“My daughter and son are close to opening the Void,” Klaren said, turning her gaze on Andi again. “And when they do, the future will be grim. If there will even be a future for people like us. But together, we can stop them. So if you wish to save your friends, I will help you—in exchange for your allegiance to me in this war.”

“The Void? What are you even talking about?” Andi asked. She was sick of being confused, and she needed answers before she’d consider any kind of alliance with Klaren. “Cyprian killed you. The records say he got rid of you the day he destroyed Xen Ptera.”

Klaren’s eyes were somber as she nodded. “He tried. But we have little time to share tales.” She sighed, and then that robotic voice said, “There is another world out there, beyond this one, called Exonia. And if Nor and Valen succeed in completing Nexus, they will use it to access the nuclear arsenals across Mirabel. They’ll then use those weapons to blast open the Void, just beyond your home planet, and bring Exonia forth.”

Alfie’s words from earlier came back to Andi suddenly. If Valen and Nor weren’t from Mirabel, then of course their mother wasn’t, either.

It made sense. Yet still, Andi found Klaren’s tale hard to believe.

Klaren knelt before them, picked up a bit of charcoal and ran it across the floor, a deep black circle stark against the blue cave floor. “Exonia exists alongside Mirabel. It is a world that has watched ours for eons, waiting in vain for a savior to open the doorway. Exonia is my true home. Or it once was, anyway.”

“And that means your children...” Dex trailed off, mistrust in his eyes. “They’re from Exonia, too?”

“Their blood is half-Exonian, yes,” Klaren said. “That is how they inherited the compulsion ability I once had. But even at my full strength, my power was weaker than theirs. I require my tongue, my real voice, to compel the minds of others. Cyprian Cortas took that from me—and he took my children, so they would remain separated. They were less of a threat to him that way. But before he cast me out, I was able to pass a message to my daughter, Nor, through a mental bond we shared. I told her about her true lineage, and that she had a brother.”

Despair filled Klaren’s eyes as she added, “And I told her that Exonia was in need of a savior like her, to allow them entry.”

“Why do they need a savior?” Andi asked.