I woke up. Bell was gone. So was the flash drive. I have worked in a security conscious environment all of my working career. I had no choice. I summoned Jack.

Jack didn’t answer but the summons felt like I had started to make contact. One of the gifts the Death have is to be able to go to a person if he is in Real. I chose to be in the best hidden spot near Jack, in case there was an issue. I decided to be in human form to avoid disease issues.

#

I appeared in an alley beside a large green dumpster with a smell that made it hard to breath and a swarm of flies. There was sticky goo on the ground.

Every muscle tensed in pain, I didn’t even manage a good scream as I fell to the ground. As I left my body I saw three men in leather jackets. One of them held a long taser.

Another gestured with a long, hand gun. “You get the body, I’ll deal with the Fairy.”

As memories flashed before me I felt the transition from a spirit to a Fairy and then I felt and heard the shot. Steel pellets passed through me and I saw the beautiful blaze as my form turned to sparks and gleaming light.

#

looking down at a gathering of lights that brought to mind the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, I listened to the shouting cries like street merchants selling wares.

“We have an A class experience available in three years. Only A class entities need apply.”

“We need another five for young traumatic deaths here. Earn a quick reduction of karma here with little chance of building any new karma.”

“This way for tolerance training. We have lots of openings for experiencing the results of racism right this way.”

I watched bright lights streamed towards the voice and wondered what the attraction was.

A voice beside me said, “Looks like the world populace is past it’s peak for a bit. Opportunities are going to get harder to find soon. Best listen in and find a good one quick.”

Another voice said, “Most of the good life opportunities are multi-generational family relations. Sadly, I regressed and my family moved on without me. They would let me in, but I would just tear up the family again.”

“Right this way for war trauma after a lovely athletic and youthful experience.”

“This way for forsaken love. Prime angst here.”

I considered the chaos below me and drifted higher. I felt like I had been robbed of life, life after life and the stages between. I hadn’t even gotten a good glimpse of my life as it flashed back. Apart from seeing how my neurosis had started, I had no real insight on anything. I wasn’t ready to pass on.

I examined myself and pulled myself together. I was fluffy at the edges and didn’t see a cure but my core logic was still there so I integrated what I knew and remembered the three men who where there when I died. One of them had been directed to get the body. I went to where that man was.

#

A man with my corpse was putting it on a conveyor belt behind several other corpses. “Yuk, what is this sticky slime? Why couldn’t you have chosen a clean place to show up? My leather jacket is probably ruined.”

He punched my dead body as if it might do something. Then he went over and pushed a button. A furnace turned on. He punched another button. Then he turned like he sensed me and was trying to see me. A grinder thing with a bloody shoot leading to the furnace below turned on.

I moved and stayed behind the back of the mans head as he looked for me. He pushed a third button and the conveyor belt started.

I went to my body while he was looking at the grinder thing as it started in on the first body on the conveyor belt.

My body was still warm but cooling. I transformed it into me as a rat and leapt off the conveyor belt. The floor was cold steel. I let my fear take me to a Fairyland. Risking Death I turned into me as a Daemon. I was fine. I took a deep breath and turned into me as the dead human, but it was like the form was gone. I tried another form and breathed a human breath of relief. I was still alive as a human.

I summoned Bell. “Bell, husband of the Dark Fairy, this is Joshua, back to life and I want that flash drive back.”

Bell said, “You can’t have come back that quick and I’m not through with it. I’m not sure anyone should have this. Not even me. My part of me that is you is still trying to take this apart.”

I went to where the part of me that Bell was talking about was.

#

Beside me in a cell like an infinite beehive only multidimensional so like mirrors at angles with mirrors I was in a kaleidoscope of bee cells where everyone was shouting in a language I didn’t know.

I turned to me and I told me, “Escape before you get more connected.”

As beings in other cells started to notice me I left and returned to the Fairyland with the Gazebo that I had put so many gateways in.

#

I knew what Bell was. Bell was a hive mind that copied minds and added them to his mind. Bell was less alive and more alive than anyone else I knew. A copy of me that was me, maybe a smarter me but without an essential part of me was a part of Bell. While part of Bell, that part of me had been analyzing Bell for years. Since I first saw Bell when I was seventeen and fell asleep in a coffee shop, I have been part of Bell and that part has been examining Bell. Now the copy of me was analyzing the data Bell had stolen from me. I had only processed part of it, but it was still a lot.

I summoned Bell. “Bell, husband of the Dark Fairy, you can’t refuse this order. “Give me the flash drive. I need it to continue developing my art.”

Bell said, “Come get it. I was about to try and get it to you anyway.”

