Fallout (Tales of the Other Universe Book 2)

by J. G. Taschereau

  Dee stretched out a blanket for her and Adam to sit on as they waited out the night, and soon Adam would light a fire to keep them warm. In the meantime, they accepted the cool air and let the orange light spilling through the open wall fill the room. The world around them was quiet, but it was a different quiet that they had known while camping in the vast emptiness of the desert. Out there, in the distance, there was always something like the wind blowing or a wild dog howling. Within the expanse of Rosa Wist, that silence was compounded by the empty corridors that created a void, consuming all around it and leaving Adam only with the unbearable sound of silence that pervaded his mind and left him unattached from the world.

  “I bet this place gets real creepy at night,” Dee said, sitting up and hugging her knees. “Not that I believe in ghosts or anything. I know that the dead stay dead. Still, a place like this would probably have a lot of negative energy attached to it. My grandmother can pick up on things like that, things that we can’t normally.”

  “So she told me,” Adam said. He clenched his fists. “She’s really worried about you, you know.”

  “Baba? She’s always been worried about me,” said Dee. “It’s a grandmother’s job to worry and baby her granddaughter. I think she’s starting to get better about it though. Otherwise she would have never let me leave to come find you.”

  “I’m honestly surprised that she did.”

  “Well it took some convincing. I had to raise my voice with her. I’ve never done that before to her.”

  Adam was quiet for a moment, staring out at the desert spanning for miles out the window. Then he said, “Do you regret coming with me, Dee?”

  She turned her head to him with a quizzical look. “What are you talking about? Why would you ask that, Greg?”

  He remained despondent. “It just seems like after everything that’s happened, I can’t help but feel like you would have been so much better off staying at your village. You wouldn’t have had to hide in the wilderness like a criminal, living on meager rations or marching through the scorching desert for days on end with little reprieve. I mean, how can you be happy like this?”

  “Because I have hope that one day it will get better,” she answered.

  “And that’s what I don’t understand,” Adam said. “How can you still have hope that things will get better? Everything I’ve done to try and make things better has failed and resulted in people getting hurt or killed because of it. Do you think it’s going to be any different if by some miracle we actually made it to Earth?”

  A look of deep concern replaced Dee’s confusion. “Greg, you can’t give up now, not after everything we’ve been through just to get here.”

  “Well why not?”

  “Because if you do, it will all be for nothing, and I know you’re not the kind of person to give up and let Oracle win after all that’s happened. You’re better than that.”

  “I guess you don’t know me as well as you thought you did,” Adam said, “because there isn’t a part of me that can even gather the strength to get up and keep going. I don’t want to.”

  “What about Magid? The people there still need you, even if they don’t realize it. Don’t you want to go back home?”

  “Magid isn’t my home, Dee,” Adam said. It was something he said without hesitation, something he had felt for some time but had not yet put into words. “It hasn’t felt like a home to me in a long time, maybe it never really did. I’ve been carrying on as king out of a sense of responsibility, but to be honest, it’s been a miserable experience. I dreaded waking up and having to deal with stacks of paperwork on my desk, meeting with diplomats and dignitaries to keep everything in order. Day in, day out, and even with you there it was becoming unbearable. And now they don’t even want me back. So maybe I should just walk away.”

  Dee stared at him in a dull shock. “Greg, why didn’t you tell me this earlier?”

  “What difference would it have made?”

  “It could have made all the difference,” she said. “If you weren’t happy with that life, you should have said something sooner. You shouldn’t have to go on living a life you don’t want just because of someone else. Magid could have had another king.”

  “But I agreed to lead them,” Adam said. “After Kyoto, I promised them I would be a good king for them, a better king.”

  “But you shouldn’t have had to suffer for it. Greg, you took on a monumental task: rebuilding a worldwide government from the ground up. All things considered, you did a fantastic job.”

  “Then why did it all fall apart?”

  “That wasn’t your fault, Greg.”

  “Of course it was. This whole damn thing has been my fault. Everything that’s happened, every lost life, has been connected to me somehow.”

  “Greg, please stop talking like this,” Dee pleaded. The fleeting happiness she had recovered after coming to Rosa Wist was all but gone now. “I really wish you could see you’re not to blame. You can’t bear all of the world’s problems on your shoulders. You’re an amazing person, but it’s too much even for you.”

  Adam hunched forward. “I should have been able to. I wanted to be able to, for my people, for Commander Moscov, and for you. I’ve let you all down.”

  “You haven’t let me down, Greg,” said Dee. “If you did, if I really had given up on you, I would have just stayed in Erebia Village. I might have even just stayed with the Creator. Believe me, I’ve had to do a lot of soul searching these last few months, but time and again I keep choosing you. And even after everything, I still don’t regret it.”

  Adam lay down on the blanket and sighed. “For the life of me, I still don’t understand why.”

