Octave of Stars Theme Song:
Welcome to the serial version of Octave of Stars! Episodes will release every Monday and Thursday. If you’re finding this story for the first time, be sure to start at Episode 01 for maximum comprehension, or check out The Index for all available Episodes.
I highly recommend you read this on the Substack website or app, as this serial is a multimedia experience. You’ll find many audio embeds below that score the story, and they won’t function as intended in your email client. Only one track can be playing at a time, so when you reach the next one just start it and they won’t overlap. If you like the music you hear, please consider supporting the artists as well.
____********____
A group of friends crossed over the broken bridge and gathered among their enemies, each of which shared a different and unique bond. Frost led them back the way he, Rand, and Yin had come, with the last two in the rear to make sure there were no further shenanigans. After a moment for Rand to retrieve his shoes from where he had stashed them under a bench, they carried on. The master of the Tower was in front, walking with his hands behind his back, not speaking to anyone. Lumina was flanked by Gayle and Azalea, followed by Ash and Cascadia, and finally the two security officers. It was an odd procession of ladies and gentlemen, young and old, close friends and bitter foes, variously bound by friendship, employment, enmity, and matrimony.
Each of the little groups chatted with each other. Yin expressed his surprise that the Boss was married, Rand that he was also a father. Azalea kept away from heavy subjects, instead thrilling Lumina with tales about their ascent and escapes. Gayle listened, adding details where she could. Ash and Cascadia remained mostly in silent solidarity, each wrestling with what was going on and what sort of turns their lives had taken recently.
Frost stopped in front of a freight elevator large enough to hold the whole group. Rand unlocked it. The ride up was spent in near silence, except for Azalea whistling the tune of another hymn. At the top of the lift was a passageway leading around the side of the building to an observation area, a narrow rectangle of a room lined with windows, and where Lumina called a halt.
"Just need to rest a moment, that's all," she said. Gayle helped Lumina onto one of the benches overlooking the city, also making sure her kerchief was still in place over her hair. Ash and Azalea sat down with her, Gayle preferring to stand with Cascadia, who paced around in front of the windows, finally able to stretch her legs at last. Yin and Rand stood by the door back to the lift, while Frost stared out the wall of windows at what he likely thought was his domain.
Cascadia marveled at the vista before her also, but in a completely different way. "Wow," she said quietly to Gayle. "I haven't seen the sky in… a long time."
Gayle nodded. "Yeah…" She sighed. "This weren't really the way I hoped we could celebrate, though."
Cascadia turned to look at her, blue and green eyes shining out like rain in the clouds. "It's wonderful, I mean it. You've done so much for us, Gayle."
Gayle's smile carried both joy and sorrow on its currents.
"Also, I wanted to apologize," Cascadia said, holding her hands behind her back. "I gave you a really hard time at the diner when you were congratulating me about selling my story, and I'm sorry. I know you were just trying to share in my joys, and I know now that the reason went beyond just connecting with a regular customer. So, thank you."
"Aw, hon," Gayle said. "I just…" She paused a moment, but Cascadia completed the dialog by giving her a hug.
Cascadia stepped back. "I'll bring you a copy of the magazine, too, so you can put it up on the wall near the window."
Gayle smiled more fully now. "I'd like that." The hope in her words was undeniable.
Rand sighed. He couldn't really hear what the ladies had been saying, but the hugging communicated enough. All his questions were getting answers today. He got his black phone out of his pocket, and Yin watched as he used the speed dial. "Lydia, it's me…1 I'm having another hard day, actually. Remember that big thing I was talking about yesterday? Well, I think it's here, right now… Yes, I want you to take the boys down into the basement, into the special room I made. I'll call you when it's safe to come out… I know… Thank you… I love you too… Bye."
Yin clapped him on the back. "If anything happens to you, big guy, I'll make sure your kids are taken care of, alright?"
Rand scowled. "You know that means I'll fight even harder to stay alive, right?"
