The Emergence of Expanding Light: Book IV of the Pan Chronicles

By J. M. Stephen

When is a Pan not a Pan?

This is only the first of many puzzles Pippa will face before the final confrontation of Light and Dark. Of course, half the battle will be knowing which questions to ask to start with. But one thing is sure: nothing will be the same for any of Pippa’s family and friends, including her newest friend, Sky, as the Chronicles of Pan come to their conclusion.

• Language: English
• Publisher: DX Varos Publishing
• Release date: Feb 7, 2023
• ISBN: 9781955065733

J. M. Stephen

J. M. Stephen is an author and educator with a penchant for mythologies and history. She loves the woods, secluded places, reading Virginia Woolf and being out in nature. She has taught writing, literature and publishing at The Gotham Writer's Workshop and The New School. Her articles and short stories have appeared in numerous publications. Aside from her young adult series, she is also the author of the adult biblical fantasy, Nod and four works of literary fiction. She now writes for newspaper The Deerfield Valley News in the southern Vermont town where she lives with her family.

Book preview

Pippa’s stomach dropped, her legs went weightless, and her chest swelled as the ground flew from her feet and they rose higher into the sky. The Main Street feel of Hudson, New York grew smaller until the people looked like dots and the buildings like toys as the air whooshed against her skin like it was picking her body clean. She entwined her fingers tightly with Sky’s as they rose higher into the atmosphere. Pippa had learned enough from school and TV to know that the farther you got into the stratosphere, the colder it became and while a chill graced her skin as they headed into the clouds, she wasn’t freezing, even though she knew she should be. She also knew from the same school and TV that once you reach a certain point, you lose altitude and cannot breathe, you pass out completely, but that did not happen either. Pippa took a deep breath and another and then another. She was fine here.

Zou want to go fast? Sky asked with his thick French accent. He turned to face her with a smile on his face.

Yes! she cried. With that the air swirled faster as they shot sideways through it. Whips of wind danced around her as the inertia of her movements fluttered inside her body and they bounded through the clouds that tasted like vapor when she breathed them in. They were so high now that she couldn’t make out the land anymore, it was all just grass and road streaming underneath her like a giant kaleidoscope. They could have been over Hudson, or New York City, California, or anywhere. They slipped through fluffy white clouds and into larger, darker clouds that felt damp and sweltering. Land rolled under them but after a while, as they kept flying, the landscape changed to the dark, choppy waters of some kind of ocean.

Sky looked over at her and waved. His bright white hair shone against the darkness of the sky and ahead of them, in the distance, there were stars... and space. Sky stopped and they hovered in the air and though there was nowhere to stand, they remained still above it all. It is beautiful, especially in the dark, no? Sky asked as they levitated just inside a misty, white cloud. The bright lights of the cities on earth glistened below as they hovered over a black ocean and the night sky hung in a canopy of stars.

How far can we go? Can we fly to space? The bright red light of Mars and the mists of the blue of Venus shone before her and Pippa wondered how close she could get to them. She knew that this far in the stratosphere she shouldn’t be able to breathe, not on her own, and fairy magic must have been working within Sky to allow them to stay like this. But how far did it go? Could she walk on Mars without a second thought or were they bound to this planet?

We cannot go much farther, no. We are close enough to the earth; we still have air. Even in the Fairy World, Sky has... limits, of course. We all have limits. He smiled again and Pippa wondered why he’d been labeled antisocial. We know of the one with no limits, the One they say, and to have no limits is…dangerous.

"So, what do you do? What can you do?" Pippa asked as they levitated. At one point, Sky let go of Pippa’s hand and she nearly cried out, worried she’d plummet to her death, but she stayed in the air, huddled in the midst of a cloud.

Do not worry, my powers spread, if I can hover, so can you. You’re safe here.

Thank you, Pippa said, watching as Sky sat right down crisscrossing on the cloud that held him. Pippa did the same and found sitting on a cloud to be surprisingly comfortable. So, what are you protecting? Inner Earth protects the Core... or at least he should have, Pan protects the forest, Vati protects water.

