[Featured on WATTPAD PICKS]
The last thing you'd imagine Earth's General having is an identity crisis, let alone in the middle of an interstellar war, but for General Avalyn Concerto she begs to differ.
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When Ava and Josh arrived, Gregori was staring out the window. He stood next to a polished walnut desk that overlooked the cityscape and evening lights. Shelves full of knick-knacks and old relics lined the walls. They circled the room like the forest surrounding the Capitol building, showcasing the progression of history and how far they've evolved.
In this room, no one was watching, no one was listening. They were all alone.
Gregori looked at a picture in his wrinkled hand as he swirled a drinking glass with the other. The picture was printed on real paper, one of the few left before the war. This one was pressed between clear, slated glass, trying to keep it safe and secure from time itself.
He downed the drink, tossed the picture away in a drawer, and roughly set the glass cup on the desk. The ice ball clung around. He had to be stressed if he'd drink this early.
"Tell me what happened in the foyer," Gregori ordered.
Hesitantly, Ava debriefed him, spilling everything that happened from the moment the Black Rabbit arrived to Sam's wound and treatment. She never once mentioned Mika putting a protection spell on her or her dream about that demon man. He didn't know about Marc's curse mark either and she planned to keep it that way.
The air grew heavy after she finished speaking, along with a hard stare from Josh. Gregori picked a bottle of moonshine whiskey off a vintage cart and poured himself another half glass full. The room filled with its heavy scent and clouded her senses. She fixated on it, throat dried.
Ava felt caught between two worlds: the UFE and Amaranthine. She wanted to trust Gregori with all her heart, but she knew this man kept more secrets than any living human. If he could have his secrets, so could Ava.
Her thoughts collided. She couldn't keep track of it all: the Reaper attacking her in her sleep, the Junipea impostor, and how this villain might be a god. It grew hotter by the second, and the only way it'd stop was to ask the inevitable.
"They told me the gods and reapers are real. Did you know?"
Josh chuckled in bewilderment, then dragged a hand down his face. "I shoulda never let you spend the night with them. One night, and your head's already filled with nonsense."
Ava clenched her hands into fists, glared up at him through the corner of her sharp eyes. "Then explain why we were attacked by a reaper in the ballroom last night."
She still wasn't a hundred percent sure the demon man was a reaper or not, but twins thought so. They went out of their way to protect her with a spell. This would be the first time Ava picked a side other than her own.
Gregori touched the glass globe of their world. His fingers made prints where he touched, disappeared each time until he stopped on the North Pole. He pressed in on it.
"When did Primordial make first contact with Earth?" he asked, staring at the globe, but Ava knew he expected her to answer.
Ava stood at attention, recalling what she learned in the academy. "In 2083. Exactly two years before World War III began."
