by Oxford, Rain
“This is the universe as a two dimensional projection. The lines are the natural function of time and space. The bubbles are mistakes and choices, which is actually perfectly normal. Some bubbles were created because someone messed up time. It is like an alternate universe. Others are people born in the wrong time or decisions that affected too many things. This is natural. But what we see here is not. Do you see it?”
“Yes,” Dylan said.
“See what?” I asked. He pointed off to a spot of gridlines. There was a half-formed bubble in the middle of some tangled up gridlines.
“It was torn. It’s like a scar now. Look, all over the place, there are tears and scars and bubbles that are punctured or malformed.”
It took me a while, but I could slowly see what was right and what wasn’t. The projection moved until we were back where we started; only now I could see the wounds in time and space clearly. Most of the damage was to Earth, which was riddled with scars, and many of those scars reached out to another planet.
“Why Earth?” Dylan asked, obviously nauseated.
“I cannot be sure. Most likely because of you. Pull out your book.”
Dylan pulled his book out, which was glowing with blue light, opened it, and turned to the page I signed. Lines shot from the pages to certain scars on the planet.
“This is happening to other Guardians as well. Our books are suffering the damage of our worlds. The more connected to our worlds we are, the more damage to our books. The gods are in danger as are their worlds. It is up to the Guardians, and we cannot do it without you.”
“What?” Dylan gasped. He really looked sick now. “What can I do?”
“Mordon?” Shiloh turned to me. “You are just as important in this.”
I shook my head. “I’m just along for the adventure. The only strength in magic I have is my fire.”
He gripped my arm and turned me to face Dylan. I didn’t like people grabbing me. “Look at him.” I did and just saw Dylan. Unsatisfied, Shiloh twisted my arm back until it hurt. I tried to get out of his grasp, but he held me tighter.
“Let go,” I said. However, my voice sounded growly as my teeth and eyes itched. When my fingers grew claws, I was able to scratch Shiloh across the stomach. He let me go and I faced him. Shiloh was glowing the same blue light that surrounded us. He even had scars on him.
“We are all suffering the effects. Now look at Dylan.”
I did so, but this time Dylan was glowing, too. He wasn’t glowing blue, but green. It was an eerie, alien, calming green; the same color he emitted when healing someone. Sammy was glowing some blue, some green, but also absorbing Dylan’s green glow.
“What do you see?” Dylan asked me.
“I don’t know. You have no scars like Shiloh, though. Shiloh is full of the same energy as the rest of the room, but your energy is green.”
“No, Dylan’s magic is healing the time and space he touches. For us, if we touch a scar or bubble, we become affected. For him, he heals it. That is why we need him. In order to protect you, Samhail, and himself, he used the damage already caused by the demon to construct a bubble that transported you here. He created a tear here and then healed it behind you. For the time being, he can travel to any world at any time. That green energy surrounding him is not regular magic.”
“What is it?” Dylan asked. The glowing faded as my eyes and teeth itched. I looked down to see that my hands were normal again.
“You are a Guardian. You are entirely human and sago. And while you use mostly nominal energy, you also produce energy that is on a different frequency. Using this energy, you can affect the field of time and space. You can also control physical energy directly without nominal energy.”
I could feel his mind working furiously before his expression became a picture of devastation. “I am so stupid. How do I even remember to breathe, I’m so stupid. It bothered me three years ago and I forgot about it.”
I could feel his disappointment in himself, and I didn’t like that one bit. “What?” I asked.
“Tomie wasn’t speaking English. Three years ago, she wasn’t speaking English, and damn me, I didn’t figure it out. I let it go. I never let anything go!”
“Figure what out? How did you understand her back then? You didn’t even know Sago then.”
“Because a god’s power can translate.”
“So? Vretial’s magic made you able to understand her.”
“But you don’t understand!”
“I usually don’t. You start talking and I just nod along with you and watch your face for clues how to react!”
“Nominal energy is not that powerful; it cannot translate words. Edward has books he can’t read because he doesn’t know the language and there is no magic spell to learn or translate a language. He told me, but I was too stupid to get it!”
“I still don’t get it. Didn’t you use your book to translate for us?”
“That’s it. I thought I did, I thought I was using nominal energy, but I wasn’t. It doesn’t work that way.”
“So what were you using?”
“God energy,” Dylan said.
Shiloh smiled sadly. “Yes.”
“How did I get it?”
“No one knows, which is why the gods are so upset. Furthermore, when you strain your power over nominal energy, you expand your strength, but when you strain your power over physical energy, you produce more god energy. When you connected to the worlds and drew on their power, you were using both the energy you produced and the nominal energy you could draw.”
“Is this the magic I use to heal?” he asked.
“The energy you produce can be used for anything. You can use the power of any world with this energy. You can contact any god and any Guardian. You can use magic even if you are unable to use nominal energy.”
“So I can talk to Kiro?” he asked.
I felt a chill go down my spine.