  Dee frowned. “To be honest, I’m not sure if you’re able to understand, given that you’ve had to come into all of your emotions over time.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Do you know why I was so desperate to find my master after he disappeared?” she asked. “Because I couldn’t imagine my life without him. I spent so much time looking, holding on to the hope that one day I’d find him and we could be happy together like we used to, and maybe become even happier. And the more time passed, the more I wanted to see him again, and I was even willing to give up two years of my time serving the Creator and spending time with you just so I could see him again. But my master is dead. He’s been dead for a long time now.”

  Adam craned his head to look at Dee. This was the first time she had openly acknowledged this fact in front of him, although he knew she had been aware of it since he left Erebia Village.

  “The news was quite painful to hear and it disturbed me a great deal,” she went on. “But it didn’t slow me down. It didn’t keep me lying in bed, or sitting in a chair for days on end being useless. Instead, I just hurried off to find you. Do you know why, Greg? Because I realized, after choosing time and again to stand by you, even in the wake of the worst news I’ve ever received, that you have become the most important person in my life. And you’re here, right here with me now. No matter what happens, I’m not going to give this up, or walk away. I want to be here with you, because you’re not the only one who’s lost a lot during all of this. I love you, and I’m not going to lose you too.”

  Her words came out so casually that neither of them could believe she had just so plainly uttered such a significant proclamation. Dee froze up, her heart seeming to stop while she turned red. She hadn’t meant to just come out and tell him that, even if it was something she honestly felt. It was too late to go back now, but her initial panic turned into joy in having finally come out and said something she had been thinking for a long time. Adam sat up, drawn to her blushing face. “What did you say?”

  A childish smile spread across her face. “Dummy, you heard me. I mean it, too, and it’s something I’ve just been unable to say for a while until—”

  She was cut off as Adam leaned forward and surrounded her body with his as he drew her in to a welcoming embrace. It was di
fferent from the time in Khanka when he was at the edge of despair. That time she had intervened to spare him from his own misery, but now she had managed to go even beyond that. This admittance was a complete acceptance of who he was, something he never thought possible. It was the greatest feeling he had ever experienced.

  “I don’t know if it’s possible, but I think I love you too,” he told her. “At least, I want to.”

  Tears began to well up in her eyes. “That’s good enough for me.” She pulled back to look him in the eyes. “No matter what happens, I’ll stay by your side. We’ll get through this together, and when it’s all over, maybe then we’ll find that happiness we’ve both spent so much time looking for.”

  “I can’t promise that will happen,” Adam said.

  Dee smiled. “At least we can try.”

  Adam smiled back, and as the two held each other, for that brief moment, all the hardships, the troubles and sufferings, all were set aside. In that moment it was just the two of them, nothing else mattered, and out of the darkness shone a glimmer of hope for a happy ending.

  The moment was fleeting, and in their embrace Adam and Dee felt a terrible uneasiness come over them, a great discord. Pressure crushed down on them that would have brought Dee to her knees if she were not already sitting, and made her heart stand still in her chest. The hair on Adam’s neck stood on end, and he understood full well what this sensation was. He had felt it before, as had Dee, and it meant that their moment of serenity was gone. Any chance of rest was gone, and what would follow could only lead to further sorrow.

  Adam got to his feet as the pressure subsided; Dee followed as she clung still to his shirt. The two turned towards the door of the immense room where they saw someone watching them. Adam knew who it was before he even caught a glimpse of the pale deity shrouded in white. Casting his own aura of light into the darkness of the hall surrounding him, the Creator stepped into the room to join the two people he had spent many long weeks pursuing.

  Chapter 29

  Deicide

  As the Creator calmly approached the two, Adam stepped in front of Dee and shielded her with his arm. The Creator paused as he did this, setting the end of his tall staff on the floor and looking at the two with an empty, puzzled stare.

  “What’s wrong, Iilil-ja?” he asked. “Do you really think I would do something to harm Ms. Gatti?”

  “Don’t refer to me with such familiarity,” Adam growled. “You’ve lost the right to do that.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” the Creator replied. He saw that Adam was eyeing the sword on the blanket near his feet. “What is it, Iilil? Do you intend to use that sword against me? Will you try to kill me?”

  “Isn’t that why you’re here?” Adam countered.

  “I’m here to put an end to this situation that you’ve only made worse.”

  “Is that so?” Adam asked, taking a bold step forward. “Why now? You were with me at the palace for days, but you didn’t condemn me then. Let me ask you: would you have still sided with Oracle if I had given up peacefully? Would you have killed me back then instead of waiting all this time just to put us through this nightmare?”

  “I never wanted you to suffer,” the Creator said. “I wish it could have been avoided.”

  Adam scoffed. “It couldn’t have? Were you really in such a bind that you had no choice but to betray me and Dee? Were you, the Creator Most High, so powerless that you had no alternative?”

  “You have no right to judge me, Iilil,” said the Creator. “Everything that I’ve done has been for the good of the universe. Times have changed. The situation has changed. I can no longer allow my mistake to threaten the safety of my creation.”

  Adam stared down his counterpart. “So that’s how it is, huh? I’m you’re mistake? Just like my angry side was my mistake, and we had to destroy him for the sake of keeping everything in order? Well I guess now it’s my turn. Tell me, who’s next? Would you kill Dee if it meant saving your universe?”

