Alterverse

by Keith B Darrell

  “It’ll be good to be reunited with Síofra and Kaya. I’ve missed them since…”

  “Remember, this isn’t your reality. These aren’t the Síofra and Kaya you know. Like everyone in the Alterverse, they’ve been shaped by the people and experiences they have interacted with during their lifetimes and you were never part of that interaction. Those you knew became the individuals they were, in part, because of the influence you and others had on them; without that influence they will have grown into completely different people.”

  “Thank you, Eligos. I’ll graciously accept whatever help you choose to offer me with my mission. But, given what you’ve said, I’m puzzled why you would be willing to lend any assistance at all.”

  Eligos directed his gaze to the starlit sky. “This is nonetheless a dark and dreary existence. The multiverse requires some semblance of order to balance the chaos; and it needs beauty.” He paused, wistfully. “And elephants.”

  Chapter Two

  Asabi waited outside the classroom until the students had been dismissed and approached Alaric as he exited. She pulled him aside. “Alaric. I need to speak to you.”

  Alaric perused her features. “Are you a new student? I haven’t seen you before.”

  Asabi noticed the other students milling about in the hallway becoming curious. “As your teacher said earlier, the walls have ears. Let’s go someplace more private.”

  Alaric’s eyes took in the young woman before him from head to toe. He estimated she was 18 or 20, roughly about his age, and undeniably attractive. Of course, he had no way to know Asabi was an emere or that all emeres were alluring and possessed seductive powers. He smiled at her. “My home isn’t far. It’s a state-run group home but I don’t have a roommate and they usually leave me alone. We can talk on the way. What’s your name?”

  “I’m called Asabi,” she said, still holding onto his arm. “But for what we need to discuss, I prefer somewhere more secluded.” She teleported them both from the school. In the blink of an eye, they rematerialized in the remnants of a demolished farmhouse.

  Alaric gazed about their surroundings. “Where are we? How did we get here?”

  “I teleported us here. We’re in Japan, outside of a small village not too far from the Kyoto Prefecture.”

  “Japan? That’s impossible. We were in Las Vegas seconds ago.”

  “Over time, I’ve found the word impossible applies to fewer and fewer things.” Asabi looked around the dilapidated remains of the farmhouse. “It’s as I remembered. I wasn’t certain if it existed here but apparently it does.”

  Alaric gave her a bemused look. “Have you been here before or haven’t you?”

  “That’s a complicated question. This is where I brought Kaya and Síofra years ago.”

  Alaric arched an eyebrow. “You know Kaya and Síofra?”

  Asabi recalled Eligos’ admonition that the people of the Alterverse were not the same ones she knew. “No.”

  Alaric frowned. “Why are you playing games with me? Start giving me some straight answers.”

  “Kaya was raised in this farmhouse by her mother Amaya and her late father… Until the Empusae attacked the village and the outlying areas, killing Amaya and destroying their home.”

  Alaric looked around what was left of the farmhouse with a newfound appreciation. “Kaya told me how she had been orphaned in a devastating attack but I hadn’t realized how brutal it must have been. Wait… Did you say Empusae?”

  “Yes. They’re a race of redheaded female demonic vampires that not only drain their victims’ blood but consume their bodies. Unlike ordinary vampires, they’re strongest in sunlight.”

  Alaric gave her a skeptical look. “There’s no such thing as sunlight, outside of fairytales in books. Everyone knows we live in eternal darkness, save for starlight and artificial lighting. I’ve met plenty of vampires but I’ve never heard of anything like you’re describing. Kaya herself told me it was the Netherspawn that attacked them.”

  “Netherspawn?“ Asabi repeated. “I remember them. They came from the Dark Dimension during the Great War.” She thought of the ingenuous angel Cassiopeia, who had been among the Netherspawn’s first victims when they had breached the dimensional barriers back in Asabi’s reality. “They murdered someone I cared for, too.”

  Alaric heard the sincerity in Asabi’s voice. “I’m sorry. Many have lost loved ones and suffered greatly at the hands of the Dark Gods and their minions.”

