For Centuries More

by Ethan Johnson

  Marc bowed. “I would never lie to you, highness. I owe everything I have to you.”

  Inanna huffed and stepped forward. “Ah, my brother, I seem to have just arrived to hear of my Marc’s labors. Poor Marc! All day, he labors for you, and here he is paid with distrust. What troubles you so, to doubt him when he serves you as a tree produces fruit to one who hungers, or shade to one who burns in the sunlight?”

  “Silence,” Tobias commanded. “I shall hear it from him. Speak, and tell me this: has my kingdom been constructed as I have put forth?”

  Marc looked around nervously. “I, uh, not one brick is out of place. We have checked and double-checked to be sure, your highness.”

  Inanna raised her hand. “To this, he means he has been faithful to the plan, but the plans are only as good as men who make them.”

  Marc cocked his head. “No, I meant, the plans are very clear, and we have made extra sure we’re giving you exactly what you wanted, as you have commanded. We are loyal to you, and only you, your majesty.” He smiled at Inanna. “Hey, your English is improving.”

  Inanna rolled her eyes. Marc is a fool, she thought. She gave him a tight-lipped smile. “There, you see, my brother, he has spoken true, and your glorious kingdom is yet at hand! The roof is now to come. Dread Nineveh sees in all directions, but not through these walls.”

  Tobias shot her an annoyed glance. “I will command my subjects as I see fit. Marc shall tell me truly this: have you overseen every brick that was laid in that wall? Can you assure me nothing has been done without your watchful eye upon it?”

  Marc scratched his beard. “I, uh, no, your highness. I supervised most of it, but sometimes I was, uh, called away, and my foremen took over until I got back.”

  Inanna muttered a strange word under her breath. To her horror, nothing happened. “Sittu,” she hissed in desperation.

  Marc turned around. “Bless you.”

  “Why do you bless me, my Marc?”

  “You sneezed. I said, ‘Bless you’. It’s just manners,” Marc said.

  Tobias stood abruptly. He pointed to Inanna and said angrily, “That was no sneeze. What are you playing at, sister? What secret does he bear? Speak. Tell me at once.”

  Inanna felt a strange sensation. She was accustomed to being in control, using the ambitions of powerful men for her own ends. Marc was not powerful, but in using her mortal form as enticement he was malleable indeed. Now she felt… powerless. Even in her mortal form, she wielded the power of a goddess. Now she knew what it was like to be merely human. No matter, she decided, these are weak men. They are but as flies to Inanna. “Have you not been out amongst the rabble, my brother? Have you not taken stock of their labors? It was you who commanded them, and they have done exactly as you have commanded. If the result displeases you, will the blame ever rest on your shoulders, brother? Or are you a tyrant, striking down all those who are but as mirrors upon you?”

  Tobias stepped forward, furious. “What treasonous words are these? You are my sister, this is true, but no king may be spoken to thus! Pray I only condemn you to exile, so Inanna may yet live!”

  Marc was ashen, and dropped down to his knees, clasping his hands together and beating them against the dais. “Your highness, please, this is easily settled. Please, let’s all be reasonable.”

  Tobias looked upon him and softened. “Rise, my Marc. It is not well that you take the form of a lowly beggar.”

  “But I am begging you, sire, not to do anything rash. I love Inanna. I know siblings have their fights, but some bells can’t ever be unrung. Please, there’s a simple solution.”

  “What do you propose?”

  “Well, hear me out. Back when I was with DRC, we had some consultants come in from Japan. They were all into efficiency and standards. Anyway, I forgot nearly everything they told us, but the one thing that stuck was a word: Gemba.”

  Tobias cocked his head. “I know not of this word.”

  “I didn’t either. In Japanese, it means, “the real place.” They said you always should talk about things in the place where they exist, not, say, in a conference room or an ocean apart.”

  Inanna tried the word. “Gem-ba.”

  Marc continued. “So, rather than arguing here, and I’m sorry guys, that’s all you’re doing, let’s go to the west wall and check it out. I mean, your highness, you should see it with your own eyes and tell me if it meets your approval.”

