Chapter 15: ConvergenceA Chapter by StarNinja“Great
Keepers. A most wonderful thing has happened,” Wisil said. It was
around morning. Phillip wasn’t sure. The sun hadn’t come up over the holes in
the ceiling and the sky hues weren’t much help either since it was always so
orange. “What?”
Phillip asked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. “The
soothseers wish to see you,” said Wisil. “What
an honor. Thank you for telling us,” said Omar. When had he woken up? “Bout
freaking time. I was wondering if I was going to see any psychic aliens on this
trip,” said Phillip. “Come.
Follow me,” said Wisil. He led
the boys through the city. A week had passed since they’d arrived. A week of
celebrating and feasting. They hadn’t intended to stay that long, but after
eating and resting for a day or two the boys eventually found themselves
exploring the city and listening to Wisil explain the world around them as the
Broneen understood it and the need to leave seemed less important. Plus there
was so much food. So much! Phillip wondered where the Broneen could have
possibly gotten all this food on this barren desolate wasteland of a planet. Omar
had been very helpful, using his glove to figure out what was edible and what
wasn’t. As Phillip quickly found out, edible didn’t mean appetizing. It was a
lesson he learned too many times. Omar
was absolutely overjoyed with all the information he was gathering. Even
Phillip started to get curious about Broneen culture, though he spent most of
his time watching the children playing in the streets. The one named Flyl
pestered him a lot, asking him questions then running off, then running back
and asking more questions. She seemed to have taken a liking to him. Wisil told
them many stories that had been passed to him from his predecessors. Stories of
brave Keepers and crafty Broneen. Stories of foul creatures and monstrous
beasts. Stories of those none should name and stories of ages long past. They
came upon a giant crevice in the wall of the cavern just outside the city
boundary. A large cloak fashioned from some kind of furry animal was draped
over the crevice, two poles on either side of the opening to ward off impurity.
A lone figure waited for them. It looked like a Broneen as the boys had come to
know them, but its eyes were covered by a cloth and its mouth tendrils twisted
into a painful looking braid. “Welcome,
visitors,” said the soothseer. It spoke with some difficulty and Omar’s
translator picked up on it. “Hello.
It is a pleasure to meet you,” said Omar. “We
will see,” said the soothseer. “Ominous
much?” Phillip asked. “That
very much depends on your point of view,” said the soothseer. “Ugh,
this is going to get annoying,” said Phillip. “This
way, to the Empty Room,” said the soothseer. “You’re
not coming in?” Phillip asked when he saw Wisil was not following. “I was
not invited. Just you,” said Wisil. Phillip
crossed his arms over his stomach, fighting that queasy feeling he always got
whenever the unexpected threatened to pounce on his life. Omar noticed and put
a hand his shoulder. “It’ll
be fine,” he reassured him. The
Empty Room was a house sized chamber of concentric circles that descended into
a pit. On each circle, a lone soothseer sat, legs crossed, swaying to invisible
rhythms. In the center of the room, a fire pit. But there was no fire. Instead,
a hazy vortex of blue and green swirling around itself. Phillip had no idea
what it was, but he didn’t have to wonder long. “A
wormhole! Localized here to our sphere,” Omar said excitedly. “You
are wise in the way of holes,” said the soothseer. “Hey,
let’s stay focused here, okay?” Phillip said. “Phillip,
this is what I told you about before. This is what most likely brought you
here,” said Omar. “This
thing? I think I would have remembered getting swallowed by that,” said
Phillip. “Other
than deliberate warp methods, this is the only way,” said Omar. “That
you know of,” said Phillip. “Are
you implying my knowledge of warp theory is incomplete?” Omar asked. “Well,
you are a cadet. Maybe there’s more to learn after you graduate?” Phillip reasoned. “Probable,
but unlikely. I am very knowledgeable of warp theory. I am the top in my
class,” said Omar. “There
is such a thing as overconfidence, you know,” said Phillip. “Keepers
please. It is time,” said the soothseer. “Time
for what?” the boys asked in unison. “The
Sight.” All at
once, the soothseers began to chant. The chanting grew in force and volume
until Phillip and Omar could barely tolerate it. Then they noticed the warp
hole begin to shift and change. “Great
Hole in Space! Reveal the mysteries!” the soothseers said all at once. The
warp hole seemed to glow brighter. Then Phillip saw images erupt from within.
