Marvel by Madeleine Roux

Author:Madeleine Roux [Roux, Madeleine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Worlds
Published: 2024-04-02T00:00:00+00:00

16

HER GAZE TURNED NOW to the M’kraan Crystal, a thing older than history itself, a thing perhaps older even than the idea of Watchers. The pink crystal hung like a jewel among the cosmos, uniquely beautiful, holding within a city that stretched far beyond what ought to be possible, given the apparent size of M’kraan. Time and space did not exist within the Crystal. Even more curious, at its very center lay a nexus of realities. It was a beautiful and terrifying place, this city of nothing and no one, whose heart beat with the rhythm of existence itself.

The Watcher remembered standing in front of a boxlike contraption, anticipation coasting through her fingers like electricity. This was a fragment, but from where? From whom? Why did observing the M’kraan Crystal take her to this contraption, to the claw that hung from the ceiling of it and descended, closed, choosing. Then, that day’s fate chosen, rose once more, slid forward, and deposited a translucent ball. The ball came out of a slot in the bottom of the machine. She remembered cupping the prize in their hands, giddy to find what was inside, all the wonder of the universe packed into a round container no larger than a golf ball.

She smelled coffee, then tea, green tea, bitter and earthy and wild. Leaves fell once more, not from the World Tree this time, but from some unseen source, from a height, from the Heights. Floating, floating, touching the small brown hands holding the universe ball…

Day leaves grow surely.

Day leaves grow surely.

“The Ace of Pentacles,” said a worn, sweet voice. “I always draw the Ace of Pentacles for you, mija. You were born under a lucky star.”

The Crystal. The voice. Leaves. Scents. Memories.

Memories, but how?

The Watcher recalled opening that round container, a goopy purple figure tumbling out. She flung it back at the machine, and the jelly spread out like a hand, slapping the glass, catching it. She giggled. Brother will love this, I can’t wait to slap his wrist with it.

Why now? Why this?

Put it together. Watch. Observe. No, see.

A cloaked figure had gone to M’kraan in search of a power that could unmake and re-form reality. They had gone then to Loki, to Asgard, choosing that realm and that specific reality, infiltrating, scheming, plotting, lying to the Lord of Lies, then murdering Thor Odinson. Something was wrong. Something was changing. The great claw machine of the universe had chosen a new configuration, picked it up, carried it, and dumped it in the slot. Now the Watcher broke that plastic ball open, finding only chaos inside.

A Watcher must be impartial. A Watcher had no personal feelings, no agenda. But this Watcher could not shake the feeling that her own strange awakening was tied to these events. Her attention was drawn back to the World Tree. This time, it was not a leaf falling from Asgard, but a star. A holy comet blazed from one realm to the other, gathering speed, finding its mark.

Twinkle,

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