The Long Chron

by Adam Oster

  “Yeah, now hand it over,” Griff says, holding his hand out at the man.

  “What?”

  “Hand it over. Your sphere.”

  “Absolutely not! This is my life’s work. You think I would be willing to just hand something this important over to a bunch of thieves like you?”

  “I’m sorry, sir,” Noll says, retaking his hold on The Wizard’s hands. “But we have to do it. To save da world.”

  “What?” The Wizard asks with confusion in his eyes. “How? From what?”

  “From you,” Griff answers. “You have been going on a spree through time. We’re here to stop you. I just didn’t realize how easy it would be.”

  “What?” The Wizard repeats, shrugging off Noll’s hold. Noll looks at me, questioning whether he should allow it. Looking at the feared confusion on The Wizard’s face, I decide to allow him this last moment before we take away all he’s worked on and nod. Noll lets him go.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Griff screams. “This is the guy we’re trying to stop. You can’t just let him go!”

  “He can’t really be the same guy though, can he?” I ask.

  “What do you mean, kid?” Griff glares at me. “Of course he’s the same guy. Look at him!”

  “Right,” I reply, “but, well, I mean, this is the saint, right? Maybe there’s something we just don’t understand.”

  “May I see your version of the device?” Christopher asks me.

  “Well, um, I don’t know,” I hesitate. “I mean, there’s still a—“

  “Oh, come on, dear,” Christopher argues. “I promise you can trust me.”

  I silently and slowly lift the necklace over my head, but am stopped by the firm hand of Griff. “Not a chance in hell, bub,” he says as he pushes my hands back down. “You built the damned thing. You sure as hell already know what it looks like.”

  “Certainly you are aware that there are some obvious differences between the device around the lady’s neck and the one that I have here on my table. For one, the intricate design showing on the exterior of the sphere. What is that?”

  “Don’t go trying to think you can fool us that easily,” Griff says, standing between me and The Wizard. “You aren’t getting your grimy fingers on that thing. Not today, not ever.”

  “It’s an image of, well, of you. Saint Christopher.”

  “Interesting,” The Wizard says with a twinkle in his eye. “Are you trying to tell me that my image shall live on through history?”

  “Not if I can help it,” Griff growls. “Noll, let’s get this guy out of here.”

  Noll walks toward The Wizard to restrain his arms once again. The Wizard evades him and makes a lunge toward my neck. His fingers wrap around the sphere lying upon my chest as Noll swings his fist directly into the center of the ancient man’s back, laying him flat.

  I look down and see that my neck is bare. The Wizard looks up at me with an evil grin before jumping to his feet and flying out the door. A great wind whips up and pulls him into the air.

  Chapter 49

  “What the hell?” Griff asks no one in particular.

  I stare at the empty space, which had at one point been The Wizard, in dumbfounded silence.

  “What the hell?” Griff asks louder, still having no one to direct his question to.

  I feel tears well up in my eyes, an overwhelming sense of panic filling my body as it starts shaking.

  “What the hell!?” Griff shouts, turning to the robotic version of himself, grabbing its lapel, and shaking it roughly.

  I slowly turn my attention toward Griff and his mechanical-me, the whole experience taking on the feeling of an impossible dream.

  “You told us we were supposed to go on this stupid journey back in time. I knew the next time we used that stupid device we were going to get stuck even worse than when we started. I told Chelle, but we still ended up being taken back to the middle of no-when and now—“

  “Griff,” I say softly.

  “Now we’ve got no way to get anywhere, no way to get any-when. I was supposed to take this kid back to—“

  “Griff,” I say more firmly, feeling the numbness recede.

  “Back to her parents, back to her home. She doesn’t deserve any of this. Me? Sure, I’m a horrible person but Chelle? She’s—“

  “Griff,” I yell. “Shut up already.”

  Griff looks at me blankly, still holding the lapel of the android.