#

My wallet with most of my credit cards and my drivers license was on my form that I could no longer turn into. My cell phone was gone. That or the Death’s had it. They probably looted me for cash, so they were probably going to use my credit too.

I turned into me as a Daemon and prepared all the spells I knew to prepare. Ready for a sudden attack, I went a distance from were the Death who took my body was.

He was sitting in a park holding my cell phone and trying to figure out the password.

Then the park bench got thrown up into the air. Someone had blended in as the grass and was now in a shaggy suit. That someone kicked the bench just as it started to come back down and the Death slammed into a tree.

I knew the body shape under that gilly suit. I knew those moves. Ursula had a very injured Death in a choke hold.

I went closer, just far enough to be out of the immediate reach of Ursula if she decided to attack.

“Ursula, I’m okay.”

I heard the mans neck snap just before Ursula got up to hug me. “Josh, I’m so glad. I have one more Death to deal with and then I will summon you. Stay here. It should be safe for a while. I have agents hidden here.”

Ursula let go of me and disappeared. I got my stuff off the body of the Death. My cell phone had been thrown to the air and it had a crack on the screen. It worked, but I needed a new one. My wallet was in the trash can that had been where the park bench was.

I picked up the bench and put it back into place and as a Daemon, bent part of it back into shape and sat down to examine the small bits of my life that had almost been lost.

A man sat beside me. He was holding a large ancient looking leather bound book. “Your entry disappeared just a while back. This is rather problematic.”

I asked, “What entry?”

He said, “This is the Book of Judgments, Unabridged. Not a lot of copies around and less that can be carried to Real. Don’t touch it. It’s pretty well warded. I suspect the spells that bind this book didn’t have the capacity to sort the changes in your existence so it deleted your entry. Don’t worry. As you interact with people it will probably start a new entry. But sadly all record of your karma is missing now.”

I asked, “Does that mean, I have a clean start without sin?”

He shook his head. “No, this book is a guide we use to assist others to obtain the experiences they need to advance. It ends up more like a dating guide only for torment, but that is how karma works. Your karma, or voids that you need to fill with lessons is still in you calling for destiny to help you grow, but now none of the appropriate agencies have any guidelines to help you.”

I asked, “Will the Deaths still be coming after me?”

He said, “Well, we really can’t afford any more losses among them and Duchess Bear-Bear has eliminated the worst faction of them, so we have a set of plans to get some reforms in place. Funny how all of that works. They need to recruit new members but they need access to their oath stone to manage the initiation. That’s what drew my interest to you and that’s why I noticed your entry in the Book of Judgments disappear. It seems that the only one who can gain access to the Oath Stone of the North American Deaths, is you.

“I guess I should get back to work. I just wanted to meet the person who managed to get their entry in the Book of Judgments to disappear. I have heard reports of it, but we never managed to reduce it down to an individual before. It is interesting since, as I recall you were supposed to have died just a short time ago.”

I tried to read the book he was holding. “Not much point in it being warded, I can’t read the writing.”

He closed the book. “It tends to obscure itself. Is that a dead Death over there?”

I looked over at the body. “You mean that biker guy? He was there when I sat down at the bench. Are you certain he is dead?”

The man angled himself so I couldn’t read the book and opened it. “Yes, he is dead. Killed by Duchess Bear-Bear. It says she is married to a Mr. Bear who the Death just helped kill, turn into a Fairy and then dust. So there are still records of you in the Book of Judgments, just not your own record. That and you are officially dead and probably gone unless you manage to have your Fairy return.”

He looked me up and down. “It seems you have managed to escape being mortal and you can come back a lot faster than any I have heard of before. Usually it takes years and you are still a Fairy afterwards. You are of course not on any lists but that makes you even more legendary.”

I asked, “What is your association with the Deaths?”

He looked at the death lying next to the tree. “I have no direct association with them and I suspect they would hasten my departure if they saw me in Real.

‘I am what you might call a court clerk. I am called on by some to read entries from this book. I also keep a few other books up to date and I am called on to give my opinion on things. Your record, as I recall, said you played a mean hand of poker and you could be counted on to make your best effort to keep a confidence.

“I am likely to be asked to read your record shortly and when they find out your record is blank, they will be asking what I know and remember. So I figured I would be wise to get a few impressions before they call on me. So far I have only confirmed that you are aware that the Deaths have been after you, and you can’t read from the Book of Judgments. Is there anything you can tell me, so I can at least appear to have gathered some information?”

