“Here lies the Magician and all the wisdom within; thus you will be bequeathed his last will and testament.”

  The bright light recedes and the four of us are still standing in Nabu’s library.

  “Avis!” Dardania screams at the top of her lungs as she rushes around the altar frantically. “Avis!”

  “He’s not here.”

  I spin around at the familiar voice and freeze the moment I lay eyes upon him.

  “Herc?” Madison mutters as she stares at him, dumbfounded.

  “In the flesh.” Herc walks slowly into the library from the sitting room. “Whomever you are looking for is back where you left him. The moment you arrive back will be the same moment you left, no time will have passed.”

  “And who are you?” Prisha steps in front of Dardania, her voice accusatory.

  “The Magician.” I mumble as I thoughtlessly step towards him, “He’s the original Magician.”

  “Of the Major Arcana?” Dardania asks as she pushes past Prisha, “And you can assure me that my brother will be fine?”

  Herc smiles warmly.

  “I promise.”

  Dardania relaxes her posture and takes a step back.

  “Why are we here?” I ask as I take another step towards him mindlessly. Herc looks at me confused. He shifts his gaze towards Madison, and then back to me again.

  “I— What do you mean? You should know.” He responds. I just shake my head, still thoroughly confused.

  “Then why are you in the library if you haven’t made it to the end of the pilgrimage?”

  “To save my brother.” Dardania responds. “We needed Nabu’s power to save his life. This here… wherever that is, it’s completely by happenstance.”

  “What is going on here? How are we here with you?” I don’t even know what to say, I’m just dumbfounded by the whole situation. How are we standing face to face with this man? A man who has long since died.

  “For that, I do not have time. The expectation was that you would have finished the pilgrimage and had all the information that lead up until this point in my life. Alas, that is not the case so we shall make due I suppose. Welcome to my last will and testament.” Herc spins around, walks out of the library towards the sitting room, and motions for us to follow behind him.

  We all look at one another, unsure of what to do. Dardania on the other hand practically pushes past all of us to follow behind him.

  “Normally it’s just the two of you. I’m not missing my chance to drink this all up.” She says as she rushes into the sitting room after Herc. Prisha just shrugs and follows behind Dardania. I look to Madison who gives me the same look I was giving her, utter confusion.

  Not wanting to be left behind, we both quickly fall into step and follow the rest of them into the sitting room. Just as me made our way through the threshold, they were on their way out the front door. Except this time, the house wasn’t in complete disrepair, it was immaculate. It had a similar aesthetic to Godrick’s manor, it was filled with ornate pieces of furniture and vibrant pops of color in the decor.

  But, I don’t have time to linger on this so I quickly run after the rest of them and out the door of the mansion. The moment I run through the door I slam into Dardania and Prisha who had stopped walking right outside the door.

  To my surprise, the exterior of the building wasn’t the yard that I had seen previously outside the mansion, but instead it was an extravagant city. Directly in front of me was the largest and most ornate looking church I have ever seen. Or was it a palace? A castle? I have no idea but it was absolutely magnificent. It towered above the rest of the city, which was saying something because each of the buildings themselves were gorgeous and extremely large.

  The architecture in it’s lines mirrored that of the Gothic and Victorian eras, but the design work felt more modern. Smooth concrete and bricks with pops of wood as accents. Beyond that, there was metal. It didn’t seem to house the structure of the buildings themselves, but there absolutely was metal. This is the first time I’ve seen metal used in buildings and not just in weapons and tools. This city was in the far back past, yet is more advanced than anything I have seen in this world so far.

  “Welcome to Tabathia.” Herc says as he steps aside and motions with his harms like Vana White motioning towards the board in Wheel of Fortune.

  “But-” Dardania opens her mouth and immediately shuts it again. Prisha too looks like she wants to say something but opts to say nothing instead.

  “I imagine in your time Tabathia is simply a myth and long since lost to annals of history.”

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  “But it’s—” Dardania can’t seem to get the words out. I on the other hand had no words. The vision that stood before me was just so outstanding that I was blown away by it. I don’t quite think I could put into words how it made me feel. I just wish Avis could be here to see this, even that brute would enjoy the look of it.

  “But—” Dardania sighs and shakes her head.

  “How are we here? Like, physically here. Like, what?” Madison rubs her temples gently.

  “Quantum magic. Basically I have used a spell that has folded spacetime to allow these two points in time to meet, but only for a brief time. So, we must continue onward.” Herc begins to walk away and again motions for the rest of us to follow behind him.

  “But this is Sirius!” Dardania screams, her voice echoes through the empty city. Herc stops moving as her voice continues to bounce around, he turns to face her.

  “What… what do you mean?” I ask, my voice shaky. That can’t be right.

  “This…” Dardania swallows loudly. “This is Sirius.”

  I stare out at the city that stands before me. It slowly starts to feel like a Titan looming over me ready to step on me and crush me at a moment’s notice. This can’t be Sirius. He said it was Tabathia, not Sirius. She has to be wrong!

