“I wasn’t sure this would be her thing.”
“Hopefully, she’ll come around,” Travis said. “Just to give you a heads-up, bro, it’s definitely going to be an issue in the relationship. Erica was part of the Infinite before me, and I was all like, ‘Why is she so crazy?’ Eventually, I opened my eyes and wised up, though. So, just be patient with your girlfriend, and hopefully things will work out.”
Terrance nodded. “We’ll see.” His girlfriend was definitely what he didn’t want to be focusing on right now.
“If things don’t work out,” Talia said, “then you’re better off without her.” She cautiously approached the cupcake table, then turned to Vivian and asked, “Are they safe?”
“They’re gluten-free.”
Talia nodded and took a cupcake. She didn’t take a seat like the others, but instead found an empty corner of the room to stand in.
“I guess that’s all of us,” said Curtis, who was now seated in the circle. “Why don’t we start off by explaining things to Terrance, who I’m sure has a lot of questions.”
They all looked at Terrance. He felt a bit on the spot, but everyone seemed pretty friendly and he wasn’t too nervous…yet. “Um…for starters, who exactly are you all?”
“To put it simply,” Curtis said, “we’re warriors who fight evil.”
Terrance looked around the group again. Only the older man, Randolph, looked even slightly threatening (well, Terrance was a little afraid of Talia). They all looked as out of place as he did carrying a sword. “And how does that work?”
“Well, a while ago you saw what they were going to do to Talia, and you intervened,” Vivian said. “That’s what we do.”
“I didn’t really do much. She saved herself.”
“I’m sure she did,” Curtis said with a slight chuckle. “But the point is, you took notice of what was going on. Most people just ignore the evil; we fight it.”
Terrance had so many questions, it was hard to figure out where to start. “So where does this ‘evil’ come from?”
“Let’s try an overview to help you understand.” Curtis stood up and walked to the whiteboard on the wall. He picked up a blue marker and made one small dot on the board. “This is the known universe. This is the limited reality we can comprehend—everything we see and know of this world. This is all that science can quantify. The universe, planets, stars, whatnot.” He drew a large circle encompassing most of the board, dwarfing the little dot. “This is the broader reality, in which our universe is but a tiny speck. It’s probably not even really bound.
“Now, there are beings that are not just of this limited reality,” he pointed to the dot, “but of the whole, true reality. The infinite reality.” He looked at the group around him. “We are those beings.”
Terrance took another look at the rather unremarkable group. “You’re powerful multidimensional beings?” He started to wonder if he should begin planning an exit strategy.
“Be careful how you look at us,” Joyce, the probable doctor, said. “We can shoot lasers out of our eyes.” The group laughed.
“We can’t shoot lasers—or do anything special,” Curtis said. “It doesn’t work that way.”
“It would be awesome if it did,” said Travis.
“But you’re saying you’re not of this world…right?” Terrance asked, being cautious with how incredulous his tone was.
“Not just us,” Curtis said. “You too. All people, in fact.”
Terrance mulled that over. “So everyone in the world is a transdimensional alien?”
“We’re not aliens,” Talia said. Her expression wasn’t amused like the others. “The analogy is prisoners. We’re prisoners. And this small sliver of the true reality is our prison.”
“Imprisoned by who?” Terrance asked.
“Whom,” Talia corrected.
“However you say it,” Curtis said, “that is quite the question. There is a single being—or perhaps we should say entity—that is behind all of this. It has somehow constrained us to this world and filled it with evil things—the Darkness—to keep us in line. And it does this to feed off of us.”
Terrance shuddered from some unfathomable fear. “It eats us?”
“Not like that.” Curtis went back to his chair. “I think of it more like a leech—a parasite. It drains us while we let it.”
“The world is a vampire,” Joyce sang. “But we aim to be more than rats in a cage.”
“Yes, it’s complacency that this thing wants,” Curtis continued. “It will only consume us if we let it. We are nearly infinite beings, but when we limit ourselves to this finite world, the rest of our body atrophies and is vulnerable to the Adversary.”
“That’s what you call him?” Terrance asked.
“We don’t know enough about him to call him anything else.”
“This all sounds pretty crazy, doesn’t it?” Erica said, Travis holding her hand and nodding.
“Just a bit, yeah,” Terrance answered. Somehow, though, it didn’t feel so crazy that he could easily dismiss it. “Do you have any evidence for all of this?”
“You’ve seen all the strange things in this world—the things that don’t belong,” Talia said. “The magical creatures, the demons. You know in your gut that something is wrong, and that is why you’re here.”
Terrance nodded, and it was true that something seemed wrong in this world. Still, the ideas that something was awry and that this was a group of crazy people weren’t exactly mutually exclusive. “But is there any, like, scientific study of this?”
“The magical things—the things you understand not to belong—these are things of other worlds. Science is only concerned with the things of this world,” Curtis said. “It ignores the magical things.”
“So scientists see these demons and such, and ignore them?” Terrance asked.
“Basically.”
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
“Maybe not,” Curtis answered, “but there is a lot people don’t see—don’t want to see—when their eyes are closed.”
