Kimi conjured a Lexington automatic pistol into her left hand, dropping the mentality of her Gunslinger persona into place. With a quick shot she put a bullet between his eyes, the back of his head exploding open before he dropped to the ground.
“Now I don’t have to worry.”
His partner began screaming hysterically, “You killed him!”
“He would have killed me. He said so himself. If you were so worried you should have kept a better leash on him.”
As she gathered a ball of fire into her hands, Kim leveled her weapon on the girl.
“You saw what this can do. You want to end up like him? Put the flames away or die. I am in no mood right now.”
The two stood there, eyes locked on the other. Kimi with her gun, and the mage with her balls of molten magma.
“I’d rather die!”
The girl swung her arms forward, releasing her flames. Kim squeezed her finger, releasing another bullet. The girl was ready, rolling out of the way of the shot. A shield of wind stopped the magma balls from melting Kim’s skin as Kalashnikov Kim altered her aim and fired another shot. This time she tagged the girl in the lower spin, paralyzing her ability to run. Coldly she walked over to stand over the girl, aiming the weapon at her forehead. The woman, who was crying in pain, managed to spit a wad of blood at her face. The glob didn’t make it of course, but it made the woman smile.
“Go to hell!”
“You first.” Kim pulled the trigger and the woman fell lifeless with her brains oozing out the back of her head.
Turning, Kim dropped the gun, letting it disappear before hitting the ground. As the weapon disintegrated, the persona lifted from her mind. Her throat threatened to cut off her oxygen and her stomach promised to heave up its contents.
That had been cold blooded murder. They wouldn’t come back to life once she fixed the anomaly. She had knowingly shot them both with that in mind. But she had been afraid for her life. She had believed the mans threats and acted on them without thinking. He could have just said that in a fit of anger, but not really meant it. She would never know. But she had felt threatened, and her desire to live had made her react. The constant wailing sound making it hard to think clearly. What was happening to her? What kind of monster was she becoming?
Bree caught her up in a tight embrace, telling her without words it was all right. That no matter what, she would always be on Kimberly’s side. Because she was Kimi’s partner. Looking over Bree’s shoulder, she saw Isabelle and Jasmine nodding their heads in silent agreement. Also saying without words they would support her. Milly looked on in interest, not the least bit disgusted at the gore. She seemed more intrigued by the method of killing and the wounds than anything else. Her partner Frank looked away, while Maria looked at the ground. The other pair simply kept their distance, saying nothing. Kimberly could tell they had been affected by the murders, but they didn’t want to say anything in case she did the same to them.
The two rifts chose that moment to collide. One moment they were a few inches apart, the next they slammed together like two magnets coming within range. The tear grew larger, the air around turning red and angry as the background around the event horizon warped drastically. The siren going off in her head stopped cold. Leaving an echo of its tone ringing in her ears. Kimberly knew this meant the rift had stabilized. Everyone looked at the others and nodded their heads. As one they all stepped into the rift.
Their twenty-four hours had begun.
Chapter 17: The Paradox Echo
Darkness covered her eyes. Entering the rift was like nothing she had ever experienced before. It was like she had no body at all, her consciousness was just floating in nothingness. Any moment she could just fade away . The darkness began to lighten, vague outlines broke the pitch black with gray splotches. Those gray spots started to color themselves in, define themselves more clearly. After what felt like forever the world returned to normal and she could move again.
Maria wiggled her fingers, looking down to make sure she was solid once more. Fear crept into her mind, making her want to fall to her knees. She had learned to live with that fear though. From the moment she had realized she would probably never be a Great Wizard six years ago, until this moment, fear had always been her companion. The taunts, the bullying, those had just reinforced her beliefs.
But when she had managed to summon Kimi, that spark of hope had been reunited. By all rights her summoning shouldn’t have succeeded. But it had. That meant something. Maria just knew if she contracted with Kimberly, the ever elusive power of the Grand Wizard that coursed in her veins would activate. When it did she could show everyone she wasn’t a failure. She could show everyone she had what it took to protect them.
