Alright, here goes…
She put her palm against the door, and it disappeared. She pulled it back and frowned. Her palm was lined with frost.
“I have a theory.”
He didn’t answer; he took her hand and held it between his to warm it.
“I think W took a reading of our energy-signatures, or maybe of your DNA and my aura, and this thing is programmed to let us pass. It might let us through, but send everyone else into space, or simply not open.”
“So, you’re saying we should go through it? The other side could be anything. If there is another side. I forgot W. How could I forget him?”
“Maybe some things we’re not supposed to remember.”
The plaque on the door still told them to identify themselves.
“So, you think that when we pass through they take a new reading to compare with the old one, and if it’s really us, we’re allowed to continue?”
“I don’t know. It’s just a theory. For all I know, the entire population of the planet might have gone through the door.”
Stephan still looked uncertain.
Well, hesitating won’t get us anywhere. I want to go home.
She closed her eyes and stepped forward before he could stop her. When she opened them again, she hung in mid air in an empty chamber with her skin and hair filled with frost. Looking around didn’t reveal any more details. There were four empty grey walls, an equally grey ceiling, and a grey floor. The air was so cold she would have shivered if she’d been human.
A second or so later, Stephan appeared next to her, and a second after that, they were both flung through space towards their elusive final destination.
We were meant to do this together, and the grey cube must be a waiting room. If one of us had come alone, that person would be held until the other showed up.
It had to be a place outside of time, meant to preserve it captives for as long as it took, and a wait there could have lasted for a very long time, even by her standards.
When the world took on form again, they stood at the side of a fountain, and the water glittered in the sunshine. Stephan looked ruffled, for being him, and he grabbed her arms.
“Don’t do things like that without warning me first. Are you okay?”
She couldn’t keep her attention on him; the water drew her gaze.
It’s hypnotic.
“Maria?”
She shook her head in an effort to return to the present.
“I’m fine. What is that little thing down there?”
A glass box rested on the bottom, sheltered by the whirling water.
“I don’t know. I don’t care. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yes.” Smile. Reassure him.
She took his hand and led him towards the water. “I can’t see what’s in it.”
There should be a sign, or a guardian or something. A hint of what to do…
There was nothing. The two of them stood alone next to the fountain on a grassy plain that seemed to stretch out to infinity in all directions. The sky was impossibly blue and the sun bright and yellow.
“This place is creepy. It’s not real, is it?”
His voice was hushed, and she answered equally quiet.
“Not if you define real as a planet naturally occurring around a naturally formed star. It’s real enough for us to be in it, even if someone might have made it.”
“I think we’re lying unconscious side by side somewhere. This place probably only exists in my head.”
Maria laughed.
“I don’t think so. You’re here.”
“That’s exactly what an imaginary Maria would say.”
His idea had some merit, but she preferred not to think about it. Going down that lane she might be dead, or sleeping, and he might not exist at all.
Stephan sighed and stepped over the edge, into the water. Seeing him stand in the clear liquid chilled her, and she took his hand.
“Please, be careful. I’ve lost you two times already, don’t let there be a third.”
The expression on his face softened and he lifted her hand to kiss it.
“I’ll be fine. Hopefully, it’s just water.”
He waded toward the middle, shoes and pants soaked, and the fountain showered him from above.
“It’s warm. Smells like water…”
She saw him lift the little box. It looked tiny in his hand. He shook his head and waded back towards her.
“It’s not much of a treasure, sweetheart. Lots of work for nothing.”
*****
When Stephan returned to his waiting girl, he expected her to look disappointed, and he was completely unprepared for her reaction. She took the box without a word and sat down on the grass with her back leaning against the fountain wall.
It’s just an old piece of paper. Completely useless.
It made her eyes shine, and she handled the box as if it was both wonderful and fragile. Maybe all was well.
He took a seat next to her, happy to have the warm sun dry his hair and clothes.
“Are you going to open it?”
“Oh God no. You have no idea what this is, do you?”
“Sure. It’s a… piece of… paper. An old piece of paper.”
“You know the theory of parallel universes, right? It’s not like different dimensions, they sort of go the other way. Right next to us is another world that’s almost exactly like this one. Little things will differ, and when you get farther from home, it will become more different.”
Complete nonsense.
He’d still listen, but only because he loved her.
“It’s really important not to bring matter from one parallel to the other because the same matter would probably already exist.”
Thinking too much about this will give me a headache and nothing more.
“If you say so, sweetheart.”
“Some fourteen billion years ago, one of my distant relatives was travelling from another parallel to this one, and he brought this little thing. It’s supposed to be an ad from a newspaper. He wasn’t careful enough, and there was an enormous explosion. All matter in both parallels compressed and detonated, and that’s how our world was created. Allegedly, Cratus...”
Stephan made a little gesture, trying to get a word in.
