The dreams were done. That hit hard. Almost as hard as the way they ended. He remembered being enclosed in the metal capsule, emptying his soul reserves into the engine. The way he had cultivated chaos at unprecedented rates, spurred onward by the steady suction of the Dream Engine. He’d felt himself die while acting as a conduit between chaos and the engine. Felt the trauma form a core at his brain stem. His mind dwindling.
And he’d awoken. Whole. Unharmed. But alone now and forever more. His brother, his dream counterpart, gone forever.
Hector mourned the loss in silence, dabbing at his tears so that Rosa would not see them when she woke. The beautiful brown woman had obviously mythologized him. He’d let her do so out of his own weakness. Knowing he was losing Volithur, he didn’t correct her misapprehensions. For a few days, he wouldn’t feel so lonely and she would step beyond mundane existence by gaining a side role in the grand story she imagined.
Rosa stirred beside him and ran her hand over his arm. She seemed to have a thing for that piece of his anatomy. It was a nice change from back home, where only the gym bros showed any interest in the arms he’d built.
“You’re not going to leave me today, are you?”
“I thought you wanted to see a transit sphere.”
“You can show me it next week.”
Hector forced the mencholy away and put on a smile. “I have a world to save, remember? I can’t stay here, no matter how incredibly fun this bed of yours is.”
Rosa groaned. “You know I can’t even write your story? No one would ever believe it.”
“Then sell it as fiction.”
“It’s not fiction. It’s real and when you’re gone, it’s back to a mundane life.”
“That’s not terrible, Rosa. You don’t have to worry about losing your world.”
“Oh, gods, I’m sorry. I forget how stressful this is for you.”
“It’s fine. I just don’t want you to waste time wishing for something that you’re better off without. We all just want to be happy, Rosa. You can be happy with the mundane as easily as with the supernatural. Actually, easier. There are so many complications to my life that I could do without.”
Hector got his final shower, put on clean clothes, and ate a hearty breakfast. They’d retrieved his backpack from under the bush the other day and refilled some of his stores. He had plenty of hard tack in case of emergency. Hopefully that would not be the case.
They took a walk outside and Hector pulled Rosa into a one-armed hug. “Do you want me to make a spectacle as I leave? There could be witnesses and everything. You just happen to be there to take my picture. That’s got to be a news story, right?”
“No. This is my magical experience. I don’t want to share.”
She seemed so firm on the matter that Hector acquiesced immediately. They found the alley where they had met and shared a significant look. This was where he would leave her behind. Rosa prepared her camera. She’d snapped many photos of him over the st couple days.
The transit sphere grew rge and he paused for a picture. Then he dimpled it and made a space inside. Another picture. Then he awkwardly shuffled.
“Here’s something I haven’t revealed to you. I’m not strong enough to make a bigger sphere. So I have so squeeze in like a chick inside an egg. It won’t be a great picture.”
She kissed him hard on the lips. “It’s still magic to me, Hector.”
He climbed inside on top of his backpack. Paused for the picture. Then he closed the sphere and pinched the weld tight. Paused for a few seconds. He couldn’t sense outside of the sphere, but he knew she was snapping photos. Then he was gone, sliding out of that universe.
As chaos surrounded him, Hector felt the familiar tingling of home not far away. He could return to his own universe any time he wished. That wasn’t what he sought, though. Something different. He needed something different.
In the distance, he felt a stain across the infinite sea. With a thought, he moved towards it. The stain pulsed, shifted, reached towards him. On instinct, Hector diverted from it and caromed into the wake of a nearby world. He’d not considered his actions for even a split second. Primal fear drove him to run and hide with a speed that conscious thought could not match. Whatever the stain on the chaos was, he could not survive contact with it.
Hector’s sphere popped like a soap bubble, sending him sprawling in the middle of a roadway.
