Right, okay, so the town I had grown up in only existed because of something I had done hundreds of years earlier. All these people I had met, the ones Maestro’s priest lackey had been using as his puppets, were the original founders of Laramie Falls. Because his name was Laramie. That was totally understandable, right? Not utterly absurd at all.
Yeah, maybe it was a little absurd. Maybe I was becoming just a little inwardly hysterical as I walked into the cabin and let the full impact of all that wash over me. I wasn’t even looking around this place at all. I just stood in the middle of the room and stared at the floor with my hands against my forehead. A slight whine, possibly high-pitched whine might have escaped me.
Leaving Cerberus outside to lounge by the side of the cabin, Percy followed me in. Her voice was cautious. “Flick? Are you well?”
Was I well? Boy was that a hard question to answer. Physically, I felt pretty okay, especially considering what I had been through. But mentally, psychologically? It had been a thoroughly draining day. The whole new bit about this place being the origin of my hometown was just the cherry on top. It made me question a lot of things, including how different things had been in the timeline where this didn’t happen. Supposedly there was a version of events where we didn’t go to that town. After all, either future-me or the future version of one of my friends had been the one to direct Ehn to that place so we could find Maestro’s spell and deal with it.
But if there was a time when we didn’t end up there, then had I grown up in a different town in that reality? What else in my life had been different? But I had to have grown up there for my parents’ entire history to work, didn’t I? Or was the town just named something else? I had to have grown up there, or I couldn’t have pictured it to take us back to this spot when Ehn showed me my teleportation power. The only way I could have pictured this spot was if I had grown up here. So I had always grown up here, but when I brought those people here and they created this town, it became Laramie Falls. So again, what was the name of my hometown before I did something here in the past to change it? And how different was the town that I knew now from the version that had existed before?
Needless to say, I wasn’t going to get any answers about that anytime soon, if ever. And honestly, I wasn’t even sure I wanted to. Somewhere in the course of all this I had changed the present to the version I actually knew. It all had to do with time travel loops and all that, and quite frankly, I was tired of thinking about it.
So, I pushed it out of my mind and exhaled before turning to face Percy with a somewhat weak smile. “It’s been one of those days. But, to be honest, it could’ve been a lot worse. I could have failed and allowed the timeline to be completely changed into an apocalyptic hellscape. That would’ve been fun.”
Persephone shook her head, sounding solemn. “That does not sound fun at all, Flick. Are you sure you haven’t been affected by Ehn’s egotistical world domination fantasies?”
I started to protest that I was being sarcastic, only to see the corner of her mouth twitch. Then I snorted. “Very funny.”
Grinning brightly, she informed me, “You looked like you needed to smile. I’m glad that Cerberus and I can be here to help with that as well. Smiling is important, you know. Even when you have to do all this other important stuff. You have to have fun too. Don’t let all the pressure he keeps putting on you make you forget that, okay? Fun is good medicine.”
I promised that I would keep that in mind, before yawning as a deep wave of tiredness washed over me. Yeah, it really had been a long day, and it was time to be done with it. Almost, anyway. I had just enough energy to use the tub in the bathroom. Yeah, even back in these days, a place like this still had running water. Well, magically running anyway. Obviously there were no pipes set up. The faucets were enchanted to carry water from the nearest usable source and heat it up. It made me very glad that we had run into a town full of Alters with magic rather than a full Bystander place with only sixteen hundred-level technology. After everything that happened, I wasn’t prepared to deal with a cold bath, and I was pretty sure I didn’t have enough energy left in me to fix that on my own.
But, fortunately, that wasn’t an issue. I had my bath, finally felt clean again after all that, and changed into some fresh night clothes pulled from a deep storage space in one of my pockets before laying down on one of the two beds in the main room. Percy was already sitting on the other one, doing something with cards. I waved to her, then set Jaq and Gus on the bed in front of me and looked at them. “Thanks,” I managed in a soft voice while reaching out with some small metal beads kept in my hand. They crept forward, nestled my fingers, and then started eating.
“I know just saying thanks isn’t enough. Not for what you guys did. But I don’t have enough words or treats or anything to match that. You didn’t just save my life. You saved this entire timeline. You saved everything. All the people the Fomorians won’t kill, that’s because of you, not me. You guys are the real heroes. You’re incredible. This whole world, everyone who gets born from this point onward, all the people who live, they get to do that because you are the bravest little Cyberforms in the whole universe. I will never, ever be able to thank you enough for what you did.”
