Crystal Core

by P. S. Power

  He finished the food quickly, being hungry still, then took the tray to the bin, Zack following him as he did it, having his own to see to that way.

  “Things go on. Even after the war is done. Even after the battles are won… In the end, we soldier on, back to our homes and hearths.” The other man smiled, but there was a bit of sadness to it. As if they went on too long. A thing that Willum was almost certain was the case now.

  They’d won the war.

  But he wasn’t certain it was a victory at all. Not that he was going to look at billions of lives saved for now as a small thing. It was vast, truly.

  Slapping Hartley on the back, he moved into May’s shop, since she let him use the node there when he wanted. It was a tiny space really. Next to it was her room. A small red tile storage space that wasn’t meant to be lived in at all. That was going to be changing, he decided.

  Soon. Even if they weren’t married for real, anyone that knew him would eventually figure out that he wouldn’t leave a real wife in a place like that for long. That meant getting her a proper house. On the nice side, they had the gold for that kind of thing, he was nearly certain.

  That meant he could at least put on a show of keeping her correctly.

  Part of him wanted to feel badly about not having done it before, but he thought that she probably understood. If not yet, then she would, in the days and weeks to come.

  It was, in a way, something to look forward to. Not a huge thing, but a good start.

  Thinking that, he moved into the void again.

  To find the next thing on his list.

  As Zack had told him, they would all soldier on.

  So he did.

  Chapter ten

  Willum was truly tempted to ignore the woman standing next to him. They were at the space port, in Noram, and while he was dressed in nice enough clothing, a blue and black outfit that was made of what looked like satin and leather, the girl was in blue jeans and a t-shirt.

  It was the human form that he’d seen from her before, instead of the Ysidril one. That meant she was busty, with a narrow waist and broad hips. Shapely in a way that called to him a lot more now. After getting Tim Baker to make some changes to him. Part of that was a simple correction of his emotions. Making him essentially normal again.

  Perhaps a bit less prone to sadness than most were. That had been put in place to prevent him from feeling low, after all that had happened. It was a good call, since he still kind of did. It was as if everything in the world lacked color, even while the sun shone brightly over head.

  They were both looking at the school that had been put up. The coin for it added up quickly. As far as expenses went. Enough so that after only a week off from doing anything, he’d taken up his old route, passing messages around. Unlike what he’d expected, the traffic had barely dropped at all. The locations he was going did change some, however. A lot of messages had been passed to a world that had an Elsa in it, for instance. The one he knew, at that.

  Which was part of why she was there right then, no doubt. Someone had loaded her tiny team of people with a whole lot of work, suddenly.

  Rather than do anything too aggressive seeming, he waved at the fairly ugly school building. It was just a rectangle, and seemed to be made of large tan bricks, from the outside. The inside of it was nicer and there were a lot of windows, so the children wouldn’t be deprived of daylight as they sat to their studies.

  “Come to enroll? We actually have a pretty decent program, I hear. Half the instructors are Ysidril. The rest are all top end.”

  There was a soft noise then.

  “Nope. I just came to see how you’re doing? Some of the people writing in have been worried about you. That you seem depressed. I can get that one, actually.” She spoke gently, but not so much so that it was an insult.

  “You can? That… Seems shocking and alarming. I didn’t know that you had emotions for one thing. Then, I just got my own back, so I can hardly throw stones over that, can I?” It started out sounding mean, but shifted as the words came. At the end, he really did just sound sad.

  Which was silly of him.

  The words got a giggle.

  “I know, go figure, right? But no, I have emotions in spades, just like everyone else. It’s just… I’ve worked on this for years. I’ve seen some hard things, too. Done things that I wouldn’t have wanted to… And then, in a moment, it’s over. For now. Only for you, that’s even worse, isn’t it? I signed up, picking this assignment. Working on making sure we don’t all end up in pain forever. You were just standing in the woods one day, minding your own business. Then other people told you it was your duty to serve. That’s right, but still, a lot harsher. Then, when things are suddenly over, everyone else kind of just… Goes back to their lives. I barely have a life left.”

  She looked at him then, her dark hair falling into her eyes just a bit. Her eyes were large and blue, at the moment. Willum could still change the color of his own that way. His skin as well now. Even though he’d quit being a spy. He could sleep, when he wanted, which was a thing that had taken Timon several tries to make happen. He didn’t need to, but he could, if he wished. It was better. The world felt like it was real again, instead of a single, endless day.

  The words from her sounded familiar to him, which meant Elsa probably really did understand part of what he was going through. Maybe even all of it.

