1.0 Prologue

"Are you done chuckling?"

As a response, Caspian fell off his chair, chuckling louder. Celio's jaw clenched. Gods know, he would've never asked that trickster for help if fifty sentries hadn't failed.

Caspian stood up and took a seat again. He looked into Celio's bulging eyes with a smug smile.

"Do you not see the irony of the situation?"

Celio's lips pressed together. He drew a breath to calm down.

"Do we have a deal or not?"

Caspian leaned back in his chair.

"It depends if you agree with my nonnegotiable terms."

Celio asked:

"What are they?"

Caspian's eyes flashed.

"I want my freedom and an unregistered empty shell."

Celio cocked his head.

"Why do you need an unregistered shell?"

"That's my problem."

Celio narrowed his eyes. It doesn't matter what he has to offer up to get Hadrian back, he will.

"You have a deal."

Caspian ordered:

"Give me my watch back."

"What watch?"

"The one that was confiscated with all my belongings when my sentence started. I'm not listening to anything more you have to say until you bring it back."

Celio exhaled through pursed lips.

"Now is not the time to act spoiled. I have a lot to explain before you start."

Caspian glanced at his nails.

"I was clear. As soon as you bring it, I'll be all ears."

Celio's jaw clenched again, and he looked at the sentry on the side. He ordered:

"Use a portal gun and get all his belongings back."

The sentry drew out a gun from his holster and pointed it in front of him. He closed his eyes, then as quickly as he pulled the trigger, a gold portal appeared.

He passed through it and the portal disappeared. Celio looked at Caspian who was still looking at his nails.

"How were his soul flakes scattered in the multiverse?"

Celio answered:

"Neo downloaded his soul, his shell is empty."

Caspian looked up, and his eyes turned cold.

"Did you catch him?"

"No, he is still on the loose."

"Why did he go after Hades?"

Despite seething, Celio took a breath and answered:

"His name is Hadrian, and we're uncertain."

"How many soul flakes are scattered in the multiverse?"

Celio replied:

"We're not certain, once you get the first soul flake, you'll be able to sense the other and find out."

"Why did the universes reject your men?"

Celio looked away and told:

"We don't know. Every time one sentry would approach Hadrian, he would somehow perceive that they were not the original shell. The universe would just have them killed one way or another."

Caspian narrowed his eyes. He knows he is keeping something from him, but it doesn't matter.

"Why didn't you try to save your lover? Don't you believe that he'll contend that you are part of the universe? Or are you too scared to see the debts of Hades's trust in you?"

Celio's hands tightened into fists.

"Now that his shell is empty, I oversee TSM."

It kills him he has to ask for the help of this trickster, but he knows that he'll be able to bring Hadrian back.

He's been inhabiting shells and making everyone around it believe that he's them, so he knows that Hadrian and the universes won't doubt his place there.

Caspian smirked. Celio said:

"You'll have a portal to the multiverse in a pocket of cosmos. It was the only way to make it stable, and be able to enter the universe without being caught. You'll have to live the shell's life, until its natural end. Once you die, you'll be sent back to the pocket."

Caspian nodded. He looked to the side when a portal appeared. A sentry passed through it with a box. Caspian took it after he put it on the table.

He opened it and looked at everything that was confiscated from him 300 years ago. He grabbed the watch and clasped it around his wrist.

He turned it on and felt a slight shock of electricity, but didn't react. Caspian went through the interface. He pushed a button on the side and heard a voice in his head.

The voice inquired worriedly:

*Are you okay, Cass?*

*I'm okay, Silas.*

Silas asked:

*Are you free?*

*Hold on a second.*

Caspian looked at Celio and asked:

"When do we start?"

"Now."

Caspian said:

"I want five minutes, so I can make a phone call first."

"We'll give you five minutes."

Celio left his office with the sentry and closed the door behind him. The sentry asked as they walked away.

"Aren't you going to tell him the risks?"

Celio sneered:

"Why should I? He is the reason Hadrian is in this situation in the first place."

Once Caspian couldn't hear footsteps anymore he said:

*I'm here. The Sentries of the Multiverse freed me because they need my help.*

After explaining everything to Silas, he spoke:

*It's not worth the risk, your sentence will be over in 25 years.*

*They took all the money I had saved up to buy you a shell. No matter how hard I work, I'll never have enough to get you one. It's the only way. With you by my side, I'll even be able to siphon energy from the universes, so we can live well once we're both free.*

Silas sighed.

*You're going to do it, regardless of what I say, aren't you?*

Caspian smiled.

*I am. The only way to siphon power is to change the shell's destiny. Will you help?*

Silas said:

*Of course.*

Caspian beamed brighter. He stood up and ordered the sentry at the door:

"Lead me to Celio."

Caspian studied TSM HQ as he walked the halls. His eyes flashed when the sentry opened the door, and he looked at VersalGate.

It was a massive portal surrounded by gold ore. Celio explained:

"You'll have to take VersalGate to reach the cosmos pocket. Once you are on the other side, we won't be able to communicate directly. There, you'll have a smaller version of VersalGate. On the side of the ore, there are buttons, each with a description under it. It's the only way we'll be able to communicate. When you have Hadrian's complete soul, push the red button, and the portal will lead you back here. Do you have questions?"

Caspian shook his head. Celio said:

"Good. Stand before the portal."

Caspian stood before the gigantic portal and a team of five sentries turned it on.

Once it was on, golden ripples appeared, and Caspian went through them. The ripples vanished when he arrived at the other side. He looked around and saw that he was on a platform, floating in space.

He went to the edge and reached out, but his hand touched a force field. He walked to the portal and looked at all the buttons. Caspian turned the portal on and golden ripples appeared.

Caspian asked:

"Are you ready?"

A shadow emerged near him and smiled.

"I am. I have your back."

He smiled back, he pushed a button on his watch and the shadow vanished. Caspian passed through the portal without looking back.