All of it, Sky said, gazing out at the vast night before them. There are stars and rocks in this place, and the magnetic field around the core spreads through the sky. And Aurora, you have not seen Aurora yet?

Who is she?

Not who, what. With that Sky took her hand and they zipped to another cloud. Down below them lights danced about in swirls of green and blue, soft pinks and lavenders. These lights looked like ballerinas, pirouetting on tiptoes as the bright green, soft lavender and neon blue lights scampered about. Aurora, he said. The Northern Lights, I believe you say?

The Northern Lights, Pippa said, looking down in awe of them. The lights moved with such purpose, like they were living creatures. Are there light nymphs in there?

No, only magnetic forces that keep radiation from the sun away from the planet. I am tasked with helping make sure Aurora does her job. And there are things in space, rocks, junk... that must be kept away. I remember, when the last large rock hit the earth... when the Sisters were fighting, I was distracted, and it got through... that was not a good day.

The time the dinosaurs were wiped out? Sky nodded yes to Pippa’s guess and a strand of his white hair fell into his face. You’re that old? Vati is a replacement, she’s not that old…Pan is... was... is… Pippa’s heart sank when she remembered him. His body was at her father’s house, unresponsive and in a coma, while... Pan, the essence of him, was with Ruinae and she needed to help him. I’m sorry, Pan…

You love him, no? Sky asked. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a leather-bound book. I find that love... humans and love... but poetry... humans wrote beautiful poetry and I write some. He fumbled a bit with the book, like he was embarrassed of it. Here, he opened the book and started reading. They say it is red, love/It is a rose and a heart made to look like what it is not/A heart is not concentric shapes tied together by want/But a beating instrument/No, love is not red/But white/Presence of all color/Then it is black/A deep hole/ Sadness. Sky looked Pippa in the eye, and she smiled sadly at him. I have seen you with him... I can see you... all of you... sometimes my brothers and sister appear in my head. I do not want to spy, but sometimes they are there... and you. He loves you.

How do you see us? I don’t remember your presence.

Sky shook his head and looked out, far away. There are things in the Heavens, they help me to see you. Sometimes I simply get an image of you. I don’t ask for it, but I know how you’ve been.

Is he okay? Pan? Do you know? Pippa asked urgently.

I have not seen him... not since he was put under the spell... but I felt a cold chill when it happened, and I knew he was in trouble.

Why didn’t you come? Why have you never come?

Sky looked away, then into the clouds. I am from the Heavens, you see, and something was taken from there…it has not been forgotten. Or forgiven.

Pippa wanted to ask what it was, but she knew enough from conversations with Queen Mab and the Lady of the Lake to know that it was no use trying to convince any fairy creatures to talk when they did not wish to. How old are you, Sky? Pippa asked as she searched his face. He looked to be about her age, sixteen, maybe seventeen.

Not as old as the Queens…I came after... long after, but older than... the rest.

Has there ever been another sky?

No, he said quickly, like there was something more to say on that subject but he couldn’t…or wouldn’t.

So, before you came into existence… Pippa was not sure how this sentence should go.

The land was formless, and void and darkness hovered over the face of the earth.

That’s from The Bible, Pippa observed.

Light was first. It was the light and it condensed into a single point and burst outward, and we got worlds and universes and stars and space dust and…light. First there was light, and it is the light we should celebrate and the light we should fear.

Light? Like light nymphs or the sun? Pippa racked her brain, wondering what he meant.

Sky shook his head like he was shaking something loose. I am sorry, silly me, so silly, getting serious when we are in this beautiful place, and you are here, Philippa and I am going to help. I have decided. He spoke with finality and Pippa smiled at him.

What’s your name? Are you like Pan... he goes by Pan... never had another name.

Please call me Sky. I have tried other names, some have stuck. I have favorites but call me Sky. I prefer.

Pippa knew it was important to respect a person, or a Fairer’s preferred name. Still, she asked, What was the name you liked best?

Anga, Sky said. A place in Africa... it is now called Kenya; they speak a language called Swahilli there and their word for Sky... it is Anga. I remember when I first heard it. The language was very new then and I loved it. Anga... it is Sky... and I was for many years... Anga. But others have called me by different names. Nebe, Ceil, Himmin.

