Ever transformed into reaper mode, putting himself between Zoe and the stranger idling in the doorway. He could feel that they were not human.

  *Mentor, who is this?* Ever clutched the scythe in front wardingly. It shivered in his grasp, as if nervous.

  I… don’t know, Death said.

  The intruder took a step into the room; Ever gripped the scythe even tighter.

  “Who are you?” Ever said out loud. His own voice sounded distant in reaper mode. Going by the slight turn of the head of the intruder, he was able to hear him.

  “Relax.” The intruder’s voice was deep with a subtle lilt. “I’m not here to hurt you nor Zoe.”

  “How do you know our names?” Ever demanded.

  “How do you not know mine?” The intruder replied back, feigning hurt. He raised a hand at him, fingers outstretched.

  Ever swung the scythe defensively, to no avail. His ghostly insides churned as he felt the bolt of power pass right through his back. He spun around, eyes wide. “Zoe!”

  “Like I said, relax,” the intruder repeated. “I didn’t want our goddess-to-be to suffer too much while we talk.”

  Ever cast the scythe away and returned to human form. He tentatively touched her face. Warm. Her eyes were open, but unseeing. His fingers slid down to the gap between her chin and her neck. No pulse.

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  “She’s not dead, I promise. I mean, I guess you’d know if she was.” The stranger stood a few feet away with a lop-sided grin.

  Dr. Yang charged back into the room, white coat billowing out behind him. “OK, I’ve got–”

  Without looking back, the intruder directed an arm at the physician, freezing him on the spot.

  “What are you doing?” Ever shouted. “That’s her doctor, he’s going to stop her seizures!”

  “I’ve just stopped Zoe’s seizures, thank you very much,” the stranger sniffed. From up close, Ever could see that this being’s face was covered in a lattice of diamond-shaped scales. They gleamed a warm olive or moss green, depending on the angle that he looked down at Ever. “No, I take that back, I’m no healer. She’s still seizing, just really, really slowly. Anyway, she’s safe.”

  He moseyed over to the doctor, prodding the clear IV fluid bag that Dr. Yang was clutching.

  The longer Ever observed the newcomer, the more intuition prickled at the back of his neck. “Both Chaos and Nyx said that, ‘there is another’.” Ever kept his eyes trained on the intruder. “Are you the ‘other’ that they speak of?”

  “‘There is another’.” The stranger repeated, mouth twisting in displeasure. He walked back towards Ever, each step slow and deliberate. “Sounds like Chaos and Nyx don’t recognise that I was actually the First. How disappointing, considering the latter is the one who’s been asking me to help your goddess-to-be with her Ascension.”

  “Can you help her now?”

  “Oh Nyx didn’t tell you?” The stranger’s lilt was unnerving to listen to. “All the Primordials want to be there next week, even the whipper snapper Chaos. No one’s going to want to miss the birth of a new goddess. Anyway, enough yapping. I best be off.”

  He pointed one arm at her and his other arm at Dr. Yang.

  “Wait,” Ever said, raising his own hand. “What’s your name?”

  A forked tongue flickering out between his thin lips, curled into a smile. “I thought you’d never ask. I'm the god of time, but you can call me Chronos.”