by P. S. Power
"That, is a very long story. Good work by the way. I had an arch-demon trapped inside me, and he had to be let free. I don't know what happened with him, but I notice that we're all still here, so that's a good sign." If Big Shadow hadn't saved him, then that wouldn't have taken place.
Looking around, he nodded at the floor.
"I need some cleaning supplies. I haven't done this in... Forever."
Merry, who was his wife, one of them, ran off quickly, the blade vanishing from his hand as she did. It moved away from him instantly, but did that as a silver smudge in space and time. A while later she returned and started to try and clean up his blood, as if that wasn't his mess.
"I have this. Thanks! We should talk later. I... How long was I gone here? I mean... What day is it?" He nearly asked for the year, but the woman let him take the wooden handled string mop, and the yellow wheeled water bucket. It had a clever thing on it to allow him to strain the water, when it got bloody.
"Tis Friday. My Lord. You were gone..." Her inner glow regarded him, tasting who he was now. "I think you were gone long, and long." There was a soft awe to the words.
"Long and long and long..." He sang it, having fun with the vibrations in the air, and started to clean. It was harder to do than it should have been, because the act of his death left a dent in the space there. That required him to straighten that part up, unbending the ripples. The problem was that he didn't know how, so he was there for whole minutes after he was finished mopping. Just standing and thinking. Experimenting with the new idea.
It didn't occurred to him that he was still on vacation until the vampire he loved, and was connected to, came by. She seemed surprised to see him, but kissed him anyway.
"Zack! You came all this way... To mop the floor? I'm sure we can find someone to do that for you?" She seemed bemused by it all, rather than upset. Then, he'd done some good work on getting the red up, and while she could smell the blood, in the water, it wasn't all over the floor still. Mainly.
The part of her that was what he used to call her beast, before he'd learned what a beast actually was, indicated that she knew it had been there and even that it was his, but didn't remark on it. He waved to her, and explained, slowly, so she could understand it.
Then he did that out loud, after a fashion.
"I... What time is it?"
He didn't have a watch, which was fine really, given everything. Claire had a pocket watch, which was too old fashioned if she wanted to blend in. She did things like that on purpose however, to remind people how old she was. The same was true of her dresses. Her underwear was all cute and modern however, being far more comfortable than what people had worn when she was young and human. It was all affectation, meant to make a statement.
Looking at the silver thing, pulled from her pocket book, she nodded.
"It's just now turning... Nine. In the morning. I need to go and make certain Nikki is doing well. I was told by Eve Benson that she should be able to bear the light now, but she's so young. I'm afraid I'm being a bit of a mother hen."
"Ah. Cool. I need to get the water here changed, and cleaned up. I'll be down in a few minutes? Then I... Probably need to explain myself." That was a thing. It was all about sharing information so that things that weren't him would be able to understand.
The vampire, who he loved, smiled, kissed him again and left, being worried about other things. That was the correct way to be, Zack thought. It was hard to know what was correct, but he wanted to integrate back into the real world. If he could.
Cleaning took a while, and he used a lot of bleach, washing it away before it could smell more than clean, since he was near a bunch of food establishments. Too strong an odor would be a problem. That closest to the Chinese food place, just called Chinese Food. Merry however moved back to the Italian Place, running that, since Mae wasn't around again yet.
That reminded him that he needed to go and make certain those people, his friend Xan, and the others, were all right and didn't need him to get back home yet. There hadn't been a message, but they might be trying to be polite and wait out his vacation. He should probably get back to that, but there was no rush now.
He'd learned a lot over the last twenty or fifty thousand years. Big Shadow hadn't told him it all, not knowing, but after a while they'd come to share a lot, and he understood. Not what he and the others all had to do, but part of what was going on. He didn't think about that at the moment, not wanting to be bothered with anything as unimportant as the fate of all reality.
No, he had other things to get to, like frozen treats, and possibly hugging some people. That was a fun thing to do. Eat. Holding people. Those were things that he recalled from before. It was coming back now.
The world was very different however, due to him noticing it all now. It was old, but new and fresh at the same time. Each being flowed around him, their shadows, patterns and movements upsetting and righting things constantly.
The floor, which was the inside ground, was made of brick, but the stone like things were actually tile, and only about half an inch thick. Under that was cement, and beneath that... Other things. There was, for instance, a basement that he'd never been to. Below that a cave existed, connected only to the node system. He'd been aware of that, naturally, but going there had never come up.
The mall was open, and nearly a hundred and fifty people, beings, were already in for the day. They all did different things, but also meshed with the world they were in. Even he did. Now. For so long that hadn't happened. There had been only the horror of being. There had only been Pain Beast, and the Sufferer.
Thinking about it brought that back, as if he were living it still. By the time he walked down to the other end of the mall, where Frozen YoGurt was, he had most of that locked down. It was still there, and would be, from then on, he knew, but it could be dealt with.
At the place that had frozen food in it, a thing he liked, there was a girl behind the counter. She had dark hair, and was dead, but also bearing up under the light of day. Awake, and not a corpse at all.