“Yes, you can, but if you do, the other gods can find him. Kiro is hiding for a reason. Do you trust him?”
Dylan nodded. “Then trust that he’s got a good reason to hide,” I answered for Shiloh. Dylan looked at me. “He must trust you to take care of yourself.”
“So what exactly is it you want me to do?” Dylan asked Shiloh.
“I had heard that you were fairly sarcastic, not that you were blunt. There are three things I would like you to do. One of them is to help put the universe back together. I can help you by introducing you to other Guardians and gods. It would be up to you to obtain their assistance. You need to be on their world in order to heal it. We will also protect you from the gods that want to destroy you and the demon.”
“So to clarify, you want me to convince others to help me, like building a little magical army, and then you want me to heal all of time and space.”
“Yes. The latter should be the easier part. We will transport you to the places you need to be. From the scarring, you can see that the universe is trying to heal and balance itself. When you heal pivotal places and time fields, the universe will spread that healing.”
“And the third thing you want me to do?” he asked.
Shiloh grinned and I decided it couldn’t be a good thing.
“The gods are not bad, but they have too much power and too much suspicion. The Guardians are treated as servants with no say in things. We need to be able to make decisions. I believe you should have been trained by multiple Guardians, and others believe you shouldn’t have been. We need to be able to get together and make informed, majority decisions.”
I knew where this was going. “You want to create a council,” I said.
He smiled at me. “That is correct. I want the Guardians to form a council that will deal with situations such as an attack, new Guardian, or a Guardian at risk of his god. We can deal with projects together instead of individually.”
“And you want me to be a member?” Dylan’s sour expression portrayed what he thought of that idea. “Not that I don’t think it’
s a good idea, but I am too young to make a decision that important.”
When Shiloh took a step closer to Dylan, I stepped in between them and disguised the move by taking the sleeping Sammy. I remained in between them, but Shiloh pretended not to notice. “On the contrary… I want you to be in charge of the council.”
“Why would you want that?” he asked.
“Because you are so young, for one. You will bring a new, modern view to us ancients. We are so old that many of us are stuck in a mind frame. Another reason is your magic. You could be a bridge of understanding between us and the gods.”
“You want me to be a bridge between you and the gods when they distrust me the most?”
“I want to help you gain their trust. It will take time. You can meet with the Guardians and the more open-minded gods first. If you help some of the gods, word will spread.”
Dylan looked at me. “You have political experience. I don’t want to be a politician. I doubt Edward will go for it, either.”
I thought about it for a few moments while gazing around at the hologram. “I know you are not interested in politics, but it sounds more like an opportunity to have a say in things. I agree with him that you being young will be helpful. Old people like my father tend to create unjust laws. He didn’t say anything about rules or laws, though. I think you could be helpful. It would also help you to have some backup the next time the gods don’t like something about you. However, if you do not want to lead, you shouldn’t. At least not at first.”
“So you think I should decline leadership but take a position on the council?”
“It isn’t even a council yet. I think you should say that you are willing to consider a seat on the council when it is further along. That way you are not denying or agreeing to lead. This puts you in a position where you are not necessarily a threat but not a pushover, either.”
“Sounds good to me,” he said. He looked at Shiloh. “I am willing to consider a seat on the council when it is further along.”
“With your advisor at your side?” Shiloh asked, indicating me.
Dylan smirked. “Of course.”
“Not likely,” I responded. “I just escaped a similar life.”
“You are very important to Dylan’s success.”
“As is Kiro,” Dylan insisted. He was so protective of his mentor. I really could see that he cared for Kiro.
“He trained you. Of course he is important. But you are going to have times when you will disagree with your master. You need to decide for yourself who and what to trust. However, there will be times when you need Mordon’s advice, and you will need to trust that he has your best interest in mind.
“Mordon will never betray me. He will always try to do what he feels is right.”
Sammy started fussing, still asleep, and I handed him to Dylan. Sammy stopped fussing and the idea came to mind that the energy Dylan was producing made Sammy feel better in the lack of the baby’s own energy.
Shiloh led us out of the dark into the bright white hallway. I found the sterile, silent place to be a little depressing.
“Is this a hospital compound?” Dylan asked.
Shiloh looked startled. “No, we left the clinic. We are now heading to the residential wing.”
“So everything is in one building?” I asked.
Shiloh reached over to a control panel that seemed to appear out of nowhere. When he touched certain areas of the smooth, black panel, the entire side of the hallway became transparent. Dylan backed away from the new floor-to-ceiling window, but I moved closer.
Looking straight out, I could only see clouds and a huge orange moon. When I looked down, there were bright city lights far below. “We are in the sky.”
“Of course we are. This is one of the nicest sky cities in the world.”
“And what keeps us floating in the sky?” Dylan asked.
“Science. If you will come this way, I will show you to your room and you can get some food.”
We followed him on autopilot, both in semi-shock. While neither of us were afraid of heights, we were in a floating building.
