"Our Mother"
The world seemed to spin.
Billy felt like he was falling endlessly.
Not downward.
Not upward.
Just falling.
As if space itself had completely stopped making sense, as if their bodies were passing through several veils of reality.
Until suddenly, he felt as though a light had appeared at the end of a very dark tunnel, striking him like a blinding flash.
"OUCH!" Tommy shouted, being the first one to hit the ground.
The boy rolled several meters down a rocky slope before ending up completely sprawled out in the dust.
"I think I hate portals," he declared from the ground while feeling a terrible pain in his back, probably because of all the rocks that had slammed into him while he was rolling.
Billy fell only a few seconds later.
Though he managed to soften the impact somewhat better by using magic on reflex.
Even so, he ended up landing right on top of Tommy while trying to regain his balance.
"Ouch," Tommy groaned again as he felt the weight of his brother, who quickly noticed and moved to the side.
"Sorry," Billy said, though the damage had already been done, leaving Tommy raising a hand while trying to recover the air that had been crushed out of his lungs.
It only took a couple of seconds for Tommy to recover, and Billy helped him back to his feet while both looked around in confusion.
The air felt strange to both of them, as though it were heavier.
Maybe it was because they now seemed to be standing on a massive mountain in the middle of nowhere, since the only things they could see were jagged rocks and the slope they were standing on.
No, there was something else.
At the peak of the mountain, halfway up from where they were, stood an ancient structure that was difficult to ignore.
The problem was that they did not have a good view of it, since they were standing directly beneath the structure and could only make out its massive walls.
But aside from that, there was something else.
Something difficult to explain and yet incredibly familiar.
"Billy, where are we?" Tommy asked while dusting off his clothes and hair.
Billy did not answer immediately.
His eyes were fixed on the top of the mountain because he could feel something up there that made him frown.
For some reason it felt so familiar.
And warm.
But at the same time different.
And frightening.
And the more he felt it, the harder his heart beat.
It was like those strange dreams he had been having.
That voice calling to him.
Trying to draw him closer.
"Billy?" Tommy asked again, pulling him from his thoughts. "Are you okay?"
"Ah, yeah. Sorry, I got distracted," Billy said, calming himself. "Maybe we should try finding someone who can tell us where we are," he added after thinking it through.
"Find someone? In the middle of a mountain?" Tommy asked, sounding somewhat doubtful about his brother's suggestion.
"Maybe we can find someone over there," Billy said, pointing toward the structure at the peak above them.
Tommy blinked while looking at how steep it was, with all those sharp rocks and everything.
"Umm. I'm good at running, but climbing..."
Billy seemed to read his brother with complete ease.
"Idiot. We're not climbing. We'll look for a path around it," Billy said, rolling his eyes and letting out a sigh.
And without waiting for Tommy, he started walking.
"Oh," Tommy said before following after him.
The two of them began moving through the stone paths while snow fell around them and enormous cracks stretched across the landscape as though something monstrous had torn them open.
Though Billy had said they would simply go around, saying it was much easier than actually doing it.
Fortunately, their enchanted clothes made the cold a nonissue.
And protection even less so.
Besides, both of them were rather special.
Aside from their powers, they also had magic on their side.
So crossing a dangerous path was relatively easy.
Until they finally reached a rise in the terrain, and when they stopped, they were able to properly see the mountain's summit.
And then they saw the structure standing atop the mountain.
Built into one side of it was an enormous black stone temple while strange symbols covered the dark stone.
At the sight of that temple, Billy's magic suddenly seemed to fluctuate differently.
As though the call he was receiving resonated even more strongly inside his mind.
Staring at the temple, it felt as though he was hearing a voice trying to tell him something.
But before he could understand those words, Tommy spoke again.
"What the hell is that?" he asked while pointing toward an opening near the top of the temple, where black flashes could be seen flying toward it.
It was not a normal presence.
It felt profane.
Filled with darkness.
Billy looked in the direction Tommy was pointing and widened his eyes as he felt the immense dark energy pouring from that thing.
Because he realized it seemed to be a person.
Or at least, it had once been.
Billy did not know why, but the very first word that came to mind the moment he saw it was:
"Dreamwalking," he murmured.
Though he did not understand the meaning.
He could simply feel it.
That entity should not belong to this universe.
Or at the very least, it was using a projection from another one.
How he knew that, even Billy himself did not have the answer.
But in the next moment, Billy's gaze shifted back toward the temple when he saw enormous, horrendous monsters appearing in a line.
And the instant he saw them, he felt a strange connection with them.
But it did not take much to understand why.
Because one of them immediately brought its hands together and began gathering a reddish energy that felt very familiar.
Chaos magic.
Not only that.
It was not just chaos magic.
Because he knew exactly who it belonged to.
"Mom..." Billy said as he felt her nearby.
The moment the dreamwalker reached that place, a battle began, filling the air with magical sparks and explosions.
The twins looked at each other at the same time, instantly recognizing their mother's magic.
Then, without even thinking about it, both of them started running directly toward the temple.
And just as they were about to continue forward—
A figure appeared in front of them.
A red mist.
Descending from the sky before taking human form.
Harry.
The two of them nearly crashed into him.
But Harry moved both hands, grabbing them by the shoulders, and their bodies instantly transformed into red mist.
Yet instead of moving toward the temple like Billy and Tommy had been trying to do, they were carried away toward the peak beside the temple before regaining their physical forms.
The moment they recovered their bodies and shook off the slight dizziness, Billy was the first to react.
"What are you doing?! We have to help her!" he shouted immediately, staring at his older brother.
"Why are you stopping us?! It's Mom!" Tommy shouted as well.
But Harry looked at them seriously and did not move.
Not even an inch.
"HARRY!" Billy yelled as another explosion erupted from the temple, taking the shape of a giant star that shook half the mountain several times.
Even Harry turned to look in that direction.
But at the same time, he remained completely still.
His gaze cold and unmoving.
Billy was almost furious and was about to yell at his older brother again.
"Harr—"
But before he could finish, he noticed it.
Harry was using every ounce of his strength to stop himself from running there as well.
The chaos magic inside his body was on the verge of going out of control.
Even his eyes had turned red.
And strands of his hair had become crimson.
His fists were clenched so tightly that drops of blood seemed to slowly fall to the ground.
And Harry's mouth was trembling.
Yet he still did not move.
Not only that.
He did not seem surprised.
He did not seem like he was seeing this for the first time.
He looked...
Sad.
Deeply sad.
"Harry?..." Billy murmured.
Tommy also seemed to sense that something was wrong.
It was impossible that Harry would not want to help their mother.
Harry looked at his two younger brothers.
"Yes, it's our mother. But we can't help her."
The world seemed to stop.
Neither of the twins reacted immediately.
"What do you mean?" Tommy asked.
Harry looked as though he could barely force out the words that came next.
But he had to say them.
"Because this moment is before Mom came to my universe, to our home," Harry said seriously.
And it genuinely hurt him to let this happen.
But if he changed anything, he himself did not know what might happen.
"This is the day Mom died before she got the chance to live."
Those words stunned the twins.
Their eyes widened.
They seemed to understand the words.
But not their full meaning.
And yet the most important thing going through their minds right now was simple.
Their mother had to die.