Yin shrugged. "Yeah, I don't blame you."
Everyone assembled had heard Rand's booming voice, and Cascadia turned away from the window, her face lit up. "Gayle, can I have my bag back?"
"Sure thing, hon."
"What's up?" Ash asked.
"I need to call Aidan," she answered, "and tell him I'm alright. I bet he's worried sick."
"Yeah, he is."
Azalea opened a pocket of her fanny pack. "I should call my parents and warn them too."
"That would be wise," Lumina agreed. Azalea typed out commands on her phone's tiny keyboard.
Cascadia held her phone up to her face and didn't wait long for it to connect. "Aidan? Yes, it's me! I'm really glad to hear from you too… Yes, Ash helped me get out, he's here now… My phone is almost dead, I haven't gotten to charge it yet… I don't know if I'll be able to call you from home, that's why I wanted to do it now… I'll try to be quick, here goes…"
Azalea prayed to keep her heart-flower as open as possible as her call went through. "Hi, Mom, it's me. Daddy's call is connecting too… Okay, I have you both, right? Great. Actually, not great, because… Well, yes, we got her out, but, we haven't quite finished that yet… So, the thing is, well… To get out of here, we have to help Frost make the Prism." She started at the loud voices issuing forth from the earpiece. "I know, I know, it's not what we planned, but…"
Ash had resolved to reach out too. "Hey man, ¿que pasa?… Things are going pretty weird, actually. Listen, this is one of those things you just need to trust me on, okay? Go home and get Felicia and the girls and get somewhere with a basement… Yeah, Calvo's old bomb shelter should work great… Get him in there too and tell him I said hi, alright?"
"Hello Gabrielle! It's Cascadia… Yes, I've missed you too… My phone is about to die, though, so I'll try to make this quick. Something very big and very bad is coming, and you need to find shelter… If Edward starts acting really funny, that's when you'll know for sure…"
Conversations were carried out and concluded with heavy hearts. Gayle and Lumina looked at one other, for they were really the only family either of them had anywhere nearby. A smirk crossed Lumina's face, and Gayle thought she knew what it was about.
Lumina adjusted her glasses. "Should I do it?"
"Yeah, it'll be a gas," Gayle said.
"Drake," Lumina called, and the gentleman turned to face her, his brow furrowed. "I'm warning my family of impending disaster. Consider yourself warned, and don't think anything further of it."
Frost shook his head, his eyes closed. "You always did have an odd sense of humour."
"I had to, to be able to cope with your perpetual seriousness."
"That seriousness is what built the place you are sitting in now," he said, gesturing to the floor.
"Yes well," Lumina said, holding out a hand for Gayle to help her get up. "We'll see what sort of fruit that has born shortly, won't we?"
"And… it's dead." Cascadia closed her phone and put it back in her sling bag, then put that on over the hydration pack. "Good job, you did your best."
Azalea was having more trouble. "And that's when Lumina explained her plan to us, it makes a lot of sense when you think about it… Okay, yeah, you can talk to her."
She held the phone out to Lumina. "They wanna talk to you."
"I could hardly blame them," Lumina said, holding the phone gingerly to her ear. "Hello Jonathan, and Emily also. I know this is not exactly the ideal situation, but I'm going to ask you to trust me just as I asked your daughter earlier…"
Azalea looked out the window, then noticed Frost staring directly at her. She furrowed her brow. "What?"
Frost frowned. "Of course, it makes perfect sense…"
"What are you talking about?" Azalea asked.
"You're the daughter of Jonathan Evergreen," Frost replied. It wasn't a question.
Her first impulse was to draw upon the full might of her teenage sass with: 'So what if I am?' But she didn't. "Yeah, that's right. He's definitely my dad. And since you promised to leave us all alone," she pointed a finger at him, "I'm not afraid of you anymore!"
Frost remained as impassive as ever. "Hmm… We'll see about that." He turned on his heel and headed towards the end of the room.
