by Roy Huff
“All right,” Anika said. “So what you’re basically saying is that truth exists, to thine own self be true, trust your own heart, there is virtue in selfishness, and choose your friends wisely….”
“Exactly, and don’t forget, the fate of your universe may hang in the balance,” Cleophas replied.
“I knew my English Lit would come in handy someday,” Anika retorted.
“Not to mention physics,” Dante added.
“Now that we’ve got that out of the way, there is something else I need to tell you.”
Cleophas started to choke up. He tried to open his mouth, but the words could not escape his lips regardless of how hard he tried to enunciate the syllables. His face turned red, and his eyes started to water. He was moving his head up and down as if he were trying to shake the words free from his mouth. Avery and Jack came close and put their hands on his shoulders to comfort him. Despite his best attempt, Cleophas remained unable to speak, so Avery spoke for him.
“What Cleophas is trying to say is that he has been suffering from the onset of dementia for the last few years. Great advancements in medicine have enabled him to continue functioning at a high enough level. For the last few years he has been taking a medicine called Cognex to stave off the symptoms of memory loss and confusion, but he has reached an advanced stage of the illness and his ability to continue functioning at a normal level will decline rapidly over the next year or so.”
“Oh my god!” Anika exclaimed.
Dante and Owen immediately stood up from their chairs and hugged Cleophas. The other members followed suit.
“Maybe there is something we can do,” Anika said.
“Yeah. Maybe Owen can use his connection with Everville and The Keeper to heal Cleophas somehow,” Dante said.
At last, Cleophas was able to speak.
“I wish it were that simple, but it doesn’t work that way. The Keeper is not a magician. We are constrained by the laws of the universe. What seems like magic is just a superior understanding of how those laws work. Yes, it’s true that what you have seen over the last couple of months may seem fantastical. For that matter, though, you haven’t seen anything yet, really. What you are about to see in the near future will absolutely blow your mind, but back to my main point. I am constrained by the laws of this universe. Perhaps in Everville there are realms where such a thing exists. The problem is, I don’t possess a connection to Everville.”
“But I do,” Owen said.
“Yes, Owen, but you don’t possess the power to transport others to Everville, only yourself.”
“Maybe so, but I’m not ready to give up on you just yet. There might be a way, and if there is, then I’m going to find it.”
“I appreciate your concern and desire to help Owen, but as I have previously said, I’m not dead yet. It’s true that I may not be as sharp as I once was, but my mental faculties haven’t completely left me. Not just yet anyway.
“Now, we have a few points of business. As a result of my current condition, I am stepping down from my title and turning over all of my responsibilities to Avery. Jack will take over Avery’s former position, and I’ll remain to assist in an advisory role for as long as I’m able. My relationship with you won’t change. I’ll be here when you need me. I just need to extricate myself from some of the more bureaucratic nonsense that has no relevance to what really matters.”
“Wait. You don’t need to make any sudden decisions. I mean, this is just a club. Why don’t you wait a little bit?” Anika said in a visible state of concern.
“Listen, Anika. You know as well as I that this is more than just a club. I cannot allow my arrogance to interfere with what is best for me or what is best for all of you. I must humble myself to the known truth, which is not as dire as you are making it out to be. I have no intention of giving up, no intentions of locking myself away in a box never to be seen again, and no intentions of whatever it is that is floating around in your well-intentioned heads. I’m not going anywhere, so there is no need to be so melodramatic. You can leave that to the soap operas.
“If there aren’t any more objections, I say we move on to some of the more instructive aspects of this meeting. As I have mentioned before, each one of you has a connection to Everville or one of its eight surrounding realms. What Avery, Jack, and I have done is bring out every piece of information we have about each of these realms: the symbols, the notes, the objects, and any other information we’ve been able to find.
“Now that you know how to use the objects as a connection to the memory of its owner based on your prior training, and now that you have a better understanding of who you are and what these objects mean, we want you to search for answers — not just answers to your own history and purpose, but answers to a current problem in Everville. It’s the problem of the breach. The breach was created as a result of those in and around Everville who succumbed to the darkness and let the darkness invade their land. It was also created, in part, through planning by those who would seek to concentrate power for their own purposes, be it good or bad,” Cleophas said, drying his eyes.
“More to the point, I have been able to use my own connection to discover that there is a battle, of which Owen and a few others are aware, which has now engulfed one of the surrounding realms of The Other In Between. It’s a land known as The City of Worms. It is a great storehouse of power that was used to transfer and equally distribute power and energy across our multiverse in attempt to prevent the corruption of those who might gain access to too large a concentration of power.
“There is a substance called the element that is created through the natural operations of the universe. Think of it as the inverse of entropy. As the universe expands and expends its energy, there must be an equal energy created that maintains balance. Just as the universe has zero total matter when one takes into account the equal amount of matter and antimatter, so too does the universe have an equal amount of entropy and anti-entropy. This anti-entropy is what we know as the element. It’s the opposite of ordered chaos. It’s ordered anti-chaos. In other words, if you have the element, you can do whatever you want with it. Those who seek the element seek to become gods of their own realms and universes.