But even Kimberly thought she was a failure. Even the woman she had summoned to be her life partner had rejected her. She had seen instinctively that Maria would never amount to much of anything, with or without a mediator of her own. That’s why she had turned her back on being her partner and bonded with someone else instead. Why she had lied about not wanting to go on quest. The truth was, Kimberly just hadn’t wanted to go on quest with Maria.
Why had Kimberly protected her from Ryan though? She had been willing to beat Maria not long before that, perhaps even kill her. Yet when Ryan had lunged, Kimberly hadn’t hesitated to cut him with her Other power. And then kill him and his partner.
Her senses were slow to come back, but Maria finally thought to look up and get a grip on her surroundings. There was another girl with her, one of the ones that had come with Kimberly. Jasmine. That was right, she had seen the girl around town a few times but never really spoke with her much. There was also an urma laying on the ground, though she was just now pushing herself up and shaking her head. Jasmine was holding her head as well, blinking rapidly to make the world come into focus.
Scanning around, Maria noted they were in some sort of clearing, with woods all around and no paths giving any indication of where to go or what kind of timeframe they might be in. Fear began creeping into her heart once more. She was lost, without a partner, and friendless. She had foolishly jumped into this Paradox Echo with no ability to protect herself. Her grandmother and Kimberly had been right, she had no business being out here. No business putting her life at risk for no reason. Now she was going to die within this echo. She should just curl into a ball right now and wait for the inevitable.
Jasmine looked around wildly, her body beginning to shake lightly. “Isabelle? ’Belle? Are you there? Answer me if you are!”
The woman’s eyes lit on Maria, and before Maria knew it, Jasmine was gripping her arms. “Is she here? She just went out to scout the area right? I must have passed out right?”
Not knowing what to do or say, she just shook her head. “It’s just us three I think. I didn’t pass out but we just got here.”
Jasmine let her go, clutching her head and starting to pace. “No, no, no. Not again. Not again.”
The Urma chose that moment to act, striking the girl across the face and speaking in a high pitched, almost bird-like voice. “Get a hold of yourself! We have twenty-four hours remember? You are the mediator here! What does your Map say!”
“I can’t. I can’t. Isabelle is gone. She said she would never leave me. She promised! We should be here together!”
Before the girl could work herself into hysterics, the ground nearby tore itself up. One moment the ground was whole, the next a square of grass and flowers near two feet long was sitting to the side. Within the loose soil writing began to appear.
Does this work? This is Kimi. Anyone there? Answer in kind.
Jasmine's hysterics faltered as she watched the words appear, a semblance of a smile twitched her lips. But it was the spirit who chuckled, doing loops in the air as she spoke.
“Clever girl. Clever, clever girl.”
There was a moment of stillness before more letters appeared below the first set in the dirt.
I’m here. We are fine. --Bree & Milly.
H
ere too. -- Isabelle and Vletch
The wood spirit flew off, grabbing a stick from the ground before writing in the dirt under the others. Here. Safe. Nimli, Jasmine & Maria.
The words erased themselves after a moment, new ones popping up.
Frank and Amy with me. All safe. Don’t run off. Plan attack. Limited time to fix things. Pool information. Communication limited after this. Bree-- speak the wind, learn anything? Milly, sense any minds? Even animals? Nimli, can you fly over trees to get view?
The little fairy dropped the stick, rising higher and higher until she was just a speck in the sky. She zoomed around a bit before returning, the dirt already being wiped clean.
No minds within range. Wind says town to the south. --Bree.
Smoke to south. Black spot far to east. -- Nimli
Heading south, find town. We each have mediator. Trust in group. Follow Maps. Work alone. Will contact again. -- Kimi.
Agreement. -- Bree.
More words of agreement appeared from the other groups as well, including Maria’s own. The dirt was wiped clean one more time and more letters appeared.