I see, Pippa said. Sky looked at her and smiled thoughtfully.

Zou want to see where I live, no?

In the Land of the Fairies? Pippa asked. The Lady of the Lake’s realm was another world, so was Inner Earth where her brother now lived. Pippa pictured castles in the clouds and flowers that grew on wind currents.

No. Here, Sky said. I live here. In the most magical city. Light! So might light!

So, there’s no realm of sky in the Land of the Fairies?

There is... it is... all over... it is just... sky, Sky said as if her question didn’t really make sense. Not the Heavens no, I do not live in the Heavens, which is another realm entirely and it is not as it was. I have not lived there in…ages.

So, you live on earth?

I do, Sky said. Then he laughed. What’s so strange about that?

You’re so kind... why do they call you antisocial?

I am different. No one has ever liked what is different, even the good guys, they find a way to dislike, to avoid what is different, Sky said softly before looking up at her and smiling. Would you like to see the city where I live? I promise it is beautiful.

Let’s go! Pippa called.

To Paris! he called as they flew so fast the wind currents nearly knocked her back. Pippa grasped his hand more tightly and they made a beeline over the ocean. They flew for only a few moments before Pippa saw land. The outline of England looked surprisingly the same as on the maps she’d seen in her Social Studies textbook, so did Ireland, and the coast of France look so familiar as it came upon them. They flew high for a while and then the weight of the wind intensified for a second as Sky started to descend.

The land came slowly into view. It was nighttime and it took Pippa a moment to recognize the city. She’d never been there and had only seen it in the movies. But there it was, the lights, so many lights, even at night the city was lit up like a star. The Seine, the river that ran through the city, curved toward them and the great stone buildings and tiny cobblestone streets pulsated before her. They stopped after a moment and hovered in the air, just high enough so as not to be seen by a passing night owl.

I’ve never been to Paris! Pippa cried. You live in Paris? Not the Land of the Fairies?

Oui, Sky said. Sadly, there are no fairies where I live. Sky hung his head for a moment like he was remembering something. Then he looked up, shaking it off. But, why live with fairies when there is Paris? This place is beautiful, no? They hovered a little more as Pippa looked out. The outline of Notre Dame stood stark in the distance and even with the construction from the fire, it was beautiful. After another second, Sky took her hand and they zipped to the Eiffel Tower. She saw it coming, that great metal sculpture settled in the middle of a beautiful tree lined park. They zipped toward it like arrows to a bullseye. The tower grew bigger as they zipped closer and Sky descended on it, landing through the fenced in gates and right at the top in the outdoor observation deck. Ze most beautiful place to see the city.

Wow, Paris, you live in Paris? I guess if you could live anywhere you want... do anything, why not live here?

Why not? Sky declared and he stepped back, giving Pippa an extra moment to take it in. This part of the world was not always developed. I lived in Africa for a long time, back when this place was barely civilized. And Europe has had so many distasteful wars. Africa was much more peaceful. Then I lived in a place called China. I spent some time in an emperor's home there. Then, and this was only a few years ago... some Vikings–

The Vikings were only a few years ago? Pippa asked, half laughing.

Well, maybe not to you... but for me there has been so much time.

Are you the oldest Pan?

The oldest of the living Pans, yes. But also, the first.

The first? You’re the first?

The Heavens came first, after the light that is so harrowing and the Queens and... .. other things, I appeared. I woke up and knew I had to protect all I saw.

Pans are protectors, Pippa recited something Queen Mab had once said to her. Sky nodded and they both looked out. The cool metal of the Eiffel Tower slumbered beneath her as she looked out into the distance and absorbed the sleeping city.

Why did my brother want to meet you?

He did not want to meet me, Sky said innocently.

But Eros was going to meet you. He said he was, and then, when he was down with Ruinae, he got sick… Pippa flinched, remembering how her brother had helped her see Pan, how he’d taken on so much of the weight of Ruinae’s presence just so he could see Pan.

"He wanted me to meet you," Sky said.

But he said... he said he was going to see you but instead he had to send me because he got sick.

Sick? The Prince is sick? Sky asked, instinctively worried.

