87.
A Dream Distorted
"Noooo!"
Cliff ripped his torso up from the hospital bed, pulling up the wires
attached to his body. He looked around frantically, sweat pouring down his face,
expecting to see the severed arm of Mephistoclessia still lodged within his stomach.
But the hole was gone, along with many of the other wounds he sustained through
the fight. His eyes drifted up to his left shoulder, and he let out a low moan.
A lonely stump remained where his left arm had once been.
Cliff looked around the curtained-off chamber and spotted Caleb, also
in a hospital gown, sitting in a chair next to Cliff’s bed. The blue-haired
warrior stared at Cliff with exhausted, dejected eyes.
"Good," Caleb said. "You’re awake."
"Caleb..." Cliff huffed. "The tournament...is the tournament
over?!"
"I dunno," Caleb said with a forced smile. "I got
carried away too."
"What?" Cliff asked. "Who did you lose to?"
"Averyl..." Caleb dropped his head, hiding his moist eyes. "I
should have kept going. I know I should have...but he was just too strong. I lost
all hope, and I ran."
"You ran?!" Cliff shouted. "What about Sabine? And Amyr?!"
Caleb sniffed and brought his face back up. Despite his youth, he
looked old and tired. "Sabine was up against Amyr in the first round, and Amyr
forced her to let him go ahead. Then Saffron cut him in two right after my match.
The asshole even gave Amyr a chance to run...like he knew Amyr was the kind of
guy who’d never do something like that."
Cliff let out a curse. Excruciating moments of silence followed as the
two men struggled to find more words.
"Now she won’t even speak to me," Caleb finally went on. "We
lost Captain Trujillo too, from the looks of it."
"Wait," Cliff asked shakily, "what about Vance and Eden?
Who did they face?"
Caleb let out a long sigh, then shook his head. "Vance and Eden both
made it to the final round. Eden took out one Zodiac, while Vance took out two."
"What?!" Cliff screamed. "They...they what?!"
"I wouldn't have been that surprised," Tao said, as he
moved up from behind the curtain. "You know better than anyone just how extraordinary
they both are, Cliff."
"Seneschal?" Cliff turned to face his leader. "What are
you doing here?"
"That's a long story," Tao said, letting out his own sigh. "For
now, just focus on your rest and rehabilitation, Cliff."
"Has Captain Azuka returned yet?" Cliff inquired. "Or any
of the other captains, for that matter?"
"The details are still coming in," Tao said. "Just a few
moments ago, a massive explosion engulfed the tournament complex. Before Nathan
and I fled the venue, the last thing we saw was Vance and Eden being attacked as
they went in to claim the clock. A certain man was waiting there for them."
"We have to go, then!" Cliff glanced around frantically.
"We have to make sure that Vance and Eden are alright."
"Cliff." Tao bit his lip. "There is much about this situation
that you still do not understand. In addition to that, you're down an arm. I think
it would be best if you used this time to rest and recuperate."
"But..." Cliff insisted, "Vance and Eden need me! I can't
just sit here and..."
"Do they?" Tao stared at Cliff with pity. "You led them
far, Cliff...you did your part. I can’t bear to experience another casualty so
soon...please understand."
Cliff bowed his head. "Just tell me they're alright."
"I would, if I knew where they were," Tao said weakly, then quickly
changed the subject. "Nathan's here, though. He fought valiantly against
one of the men who tried to stop us as we carried Vance's father and his friend
back here."
"Vance's father?!"
"At this rate, your cries of surprise will never end. Get some rest,
Cliff," Tao said, then turned to leave the room. "We'll return soon with
more answers, hopefully. Just concentrate on your health now, so that when you're
back to full strength, you can return more powerful than you ever were
before."
With that, Tao and Caleb left the room, leaving Cliff to his thoughts.
In the end, the gunslinger let out a long sigh and sat back on his cot, then closed
his eyes and tried to fall asleep.
*
Candlelight danced across the walls in Edgar J. Caskett’s cabin as he continued
to speak with Vance and Eden. Eden remained still in her chair, listening quietly
with wide eyes, while Vance fidgeted back and forth in agitation.
"Are you sure you don’t want to rest a bit before we go on talking?"
Edgar asked, motioning to the small kitchenette on the other side of the room. "Or
perhaps you’d like some supper? You both must be so tired..."
"I can’t rest," Vance said, glancing around the cabin. "Not
now...not while Averyl’s still out there. Before he knocked me out, he told me
I could manipulate the fabrics of time and space, just like other Albavitreans..."
Edgar sighed and nodded. "Indeed, that should be the case. Victoria
could do the same. I can tell you’re worried about him...you said Grayson was
there as well?"
"Yeah, and there was all kinds of chaotic shit happening. We left Averyl
there all alone..."" Vance said.
"But you mentioned you were only on the verge of discovering your ability,"
Edgar said. "Do you think you can call it back now? The type of psynergy
you speak of is an extremely powerful type that affects time, space, and matter.
