Ungodly Chaos Book Three of the Ungodly Series

Chapter Nine: Broken Time

Older Phoebie and Rafe

Bel and Emma's Home

Alternative Plane

Phoebie stumbled through the woods holding her stomach. Running was definitely easier when you weren't pregnant. Hell, everything was easier when you weren't pregnant.

“Hurry mommy!” Her son called. The Healer shushed him and looked back at her compassionately.

“You could have stayed at the house.” Janus told her kindly. Phoebie shook her head vehemently.

“If Rafe is hurt, I'm coming.” Phoebie stated and struggled on. Janus simply nodded and continued on.

“Daddy!” Her little boy cried and she looked ahead to see Rafe being led by a small girl, obviously a twin to the boy. She yelled to Emmett and Phoebie blinked. Oh that was right, the boy's name was Emmett. She shook her head. The child hadn't existed to her until a few hours ago. Janus ran to Rafe's side and began checking him over.

“I tell you I'm fine!” She heard Rafe gripe. He looked past Janus and she saw the same panicked look in his eyes that she was feeling. The changes in time were catching up to them. Janus caught the look and his expression hardened.

“I think I need to have a conversation with you two.” Janus stated, then gripped Rafe's wrist and wedged his shoulder under Rafe's arm to help steady him. “From the looks of you, you two know exactly what's wrong with the both of you. And don't lie to me and say you're both not feeling the backlash of some magical hooey you've been up to.” He glared at them in turn and Phoebie felt herself blush under his gaze. She looked at Rafe helplessly and he gave a curt nod.

“Maybe the Healer can help us.” He said softly, and Phoebie nodded to herself. She took Rafe's other side and wrapped an arm around his waist. He held her shoulders, and though she wasn't providing physical support for him, there was a certain amount of emotional support being exchanged that they both needed. They watched their twins run and shout amongst the trees as new memories about the children they had never met continued to appear in their minds.

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Janus was pacing back and forth in front of them. Phoebie rubbed circles in her stomach and chewed her lip as she watched him.

“You know how dangerous that was?” He demanded and Phoebie and Rafe flinched. “Anything, ANYTHING can happen now!” He shouted. “Not to mention, the gods, oh good heavens the gods are not going to be happy about this!” Janus collapsed into a chair and rubbed his forehead.

“It wasn't entirely our idea.” Phoebie mumbled. Janus pinned her with his gaze.

“Whose power is it?” He snapped and Phoebie shrank into Rafe's side.

“To be fair Healer, her Aunt altered the flow of time significantly while we were younger. While Phoebie was still a child, in fact.” Rafe murmured softly. Janus stiffened and stared at him next before rubbing his forehead again.

“This just keeps getting worse and worse.” He muttered. “Which timeline are you from?” Janus pointed at them, challengingly.

“We made the second time alteration, or the first, depending on how you view this timeline.” Rafe winced. “We stayed instead of going home as originally intended. But Emma made the first alterations chronologically by teaching Phoebie about her time abilities before she learned of them naturally.” Rafe grimaced and rubbed his head. “At some point Cern and Bel make further changes to the timeline, but those are still foggy to me at present. The twins were never supposed to exist to us, and we don't know how this has altered Phoebie's current pregnancy either.” Phoebie was chewing a nail nervously by this point. Janus moved closer to her and gripped her hand.

“If you'd like, I will check you and the children. Would that make you feel better?” Janus asked her gently and she sighed and nodded. Janus looked between them both and straightened. “I don't think we've seen the end of this. And I'm not going to sugar-coat this for you. You're in a whole helluva lot of trouble when the gods catch on to what's going on. I don't envy you kids your position. Gods and their punishments can be.. severe...” Janus sighed, then helped Phoebie to her feet. “Let's go get you checked out.”

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The Ruby Spider crawled through the drains and then into a portal to another world. It stretched out one ruby leg tentatively until it made contact with a clawed finger and then crawled out onto the Chaos God's hand. He cooed to it and it scuttled over his hand as he turned it over and then over again.

“Did you get what I asked?” He purred to the little spider. The spider paused in its wanderings. It held still for a moment before suddenly striking. Its venom pouring deep into the Chaos God's palm. He hissed out a sound and crushed the Ruby Spider in his fist, then let out a moan that was almost euphoric as he unclenched his hand to reveal nothing but a drop of ruby blood that absorbed slowly into his palm. He closed his eyes and feasted on the Fertility Goddess' visions. The past, present and future laid out for him. Not all were true, some were his own manufacturing, but the ones that weren't... oh the ones that weren't... what a wealth of knowledge. Glowing, slitted eyes opened in the dark.

“And as everyone knows,” The Fox murmured to himself with a smile, “knowledge is power...”

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Emma cuddled Sage and tried to hide her tears. She did love her son, but she missed her other children fiercely, and after her unfortunate run-in with the Spider, she was having trouble controlling her emotions. Well, mostly her tears. Her head still pounded at a moment's notice and it was too easy to succumb to the pain and whatever emotion was overwhelming her at that moment. Her job interview had been a disaster, so that idea went down the drain, and she didn't feel ready to try for another until she could be sure she wouldn't break down in tears or scream in pain in the middle of the next. Luci and Cern tiptoed around her as best they could, but there was only so much that could be done, and unfortunately, she really wasn't up to her normal method of 'rebuilding her energy'. Sage stretched and yawned and blinked at her.

“Hi momma.” He said with a small grin. She smiled back and rubbed her nose against his.

“Good morning baby. You want some breakfast?” Emma asked him quietly. He yelled his answer and Emma gritted her teeth. Cern came to her rescue, opening the door and Sage wiggled free of her embrace. Cern barely caught him before he catapulted off the bed.

“Woah, be careful son, you want your eggs scrambled, not your brains.” Cern teased softly. “Come on, let's go eat so your mother can rest.” He looked at her over their son's head and Emma smiled gratefully at him. Cern carried the chattering child out of the door and Emma waited until she heard the utensils clattering against dishes before she straightened and concentrated on moving to a new location.

“Just to the porch, come on.” She muttered. Her head zinged with pain and she nearly screamed. With a sigh, she hauled herself out of the bed and wrapped a sweater around her shoulders. She moved through the house soundlessly to go out and sit on the porch swing. Things were quiet out here except for the insects and the wind through the trees.

“Hmmm, seems my little helper did a number on you.” The Chaos God was suddenly right beside her and Emma jumped so hard she almost fell off the swing. She wanted to scream or attack, but her head throbbed and objected to either action, so she stood carefully and backed towards the door.

“What do you want?” She hissed.

“Just to warn you. You're about to have company.” The Chaos God vanished. Emma raised her eyes to look out over the drive. Why did she suddenly feel a sense of impending doom? She wrapped her sweater tighter and fumbled with the door handle behind her.