<h4>Chapter 135: Chapter 135: Evolution’s Key</h4>


    The Devourer’s presence filled the room like poison. Everyone except ra stepped back in fear.


    "You’re smaller than I expected," ra said, surprising herself with her calmness.


    The Devourerughed. "And you’re stronger than your parents. They begged before I killed them."


    "You didn’t kill them," ra said strongly. "Your wife did." "Same thing," the Devourer shrugged.


    "We share everything." "Not everything," the creature said coldly.


    "I’m done sharing your hunger for destruction." "You can’t divorce me, darling," the Devourer said.


    "We’re bound by cosmicw." "Watch me," the creature answered. Suddenly, she began to glow. Her form changed again, bing something beautiful and terrible.


    "You’re changing," baby Wisdom said in wonder. "I’m evolving," the creature said. "Thanks to her." She pointed at ra.


    "What do you mean?" Kael asked. "Your bloodline doesn’t just create powerful children," the creature exined.


    "It changes everyone around you. Makes them better." "Better how?" Ronan demanded.


    "Watch," the thing said. She touched Marcus’s shoulder. Instantly, his scars faded. His eyes became clearer.


    His whole body straightened. "I feel... different," Marcus said. "Stronger. But also nicer." "That’s evolution," the thing said.


    "Your bloodline pushes supernatural beings to their next level." "What level?" Darian asked.


    "The level where we don’t need to choose between good and evil," the creature responded. "Where we can be both and neither."


    "That’s impossible," Tobias said. "Is it?" the thing asked. "Look at the triplets."


    Everyone looked at Kael, Ronan, and Darian. They were glowing softly. "You’re changing too," baby Truth said. "How?" Kael asked.


    "You’re bing what you were always meant to be," the thing said. "Not just werewolves. Not just alphas. But something new entirely."


    "What?" Ronan asked. "The bridge between worlds," the thing said. "The link between supernatural and human."


    "But we’re already supernatural," Darian pointed out. "You’re bing more than supernatural," the creature stated.


    "You’re bing the key to the next stage of existence." "What stage?" ra asked. "The stage where all beings can evolve," the creature said.


    "Where vampires don’t need blood. Where werewolves don’t need to shift. Where witches don’t need magic."


    "That’s ridiculous," the Devourer said. "Without those things, they’re just humans."


    "No," the thing said. "They’re something better than human. Something that has never existed before."


    "Show us," ra said. The creature smiled. She touched Evelyn’s hand. Immediately, Evelyn’s eyes filled with silver light.


    "I can see everything," she whispered. "Every timeline. Every option. Every move that led us here."


    "You’re bing a Seer," the thing said. "The first true Seer in existence." "What’s the difference between a Seer and a witch?" Evelyn asked.


    "A witch uses magic," the thing said. "A Seer bes magic."


    "My turn," Celeste said suddenly. She stepped forward before anyone could stop her.


    The creature touched her face. Celeste screamed. But it wasn’t pain. It was joy. "I can feel everyone’s emotions," she said in wonder.


    "But I can also change them. Make them better. Make them heal."


    "An Empath," the thing said. "The first of her kind." "This is why you want my bloodline," ra realized.


    "Not to stop damage. To start evolution." "Your children aren’t just powerful," the creature said.


    "They’re drivers for change. They’ll turn every supernatural being they meet." "Into what?" Marcus asked. "Into whatever they need to be," the thing said.


    "The next step in supernatural evolution." "But evolution takes millions of years," Tobias objected.


    "Not with her bloodline," the creature said. "She shrinks time. Makes change happen instantly." "That’s why the Devourer wants to stop her," the older ra said.


    "If supernatural beings evolve, they won’t need him anymore." "They’ll still need destruction," the Devourer said angrily.


    "Things still need to end." "Do they?" baby Hope asked. "Or do they just need to change?"


    The Devourer stared at the tiny baby. "You’re suggesting transformation instead of destruction?"