“The vehicle for that dissipation and transfer of energy and power known as the element are giant worms. The worms are non-sentient creatures indigenous to that realm and are protected by a great force. The worms are composed of exotic matter. Only exotic matter is capable of converting the element or anti-entropy into discreet amounts back into your universe. Those discreet amounts become pockets of dark energy scattered throughout the universe. If those pockets were to become out of balance, the universe would collapse in on itself.
“As we speak, the darkness that inhabits The Other In Between, known as Them, are preparing for a great battle. Them are scheming to subvert the force protecting the worms and transfer the element for Them’s own purpose. If Them succeed, our universe as we know it will cease to exist, but Them could care less about our world. One universe in the multiverse means nothing to them. It would however, mean that the skin of the multiverse would become static and frozen in time. There would no longer exist a feedback loop to balance the power of good and evil. There would be no holographic projection of the actions of men; in its place would be a solitary image burned in all multiverses ad infinitum. An image that represents the evil of Them.
“It is inconceivable that Them possess such an ability. No creature from any multiverse has such power, but in Them’s arrogance, in Them’s desire to become gods and upend the laws of physics in all multiverses, Them have put together a plan. I want you to find out what that plan is so we can stop whatever consequences might arise from Them’s attempt.”
“Whoa!” Dante exclaimed.
“Wow! That’s a lot to take in,” Anika said, echoing Dante’s disbelief.
“I knew about the element, but I had no idea what that truly meant. You are right, Cleophas. There is no way we can let Them succe
ed in whatever plan Them are attempting,” Dante said.
“Wait a second. What about the element? Didn’t you just say that whoever possesses the element can do whatever they want? Don’t we possess a small amount of element in the container? Why don’t we use that element to cure you, Cleophas?” Anika said.
“First of all, the amount of element that we possess in the container is miniscule. That was the intent of The Keepers, limiting the size of the containers created in Everville. The other thing is that the element in our realm can only allow us to see or impact events on the skin of the multiverse, not Earth. It would have no effect on me,” Cleophas said.
“Hold on. You said that Earth and the skin of the multiverse are connected through a feedback loop. If we change something in Everville, won’t it change something here on Earth?” Anika replied.
“Yes, I did say that Anika. The problem is that it is not known what that impact would be or what would need to be changed in the other dimension to create the desired result. There could be unexpected consequences to the detriment of mankind, or the universe for that matter. Even if we did, there is still the problem of the how. More important, as a student of English Lit, you should know as Saint Bernard of Clairvaux once suggested, a road paved with good intentions is not always the road we want to take. The whole point of this is that arrogance and power will never lead to a desired result. Just look what happened to Dante and the others that were adversely affected by the makeshift collectors. There are no shortcuts on this one, Anika. My medical wellbeing needs to be addressed the old fashioned way.
“Now. Let’s get back to these objects and start focusing on what Them are planning and anything else we can find while we still have time.”
CHAPTER 23:
THE JOURNEY HOME
“Asher, you don’t think the armies of Them will notice that we are gone, do you?” Felix asked.
“I don’t know Felix, but I don’t want to stick around to find out. Let’s just hope Calvin can outrun the armies and Mallory can trick Them if Calvin can’t.”
“I’m doing my best to run as fast as I can, and I have no intention of slowing down, so let’s just keep focused on looking for the portal, and for things out there in the darkness that might be out to eat us,” Calvin replied.
“You’re not helping, Calvin,” Faine replied.
“Sorry, but it’s true. You saw that thing that wanted to eat us before. I wonder what other creatures are licking their chops for a chance to make us their late night snack.”
“Late night snack. Late night snack,” Felix repeated.
“C’mon. Do you have to keep repeating everything that’s said, Felix?”
“Sorry, Asher. Force of habit.”
Calvin continued running as fast as he could. The darkness and the lack of stimuli made it difficult to tell just how much time had passed. It also made it difficult to see which direction they were headed and what else was out there in the darkness.
“What was that?” Felix said in horror.
“What was what?” Faine replied.
“That. Do you hear it? Listen closely,” Felix said.
Calvin stopped running, hoping to hear whatever it was that Felix thought was out there.
“I don’t hear anything,” Calvin said.
“Why did you stop running? Let’s get moving,” Asher said.
“Wait. I think I hear it,” Calvin said quietly.
“No. Don’t wait. What happened to you saying you had no intention of slowing down? Whatever’s out there, I don’t want us being here when it arrives at our location. Now get moving,” Asher said insistently.
“Uh oh. I’m not sure which direction I was headed before. I don’t want to go in the wrong direction,” Calvin replied.
“Uh oh. Uh oh.”
“I thought I told you to stop repeating what we say, Felix.”
“Um. That wasn’t me!”