After that, I let the little heroes have all the treats they wanted and then laid down with the two of them curled up on the pillow next to my head. I was utterly exhausted beyond all definition. Physically, mentally, everything. I was completely done. It was time to get some actual sleep.
And maybe, once I woke up and we moved on from this place, I wouldn’t have to think about stupid time travel paradoxes and loops anymore.
*******
Thankfully, I did manage to get some real sleep. I was actually zonked out for a solid five hours, which really said a lot about how worn out I was by that point. Seriously, for me, that was practically a coma. But I definitely needed it.
Not only did I get some real sleep, but when I woke up, there was food waiting for me. Percy had laid it out on a table, some bread and meat and eggs. When I looked at her, she gestured. “One of the men from the town brought it. I think they’re trying to thank us.”
My stomach was certainly ready to thank them. I realized in that moment, as it growled, that I hadn’t eaten anything for a while. I’d been too tired earlier to notice, but now I was definitely ready to dig in. So, I did. And soon, my hunger was as sated as my sleep. Which meant I was in pretty good shape. Aside from the fact that I had to immediately tell myself not to start thinking about everything that could go wrong now that I’d had a chance to recharge.
And speaking of things that could go wrong, there was a knock at the door. I could already tell who was there thanks to my item sense. Not because it could tell me anything about what the person on the other side was holding, but because it couldn’t. I couldn’t sense anyone at the door even though it was definitely close enough. In this case, that probably meant only one thing. Raising my voice, I called, “Come in, Wig!”
Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
Ehn opened the door after a moment and stepped inside, raising an eyebrow at me. I met his gaze. “That’s what you told Dune your name was, right? I wasn’t sure if you wanted to keep going by that or just stick with Ehn.”
He gave a soft chuckle. “Over the centuries the name Ehn has grown to both carry a certain weight and elicit certain reactions. I’ve found the name Wig, among a few others, allows me to travel slightly more anonymously. There are many times when it’s best not to allow enemies to know every time and location I’ve been in.”
That had to get complicated, I realized. He time traveled so much and went to so many locations within those times, he had to use a journal to keep track of all of it so he didn’t accidentally show up in the same place during the same time period. I thought my stuff with time loops was complicated, but I was basically just dipping my toe in a pool that he gleefully swam in.
Still, all I could do in that moment was shrug. “Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Even if you weren’t worried about them being able to show up and stop you before you do what you’re supposed to do, you wouldn’t want them to be able to track your movements and figure out what you’re up to. So you use different names across history.”
“Just so,” Ehn confirmed with a small, approving smile. “Now then, I assume you’ve refreshed yourself sufficiently.”
The words came before I really thought about them. “Oh yeah, sure, I’ve had a whole five hours of sleep, so let’s jump right into another desperate fight against a world-ending monster before I get bored.”
Ehn chuckled, picking up a roll from the table before taking a bite. “I thought perhaps we’d shift to something slightly less exciting for the next part. You have plenty of raw power, what you need now is practice, and a lot of it. Of course, you’ve attempted to get the practice you need for some time now. And yet, distractions always seem to find their way to you, don’t they? You’re attempting to fight a civil war, solve a dozen different personal family or friend-related situations, attend normal classes, and practice your necromancy.”
He let that point sit for a moment before continuing. “Right now, right here, I’ve removed all those distractions. At this point, we are far from all those who would demand your attention, both physically and temporally. This brand new town exists far from any others in the area. The people who live here know of your power and are incredibly grateful to you for it, so they will not cause you any problems. Right here, right now, you will be as safe as possible from interruptions.”
He meant for us to stay here for an extended time? Oh, well when he put it like that, I supposed that made sense. “And I guess I have Doctor Manakel to teach me,” I realized after taking a gulp of water from a nearby cup.
“Precisely,” he agreed. “You have not lacked for power, potential, or teachers. What you lacked was the time and privacy necessary to take advantage of those. Here you will have both. Between your ghost teacher and the Revenant there, you have plenty of things to learn. And in time, we will shift your lessons to include other things. Many of which I can teach you myself. But for now, it’s best that we start with your Necromancy.”
