CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
LET’S PARTY HARD, LADS
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Sam and Scott had a pretty nice apartment. Well, at least, it certainly met up with Dante’s expectations of what a nice home ought to look like although he wasn’t sure he was exactly the perfect person to measure something like that considering he’d be living in and out of tunnels and underground safehouses on his world, and was living out of a decrepit observatory in this world.
He and the others were met with thumping music as they arrived. He’d actually managed to get the entire gang to come with for the party. Daedalus had been the hardest to convince but he’d managed to pull it off.
Dang, who Dante had thought would be hard to convince given his recent oddness, had actually been pretty pleased to tag along, stating that he needed a distraction and quite a lot to drink.
Now there they were, all five of them, surrounded by teenagers who all looked to be familiar with each other.
The living room was rather spacious and had enough couches and lounge chairs that everyone had a place to sit. Scott and Sam had been careful to not go over capacity with the people they’d invited.
There were a group of dudes playing a football game on the TV. Everyone else was sat, mostly in groups of two, with red beer cups in their hands, and were either catching up with each other, flirting, or just full on making out with no regard for anyone who could see them.
Sam and Scott were in the kitchen. When Dante and the others walked in, the twins looked a little surprised. Dante thought at first that they might have been surprised he’d come with so many people but then their mouths dropped open and their eyes slacked so he knew it had to be something else.
He tilted his head and put his hands out to the sides in a questioning stance. “What’s wrong?”
“Dude,” Sam simply said.
“You guys are triplets?” Scott queried, gesturing to Dante, Daedalus and Dang. “Because damn, you look like you could be clones of each other.”
“Oh,” Dante laughed awkwardly.
“Not triplets,” Dang answered. “But family, yes. It’s err, it’s a little hard to explain. Dante says you guys are twins, now that can’t be true.”
“I know, I know,” Sam laughed. “He got mom’s genes, I got dad’s. Well, part of dad’s, if I’m being honest. I got the good parts. Missed out on the potbelly.”
They all laughed.
“Going to introduce us?” Scott asked, looking at Dante.
“Oh, sure,” Dante nodded and cleared his throat. He introduced the others, starting with Daniel and Megan and ending with Daedalus. Once handshakes had gone around, Scott poured them all drinks.
“Don’t even try to say you’re not having anything to drink,” Sam said sharply, just as Dante had been about to do just that. “If you’re coming to a Cletus party then you’ve gotta Cletus party. And that includes getting drunk! So, drink up or bounce, buddy.”
Dante sighed. “Well, I suppose I’ll drink up then.”
He raised the cup to his lips and downed it in a single gulp. He placed it down on the counter and smirked at Sam and Scott, both of whom looked surprised.
“Please don’t tell me that’s the strongest thing you’ve got in here,” Dante grinned.
The twins cheered. “That’s more like it!” Sam said excitedly. “If you want stronger, don’t worry, I got you!”
“There’s a ping-pong table out back, by the way,” Scott said. “You guys up for a friendly game of beer pong?”
“Hell yeah!” Daniel roared. And then after a moment, he cleared his throat. “Actually, I’ve never quite played beer pong before. Are there any rules?”
“Rules?” Sam repeated, suddenly sounding rather serious and looking a little offended. “At a Cletus party? Are you being serious right now?”
Daniel’s eyes went wide and, in a bid to explain himself, he produced stuttering sounds. Scott and Sam exchanged looks, and then they burst into laughter.
“Relax, I’m just having fun,” Sam grinned mischievously.
Dang proved himself the king of beer pong after a game that went on almost an hour and essentially attracted the entire party. This made him the center of attraction for quite a number of people, mostly girls, although he seemed rather oblivious to their flirtatious advances and Dante had taken it upon himself to serve as his doppelganger’s wingman.
He went toward Dang and threw an arm across his shoulder, leaning in so he could speak without being heard, although the roaring and cheering and thumping music already meant it would be pretty hard for anyone to eavesdrop on them either way. “Dude,” he cleared his throat. “Seven o’clock, brunette with bangs, blue eyes, blue top. She’s into you. Go talk to her.”