“Dylan? If I ever want to go on an adventure with you again, hit me,” I said.
“I think I’m going to retire. I think I should be a bread-maker or maybe a librarian. Scratch that, not a librarian. Books are dangerous. I can find a nice, safe grocery store and stock shelves.”
Shiloh led us through a maze of hallways until came upon a small room. And by small, I meant that the four of us would fit with very little space left.
“You have an elevator? Haven’t seen one of these in three years,” Dylan said.
He didn’t hesitate to enter the tiny room, but I hung back until their stares got to be more uncomfortable than the lack of oxygen I would face. The door slid closed as soon as I entered, but then slid right back open… Except it didn’t open to the bright white halls. Now we were in a hall with wood and dimmer lights.
“Well, your elevators are a little quicker than those on Earth,” Dylan said.
“Only one room has been prepared for you due to a temporary increase in visitors. What better time to celebrate a holiday than when the universe is dying,” Shiloh said.
“What holiday?” Dylan asked.
“It is the holiday of peace. Once a year, for four days, we celebrate the goodness of the people and gods. We have been leaving the gods out of the holiday more and more over the years. I suspect it will someday be the holiday of people.”
“So your people know about the gods and Guardians pretty well then?” I asked. Duran seems to be sorely mistaken on several important aspects.
“Oh, yes. Our god has no reason to hide. I know Duran is very much kept in the dark, and I hope that a council of Guardians can fix that.”
“That may be unwise. I think it should be a planet-by-planet bases,” I interrupted.
“Why?” Shiloh asked.
“Because if the people feel like their god is hiding the truth or even lying to them, some will turn against their god. Everything I have heard about them suggests that they will not take kindly to being so mistrusted. Besides that, even more secluded worlds would take it as lies and threats to their beliefs. What would happen if you told people of Earth about you being a Guardian?” I asked Dylan. He thought about it for a moment.
“They would try to lock me up. Either in jail or an insane asylum. Even if I showed them magic, most people would say it’s a trick. A few people could even be convinced, but it would just become another religion. No, I do not think Tiamat and the other gods should be revealed to humans.”
“Well, that would make a good point to make on a council.”
“Yes, but it can also easily be argued against. See, most do not want to know. However, they all have the right to know the truth and decide for themselves what to believe. Very often the right thing to do is unclear, unfair, and seemingly wrong.”
We were now walking through a hallway lined with doors, each with a black panel to the right side. Shiloh led us to one particular door. “Put your identification band over the locking pad. For the duration of your stay on Vaigda, never take your band off. It is water proof, and the doors all lock automatically. You need them to get food, also. If you are found alone without one, you will be arrested and taken to the nearest clinic.”
Dylan put his hand over the black panel. With a happy beep, the door slid open to lavish chambers. The ceiling was high, the walls were dark paneling, and the wooden floor had lush furs scattered around. A set of cushioned chairs sat in front of a huge fireplace. Several interesting paintings on the walls did not make a clear image so much as a pattern of colors. There were two doorways from this room.
Shiloh led us through one to the kitchen, which consisted mostly of clear and black glass and silver. There was a large glass table in the middle of the room with four chairs and a baby chair that Dylan had called a highchair. Here were many glass panels in the wall as well as a stove and a sink. Everything gleamed. One of th
e black glass panels was very large, and the one in front of the stove actually had a small shelf built into it. The far wall of the room consisted of a sliding glass door, which led to an extravagant garden.
When we went back in the former room, Shiloh showed us through another; a bedroom. The floor was wooden with furs like the entrance room, but the furs were all white. The walls were made of layers of white fog-glass panels. Along the ceiling were purple lights shining down on the fogged glass, which made them glow.
The room was sparsely decorated, consisting only of a bed and a bookshelf that took up an entire wall. The bed was high on a platform with three wide steps all the way around it. The blankets and pillows on the bed were dark blue.
“What about Sammy? He can’t sleep on a bed like that,” Dylan said.
Shiloh went to the wall to the right of the bed and pressed on one of the glass panels. They quickly slid behind others and a small cradle slid out of the wall, which made a clicking sound when it was fully emerged.
“And where’s the bathroom?”
Right next to the exit door, Shiloh pressed another glass panel. This time, many panels moved to reveal a doorway to a bathroom. On the far side of the room, the wall was made of pebbles and stones. Water flowed down the stones into a basin with very brightly colored fish swimming around. White lights pointed down on the waterfall, illuminating the room with a soft, comfortable glow. On the left wall was a large glass box. Opposite of it was a solid black toilet and beside that was two black sinks. Gold spread over the black sinks like cracks. There was a wide mirror over the sinks with glowing light around the edges. The floor was stone, but smooth.
“Are all guest rooms like this?” I asked.
“Well, you are special guests, but for the most part, yes. The people of this world value beauty, science, and magic. Most feel that all three are the same thing. Are you unimpressed?” he asked.
It took me a moment to realize he was talking to me. “Why would I be unimpressed?”