  Asabi studied the boy before her. “The Dark Gods rule over an autocratic regime yet you speak freely and apparently without fear of reprisal.”

  “They’ve promised not to harm me; at least, not to harm me anymore than they already have. They’ve taken my father away and imprisoned my mother, leaving me to be raised in a state facility. But not even the vampires or werewolves, and certainly no human, would dare raise a finger against me in defiance of an edict from the Dark Gods. And the Dark Gods themselves have no reason to rescind their pledge; they’re omnipotent and I’m merely a powerless boy.”

  “Nonetheless, you have courage, and I sense you possess other qualities of leadership. You call yourself a boy but you appear on the cusp of manhood.”

  Alaric nodded. “I’ll be an adult in a few weeks, on my next birthday, and it will be time for me to leave school and embark on a path of the Dark Gods’ choosing and serve them.”

  “Perhaps your destiny lies elsewhere, Alaric. I sense you were meant for great things, not to be a lackey of evil celestial deities.”

  “The Dark Gods aren’t evil. They’re lords of Chaos. Such recondite creatures are beyond human comprehension. You see, dimensions occupy the same space; there are limitless dimensions within the space in which we’re standing. If we were to see them all at once in their mind-shattering disorder, as do the Dark Gods, we’d surely go mad. Reality, as we humans perceive it, is finely ordered and makes sense; but true reality is chaotic, senseless, and random. The Dark Gods exist in all dimensions simultaneously, but in different forms. To gaze upon their true form would drive a human insane so they appear to us in more attractive forms our minds can assimilate, just as they’ve adopted human appellations for their own ineffable names.”

  “You say the Dark Gods are omnipotent, yet earlier I heard you tell Professor Eligos you sought retribution.”

  Alaric sighed. “I know. I sound like a fool in pursuit of a quixotic cause.”

  “Not at all. You sound like a future leader of a nascent resistance movement. And I don’t believe you’re a fool pursuing a quixotic cause.”

  “How can you say that? You sound sincere; as if you truly believed there were a way to defeat omnipotent gods.”

  “You spoke of multiple dimensions. I come from one such dimension. Actually, it’s a parallel universe, identical to yours in most respects but with one major difference: in my universe, the Dark Gods have been banished to their own dimension.”

  “You come from a land untouched by the arbitrary and capricious rule of the Dark Gods?” Alaric was astounded at the concept of a universe without the dark deities. He found the strange black girl’s words oddly inspiring. “You make me believe it’s possible to cleanse my universe of their presence.”

  “They reign here only because of their omnipotence, which is derived solely from the energy they draw from the masses of humanity worshipping them. As the Dark Gods lose worshippers that energy will be like gushing water from a hose slowing to a drip. Eventually, they’ll become so weak they’ll be easily imprisoned and hopefully forgotten by the descendants of what few followers remain.”

  Alaric studied Asabi’s face. “You truly believe this is possible?”

  “I’ll stake my life on it; what’s more, I’ll help you in any way I can.”

  “By electing to oppose the Dark Gods you already have wagered your life. If our resistance fails I might be spared but they won’t hesitate to eradicate you.”

  “I believe freedom is a cause worth dying for, if necessary. The Dark
Gods are a threat to all existence, in this or any universe, and must be contained or eliminated. No individual life is worth more than that unwavering goal.”

  Alaric smiled. “Perhaps we’re both fools. But I accept your help nonetheless.” He held out his hand. “To the Resistance.”

  The wooden planks and boards that once formed the barn walls creaked. Asabi and Alaric looked in the direction of the sound and glanced at each other. “Someone’s here,” Alaric said.

  “I’ll teleport us back.”

  “No,” Alaric said decisively. “If someone’s overheard us then we need to know who. That knowledge could end the Resistance before it begins, and with it, our lives.” He stepped in the direction from which they had heard the noise. “We know you’re there; show yourself.”

  A rustling came from the debris and a vulpine head emerged. The fox darted across the barn floor.

  Alaric laughed. “I guess we’re too paranoid.”