  Tobias smiled and nodded. “I know not of this ‘Japan’. You will take me there someday. But for now, I am content to do as you suggest. We shall go to the west wall, and I shall cast my judgment on your labors.”

  Marc stood up, beaming. “Okay.”

  Inanna flitted up the steps. “Oh, my Marc, you do not have to bear this burden. If he blames you for his failings, will exile be your fate? Do not leave poor Inanna.” She slipped her hand up his shirt in desperation. With a thought her finger would glow, and he would be transformed forever into a golden adornment. Tobias would be next for his treachery, she vowed.

  Marc descended from the dais. Inanna’s hand slid out of his shirt. She stared at it in disbelief. Tobias followed closely behind him. “We go to this… gemba.”

  Inanna frowned and followed the pair after letting them get a few steps ahead of her. She puzzled over her failure in seething silence as they walked.

  CHAPTER 61: UNITED

  James let out a loud yawn. He covered his mouth immediately afterward and shook his head. “I’m sorry, Agnes.”

  Agnes smiled and patted his knee. “No apologies are necessary, James. I’ve kept you up all night.” She turned to the dorm room window. Dawn was breaking over the trees. “If anyone should be apologizing, it’s me.”

  James chuckled. “Okay, it’s a draw. Nobody apologize. Anyway, you’ve helped me understand so much and I hate asking this, but here goes: if this goddess is here in the present day, up to something evil, why do I keep seeing visions of an ancient kingdom? Last I saw, it had fallen under attack and was literally starting to dissolve into sand. It was crazy.”

  Agnes turned paler than normal. Her eyes widened, and she gripped his knees. “Dissolved into sand? Are you sure?”

  “Yeah, I watched solid walls just drop to the ground as the invading army broke through. The thing is, they weren’t doing anything to the walls to make that happen. They just… touched them. I figure I was seeing a dream, not a vision.”

  Agnes shook her head gravely. “That was no dream. The people touching the walls… what did they look like? Were they dressed in any special way? Did they say anything?”

  “They were just soldiers, from what I can tell, and other than fighting noises, I couldn’t make out anything I could repeat to you now. Why, what do you know about them? Where is this place?”

  “The better question is when.”

  “Fine. When did all of this happen?”

  Agnes looked out the window. Rays of sunlight made her eyes sparkle. James looked in her eyes and caught a glimpse of other worlds, other lifetimes. “My spirit guide is reminding me there is no such thing as ‘past’ or ‘present’. It’s all happening now. Sometimes it’s so easy to forget that. Times like now, when I traveled from halfway across the country to be with you, as quickly as I could. As Image likes to say whenever historical time periods come up in her lessons, ‘It was about 2500 years ago, in your terms.’ Our spirit guides have much to teach us, but they can’t fully acclimate to physical reality, any more than we can comprehend theirs.”

  James leaned back as he struggled to make sense of what she had told him. “2500 years? That’s… that’s older than Jesus.”

  “Yes, I suppose it is.”

  “Which is a weird thing to say, I guess, but I don’t know. Jesus is such a big piece of ancient history it’s hard to process that I’d be taken back further than that.”

  “We go where the truth takes us,” Agnes said.

  James smacked his forehead. “Oh man, the truth. How am I going to explain yo
u being here? This place thinks it’s all enlightened and stuff, but if they see you and we say you appeared out of thin air, the best-case scenario is, they think we’re kidding and I get a lecture about overnight guests.”

  Agnes shook her head. “No need to worry about that. Somebody knows I’m here.”

  “Who?”

  The door opened and Aubra entered the room. She crossed her arms and gave Agnes a hard stare. “We aren’t allowed to have overnight visitors.”

  Agnes closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She smiled and opened them again. “Hello, Aubra. Thank you for looking after James.”

  Aubra maintained her stern glare and trademark monotone as she spoke. “That’s what friends do. You’re his girlfriend. You can’t be here.”

  James scooted forward. “She’s not my girlfriend!” He squeezed Agnes’s arm. “And yes, I know it’s hard to believe, but she’s here. Deal with it.” He gave Agnes a puzzled look. “Wait, you two know each other?”

