Skylar’s eyes traveled away from the globe and around the room. She looked at all the empty workstations. The countless hours spent on the experiments to conquer, missing the heart carried by humanity. They knew it sat in the citrine wall. They were looking to take that imagination by impure means when the magic of water flowed all around them on this island. They were too blind to see its secret waiting to be unleashed, given freely to all who asked. This was Vivienne’s secret. She was water. Magus could have had her love, but he’d only wanted power he could control. He could control fire, but could never control the sea.
“The Dissolution has started, the release of energy is happening all over the planet. Look at the area of the US over Hollow Earth.” Vivienne pointed to the middle of the US on the globe. The Mississippi River glowed red. Its fire was burning the country into two pieces.
“Oh my god.” Skylar’s jaw hung open. “Is that our country? Does it actually look like that right now?”
“I’m afraid so,” Vivienne said. “And it’s only the beginning.”
Skylar felt a rush of energy surge through her. For the first time, the heart light moved on its own.
“This tumultuous time has intensified your abilities, has it not?” Vivienne said. “I ask you, have the earth changes increased your powers, or have your powers increased the earth changes?”
Skylar’s eyes pleaded with Vivienne. “The Dissolution. A great flood, Grandmother. It’s coming.”
“Yes, it is,” Vivienne said. The globe glowed with energy. Vortex points were igniting fires and causing craters all over the world.
“What will happen to this world?” Heather asked. “We exist outside of the timeline of earth.”
“So you’ve been led to believe,” Vivienne said. “That was only the case until the return of the Divine Feminine. If Cyril’s plan fails, this world will end.”
“We must stop it!” Heather blurted. “It’s not supposed to happen like this.”
“How is it supposed to happen?” Skylar asked.
“Change is never easy. There must be a balancing,” Vivienne said. “Water is emotion. The water in your blood, the salt in your tears. Every one of you is connected to the other through your veins. Your blood is made of the same substance as the ocean water. You are the conduit for Gaia to rise and restore herself to wholeness. She can never be whole until you are. There is much to do, but not as much as you’d think. As simple as making a decision, everything changes. Simple and hard at the same time.” She took Heather’s hand. “It takes great strength to let go of what you’ve created, but the separation is necessary for something new to emerge.”
Heather quickly withdrew her hand.
Skylar looked back at the globe. It continued to morph and illuminate with light—some from the lines, some from the fires.
Skylar looked down again at her veins. She knew she had the power to help. “I can fix this.”
“Yes, you can,” Vivienne said. “But you won’t. I told you, you don’t have to save the world. And many of these souls are playing out lifetimes of karma. They need this experience, even if it ends in death, to balance their soul on the scales of truth. Gaia’s in charge now. She is the bearer of illumination this world has not known before. The Great Mothers have tried their best over the timelines, but at the end of all things, there is no one that can compare to the power of Mother Earth. She has allowed us to live on her back and she tells us when the ride is over. If our time has come, so be it.”
Skylar looked at the globe in front of her. She closed her eyes, as she had done in Sophia’s temple, and the globe replicated, becoming a row of infinite globes stretched in every possible direction, representing the pure potential of the moment and its limitless outcome. She opened her eyes and looked at Vivienne. “We are just conscious of this one reality, manifesting this one outcome,” she said. “There are more to choose from. You may be quick to accept this one, but I’m not.”
A piercing sound exploded in their ears. Heather covered hers with her hands.
“What is that?” she shouted.
“Whale song,” Vivienne said calmly. “But it’s strained. Something is grave.”
“You’re not kidding,” Skylar said, trying to shake the sound out of her head. She and Vivienne left the lab to head to the shore. Heather followed behind.
The moon was bright and calming. In different circumstances, the reflection off the water would be wistful and romantic. But with the sounds the whale was making, it was ominous.
They followed the sound to the water’s edge. The whale had beached itself on shore. Vivienne stepped into the water, and the line between where the water stopped and the shore began faded.
“She’s confused with the shift in the grid lines,” she said. “Her sense of direction is all off.” She looked at the horizon. “There will be more of them.” She kneeled and placed her hand on the giant creature. The whale’s eyes were open, yet she remained unmoving. “We don’t have a lot of time. The weight of the air will crush her organs without the buoyancy of the sea.”
Skylar looked more closely at the whale, and recognized her markings. It was the whale that had given her the ride with Argan. “I know this whale!” she shouted. She tried to push her toward the water but was no match for her weight.
“Sound,” Heather said from behind them. “Sound frequency can displace her weight and we can move her. We have the technology here.”
Without waiting for a response, she ran for the lab.
Heather came back quickly, this time carrying a bright silver box resembling a cross between an intergalactic crystal radio and a toaster oven. It had various dials made out of geodes, and she knew exactly how to operate it. She switched it on and turned a few dials, and they all waited.
The box caused a ringing in Skylar’s left ear, but nothing else seemed to happen. Heather repositioned the box closer toward the whale—and, finally, the body of the great creature started to shake and visibly lift from the sand.
“Okay, let’s guide her back in,” Heather said.
“Allow me,” Vivienne said. When the whale hovered just above the sand, Vivienne touched her lightly, and the energy from her hand guided the creature back into the water.
Once in the water, the whale’s body continued to float down until it was submerged. It took a few minutes for her to move, but she soon swam toward deeper water.
“How did you know to do that?” Skylar asked Heather.
“We used the same technology to build the pyramids,” she said. “How else did you think those stones got in the air?”
Skylar smiled. “What about the others? How can we stop this from happening again?”
“I can set up some crystal transmitters around the water,” Heather said. “Three should do it. But that’s just here. This is going to happen around the globe.”
Skylar felt a wave of panic. This was happening and affecting real animals, and real people. This wasn’t just some cockamamie story, or a dream she’d wake up from. There were real casualties in her face right now. And there would be more.
She sat in the sand and stared at the sea. It continued to pulse and breathe and sway to its own rhythm, receptive to all outcomes. She felt a moment of desperation.