… encouraged it, tried to hold onto it, make it grow. It was like I had these mental hands, trying to clasp invisible fingers around an invisible… something. I don’t know-I can’t describe it. It took a lot of focus and concentration. Then, I just mentally threw it at her. I guess I attacked her just by thinking it and wanting it.”
Paul and Sofia stared at him, apparently at a loss for words, a minor miracle with those two.
“Anyway,” Tick continued, “it felt really good. I still think I’m a long way from controlling it anytime I want to, but this was about a billion times better than what happened a few months ago. Back then it was like somebody had ripped my spirit out of my body, and I couldn’t do anything about it.”
“What is the power?” Paul asked. “I mean, you’re doing some crazy stuff here, dude.”
“It’s Chi’karda, brainiac,” Sofia answered. “We know that much. For some reason Tick has a ton of it.”
Paul shook his head. “I know it’s Chi’karda-at least, that’s what Master Georgie boy over there thinks.” He pointed to the snoozing man, who looked a little ridiculous all dressed up in a prison cell. “But what does that mean? ”
“What do you mean, what does it mean?” Sofia said.
“I mean, what does it mean?”
Sofia blew out a loud breath. “I don’t know what it means.”
“Man,” Tick said, “we are really making progress here.”
They stayed quiet for awhile, and then Sofia broke the silence. “Well, we can leave the science side of it to Master George and the Realitants. We just need to help you learn how to control it so we can use it. As a weapon.”
“Yeah,” Paul agreed. “How about right now? I don’t think I’m up for hanging around here much longer.”
Weapon. For some reason that word gave Tick the chills. He didn’t want to think of himself as a potential killing device. “It doesn’t matter right now. I can’t feel anything, not even a flicker.”
“Maybe you need to be ticked off,” Paul said. “Here, let me kick you in the-”
“I’m good, thanks.” Tick scooted away.
“Just start thinking about stuff,” Sofia suggested. “Think about Jane and what she’s done to us and how we’re sitting in this prison. Think about your…” She didn’t finish, looking at the ground as if she’d just confessed something horrible.
Tick felt tears glisten his eyes. “You were going to say sisters. Think about my sisters.”
Sofia looked up at him, then nodded.
“Maybe that’s why I’m so empty,” Tick said, hearing the gloom in his own voice. “She threatened to hurt them if I try anything, so my subconscious won’t even let me get close to trying.”
“Man,” Paul said, “guess we shouldn’t expect you to, then. Too risky.”
“What are we going to do?” Sofia pleaded.
Master George stirred to their right, grunting as he rolled over and pushed himself into a sitting position. He let out a huge yawn while rubbing his eyes. “Goodness gracious me, how long have I been sleeping?”
“Couple hours,” Tick said.
“I had the strangest dream,” the leader of the Realitants said in a groggy voice. “I was in your basement, Master Atticus, and I saw a person in a big rabbit suit. It was a very creepy bunny. Quite disturbing. I woke up just as the person started to take off his head. What I would give to have seen the face beneath the mask.”
“It’s symbolic,” Sofia said. “Jane wears a mask now. I’m sure it’s her you would’ve seen.”
“Uh, what about the whole bunny thing?” Paul asked with a slight snicker.
“Well,” Master George began, clearing his throat, embarrassed. “I was, er, a bit frightened of bunnies as a child.”
Tick shocked himself when he laughed out loud. So did Paul.
“Poke fun if you must,” Master George countered, though he had a smile on his face. “You try falling into a cage filled with a dozen hungry rabbits and see how-”
A loud metal clang cut him off, and they all turned to see the iron-grilled door to their cell swing open. Standing behind it in the hallway was Mistress Jane, still dressed in her yellow robe and her expressionless red mask. There was a cart next to her, loaded with several plates of steaming food.
“My, you all look cozy,” she said. “I’ve brought you something to eat. I can’t have you starving to death before our big plans come to fruition.” She pushed the cart into the cell then swung the heavy door shut again. Its clanking ring echoed like some haunted musical instrument.