  “It’s not his fault,” I state. “It’s mine, okay?”

  “Oh no it’s not, kid. We were in a freaking train station that could have taken us to anywhere and anytime. Instead, this stupid thing that looks like me took advantage of the situation and sent us back in time to a place where we couldn’t possibly get away, just to find out that we were the reason The Wizard was unleashed upon the world in the first place. It’s just not—“

  “Griff,” I scream. “It’s not his fault. He didn’t tell us to come back to now. I chose it, not him. I’m the one you should be getting mad at.”

  “But he knew. Yeah, you knew, didn’t you?” he growls at the robot. “He knew that The Wizard and Christopher were the same person. He had to know, because I know, and he looks like me, right? Isn’t that how it works?”

  “It’s not his fault,” I say softly.

  “Actually, miss,” Robo-Griff says, his head turning to look at my feet. “It is.”

  All three of us take a step away from the robotic version of Griff in response to his statement.

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Griff asks.

  “It means that you are here by my creator’s design, and that he was the one who knew precisely how to convince all of you to come back here to the one place you would be unable to remove yourself from.”

  “Wait, I thought you said that The Creator was Griff,” I begin. “There’s no chance that Griff would get himself exiled back in 300 B.C. And even if he did, how would--

  “I never stated that the man who designed me was, in actuality, The Creator.”

  “But, the note in the bottle,” I say to myself, “it said that—“

  “That the robot is on your side?” Robo-Griff completed my sentence. “Oh how simple it all truly was.”

  “It was all a scam?” I question. “A big old con to get us stranded back here so The Wizard could begin his evil task?”

  “I assure you that my designer is entirely grateful for the part you played in his development.”

  “You rat bastard!” Griff yells, running to the robot and punching it in the chest. His hand recoils in pain as it makes contact with the metallic being. Noll stops Griff from falling to the ground and then places himself between us and it.

  “Tell us how t’ git back,” he says firmly. “You tell us how t’ git back to dat station or I promise you, I will tear you apart using whatever means I need t’ on a metal man likes youse.”

  The robot responds with a tinny laugh, before silencing itself erratically and then looking Noll in the eyes. “Your threat would not mean anything even if I were not scheduled to be destroyed after relaying to you that you have fallen victim to my designer’s schemes. However, as such, you will not be given the pleasure of removing my nuts and bolts.” An alarm sounds from somewhere within the metal man. “I would suggest removing yourselves from my immediate location,” he warns.

  Immediately after he states this, a voice comes from somewhere within him. “Five seconds until self-destruction.”

  Griff is the first to respond, pulling me with him as he bolts out of the shack and into the blinding sun outdoors. Noll follows hot on his heels just as the world explodes in a series of loud booms and red heat, followed by a shower of wooden splinters.

  My face hits the ground roughly, a series of debris landing all around me. I look up as the world regains normalcy, and see the familiar shape of the Reprobian Sphere lying directly next to my face, minus the image of the questionably-sainted Christopher.

  Chapter
50

  I sit up quickly. My eyes never leave the pendant.

  “You think we can use that to get back?” Griff’s voice appears from beside me.

  “Doubtful,” I answer. “It’s only supposed to travel backwards along its own timeline. Even if it works, we’d only be able to go about ten minutes into the past.”

  “Maybes we’s could go back and stop dat Wizzerd from stealin’ it from us,” Noll offers.

  “Maybe,” I reply. “But I have a feeling that’s not going to work either.”

  “Why not?”

  “Just like you said before,” I say, looking grimly at Noll. “It’s all set already. We can’t stop anything.”

  “Should I prepare for another headache?” Griff asks.

  “No,” I reply as I get to my feet. “I’m done explaining.” I walk away from the destruction, leaving the sphere where it lies.

  Griff is right behind me before I get even five feet away.

  “Come on, kid,” he cheers. “It was a great idea, we just didn’t have all the info.”

