeccable. The vintage silk damask in deep emerald would look perfect in the Ladies' Parlor, especially with that gold trim catching the light. Trust Kota to stress-conjure her way into accidentally coordinating with our decor. Her coping mechanisms were getting out of hand, but at least they were aesthetically pleasing.

The pages started turning themselves. It’d done that a few times when we tried using it. Unfortunately, it wasn’t consistent in anything, so I couldn’t say if this was a good sign or not. I held my breath and read as words appeared on the page. Instead of the usual cryptic bullshit that made prophecies look straightforward, actual useable text appeared.

"This can't be right," Lia said as her finger traced those spidery letters. "Well, according to this, the crystal leaves traces of its original harmonics even when corrupted. Like an echo for its rightful guardians." The words lit up under her touch like a supernatural highlighter. "If we could tune into that frequency instead of trying to track Dea, the Legends, or the corruption..."

"We might be able to locate both Dea and the crystal," Phi finished as she got that look in her eyes that usually meant either genius or property damage was imminent. Sometimes both. Usually both.

"It's possible," Maeve agreed. I resisted the urge to bang my head against the nearest stable surface. "The crystal's corruption is leaving tears across the dimensional barriers because that’s all there is now. But its original harmonics might have left a pathway we could follow."

“Does anyone else think it's suspicious that our resident book of riddles and regrets is suddenly being helpful?" I asked with a frown.

"Oh, thank God," Kota breathed. "I thought I was the only one freaking out about that."

"Maybe Athena's feeling generous?" Dre suggested, but even she didn't sound convinced.

"Right," I drawled, "because goddesses are known for their random acts of kindness. Especially ones who gave us a book that once answered 'how do we stop this demon' with 'when the chicken crosses at midnight’." Unfortunately, suspicious or not, we were out of options. Dea was missing, reality was developing more holes than my favorite combat boots. Our best lead was a book with a history of cryptic nonsense suddenly deciding to play nice.

"We have to try. We'll need something to amplify the signal," Kota pointed out as she set the green pillow aside and conjured a fluffy stuffed dragon that looked suspiciously like Dea whenshifted. "Our powers are still wobbling from their last attack, and I don’t think we have enough juice."

"Maybe there’s an artifact in the hidden room that can help," I suggested. "They were designed to work with the crystal's natural frequency. If we could use them to boost the tracking spell..."

"While simultaneously not tearing reality apart completely?" Dre added dryly. "Because I'm pretty sure that would be bad for tourism."

"That's where I might be able to help," a new voice said. We turned to find Hannah's spirit form shimmering into view. Her presence brought a sense of calm to the chaos. "The guardian circles can help boost your energy and keep your efforts from causing more rifts."

"Can the circles handle that kind of power?” I asked as relief flooded me. Having backup, we could trust was invaluable. “We're talking about reaching across dimensional barriers."

The spirit's form solidified slightly as she moved closer to examine our maps. "The circles were designed to contain and channel power, child. They've held far worse than this."

"But this isn't just about containing power," Phi interjected, her scientific mind clearly racing. "We need to establish a stable connection across multiple dimensional boundaries while simultaneously preventing the Lost Legends from detecting our efforts."

"And maintaining enough control to actually track Dea's location once we do make contact," Kota added.

Hannah's smile held centuries of knowing. "You're thinking too linearly. The circles don't just contain power. They transform it. Like we changed our pain into protection."

A plan was starting to form. It was crazy, probably suicidal, and definitely going to involve property damage. In other words, exactly our kind of plan. "We'll need to split up," I said, lookingat my remaining sisters. "Phi and Kota, work with Maeve to modify the tracking spell. Lia and Dre, gather the artifacts we'll need. I'll coordinate with the council and make sure someone is staying on top of shit in the Quarter."

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