The Touch

The training sessions were different with Gavin, Kyan, and Denly involved. Tuek didn't stand a chance against the four of us. While we were sloppy when we first began our training, now we were operating as one mind. We were connected on the deepest mental levels, knowing what the other was doing without them even thinking about it. We were the perfect team. Tuek still found ways to bring us down, though. Once he realized that we were operating as a team, Tuek brought in soldiers from the King's own army to spar with us. After a week of getting our asses figuratively handed to us, we had learned how the strange squad of soldiers were working. They weren't perfect because they were in-tuned with each other. They were perfect because of the amount of time that they spent training with each other. Training with us only gave them something else to work for.

Tuek kept us with the guards for a month. Slowly upping their numbers until we were facing an entire legion without any harm coming our way. The magic portion of our powers was limited by our own handicaps, though. We could never reach our full potential as long as the bond lassoed me to my twin.

We had spent hours discussing my situation as a group, avoiding the subject of my death, as much as possible. None of us wanted me to die just to defeat the Darkness. Wasn't that counter-productive to what we were trying to do? Kyan protested my demise more than anyone else. I didn't blame him, though. That's why I had brought the situation to their attention. We were a team. There wasn't any other way for us to win the war if we didn't work together. Secrets were useless.

"Do you guys feel that?" Denly asked as we headed towards our dormitory.

"Feel what?" Kyan asked. "Exhausted? Absolutely. Master Tuek has stopped pulling his punches with me."

"Did you expect him to keep losing forever, Kyan?" Gavin asked with a laugh.

"Not forever," my twin responded. "Just long enough for me to pass his training session."

"Funny," Denly giggled before he took on a serious tone. "But that's not what I'm talking about, Kyan." Denly's eyes focused on the horizon and I watched as goosebumps rose on the skin of his neck. "Something is happening. I can feel it."

"Is it a rift?" I asked my older cousin.

"It could be," the brown-haired boy replied.

I held out my hand to my cousin.

"Let's go check it out, then."

Denly slipped his hand into mine before we were all, suddenly standing in the center of a thick rainforest. Thirty yards in front of the four of us was a sliver of black light that had a cloud of black swirling out of it.

"That's definitely a rift," Gavin acknowledged.

"Yeah, it is," I commented in awe as I followed the jagged line all the way up above the tops of the trees.

"What do we do, now?" Kyan asked.

"It's time to channel our energy into pushing the Darkness back into the rift," I told them, remembering Tuek's training. "It doesn't look like it's caused much damage, yet. We should be able to close this one, quickly."

"Let's do it, then," Gavin agreed as he took his position to my left. 

I could feel the energy beginning to gather between us, threading its way through my mind and body, filling me to the brim with the power of my family. Gavin, Kyan, and Denly were all glowing as I pointed towards the top of the rift.

"Seal," I whispered just before a small stream of light emitted from my finger, connecting with the top of the rift. "Keep an eye on the Darkness," I told my team. "Use your powers to push it back into the rift!"

"Yes, Zyan!" Denly acknowledged before he released his own blast of pure white energy towards the cloud of Darkness. A loud hissing sound could be heard the moment Denly's ability touched the cloud.

"I don't think it likes you, Denly," Kyan giggled before he released his own energy blast into the Darkness. The hissing sound coming from the cloud of swirling fury turned angry as it seemed to billow against the two sources of light.

"I don't think it likes either of us," Denly retorted as he began to struggle against the Darkness's counterattack. "Can you go any faster, Zyan?"

"I'm trying, guys," I told them as I continued to direct my ray of energy down the edges of the rift, sealing it shut as quickly as I could. I had cleared the top of the trees and was more than halfway done when the Darkness began to surge against us. "Keep pushing, guys! Don't let it get away from you!"

Gavin threw his energy towards the Darkness, effectively pushing it back into the rift while I continued to seal it shut.

"I'm beginning to feel tired, Zyan," Gavin told me.

"I'm almost there," I called out with a grunt as the rift only stood two-feet tall, now. I pushed more of my own energy into closing the rift, sealing the last few inches shut just before a wave of exhaustion swept over me and I felt myself collapse to the ground.

---

The End of Days. . .

That's what I saw as I drifted along between realities, my mind and soul finally seeking the rest it had been yearning for. Swirls of light filled my mind's eye, leaving me breathless at the different colors sweeping by me. Stars were exploding in every direction, Darkness encroaching on the far edges of the Universe. Nothing would survive this apocalypse. An entire Timeline would be wiped from existence, all because I had failed. How much longer before the Darkness would be able to take out every reality that ever existed? Would any of the Guardians of Time step in to help me, or were they sworn to standby and watch? So far, it seemed as though I wasn't going to get any heavenly guidance that would show me the true path that I needed to travel down.