She turned to walk away, apparently done with them.
“Where are we?” Master George shouted at her.
Jane stopped, but did not look at them. “You’re in the Thirteenth Reality, George. Though it won’t be called that much longer.”
She started walking again, and soon was out of sight.
Chapter 14
Questions without Answers
Mothball’s dad was actually shorter than his wife, and, impossibly, even nicer. His dark hair and the angled features of his face would have looked hard and cold except for the permanent smile breaking it all up. He ushered Sato and the others into the huge living room, where they all sat down with cups of steaming hot tea. His name was Tollaseat, and he wore a bright red sweater with his drab-colored pants. He looked about as unfashionable as a person could possibly get.
As for the inside of the house, it was finely decorated. Bookshelves made of a dark and shiny wood were everywhere, some of them stocked with leather-bound books, others with various porcelain sculptures, dishes, and other knickknacks. The furniture all seemed a little fancy, with frilly carvings and flower prints and lacy stuff here and there. But at least the chairs were comfortable, and the soft carpet was easily three inches thick. Over a huge fireplace-which looked like it could burn an entire forest in no time-hung a portrait of an old woman just as tall and awkward-looking as Mothball and her mother.
“So,” Tollaseat said, his voice like a massive tolling bell, “Sato, my friend, I can’t tell you how nice it is to finally meet you.”
“Thanks,” Sato said, nodding with a curt smile. He couldn’t quite settle down, trying desperately to come to terms with his connection to the recently murdered ruler of the Fifth Reality. Why would a fifteen-year-old kid be the leader of an entire planet? It was just too bizarre. And if those Bugaboo soldiers-what a ridiculous name! — really wanted him dead…
Rutger cleared his throat. He was perched on a chair, his short legs dangling like a little kid’s. He glanced sidelong at Sato. “You’ll have to excuse our new Realitant friend. He’s not one for a lot of words. I’m sure he’s very happy to meet you too.”
“Ah,” Tollaseat scoffed, waving at the air with both hands. “No bother, really, no bother at all. We’re simply thrilled to have the lot of you come and sit a spell. No need for jabbering and such.”
Sato had to figure this out. “Could someone please explain to me about my Alterant? How could these psycho clown soldiers possibly think I’d come to this world and become the… what did you call it?”
“Grand Minister,” Windasill said quietly, as if indulging a child taking a quiz.
Sato snapped his fingers. “Yeah, that. How could they think I’d become the Grand Minister of the Fifth Reality? And why would they want to kill me in the first place?”
Mothball was sitting directly across from him. She leaned forward and put her elbows on her knees. “We think the Bugs and Mistress Jane have gone off and made some type of nasty arrangement. Mayhaps done it quite some time ago. And we reckon old Jane put out the scoop on you and your friends. Looking for revenge, she was. Just happens that your Alterant became our Minister, and the Bugs thought maybe we’d planted you. Replaced Sato Tadashi in a swap. Like we’d wanna ruddy take over the Reality or some such nonsense.”
“They must be the dumbest people in the universe,” Rutger muttered.
“No, no, my friend,” Tollaseat said, shaking his
head. “Crazy, vicious, bloodsucking tyrants, maybe. But not dumb. That I can promise ya.”
Sato ran a hand through his hair, not sure which bothered him more: that his Alterant just happened to be the ruler of an entire planet, or that a group of crazy clown soldiers wanted him dead. Scratch that, he thought. The second one was definitely worse.
“Wait a minute,” he said, just realizing something that should’ve been obvious from the start. “How could they possibly think that guy was me? Wouldn’t he have been way taller?”
“Not really,” Tollaseat answered. “Most of us chaps here in the Fifth don’t hit our growth spurts ’til we hit drinkin’ age. That not the same in your neck of the woods?”
Sato shrugged his shoulders wearily. “This is weird,” he said, as if those three words summed up everything. Maybe they did. “I really feel like I’m missing something. And why’d you guys bring me here if you knew all this?”