A little. He went down with Ruinae. He said he’d be fine.

The worry on Sky’s face settled to calm. Ah, I see. If the Prince said he is fine, he is fine. The Prince is not a lair.

He’s not. He’ll be okay, but Why would he want us to meet?

I do not know, Sky replied. He looked out at the city once more and then said, Would you like to see where I live?

Is it a safehouse, do you have Renegades taking care of you?

A puzzled look formed on Sky’s face and then he said, No. I live alone. I am Sky, I am older than the oldest fairy. I have outlived every living creature save the Queens and... .. those things. I keep the poisonous rays of the sun away from the earth and let the good from the sunshine through. I hold the stars in the Heavens and the clouds in the air. I do not need someone to take care of me.

Sky was a thin, tall boy with a young face and big gray/silver eyes. His white hair glowed with luminesce and his skin was almost as black as the night outside. He was boyish and young and yet he seemed wiser and older even than the Lady of the Lake.

Do you know who my mother is?

Olwenn. The Red-Haired Sister, he said simply, like this was not shocking at all. I have known for a while; I do not know why it takes the others so long to catch up.

Why didn’t you come to us? Why didn’t you tell us? There was so much we needed to know.

It did not seem important.

Didn’t seem important? Pippa asked, almost incredulous, but Sky only smiled.

When you see all that I see, when you learn all I’ve learned, you also learn, it’s best to leave things alone and let others figure things out for themselves.

Pippa wanted to argue further, but she knew how these conversations went with Fairers who did not want to spill their secrets. Where do you live? Pippa asked and Sky smiled kindly at her. I want to see it.

We must go high, to avoid being seen, Sky said. Then, he grasped her hand and in another instant they were flying above the clouds.

They touched down only a few seconds later in another part of the city, which boasted of a labyrinth of winding cobblestone streets with iron lampposts and shops with art in their windows. In only a moment they were standing on a stone balcony connected to a five-story pink building. Ivy ran up the walls of the balcony and nice metal furniture with light gray cushions sat outside. From the balcony, the lights of the city and the Eiffel Tower glowed in the distance. After a second, Sky reached into his pocket and took out a key. He opened the large glass double doors that led inside, and Pippa was met with a very large living room. The floors were made of marble and the walls were painted white with gold trim. The furniture was old fashioned, but still managed to look modern, with paisley patterns and curving armrests like in old French movies. Pippa gasped when she looked up at the ceiling and saw a beautiful painting of people playing in the clouds. It looked like something out of a renaissance palace.

Welcome to my home, Sky said. The room was so big that his voice echoed inside the walls. This is where I... .. how you say... live.

Wow. How on earth do you afford this?

I write poetry, he said as if that explained anything. From what Pippa had heard, poetry was not a very lucrative profession.

What part of the city is this? Pippa asked.

Montmartre, Sky replied. It is a little above Paris proper... it was its own city, its own little place until after the War... World War I…Then the artists came to live here. Picasso, Pissarro... Monet before that, but that was well before the war. Artists have always lived in this part of the city, and I have always loved the artists, especially the French.

Picasso was Spanish, Pippa said.

Yes. I know. But he made his home here. Sky took a few steps before taking a seat on one of the long lounge chairs. After a second, Pippa sat across from him on a plush purple couch.

Why did my brother want us to meet? Do you know? Pippa looked Sky in the eye, and he smiled kindly.

Things are bad, he said, and his smile faded. Ymki.

What about Ruinae... and Pan is with him. You know Ruinae, right? What he’s done?

It is the One, Sky said. I have never agreed with the Queens... they chose their enemy, but they did not see the whole picture... and why must there be one? Only one enemy, really? Come now, the world is not so cut and dry. Good guys and bad guys are for small children.

So, you don’t think Ruinae is bad? Have you met him?

He is one of one and not one of three, that is the problem.

What does that mean?

The Queens were one of one as well and the world was formless and void…the Heavens, there was only the Heavens and I saw it all. The things I saw before there were things to see….

Why am I getting the sense that you’re not like the other Pans, Pippa started carefully.

Because I am not, Sky replied.