Figuratively, I was on my own when it came to solving the ultimate riddle. How do you save everything, everywhere, without dying in the end? Was I supposed to be the martyr of my own story? If so, that would be completely fucked up.

What even happened to someone like me when they died? Would my body just lie there and rot, or would I become part of the universe? What would happen to everyone else if I did die? Was what I was seeing their Destiny? Would my family die, too? Was I able to save a few people from the coming danger?

No. . .

I already knew the answer to that question. The only way to save anybody, was for me to win. . .

Was I seeing this because I was already on the path to failure?

I continued to drift through the eternal devastation, left to bare witness to the ending of Reality. The only soul remaining as galaxies fell apart around me. I began to wonder if the creatures of the star systems disappearing into oblivion could feel any pain, or if it was just like turning off a light switch? Some of the galaxies would flicker briefly before they vanished, while others would explode into blazes of glory that made me want to shield my eyes.

Then, for a single moment, I saw the smiling face of Toby and remembered what I needed to do. I needed to find Toby before it was too late. My little brother would never be safe as long as the Imposters had him.

'Where are you, Toby?'

I tried thinking about the last time I had saw him in my own timeline and how he had just vanished into thin air.

"He went through a rift!"

Satisfied that I knew how Toby had vanished, I decided that it would be easier to go back to the Harris's house and see if I could find the rift. There was nothing I could do though. I was stuck in a reality that I had never been able to escape without a struggle. I was trapped in my own mind.

'Don't freak out, Zyan!' I told myself. 'You can get out of this! Just relax and breathe.'

I closed my eyes, letting the images fade away as I pushed out with my mind for the connection that I shared with Toby. The thread that connected us to each other was faint, but I could follow it all the way to where Toby was being kept inside of a strange prison that was hovering in space.

Then, when I opened my eyes, I was sitting in my own bed in my house. My brother was sitting on the edge of the bed with a worried look in his blue eyes until he saw me looking up at him.

"Holy shit!" Kyan exclaimed excitedly. Tears feel from his eyes as he threw himself on top of me. "You've been out for six days, Zyan! Grandfather told us to bring you home so you could rest. . ."

"Toby," I groaned with a dry mouth. My tongue was sticking to the roof of my mouth. "We have to save Toby!"

"Did you find him?" Kyan asked in confusion.

"Yeah," I replied. "I couldn't sense Natalie or Greg, though."

"Dad found them!" Kyan quickly reassured me. "They were tied up in their own basement!"

"Holy shit," I groaned. "I didn't even think about looking there."

Kyan smiled and hugged me.

"They're safe, Zyan," Kyan said quickly. "That's all that matters."

"They need their son back," I said as I tried to sit up, making Kyan roll off of me. "Plus, we still have the rifts to close. . ."

"Not as many as you would believe, Zyan," my brother told me. "Some of them have been closing back up since you closed the first one. We learned that some of the rifts are tied together, and we only need to close the main ones. Then, the branches will all seal themselves up."

I could only nod in relief.

"At least, that takes away part of our task," I agreed. "Come on, we need to come up with a plan."

Then, we went to find Denly and Gavin.

---

"Lock Down!" Toby quivered in his cell as the scratchy voice echoed throughout the facility. The words repeated in multiple languages before yellow lights began to flash along the different corridors and common areas. "Code-Three! All Non-Essential Personnel Report to Shelter-Two!"

The tiny child was certain that he heard shouting nearby, but he couldn't tell which direction it was coming from. The window in his door was too high up for him to see out of unless he pulled one of the chairs across the floor. Toby wasn't certain he should do that after his jailers beat him the last time he moved a piece of furniture. Finally, with the continued shouting from outside his door getting louder, Toby swallowed his fear and slid one of the heavy chairs across the floor. He peeked through the window carefully, trying to avoid drawing attention. The boy was barely able to bite back the scream that threatened to give away his presence when he saw one of the Imposters slither past his door. The creature's slimy tendrils made slapping sounds on the metallic floor as it pulled itself down the corridor. The yellow eyes were frantic as the creature was clearly running from something.