  “That’s not possible! You have to be mistaken.” I grab her arms and turn her towards me. I squeeze gently. Tears well up in her eyes. She shakes her head.

  “She is correct.” Herc takes a few steps closer towards us. “Had you made it to the end of the pilgrimage, you would have known that. The city in which you stand is Tabathia, but at the end of the world came to be known as Sirius. So, if that is still it’s name, then yes it is Sirius.”

  “How?” I mutter. Dardania doesn’t say anything she just stares at me, tears silently falling. A lump starts to form in my throat. This can’t be true. Was none of it real?

  “We don’t have a ton of time. If you would follow me, I will explain to the best of my ability.” Herc turns without waiting for a response, and begins walking towards the church in the center of the city.

  “Where is everyone?” Prisha questions as she jogs slightly to catch up to Herc.

  “We stand at the end of the world as we speak. I am the last remaining and the culmination of my spell and Nabu’s won’t last much longer.”

  The rest of us were walking by his side as we continue through the city. The massive city that was completely silent minus our footsteps.

  “We built Tabathia brick by brick. The magnificent city that stands before you was nothing more than a field of grass some time ago. We longed for a space where we could all live in harmony as our true selves. Where the powerful and corrupt could not exert their will upon us. Alas, even utopia has its cracks.”

  Herc stops at the entrance to the church and turns around to face us.

  “The moment this spell ends, I will perish, Nabu’s mansion will move to the location you found it, and the world as we know it will collapse and be reborn again. The citizens will be aware of this, but the world they will be reborn into will not be the same one they know. But, that is not why you are here.”

  Herc turns and walks into the church. The other three follow suit but my feet are firmly glued to the pavement.

  The utopia that I hoped for is simply a lie, and perhaps something that never even existed. I turn back towards the mansion just as the sun is beginning to set on the horizon.

  Was I a fool to think that there was a possibility that we could create a utopia? That there was a place for me that I wouldn’t have to question my safety or validity? That people could just leave at peace without others constantly trying to seek their own form of judgment upon others?

  It was a pipe dream.

  Maybe the best thing we can do when we return is find a healer and then run away. Go find some remote corner of the world where no one will bother us and just live out the rest of our days in peace.

  I knew Tabathia fell, but to discover that it’s simply the same central city the houses the Order, I can’t fathom that. I can’t fathom that the two are one in the same. That what I was searching for was simply right in front of me, but just as corrupt as everything else.

  I try to shove my racing thoughts back down. I turn and walk into the church, the glow of the city now lost on me.

  What I thought was a church looks more like a palace on the inside. A giant foyer stands before me with a grand staircase in the center of the room. I see the others standing on the landing at the top, I slowly make my way up the stairs towards them.

  As I climb, I look out the floor to ceiling windows that line the walls and gain a better view of the city. It appears as though the city goes on forever in every direction. I literally could not see the other end of it. This city was massive, larger than any that I’ve seen before.

  Once I reach the top, I see a giant golden ballroom with statue of a man on the far side. Ornate pillars lined in gold and silver sit in between the floor to ceiling windows that line the entire ballroom.

  I felt as though I had only climbed a single flight of stairs, but from the ballroom when I look out the windows I can see over top the rest of the buildings. Clearly I climbed more than a single flight.

  In the center on the ceiling was a massive dome made of glass with runes painted on the windows. Above us the full moon hung low in the sky, filling almost the entire view through the extravagant dome. I have seen some gorgeous places in my time, but nothing has ever compared to this building.

  “My parents brought us here when we were young. Thinking back though, this is probably when they turned Avis in. It was only a few weeks later that he—” Dardania stops talking and gulps loudly. “That statue is of the original saint.”

  “That is why we are here.” Herc walks across the ballroom, we follow.

  “The man who became known as The Saint holds a massive amount of influence. The power that he wields rivals that of this influence. If there was one individual who has caused more harm to this world, it would be him.”

  We approach the foot of the statue and we slowly raise our heads to get a better look at it.

  “Contrary to what you may have been led to believe, he is still alive. The man you know as the Saint in your time and the man you see before you are one in the same.”

  “What? How?” Prisha covers her mouth as she gasps.

  “Upon his death, his consciousness will jump to the next suitable host. The personality of the host is completely destroyed in the process. He has, unfortunately, amassed a great deal of power and knowledge through the ages. With each passing lifetime he becomes more and more dangerous and that says nothing of the influence he gains. As long as this man lives, the world will know no peace.”

  I stare up at statue. He looks familiar, and I can’t immediately pinpoint why. I don’t know where I’ve seen him before, because it’s not definitely not the current Saint. Sure, they share similarities in appearance, but not so much so that I would get confused. Then it dawns on me.“That’s Justice.” I mutter.

  “What?” Madison turns and looks to me confused. I point up at the statue.

  “The Saint is Justice. The original Saint was Godrick of the Major Arcana.”