He popped to his feet and ran to a sidewalk before the truck barreling forward could crush him to a pulp. His backpack was less fortunate. It exploded into pieces. While his heart was still thundering, a heavyset man rushed up to him. “Are you hurt, mate?”
“I’m fine,” he said. “Just a little scared.”
“I’ll bet. Hard to believe one of you guys almost died from a truck.”
“Yeah, tell me about it.” Hector turned his shaky body to the man. “What do you mean ‘one of you guys’?”
“I saw you pop out of nowhere. You’re one of them Arahant people.”
His mind, freshly shaken by the close call, still managed to connect the pieces. This world knew of the Arahants. They assumed someone appearing in a transit sphere was one, meaning they didn’t know of the Xian. Therefore, no dreams. This world must have been visited.
“Are the other Arahant still on your world?”
The man scratched his head. “I sure hope they are. The news said the monsters are still coming out of the water.”
“Can you take me to them? It’s very important?”
After a few seconds, the man’s jaw firmed. “Yes. I’ll take you to Bay Beach. Just… today’s my daughter’s birthday party. Can we stop by first? If you can show some super powers or something, that would make her whole year. And mine too!”
“Oh.” Faced with the knowledge that he finally was close to his goal, Hector could hardly wait to rush off. But this man seemed nice. And, as always on this odyssey, he was lost and broke. “I don’t have a lot of energy at the moment, but I’ll see what I can do.”
“Hell yeah, mate! Lately her mom’s boyfriend has been doing a lot of the dad duties. Breaks my heart I’m not in the picture. They want their perfect little family and I’m a walking reminder of past mistakes. Not to overshare when we just met.” The man stuck out his hand. “I’m Randy.”
“Hector.”
“That’s a normal name. Imagine that. I wonder if they got a Tom or Dick or John out there.”
“There’s a Kevin.”
Randy’s eyes got rge. “A Kevin? What’s he do? What’s his magic power?”
“He’s a giant flying battleship that shoots sers.”
“Now that’s a magic power, mate. Come along while I pick up my daughter’s present. It’s a pstic wand that lights up when you wave it about. The company has it make fire sounds. I know, I know. Confgration don’t use no wand. Can’t get a six year old a whip, though, now can I?”
Hector followed Randy through town, cultivating chaos so that he had enough in his reserves to use his domain for a trick when they arrived. On their journey, he determined a couple of things. First, Randy was not very smart. It actually went a little beyond that. Hector felt fairly certain that his new friend approached the line to an intellectual disability. Second, the Arahant were insanely popur. There were posters of the small group of heroes everywhere. Their images were pstered on anything that could be screen printed. Young children pretended to be Arahant. Older children argued over which Arahant was the best. Young adults gossiped about the retionship dynamics among the Arahant. It was an obsession.
Their ambling about town took two hours. Randy knew exactly what he wanted to buy because he’d seen it on a television commercial. He unfortunately had no idea where it could be found. Fortunately, a kind shop keeper directed him to a nearby toy store. Then they walked to the house of Randy’s ex.
They found the party already in action. The door opened at Randy’s distinctive knocking pattern and a handsome bronzed man gestured them inside. “We said to be here at five sharp, Randy. They already did games. And you didn’t wrap the gift? Come along, we’ve got paper in the kitchen closet.”
“Sorry, Greg. I had to find the perfect toy.”
Greg eyed Hector a moment and then let his presence slide. With quick, competent movements, Greg wrapped the wand and put a tag on it. He then waited while Randy wrote ‘from dad’ on it.
Randy rushed into the other room to pce the gift on top of a pile. Beside Hector, Greg cleared his throat. “Who are you, mate?”
“I’m a friend of Randy.”
“A friend. Okay. What brings you to a young girl’s birthday party?”
Hector folded his arms. “I didn’t really intend to be here. Randy said he could get me to Bay Beach but we had to make a stop first.”
Greg pinched the bridge of his nose. “Randy is going to get you to Bay Beach? Are you from the same group home as him?”