Suddenly, there was a flash of blue light and the boy's door clicked open. Toby tumbled forward into the hallway just as another one of the Imposters slithered over him. With the slimy tendrils suddenly wrapping around his chest and lifting him into the air, the boy couldn't bite back the scream of horror that left his lips. The yellow eyes narrowed as the creature's blob-ish features seemed to undulate, its greenish - slime covered skin beginning to distort in a rhythmic pattern. Toby screamed again as the creature's eyes began to change in color and brown hair was beginning to sprout from the top of the monster. Then, the slimy tendrils pulled inwards, except for the two that were holding the tiny boy in the air. One of the tendrils shot out of the creature's body and slid into Toby's mouth. The boy gagged and choked as the tendril inched deeper down his throat, blocking off his windpipe as he felt the slimy extension of the alien slide into his stomach. Just before the boy fainted, the tendril was pulled out of his body, and he gasped for air. He could taste the slime in his throat, making him begin to wretch as the Imposter finally released the boy from its grasp.

"Hang on, Toby!"

Toby was lying on the floor, staring up at the ceiling as the Imposter took on the appearance of the twelve-year-old boy. Just before the last of its tendrils pulled into the alternate form of Toby, a blue ball of energy slammed into the Imposter's chest and enveloped his entire body. Then, Zyan appeared in Toby's vision just as the tiny boy slipped into unconsciousness.

"I've got him!" Zyan called out over his shoulder to Denly.

"Gavin and Kyan are ready, Zyan!" Denly called back. "The charges are set! We need to go, now!"

"On it!" Zyan shouted as he began to pull in his energy. He located the members of his team before he sent them back to his grandfather's side. Zyan was the last to leave the interstellar prison before an explosion of pure energy tore through the massive facility.

---

"He'll be fine, Zyan," Garus said with a nod. "You got him here in time. I have also made certain that Natalie and Greg have both been cleared of any toxins in their body caused by the slime of the Imposters."

The man made a small sign in the shape of a shield with the letter "G" in the center of it. Then, Garus whispered a few words that I couldn't make out before the symbol glowed bright blue and vanished completely.

"What was that?" I asked curiously.

"I'm giving him a ward to help protect him from any harm," my grandfather replied. "It draws energy directly from me, instead of pulling any energy from Toby. It will also warn me that Toby is in trouble."

"Really?" I asked suspiciously. "Why though?"

"The Imposters will return to his timeline in a few years, Zyan," Garus told me as if I should have known. "They already have a station in Toby's Universe and have mobilized their forces to head towards Earth."

"Can't we do something?" I questioned. "I mean, what's the point of sealing the rifts if the Imposters are already where they want to be?"

"They haven't achieved their goals, yet, grandson. The leader of the Imposters is still on his own mission," Garus informed me. "He will achieve his personal goals when he attacks Toby's Earth, then he will meet his end at the hand of his successor."

"How do you know this, grandfather?"

The man smiled and tapped the side of his side.

"Some things must remain secret, Zyan," he stated slyly. I frowned at his words, but he was quick to reassure me that it had nothing to do with me before he changed the subject. "What's your next move, grandson?"

"I need to find the original rift, and seal it closed before the Realms are forced into colliding with each other," I replied swiftly. My plan was already in place to find the main rift. Denly had a good idea of where to go in Toby's Universe, it was only finding the right moment that the rift existed. I glanced down at the unconscious form of Toby. He had a bruised cheek and there was dried blood in his hair. "Grandfather?"

"Yes, Zyan?" The man looked at me in amusement as he met my gaze. "What boon do you wish to ask of me?"

"Can you keep Toby, Natalie, and Greg safe if we fail?" I asked nervously. I didn't feel comfortable thinking about my own failure and what it would mean to every other lifeform in existence. "There's my mom and dad, too. Uncle Derek and Aunt Abby. . ."

My grandfather silenced my requests by pulling me into a tight embrace.

"Your loved ones are safe, Zyan," Garus reassured me. "I swear to it. I pulled them all to safety the moment you went to find Toby."

"Thank you, grandfather," I responded while trying to hide my sigh of relief. "Now, do you have any ideas on how to stop the collapse of every Universe in existence?"

Garus chuckled lightly as he patted me on the back.

"I have the upmost faith in your abilities, grandson," he stated in his resonating voice. "Now, go do what needs to be done. Your family and friends are waiting for your safe return."

---

The world shifted around us before we finally appeared on the coast of Florida. The rift was visible to everyone as it stretched high into the air over Miami Beach. The ocean waters seemed to reach up towards the widening rift, defying the laws of gravity as the liquid was being pulled towards another universe. Dark clouds swirled high overhead, blocking out any sunlight and leaving the air feeling cold. I shivered against the wind as it whipped around my body, but I tried to focus my attention on the danger before me. Electrical charges could be heard crackling along the surface of the rift as it continued to grow in size, giving the Darkness plenty of room to pour through in a sudden surge.