Is that why you’re never around? There have been so many times when the Pans have needed help. When they could have used you and they kept telling me you wouldn’t come, that Sky did whatever he wanted. But I’m looking at you and you’re not a jerk. You don’t seem like you’re the type to just do what you want because you feel like it. There was as much innocence on Sky’s face as there was on Pan’s and yet Sky was so many millions, perhaps billions, of years older. And still he was a teenage boy who loved Paris and wrote poetry.

I kept the Squalus at bay, Sky replied. Held him back with the winds. And the tidal waves in your world would have been so much worse if I had not held the currents back. One was headed for France; it might even have hit Paris it was so big, and I couldn’t let it... held it back with my arms. I would die on a mound of maggots to save this city. Sky looked like he was going to go on but instead he stopped for a moment and continued with another thought. But my brothers and sister, they do not always know... cannot always see. They are so young. I would like to stay here and write poetry. I do my job. The Queens know what I do. The Heavens would fall if I simply quit, and they have not fallen–

What is the Ether? Pippa interrupted him.

It is the place of all and everything. No one enters it, Sky replied. No one had so affirmatively answered that question that it took a moment for Pippa to realize she still had no idea what anything Sky said meant.

Anything else?

It is the place where all is born and all converges, Philippa. Every light, every molecule... but we are all in the Ether and yet we venture to leave it.

We’re in the Ether now?

And the Land of the Fairies. Sky smiled and Pippa wasn’t sure how to read him.

Should I just accept that I’m not going to understand this all at once?

Most of the time acceptance is best, Philippa. Pippa was beginning to see that Sky would not be calling her Pippa.

And why do you stay away? I understand you’ve been helping. But why don’t you speak to us... and why Eros…he’s not a Pan, he’s not a Queen. Why listen to him?

He is other, Sky replied. And powerful. So very powerful. The universes nearly broke making him. The way everything shook that day–

Why do you stay away?

Sky looked around the room, refusing to make eye contact. It is for the best... and Eros came to me, he said I must meet his sister. And the Prince asks very little, the Prince is kind and does not pry but what he asks of me, I do not refuse. He paused. His eyes went blank for a second and it was like he was taking a phone call inside his head.

The windows started to shake, then the building felt more unstable, trembling slightly, like it would in a low-grade California earthquake. Pippa grasped the arm of the couch she was sitting upon, and Sky eyed her knowingly. He did not get up. He did not bother to explain. In an instant the window disappeared and in its place a portal appeared. The Lake stood before them and in another moment, the Lady of the Lake walked through a mist. It was as if she was standing in Sky’s apartment and also, like she wasn’t there at all. She seemed to be standing not on the ground but hovering just above it. She stood before the portal, a worried look on her face. Sky, she said, looking at him. He nodded to her, as if he’d gotten these visits before. The Lady simply gazed at Sky; she did not even acknowledge Pippa. Sky nodded to the Lady and closed his eyes before she took two steps backwards and disappeared into the portal.

What was that? Pippa asked when it was over. Sky opened his eyes like he’d been shaken out of a trance.

Your brother is ill, he said after a second. We must go.

What’s wrong with Eros? I thought he wanted us to meet... was it Ruinae? Frantic heat rushed through her body as she wondered about Eros. She didn’t even think to ask Sky if the Lady came to him like this often. He’s so strong. He said he’d be okay.

We must go, Sky said. He stood up and marched to her like a military sergeant. He reached his hand out and Pippa grasped his fingers in hers.

Let’s go, she said gravely. She wondered if they should shimmer. Was it even possible with Ruinae so powerful at the Core? But Sky lifted just a bit above the ground and smiled at Pippa as he grasped her hand. With that, they walked out onto the balcony and flew into the air.

Chapter Two

Weightlessness descended as they leapt off the balcony and into the night. The sky around Paris glistened and in another second Pippa felt the familiar pull of shimmering. In a flash they were no longer in the air but surrounded by the solid stone walls of inner earth. It felt heavy, being so far under the earth as opposed to soaring through the sky. Sky could fly but apparently he could also shimmer because she was sure she hadn’t done it this time.