"Hey Nikki! Looking good. What with all the movement, and all that." Zack smiled at her, the face movement stiff and stilted, but apparently close enough for that early in the day.
Her shadow beast was annoyed. That was just the light however, and part of her training had been about faking not being a bitch about it. That meant she smiled through the pain. That part was so light, such a small thing, that Zack nearly couldn't find it within her. It took enough focus for him to find her agony that she slowed down, her movements coming almost to a standstill.
Wrinkling his nose, he let up on that part of things and didn't judge her for feeling burdened by the burning she felt. His own perspective was different, now, but there had been a time where feeling like he was literally on fire would have impacted him a lot more.
"Sorry, I kind of slipped into slow time. Would it be all right for me to get something to eat? Anything would be fine."
The vampire looked at him funny, but got to work, putting out not just one thing, but a half dozen of them. They were all in cups, but were the bigger ones, and made to look pretty, with lots of whipped froth, which moved slowly. The whole thing did, being cold like it was.
He ate, enjoying it, without understanding what was going on for the most part. With each bite, he tried, as hard as he could, to come back to his old self. It was a thing that he understood wasn't going to easily happen. Too much had happened, and there was no way for him to be what he was, because that Zack had died. Beheaded by a cold blade.
It had been a mercy.
Not just for him, either.
As he finished, Zack cleaned up and then walked over to his friend Lisa's shop. His place. Where he worked. That part seemed distant. Inside there were parts of him. Kaitlyn, and Jelly. Chris, his younger self, was behind the counter, looking out of place, but serious.
"Zack! Is something wrong?" The boy could see his inner self, which had to be vastly changed now.
So he smiled and nodded.
"I'll explain later? How are things going here? I had to come back to do something, but that's finished for now. The..." Kate ran from the back, looking like her male self. Kyle.
"Yo!" The boy, who was good looking, being what he was, nearly tackled Zack. "Come to check on us?"
"Nope? Just passing through. I need to use the node soon. I have news, which is good. Or bad. I'm not really certain. Anyway, you're looking slightly different."
Manly, but that wasn't polite to mention really.
Kyle, his face smooth, but with a great jaw line, gave a slightly cocky smile.
"Lyn has been coming by to visit, and work a bit. I've been hanging out this way so no one gets too confused. Especially Chris." There was mock glaring, but it was easy to see that the guy didn't mean it.
Chris didn't even bother blushing.
"Hey... I knew it was you, I was just seeing if you wanted to have sex. Not to be too pushy about it, but you kind of like that sort of thing, so..." It had the sound of a story, and a lie, which they all got.
No one wanted to hear they were being groped and propositioned by mistake though. The boy knew that they knew, their shadows all being honest enough about it.
Then, shadows were. Before his could go into the long story, he waved, gave Jelly a hug as she came out of the node, confusing her for a moment, and leaving, headed towards the other realities.
Now that he knew more, there were people to talk to, and things to explain, so they could plan.
Chapter eighteen
It took a few hours to go to all of the different realities and find the right people to chat with. Then there was the hard part. Actually trying to speak the words that were needed to convey the ideas that were held inside of him now. It wasn't that the concepts were too much for him, but that there was no common language to express the whole thing.
Honestly, that was the shield of innocence. The real one. The very idea that no one could easily comprehend what was being done. It was his part in the thing, to hide what had to happen from all of them well enough. The instant that they could understand would be the point of true danger for reality.
So Zack had to hide the real idea, while still explaining enough of the rest of it that it made sense to the other versions of himself. Because it was the easiest thing to do, he started with Gwen. She was, in many ways, the one that was closest to him. Not physically, but inside of her spirit. She was so very young, but at the same time had lived through things that paralleled some of what he had. Thankfully that had only lasted mere moments for her. Years, but that barely seemed to be anything now.
The large place where she was staying had armored guards on the doors, he noticed as he walked up to it. They were in shining pearl colors. One was a light blue, and the others a more brilliant green. It was the kind of thing that would have worked on a very fancy car, really. They had large energy clubs too, made of metal that were cone shaped. One of them pointed at him as he walked up, so he could examine it.
At first Zack didn't understand the idea, but the muffled voice of the shadow inside the powered metal explained. It just took him a while to get it. That was because speaking was hard still.
"Halt." Then the man yelled it, sounding a bit louder, as Zack moved toward him. It wasn't until he fired that the underlying idea was understood.
The armored man was scared for some reason.
The focused bit of energy, which was like a bit of shadow substance, came at him, trying to kill him. Without moving Zack waved that away with a flicker of thought, and smiled.
"Sorry, I didn't get your meaning at first. Is Gwen here? Um..." It took him a while, and he had to really focus to get the rest of it, which had the intent of the two men right on him. They were starring, even if he couldn't see their eyes. "Farris? I would like to speak to her. Please?"
