#67

Up above, the Old Man and Madame Levingt are flying. “Mary, look down there!” the Old Man says. There's a touch of surprise to it, as if this is genuinely catching hir off-guard. “Is that Mark, in that forest?”

“Must be,” Levingt replies. “Is he...creating a Thicket?”

The Old Man pauses, choosing instead to stand on air. “He is. Soon it will link to other such forests in The Cascade...bringing those within it to its central nexus, at least within the realm of dreams.” The voice is now lacking in surprise, and is instead full of monotone concern. “And Kurq'wes is with him. There's no 'l' following the 'K', so he must be one of the duplicates becoming a Father. Blast.”

“What is it?”

“I think Mark is what we were looking for, Mary. Which means this is going to get much tougher. Even we may not be able to break through his resultant time-field.”

“So our interference on these events will be limited?”

There is a pause. “Perhaps, but perhaps not. I told you that one of your other incarnations will be necessary. Perhaps THE Incarnation will be required.”

Mary's voice is suddenly limp. “That must mean the Second Enemy is developing. Born out of The Cascade, caused by the First Enemy.”

The Old Man nodded. “These are not idle events. Mark is changing, and this is not coincidence.”

“Side effects, right?”

“Hopefully just that.”

Ze turned back towards her, who was becoming Her. “We will be needed at the final battle. You must continue to guide Klaus, the non-Father, to his full potential in guiding the life of You. You will need to weed out the Emperor. And you must exposit, to explain all of this to our heroes, to guide them to the end. Among other things. They'll appear in time as needed.”

“I understand, Zay.”

The transformation was complete. In this form, She was the only one who could call hir “Zay”. Though as sweat trickled beneath hir clothing, ze knew She could call hir what She damn well pleased.