  “Yeah, Chelle,” Noll says, appearing beside us with the sphere in his hands. “We can’t give up now. We’s close to figuring it out.”

  I stop in my tracks, look Noll in the eyes before I return my attention to the sphere in his hands. Gently, I remove it from his hands and turn it over in mine.

  “You guys don’t get it,” I say as I continue inspecting the sphere. “This had already happened before we even started. We lost, thousands of years before we were even born.”

  “Come on, kid,” Griff argues. “You know that’s not true. Don’t you remember rule 30?”

  “We’re far beyond the rules,” I reply. “The rules haven’t even been made yet.”

  “But that doesn’t mean they don’t apply,” Griff smiles. “The rules are about people, about what makes them tick, and that hasn’t changed in over--”

  “No,” I say, my resolve growing within me, “we’re the ones who got scammed. We’ve been played, Griff. You, of anyone, should know this. That damned Wizard has been playing us ever since I saw that stupid necklace in that stupid antique shop. From that very moment he’s had us in the middle of his game, working us, toying with us, playing us in the greatest swindle the world has ever seen. And it’s done now. We’ve lost everything, even the one thing he left us,” I say, holding the sphere up for all of us to see, “this one last thing he’s left us. It’s worthless.” I throw the item as far as I can, deep into the tall grass that covers the meadow.

  I look at Griff and Noll, they’re faces turning to loss as they watch the ball soar through the air into the endless green around us.

  “We’ve already lost so much,” I continue. “Geoffrey, Agnes, Lance. They’re just a small amount of what that evil man has taken from us. It ends now. He can’t take anything else, because there’s nothing left to take,”

  “Kid,” Griff says as he turns to me.

  I cut him off. “That’s right, I am just a kid! I’m not supposed to be traveling all across time and space to save the world from a megalomaniac from early European civilization as he attempts to set himself up as god. I’m supposed to be going to high school, getting pissed at my parents for looking at the stuff I put up on the internet, and trying to find a boyfriend. Instead, I’m watching people die, running from exploding robots, and trying to pretend that I’m able to keep it all together when I absolutely do not have any possible chance of keeping it all together because I’m stuck in a time and place where they don’t even have toilet paper.”

  “Come on, kid,” Griff begins. “It’s not that bad. We’ll get out of this. I promise.”

  A tear falls down onto my cheeks as I finally blurt out the words I’ve been hiding from ever since I met the man who has been my companion these last few months. “I just want to go home.”

  And as soon as I say it, I fall to my knees, head in my hands, and the tears flow like they’ve never flowed before. None of this would have happened if I hadn’t been so stupid, if I had just stayed at home. I don’t even know why I left home in the first place. It wasn’t like my parents were all that bad. They didn’t beat me, or abuse me, or, hell, I really don’t know why I left them. Just some stupid selfish reason that’s long gone. So unimportant that I can’t even remember it. That’s why I’m going to spend the rest of my days, which are guaranteed to be short, fighting to just find a place to sleep for the night.

  “Chelle,” Griff says softly. I hear him and Noll arrive at my side, Griff’s arm wraps around my shoulder as he kneels beside me. “You’re right. You should have never been put into this situation. Here I’ve been letting you make all the decisions, letting you lead the way, all because I’m too scared to even know how to think. But don’t you ever let yourself think that you’re just a kid. “You’re quite easily the smartest person I know. You’re a born leader. I’ve been unable to deal with what’s going on ever since, well, since I saw Aggie, well, you know. You’ve been so strong that I forgot that I’m supposed to be the one taking care of you. I forgot that I’m supposed to be the adult.”

  “Shut up,” I say as a laugh escapes through the tears.

  “I’m serious, kid. We started this adventure with you as the apprentice. I’ve learned so much from you since then that I think it’s safe to say you’ve graduated to full-fledged grown up adult human. And you sure as hell deserve the right to break down from time to time because of it.”