“Group home? Aw, shit. He can’t get me to Bay Beach, can he?”
“A simpleton with no car ain’t transporting you two hundred miles into a restricted zone. No way, no how. Seriously, man, what is wrong with you?”
Hector sighed. “I am very new to this world.”
“However you want to say it, you’re an idiot. All this Arahant worship is nonsense. They don’t want to meet you. They made it clear many times that they came here to do a job. We’re all grateful they kill them squid monsters before they get hold of people. Show it by respecting their privacy. And you can also respect our privacy. I’ll kindly ask you to leave my house.”
“Sure thing, Greg. Sorry to intrude.” As Hector turned to leave, he saw Randy running up to him. “Here he is, Mandy! This is my Arahant friend! He saved up some magic to show you a trick!”
Beside him, Greg made a tortured sound in his throat. There were a group of skeptical young girls behind the enthusiastic Randy who were frowning at Hector. And a gaggle of mothers were scowling. The one hiding her face in shame had to be mom to the birthday girl.
Hector barely had any cosmic energy saved up. He’d need it to defend himself and prove his cims when he finally made it to the Arahant. But he’d spent hours with Randy by this point. Everyone thought the simpleminded fellow a fool. The nice guy who welcomed him into this world was about to be cemented as a loser in the mind of his daughter.
Or… Randy could become a legend instead. Kindness had been in short supply tely. Though that perception rgely came from terrible memories, Hector desperately needed to believe there was still the possibility for good. And whether or not he could achieve his broader ambitions, Hector knew he could help this simple man form a meaningful memory with his daughter. All it would cost was a few hours of energy restoration.
Hector stretched out cables of force as he held his hands before him. As he raised the hands, he weaved his cables around the room and lifted the five girls and Randy into the air. “Happy birthday, daughter of my good friend Randy!”
He was spent, then. Before they crashed, he lowered everyone back down.
Randy ran forward and wrapped him in a bear hug, lifting him from the ground in the process. “That was amazing, mate! You didn’t tell me you could lift other people!”
Hector patted Randy on the back until he was released. The girls rushed forward, all of them asking questions at the same time. “Why haven’t you seen me on television? Well, I’m not actually an Arahant. I’m called a Xian. Our powers are a little different.”
Greg seized his shoulder with a powerful grip. “Mate, mind giving a quick expnation?”
Hector tilted his head. “I really am new to this world. About three hours.”
“Pinch me,” Greg muttered. “And you’re fast friends with Randy?”
“He was nice to me.”
“No one denies Randy is the nice sort.”
For the next fifteen minutes, he had to field questions from the girls. They were fascinated when he told tales of the battles between Xian and Jinn and Arahant. He ended by telling what little he knew of the Dragon Compact, when the major nations of all the three species signed an agreement of mutual aid when dragons appeared. He worded things in a way that made it seem like hunting monsters was a natural follow-up to the dragon situation. They could imagine everything was rainbows and sunshine in the greater multiverse. That certainly would be a happier thought than the truth that just as many monsters were born human as otherwise.
The mothers made him join in the group photo. Then he hid in the kitchen while presents were opened. The mother of the birthday girl stepped aside to speak to him. “All of that is true? You’re a magic Xian man?”
“It’s not really magic, but yes, it’s true.”
“And you’re hanging around with Randy?”
Hector lowered the volume of his voice. “Look, I couldn’t tell he was different at first. Then I wasn’t sure how to extract myself from the situation.”
The woman stared at him. “That is almost the exact thing that happened to me. Only I doubt you’re going to get pregnant.”
“No. But I did waste a few hours. I need to get to that Bay Beach pce.”
“Will the Arahant know who you are?”
“They’ll recognize a Xian. I can name drop people if they need more convincing.”
The couple shared a look and Greg nodded. “Right then. I’ll get you to the barricade outside Bay Beach. You go say goodbye to the girls and Randy.”