“Huh?” Dang had a half-opened mouth and a semi-shocked look on his face as he glanced in the direction of the girl Dante had pointed out. His gaze lingered on her for a moment and she picked up on this. A warm smile spread across her face and she waved at Dang. Dang blushed, idiotically, and waved at her. “Are you serious?” he asked. “How’d you know she’s into me?”
“It’s obvious, buddy,” Dante grinned. “I’ve got an eye for that sort of thing. Why don’t you go talk to her and I’ll try to keep your winning streak here going?”
Dang snorted. “You’re incapable of keeping the streak going. I’m built different.”
“I think you appear to have forgotten that we’re doppelgangers,” Dante reminded him. “Anything you can do; I’ve got just as fair a chance of recreating. Besides, the entire point of this game is landing the ping pong balls in the beer cups, right?”
“Pretty much,” Dang nodded. “But you see, the thing is, it requires the sort of precision that takes years of training and hon–,”
Dante picked up a ping pong ball and tossed it. He didn’t miss. He grinned at Dang who knew there was no further argument he could put up.
“Go talk to the chick who’s into you before our little Wombat works up enough courage to go talk to her,” Dante grinned, nodding in Daniel’s direction. Daniel was shooting awkward glances at the same girl and constantly patting his hair down and tugging at the edges of his shirt.
“Alright, alright,” Dang nodded. He patted Dante on the shoulder. “Good man. I’ll see you later.”
Dang left then and almost as soon as he’d gone, Daniel came toward Dante, a grin on his face. “So, it worked?” he asked. “He’s going to talk to her?”
“Yep,” Dante smiled, watching as Dang approached the girl. He watched them exchange introductions and a handshake, and then head inside. He looked at Daniel and the two of them exchanged fist bumps. “That oughta be enough to help him get his mind off whatever’s been bothering him since the Arkanis fight.”
“Hopefully,” Daniel sighed. “Anyways, now that that’s out of the way, I now have to head out on my own and find a girl to talk to. Can’t believe I actually agreed to be a part of a plan that required me to look like an idiot.”
“I thought that came naturally to you?” Dante joked.
“Haha, funny,” Daniel rolled his eyes. He tossed a ping pong ball. He didn’t miss. “Anyways, gotta go.”
“Aren’t you and Megan a thing?” Dante queried, a genuinely curious expression on his face. He glanced around then. “Where are they, by the way?”
“W-w-w-wait, hang on,” Daniel’s eyes went wide as he stuttered. “Why would you think Megan and I are a thing? What ever gave you that impression?”
“I mean, you guys are a superhero duo and you’re together all the time,” Dante stated with an open-handed gesture. “It’s not weird to suspect that you might be a romantic couple.”
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“They’re a colleague and an incredibly close friend,” Daniel said, almost defensively. “We’ve known each other a really long time and we’re kind of like siblings, I suppose you could say. But we’re not a couple.”
“Alright, I believe you,” Dante grinned mischievously.
Daniel punched him in the shoulder, playfully. “I’m serious,” he said sternly, his eyes sparking orange for a split second. “Don’t go around having or spreading funny ideas like that. Megan and I are not a thing. She’s Tiger and I’m Wombat and we kick ass together but that’s as far as it goes. Nothing more, nothing less. Do you understand?”
“Sure, I already said I believe you,” Dante shrugged. “My mistake, right?”
“I hate you,” Daniel groaned. “But really though,” his expression turned curious then and he cast a glance around. “Where could she have disappeared off to?”
“Dunno.”
“Alright,” Daniel nodded. “Well, I gotta go. Talk later, man.”
“You going to look for Megan or to flirt with one of the girls here?” Dante asked as Daniel started to walk away, a playful grin on his face.
Daniel shook his head, ignoring Dante as he walked away.
Dante played at the pong table a few minutes more and only left when he started getting swarmed by other people, most of whom were girls. During his escape, someone tried to get him to join them in the pool but he shook his head and stated that he was trying to find the toilet. Once he’d gotten directions to the toilet, he pulled off his escape, heading back inside.
He found Daedalus with the DJ, appearing rather curious about the sound mixer. Dante went to join his doppelganger.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“Your buddy here’s got an interest in grooving and vibing!” the DJ roared, before rewinding the song that was thumping at the moment and then switching to another up-tempo beat. Daedalus nodded as though impressed and the DJ gestured for him to take over.