  Aubra twisted from side to side as she stood firmly in place. “I was referring to the fact that the woman we know as the countess will kill you if she sees you. She is desperate and capable of anything. Your death solves nothing.”

  Agnes smiled thinly and nodded. “I am not here to die. But on this, we agree: the countess is capable of anything. Where is she now?”

  “I saw her packing a bag in her office. Our groundskeeper gave her some important information. I am told she’s going to Chicago.”

  “Inanna,” Agnes gasped. James shook his head in disbelief.

  “That goddess? What’s the countess going to do, beg for gold or something?”

  Agnes and Aubra turned to him and said in unison, “Yes.”

  “Oh, man, for real? And what, this goddess is just going to give it to her?”

  Aubra and Agnes closed their eyes, then shook their heads in unison as Aubra spoke. “She might.”

  Agnes frowned at this. “Inanna’s motives are not clear to us. Aubra has told you she is bad. Image doesn’t call anyone or anything ‘good’ or ‘bad’. However, there is a such thing as negative energy, and Inanna is loaded with it. She may use the promise of riches to compel the countess to do something for her.”

  “Kill?” James ran his finger across his throat.

  “Yes,” Aubra said simply. “You have seen what she has done. I call it bad. Bad people do bad things.”

  “Okay, so what are we going to do about it?”

  Agnes gave James a surprised look. “We are going to stop her.”

  “How?”

  Aubra closed the door. “The countess will want to leave before breakfast. If we wait near her car, we can prevent her escape, or at least slow her down until more help arrives.”

  Agnes shook her head. “We aren’t stopping the countess. She is free to go.”

  James and Aubra turned to her sharply, and said in unison, “What?”

  “We aren’t stopping the countess. She has much to atone for, and perhaps one day that reckoning will come. That’s not our concern. The goddess is far more dangerous. If we stop her from achieving her ends in this time, the countess will be denied her expected reward. If we expend our energies on the countess, we can’t focus on Inanna, which is what she wants us to do.”

  “I assume you learned that in the Black Tower,” Aubra said.

  “Hm?”

  James laughed. “It’s an inside joke.”

  “I don’t tell jokes, James,” Aubra said sternly.

  “Anyway, you must have gotten too close to Inanna, which is why she had you flattened out with those black blob things. How are three of us going to be any good against that?”

  “Purity of heart,” Agnes said.

  James shook his head. “Come on, Agnes. You’re not really going to launch into a speech about how love conquers all, and all that, are you? I’m thinking we’re going to need serious firepower against a… a… goddess.”

  “If the three of us can work together, we have everything we need.” Agnes reached for James’s hand with her left, then clasped Aubra’s in her right. “And love is always the right answer.”

  Aubra reached for James’s free hand, and the trio stood in a triangular formation in the center of the dorm. James felt a strange bond form between them in that moment. A vision formed in his head. He closed his eyes focus on it. He saw ancient armies clash in a crumbling city that dissolved into dusty sand piles as the marauders breached the walls. He felt the sensation of his soul returning abruptly to his body as Aubra spoke. “They’re coming.”

  Agnes opened her eyes and looked at James, then Aubra. An almost holy aura surrounded her. James perceived it enveloping the three of them. He closed his eyes again and saw steel and glass buildings dissolve into sand. Inanna stood atop a strange building. A modern city appeared to be built around an ancient landmark. It reminded him oddly of the Alamo, or what remained of it. He looked into the distance and saw the Hancock Building. He gasped as he decoded the vision’s message: Inanna’s rise would bring the fall of Chicago. But why?

  James didn’t care as to her reasoning. If he could prevent such an apocalypse, he would. The aura that permeated him gave him the strength to believe that through Agnes and Aubra, all things were possible. He didn’t know what good he could do, but whatever it was, he was stepping up to volunteer.

  Agnes nodded. “We don’t have much time.”

  Aubra scowled. “There is no time. All things are happening now.”

  James snorted. “Then what are we standing around here for? We’ve got a city to save.”