Well, he’d definitely thought all this out. Not that that was a surprise, of course. But at least he had a point. This would be a very good opportunity for me to focus on learning. I didn’t have to be distracted by everything else that was going on. If there was any single person on this entire planet who could absolutely deal with any threat that might present itself around here, it was him. He didn’t need my help for that. And yeah, we were far away from basically any other possible distractions. I didn’t even have to worry that focusing on my lessons would take away from effort I could put toward helping the war, because that wouldn’t even happen for several hundred years. I had essentially all the time and space I needed to focus on my Necromancy lessons. And I didn’t even have to keep those lessons quiet or hide them, because the people here all knew me now. They knew we had saved them, so they weren’t going to object to me practicing right out in the open
I might’ve had issues with the man, but he definitely knew what he was doing when it came to this sort of thing.
“I guess I’ve definitely gone to classes under much worse conditions,” I allowed with a shrug. “So yeah, sure, I’m ready to buckle down and really get into the Necromantic weeds.”
Ehn smiled. “Excellent. I shall give you your privacy for the time being. I am aware that my presence can be unsettling more than reassuring, like a hovering disciplinarian. I will not be far, so, should you need me, you need only shout.” He paused then, considering for a moment before reaching into his pocket to withdraw a small red gem. “And this is for when you are ready for a little more power.”
Blinking as he put it in my hand, I asked, “What is it?” The thing was warm to the touch, and I felt a tiny jolt when it touched my skin.
The man casually explained that it was a charged and stored version of his dragon boost. Dragons, and Dragon-Heretics like Arthur and him (maybe just them considering I didn’t think there were any others) were capable of providing a small yet permanent boost to anyone they wanted. The boost might’ve been fairly small, but it added up over time. They could give a boost to the same person over and over again in order to make them much stronger and faster permanently. It just took repeated applications.
All of that I had known about, and Sun Wukong had even mentioned that I could be boosted during this whole thing. But what I hadn’t known was that the man could stick it in a rock like this. According to Ehn, if I cupped the gem between both of my hands and held it for a minute like that, it would be absorbed into my body and I would take the boost. He would provide more such gems whenever I needed them, once every few days as soon as I needed another.
Of course, the idea of allowing the man to literally empower me with his own boost made me more than a little anxious. What if that also meant he could control me? Yeah, I was already letting him help me get stronger so I could help stop the Fomorians and all that. But still, this just felt a little different. If accepting this boost meant he had some sort of special influence over me, then I didn’t want it. No way was I going to let him turn me into one of his minions, no matter how tempting he made it seem with the idea that I could become strong enough to really help my friends and family.
After all, there was no point in having the power to help the people I cared about if he was capable of taking control of me to do his bidding.
Besides that, I wasn’t sure how this boost of his would interact with other things. What if it had some sort of negative interaction with the Tartarus-provided powers. Like, for example, the Necromancy I took from Manakel? Sure, maybe I was just being completely paranoid about it and he already thought about that, but I wasn’t quite ready to completely dismiss the possibility without doing some research.
On the plus side, at least he was making it my choice, and was even simply leaving the stone for me to use whenever I want it. He made it clear that it wouldn’t work for anyone else, and that if I really needed to get his attention, holding the stone while I shouted for him would do the trick.
In the end, he promised once more that he would return if I called for him, before accepting the note I had written explaining everything I could to my parents and the others, along with a few details that would hopefully let them know it was really from me. Promising to have it delivered properly and that he’d come back and check in now and then, he left. Which meant that, for the time being, I was on my own here. Or rather, we were on our own. I corrected myself while looking over at Percy, who had sat in the corner watching all that. Plus there was Cerberus outside. Not to mention all my ghosts, and the town– Ehn wasn’t here, that was the point.
“Well, I guess we’re here for awhile.” Saying that, I stood up from the table. After a brief consideration, I put his boost-stone in one of my storage-space pockets. I wasn’t going to deal with that right now. “Come on, I need some fresh air for a minute. And I’d like to make sure the people out there know we’re sticking around. I wouldn’t exactly put it past Ehn to forget to ask our hosts for permission to impose on them even longer.”
Percy joined me as we left the house and emerged into bright sunlight. Everyone was busy out here, running around doing everything that was needed to establish this place as their new home. Which, in this case, involved a lot of exploring. After all, the infrastructure of the town was already set up. They just needed to know about the area they were in. Still, it was obviously a lot of work.
As it turned out, they did know we were staying, and made it clear that we were welcome for as long as we wanted to be there.
“Right,” I murmured while standing in the middle of town with all those people bustling around us. “I hope you’re ready to be a full-time teacher, Doctor Manakel.
“Because it’s time to get busy.”