“Come on, let me show you the ropes,” the DJ said.
Dante watched with a grin on his face as Daedalus got behind the mixer and attempted to keep the vibe going. A complete amateur, it was no surprise when he made a few mistakes that led to the song stopping a few times, although no one seemed to get mad about that.
About ten minutes later, he’d started to get the hang of it. Another twenty minutes, and the music was back to the sweet, high tempo spot it’d been before and it was the DJ’s turn to look on in envy.
“Well, damn, he’s a natural,” the DJ said to Dante, looking bewildered. “I’ve never seen anyone learn that quickly.”
“Neither have I,” Dante agreed.
He left Daedalus by the mixer and waltzed through the party. He spotted Scott, who was sitting on a kitchen counter, beer cup in one hand, ogle eyes trained on a blond girl standing in front of him. Dante wondered which of the girls it was - Jessica or Monica.
He slipped by the kitchen without getting noticed by Scott, and managed to evade Sam in the living room too. He made his way, stealthily to the exit, and as soon as he stepped outside, he was hit by a draft of soothing, cool air.
He inhaled deeply, letting the fresh air fill his lungs thoroughly. He stared up at the star-filled night sky and felt an odd sensation of longing, of nostalgia.
He shut the door to the apartment behind him and in doing so, managed to mute a significant amount of the music blasting out. With it quieter now, he felt a tad more peaceful. He slipped his hands into his pockets and made his way across the street to a park bench on the other side. He sat down and made himself comfortable, staring straight up at the night sky.
He studied the stars, trying to identify shapes and patterns in them. Constellations. He wondered if this world had the same constellations as his, although he supposed that it was unlikely.
Back on his Earth, he and Anthea had liked to slip away whenever they weren’t in a tense, high-stakes moment. Those moments that they spent together, unbothered by their crusade and the war they were fighting were incredibly rare which he supposed made them all the more precious.
He thought back to one of those nights when they’d slipped away, off to do the same thing he was doing now.
To watch the stars.
***
“Don’t you think this is a bit reckless?” he asked while Anthea steered him along, holding onto his hand as she went, a playful smile on her face, the surreal glow of the moonlight making her appear almost angelic, celestial. At times, he truly did believe that she truly was not of this world.
“We’re rebels, Dang,” she replied, laughing lightly. “Everything we do is reckless. What’s one more thing to add to the list?”
“But still,” he said, glancing around warily. “Some of the others might wake up and realize we’re gone. They could think something’s wrong.”
“After the day we just had, no one’s waking up until noon, Dang,” she snorted. “Come on, we’re almost there.”
“Where exactly are we going?” he asked, truly curious. So far, all he’d seen were toppled buildings, piles of rubble, and abandoned vehicles that had been reduced to essentially nothing with the passage of time. The earth at their feet was scorched, nothing but dust and sand and patches of concrete. Although, once a while, they came across a patch of grass, although it was almost always wilted, on the brink of death.
“You’ll see,” Anthea answered, looking back at him and winking. “We’re almost there now. Just a little further.”
“An, there’s nothing out here,” he said. “Just the world we lost.”
“And a world we could have back,” she countered. “Look, just trust me, will you? Quit nagging and just come see.”
“Alright, alright,” he chuckled. “No more nagging from me tonight, ma’am.”
They went on for another twenty minutes and he’d been on the brink of asking just how much farther they were when Anthea came to a halt. He stopped right behind her. He peered around. There were no buildings or anything of the sort around, just empty barren field, albeit with patches of grass here and there.
He gulped. “Anthea, while I’m sure you know that I trust you and all of that, I have to ask–did you bring me out here to kill me? Because I can think of a couple better places where I’d rather die.”
“Shut up,” Anthea laughed. “I’m not killing you. In fact, you could say I’m doing the opposite. I want to show you something, I suppose you could call it hope. For us, and for everyone else. It’s something you’ll remember, a reason for us to keep fighting, especially after everything that’s been taken from us recently.”
“Okay,” he nodded. “Show me.”
“Come on,” she slipped her hand into his once more, squeezed firmly, and forged ahead. She went slowly this time and they only walked forward for about another two minutes before she came to another stop.