  “It’s best you prepare for the long journey ahead,” Agnes said, releasing James and Aubra from her grasp. “Both of you.”

  “I’m good to go,” James said.

  Agnes gave him a questioning look. “You’re saving the city in your bedclothes?”

  James sighed and let go of Aubra’s hand. “Okay, fine, you win. When are we taking off?”

  “Soon,” Agnes said. “Let’s meet back here when you’re ready.”

  Aubra nodded and headed toward the door. “Agreed.” She paused and turned to Agnes. “Don’t let anyone see you.”

  Agnes smiled and nodded. “I’ve got someone to see. I won’t be long.”

  CHAPTER 62: GEMBA

  Marc walked parallel to a sandstone wall and patted his hand against each brick as he counted them out loud. When he reached the end of the row, he gave Tobias a hopeful look. “The pattern continues straight up the wall, as you can see, your highness. Every brick has been laid to your exact specifications.”

  Tobias stroked his chin and shook his head. “Continue.”

  “But… it’s been the same count every other row. This one was 50 bricks across, with no halves. The next one will be 49 with two halves.”

  “Continue,” Tobias commanded. His voice bore a steely edge the second time. Marc gulped and continued his demonstration while Inanna passed back and forth irritably.

  “Half. And... one. Two. Three. Four.” Marc slapped each brick as he counted.

  Inanna huffed. “My Marc has proven himself, my brother. Why do you doubt him so? Do you enjoy his torment as he makes a fool of himself for your pleasure?”

  “I take no pleasure. It is I who have been made a fool. I shall find out how, brick by brick.”

  “Does Tobias not have a kingdom to attend to? Your servants beg an audience with you. Our stores of grain and meat have run low again. How can they feed your subjects with such poor provisions?”

  “Silence, wretched woman! I will hear Marc count each brick. The servants are well-provided for. I have seen to it.”

  “Look, as my Marc stumbles. He tires of this folly. He would never say so, not to you. He fears the tyrant! You have no cause to doubt his word, or the word of his men. Release him from this ill errand.”

  Marc paused, then slapped another brick. “Thirty-nine… forty…”

  Fury flashed in Tobias’s eyes. “I shall release him when I am satisfied. I am not satisf
ied. He shall continue.”

  Inanna pouted in silence while Marc counted out two more rows. He was three rows from the top. Inanna stepped forward and yanked Marc away from the wall. “There, you see with your own eyes. The wall is as you have commanded. He has done well. To say he has not is cruel.”

  Marc looked at each of them. His face was a blend of eagerness and fear. Tobias noted this and softened. “You have something to tell me. Speak freely, Marc, without fear. I am king, but I am not cursed with a stone heart.”

  Marc swallowed hard, then replied. “Well, like Inanna said, the wall is the same straight to the top. I’m not sure what you’re looking for, exactly. You said earlier you heard a rumor. What was it? Maybe we’re looking in the wrong place.”

  Inanna’s eyes flashed angrily at the suggestion, but she dropped to her knees and gripped Tobias’s hands. “Silly rumors are what you fear, my brother? They are of no concern. Your kingdom shall be mighty. Marc has worked every day to give you what you desired. Is this any way to treat your most loyal servant? To him, much is owed. Is this how he is repaid?”

  Tobias looked down at Inanna and shook his head. “No, sister, it is not. I should not have doubted Marc or his men. I have allowed dark rumors to triumph over me. No king am I, if I cannot command myself!” He pulled away from Inanna and clapped Marc on the shoulder. “You are a true friend to Tobias. To you, much is owed.”

  Marc smiled and gestured to Inanna. “As long as I have her, I’ve got way more than I deserve. You’re a good friend too, and a great king. I never would have thought I’d be saying this someday, but I’m your faithful servant to the end.”

  Inanna stood and put her arms around Marc’s waist. “Marc is a good boy.”

  “Uh, you mean ‘man’, right? Anyway, look: whatever you heard clearly wasn’t true. People have their reasons for spreading rumors and trying to ruin everything for everyone else. You name it, and I’ll show you everything is exactly how it is supposed to be.”