“Are you saying your cousin is fourteen billion years old?”
Judging from her expression, she considered the possibility before she answered.
“I don’t think so… I mean, he’s really old, and I don’t know how old, but it sounds a lot even for him.”
She frowned.
“Imagine if he were, all the stuff he would have seen… Anyway, from what I understand, he went back in time to get the little piece of paper and hid it in a safe place, keeping it as a reminder for future generations to be very careful.”
He took the glass container and held it against the sun, scrutinizing it. Such a little thing having such an impact seemed... absurd.
“Will there be another big bang if we take it out of there?”
“I don’t think so.”
He handed the box back to her.
“And now we have it. What are we supposed to do with it? And why are we supposed to have it?”
Maybe we should put it back. I don’t like this place, I don’t like the box, and I don’t like the paper in it.
“I have no idea. I’m guessing we’re supposed to learn something from it. Maybe there’ll be a situation in the future where we risk destroying the world.”
“Sounds a little drastic.”
“Maybe. I don’t know.”
“Can you get us out of here, or do we have to stay until we figure it out?”
She leaned her head against his shoulder, and a moment later, they sat side by side on the bed in his ship.
Anticlimactic. I guess I expected more, but who cares; she’s home again. Maybe that was the point. Having us meet and make up. With these people, who knows…
He wrapp
ed his arms around her.
“Welcome home sweetheart. I missed you.”
~ 28~
Days turned into weeks and months and not much happened.
Stephan tucked the box away in a storage compartment and did his best to forget about it. Just as he suspected, the memory of it faded quickly. Everything did except for the Goddess, and that was okay.
One morning, he left Maria sitting in bed and went to get his workout. She might not need exercise, but he did. He lifted dumb-bells.
I think she likes my arms. Maybe I can make them bigger, or at least keep them the way they are…
As the thought crossed his mind, he got an eerie sensation of someone watching him. He put the weights down to look around, and a mocking female voice exclaimed, “Oh my, the rumours I hear are true; you are strong.”
Oh crap. People showing up from nowhere in the middle of space can only mean one thing. Another of her idiot relatives. Like Frank and the ordeals on Beta IV weren’t enough…
He sighed and pulled a hand over his face, trying not to frown.
“Yes, I’m strong. Don’t any of you people ever knock?”
The woman ignored his words and looked him over from top to toe. Her gaze made him feel like cattle at a market.
Next, she’ll check my teeth.
She had the same superhuman appearance as Maria and Frank, and after meeting the latter, Stephan expected the next person to show up in a white toga or something. He did not expect a miniskirt, boots, and leather jacket.
He made a gesture, urging the dark-haired beauty to speak, but she stayed quiet.
“Okay, cut to the chase. Who are you, and what do you want?”
The woman seemed taken aback by his brusqueness.
“That is none of your business.”
This is going to be a long day.
“Well, you are on my ship, so I think it is my business.”
The woman pouted.
“Well okay I guess. I’m looking for my sister. I’m Heather, by the way.”
Frank, Maria, and Heather. They sound like a family from an old Earth suburb.
“For being Gods, you all have very modern names, don’t you?”
She didn’t get a chance to answer; Maria ran into the room, squealing.
“Heather!”
A second later, both girls were shrieking, hugging, and all but jumping up and down. Stephan grimaced and covered one ear, trying to preserve his hearing.
“If you ladies don’t mind, I’ll go get a shower.”
He shook his head and hurried out of there as fast as he could without appearing to flee, ignoring the unison, “But we do mind,” that followed him into the corridor.
Two Goddesses were probably one too many to handle. No shame in hiding.
He sought refuge on the bridge, and heard them squeal from time to time.
I guess they’re sightseeing.
As much as he tried to stay out of their way, he ran out of luck when he got hungry. He collided with them in the kitchen and stared at the table. It was cluttered with everything from biscuits and tea to whiskey, gin, and chocolate.
“Not even I would do that.”
I have spent many days with some of these things, but never all of them together.
Maria smiled sunnily when she saw him, and waved to him to come join them.
“I’ve missed you lover. Come keep us company.”
His attempt to get out of it with saying, “Thanks, but I’ll just get a sandwich and be on my...” didn’t do him any good. He didn’t even have time to finish the sentence.
It didn’t take a second before he had one girl on each side of him, pulling him towards the table. They pushed him down on a chair between them, all the while babbling.
“He’s so strong.”
“Yes he is.”
“And handsome.”
“I knooooow, dreamy, right?”
They were nattering incoherently in the way that only makes sense to women who know each other well, and he couldn’t keep track of who said what.
Focus. You can do this.
“So, you’re sisters, huh?”
Both girls giggled.
“Well, we’re really...”
“...aunt and niece...”
“...but we decided to be sisters...”
“...a couple of thousand years ago...”