I quickly transported the four of us to the roof of a nearby building, high enough to avoid the wisps of Death while we took in the situation. I gasped, overwhelmed with the amount of souls passing into the Void at the touch of the Darkness. It was killing everything in its path.

"How do we close it?" Denly asked as he too felt the deaths of so many innocent souls. "Is it too late?"

"No," I reassured him. "We can stop this. Focus your efforts on pushing the Darkness back through the rift while I try to stop it from opening any further."

"On it!" Gavin called out as blue tendrils of energy began to extend from the tips of his fingers towards the Darkness.

I turned to See Kyan and Denly each attacking the Darkness with their own abilities, slowly turning the Darkness back towards the rift. The life didn't return as the Darkness receded, though. That only depressed me more as I struggled to seal the rift. Gavin cried out in frustration as a tendril of Darkness shot out of the main cloud at him, making the teen duck to the side just in time to avoid being hit. I quickly threw a strand of my own energy at the tendril of Darkness, making it slither back to the main form that was writhing towards the rift.

The rift seemed to stitch itself back together as lightning crackled through the skies overhead. Bolts of electricity streaked towards the fluctuating rift, making me appreciate the true forces that we were all dealing with. All it would take was one miscalculation and the Darkness would take hold forever, free to release its wave of Death across the entirety of the Universe. I doubled down on my efforts at the thought of how many lives would be lost if we failed. Just as my brothers were able to push the last of the Darkness back through the rift, I was able to focus my efforts on sealing the last few feet it. Gavin and Kyan each turned their powers to help me; once they had the wave of Darkness under control. Then, it was only a matter of stitching the last few pieces of the rift back together, effectively removing it from existence.

"Come on," I said as I stepped back to study our work. "Let's go find the final rift."

---

Shyan walked away from the hospital room with a frown on his face. The blond-haired youth felt a chill go down his spine as he considered everything his cousin had tried to get him to do to his little brother.

"Coward," a curly-haired teen muttered under his breath as he joined Shyan in the hallway.

"Go fuck yourself, Ryan," Shyan retorted to the older teen.

"Shyan, you had everything right where it needed to be!" Ryan accused the younger boy, his voice dripping with disappointment. "You could have saved us tons of trouble! What's wrong with you, man? You're completely off of your game!"

"It didn't seem right to attack a kid that was lying on his death bed, Ryan," Shyan retorted in a scathing tone. "Besides, I didn't see you doing anything about it!"

"That's your task," Ryan retorted with a sneer. "It's always been your task. Not mine, or anybody else's! Now, we're going to have to wait before we can make our next move," Ryan added with a pout.

"The Prophecy guides all of us, Ryan," Shyan replied before he felt like he was being watched. Shyan stopped and glanced behind him to see the same boy from the hospital bed standing behind. Shyan frowned as he stared at the ethereal form of the blond-haired boy. "You're not supposed to be here, yet, Zyan. Neither of us are ready. Now, why are you following me, brother?"

Zyan gasped in surprise, and he looked at me in genuine confusion. "Brother?" He asked in disbelief. "What do you mean?"

Shyan couldn't stop the slight laugh from slipping through his lips. "You are definitely not ready for what is coming, Zyan. I'll see you soon, little brother."

Shyan made a pushing motion with his hand towards the ethereal version of Zyan with a gentle smile on his face as the ghost became nothing more than a memory. Shyan pushed out one last warning to his sibling before their connection faded.

'You have to break the bond, little brother,' he thought gently. 'It's the only way that you stand a chance.'

"What was that all about?" Ryan asked, breaking Shyan from his encounter.

Shyan turned to look at his cousin. "It was a predicted visit from a later version of my brother, Ryan."

"What?" Ryan asked in shock, grabbing Shyan by the shoulders and turning him to face the older boy. "What did he say? What did you say? We need to let your uncle know, right away!"

"No, we don't," Shyan said firmly as he glared at the older boy. "He already knows that it was going to happen. He told me a few weeks ago. . ."