It sounded polite to him, but the blue armored fellow tried to kill him again, several times. Then his greenish friend had a go at it, using several different types of power. He stopped them all, and stood there, trying to smile pleasantly. That didn't really work, since they actually tried to rush him, their energy clubs weren't working. As a fist came at him, Zack finally sighed. It took a while for him to do that part, but stopping the flow of power that let the men move was easier for him.
"Farris? Gwen? She's about..." That got him to stop again, for a long time, trying to recall her. It wasn't that he knew her all that well, so he held out a hand, just a few inches under his own head. "This tall? Dark curly hair? Skinny?"
The voice that came, from the green man wasn't all that happy.
"Who the fuck are you?"
That got him to blink, and wonder if that was the problem, rather than them hating him on sight for being dressed differently.
"Ah! Zack Hartley. Sorry to come unannounced like this? I'm from a different reality, so it's hard to send letters. I said that I'd visit, and I have some news for her. Is she not here?" That wasn't the truth, since he felt her, inside. It was kind of clear, but you were supposed to ask questions like that.
The men started to relax as he spoke to them, over the course of half an hour or so. That lasted until another two suits of armor, these both being gray, flat and dull looking in the afternoon light, came around the corner. They ran, after a bit. It was a very slow thing, and clanked charmingly. It was rhythmic and nearly musical.
They had energy clubs too, but called out before bringing theirs up, since Zack waved at them.
"Hi! I'm here to visit with Gwen Farris? I know that she's inside, but we don't know how to get word to her." Part of that was due to the fact that the men in front of him both planned to hurt him if they got control of their outfits back. Their shadows told him all about it, so he didn't let that happen. It wasn't too hard, since all he had to do was not let the energy flow inside the metal. The men were using their qi to make the things move, or rather internal power, more like what the mages used back home. It was a bit different, now that he paid attention to the idea.
One of the new armored forms, who was a woman, stared at him, then, for some reason, pulled her head off. Inside she was a white lady, with strawberry colored hair, and a slightly annoyed expression on her face. It got him to blink, since the forty odd year old woman, who had a bit more odd to her features than forty, shook her head.
"What the bells is this?" She waved from him to the men in front of her, who were stuck in place.
"Oh. They tried to use those clubs on me, so I had to make them not do that. I came to visit Gwen, if that's possible? Farris?" He was starting to get the idea that just saying the words weren't going to help him much, but the woman, after staring at him for a bit, looked at the other gray armor.
"Get her, Fibs. I'll stay here." Then she looked at Zack, as if sizing him up for something. It wasn't a specific thing, her shadow mentioned. She might have to kill him, or they might date later. She couldn't commit yet, in case he was a real threat.
She stared for a bit, past what was normal and polite, though it didn't bother him, then she waved to the others there.
"Are they alive?"
That got him to smile and nod.
"Sure. They just can't use their gear for now. Guys, say something? I really will let you go as soon as you decide that hurting me isn't the best plan. Honest."
There were mumbled replies, which were surly. Blue growled a bit.
"Fine. I promise I won't hurt you."
Just kill you.
Looking at the new lady that had come, he shook his head.
"He doesn't really mean it." He was going to explain that part, but the woman laughed a bit.
"I understand. Well, how about this. I'll order them not to do that, if you let them get back to work? We'll need to move away from here, but Fibs will get Gwen for us. I mean, you can't just walk into the royal palace for a visit."
The place was big, and very nice, so that one made sense to him, now that it was mentioned.
"Oh. I didn't know that was what this was. Sorry, everyone. That would seem strange, right? People just walking up like this. Is that good? If I walk away? Where should I go?" He looked around, and the lead colored armored woman put her head back on, hiding her face. Not her shadow, which was really scared for some reason, but her voice didn't show it. That part was calm, and in charge.
"This way? You can let them go now."
Except that, when he did, green tried to kill him again. He chuckled and made the man freeze in place again.
Blue got it, and glared a bit, as Zack turned and walked away from the cream and gold colored palace. It wasn't a real castle, being more like one of the places in Europe that way. The frightened, but rather brave, lady marched along with him, her feet making deep thuds on the ground as she used magic to make the armor move.
They moved carefully to a path, then walked across the lawn, not making any marks. The king, or whatever they called whoever led there, probably wouldn't like that kind of thing. The grass wouldn't either, since the lady was way too heavy for what she stepped on to be comfortable with it.
For a moment he felt sorry for the individual blades of grass, but had to stop himself, since down that road lay the path to madness. The kind that would end with him living in the void, unmoving, forever. Everything in this world, every movement, thought or action, affected things. The very act of living forced death to happen all around him. It was required for him to keep going.
Doing anything but forcing himself not to think about it would end up with him not being able to act at all. Being alive meant being a killer, in a constant and never ending fashion. Most just weren't aware of what they were doing all the time.
"Oh! Sorry, I told the others, but not you. I'm Zack. Hartley." He looked at the woman, not feeling surprised, even though he didn't understand what was going on. The sense of this lady was correct anyway, even if it seemed like it shouldn't be. "I'm... You. From a different reality. Gwen as well."