There’s no choice but to give in to insanity. I’ll never survive this if I don’t surrender.
“I need a drink.”
The answer to that was positive, but no less confusing.
“We have drinks.”
“We sure do.”
“Do you think he wants whiskey?”
“Or maybe tequila?”
“Vodka is good!”
“Well, I prefer whiskey.”
“Okay then, let’s give him whiskey!”
Then, in unison, “Are you okay, sweetheart?”
Stephan rubbed his forehead and took the glass that appeared before him.
“Thank you, that’s very kind of you, ladies. Now, why don’t I take this and go drink it on the bridge and...”
It was a valiant attempt, but it failed.
Both girls cried out, “Nooooo, stay!”
Stephan looked from Maria to Heather and back at Maria. Both smiled like angels, extremely beautiful angels, and he could easily visualize halos falling askew over their heads.
They’re silent now, but I bet my ship they’re still babbling telepathically.
After a few seconds of blissful silence, Heather spoke.
“I know you met my father. He thinks highly of you, no one has hit him like that for ages. I mean, most people are afraid to. He usually kills them.”
Wait, what, who? Your family relations are crazy, how do you keep track of this? I guess she’s talking about Frank?
“Ah, him. You know, I’d rather not talk about him. I had just managed to forget him.”
“Well, he hasn’t forgotten about you. There will be a banquet tonight, and our fathers want you two to be there.”
Oh no. I don’t want to go anywhere near more of these insane people.
Even Maria winced.
“That’s not a good idea, sis.”
“Oh come on, what could possibly happen? I’ll help you take care of your human.”
Heather leaned her hands on Stephan’s shoulder as she said it. He shook her off, and she added indifferently, “Well, maybe not.”
She plopped her big hat down on his head, and he pulled it off and tossed it on the table.
“I need another drink.”
Meeting the family. All of the family. I guess it’ll have to happen sooner or later. I wonder if they’ll execute me if I don’t measure up.
The glass refilled itself and he slammed it.
“Why the hell not. Let’s get this over with.”
*****
Stephan didn’t know what to expect.
Who knew where people like them might live.
They materialized at the foot of a mountain covered with an enormous castle. The place was huge, with courtyards placed out all over the mountainside, and the top was high enough to be covered in clouds.
Whatever I imagined, this wasn’t it.
Maria wrapped her hands around his arm and gave it a squeeze.
“Well, I guess we’re here. No matter what happens, no matter how much they provoke you, do not get into any fights, okay?”
Heather took the lead up the long road, explaining over her shoulder, “I thought we’d take the scenic route, so you get to see the place.”
It might also be a test to make sure the unfit don’t reach the peak. This will be a long climb.
After taking just a few steps, two young and sparsely clad women ran in front of them, throwing handfuls of rose petals on the ground.
Maria groaned, “Do they still do that?”
Heather answered, rolling her eyes, “I knooow. One would have thought it would have gone out of fashion a
t least two thousand years ago.”
Stephan didn’t mind.
No one ever threw rose petals in front of his feet before, and the girls were cute. Not like the beauties flanking him, but more than cute enough.
“Are they relatives of yours?”
“Very likely.”
I guess she’s right, it is hard to keep track of family relations here. They are so many, and there’s so much time involved. How do you keep track of people over thousands of years?
The climb turned out to be much more pleasant than he expected. With the worst excitement out of their systems, both Heather and Maria talked like normal people.
Heather had a dry sense of humour. He always found Maria funny on her own, and together the girls were hilarious.
Every now and then, they stopped to look at something, and there were young women on the sides of the road handing out refreshments.
I shouldn’t ogle, but it’s so hard no not to look. That one has gorgeous breasts, and I can see them.
Maria nudged him and he blurted out, “I don’t want them. It’s just… so beautiful rounded shapes and bare skin…”
Why did I say that?
The sisters seemed about to fall on the ground laughing.
Shit. I’m sure I’ll hear about this later…
About half way up the mountain a sardonic voice called out.
“Well, well, well, now this human doesn’t only have my favourite sister, but my daughter too.”
Heather rolled her eyes as Frank stepped out. “Hi dad.”
The tall God had one pretty girl on each side of him, both staring at him with unveiled admiration, and another young beauty threw flower petals in front of his feet. Behind him, a fourth girl carried a small barrel of mead.
I think they’re stuck in the past.
“You’re not very emancipated, are you?”
Maria shrugged.
“There’s a reason I don’t live here, you know.”
Frank freed himself from the girls to in good order first hoist his daughter into the air, slap Stephan on the back so hard he took an involuntary step forward, and last but not least give Maria a modest kiss on the cheek.
“See, I’m behaving.”
Frank’s voice was anything but reassuring.
It might be the mead, something in the air, or even the company. Stephan surprised himself with having a good time.
Goddess's Saga 1: Touch of the Goddess Page 19