Images he couldn’t comprehend. “I
see,” said the soothseer standing closest to them. “This is most distressing.” “What
is?” asked Phillip. “Your
destinies have been revealed to me.” “Fascinating.
Are you receiving raw information direct from the sub-realities between
spheres? The Aethersphere, I guess it’s called?” Omar asked, scanning the gash
in space with his glove. “The
warp hole speaks. It says, you do not belong here.” “I
could have told you that,” said Phillip. “No.
You specifically, Keeper. You do not belong here. The cadet major’s destiny
brought him to this place,” said the soothseer. “What?
How could that be?” Omar asked. “Hold on.
What the heck are you talking about?” asked Phillip. “The
wave patterns are unclear. Hazy. But of this I am certain. The boy from Terra
was meant to appear. You, however, have come unintentionally,” said the
soothseer. “Deliberate
warping. My mission was sabotaged,” said Omar. “So,
what, I don’t have a great big destiny or whatever?” asked Phillip. “Wait a
moment. I see… video games. And cheese doodles,” the soothseer said. “Oh
come on! What a load!” Phillip said. “Phillip.
We have another clue. A clue that tells me we are dealing with a dangerous
enemy. Someone forcefully redirected my warp to this planet. That kind of
capability should be impossible but it’s the only explanation for why I veered
so far off course and ended up here with you and the others,” said Omar. “Yeah
but hold on a sec with that. What about my destiny do you see that looks
awesome?” Phillip asked the soothseer. “Honestly
very little,” said the soothseer, somewhat uncomfortably. “It seems you are
destined for obscurity and degeneration. A sad way to see a Keeper go.” “That
can’t be right. How was Omar supposed to be here and not me? How could this
have been a total accident? I was meant to do great things, right? I’ve already
done great things! I’m sure of it!” said Phillip. The soothseer made a gesture
which was equivalent to a Broneen shrug. “Phillip,
focus. We might be able to use this warp hole to get to our destination,” said
Omar. “Wait!
Can we use it to get us home?” asked Phillip. “I’m afraid
I don’t have the energy capacity or the navigational ability to send us off
sphere. This will only take us a short distance,” said Omar, punching away at
his glove’s holo-menus. “Well,
it was worth a shot,” said Phillip. “What
are you doing, great Keeper?” the soothseer asked. The warp hole had changed
shape until it almost looked like a doorway. “I am
going to use this to get us to the Tower. That was our destination before we
ended up here,” said Omar. “Do
not! This is… uh, a great danger. Yes!” said the soothseer. “Great
danger!” the other soothseers echoed. “I know
it is risky, but we have dawdled too long. Are you ready, Phillip?” Omar asked. “I
guess. I sort of wanted to say goodbye to everybody,” said Phillip. “I
suppose. It would be rude to vanish so suddenly, but we shouldn’t waste too
much more time,” said Omar. “Hey,
you’re the one who wanted to learn all about the history of this place and the
Broneen. I just tagged along,” said Phillip. “Great
Keeper, please change the Great Hole in Space back to its original form. It was
meant for viewing not travel,” said the soothseer. “What
is the matter? The warp hole is inactive until I send a surge through it.
Nothing will come out of it,” said Omar. “Not
true! The Great Hole in Space is unstable! It will spit forth… um… chaos and…
death. Yes! Death and tragedy unless it is bound!” said the soothseer, quite
distressed. “Death
and tragedy!” the other soothseers echoed. “Our
understandings of warp holes seem to be at odds,” said Omar. “Just
do what the mystical alien says. It’s his warp hole,” said Phillip. “Fine.
If it will please our hosts, then I will…” The
warp hole made a sound like thunder and then grew twice, three times its
original size. “No!
What have you done!” the soothseer cried. “Omar,
what the heck?” Phillip asked. “It was
not me. I swear!” Omar yelled. The
soothseers climbed out of the pit in a panic. The warp hole made another sound
and began to suck in everything around it. “You
have doomed us all!” the soothseer cried. “Wait!