"Yes, thank you for listening, dears," Lumina was saying. "I understand it's not the best news you've received today. But, we are all here and working to keep Azalea safe, and each other. We shall meet later today, God willing. Goodbye now." She held the phone away from her face, peering at it.
"The red one, on the end," Azalea said.
Rand and Yin had followed Frost across the room. Rand looked down at his partner. "You didn't call anyone."
Yin smirked. "My favorite person is already here."
They walked a few more steps. "You're not talking about me, are you?"
The rest of the group followed, Gayle and Cascadia putting encouraging hands on Azalea's shoulders.
The narrow hallway was well lit, not because of the overhead lamps, but because of the sunlight which streamed in from the roof of the tower itself. After Yin opened the door for Frost and Rand, a chilling spring breeze blew in and stopped Cascadia. The other three ladies continued outward while Ash remained.
"Oh, it's cold. I left my hoodie back at the hotel…"
"Hang on, you can have my jacket." He took off his backpack and Cascadia frowned.
"I don't think I could wear that thing, it would crush me."
"Not that one," he pulled at his turnout coat, "this one." He unrolled the softer red jacket from inside his backpack, helping to place it over her shoulders and put her braid on the outside.
"It's a little big," she said happily, rolling up the sleeves, "but this will help," she strapped her sling bag on tightly, helping to take up the slack in the fabric. The hydration pack went on last. "Also, it's warm…" She gazed at him with tenderness, the warmth between them increasing. They walked out, hand in hand once more.
Everyone gathered around Frost. "Here we are," the gentleman announced, standing beside a spot on the roof locally renowned as an art installation, but clearly serving a much higher purpose. Carved on the floor was an eight-pointed star, eight circles of colored glass, with a channel radiating inward toward the center. At the middle of the ring were two large pieces of stone, one a tall, brilliant orange crystal, and the other a shorter shiny gray rock. "Now, please stand where I say," Frost said, waving his hand above him. "Mr Grisarco, please stand here, above the red glass. Lus… Ms Brighteye, on the white one. Yes, I judge you can figure out the rest."
After a minute, Ash stood on a red circle; to his right was Lumina, her cane resting atop white glass, beside Rand on a yellow ring, followed by Yin on a gray one. Cascadia was next, standing on a blue panel, dolefully keeping an eye on Frost atop his black spot at her right. Gayle was next in line, on her green ring, with Azalea at her side on a brown circle, Ash at her right.
Azalea breathed relief. "At least I'm next to you two and not Mister Pointy-Face." As it was, she had to avoid Yin staring her down, as he was directly opposite her. Ash looked across the ring at Cascadia, who waved back.
"Now," Frost was saying, "order is extremely important in this operation. Please follow my instructions precisely." He had crouched down and activated a panel on the floor, standing up with mild difficulty. From this, a pole raised up to waist height, atop which was a control pad. From either side of the central stones, two large robotic arms emerged, like the kind used in factories, with gripping levers on the ends.
Fortunately, the wind was calm that day, so he could be heard easily, or perhaps Gayle was helping the weather. Either way, Frost shouted out commands. "When I call your element, please use your ability in whatever manner you are capable of. Direct it towards the centre, if possible." To assist the two fluid-manipulators, long panels had opened up before Rand and Cascadia, full of rich dirt and clear water. Ash checked the fuel levels in his launchers, and Azalea pulled out a handful of seeds.
Yin scratched his head. "What should I do, Boss?"
"Bend something about, that should be sufficient. For Pete's sake, don't break the floor again."
"Got it," he said, the embarrassment still stinging.
"Let us begin," Frost intoned, and everyone took a breath. "Fire and Light, begin!"
Ash frowned at Lumina, who nodded. He focused a stream of fire, not sure if his launcher had the range it needed to reach the center, but it didn't seem to matter. As soon as Lumina projected a brilliant line of multi-chromatic light down her channel, the flame and light bent toward one another, merging and coalescing into an orange sphere of indeterminate state. It could have been solid, but it floated in midair, the surface crackling with electrical energy. One of the arms quickly moved it to the center of the formation.
