So here she was, rerunning tests on sensory feedback loops, tinkering with data she wasn’t even sure she understood, hoping the sheer effort would impress admissions committees.

She shrugged out of her jacket, pulled on a pair of goggles, and set up the equipment. The machine in front of her wasn’t anything dramatic — just a patchwork of sensors wired to a central processor, a makeshift setup she’d been piecing together for weeks. She connected the electrodes, booted up the program, and logged into her laptop to start recording baseline readings.

For an hour, it was all routine. She calibrated the sensors, adjusted the voltages, recorded data points. She played white noise through the speakers and tracked how it shifted the brainwave simulations she was modeling. She tweaked the frequency, logged the changes, sipped cold coffee that had been sitting in her thermos all day.

Then the lights flickered.

At first, she thought it was just the old wiring. The building was notorious for power hiccups. But the flicker stretched longer than usual, a stutter that made the shadows twitch across the walls.

Brielle froze, her hand hovering over the keyboard.

The monitor glitched. A line of code repeated itself, stuttering across the screen in loops that weren’t part of her program. She tapped the keys, trying to stop it, but the data kept climbing, numbers spinning higher than her calibrations should’ve allowed.

“Shit,” she muttered under her breath.

She reached for the power switch.

The machine roared to life instead. The hum of the processor turned into a vibration that rattled the table, the electrodes sparking faintly. A low, rushing sound filled the air, like water pulled through a drain.

The room bent.

Not physically — not in a way she could explain — but her vision warped, the edges curving as if the walls were folding inward. The fluorescent lights stretched, bleeding into streaks of white. The sound deepened, a whirlpool in her ears.

Brielle tried to back away, but her legs felt pinned, like gravity had shifted.

There was a flash. Blinding, sharp, swallowing.

And then silence.

She gasped, stumbling backward. The machine sat quiet on the table, as if nothing had happened. Her laptop screen glowed steadily, no glitches, no strange code. The lab looked the same — walls, benches, the faint smell of disinfectant.

But the air felt heavier, charged.

Brielle ripped off her goggles and pressed her hands to her face. Her pulse raced. She told herself it was just exhaustion, too much caffeine, too many late nights. She’d fried the system, scared herself, nothing more.

Except when she walked out, the world felt wrong.

The campus looked the same at first glance. The quad stretched out under the glow of lampposts, pathways scattered with late-night stragglers. But the people glanced at her longer than usual, their eyes lingering, whispers floating after she passed.

At first, she thought she had something on her face. She tugged at her shirt, adjusted her hair. But the looks kept coming.

Her phone buzzed. Notifications poured in — dozens of them, lighting up her screen so fast she couldn’t catch them all. Mentions, tags, reposts.

Confused, she stopped in front of one of the library windows and caught her reflection.

Her breath hitched.

It was her. Same black curls tumbling past her shoulders, same features, same brown skin and familiar eyes. But… not.

Her cheekbones looked sharper, her lips fuller, her curls glossier. Her skin glowed under the lamplight like it had been airbrushed. She didn’t look different, not exactly. She looked like herself on her best day ever, magnified, the kind of effortless beauty she only ever saw on billboards.

Her phone buzzed again. She swiped, and the words blurred together:

Brisbunches1_: Brielle spotted leaving campus lab at midnight, new pics just dropped, she’s glowinggg.

She backed away from the window, heart racing.

And then a voice cut through the night.

“Oh my God—” a girl gasped, clutching her friend’s arm. Her eyes were wide, fixed on Brielle. “That’s her.”

Brielle blinked. “Me?”

The girl nodded, breathless. “You’re Brielle. Like… the Brielle.”

More eyes turned.

“Tell Abriella that Gail’s Prince has arrived in New Orleans and is currently having coffee with Armaund and I.” Watching Thenasus’ eyes widen almost had Jean Pierre chuckling.  “If she could please come most expeditiously, we would appreciate it.  He is…touchy…and a bit impatient to see his redhead.”  Jean Pierre smiled.

"I'm sorry did you say…" Thenasus leaned towards Jean Pierre, his eyes narrowing slightly; he was sure he had to have heard wrong.   He hadn't even had a chance to work with Gail to obtain any information on her supposed Prince, and yet he had somehow found Jean Pierre in New Orleans?  

"Oh yes, an actual Prince too, of Uffern no less.  Youngest brother of King Kellen, although I can say that they seem nothing alike, thank the Source." Jean Pierre's smile didn’t reach his eyes and was tight.  Both he and Thenasus had encountered Kellen in the past, neither wished to again.  "I was at one point a tad worried for Armaund's safety.  It seems Prince Karlen is rather touchy and the possible insinuation of her dead, I mean she IS in Hell, just about had him exploding.  Thankfully he does have more composure and restraint than his elder brother."