I think I can close it!” Omar shouted as he frantically navigated the menus on
his glove. “Forget
it! Just run!” Phillip screamed. The
warp hole grew again and soothseers began flying into it. Phillip felt it
pulling on him. “Omar!
Come on!” Phillip yelled. “We’re
all dead if I don’t this! Just give me one mini!” Omar shouted. The
warp hole now encompassed most of the chamber. Half of the soothseers were
gone, disappeared through the hole. Phillip felt his feet starting to slip. It
was pulling him in. He had to get out now. But then, what would happen to Omar?
Then from behind, he heard a squeal. “Flyl!
Don’t!” Wisil screamed. In a moment of horror, Phillip saw the young Flyl soar
over his head and get sucked into the wormhole. She seemed to be having a
blast. “No no
no! This wasn’t supposed to happen!” Omar said, frantically inputting something
into his glove. Suddenly Phillip grabbed Omar’s shoulder. “We’re
getting out of here now!” Phillip yelled. “There’s
no point! If this wormhole isn’t stabilized, the whole sphere will completely
unravel!” Omar yelled back. “Why
didn’t you leave the damn thing alone!” Phillip yelled. “It was
harmless! This isn’t right!” Omar yelled. Then
all was dark and pain and then there was nothing. There
was nothing for a good long while. Then Phillip opened his eyes. All around him
he could see infinity, or perhaps more accurately, he could see beyond
infinity. It felt almost like when the Skull Crown had attached itself to his
head but more than even that. He saw the past, the future, the present all
rolled up into one thing. He saw stars explode and baby sharks eating each
other in the womb. He saw the web of life spread before him like a bloody
spider’s home, connecting everything to everything else. Then he saw the web
become tiny, watched it splatter across the face of a desolate rock hurtling
through space. Then he saw the rock crumble to dust until there was nothing
left. “Omar?”
he called out, his voice echoing across eternity, muffled by the vast
emptiness. “Anybody?” “We’re
in the sub-reality,” said Omar. He sounded so close, right next to Phillip’s
ear, yet so far away. “What’s
happening?” “We’re
in between, or I guess more accurately, underneath reality. The sphere which we
knew as Orbis is right next to us. You can just almost touch it. But we’re
stuck here,” Omar explained. “Stuck?
No way. We can’t be stuck. Wormholes have two ends, right?” “Stable
ones do,” said Omar. The implication sunk in quickly. “Crap.
Crap! Why does this keep happening to us?” Phillip asked. “That’s
a good question,” said Phillip. “What?”
Phillip asked. “Who
was that?” asked Phillip. “Alert!
Mission compromised!” said Omar. “Omar?
What’s going on?” asked Phillip. “Who’s
Omar? Where’s my house? Where am I?” Phillip asked. “I’m
exiting the slide! I repeat! Exiting the sli-” “Oh
man. Remember this?” Phillip asked. “Yes.
That was so long ago,” said Omar. “How
did we get out of there?” asked Phillip. “I
think I refocused the lens on my warp modulator to navigate back to reality.” “Oh
yeah. I still don’t know what that means,” said Phillip. Phillip
opened his eyes. The world was orange again. He was outside. Where was this? In
the distance, a crumbling spire rose, pricking the sky like an aged thorn. The
air was still and quiet save for a slight breeze that pushed motes of sand and
dust across the craggy rock where Phillip sat. “Hello?” Phillip
waited for a response. Something moved. It had been sitting in front of him all
along, but so still that he didn’t notice it was a living being. “Hello,
old friend. It has been so long,” said the creature, its voice sounding as
ancient as the spire in the distance. It wore old brown rags, its whole body
completely covered. But it’s eyes. Familiar alien eyes. “Who
are you? Where am I?” Phillip asked. “I am
your friend. You are in the right place, but the wrong time. You must go back
from whence you came.” “I
don’t think we’ve met,” said Phillip. “Not
yet. But you already have,” said the alien. “What?”
Phillip asked. The
alien raised an ancient pink hand and waved it over Phillip. He felt strange,
almost slippery, then he was falling again. Phillip
opened his eyes. He was sitting on a pile of dirt. Omar was sitting in front of
him. “Hey,”
said Phillip. “You
seem well,” said a soothseer. “Give
it a mini,” said Omar. Phillip arched an eyebrow. Then he projectile vomited all
of his breakfast. “Ew!
