Alterverse

by Keith B Darrell

  “Let’s stop off at the campsite on the way home. I’ll call Mom and tell her we’re having dinner with Dad. Katarina always has something good cooked up. Yoska can cheer you up with his jokes and you can talk about boys with Terenka and Voronka… or even better, with Karoly. He knows more about dating boys than they do.”

  Ursula laughed. “I’d rather confide in Aunt Lupe. At least Dad will be happy; he said Alaric was too old for me.”

  Quinn put his arm around his sister. “Come on, let’s go.”

  Ursula nodded, pausing only for a moment to glance back at Alaric and Katsumi, still kissing.

  Chapter Sixteen

  The gypsy campsite in the woods; a short time later:

  The aroma of cooked venison wafted through the air. “Told you there’d be something good for dinner on the campfire tonight,” Quinn said. Ursula forced a smile. She saw Katarina and Luna stirring the stewpot. “Smells good.”

  Katarina looked up. “Will you two be staying for dinner?”

  “If you don’t mind,” Ursula said.

  Katarina smiled. “You know you’re always welcome, glata.”

  Quinn looked around. “Where is everybody?”

  “Romulus took the men to the lake to fish,” Katarina said. “Well, he took Janos and Tomas. You know how your father feels about Romulus so he stayed in his vardo. Yoska and Istvan are goofing off in the woods, and Karoly snuck off to visit his gaje boyfriend.”

  “Is Aunt Lupe with Dad?” Ursula asked.

  Katarina shook her head. “She went into town with Terenka and Voronka to sell some wares to the gaje.”

  Ursula’s expression turned crestfallen. “Oh.”

  “What’s wrong, glata?” Katarina asked, sensing the girl’s disquietude.

  “Nothing. I was just looking forward to talking with them.”

  Quinn frowned. “Alaric’s got a new girlfriend and it’s not Ursula.”

  “Quinn!” Ursula exclaimed, mortified.

  “Well, it’s true,” her brother protested. “She came here for some girl talk but it looks like we’ll have to settle for goulash.”

  Katarina recalled Emma had left the cave in search of Alaric. “Maybe you’ve misinterpreted the situation. This new girlfriend – is she a young witch?”

  “No, she’s a kunoichi.” Quinn added, “She’s like a Japanese assassin.” He thought for a moment. “A witch did turn up, but it was Alaric’s aunt Emma.”

  Katarina’s eyes widened. So, Emma has found her nephew after all, she thought.

  Luna caught Quinn’s eye. “Take over stirring for me and help Katarina with the cooking. Your sister and I are going for a walk.”

  Ursula gave Luna a puzzled look but was too depressed to argue. They strolled into the woods. “You’re a pretty girl, Ursula. You’ll have many boys to choose from in your future.”

  “I don’t want many boys; I want Alaric. But he’s only interested in this woman he met in Japan. He sees me as nothing more than a kid.” Ursula sighed. “And he’s right. That’s all I am.”

  “You’re much more than that. You’re a young woman, or at least growing into one. You have much time ahead of you and eventually the Fates will unite you with your soul mate. Maybe it will be Alaric after all. As a child I knew your father was my soul mate but it took him many years to realize that.”

  “Great. So you’re saying I’ll end up like you and get Alaric a decade later after he’s had kids with Katsumi?”

  “Your soul mate might be someone whom you haven’t yet met.”

  “Why are we talking about this?” Ursula snapped. “We’re not friends and you’re not my mother,” she added harshly.

  “No, I’m not your mother,” Luna said gently. “Even though I married your father, I’ve never sought to usurp Pandora’s role in your life. But I hope we can be friends… one day. Tell me, why did you come here instead of having a mother-daughter chat with Pandora?”

  Ursula frowned. “Mom’s not like Quinn and me. She’s a full-blooded vampire, not a half-breed like us. She loves us but… she’s not human. Vampires lose their humanity the longer they’re suckers. She wouldn’t be able to relate to how I’m feeling. Aunt Lupe could empathize because, despite her lycanthrope DNA, she’s still human.”

  Luna gave a knowing nod. “Unrequited love sucks. I’ve been there, too.”

  Ursula broke down into tears and embraced Luna. “I love him. I still love Alaric,” she sobbed.

  “I know, dear. I know.” Luna rocked the crying girl in her arms.

  Katarina watched Quinn and Ursula leave the campsite to return home to the city. The men had returned and eaten dinner with them but Lupe, Voronka, and Terenka were still in the nearby town concluding their business transactions with the locals. Katarina waited until the others had retired to their vardos before scooping half of the remaining goulash into containers she had hidden away. She gathered them into a burlap sack and slipped out, headed to the cave.

  Jonas Braxton raced to greet her when she entered the large cavern in which the children had been gathered. “Aunt Beast!” he cried excitedly, wrapping his small arms around the older woman’s midsection. Tad quickly appeared behind him and Katarina handed him the burlap sack.

