Page 11 of The Stars

Dante blinked, trying to comprehend the enormity of her words. “The fate of all worlds?” he echoed, disbelief lacing his voice. “This is a joke, right?”

It sounded like something out of a sci-fi movie, something far removed from the reality he’d always known. He wanted to laugh at the group’s joke. Surely they were being punked.

However, Mia’s expression was unwavering. “There are forces at play that you can’t see, can’t understand fully yet. But trust me, what’s about to happen was fated long before any of us were born. Long before Hidden Creek even existed.”

Amy stepped forward, her arms wrapped tightly around herself, her brow furrowed in confusion. “What are you talking about? How could we have anything to do with the fate of... worlds? This is crazy!”

Mia’s expression softened slightly as she turned to Amy. “It might sound crazy, I know. But it’s the truth. Everything that has happened in your lives, every strange event, every inexplicable moment—it’s all led to this. You and Dante are at the center of something much bigger than just Hidden Creek, much bigger than anything you’ve ever imagined.”

Dante could feel his pulse pounding in his ears. “What do you mean?” His mind was spinning. Fate? Worlds? What the hell had he gotten dragged into?

Mia exhaled slowly as if searching for the right words. “The two of you... You’ve been chosen. This has all been written in the threads of time. Everything we do, every decision, ripples across dimensions, across worlds. And right now, those threads are unraveling. The fabric of time itself is fraying. But you and Amy—you’re the ones who can stop it. That’s why we’re here. That’s why you’re here.”

“Okay, you’ve had your fun.” He reached for Amy’s hand to pull her back towards the house.

“I am a djinn,” Mia said loudly. He and Amy glanced back and watched in shock as the small Asian woman shifted. Her size grew by a hundred percent and she glowed, growing, until the entire mass blocked out the moonlight.

“Is… that a dragon?” Amy gasped.

“I am Helios,” Lucas said, and he shifted into a massive black dog, half the size of the dragon.

“I am Hecate,” Jess said. She lifted off the ground surrounded by a circle of green and blue mist. Then she shot lightning between her fingertips.

“We are sisters Tara and Selene, daughters of goddess Rhea and god Typhon.” The two sisters also lifted off the ground and hovered almost a hundred feet off the ground.

Dante and Amy stood in the field, gaping at the group of friends.

“How... what are we supposed to do?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Just as quickly as everyone morphed or flew, they were all back on the ground as themselves again.

He’d known some of these people for years, some of them his entire life. How long had they had these powers?

“What about the rest of you?” he asked, locking eyes with Jacob and Joe.

“Some of us have hidden powers.” Jacob shrugged.

“Some of us have less… showy powers,” Joe said, his eyes locking with Amy’s.

“Are you saying we have powers?” Amy asked.

Mia stepped closer to them, then hesitated for a moment. She shook her head. “I can’t tell you that. All I know is what’s going to happen has to happen naturally. You just need to trust us and trust yourselves.”

Dante’s stomach twisted with a mix of fear and frustration. “So you’re saying everything depends on us? And you can’t even tell us what we’re supposed to do?”

Mia gave him a look filled with sympathy and something that looked suspiciously like guilt. “It’s not that simple. If I tell you too much, it could change things. We can’t risk that. All I can say is that we—” she gestured to the group standing around them—“we stand for the greater good. There is a threat coming that wants to destroy everything. For us to have a chance to fight, you must both take a journey. You’ll understand in time.”

Before Dante could press her further, Mia turned to the group and spoke the strangest words he had ever heard.

“Our presence here is not a coincidence,” Mia said, her voice laced with a quiet certainty. “We are all more than we realize, more than anyone knows. Our bloodline... our very existence is tied to this moment, to everything that’s about to happen.” She turned towards him. “You are the key to unlocking Amy’s past, her future, and her powers.” Her eyes locked with his.

Amy’s breath hitched audibly. “What are you talking about? My powers? I’m just... me.”

Mia’s gaze softened with what looked like compassion. “You’re more than you know, Amy. Far more. The power that runs through your veins... it’s ancient, tied to forces long forgotten. And now, it’s time for you to realize that. It’s time for you to awaken.”

Amy took a step back, shaking her head. “No. No, this doesn’t make any sense. I’m not... I’m not some chosen one or whatever you think I am.”

Dante wanted to step in, to shield Amy from this overwhelming, bizarre reality, but he found himself frozen, trying to process it all.