    "I’m suggesting growth," baby Hope said. "Instead of ending things, why not help them be better?"


    "Because that’s not my nature," the Devourer said. "Nature can change," baby Courage said. "If you let it."


    "You want me to evolve too?" the Devourer asked. "Why not?" ra said. "You’re magical. My bloodline influences all supernatural beings."


    "I’m not supernatural," the Devourer said. "I’m cosmic." "Are you?" baby Wisdom asked.


    "Or are you just a very old supernatural being who forgot how to grow?" The Devourer looked confused. "I... I don’t remember being anything else."


    "Maybe that’s the problem," ra said gently. "You’ve been destroying for so long, you forgot why you started."


    "I started to bnce creation," the Devourer said uncertainly.


    "But what if bnce doesn’t require destruction?" ra asked. "What if it requires transformation?"


    "That’s not possible," the Devourer said. But his voice was weaker now. "Touch me," ra said. "Let’s find out."


    "No," the thing said quickly. "If he touches you, he might absorb your power."


    "Or," ra said, "he might evolve." "It’s too dangerous," Kael said. "Everything’s dangerous," ra responded.


    "That’s why we need to try." "What if you’re wrong?" Ronan asked. "What if he just destroys you?"


    "Then my children will know what not to do," ra said. "But what if I’m right? What if this is how we save everything?"


    The Devourer looked at her hand. "I haven’t touched another being in eons. I destroy everything I touch."


    "Maybe you destroy things because you’re afraid to change them," ra said.


    "Maybe destruction is just evolution that got stuck." "You really believe that?" the Devourer asked.


    "I believe everyone deserves a chance to grow," ra said. "Even cosmic forces." The Devourer paused.


    "What if I hurt you?" "What if you don’t?" ra asked. Slowly, carefully, the Devourer reached out his hand.


    The moment their skin touched, the entire room burst with light. When the light faded, the Devourer was gone.


    In his ce stood a man who looked like he could be ra’s father. "I remember now," he said in wonder.


    "I remember why I started destroying things." "Why?" ra asked. "To make room for something better," he said.


    "But I forgot what better looked like." "And now?" baby Love asked.


    "Now I want to help things be better," he said. "Instead of just clearing space for them." "You evolved," baby Truth said happily.


    "We all did," the man said. "Thanks to her." He looked at ra with thankful eyes.


    "Your family isn’t just the key to stopping destruction. It’s the key to changing everything."


    "But there’s a problem," the older ra said suddenly. "What problem?" ra asked.


    "Evolution this fast creates imbnce," the older ra warned. "If everyone changes at once, reality might copse." "How do we prevent that?" Darian asked.


    NovelFire


    "Someone has to stay unchanged," the older ra said. "Someone has to anchor reality while everyone else evolves." "Who?" ra asked.


    "The strongest one," the older ra said sadly. "The one who can hold everything together."


    "That’s you," baby Wisdom said to ra. "If I don’t evolve, I can’t transform others," ra said.


    "But if I do evolve, reality might copse." "Choose quickly," the older ra said. "The Convergence is increasing.


    In five minutes, all timelines will join whether you’re ready or not." "And if they merge wrong?" Kael asked.


    "Then everything that has ever existed will cease to be," the older ra said. "Including us?" Ronan asked.


    "Including the concept of existence itself," the older ra said. ra looked at her children, then at the twins, then at everyone who had been changed by her presence.


    "I know what I have to do," she said. "What?" everyone asked. "I have to split myself," ra said.


    "Part of me grows to help others. Part of me stays the same to anchor reality." "That’s impossible," Tobias said.


    "Is it?" ra asked. "My children can change reality. Why can’t I change myself?" "Because," a new voice said from the dark, "splitting yourself will kill you."


    Everyone turned. Standing there was someone they’d never seen before. Someone who looked like Death itself.


    "Who are you?" ra asked. "I’m the part of you that knows this won’t work," the figure said.


    "I’m your question. Made real." "And I’m here to stop you from destroying everything."