  “Don’t challenge me with your hyperbole, Iilil. Not when you don’t understand.”

  “I think you’re the one who doesn’t understand. All the mistakes, the threats that might have brought imminent danger to the Other Universe: Fatum, The Baggins, my other half, and now me, all of them stem from you and your own failures.”

  “They were all temporary oversights that I corrected for when I regained control of the situation.”

  “You never had control! That’s the problem!”

  The Creator frowned, but had yet to display the anger he was feeling despite his supposed inability to do so. He looked past Adam to Dee, who had no trouble expressing a look of disdain towards the deity she had once respected.

  “Ms. Gatti, I understand that you had to make some difficult choices that I’m certain you’ll come to regret, but I’m willing to forgive your betrayal if you come back to me where you belong.”

  “You have no right to even speak to me,” Dee snapped. “I will never go back to being your aide, or anything that would keep me in your service!”

  “You’re not thinking clearly,” the Creator said. “Nor are you giving me the respect I deserve. Let me ask you, Ms. Gatti: where would you be now without me? Out in the forest somewhere, crossing this continent time and again with no end in sight. I brought you out of that life. I gave you the finest clothes, a warm bed and a hot shower, the chance to live a life of luxury by my side. I saved you.”

  “You lied to me about my master for two years, just to keep me from leaving,” Dee told him. “The life you gave me doesn’t make up for that. What you did was just sick, and you can’t try to justify it.”

  The Creator stepped forward, now allowing his outrage to emerge. “You have no idea what I’ve had to do for you. All of it, this universe, the stars in the heavens, it was all for you. Even these last few weeks of suffering, of having to bend to the will of a madman, was done for your sake. Don’t you dare tell me I’m not justified!”

  Adam reached for his sword in a flash and moved back in front of Dee as the Creator came closer, giving the irate deity pause once more. He could see a flash of fear in Dee’s eyes beneath the anger she held towards him, and his own frustration turned to bitter regret. “So this is how it is now? You’ve chosen your side, and what’s more, you’ve found it in your heart to love him? If that’s your choice, then you can do no else, nor can I. But this changes nothing. Iilil no longer has a place in this universe, and I’ve come to remove him from it.”

  A wall of glowing yellow light sprung up between Adam and Dee, but it was not Dee’s magic that was responsible for it. Adam created the shield in anticipation for what was about to happen. “Stay behind there,” he told her. “No matter what happens, don’t go past that or you’re going to get hurt.” She put her hand against the wall, and Adam turned before he could see her look of distress. The Creator saw it full well and frowned.

  “I’m sorry it had to come to this,” he said.

  Adam drew his sword. “I’m not.”

  He leapt forward in a flash, swinging his sword in a wide arc at the Creator’s midsection. The Creator caught the sword with his staff and with the nimble motion of a fellow swordsman parried the attack and swung down at Adam with the blunt top end. It didn’t make contact, but as it neared Adam’s face the tip of the staff emitted a blinding light that exploded forth with incredible energy. Adam was hurled backwards into the wall he created with such force that the corporeal light barrier shattered like glass as he passed through it. Dee shielded herself from the force of the counterattack while Adam was hurtled past her, landing hard on the ground behind her. She ran to him, while at the head of the room the Creator began walking towards them.

  “Greg!” Dee cried, placing her hands on him. His body shuddered, still recovering from the burst of power. He didn’t appear to have any bodily damage, but the blast had taken the wind out of him and showed him just what kind of opponent he was dealing with. The Creator would be the most powerful
enemy he’d ever fought, and he was the last person Adam should be taking lightly. He sat upright, guiding Dee away with his left hand.

  “Keep your distance, Dee,” he said.

  “I’m not just going to sit by and watch him kill you,” Dee implored.

  “There’s nothing you can do, Dee, I’m sorry.” He stood back up and took a defensive stance.

  “He’s right, Ms. Gatti,” said the Creator. “Neither of us wants you to get hurt, so please step aside.”

  The Creator was about to step down when a sharp rock spike shot out from the floor and nearly impaled him. He stepped back in shock and with a wave of his hand the spike crumbled into sand. The Creator glared at Adam. He was wondering when his other half would resort to using the elemental forces of Magid to fight back. It was something he was waiting for, and had been dreading since he was first warned of Adam’s immense power by Master M. Even though he possessed no divine power as the Creator did, his mastery of the elements put Adam on equal footing with the lord of the Other Universe.

  Both of them realized that the scale of their duel was about to escalate, and that would mean a tremendous amount of damage would be caused to their surroundings. The two had the power to tear the planet apart as they fought to the death and would certainly destroy the ancient fortress. The Creator decided he would end things as soon as possible, and far enough away that Dee would not be harmed. In the blink of an eye he vanished and reappeared in front of Adam, thrusting his open palm forward and striking Adam’s chest. The force knocked Adam off of his feet once more and hurled him out the open window. Before Dee could cry out to him, the Creator launched himself out the window to chase after Adam. Dee raced to look out over the view where she caught sight of the Creator floating in the air, and to her surprise, Adam was floating somehow as well.