  Three bats swooped down into the remains of the barn and assumed human form. Asabi recognized one of the two women as Lady Chiyoko, in Asabi’s own universe a Nosferatu, Inc. director. The ebon emere wondered if she had the same role here in the Alterverse.

  “Paranoia is a healthy attribute.” Chiyoko turned to her companions. “Hiroko, Tsuneo… Collect our little friend and we’ll be off.”

  Asabi saw the terrified fox shrink back. It shimmered and morphed into a couchant Japanese woman. Asabi recognized her as Kita, the kitsune Asabi had met in her own reality at the wedding of Alaric’s parents, Samantha Twitch and Lucifer.

  “Please,” the kitsune pleaded, “grant me my freedom.”

  Chiyoko laughed. “Really, little fox. You know there’s no such thing as freedom; and even if there were, it could not be granted to one with such unique and useful talents as you possess.”

  “We should leave now,” Asabi whispered to Alaric.

  “And leave that poor woman in the hands of the vampires? Aren’t you the one who said freedom is a cause worth dying for?”

  “I also said our cause outweighs the life of any individual. Despite the value I place on innocent life, too much is riding on our success to jeopardize the formation of the Resistance.”

  “Perhaps,” Alaric whispered, “but does placing so little value on innocent life not put us on a par with the regime we would oppose?”

  Asabi gazed uncomfortably at the young boy, recalling he was Lucifer’s son. “You’re going to do something rash and impetuous, aren’t you?”

  Alaric grinned. “Is there any other way?” He leapt between Kita and the vampires. “You heard the lady. She’s no fonder of bloodsuckers than am I.”

  Hiroko turned to her older mistress. “Shall we kill the breathers, Lady Chiyoko?”

  Chiyoko studied Alaric. “This one has courage. I sense anger within him, yet no fear. He would make a formidable enemy were he allowed to attain his full potential.” She paused. “Kill them both. I shall recapture the kitsune.”

  Asabi glanced at Alaric. “I don’t suppose you had a Plan B?”

  The younger Japanese vampire Hiroko and her white-haired counterpart Tsuneo advanced on them.

  “Once we draft a rulebook for the Resistance movement that will be the first rule: Always have a Plan B,” Alaric said.

  “Grab my hand,” Asabi said. “I can still teleport us out of here.”

  “What about the kitsune?”

  “I have to be in physical contact to transport someone. These two vampires coming at us are in the way.”

  “Then let’s move them out of the way. I’ll take the man; you take the woman.”

  Asabi looked at him in disbelief. “That’s your plan? I wasn’t a fighter even before, when I was… Different. But these are vampires. They each have the strength of fifty men.”

  Alaric’s right leg flew up and kicked Tsuneo in the crotch. “That’s not all they have,” he said, watching the male vampire double over moaning in pain and fall to the ground.

  Hiroko grabbed Asabi by the throat. “Your friend’s trick will not work on me. I’ll drain your blood first and then suck the life from him.”

  Alaric leapt onto Hiroko’s back in an attempt to pull her off Asabi. “I know they say ladies first but not this time.” Yet he was unable to dislodge her vise-like grasp.

  A lissome female form clad in black leather somersaulted across the barn floor. Seemingly casually, she flung a handful of metal stars at the three vampires, yet the projectiles flew through the air unerringly finding their marks. The vampires cried out in pain.

  “My shuriken are made of silver. I’ve no desire to harm you but if you interfere with my mission I shall have no choice but to destroy you.”

  Asabi felt her strictured throat muscles relaxing now that Hiroko had been forced to release her grip.

  Lady Chiyoko winced as she plucked the razor-sharp shuriken from her skin. “And what might that mission be?”

  “To hunt down and kill the kitsune.”

  Asabi glanced at Kita. “Not very popular around these parts, are you?”

  “She’s too valuable for me to allow you to destroy her,” Chiyoko said.

  “Allow? An interesting word. It implies you possess the capability to stop me. Surely you recognize I’m a kunoichi. I’m trained to return successfully from my missions or not at all. You’re vulnerable to silver. My shuriken can just as easily slice through your hearts, ending your existence.”