Smells funny,” said Flyl. “What
just happened? Ow, my stomach!” Phillip yelled. “Good
news, the world is still relatively intact. The warp hole must have sealed
itself on the other side after I charged it with Venelin energies, collapsing
the waveform. As for you, your body’s adjusting to real space again,” said
Omar, sidestepping Phillip’s breakfast and doing a medical scan. “Slide
Exposure Syndrome.” “What?”
Phillip asked. “I
believe I mentioned it before,” said Omar. “This
didn’t happen to me before. I think. I don’t know. Whoa. Why’s the world
spinning?” Phillip asked. “Residual
momentum from when this universe popped into being almost 13 billion… ah, a
figure of speech. You refer to your own frame of reference,” said Omar. “Huh?
Sure whatever. Just let me lie down for a second,” said Phillip. “While
the wise and merciful Keeper does that, maybe we can get back to the matter of
where on Orbis we are,” said a soothseer. “That
won’t be easy to accomplish without a map and all the ones I have are only
scraps of bigger ones,” said Omar. “This one for example shows that we are
close to the Deep Roads, and that this particular track is about a day’s trek
to the Tower but I don’t know where that pertains to the surface. We could have
overshot clear to the other side of the Tower.” While
the others talked, Phillip lay on his side, holding his head. There were three
soothseers, Omar, himself and Flyl, all in a small space underground. Another
hub in the tunnel network. Phillip didn’t remember how he got there. He didn’t
remember anything after getting sucked into that wormhole. Just black. Nothing. “You
okay?” Flyl asked. “No,”
said Phillip. “Okay,”
she said, like that was a good thing. “What
are you even doing here? You weren’t supposed to be in that big room with us,”
said Phillip. “I
wanted to ask you something. But I don’t remember what it was,” said Flyl.
Phillip sighed and rubbed his aching head. “Regardless!
The Keepers must continue their quest. We soothseers will find our own way home,”
said one of the soothseers. “That
will not do. It was our fault that you ended up here so far from home,” said
Omar. “Hey,
what’s this ‘our fault’ business? That was all you, buddy,” said Phillip. “Still,
we have an obligation to help them get home. They did shelter and feed us while
we recuperated from the perilous trials that led us to them,” said Omar. “These
guys will be fine. They’re like, psychic or whatever. They can get back home,
right?” asked Phillip. “We
have never been more lost. The air is thick with death and static,” said one of
the soothseers. “Death
and static,” the others chanted. “The
Tower isn’t going anywhere. Besides, now that we’ve found this hub node we can
navigate our way back to the Tower easier than ever,” said Omar. “I just
want to go home,” Phillip said. He felt tears coming on. He hadn’t cried in
days and he wanted to keep that tally going. But then all at once he realized
that the Broneen stranded with them wanted the very same thing. He sighed. “But
I guess they were nice to us. Okay, let’s get them back to their city.” After
they had collected themselves and Phillip felt good enough to walk, they
followed Omar and the chief soothseer down a series of hallways and makeshift
tunnels. It was very dark. Phillip felt like they were even deeper underground
than they were before and that was already pretty deep. The air stank. It was
damp and stuff that Phillip hoped was water dripped down from the ceiling every
few paces. He looked down at Flyl, following close to him. “You
doing okay?” Phillip asked. “Me?”
Flyl asked. “Yeah.
I’m... you’re the one I’m talking to right now, so yes. You,” said Phillip. “Oh.
I’m okay. This is fun!” Flyl said. “I’m
glad you think so,” said Phillip. “Are we
going home?” asked Flyl. “We’re
trying to. Omar knows his maps so we should get there okay,” said Phillip. “It’s
not the maps I’m worried about, it’s the environmental hazards,” said Omar. “Trying
to make a kid feel better here,” said Phillip, exasperated. “Oh.
Nevermind,” said Omar. They
were silent again for what seemed like a long time. Phillip was out of breath
and his feet hurt, so it had probably only been twenty minutes. “Who’s
Kay-T?” Flyl asked suddenly. “What?” “Kay-T.