It's unofficially known as metapsynergy."
"Metapsynergy?" Vance echoed. "And all Albavitreans have
the potential for it?"
"Technically, everyone does," Edgar said. "Albavitreans
are simply more inclined to developing it. Your mother had it down so well that
she could easily hop dimensions whenever she pleased. She did mention once that
she could only hop back to a location or dimension that she'd visited before,
though."
Vance’s aura surged up. "I’m going to do it, too. I’ve seen Averyl
do it before...there’s no reason why I shouldn’t be able to."
"But Vance..." Eden said. "If Victoria couldn't even beat
Grayson..."
"She couldn't do it alone," Vance said. "Neither can
Averyl, and neither can I. But together...along with you, Eden...and you, Mr. Caskett...we
should be able to do something!"
Edgar smiled with teary eyes. "Victoria would be so happy to see you
two now...her dream lives on in you."
"But Vance..." Eden said, turning to him. "This is Mr. Caskett’s
house. If we open a portal here..."
"I can’t just abandon Averyl back there!" Vance shouted. "Not after
all he’s done for me...he needs our help. I’m sure he knows how to close up a
portal once he goes through it. I won’t go after Grayson – I just want to save my
uncle!"
Edgar took a deep breath and exchanged glances with Eden. "Victoria was the
same way...once she had her mind set on something, there was no telling her otherwise."
"You can't open a portal here, Vance!" Eden insisted. "This
is Mr. Caskett's home!"
"Just a temporary dwelling," Edgar said with a shrug. "But
more importantly, Grayson has been searching for me for years. If he manages to
get inside here, I doubt he'll leave before killing me let alone the two of
you."
Edgar and Vance shared a glance then, reminding Vance of the time he'd
spent with the man in his childhood. As Vance had grown, they’d laughed
together, along with Wendy, Victoria, Edward, and Edgar’s wife. They weren’t
related by blood, but they were family all the same.
"I trust you, Vance," Edgar closed his eyes and nodded. "You’ve
grown up exactly how I always knew you would. But you also need to trust your
uncle here. He let you two flee on purpose, didn't he? You both came here for a
reason."
Vance seethed, but eventually let out a long breath and relaxed a little
in his chair. Eden looked at him with concern, placing a hand on his shoulder.
She could feel her touch instantly calm his aura.
Edgar stared at the two of them in awe. "I'm sure that what God really
wants from us is unity. He believes in us as his people, and he believes
that one day we will truly wise up and put aside our differences. If we could
set aside our selfishness, greed, and violence, then maybe...the gate to the
end of the world could open without the use of any sacrifice."
"I don’t understand God at all," Eden said shakily. "Why
did he send me here? Why would he want to test and kill his own people? Why psynergy?
Why all these dimensions? It doesn't make any sense..."
"God is a mystery," Edgar said, shaking his head. "Some
say that we humans could never attempt to understand the way He thinks. One thing
that’s always stuck with me is how the Bible on Earth never talks about dimensions,
clocks, or anything like what’s written in the Bible that the Church adheres
to. It’s so different."
Eden ran her fingers through her hair, thinking. "You mean you think
something else created all these dimensions? Someone other than God?"
"Maybe," Edgar replied, rubbing his beard. "Or maybe it's
the people on Earth who are in control. Sasuke read me a theory once. I forget
where he found it, but...it talked about a base world where in exchange for magic
in their daily lives, the people received magic in their dreams – magic that allowed
them to create whole new worlds simply from their imagination."
"What are you saying?" Vance leaned in. "That all these
dimensions might just be created from people's dreams?"
"I don’t know," Edgar replied. "But the psynergy vacuum must
be there for a reason. It could be some bizarre experiment by a God, using humans
as batteries...or it could all be the work of some entirely different entity who
just decided to play God for the past couple thousand years. Honestly, it could
be anything, really. Sasuke’s story has just always stuck in my mind."
"As it has in mine," a sinister new voice drifted out from
somewhere inside Eden's clothes.
Edgar's eyes went wide, and he shot out of his chair. The horrified
look on his face was enough to make both Vance and Eden's hearts jump right
into their throats. Confused, Eden looked to Vance, who only shook his head and
looked back to her. Then, all three watched as a fly buzzed out from the white
cloak and landed on the floor. In the next moment, it transformed into
Madeleine.
"Madeleine?!" Eden shouted. "What are you doing here? Was
that you just now?"
"No..." It only took Vance, Eden, and Edgar a moment to
realize that Madeleine looked just as confused and horrified as they did.
"It wasn't...I have no idea what's going on!"
Madeleine exploded. Vance and Eden screamed, while Edgar froze in
horror. Instead of blood, thick globules of pink slime went everywhere, coating
the three and the walls of Edgar's house. In the epicenter crouched Grayson Lee.
"Yes, Sasuke was really on to something with that theory of his,"
the Snake said, calmly rising to his feet. "I especially like the part about
playing God...it certainly seems like a role that I'd be more than qualified for."
Next: Nothing Safe
