I Was The Only Omega In The Beast World-Chapter 123: CP: What Happened To The Babies?!

[PORTAL OPENING IN 60 MINUTES]

Alex woke to Sally shaking his shoulder with the manic energy of someone who’d been awake for hours despite it being 5 AM.

"It’s almost time," she hissed, trying to be quiet but failing completely. "It’s ALMOST TIME. I’ve been up since three. I couldn’t sleep. I tried counting sheep but then I started wondering if the Beast World HAS sheep or if they have like, SHEEP-PEOPLE, and then I couldn’t stop thinking about that—"

"Sally," Alex mumbled, still half-asleep against Naga’s scales. "It’s five in the morning."

"I KNOW. That’s basically LATE. We have an hour! ONE HOUR until interdimensional travel! Do you understand how AMAZING that is?!"

Naga lifted his head, serpentine eyes focusing on Sally with the patience of someone who’d dealt with energetic hatchlings before.

"Your sister," he observed, "does not require sleep?."

"She requires sleep," Alex said. "She just refuses to accept that fact when she’s excited."

"I heard that!" Sally bounced on her toes, already fully dressed in practical clothes (jeans, sturdy boots, her favorite hoodie, and a backpack that looked like it weighed approximately forty pounds). "And it’s TRUE. Sleep is for people who aren’t about to GO TO ANOTHER DIMENSION."

Leo sat up, his white hair adorably mussed from sleep. "Is it time already?"

"Almost," Alex confirmed, carefully extracting himself from the nest of mates and blankets. "We should probably eat something before we go. Sally, did you—"

"Already made toast!" Sally announced proudly. "Well, Lion-boy made toast because I tried and the toaster betrayed me again, but the POINT is we have toast! And I found some peanut butter! And there’s orange juice! Last Earth breakfast!"

She was vibrating with excitement.

Drakar appeared from his vigil by the window, looking remarkably fresh for someone who’d been awake all night.

"The city is interesting at night," he said conversationally. "So many lights. So much noise. Humans have built something remarkable here, even without magic."

"Wait until you see Times Square," Sally said. "It’s like someone took ALL the lights and put them in one place and then added CHAOS. It’s beautiful. I’ll show you photos—oh wait, I’m LEAVING. I won’t be able to show you photos. I should take MORE photos—"

She grabbed her phone and started frantically photographing the apartment.

"For memories," she explained, snapping pictures of the kitchen, the windows, the water-stained ceiling, everything. "So I remember what Earth looks like. In case I forget."

"You’re not going to forget," Alex said gently.

"But what if I DO?" Sally’s voice cracked slightly. "What if I’m gone so long that I forget what Mom’s favorite mug looked like? Or the way the morning light hits the building across the street? Or—"

"Then you look at the photos," Skye said quietly, appearing from the couch where he’d been carefully folding the blankets. "And you remember. That’s what photos are for. Keeping memories safe."

Sally looked at him, eyes bright. "Yeah. Yeah, okay. Photos. Memories. I can do this."

She took a deep breath. "I can TOTALLY do this. I’m going to another dimension with my brother and his three boyfriends and a dragon and a sad bird-man and there will be SNAKE BABIES. This is FINE. I’m FINE."

"You’re panicking," Alex observed.

"I’m EXCITED-panicking," Sally corrected.

" Excited-panicking is when you’re terrified but also can’t wait and your brain is screaming but in a GOOD way—"

[30 MINUTES TO PORTAL OPENING]

They ate breakfast—toast, peanut butter, orange juice, the mundane routine of Earth food one last time.

Sally couldn’t sit still, bouncing between checking her packed bags, taking more photos, asking questions at rapid-fire pace.

"Will I be able to understand the language? Do they speak English? What if I can’t communicate? What about food allergies? I’m allergic to shellfish—do they have shellfish? What about medicine? What if I get sick? What about—"

"The system will handle translation," Alex said. "Food is different but safe. Medicine exists. You’ll be fine."

"But what if—"

"Sally." Alex caught her hands, making her stop and look at him. "You’re going to be okay. I promise. And if you hate it, if it’s too much, we’ll figure something out. But you have to trust me. Can you do that?"

Sally took a shaky breath.

"Yeah," she said. "Yeah, I trust you. You’re my brother. You’ve never let me down."

"I’m not starting now," Alex promised.

[15 MINUTES]

They gathered their bags—Sally’s enormous backpack, Alex’s small pack of Earth items he wanted to bring back (photos, his phone, some books, clothing), the various supplies his mates had acquired during their stay.

The seven divine stones began to pulse in Alex’s pouch, responding to the approaching portal opening.

[10 MINUTES]

"Last chance to change your mind," Alex said to Sally.

"Not changing my mind," she said firmly. "I’m ready. I’m SO ready. Let’s do this."

Drakar moved to stand beside them. "I find myself oddly reluctant to leave this world. It’s been... educational."

"You can come back in seven days," Alex said.

"Perhaps I will," Drakar mused. "There are still many things I wish to observe. This ’internet’ Sally described sounds fascinating."

[5 MINUTES]

The air in the center of the room began to shimmer.

Sally grabbed Alex’s hand, squeezing tight.

"Here we go," she whispered.

The stones rose from Alex’s pouch, forming their perfect circle—black, gold, silver, bronze, blue, clear, red—spinning faster and faster until reality tore open between them.

Through the portal, they could see:

The volcanic citadel.

But something was different.

The six snakelings visible in the viewing area weren’t the tiny three-month-old babies Alex had left yesterday (twenty-four hours ago Earth-time).

They were bigger.

Significantly bigger.

Jade was nearly twelve feet long now, his emerald scales gleaming with new maturity, hood more pronounced. He was clearly directing his siblings with actual authority rather than just baby hissing.

Ripple had grown to match, his forest-green scales darker, more defined. He was still pressed against Granite’s side, but his movements were more confident, less timid.

Siddy—oh god, Siddy—was not only bigger but had apparently discovered he could actually climb vertical surfaces now. The iridescent troublemaker was currently scaling the obsidian wall with disturbing efficiency.

Sterling’s silver-hooded form was wrapped around what looked like a practice climbing structure that definitely hadn’t existed before, demonstrating techniques to—

Onyx, who was awake for once and actually practicing the moves with surprising focus.

And River—calm, observant River—was coiled near a shallow pool, his chestnut scales catching the light, those ocean-blue eyes watching everything with what looked like increased intelligence.

"WHAT," Alex said slowly. "What happened to my babies?"