"Lovely.  I am sure Abriella won't be able to contain her excitement for that kind of response." Thenasus said with so much sarcasm that the air was rife with it.  The tall guard had a feeling that this could explode if handled wrong, on both the Uffernian and Imperium fronts.

"He is at least ready to relinquish title and royal standing so he can come to the realm.  Not even a blink when I mentioned it." Jean Pierre noticed Thenasus was as shocked at this as he'd been.

"I'll tell Abriella.   As soon as she's available, I'm sure she'll be down.  We’ve had an interesting day or so, you’ll have to have Anna fill you in." The guard shook his head.   Had the Fates decided no one got to sleep or peace in the realm for the foreseeable future?  Between the disaster at breakfast with Yael, the arrival of Kaylin and Asher, the expected oncoming conflict with Damien, the idiot spectre who almost got his…wife? killed the night before and now this, he wondered how much more could go wrong.  That had all happened before midnight the previous day.  Now this one was starting with an Uffernian Prince wishing an audience with the Queen.  What next, a proposal from…no, he was going to not even think anything of the sort.  The damn Fates would probably make it happen, at this rate, and trying to contain Cruz if one more thing went upended would be…a headache.

****

“Prince Karlen, I have been informed that you wish an audience with me.”  Abriella gave no notice before she appeared in the antique shop, where Armaund and Jean Pierre were quite sure that they would soon become tea leaves, from how much they were going through waiting for her to show up to handle their guest.  She was dressed in an elegant suit and anyone not in the know might mistake her for a powerful business woman.  Powerful she was, but her business was normally death and warfare, not paperwork and money making.

Karlen, for his part, rose and bowed to the Queen.  He knew she held the key to seeing Sophia, who he had learned went by Gail when awake.  “Queen Abriella, I did.  However, please, I relinquish all title and standing, as I understand that our realms are not, nor have ever been, allies, so I am no longer a Prince.  I come before you as a humble demon, wishing to enter your realm in search of the woman I’ve loved and searched many realms and worlds over for three hundred years for.  I know her as Sophia, but I know in her waking hours that she can go by other names.  If it pleases, your highness, I would just like the chance to finally be with her.”  For the first time in his long life, he was truly nervous.  His voice was sincere, and there was even a slight pleading sound to it at the end.

If she did not believe him or refused him, he did not know what he would do.  If his Sophia was truly friends with Abriella then declaring war on her realm to get to her would be the exact opposite of a good thing.  The Queen was far more beautiful and composed than even the rumors that had reached Uffern had stated.  Possibly his brother, Kellen, could negotiate something if this endeavor failed.  Karlen would not be deterred, he had worked too hard and for too long to just give up.  

“I was informed that you were willing to do so.  Your powers will be partially bound till you have proven yourself trustworthy within my realm.  I have been advised of the previous relations between your family and my grandfather.  While he has made some…changes…in his demeanor, I cannot allow war to break out. No does your brother have a diplomatic relationship with my reign.  I am sure you understand my position.”  Abriella had a soft smile and inclined her head.  Gail had no clue she was there, nor that Karlen had been found.  Truthfully she didn’t trust him, and until it could be confirmed that he WAS her dream Prince, suspicion would reign supreme.  There had been enough upset in Imperium in the last twenty-four hours to last her for a long time.  When she returned she still needed to have her conversation with Leandre about the upcoming visit she was going to make to Damien.

“Your Majesty, I shall agree to any provisions required in order to be with Sophia.  If there are any tests that I must endure, I shall agree to those too.  I have anticipated this day for centuries, I will let nothing stand in my way if I can eliminate it easily.” Karlen’s expressions and voice were resolute, but not confrontational.  While trying not to sound as desperate as he felt, he did want to convey that he was not going to challenge her in any way regarding the requirements to be a guest of Imperium. 

“Orpheus, Andronicus?”  From the shadows stepped two of Abriella’s Royal Guard.  Both dressed in their more regal gear, they were being tasked with “babysitting” the Prince until it had been determined whether he could be trusted.  “These two guards will be with you at all times.  If you try to leave the realm with Gail, it will be considered and act of war, and you will feel the force of all four of the Horsemen upon Uffern.  If you are being honest regarding your intentions, then within time we can make changes to these requirements. We are still chasing the beings that had Gail enthralled and I will not allow her to be endangered because of your obsession with her.”  Abriella’s chin was lifted, but her voice was not confrontational.  At the moment, she was walking the fine line between a friend and the regent of the realm.  It was not a comfortable one for her.  She knew that further separation from Karlen, should he prove to be the one Gail had described, would only cause the sweet woman more pain.  

“You will have no argument from me, Your Majesty.  I will follow whatever rules you lay out to be able to be able to see if what we have experienced over the centuries in dreams can come into the waking world as well.”  Karlen nodded in deference to her, grateful that he wasn’t being chained, literally, in some kind of dungeon or jail.  His brother was not known for his friendly relationships with other realms, so that he was no met with outright hostility was at least a step in the right direction as far as he was concerned.