I said, “Well, unless it is all just random pulses that go through the mind of a person dying, reincarnation is a real thing and kind of sketchy if you ask me. The replay of your life goes by way to fast to gather much meaning from and if you are distracted you might miss even that. Oh, and there won’t be as many opportunities shortly so if you want a good incarnation you should hurry up or the lines are going to be really long and you might get rejected anyway. If you need to learn about oppression based on race though, there are a lot of opportunities open.”

He nodded. “I have often wondered if the ills in this world are all based on the need for karma in the next world. What sort of soul do you think goes in for experiencing racial oppression?”

I thought about it and the little bit I saw. “This puts me in a bad light, but I honestly think some of the best souls are seeking the worst experiences. I think the ones that are really trying to advance go for the rough ones so if your looking for the real saints, look at those with a raw deal from the start.”

#

I was finally getting to explore my castle. A room near Samuel, Dantin, and Dalan’s rooms had been saved for me, but they had given up hope and let someone else move into it. All the best rooms had been taken. There were a lot of nice rooms, but the private baths, connected suites and even the honeymoon suite had been taken. It was a huge and beautiful castle, and apart from seeing the balconies to the private suites, the doors were locked and I couldn’t view half of it. The castle was full of Daemons and wizards I had never met.

I was in human form as I walked down the hallway that went to what I was probably the honeymoon suite. I saw a pair of Daemons walk out wearing leather bikers suits. As they passed me one asked, “Looks like a new wizard, I thought they weren’t letting anyone new join?”

The other said, “We should complain or at least call for a vote on his staying.”

I looked back and one smirked. Then he looked up. “I should have never accepted the new division. Pennsylvania is going to wear me out.” He disappeared.

I said, “I thought folk were not allowed to come and go as they please due to the plague.”

The man said, “Take a good look newb, I’m a Death, not the sort you want to start trying to one up. Don’t worry, you won’t be here long.”

I said, “Well you just made it easy on me. I was looking for a room, so I think yours will do.”

He said, “Rude and cocky. Your lucky we have rules against fights without challenges here.”

Another man I didn’t recognize came down the hall. He nodded to the Death. “Davenport, where is Cartwright?”

Davenport said, “He got called away. See the guy staring at us? Marshal, I would count it as a personal favor if you dropped a black ball when his vote comes up.”

Marshal looked at me and smiled. “He is hardly holding up our standards of dress is he.”

I looked at the fellow in the biker jacket. “I personally have nothing against a biker jacket, but it doesn’t really qualify as properly dressed and the coming and going is improper.

“World, I would take it as a personal favor if you banished Davenport, Cartwright and Marshal. Please don’t let them back without my express approval.”

The two men disappeared.

I went to the balcony over the main hall and looked at the group below. I recognized half of them from the Fallen Sands. Among them were several Deaths. Since this was being used as a refuge to hide from my beloved wife, Ursula, I understood why they might want to stay here. But I didn’t see any reason or profit from it, especially since the Deaths had been trying to kill me.

I walked down a stairway to the floor below. Several people noticed me. I don’t think any of them recognized me in my human form. At the Fallen Sands, I was, apart from a short period where I applied for membership as a human, always in Daemon form.

I recognize one of the attendants from the Fallen Sands and approached him. He looked at me with a puzzled look and started heading for the stairs. I wanted a few answers but I didn’t want to chase him down. I looked for another attendant and saw one pushing a wheel chair towards me. In the wheel chair was my Father in Law, Gregory.

I hadn’t personally talked to him in human form. He saw me at the wedding, when it actually happened, but he had been bound and gagged. Before that he had talked to me while I was in Daemon form and he had assumed I was an old war buddy of his. I played along at the time, but then he had conspired to kill me and in response, my wife, his daughter had set a trap and Gregory had lost two legs and an arm in the explosion.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

I didn’t have anything I wanted to say. I didn’t know what Ursula would want me to say. I didn’t want to run and I didn’t feel like winging a conversation with him. I summoned Ursula.

“My darling Bear-Bear, Josh here. I am in our wedding castle and your father is coming this way. Is there any message you would like me to give him?”

Ursula said, “Put up your wards and keep eight feet distance from him. Expect hidden weapons. Banish him if he tries anything. Can you let me see?”

I opened the summons so she could see the surroundings.

Ursula asked, “Can you unbanish me from the castle?”

I glanced around at the exclusive male only club that our castle had become and wondered what sort of trouble I might be causing. I said, “World, I would be grateful if Ursula, Duchess Bear-Bear was allowed to come her when she wanted to.”

Her father gestured for the attendant to stop pushing his wheel chair. “Joshua, are you sure that is a good idea?”

I said, “This was given to me as a wedding present. While I am quite grateful to you for having raised such a wonderful daughter, I think you can understand why I would feel more loyalty to my wife than a group that has conspired to ruin our lives and in no small part did a good job of it.”

