For a moment Alice only stood there awkwardly. Many times over the years she’d thought about everything she’d like to ask her eccentric aunt. Questions should have been pouring out of her mouth, but instead she stood there paralyzed. She didn’t know what to say, and in fact, didn’t think she would be able to form words properly in that moment, even if she had known what to ask.

                Thankfully Aunt Ruby didn’t seem to expect her to speak. She stepped forward and reached out, clasping Alice’s hands in hers. “I am sorry I wasn’t able to tell you. I didn’t know how to convey all of this, and I’m not sure you would have believed me if I told you. But I’ve been watching over you, all this time, Alice.”

                As Emmy. Alice blinked, trying to collect her thoughts. Her aunt, who she’d thought was dead all along, had been the shop cat. Wait, perhaps she was technically dead. This was making her head spin. “I think…I think I need to sit down,” Alice said faintly.

                “Yes, of course.” Ruby guided her over to the bed, letting her sit down on the mattress before she continued. “I know you’re overwhelmed with everything, but we only have limited time.”

                Alice jerked upright, eyes growing wide with panic. “You’re leaving? Already?”

                “Not leaving so much as returning to my true form.” Ruby’s lips curved at one side. She was trying to hide a smile. “Well, my true form now. Gaia has turned me back briefly, so I can talk to you.”

                “Why a cat?” Alice hunched her shoulders and glared at the door. “Why did Gaia make you a cat?”
                “I asked her to.” Aunt Ruby sat down on the mattress beside her. “It was important that I be able to travel between worlds, and only cats can do that without magic.”

                Alice blinked, then looked around her in surprise. She had been so distracted that she hadn’t even realized that there were no threads drifting about the ceiling or looped around the pillars that held up the fireplace. The room was strangely…empty.

                “There’s no magic in the Between,” Aunt Ruby explained. “Gaia prefers it that way. She is the only one with any power here.”
                “Then why couldn’t she just help you travel between worlds?”

                “What, and have her looking over my shoulder all the time?” Aunt Ruby grinned, eyes glittering with mischief. “She knows I like my independence. I’m actually very like a cat, if you think about it. The form suites me, though it is a bit of a bother to be reduced to words like ‘meow’ I think.”

                “But why did you trade yourself here?” Alice asked, desperate to get in all her questions. “Why did you agree to this? Gaia said you sacrificed yourself.”

                “That’s what I mean to talk to you about,” Aunt Ruby said, and she was suddenly urgent, leaning forward and taking Alice by the shoulders. “After I return to my true form, Gaia is going to give you a choice…a wish. And I managed to get two of them out of her, a bonus one, if you will.” Her eyes darted towards the door. “I was very lucky.”

                “Lucky?” Alice blurted, suddenly angry at the unfairness of it all. She opened her mouth to say something else, but Aunt Ruby held up a hand. Her face was somehow different now, and Alice was alarmed to see her aunt’s pupils narrowing. She was changing back.

                “One wish can bring you back, and your friends too, but after that, you’ll have to be very clever with your second wish. The gods will continue to hunt you, drawn to your power endlessly. You must find a way to keep yourself safe. You must find a way…” her aunt trailed off, coughing suddenly.

                Alice leaned forward, anxious, but Aunt Ruby waved her off. “Changing,” she rasped. Then she met Alice’s eyes again. Ruby’s green eyes were nearly complete vertical slits now. So cat-like it was rather alarming. “Make the wish wisely, and Alice, even after you do, she will try to test you.”

                “What do you mean?” Alice reached out and grabbed her aunt’s hand. “What do you mean test me?”

                Ruby was smiling now, eyes fixed on Alice’s face. “I’ll always be with you dear, one perk to this bargain. I’ll be with you until you’re old and grey. When you finally cross over I’ll come with you to the other side. You and I together at last.”

                “Aunt Ruby…wait….”

                The air between them had begun to ripple, and Alice found that her aunt’s hand had dissolved, leaving her grasping at the empty air. She was fuzzy, slowly disappearing.

                Ruby’s lips moved, Choose wisely, Alice and then she was gone, leaving Alice staring at nothing, hands reaching for the empty air.