“Well. Oh,” Calvin started, but before he had a chance to finish, he dashed off in the opposite direction.
“Come on, Calvin. You’re running in the opposite direction now,” Asher complained.
“That’s right. I’m running in the opposite direction of whatever that thing was that was speaking.”
“The only problem with that Calvin, is that now you’re running back to the armies of Them and in the opposite direction of the portal,” Asher said matter-of-factly.
“I didn’t think about that.”
“Well, turn back around.”
Calvin stopped, and then he spun around in circles until he was dizzy. The Ubaloo were dizzy, too. Calvin waited a few seconds and started running as fast as he could, though he wasn’t sure in which direction.
“What did you do that for?” Faine asked.
“I didn’t want to run in either direction,” Calvin replied.
“Yeah, but now we have no idea where we’re headed, and we still have to make it to the portal. How are we going to do that now, Calvin, if we don’t know which direction we are headed?” Asher scolded.
“I got it. Give me a second,” Calvin said as he closed his eyes and tried to connect with the mind of Them. “Okay. I know where we are now,” he said as he started running at the same brisk pace as before.
“Thank goodness. Don’t do that again, Calvin. Remember, the idea is to make it to the portal, and make it there in one piece.”
“Sorry.”
They hadn’t realized it yet, but they’d traveled almost half the distance to the portal. The only problem was, the night was almost gone. The infinite twilight of the day was almost upon them, and they could see a faint glow off in the distance. The sun never made it above the horizon in The City of Worms, but it was close enough to daytime to provide sufficient light. It wasn’t quite there yet, but the day was approaching.
“Oh no,” Felix said.
“What is it?” Faine asked.
“Look. The day is approaching, and we’re still just halfway to the portal. What are we going to do?”
“We’re going to do the only thing we can do, Felix. We’re going to keep going,” Asher replied.
“I wonder where Mallory is. I hope he’s okay,” Calvin said.
“Mallory can fend for himself. We just need to make sure we can get to the portal, and soon,” Asher reiterated.
“I like that idea,” Felix said.
“Brilliant,” Faine said.
“I’m in complete agreement,” Calvin replied.
Silence took over for the next hour as Calvin continued running as fast as he could, but soon fatigue set in.
“I can’t go on any farther, guys. I have to stop. If I don’t, I’m going to drop dead of exhaustion,” Calvin said, huffing and puffing for breath.
“We don’t have time to stop, Calvin, but I have an idea.”
“What is it, Asher?”
“Us three will carry you.”
“What? Are you sure you’re strong enough?” Calvin asked, with a tinge of disbelief in his voice.
“You better believe it. Us Ubaloo are brave warriors, Felix notwithstanding,” Asher said.
“Speak for yourself, Asher,” Felix replied. “I’m brave. I just get a little carried away sometimes. I’m certainly strong, just like all Ubaloo.”
“Indeed you are,” Asher responded.
“Well, how are we going to do this thing?” Calvin asked.
“Lie down,” Faine instructed.
“All right then,” Calvin said, as he proceeded to lie flat on the ground.
The Ubaloo rolled Calvin halfway on his side, and they each took their positions, Asher by the head, Faine by the torso, and Felix by the feet. They lifted Calvin a good twelve inches above the ground and started running as fast as they could in the direction of the portal.
Before long, they had arrived. They set Calvin down on the ground and he stood up.
“Okay. What should we do now? Should we wait for Mallory?” Felix asked.
“Let me try something,” Calvin said.
Calvin once again closed his eyes. This time he tried as best as he could to connect with Mallory, but something was blocking him. He repeated his attempt several times before giving up.
“Something is stopping me from connecting with Mallory, and whatever it is I don’t think it’s good. I suggest we walk through the portal and let The Keeper enter our mind so we can tell him the plan.”
“You’re right, Calvin. We should go,” Asher said in agreement.
“That’s all I needed to hear,” Felix said, as he walked through the portal.
Faine followed right behind Felix, and then Calvin walked through. Asher turned his head in the direction of the city to see if there was any sign of Mallory, but after a few seconds, he too walked across the portal.
As Calvin entered the portal, his body began changing and contorting into a state of flux, just as Elmer’s had when he had crossed through the portal back into Everville. Seconds later, when Calvin emerged on the other side into Brackenbone, he had transformed back into his original Fron self. The slime that had covered his body was gone, the long fingernails were no more, and he was the short, thick, and hairless happy creature of his youth once again.
The Keeper was successful in entering the minds of Calvin and the Ubaloo the moment they crossed the portal, and Calvin’s willingness to cooperate with his former allies had redeemed his soul, and with it, the physical manifestation of the level of good that was inside of him.
The Keeper was dismayed at what his merger with the minds of the Ubaloo had revealed. The Keeper did not think it possible for Them to possess such stupidity, but he was not surprised at the level of Them’s arrogance. The Keeper appeared on General Varrick’s table once again.