Mothball’s face scrunched up into a look of apology. “Sorry ’bout that. Really I am. Never thought we’d run into the Bugs. They ’aven’t been about much lately, according to me parents. Thought their troubles with these parts was quite well and over.”
“Quite true,” Tollaseat added. “Had our wars with ’em blokes back when Mothball was a wee one, but not seen ’em much since. No idea why they’re up in the deadie fields today. Strange, really.”
Sato folded his arms and stared at the floor. Staying here much longer didn’t sound like a good idea. “Well, maybe we should go back to headquarters. If those clowns want to kill me, I’d just as soon not be hanging out a couple of miles from them.”
“Leave before supper?” Tollaseat exclaimed, shooting up from his seat. “Not a chance. I’ve got all three ovens runnin’ top heat, cookin’ a feast like you’ve never seen before, young man. Bugs ’ave no idea you’re ’ere, I’d bet me left shoe. You just sit there and enjoy yourself with me wife and daughter while I go ready things up.”
Windasill reached out and patted Sato on the knee. “I married the best cook in the entire valley, I did. Good thing me blood runs fast and hot, or I’d look like poor Rutger sitting over there.”
Sato felt his eyes widen. He glanced quickly over at Rutger, who didn’t seem fazed in the least by the rude comment.
“I’d rather be down close to the ground,” the man said. “Safe and balanced, fat and happy. Lot better than looking like a bunch of dusty bones with clothes.”
Windasill laughed, the nicest sound Sato remembered hearing in a long time. “Oh, Rutger, we do love you so. Every last inch of you-and that’s saying quite a lot.” Giggling, she left the room, presumably to help her husband in the kitchen.
Once she was gone, Sato sat up straighter and glared first at Rutger, then Mothball. “This is crazy. Is all that stuff true?”
“Right as rain,” Mothball replied. “What’s all the fuss? We’ll have our dinner and be on our way, we will.”
Rutger rolled forward until he plopped off the chair and onto his feet. “If anything, you’re safer than ever. They think they killed you, remember? Calm down, and let’s go eat. I’m-”
“Let me guess,” Sato interrupted. “Starving.”
“How’d you know?”
“Come on, funny bunnies,” Mothball said, standing up on her tall legs. “I could use a bite to eat myself.” She reached down and swatted Rutger on the back before moving toward the kitchen, her best friend right on her heels.
Sato stared at their backs until they disappeared out of the room. How weird had his life become? He was standing in a house that made him feel like he was four feet tall, in an entirely different world, about to eat dinner with three giants and a man shaped like a big beach ball, in a place where his twin had been the leader of the entire planet and had been assassinated by insane men dressed like clowns.
Could it get any stranger?
Refusing to answer that question, he walked quickly out of the room and toward the wonderful smells wafting from the kitchen.
Chapter 15
The Twelfth Blade
Frazier Gunn stared down at the twelfth Alterant of Mistress Jane.
She was huge. And she was the last of them.
This one had been living a normal life in a small village in the Fifth Reality, where quirks of evolution, diet, and climactic factors had led to an unusually large race of humans. He guessed the woman sitting in front of him, now safely chained to the twisty black stone of the twelfth Blade component, had to be almost eight feet tall, and skinny- like she’d eaten nothing but lettuce her whole life. Crooked teeth, no makeup, stringy black hair.
And yet, even then, she was beautiful. Despite the tears streaming down her face, despite the constant begging, despite the disgusting way she wrung her hands and wiped snot from her nose with her fingers, she was beautiful to him. Maybe it was just the resemblance to Jane. He hadn’t seen her in days and missed her terribly. Maybe it was his longing for how she’d looked before the terrible Atticus Higginbottom incident. Maybe it was a lot of things.
But he was wasting time. He had to get back to the Thirteenth.
“Please,” the woman whimpered for the thousandth time since being dragged from her garden. With her size and surprising strength, Frazier had been forced to use the Stunning Rod Jane had created for him, jolting the Alterant every so often to remind her to cooperate. It’d been a long and grueling trip. But nothing could dampen his spirits now-it was over. The hardest mission of his life was finally over.