“So how do you guys know about all this?” Terrance asked.
“Let’s call it prophecy,” Curtis said. “Some of it is passed on from others like us. Some of it is gathered from the more benevolent creatures from beyond this world, like the faeries—though they’re not often very straightforward.”
“Just want to smack them sometimes, actually,” Randolph said.
“Though that’s probably bad luck or something,” Joyce said.
“We also find information hidden in ancient texts,” Curtis continued. “Old poems and stories long forgotten. And it’s not that we search them out—we just seem to happen upon them. But it’s only bits of information we find, pieces of a whole. It’s taken time to put this all together.”
“And who hid this information?” Terrance asked.
Curtis smiled. “We’re not sure. We believe there is something opposed to the Adversary and trying to help us, but we know little about it. The faeries, for instance, seem to work to guide us in some ways and protect us from the full power of the Adversary, but to what end and who sent them, we do not know.”
“As for why important info is scattered in ancient texts,” Vivian said, “our best guess is that this makes it hard for the Adversary to know of it. He controls much of this world, so it takes a lot of effort to hide things from him. He has eyes everywhere, as I’m sure you’ve begun to realize.”
Terrance shuddered as he thought of the little eyes glinting at him in the darkness.
“In the end, though,” Curtis said, “we are really just confirming what we know in our hearts to be true. Our true selves know these things well, but that is who we’ve lost touch with. That’s why you’re here: you know something is wrong, and you want to do something about it.”
Terrance looked down at the sword at his side. “And these swords?”
“The evil is from beyond this world,” Randolph said, standing and unsheathing hi
s sword to let it gleam in the light. “We need weapons from beyond this world to fight them.”
“And that’s what you people do?” Terrance said. “You fight the evil things? And you expect to eventually defeat the Adversary?”
Curtis said. “We have to. Or we’re stuck here forever.”
“So are you saying that saving the world is up to you few?” Terrance asked.
“There are groups like us all around the world, and others that are local,” Curtis said. “We try to keep in contact and share what we know. But we keep individual groups small, as the Adversary has many allies, and the larger we get, the more likely he is to bear down upon us.”
“Everyone who wants to live must fight,” Talia said. “We help each other when we can, but at the end of the day the only one who can save you is yourself. No one is coming to rescue us from the Darkness; it’s up to us all.”
“But the Adversary seems much more powerful than”—Terrance took another look at the group who would look more in place in line at the DMV than fighting a powerful enemy—“well, you guys.”
Curtis smiled. “That it seems. This world may appear giant and all-encompassing, but it is small in the scheme of things. That we know. And our true selves are more powerful than the Adversary. It’s hard to tell, but he’s weakened over time. The more in the world that seems out of place, the more he is losing control. The more the walls of his prison are breaking.”
“Yeah…I don’t think, geographically speaking, that there is supposed to be an ocean here,” Terrance pointed out.
“And we’re not sure the Adversary’s minions were always so obvious,” Vivian said, “but it’s hard to know. Our memories are another thing of this world. The Adversary can alter them, too. He does whatever is necessary to keep us complacent and locked in this world.”
Terrance was starting to weigh the idea of leaving again. “If he can alter our brains, then this sounds like kind of a pointless battle.”
“There are greater parts of us that are beyond his control,” Curtis said. “That’s what we have to rely on, even as he controls all else. The fact is, the Adversary wants us to believe this sliver of the true reality is all there is, but we believe that the fact that things that don’t fit with it are appearing—things from worlds beyond—means that his grip on us is weakening.”
“But aren’t you saying he can just alter the world again to hide the magical things better, and our memories of them, so we won’t even know?” Terrance asked.
Curtis nodded. “Perhaps, but he is not like us. His power is finite. The important thing is that we fight him and his minions. That we don’t let him drain us to nothing while nourishing himself.”
Strangely, a small part of Terrance found that he wanted to believe this, but a larger part thought it was all made-up and really stupid. “So, how exactly do you fight?”
“When we see evil, we confront and destroy it,” Talia said.
“But can’t it kill us back?”
Curtis looked somber. “It can. Just our forms here, though. As for the greater part of us…we’re not exactly sure what happens while the Adversary keeps his prison together.”
“So death is death, basically.” As it usually was.
“It’s nothing to fear compared to the Adversary feeding on us and destroying us forever,” Talia said. “That’s what happens if you don’t fight.”
Terrance laughed. “So, no choice really.”
“There are always choices,” Curtis said. “There may be only one good choice, but there are always other options, and people often take them. For instance, you may have seen some of those we call the Hollow Ones: the Dark Enforcers and the Sisters of Torment. Like much of the Adversary’s evil, most people pay little attention to these groups, but I assume you have begun to notice them.”
“Yeah,” Terrance said, trying not to sound too definitive.
“They are people who have also realized how things are not right in this world,” Curtis continued, “but they have instead sided with the Adversary. They are very powerful in this universe. But they’ve given up their true selves to the Darkness—they are hollow inside. And they’re more numerous than we are.”