"Earth and Metal, you are next."
Rand churned up the dirt, sending rippling waves through the soil, while Yin crouched down and made complicated shapes and twists in a long scrap of metal. After a moment, an arm lifted his creation in the air and plunged it into the swirling dirt. It drew out a rust-colored sphere dripping with little brown flakes.
"Miss Dewlenser, you and I will continue," Frost said.
Cascadia shrugged and pulled the water up and around into a curling formation, beside the intense darkness that sprung forth from Frost's hands. It was contained in the channel; Azalea could look directly at it without feeling sick. Some of the water quickly froze, then became more frozen than usual, cooling down to a snowy, crystallized orb that was plucked out and placed with the other two.
"Wind and Wood next."
Gayle nodded to Azalea and stirred up a soft breeze, into which Azalea released a stream of flower petals, leaves and small tomatoes. These were all borne up by the wind and bound together into a spiraling mass of life, compacted into a ball of swirling, multicolored strands and ridges.
Frost punched in more commands, the robot arms kept working. Ash and Lumina's ball of lightning was pressed against Gayle and Azalea's mass of greenery, until it merged into a larger orb of bright, vibrating energy. Rand and Yin's decaying sphere got combined with Frost and Cascadia's concentrated ice, into a somber, sleek piece of nighttime and stillness.
Next, the bright orb was pressed into the top of the orange crystal, until a golden triangle-faced pyramid of sunshine appeared. The darker sphere was struck against the gray stone until it transformed into a silver, four-sided portion of moonlight. Each of the two arms held these final components, auric and argent, and Frost cackled with delight. "Here we are! The final reaction. Witness the power of the completeness of creation!"
Azalea ran toward Gayle, not caring if she was messing up anything. Gayle held her tight, then everyone scattered. Cascadia ran away from Frost, toward Ash. He met up with her near Lumina, then instinctively stood between them and the unknown. Rand and Yin stepped off their platforms to give each other hearty handshakes and back slaps.
Frost rotated the two pyramids, bases toward each other, into a horizontal diamond-like shape. As they were drawn closer, a driving wind blew across the rooftop. The sky darkened, sudden clouds hiding the sun. Gayle threw her arm around Lumina, projecting a bubble of calm air as she led her away from the epicenter, Azalea following close behind. Cascadia grabbed Ash's arm and pulled him toward their friends, unwilling to watch any longer.
Strange sounds were carried on the wind, snippets of music and laughter and thunder and rain. The songs of birds, the crying of a child, the honking of cars, the bark of a dog. Colors of all kinds flashed across the clouds, crimson and vermilion and puce and azure and chartreuse, with even more that were harder to describe. It suddenly became very warm, like the middle of a summer day, then the temperature dropped to that of a winter night. After the climate stabilized, the shaking started. The whole building vibrated, then rumbled, then shook violently.
Frost ignored all this, there was nothing he wasn't willing to endure, no sacrifice he wouldn't make. All the years of toil had finally come to fruition, the inexorable march of progress would finally yield its results. Nothing could spoil his satisfaction, not even her piercing gaze that he'd been trying to avoid since she'd appeared out of nowhere, just like she always did. Frost forced himself to focus on the device, to be fully aware of the dawn of the new era.
With a squealing groan, the halves touched. A massive bolt of lightning tore down through it, silently punching a hole in the sky and the ground at the same time.
Octave of Stars is currently airing on Substack for free, with two of the 45 total posts per week. It’ll be fully released at the end of April 2024. If you don’t want to wait that long, you can get the entire story right now, in either Ebook or paperback. Every purchase supports the ZMT Books mission of family-friendly entertainment.
Like the story so far? Let me know either with a comment here or in the official chat thread. Subscribe, share, do what you like!
Why is he saying that? Oh, that’s right, the phone on the kitchen wall doesn’t have caller ID…