  “Feed this goulash to the little ones while it’s still warm,” she said. The changeling took the sack to the rear of the cavern and dispensed it to the hungry children. Katarina ruffled Jonas’ hair. “I think you’ve grown an inch taller.” She smiled warmly at the young boy.

  “I’ve missed you, Aunt Beast. When you leave, can you take me back with you?”

  Katarina hugged him again. “The ways of my people are different from yours. We travel frequently, never calling one spot home; we live in vardos – wagons in the forest; and most of the townspeople do not like us. It’s not an easy life.”

  Jonas looked up into her eyes. “Is it harder than living in a cave away from your family?”

  Katarina knew the boy could not be lonely in a cave filled with children but with Emma’s departure he lacked a maternal figure. She wanted desperately to bring them all back with her, especially Jonas with whom she had formed an emotional attachment. Katarina gulped. “If it were up to me, I would take you home but…” She thought of Romulus. “The ones who make those decisions would not allow it.” She ran her fingers through his hair again. “But I’ll try to visit more often.”

  “I’d like that. You’re much nicer than Aunt Matilda and Uncle Phineas.”

  “Who?”

  “Emma’s parents. They come by every day to check on us. Sometimes her sisters Samantha and Drusilla visit but Drusilla’s scary: she has creepy long fingernails.”

  Katarina gestured for Tad to rejoin them. “Young Jonas has been telling me about Emma’s family visiting the children.”

  Tad nodded. “Yes, they showed up looking for Emma but she had already left. They were upset they’d missed her and they haven’t been able to locate her since.”

  “Their concern is understandable; I’d be distraught if my daughter were missing. If only there were some way to contact Emma’s mother and tell her I know where she is.”

  Tad shrugged. “I can contact her.”

  Katarina looked at Tad suspiciously. “Do you changelings have some secret telepathic Fae power?”

  Tad reached into his pocket and pulled out his smartphone. “I’ll also text Emma and let her know. Although we’ll have to step outside the cave to get reception.”

  An ebullient Emma rushed to her nephew. “Alaric! My boyfriend Tad just texted me: Samantha’s been freed.”

  “What” How? Where is she?”

  “Drusilla and the Braxtons found out where the Dark Gods were holding her and got your grandparents to help break her free. She’s with them now.”

  “Is she hurt?”

  “Tad didn’t say so. They want to meet us tomorrow at the cave.”

  “I can’t wait. I—” Alaric hesitated and the excitement drained from his voice. “I can’t leave now.
Our team is finally beginning to jell and I’ve only just established my leadership. Why don’t you go and bring them here?”

  “Now more than ever we need to protect the children; we can’t leave them unguarded. The cave leads into several large caverns that would make a much better base of operations than a schoolyard. Look how easily Artemus found us here.”

  “You’re suggesting we relocate everyone to this cave of your?”

  “Katsumi and Kita can help look after the children,” Emma said. “Asmodeus is used to living in a cave in Hell and Nitrate needs a place to stay. Obviously, the twins already have a home but Kaya and Síofra have been homeless since their farmhouse was destroyed.”

  Alaric ruminated. “We’ll do it – and more. It’s time to take the next step and bring the battle to the Dark Gods. We’ll make it a meeting of everyone sympathetic to the cause, including our families, and we’ll announce our plans to go on the offensive to end the reign of the Dark Gods.”

  The cave; the next day:

  Professor Eligos gazed out at the dozens of people in the sprawling cavern – mortals, vampires, changelings, demons, mages, and others. He turned to the black girl beside him, herself an interdimensional traveler from an alternate reality. “The Resistance will take on a life of its own, Asabi. It will grow and spread like a virus. As people see the Dark Gods can be challenged many will rise up and join the fight.”

  Several yards away, a cheer went up. “Al-a-ric. Al-a-ric,” they chanted, surrounding the boy rebel.

  Asabi watched the crowd enthusiastically embrace Alaric. “Will they prevail?”

  “I can’t say,” Eligos said.

  “I thought you were prescient.”

  “I didn’t say I couldn’t see the future; I merely said I could not say.” Eligos leaned in on his silver lance. “Look at them: They’re motivated, driven to end the authoritarian rule of the Dark Gods and usher in freedom and democracy. Would they be as ardent and zealous if they realized their success meant they would be erased from existence once your reality replaces this one?”

  Asabi sighed. “Of course, you’re right. Their victory means their deaths; worse, they’ll be wiped from existence once this Alterverse ceases to exist.”

  “All life ends. Some, like Kita, know what will happen and the truth spurs them on. Others suspect, while the rest fight on in blissful ignorance.”

  Asabi grimaced. “They deserve to know… And yet, that might dissuade them and prevent my reality from ever being restored. As much as I feel it would be the right thing – the moral thing –to do, I must trust in God’s will and carry out the divine mission with which I’ve been entrusted.”

  Eligos nodded. “It can be difficult keeping silent in the face of knowledge.”