                She had never felt so alone. After Aunt Ruby was gone she sat there, mind racing so furiously she didn’t even notice the soft footsteps until they were right outside her door. “Gaia?”

                “Did you have a nice visit, dear?” The door creaked open, and the goddess’ marble face peered through the crack.

                Alice glanced down at Emmy, who was sitting on the carpet, casually cleaning her tiny paws. She knew that was Aunt Ruby, but if she hadn’t seen her change like that she would have had a hard time believing it. Her aunt was just acting like…well, like a cat.

                “Nice…yes.” Alice bit her lip hard, forcing herself to stay civil when she wanted to scream at the goddess to bring her aunt back. She wasn’t done talking. There were still so many questions. For starters, what kind of test did Gaia have in mind for her? And what type of wish was she supposed to make to keep her and her friends safe?
                “I expect you have a lot to think about.” Gaia moved past the door, standing just inside the room. She tucked her hands inside her long sleeves. “If you like, you may stay here for a few nights and think it over.”

                “But my friends…” Alice protested, and then trailed off when Gaia waved one hand at her.

                “Time in the Between moves differently. Days are merely seconds on earth. And your friends are well taken care of. They are together.”

                That was something at least, a little bit of a relief, though when she thought about Altair something in her chest began to ache furiously. The last she’d seen of him had been a giant beam crashing down on him. He’d been reaching for her, desperation in his bright blue eyes. It could have so easily been the last time she’d ever seen him. And it might be, if she didn’t play her cards right here.

                “Can I see them?”

                “I’m afraid not,” Gaia said. Her face remained smooth. “They are on a different plain of the Between. I brought you here to my home, because of the bargain I made with your aunt. But I can assure you your friends are being well looked after.”

                Alice couldn’t help feeling a stab of doubt. Her friends had helped her dodge the gods all these years. And now they were in some kind of afterlife, probably surrounded by those same gods.  She looked up, startled, when Gaia stepped closer to her, skirts whispering over the marble floor. The goddess stopped just in front of her. Emmy was sitting between them still, and she didn’t move. The cat tipped her head back and looked from Alice to Gaia, and Alice wondered if Ruby knew something was about to happen.

                Was now the time that Gaia would test her?

                “I will give you three days here,” Gaia said in a low, melodic voice. “Three days to decide on the two things you desire most.” To Alice’s surprise the goddess reached out and grasped her hands. Her grip was firm, her fingers smooth and cold. “You could decide to stay here, Alice. You will find me a good companion. I could awaken your aunt to her human form and we could live out eternity here in my home. Ruby has a special place in my heart, and because of that, so do you.”

                Alice kept very still. Was this the test then, tempting her? She had to admit that the idea was alluring. Getting more time with Aunt Ruby would be wonderful. But her mind went straight back to Altair. To Maya and Gabriel. To Azura and Shakra. She couldn’t leave them behind.

                “I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I have to go back, and I have to take my friends with me.”

                Gaia released her hands, smiling. “It is much as I expected. So this is your first desire?”
                “It is,” Alice only hesitated for a moment. “Yes, I’d like to go home, and all my friends too. Whole and alive again.”

                Gaia nodded thoughtfully. “Your second desire may take longer to formulate. I will leave you to think on it. You must be tired.”

                Alice let her shoulders slump, feeling relieved she wouldn’t have to answer the question about her second desire right away. She was tired, she realized. Bone tired.

                “I will leave you to sleep.” Gaia turned, crooking her finger to Emmy as she did so. “In the morning you will feast at my banquet table and meet the residents of my house. Goodnight, Alice Cunningham.”

                “Goodnight,” Alice said, and she watched as the goddess swept from the room, ushering Emmy out before her. The door clicked shut behind her, and then Alice let herself slump onto the mattress with a groan.

                She stared up at the silky canopy above her, knowing it would take her ages to fall asleep. A second wish. One that would keep the gods from constantly going after her and her friends. She only had one chance to get this right. Once she’d made the wish, she doubted there was any type of return policy on it. Gaia seemed gentle and kind, for the most part, but that slip of sternness she’d seen, that flash of her true face….it gave her a chill just thinking about it.

                She couldn’t screw this up.