The nice furniture her brother and Phoebe used were all around them. A wall of books reflected those sitting on a nearby table and still that massive picture of Eros looking menacing with his angel’s wings hovered over them. But there was a new addition, something she hadn’t seen the last time she was here. Since she’d only left her brother a few hours ago, she could only assume that this something had been hidden by a trick of the light. A large stone, about the size of a small car, sat in the middle of the room next to a small wooden stool. Resting on the stool were chisels of various sizes and a couple of hammers. Pippa knew these tools well; her aunt used them when she worked on her art.

I wonder who took up sculpting, Pippa said, walking around the large stone. It was dark gray, almost black, but it glowed an iridescent green in places, like it was part of a forest floor.

I do not know. Haven’t been here in a while, Sky said, nodding to Pippa. He’s redecorated. Again.

Pippa! Phoebe cried, running to her from the other side of the room. She ignored the early stages of a sculpture completely and so Pippa didn’t ask about it. Something’s happened. He keeps retching green bile. He’s so weak. He said he was going to be okay but look what Ruinae has done to him.

It’s okay, Phoebe, Pippa said, hugging her friend quickly. I’m sure he’ll be okay. Where is he? She was not sure her brother was going to be okay. She was not sure of anything, but she couldn’t show weakness in front of her friend.

In bed, here, Phoebe said, rushing back toward another room. She didn’t appear to see Sky; she was so focused on Eros. He and Pippa followed Phoebe to a large bedroom in the back of Eros’ lair. It was painted black with white trim and somehow, even inside the earth, the black paint worked, and the white trim brightened the room. Her brother, like her father, could really decorate a space. Eros was lying on a large four poster bed with a purple canopy. He tried to sit up when he saw them enter but ended up collapsing as if under his own weight.

I’m fine, really. A scratch, a scratch.

Stop it, Mercutio, Phoebe said. He can’t walk. He’s too weak. Phoebe turned and saw Sky. His white hair seemed to glow all the more in this darkened room.

‘Ello, Sky said with his thick French accent. I am, pleazed to meet zou.

Hello, Phoebe said, then she shifted seamlessly into French. Phoebe had always paid better attention in French class in school. Eros a dit que tu viendrais. Je suis heureux de vous voir.

Ah, Phoebe, si agréable d'entendre à nouveau le langage des amoureux, Sky replied.

Phoebe smiled at Sky and then turned her attention back to Eros. He’s not getting better. He’s so strong and now... how can I help? Does he need a blood transfusion? Can I do that for him?

We don’t have the same blood, Eros said. Phoebe, please, don’t worry.

Don’t tell me not to worry. You went and got yourself injured down there. You said you’d be fine and now look at you.

Eros looked like he was going to say something but lost his strength. Pippa watched as her strong, in control brother nearly flopped on the bed. A second later he started retching. First it was just a cough, but it came from deeper inside his lungs. Eros quickly grabbed a silver bowl and started throwing up green bile. I’m sorry, just... don’t look at me. I’ll be okay. Really, you didn’t have to come. Even the Prince of the Fairies was capable of retching into a bowl when it came down to it.

He is, how do zou say…. ill. We must get him to the healer, Sky said.

What? Phoebe asked, seeming to just realize who was in the room. Pippa would have thought the French would have given it away, but Phoebe was a whizz with languages. Is he….?

Sky, he said, smiling kindly at Phoebe. Anga.

Swahilli, Phoebe said. Nice to meet you.

Merci beaucoup.

Why did you want me to meet him? Pippa asked. How did you find him? How did you contact him?

I told him it was urgent, and he came, Eros replied.

And any of the pans could have called him at any time and he would have come? They made it seem like he was purposefully keeping his distance.

I like my privacy, Sky said enigmatically. And they do not wish to disturb it. They do not understand, the realm of Sky is shared by all the Fairy Creatures. They could have come at any time. This place... that place, it is ours and it is everywhere. Even when it is so violated. Sky looked down like he was thinking about something.

What do you mean, violated? Pippa asked but Sky only shook his head.

He gets cryptic sometimes and I have no clue what he’s saying, Eros said. He’s too damn old. They get cryptic as they get old. But I thought with Pan... if anyone could help.