  I sniffle lightly and look up at Griff through bleary eyes and give him a big smile before finally throwing my arms around him, almost pulling him to the ground with me.

  “Hey guys,” Noll says just as I feel the ground start to shake beneath us.

  I look up and see he’s pointing off into the distance. Griff and I stand and look to where he’s pointing and see something arriving across the grass. Something impossible.

  Chapter 51

  A sleek white train with a red line streaking down the side of it barrels down the meadow in our direction, coming toward us almost silently as it speeds along the long grass. Just as I notice it, a loud squeaking of brakes fills the air, causing all sorts of animals to jump to life as they attempt to escape the unfamiliar noise.

  It stops just alongside us. A wide window across the front showcases a man in a bright blue uniform with a tight cap, sitting just inside, holding a lever, and looking out at us. He waves with a bright smile.

  A hissing noise sounds and a door opens in the side of the train. An odd steamy smoke exits the newly created entry port. Just as it opens, Tenney escapes from within, bounding down the steps to the grass as he excitedly greets us.

  “Noll!” he yells, running to his friend. “I’ve been looking all over for you!”

  “What sort of beast is dis?” Noll asks the man as they share an embrace.

  “Oh, the white stallion I arrived from within?” Tenney beams. “They call this monstrosity a Temporal Locomotive, whatever that means. All I know is that it has taken me on the most extraordinary journey through time and space, only to end up here, with you. What have you all been up to since I saw you last?”

  “How long has it been since we last saw you?” Griff asks with a curious twinkle in his eyes.

  “Many rotations of the moon, I’m certain,” Tenney answers. “Although, it has been difficult to tell how long anything has happened whilst traveling upon this curious form of transport. But you all should know how long it has been shouldn’t you?”

  “I fink time gets wonky when you’re traveling on it all wrong.” Noll replies. “But it don’t matter, cuz I’ve never been happier to see you,” he says as he slaps Tenney across the back.

  “Now that’s an understatement,” Griff grins. “Come on, kid. Let’s get out of here.” He runs to the door in the train and disappears within, followed shortly thereafter by Noll and Tenney.

  I stare at the train in disbelief. Everything that’s happened to us since we’ve started this adventure thus far has seemed to have been brough
t together by the one man we’re trying to stop. The second we believe that things are most lost, we once again are given an opportunity to move forward. It’s easy to think that The Wizard was done with us when he left us here to die, but it’s also curious to note that the train that just arrived here is from the exact same place where we found the robot that caused us to be stranded here in the first place.

  I continue pondering these ideas, standing in the same spot and staring at the same thing, for a time which I can’t even begin to have counted, before I’m finally awoken by the voice of Griff shouting out to me.

  “Come on, kid. Even if it’s a trap, it’s still an adventure, right? And it’s gotta be better than staying here.”

  I look up at him, squinting in the light reflected off the beautiful piece of machinery before me. “But, it could—“

  “No more thinking for you, kid,” Griff grins. “Why don’t you let me take over making the decisions for a while?”

  I stare at him silently for over a minute before I finally shrug and run to his side. He takes my hand and pulls me into the magical vehicle.

  “Wait!” I say, jumping back out into the meadow.

  “What?” Griff asks in agitation.

  “The sphere! We can’t just leave it out here, can we?” I run in the direction where I had tossed it.

  “Chelle!” Griff yells after me. “We’ve got a time traveling train. We don’t need no stupid necklace!”

  I stop in my tracks, approximately thirty feet from the doors of the train and turn to look at Griff. He’s right. I don’t have to think anymore. It’s not my job. He’s promised to take over, to let me just be along for the ride until I can finally go back home.

  I take one step toward him and my foot hits something, making a light clinking sound. I look down and find that I’ve miraculously found the pendant. After a brief hesitation, I decide that it would be reckless of me to return home from this adventure without at least a minor trinket. Besides, maybe if I have it and take it to the future, The Wizard won’t be able to do anything with it.