Jas, stay strong. I’m here with you. You cannot see me, but remember we share a bond. You can feel me can’t you? Close your eyes, you feel my strength?-- Isabelle
Jasmine did indeed close her eyes, taking a deep breath as she did so. A smile crept to her face and the aura of anxiety she had barely kept in check settled. She was slowly pulling herself together. Maria felt a keen sense of emptiness. She was the only one without a partner. The others could feel that connection if they desired, but not her. It just wasn’t fair. She deserved a mediator too! She deserved it more than anyone. She was going to be a Grand Wizard! She needed a mediator to realize that dream.
Maria was about to turn away from the patch of dirt to follow Nimli and Jasmine, when one last sentence appeared. Maria, I’m sorry. --Kimi
Maria was torn. She didn’t know if she should reply or not. Or even if Kimberly had stuck around to wait for an answer. In the end she turned away without writing anything. Time was of the essence and they couldn’t stay here forever. Quickly she caught up to Jasmine as the fairy Nimli directed their movements. The girl was already looking down at some tangled string between her fingers.
“Anomaly: The timeline of Jeanne D’arc, 1420 AD, has crossed with the Japanese Heian period, timeframe 811 AD. Conditions for success: Keep Jeanne D’arc alive, ensure the war with the Emishi continues, and halt the spread of the bubonic plague. Guess in an Echo it doesn’t give as much information as it normally does.”
“Three conditions for success! But only two rifts were melded!”
“I don’t know, that’s just what I read. I wish Kimi was here, she would probably know what these things are. I mean I’ve never heard of this Jeanne D’arc before, or these Emishi. And what’s the bubonic plague?”
“I’ve heard about Jeanne D’arc. Not a lot, but some. She was some female knight or something that fought for France against England in the hundred year war after King Edward the third started it over something or other. I think she is considered a saint.”
“Well, that’s something. Kind of weird, We just got out of a rift where we put King Edward the third on the throne. That’s actually where we met Kimi, and Bree’s last partner died.”
“And I suppose Kimi jumped at the chance to partner with Bree the moment she found out didn’t she?”
Maria couldn’t keep the anger and hurt out of her voice even though she tried. She knew it would do no good to say anything to this girl, Jasmine was on Kimberly’s side. Everyone was on Kimberly’s side. Jasmine looked over her shoulder, shaking her head at Maria in negation of her accusation.
“You got it wrong. Kimi refused to partner with Bree for the longest time. The two did make a temporary contract, but only because they had to. Kimi didn’t want anything to do with being a mediator. It wasn’t until about a half day ago that Kimi decided to partner with Bree. I’m not sure exactly why, but I think it had something to do with her pretending to be Cleopatra in a rift.
“And I bet she is just a great mediator too. Just perfect as Bree’s partner.”
“I don’t know about perfect. She says some strange things sometimes. And finds the oddest things important. Always asking questions too. I’ll admit, it is kind of annoying, but I wouldn’t be here if not for her. Me, Isabelle, and Bree, we really relied on her Other powers since we aren’t strong mages. We didn’t realize how much burden we were putting on her though. She feels she needs to protect us all because she is strong. And Bree said that makes her scared. Afraid she is going to fail and we are all going to die. I think that’s what makes her strong. She cares about what happens to us, and somehow manages to push forward despite her fear. Not everyone does, especially if you are weak. I think she is a great person, her being a mediator has nothing to do with it.”
Nimli flew in front of Maria’s face then, putting her hands on her hips as she kept pace with Maria’s strides. “Listen you brat, I don’t want to hear you talking bad about Kimi. She is a good person you know! And I will tell you another thing. She decided to go dashing off after you all on her own. She stayed up all night debating with herself, and she ended up following you because she was worried. It has nothing to do with you being a mage, or anything like that. She already sees you as part of her family, along with Grell and Joel. She told me that you felt like a sister to her, even though she only knew you for a short time. You let her into your home, and shared what you had with her. Family helps each other out, those were her words. She doesn’t want you to die, that’s why she came seeking you out.
