Ian walked in silence with Phoebe down the pier. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to talk. It was that he wasn’t sure what to say. The mystery of his own existence whirled around in his skull over and over again. He wanted answers—he needed answers—but he couldn’t find a single clue outside an eighty year old newspaper entry.
Well, maybe not the only clue. He glanced to Phoebe. “Can I ask you something?”
“I suspect it’s been wandering through your brain for quite some time. But you know you can ask me anything, Ian.”
“Back on the prison world—”
“I called it Elsewhere, though its proper designation was D97F9931.”
“Yes, there. When you were possessed by Caelus, you needed a mortal to break through the barrier that held the portal between worlds. But I couldn’t do it. It stopped me the same as it did you. How is that possible?”
“You’re clearly not a mortal, Ian.”
Phoebe said it so matter of factly that Ian wasn’t quite sure how to respond. An immortal? Even the concept seemed preposterous, though he was now speaking to an ancient human from outer space and fought a god only two days ago. Perhaps it was time to accept nothing in his life was preposterous.
“I’m not a god,” Ian said. “I barely can stand on my own in a fight. I have to overcome my own terror every time any danger comes near.”
“You don’t have to be a god to be ageless, Ian.” Phoebe stopped short in front of a tiny little hat shop. She pointed at the heavy blue braids on her head. “Come on. I need something to tame this.”
Ian followed her in. “Do you have any money?”
Phoebe laughed. “I took the liberty of confiscating Ms. Finch’s business bank card. It seems simple enough to operate. I will replace the funds in it soon enough, but I need to be a bit less conspicuous first, I suspect.”
“I guess. I just think maybe we should have said something to Alli before we spent her money. I don’t even know if she’s got any—”
“You worry too much, Ian. One thing you learn over decades and centuries is that worries only make you feel older. And after a few hundred years, it’s hard not to feel ancient, especially on a world that hasn’t unlocked any significant medicinal restoration.”
“Uh, I guess.”
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