She slipped a hand into her pocket and pulled out a device akin to a remote, with an antenna protruding from the top of it. The remote had only two buttons on it–a blue button, and a green button.
She aimed the remote straight at the air in front of them, then looked at him. She smiled. “Here goes.”
He drew a deep breath in anticipation.
She hit the green button on the remote.
The air in front of them shimmered and seemed to glitch. He felt his heart still, his breath hung in his throat. The shimmering continued for a moment and then, in a way that shouldn’t have been possible, the world started to change.
Well, not the world. Just their immediate vicinity.
The shrubs appeared first, and then the flowers. Then he saw the tree, a single tree, right at the center of the field that materialized. Then the butterflies, or at least, he assumed they were butterflies, although he wasn’t certain butterflies were supposed to glow like this – purple, pink and blue all at once.
In less than a minute, the field had materialized in its entirety. It wasn’t a very large field. It was about the size of a room, really.
But it was also so much more.
It was incredible. And it was impossible.
“H-h-how,” he stammered. “Is this–,”
“Real?” Anthea looked at him and smiled. She nodded. “Yes, it is. I came across it a few months ago, while I was scavenging. I assume it used to be a part of a much larger field or something, but this was all that was left of it…the bits that persevered.”
“And you hid it this whole time?”
“I had to tend to it,” she explained. “And I decided to cloak it, just so it wouldn’t be destroyed like everything else. In hindsight, it feels a little selfish to have kept something like this just for myself, but I thought it the right thing to do. Every now and then, I come here and I stay in the garden. I watched the grass grow, the shrubs, all of it. And it inspired me. If this little bit of nature could survive, if it could regrow…then so can the rest of the world. We can take back what was once ours.”
“Whoa, An,” he murmured, turning around so he could behold the field in all of its glory. “This is incredible.”
“I brought you here so you could share in that hope of mine, the hope that everything will work out and that our world will heal,” she said softly. “And also,” she glanced upward and pointed at the star-filled sky, “So I could show you the stars.”
“The stars?” he blushed. “That’s romantic.”
“I know,” she winked at him. “Come on,” she said, gesturing to a neat patch of grass. “Lay with me, would you?”
And so it was that they laid on the ground. His hands went beneath his head and her head on his chest. She pointed upward, at the stars, and traced a symbol connecting them.
“Arion,” she murmured.
“That’s a constellation, right?” he asked.
“Yes,” she answered softly. “There’s Zeddicus,” she pointed out another. “And then there’s Dante,” she said. “That one looks like a face. Reminds me of you.”
“Dante, huh?” he smiled. “You know I’ve never once thought about constellations and zodiacs and all of that? Always thought it weird.”
“It’s weird,” she agreed. “But with the right person, it’s beautiful.” She pointed out another symbol, this one’s shaped more like a bird. “That one’s Anthea.”
“Anthea,” he murmured. He turned so he could face her. He nodded. “You’re right. It’s beautiful. You’re beautiful.”
She looked at him, straight into his eyes. Her cheeks flushed red. “The world’s beautiful,” she whispered. “That’s why it’s home. Would you promise me something, Dang?”
“Sure,” he nodded. “What’s that?”
“I want you to promise me, that regardless of what happens at the end of all of this, regardless of how this war ends, that you’ll never forget what the mission is…that you’ll never forget where home is. Promise me that when you’ve given it everything you have, that you’ll come right back home.”
“Sounds like you’re asking me to promise multiple things there, An,” he joked.
“I’m serious.”
The two of them went quiet for a moment.
A few seconds passed.
He nodded.
“I promise.”
***
Megan sat next to him on the bench, drawing his attention away from the stars. He looked at her and smiled.
“I think Daniel’s looking for you,” he said.
“Eh, I saw him,” they sighed. “He looked like he was having fun with someone else, didn’t want to bother him.”
“What’s the deal with you two?” Dante asked.
Megan frowned at him. “I don’t understand the question.”
He chuckled. “Right, of course. Never mind.”
“What are you doing out here anyways?” they asked. “What are you looking at?”
He nodded upward, at the night sky. He pointed at the stars and in them, he traced a shape. The shape of a bird.
“What’s that?” Megan asked.
He smiled. “Anthea.”