“So she partnered with someone else. Do you know why that is? Because they bonded! Kimi had a chance to get to know Bree and they felt a connection. What connection do you have with her? The fact that it was you who summoned Kimi here? Does that give you the right to lay claim to her? That’s little more than making her feel obligated. How could the two of you be equals then? Have you even tried to get to know her? What she likes, dislikes, thinks about, hobbies, habits? Or are you so stuck on making her your property you cease to care about any of that? I like Kimi, she saved me and I can’t repay her enough for that fact. She’s too nice to say any of this to your face, but I’m not. If all you want is a slave to power your ego, you will never get a partner. Grow up and look past your own nose.”
Nimli gave a final harrumph, zooming back ahead of the two of them. Maria could only open and close her mouth in shock. That wasn’t how it was at all! Why didn’t anyone understand! It was pointless to try and explain. She had been right, they were all on Kimberly’s side. Nothing she said would make a difference. And if she made them angry they might leave her. She couldn’t survive this place on her own, so she had to bite her tongue.
The three of them traveled in silence, Jasmine constantly looking at the tangled skein in her hands, as if new information would magically appear. Silently, Maria hopped it would. She was clueless of how to complete the conditions of success. Finally the trees thinned out and opened on large empty fields. No, not empty. Maria noticed much of the green were in puddles. What were they called? Paddies. Rice paddies, that was it. A common enough feature in ancient Japan farming. But the town expanding before them didn’t look Japanese, neither did the people tending the fields. They both looked European.
Nimli alighted on Jasmine's shoulder, seeming to fade into invisibility. Maria knew that wasn’t the truth, her eyes just refused to recognize the fairy’s presence. A skill Maria wished she had sometimes, to just disappear from sight. Jasmine made her way up to the nearest farmer tilling a field of grapes next to a rice paddy field.
“Excuse me ma’am, could you tell me where I am?”
“Je ne comprends pas.”
Jasmine looked back at Maria, her eyes puzzled. Maria knew what the girl was thinking-- why wasn’t the translation magic working? Without it, they would make no headway. As Jasmine turned to look at the woman once more, she glitched. That
was the best way to describe it. Her form wavered, twisting like she was inside the event horizon of a rift. Twisting and warping for just a second or two. But Jasmine took a step back anyway.
“Je-Je ne -Je suis des- I-I-I.”
Finally the woman stopped twitching, shaking her head slightly, touching it with one hand.
“My, I’m sorry about that. I’m not sure what came over me. My head just felt like it was fit to burst. Would you mind asking your question again? I seem to have forgotten it already.”
Again Jasmine shared a look with Maria, but finally asked the question once more.
“Why this is Domremy. A little off the beaten track to be sure, but we always welcome visitors.”
“Do you happen to know someone named Jeanne D’arc?””
“Well the D’arc family lives on the other side of town, but their daughters name is Joan not Jeanne. Mind if I ask what business you have with them?”
Jasmine shared another look with Maria, who could tell the girl was at a loss for how to answer. Maria didn’t know, but they couldn’t waste too much time here. Taking a few steps forward she grabbed Jasmine’s arm, dragging her off as she spoke over her shoulder.
“Yes we do mind. It’s personal business and you don’t need to know. Sorry, we need to go.”
As they neared the buildings, an arrow appeared on the ground. Another one appeared farther ahead just as Maria came upon the first. They followed the markings to a large barn, where words were already being written out on the floor.
Answer if you made it please. Pool information. Plan attack. 23h left.-- Kimi.
Here. Found Jeanne on wind. Called Joan instead. Who are Emishi? And what is this plague? --Bree.
Plague also known as Black Death. No clue as to Emishi. Probably something to do with Japan. Do you know if wounds transfer echo’s like death? --Kimi
What do you mean? --Bree
If someone loses an arm, or gets cut, does it cross over like these writings? Or only if they die does it affect other echo’s? --K.
Out of Time the Grand Quest Page 19