Now the exciting part would begin.
“Please don’t leave me here,” the Alterant said between loud sniffs. “I ’ave children, I do. Me husband’s away. None to take care of the wee ones.”
Frazier leaned over, looking her square in the eyes. “Please be quiet.” He dropped a pack of food and water at her feet then straightened and turned to walk away, moving as quickly as he could so he wouldn’t have to hear her wailing pleas for help. He knew he should’ve told her what a good cause she was participating in, how eventually great things would come from Jane’s plan with the Blade of Shattered Hope. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He was too tired to speak anymore.
He topped a rise and quickly went down the deep slope. The woman’s screeching, painful cries finally faded into the background. Capturing her had been the worst by far, maybe because she was the only one who hadn’t had some kind of criminal or shady background. Of course, the pitiful lady didn’t know this, but she had very good reason to feel such hopeless desperation.
Of the twelve Alterants of Mistress Jane, this one in the Fifth would be the only one to die. Well, this time around, anyway.
~
Mistress Jane stood at her favorite spot in the entire Lemon Fortress-maybe her favorite spot in all of the Realities. The open window of her room overlooked countless miles of forests, fields of green grass and wildflowers, and the snowcapped mountains in the distance. The beauty of it was overwhelming, even as seen through the eyeholes of her mask.
Normally she’d take it off, but she expected Frazier to report at any minute. And despite several months having passed since her entire body had been scorched and mutilated by Higginbottom, she had yet to let anyone see her true self-only her hands, so they’d know something horrible had happened. But she was still too ashamed, too embarrassed to reveal any other part of her now-hideous body. Especially her face. A face that had once, she thought proudly, been very, very beautiful.
A face that now looked like the scarred surface of a planet too close to a boiling sun.
At least the pain had subsided somewhat. With her increased powers over Chi’karda, she’d spent many days experimenting until she’d finally been able to manipulate her nervous system, a complex network of seemingly infinite human “wires.” In the beginning she could only reduce the pain when she concentrated, focusing in deep meditation. But as the weeks passed, she’d come to learn to do it on instinct, and life had become much sweeter. More conducive to fulfilling her long-awaited plans
.
But, unfortunately, she was still a long way from changing her appearance. For now, she had to settle for the robe and the mask to hide herself from the world, even from her closest friends.
Friends, with an “s” at the end? She was being far too generous. Only one person in all the Realities considered her a friend-Frazier.
Speaking of the devil, she heard a knock at the door.
“Come in,” she said, sending out a wave of Chi’karda to dissolve the door, something she’d done a thousand times-much more satisfying than merely pulling it open, and a task that was much easier now with her supercharged abilities over the realm of physics.
She looked over from where she stood next to the window, and after Frazier had stepped through, she imagined the billions of tiny particles that made up the wood of the door coming back together. She pushed a mental surge in that direction, and with a buzzing swoosh, the door appeared as it had seconds before, unblemished and whole.
With another mere thought, she made one of the eyebrows on her red metal mask arch upward. “Is it finished?”
Frazier walked over, obviously trying his hardest not to smile, but it was there anyway, especially in his eyes. “Yes, Mistress. The twelfth one is in place, secured in the Fifth. All of them have nanolocators and monitoring devices injected within their bodies. The observation area is alive and chirping as we speak. All we need now is-”
“I know what we need!” Jane snapped, flowing her mask into anger. “Honestly, Frazier, sometimes you act as if all this were your idea, your plan. Keep speaking to me like I’m some lowly wretch, and I’ll end your service to me-swiftly and painfully, I assure you. I don’t care who you are or what you’ve done for me.”
She regretted the words even as they flew out of her mouth, hating the look of sincere and utter hurt that melted the poor man’s face. But they had to be said. Once again, Frazier had shown traces of… confidence. Too much of it. She couldn’t allow it. Confidence led to insubordination and betrayal. Always.
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