He is where he needs to be, Sky said definitively. Where he is always needed….no, I cannot, as you say, help with the forest pan. But I see that the Prince is in trouble. Sky came closer to Eros, and it was obvious that they knew of each other from somewhere. Sky bent to one knee and grasped Eros’ hand as he looked at him. The Prince, he said again. I shall not leave you.

I’m fine, I’ll be fine, Eros said, uncomfortable with the amount of reverence Sky was showing him. I didn’t think you took sides. And there are sides in this, I fear.

Eros started to retch again, and Phoebe jumped back. Pippa, what do we do?

Pippa watched her brother for a second. Only a few days ago she’d been so mad at him about what had happened after he woke up and realized who he was. She’d hated him for loving her best friend, for making it so Pan had to save her by sacrificing himself. But her brother had protected her when the Queens turned on her. He’d brought her to Pan and protected her from Ruinae and now he was in bed barely able to move. They still had so much to work through, but she didn’t want to see him suffer.

Pan, Pippa said. He’s at my... our father’s house. We have to go to him.

Pan is incapacitated. He can’t help, Eros said. And I’m not seeing my father.

You’ll see him if it’ll help you, Phoebe demanded.

The healer, Sky said. We must take him to the healer. He grasped Eros’ hand and shuffled closer to Pippa.

We need to go to my father’s, Pippa said to her brother. If Ruinae harmed you, there are only so many places to look for a cure. It’s Pan or Queen Mab, who do you want to face today? Pippa half smiled at Eros, and he struggled to smile back.

I don’t think I can face the Queen right now, he said as a concession.

Then our father it is, Pippa said. She took Sky’s hand and motioned to Phoebe. Do you want to see where I was going the day I asked you to drive without a license? Pippa asked her friend, who smiled kindly at her and grasped her hand. In another instant they shimmered. The air shifted and in a moment they were inside her father’s home. Eros, who had been lying in bed, was now barely standing. His legs were weak, and Pippa and Sky rushed to hold him up before they let him descend softly to the ground.

I thought there was a protection spell, Pippa said as she looked out to find that she was standing in her father’s living room. She’d expected to land outside the house and have to knock to be let in. Vero and Vincent were sitting on the couch. They looked in disbelief, like Pippa had just arrived with a unicorn.

What are you doing here? Vero finally asked. How did he? He pointed to Eros, who was lying on the floor, his black angel’s wing spread like a blanket under him. Is he okay?

You have no idea... I just... no idea. How long has it been since I left? Pippa asked. The plan had been to go briefly to see her brother and since then she’d met Pan with Ruinae and gone to see Sky. She’d been to Paris with him and now she was back here, had it been hours? Days?

You’ve been gone a couple of hours, Vincent said. We thought you were having a heart-to-heart with your brother. Your father was worried about you. He’s outside now, working on one of those cars. Apparently that’s what he does when he’s tense.

Eros moaned and everyone looked at him. He iz not well. We must... zelp him.

Who's the French guy? Vero asked. Are you one of his minions?

Minions? Sky asked. Zou do not recognize your brother? Vero stared at Sky in disbelief. Vincent got up and approached him wordlessly. He paused like he was thinking long and hard about something. Then, he held his hand out and Sky grasped it and shook it confidently.

Sky? Vero asked. Where have you been?

Eros moaned again and Phoebe rushed to him. She grasped his hand and held it tight to her chest. Please be okay. Please, can’t you help him? She looked out at all of them, and Vero stepped back.

"Is he on his side?" Vero asked, looking first to Sky and then Eros.

There are no sides, Sky replied. To help the Prince is the same as helping a fairy or a mushroom, a bug or a plant.

I went to see my brother and he brought me to Ruinae, Pippa started and Vero eyed Eros cautiously.

He took you to the Core, the Core that is poisoned with that thing, Vero summarized.

Pan was there, Pippa said. The part of him that is alive... he talked to me. My brother helped keep me safe so I could talk to Pan and that’s why he’s sick now. He took on so much of Ruinae and I don’t know what to do but I have to help him.