Terrance tried to think of Shannon as a force of evil. Even when picturing her in her dark armor, it didn’t quite jibe in his head. “And you fight them?”
“They fight for the Adversary more zealously than anyone else,” Curtis said. “All their power—all that they are—is in him.”
“Eventually we will take the fight to them,” Talia announced. “You’ve seen their fortress near the volcanoes to the north. We plan to attack it.”
Terrance remembered how Shannon had called these people dangerous. “What would that accomplish?”
“We believe their fortress blocks a pathway to the Adversary,” Curtis said.
“Why do you believe that?”
Curtis grinned. “Prophecy.”
“What happens when you actually get to the Adversary?”
Curtis took a deep breath. “That, we’ll have to find out.”
“And it’s so simple, too,” Joyce chuckled. “We just have to fight the Adversary’s army and slay the giant demon dragon. Easy-peasy.”
“Demon dragon?” Terrance asked.
“Malcus,” Talia said. “I think you remember him.”
Terrance shuddered, thinking of the huge thing that had flown over as he passed through the forest on the way to Walmart.
“Malcus is a challenge, but his presence means we are making progress,” Curtis said. “The Adversary likes to keep any battle with those who oppose him subtle and in the background, so as not to draw attention, but Malcus’s deployment has been a rather aggressive move.”
“Being chased by a giant dragon means we’re winning,” Joyce said with a laugh, though the laugh seemed a bit nervous.
“Actually, the primary purpose of this meeting,” Curtis said, “is to further plan our assault on the fortress and discuss what we’ve found. There is a center of evil there, and we need to eventually tackle it, then see what lies beyond it.”
“So, as I understand it,” Terrance said, “you few are planning to fight an army of people loyal to the Adversary—”
“Demons,” Talia said. “We fight demons…though some of them look like people.”
Terrance nodded as he rose to his feet. This group was actively plotting to kill his girlfriend—or to be killed by her. “Okay. So you few are going to fight and…slay them all…”
“There are others,” Curtis said. “As I’ve said, we keep our groups small to avoid the Adversary’s notice, but when the assault happens, many of us will join together. Also, as you’ve seen from the faeries, we have allies from beyond this realm. We are not completely alone. But it is on us to take the initiative.”
“Okay,” Terrance slowly began heading for the door. “Well, this was interesting…but I don’t really think I’m going to be of much help. I don’t even know how to use a sword.”
“You hit who you don’t like with the sharp parts,” Randolph laughed.
Terrance chuckled nervously. He again noticed the two children who had been sitting quietly in the corner working on coloring books. It made him kind of sad, as he didn’t think things were going to end well for this group. “Anyway, thanks for the cupcake, but I have to get—”
“Coward!” Talia suddenly yelled at him.
She was angry, but the others looked a little surprised by her outburst. Vivian turned to her. “That’s not necessary.”
“It’s true,” Talia said. “He can see the evil. He saw what they tried to do to me. He knows something has to be done. And he’s fleeing.” She looked back at Terrance, her eyes tearing right through him. “He’s a coward.”
Terrance nervously played with the sheathed sword at his side. “I just don’t know about all this and am not really ready to take sides in a war…”
“You’re taking a side.” Talia approached him until she was right up in his
face. “You either confront the evil or you decide to ignore it and let it happen until you eventually join it yourself. If you’re not ready to man up and fight for what you know is right, then get out of here, you little coward.”
Curtis pushed his way between Talia and Terrance. “That’s enough,” he told Talia, then turned to Terrance and forced a smile. “This was probably a lot to absorb at once. Why don’t you think it over some?” He took out a business card and handed it to Terrance. It said Dayton Auto Repair, and a cellphone number was handwritten on it. “You can call or email me later if you have more questions.”
This seemed like an easy exit, so Terrance took it, with one last glance at Talia’s hateful glare before leaving the room and the castle.
Outside, the sun was setting over the ocean, leaving an orange streak on the water before it and a red glow in the clouds around it. The distant island and its mountains were now just silhouettes. He was again absorbed in the feeling that something was out there, something important.
He shook himself back to reality—reality being that he was standing near an old castle on a cliff overlooking an ocean that geographically shouldn’t be there. He so badly wanted to ignore all of this, but he knew nothing could ever really be normal again, because his eyes were open to how not normal the whole world was. But the idea of running around hacking away at beasts and enemy knights was unthinkable. And then there was Shannon, whom the Infinite were basically plotting to kill. Didn’t he have to tell her about them? What would she and her people do to them?
He wished he hadn’t come. He thought he wanted answers, but the more he knew, the more difficult things became.
“Hey.”
Terrance turned and saw the Hispanic man in a suit who’d been at the meeting, whose name he had already forgotten. He appeared to be only a bit older than Terrance. “Oh, hi. Just about to head out.”
“Those places you see in the distance”—the man pointed toward the island—“you can never reach those. Not from this world, at least.”
“What are they?”
He shrugged. “The best way our brain can represent some larger truth in this world, I guess.”
Terrance chuckled. “Nothing makes any sense.”
Sidequest: In Realms Ungoogled Page 11