  “I don’t know that I really had a life before, so what do I have go back to? This is fine. I have things to do and can help people. Everyone is… Kind of acting like it isn’t really over, though. For me, I mean. Aunt Taman just nodded about the spy thing, when I told her I was quitting and showed me how to make jump ships. Then she insisted I come up with a new version that has at least fifty improvements over the old ones. I’m not certain she really took my meaning. I better not be handed a pain stone when I go to turn that in.” It would be a few weeks still, since he was growing it slowly.

  As if it were a plant, instead of a box filled with focus stone tiles.

  Not that it wouldn’t be impressive, if it came out the way he intended.

  After a bit, Elsa pushed him. Not hard enough to make his shield activate.

  “That isn’t being a spy, is it? Remember, you can always just tell her no, if you don’t want to play anymore. It sounds like a good enough skill to pick up. I should learn your type of magic. So, anything else going on?”

  That part got him to smile.

  “Oddly enough, yes. I asked Cindy Mableton to marry me. She said no, of course.”

  That got a grin from Elsa as well.

  “Which makes perfect sense. After all, she’s from a different reality. Things ended well enough? You’re still friends and all that?”

  He nodded, but wasn’t certain.

  “Really, I think we are? She’s planning to come spend the week soon, which doesn’t sound like getting rid of me totally yet. If I get the feeling from her right, she’s actually still considering the idea. I think it scared her, that I asked in the first place. As if I’m moving too fast?”

  “Ah. That makes sense then! To you here you’ve been dating for what, half a year? To her it’s been official for only a few weeks. That’s a bit quick for her world, from what I’ve seen of it.”

  The woman was probably correct. Then, she was a lot more than she seemed, if on the wrong side of the war.

  “Except for that part where you aren’t really certain I am, you mean?”

  “Yes. Except for that part. I’d wonder if I doomed everyone to live in madness for all of eternity, except that…”

  She took his arm then, holding it close to her side.

  “I know that one, too. Except that nothing you did really would have made a difference in those time frames. Still, you probably saved a few billion lives. Not forever, but in the short run and that’s better than most ever manage. I mean, me, sure, but regular people? Not so much.”

  That got Willum to blink in the bright sunlight. In the d
istance, twenty or so brown outfitted children came out of the school. None of them ran, but several seemed happy. They were smiling and carrying books with them. One of them was little Sara. She blended in well, being a small, brown skinned child at the moment.

  “You mean the incoming fleet? Is that who you saved?”

  “Bingo!” She paused. “I mean, correct. If they hadn’t come here, to you, starting hundreds of years ago, then they’d have all died, just about now, to be exact. Instead they get to live and even thrive, thanks to you and your people. Oh… You’re supposed to be the ambassador to the Ysidril home world, aren’t you? I picked that up from Erath. Really, I’m nearly certain that I mentioned that to you before…” She held a very blank expression then. As if she weren’t leading him around by the nose.

  “That’s true. I need to get on that, now that I have a bit of time. Well, thanks.”

  She smiled then and nodded.

  “Thank you, too. Even if we’re on different sides of this, I think we make a decent team, you know that? Now, if you aren’t going to wail in despair I think I should be off to my own life. Keep trying, with Cindy? May and your friend Sherri as well. Even if only one of them works out in the end, having three chances is better than botching them all because you’re lazy. Which you aren’t.”

  She walked away then. Toward the transport hut, which was about a quarter of a way around the space port hub. In the distance the Capital looked fairly sharp, the river he’d made for it glowing brightly enough to be seen during the daylight hours. It was in purple and metallic gold. The water couldn’t be seen through at the moment, but it looked like a purple gem tube, wrapped in gold flowers.

  As he stood there, a large orange colored craft settled at the port, having come in from the east about ten miles away. Then it drifted toward him.

  On the ground, people moved. Walking, and in some cases floating along just above the path of near glass that made up the port facility. All around that were buildings, mostly made of magic, but some were in focus stone as well. Each place was filled with people that were living their own lives.

  A thing that he needed to get back to again. Soon.

  “Which is the wrong way to think about it. Do it now.” He didn’t really know what it was he wanted though. So instead of waiting to figure that out, he started walking.

  It occurred to him that the IPB base could use a workshop. A place that made things out of wood, but also focus stone. It wasn’t a new idea, but he nodded about it. It was a good enough one to start setting up, if it was allowed.

  Walking, he moved to the little red hut, and climbed inside. That meant waiting for three other people to use it first. Then, on his turn, he used it as a node, and went into the void.

  Nothing was, in its own way, a very good place to start from. Not that he didn’t have more than that. Much more.

  Soon enough he’d even start to know that again.

  He was certain of it.

  From the Author:

  If you liked this work, please consider taking a few minutes to write a review? It really does help. It allows others know what you’re thinking about it, as well as influencing the placement of the book on major web-sites. (You have a super power, if you choose to use it.)

  This is the end of the grand multi-reality arc.

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  P.S. Power