Shyan frowned at the memory of his uncle holding him by the throat and forcing him to recite the words he was supposed to say to his younger brother. His uncle didn't know that Shyan had a secret talent, though. Shyan could project false memories to cover up his actual thoughts and memories. He never knew how he had learned the ability, but it had saved him numerous times. Especially, the times that Shyan had returned to the Land Beyond the Realms - the boy's true home. Marano had never actually let Shyan enter the Kingdom of his birth, but the giant would always spend a few hours with the triplet. Marano knew that it wasn't Shyan's fault that he had been sent to live with the wrong family member. It wasn't anybody's fault. It was Fate.

Shyan knew enough about the Prophecy that there was no way to avoid what was coming-unless he died.

'There's a thought,' the boy thought briefly as his eyes flickered towards the door where his little brother was currently lying in a medically induced coma. Ryan followed the younger boy's gaze and frowned. Shyan felt a push against his mind and immediately threw up memories of telling Zyan that he would only win if he sacrificed Toby to the Darkness for eternity, and strong feelings of regret and remorse. "What?" Shyan asked aloud, telling the older teenager that he felt his probing.

Ryan studied Shyan for a moment before he released the younger boy and motioned for him to follow as he continued towards the elevator.

"What's your plan to defeat Zyan?" Ryan asked.

"It's not my plan," Shyan said with a shrug.

"What do you mean?" Ryan pushed, trying to maintain an even tone. "The Dark Lord would shower you with rewards if you had taken it upon yourself to kill your brother back there."

"No, he wouldn't have, Ryan," Shyan informed his cousin. "The Dark Lord wouldn't have even let me get near Zyan."

"Bull shit!" Ryan retorted.

"If you don't believe me," Shyan shrugged, "You could always go and try to kill him yourself, cousin."

"I will," Ryan grinned evilly as he looked down at Shyan. "Then, the Dark Lord will make me his Chosen One, instead of you!"

"Good luck, Ryan," Shyan retorted as he turned to watch the older teen head back towards Zyan's room. "Make sure you claim your reward, justly!"

Ryan only grunted as he stalked towards the closed door with a hint of loathing in his dark eyes. Shyan could only watch as Ryan suddenly, lurched sideways into a nurse that was pushing a cart past the teen. Ryan grabbed something sharp from the cart as it toppled onto its side before he turned to face Shyan, his eyes filled with dark clouds of swirling evil. The younger boy turned away as Ryan pulled the scalpel to his throat and tugged it across his skin, showering the hallway with a spray of crimson blood. The nurse that had been knocked to the floor by the teen screamed out in horror as Ryan fell to his knees, choking on his own blood. Nobody even knew what had happened until Ryan was lying face down on the floor in a puddle of his own blood.

The ding of the elevator arriving at the floor seemed to bring everyone back to their senses. Shyan grimaced as he stepped onto the elevator and hit a button to close the doors. Once the doors were closed, Shyan vanished, leaving nothing behind but a faint mist that quickly dispersed.

---

Zyan stared at the final rift. The one that had caused more damage than anything he could have ever imagined. It was the rift that had let the darkness through in the first place. It was the rift that Toby had been taken through.

He was safe, though.

Returned to his parents, who had been found tied up in their own basement. The boy felt a chill go down his spine as he held his hands out towards the ripple in space and time.

'Concentrate, Zyan,' he told himself. Then, he pushed outwards with his mind, focusing all of his energy on the interference. 'I need some help.'

Zyan used another part of his mind to reach out to his companions, gently stroking their powers to life and pulling them to his side. Kyan, Gavin, and Denly each stood beside him, determined expressions on their faces as they too reached out to the rift.

"Together then!" Zyan shouted over the roar of their magic.

The air was thrumming with energy as the four boys worked to close the interdimensional gateway. The Darkness had made it through one, nobody wanted it to come through, again. Only Zyan knew where the rift led, having been there once already, and he knew that they couldn't waste any more time. Their universe wasn't the only one at stake. Zyan knew what the consequences would be if they didn't succeed in their final battle.

Zyan couldn't help but smile slightly as the gateway began to glow around the edges and it started to shrink in size. Their magic was working. Zyan had never needed to break the bond he shared with his brother. He needed to find the strength in it. Breaking the bond would have only killed them both.

"Just a little bit more!" Zyan called out when he felt Gavin beginning to falter. The rift was nearly closed. Zyan could feel it in his soul as he focused more of his own energy into the magic. "We've almost got it!"

Each universe would be protected from the Darkness.

'Almost,' Zyan thought as he reached out through the portal to see if he could feel Harris any longer. Instead of the boy feeling like he was just a step away, Zyan could feel that Harris was far in the past, exactly where he was supposed to be.