You say that sometimes when you sleep. I don’t what it is, but I think it’s a
being because of how you talked,” said Flyl. “Katie.
That’s my twin sister,” said Phillip. “Twin?”
Flyl asked. “We
were born at the same time, but we’re not identical. We’re not even that much
alike,” said Phillip. “Oh. I
have twenty twins!” said Flyl. “You
what?” Phillip asked. “I was
born with twenty of my bro-bros and sissies,” said Flyl. “At the
same time? Geez! I hope you guys hatch or something cuz dang that’s rough,”
said Phillip. “Where
is Katie?” asked Flyl. “I
don’t know. She’s probably still at summer camp, but she could be home by now,”
said Phillip. “What’s
a summer camp?” asked Flyl. “It’s a
place where kids go to learn about nature and how to survive in it,” said
Phillip. “Who’s
nature?” asked Flyl. “Ho
boy. It’s not a person, it’s everything around us. You know, wild stuff,” said
Phillip. “Okay,”
said Flyl, though she clearly didn’t know what he meant. After
another series of tunnels, the area around them opened up a bit. It wasn’t
quite the Deep Roads, but it was much wider and the ceiling further away. It
gave the impression that they were in some kind of underground canyon. Omar
stopped, his face twisted into a look of frustration. “What’s
wrong?” asked Phillip. “We’re
outside the map again. This may lead us to a section of the Deep Roads, it may
lead us to a sheer impassable cliff, or it could just be a dead end about a
day’s walk in that direction. There’s no way to know,” said Omar. “Perhaps
our sight can assist you,” said one of the soothseers. “But
you appear to be blind. Oh, figure of speech?” asked Omar. “You’re
just not good with words, are you?” asked Phillip. “I’m
good enough,” said Omar. “Did
you fail language in school?” asked Phillip. “I
passed with golden statues, thank you!” said Omar. “Let us
peer into the darkness. Stir up the motes of vision left by the Great Hole in
Space,” said the soothseer. “Hello!”
Flyl shouted. Her voice echoed back. “There’s someone over there! Let’s go say hi,”
Flyl squealed, running ahead at full speed. “Oh for
the love of…” Phillip muttered. “Wait!
Do not run ahead!” Omar yelled. They
chased the little Broneen but she was quicker than she looked. When it looked
like they had lost her, a piercing shriek filled their ears. It was the most
terrible sound Phillip had ever heard and the second most terrible for Omar.
They ran ahead, stopping in their tracks at a frightening sight. Something held
Flyl in its hand. Something covered in fur… no, covered in furs. A person! A
girl? “What
is this disgusting thing that has attacked my leg with its mouth?” she asked,
as she choked the life out of Flyl. “Let
her go!” Phillip demanded. The girl looked down at the boys. Something like
surprise on her face. “Boys?
More boys? Here?” she said. “That’s
our friend. Drop her,” said Phillip. “Your
friend you say. Have you also defected to the Groneen ranks?” she asked. Flyl
squirmed as the girl’s hand squeezed tighter. “She’s
not a Groneen she’s totally different so drop her you… whatever you are!”
Phillip shouted. “Silence!
Do not deign to command me. You stand in the presence of royalty. Bow your head
to the ground before I remove it from your shoulders,” she said. “Royalty?”
Phillip said. “Stop
talking, you’re messing with the algorithm,” said Omar, messing with his
translation module. “But I…
already know what she’s saying,” said Phillip, confused. His head felt funny, a
realization fighting to break through. “That’s
impossible. I would also understand her if she spoke the same language as you
and her’s is radically different,” said Omar. “Gibberish
and nonsense from the dark one there, but you I can understand. What magic is
this?” the girl asked. “We’ll
answer any questions you like but please stop before you kill my friend,” said
Phillip. “Hmm. I
haven’t heard begging in a while. Beg some more and maybe your ‘friend’ will be
freed,” said the girl. “No!
I’m tired of this bullcrap! Leave Flyl alone!” Phillip said, charging ahead,
then stopping very quickly when the girl raised the spear he hadn’t noticed
until now. “As a friend of mine likes to say, you have messed with the wrong princess.” © 2021 StarNinjaAuthor's Note
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