  Asabi looked at Eligos with newfound understanding. “What a tremendous burden it must be to have your powers, to be able to foretell the future and to know all secrets.”

  Eligos’ eyes scanned the Resistance members. “Especially knowing which ones will fall in battle. Of course, I cannot reveal that to them, either.”

  Asabi gazed out at her enthusiastic comrades. “They deserve better.”

  “I assure you, before that day arrives they will have many, many adventures. There are countless battles to be fought. They’ll lead full lives filled with meaning and accomplishment. They’ll share love and pain and happiness and great loyalty. And when the end comes, they’ll look back on all they’ve shared and experienced and go out knowing their sacrifice will enable an entire multiverse to live as they had. All existence is fleeting, Asabi; but has any been more noble?”

  “Then, we shall continue the fight.”

  Eligos placed his hand on Asabi’s shoulder. “No, Asabi of the Yoruba people. The fight shall continue, but without you. You’ve sacrificed enough of your life; it’s their battle now.”

  “But we haven’t won yet.”

  “You accomplished what you were sent here to do: you set in motion the chain of events that will lead Alaric and the Resistance to victory. The Fates and the Kindly Ones will see to the rest.”

  “The Kindly Ones?”

  “The Furies; best not to speak of them,” Eligos said.

  The chant grew louder. “Al-a-ric. Al-a-ric.”

  “Alaric,” Asabi said, looking at the young boy. “In my reality, Alaric was the name of the chief of the Visigoths who raised an army and sacked Rome, ultimately leading to the eventual fall of the Roman Empire, the most powerful force in the known world.”

  “I know,” Eligos said.

  “Of course you do.” Asabi watched his newfound friends. Kita the kitsune stood between the dreamwalker Morgan Summers and the emotive Nitrate, not as a buffer between the two quarrelsome antagonists but as a fellow comrade-in-arms. Emma Twitch released Tad’s hand so she could join her sisters Samantha and Drusilla to merge into the triune goddess Hecate. Tad lifted young Jonas Braxton onto his back so he could see above the crowd. When Jonas saw Katarina with the Gypsies he waved and called out, “Aunt Beast!” She smiled at him and waved back. The Braxton brothers – Alastair, Tobias, and Ezra – looked on approvingly, waiting to watch the transformation of their goddess. Amadi smiled, secure in the knowledge he had chosen the right path. Several feet away, Síofra and Kaya stood together, the freckled-faced, red-haired changeling uncharacteristically laughing with the younger Japanese girl. Quinn Fenris placed his arm around his sister Ursula. Cody Fenris and Pandora Pennyworth looked lovingly at their children and exchanged a proud glance. Cody squeezed Luna’s hand, grateful to have both his children and the woman he loved. Lupe Fenris observed her brother and her best friend and smiled contentedly, grasping her boyfriend Tamas’ hand. Alaric handed his trident to Asmodeus and reached out for Katsumi’s hand. He pulled the Japanese girl toward him and embraced her. They kissed, as passionately or more as they had the first time.

  Asabi wondered who among them would die in battle against the Dark Gods, and then she wondered if it really mattered since none would survive the destruction of this reality. Nonetheless, she realized she didn’t want to know. She turned to Eligos. “I can open a portal back to the pocket universe I came from, and from there I should be able to return to the restored reality. Will you say my goodbyes to them? I can’t bring myself to…”

  Eligos nodded. “I understand. They’ll understand, too. You have your own adventures ahead of you, just as they do. Goodbye, Asabi of the Yoruba people. Safe journey.”

  Asabi located a faerie spot and opened the wormhole. She wondered if she would still have this new ability once she had returned to her own reality. She took one last look at the Resistance before entering the portal.

  Epilogue

  Reality has been restored. I can feel it through every fiber of my being. After all, I am an emere. Alterverse was a cage for one such as I, but now I’m free to fly. The Dark Gods have been defeated once more and the dystopian future they created will never come to pass. The multiverse as I knew it has been recreated, as if reality had never been altered, and uncaged I can use my innate powers to find my way home... to them.

  My hands shake with anticipation. I glance down at them and my eyes follow the contour of my body. I’ve changed. No, not really. This is merely the side of me I kept hidden. Emeres are born with this gender duality. My feminine form previously only manifested in times of extreme nervousness, and then usually only in the presence of deities. But now…I touch my bosom. They’re not going away; this time the change is permanent. Metatron warned me it would be, but I hadn’t given it any thought at the time. The fate of the multiverse was at stake; of what consequence could my appearance be by comparison?

  But now… will it matter? And if so, how will it change things? I’m still me inside.

  Yes, I am me, Asabi. I’m an emere with the ability to traverse the multiverse. I can go anywhere I wish. I close my eyes and think of them – the child and the hellion. I see a forest and a gypsy caravan. I will find them there; I know it. Now that I have pictured
the destination, I can teleport to it. Kaya and Síofra, I’m coming home.

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