The portal was just a sliver when a long tendril of energy shot out of the rift. It wrapped itself around Denly and pulled him back through the portal when another whip of energy shot out and snagged Gavin in the same manner. Zyan felt their mental screams as the monster on the other side of the portal began to torture his brothers to death. It only lasted a moment before their connections were severed forever. He faltered in the spell as Kyan fell to his knees in pain.

Everything seemed to happen in a chain reaction.

First, the ground shook as a bright light shot out of the rift, reaching upwards into the sky like a bolt of lightning. Then, the ripples of light seemed to rip open, revealing other versions of the universe hovering through the cosmos around the twins. In one of them, Zyan saw Denly and Gavin's dead bodies, lying carelessly on the ground. A silent rage filled his soul.

Kyan grabbed Zyan's arm and started to pull him away from the shattering universe, breaking him from his inner turmoil at the deaths of their friends. This wasn't the Darkness.

No.

This was something worse.

This was the fracturing of the entire multiverse. Nobody would survive. Especially, if the Darkness were able to break free from the spell they had trapped it inside of.

"No!" Zyan called out to his brother as he continued to drag Zyan along behind him. "We have to fix this, Kyan!"

"We can't, Zyan!" Kyan said, suddenly turning on Zyan. "We fucked up! Everybody is going to die, now! Including us!" Then, he turned and continued walking away from the fracturing skies.

Zyan turned his attention back to the worlds that were appearing in the skies above him, looking at the people that were staring back in amazement. Each of them was seeing the entirety of the multiverse, bared for its secrets to be revealed to all of creation. Nothing could cover this up.

'I can fix this,' Zyan told himself as he stared at the different dimensions that were appearing around him. 'I just have to find the original tear.'

Zyan closed his eyes and took a deep breath to concentrate as he focused on pulling in his energy again. When he felt that he was ready, Zyan opened his eyes and a tiny ball of light appeared in the center of Zyan's forehead. Zyan's third sight was beginning its search for original dimension that had exploded out of control. Once he found it, he would be able to push the other universes back through the rift, if he was correct in his theory.

The boy was nearly blinded by the light of the pure energy that was seeping through the rift, hiding nearly directly in front of Zyan.

"There you are," the boy whispered smugly. "Let's get this over with."

Zyan aimed his wrist at the different dimensions that were beginning to appear, shooting strands of energy to each one before throwing them all at the original rift. Then, Zyan began to twist his hand around like he was twisting a handle, causing the knot in the center of the strands of energy beginning to twist tighter. Just before the rift began to close, Zyan used his own energy to pull the bodies of his friends back through to their proper dimension. Then, Zyan held his hands out to his sides before clapping them together one time, sending a final burst of energy into the rift, directed at the ball of Darkness hiding inside one of the other dimensions. The energy wrapped itself around the Darkness before it squeezed itself down into a tiny pinpoint of light. The light flickered before a sudden explosion filled the alternate universe. In his mind, Zyan heard the multitude of screams as the souls the Darkness had consumed were released to face the judgement of Death, once and for all.

The boy flipped his right hand over, until another small orb of light appeared. Then, Zyan gently pushed it towards the rift. The orb outlined the edges of the closing rift, the tear in space and time was slowly shrinking, mending as the power of the Light stitched the jagged edges back together.

Kyan watched in amazement as the skies around them slowly began to return to normal. His little brother was doing it. Zyan defeated the Darkness and prevented an inter-dimensional catastrophe at the same time. The hole was nearly closed when another thin tendril of energy shot out of the portal towards Kyan. The tendril wrapped around the blond-haired boy's throat before it yanked him back through the portal, barely giving Kyan a chance to process what was happening. Zyan caught a glimpse of his twin being pulled through the fragment of light just before he felt the strand of energy that tied him to his brother vanish forever.

Zyan screamed out in horror as his powers began to overpower him, sending the boy to his knees as his head throbbed in agony. Zyan's body felt like it was on fire as he lost all control. Then, the tiny boy felt his entire being explode outwards as the energy inside of him grew to be more than his frame could handle. Zyan screamed out in agony as he felt his body being torn to shreds, scattering across the multiverse as the rifts continued to close beside him. He could feel each cell of his body being pulled into the rift, but never reconnecting on the other side. Only being left to drift in the endless nothingness of the Void. The place between Realms where the creatures of Darkness thrived. No light ever touched there, only the ever-reaching icy touch of Darkness.

Zyan was alone. . .

'No, you're not,' a familiar voice said from the eerie darkness.

'Who's there?'

'Don't you recognize my voice, little brother?'