Wait, Pan is with Ruinae? Vero asked. He ran back to her father’s bedroom, opened the door, and looked inside before rushing back. But he’s here. He can’t be in two places at once.

I know, it’s crazy, it’s like his body is in one place but the part of him that’s alive, really alive, is down there with that thing.

Eros started coughing again. He turned around and hacked up that green bile right onto the floor. Phoebe gasped and turned around, her face in her hands like she was about to start crying. Even Vero looked at Eros with pity. That’s when the door opened and the light in the room shifted as Pippa’s father entered.

The eyes of father and son met for a long moment. Her father had come out of the tree, out of wherever he’d been after he’d died more a gas than a solid, but since returning to the Human World he’d been more solid than gas. Just then, he looked pretty normal, his fingers didn’t even go through the door as he opened it. There was an oil stain on his red and black flannel shirt and so he must have been more solid if he was working on cars. After the long stare with his lost son, her father looked at Pippa first, then glanced at Vincent and Vero. There was worry on her father’s face, Pippa could see it right away.

Son? he asked, looking over at Eros, who glanced at his father for only a second before shaking his head and looking away. Then he started hacking again. What’s wrong? Can we help him? What happened?

He went to see Ruinae, Vero explained the secondhand knowledge he’d gained from the story Pippa had just told. That made him sick.

Why on earth would he do that? Pippa’s father asked, looking around.

He was helping me, Pippa said before rushing to her brother.

We need to bring him to Pan. Where he is?

We brought him to your father’s bedroom, Vincent said. We thought he might be better protected in a closed off space instead of the most open room in the house.

Good thinking, Pippa said as she moved to help her brother. She put one arm around him and tried to lift him up off the floor, but she could barely budge him. Vero moved to help, and Vincent put a hand on his boyfriend’s arm to stop him from any heavy lifting.

You’re still recovering, Vero. We almost lost you in our battle with the Squalus. You too need to rest, even if the Prince of the Fairies is wounded, Vincent said, getting up to help Eros. Vero complied, sitting back down. With Vincent’s help, Pippa was able to get Eros almost into a standing position. Pippa’s father approached them. He grasped Eros’ sides and pulled him up. Pippa and Vincent stepped back as her father carried Eros into his bedroom on his own.

I didn’t realize he was so strong, Vincent said as they watched Dion carry the Prince to his room. Wasn’t he a gas last time we checked?

When my son needs me, I’m solid. And I’m strong, Pippa heard her father call from his bedroom. Pippa followed to see if she could help. Eros didn’t respond as her father stood with him near Pan. In fact, his head hung back, and he looked like he was about to pass out. You think Pan can help? her father asked, concern on his face.

The healer, Sky called out. He needs to see the healer.

The rest of them piled into her father’s bedroom as Dion placed Eros near Pan on the large king-size bed.

Pippa gasped when she saw Pan lying there. She remembered the boy she’d just visited near the Core. He’d taken her in his arms and held her close, he’d been so wise and so strong and now there he was, lying in bed like he was gone. Pippa put her hand to her mouth to stop herself from crying as she watched her brother writhe in pain next to Pan.

What do we do? Vincent asked. He looked back at Phoebe, who’d followed everyone in. Are you okay? he asked her, pulling her closer he draped an arm around her and comforted their friend. Phoebe looked away from Eros for a second before glancing back at the group.

He said he could handle it. I told him not to take on so much.

We cannot lose him, Sky said very definitively as Eros closed his eyes and went limp.

What do you know? Dion asked, looking over at Sky. What’s wrong with him?

Do you two know each other? Pippa asked her father.

He disappeared well before I came on the scene, Dion replied. Do you know my son?

He must not perish, Sky said once again and before anyone else could reply, Pan started to glow. Pippa had seen many strange things since this started. She’d seen her brother grow wings and fly; she’d watched red lights come out of his hands. She’d seen her own green lights and Pan’s blue lights; she’d flown all the way to Paris and shimmered back and forth between worlds more magical than any story she’d ever heard. But the glow of Pan was so white, so brilliant, it was like nothing she’d ever seen before except….

The Ether.

A sense of peace and calm descended as the white glow spread from Pan. Everyone saw it. This wasn’t like when