  Chiyoko stared cautiously at the metal stars that seemingly appeared from nowhere within the kunoichi’s hand. Her eyes darted to Hiroko and Tsuneo who looked to have been more gravely wounded in the attack.

  Asabi rushed to Kita, grabbing her by the arm and grasping Alaric’s hand a moment later. The emere concentrated, attempting to teleport them back to Las Vegas but they remained standing in the barn. However, a shimmering rift appeared before them.

  “The Dreamscape!” Kita exclaimed, recognizing the terrain visible through the rift. She transmogrified into a fox and leapt through the rift.

  Alaric glanced at Asabi. “Let’s go. I think we’ve worn out our welcome here.” They followed Kita through the shimmering portal.

  Alaric looked around the surreal and unfamiliar surroundings. “What is this place?”

  “The dimension known as the Dreamscape,” Asabi replied. “But this isn’t where I wished to teleport. In fact, we didn’t teleport at all.”

  “You mean you didn’t open some sort of dimensional portal on purpose?” Alaric asked.

  Asabi shook her head. “That’s beyond my power. At least, it was in my universe. But we are now in the Age of Magic, a time in which many things are possible.”

  Kita perused the coruscating rift. “It looks as though you tore a rip in the fabric of reality itself.”

  Alaric noticed Chiyoko, Hiroko, and Tsuneo on the other side of the dimensional breach. “You’d better sew up that rip before those vampires recover and follow us through it.”

  “I don’t know how I opened it so I don’t know how to close it,” Asabi said.

  “Do not worry,” Kita said. “The vampires cannot enter the Dreamscape. This is a realm of dreams and although their kind may sleep in their coffins, they never dream.” She looked quizzically at Asabi. “As a kitsune, I may freely enter the Dreamscape but humans may only do so in their dreams, not in their corporeal bodies. How is it you’re able to manifest physically in a realm of dreams?”

  “I’m not human,” Asabi replied. “I’m an emere with the ability to travel to any dimension, including the Dreamscape.” Asabi glanced at Alaric. “While I can teleport up to two others with me, I should not have been able to bring a human into the Dreamscape.”

  “You said we didn’t teleport,” Alaric said. “We came through the rift you opened.”

  Asabi nodded. “It’s as if I inadvertently opened some sort of interdimensional wormhole. If I can do it again there may be no limit to the number of people I can lead through it. If only I could learn how I did it and cont
rol where it opens.”

  “That still doesn’t explain how a human can exist in an incorporeal, nonmaterial realm,” Kita said.

  “Asabi said we were in the Age of Magic,” Alaric said. “Maybe that means the scientific rules of interdimensional physics have been supplanted by magical precepts.”

  “The shimmering rift reminds me of a ripple in the water,” Kita said. “Even the deepest ripple is soon subsumed once again within the water’s smooth surface. Maybe the rift will seal itself, in time.”

  “Who are you and what have you done to get everyone in Japan pissed off at you?” Alaric asked.

  “My name is Kita. There are few of my kind in Japan, or anywhere else, which is why the vampires consider me a prized possession.”

  “Possession?” Alaric asked.

  Kita nodded. “Although kitsune are powerful creatures the vampires are immune to our foxfire. I was enslaved by them and forced to do their bidding. However, I escaped and sought refuge in the abandoned farmhouse. I thought I’d found sanctuary but Lady Chiyoko and her vampire minions pursued me.”

  “What did Lady Chiyoko force you to do for her?” Asabi asked.

  “Isn’t it obvious?” Alaric asked. “What is it that the kitsune can do that vampires cannot?”

  Kita looked at Alaric. “You’re smart for one so young. And you are correct: the vampires enslaved me because they cannot enter the Dreamscape but a kitsune can. You know vampires serve the Dark Gods. They use kitsune to prowl the Dreamscape spying on the dreams of humans who might be dreaming of plots against the Dark Gods.”

  Asabi gasped. “No wonder there’ve been no successful resistance movements before now. It’s every totalitarian regime’s desire to be able to get into the minds of those they would rule and dominate. They use the kitsune to turn the Dreamscape into the ultimate spy network.”