He said, “Let it go. Things change, but Ursula is, a bit impulsive.”

I heard someone ask, “Is he Lithos?”

I said, “Lithos died. I turned into him and his closest friends were convinced I would eventually become him. My father in law here conspired to kill me.”

A voice said, “I was told that Joshua died the double death.”

I kept on guard against my father in law as I stepped back so I could see who just spoke. It was a Death.

I said, “Yes, it is true. I was killed by Deaths who had set up an ambush and then my Fairy was killed. Since you are in my castle, in my Fairyland and you are part of an organization that has pursued my death and my wife’s death, I think you can understand why I have no great love for you. That is not the only harm your folk have done me, you come and go when you wish to despite the general agreement otherwise and I cannot help but notice that everyone else is dressed with a certain formality while you are not.”

The Death shifted position and so did Gregory and I didn’t have a good place to back up and my dodge choices were limited.

Gregory held his empty hands up. “So you have a bit of fight in you after all.”

Since I couldn’t watch them both and I didn’t know the Death’s name, I said, “World, “Please banish all active members of the North American Deaths until I choose otherwise.”

Gregory raised his head looking around the room. “Are you sure that was wise, Joshua? Making enemy’s of the Deaths is not a smart move.”

I said, “Making enemies? They have been trying to kill me. They just did kill me. Do they get any worse if I upset them?”

Gregory nodded. “That makes decent sense. It’s still rather bold. No one takes on the Deaths and wins.”

I said, “So far, your daughter’s scorecard is all wins on her side. I have it on excellent authority that the Deaths are going to find out soon that they need me since I am the only one who can gain access to the oath stone they need to recruit more members.”

The attendant that I had tried to talk with earlier came back out to the balcony above me with Samuel.

I waved to Samuel and went to the stair.

Samuel said to the attendant, “That would be Joshua. This is his Fairyland and castle.”

The attendant nodded. I walked up to them.

I spoke so the entire hall could hear. “I am in a rather poor mood right now. I was recently ambushed by the Deaths and then the Deaths killed me again after turning me into a Fairy. Deaths here were conspiring to have me blackballed. So I just banished them all. I don’t know the rules that were established in the last five years while my castle was filled with my enemies but my initial impulse to let things slide as my chambers have been filled with folk that desire my wife’s and my own death is to be rather stern. My father in law recommends that I be more cautious, but I don’t think that is sound advice, what with everyone trying to kill me.

“If you know of anyone with lingering grudges against me or Dutchess Bear-Bear, please let me know so I can at the very least banish them from my home.”

#

As far as I knew we had banished everyone who had plotted against Ursula or me and I had dispelled seven gateways that the Deaths had put on balconies outside their rooms.

I summoned Ursula. “Ursula, my love, Joshua here. The deaths may have hidden gateways in the castle. How do I find them?”

Ursula said, “Come see me.”

#

Ursula hugged me and kissed my forehead. “Let’s teach you to dowse. That’s a good start. The Deaths only have one person that can set lasting gateways, and this might be the right place to start.”

I asked, “What are we starting?”

Ursula said, “If I just wait for Deaths to attack us, it is kind of like going into a boxing match where only the other side gets to throw a punch. The only thing you can do is hope they get tired or your blocks hurt their hands and arms. I am tired of waiting for their attacks and they recently ambushed you. I am tired of being gentle with them and hoping they will learn better behavior.”

I said, “I just banished the active Deaths from the castle.”

Ursula said, “Even the old and retired deaths have stood by. You have no reason to trust any of them. Let me get ready and then we should capture their gate maker.”

#

With Ursula watching me through a summons, I rode my motorcycle to a motorcycle shop and bought an electric motorcycle. It was used, but they had a full warranty on it. I was planning on getting a new one, but the price was right.

#

I rode my motorcycle across a covered bridge and stopped as I entered the village where the Death’s gateway maker lived. I went to a cafe to with a few tables out front, to ask for directions. A pair of men nodded to me.

One of them said, “My names Peter Brand. I’m the man you are planning to abduct. Please have a seat.”

I turned a chair from the table next to them and sat.

Peter said, “My friend here has visions. Little snippets of the future. He warned me you were coming.”

I asked, “So you have reinforcements hidden around you?”

The man sitting with Peter said, “My vision showed a lot of Bodies in leather jackets strewn around the village and the covered bridge was on fire. You and a rather attractive young lady were standing in front of the bridge looking at my friend Peter.

“You were asking, ‘Was all this necessary?’

“We really love the bridge here so we decided to avoid the fight.”

Peter said, “Whatever you do, let’s do it outside the village and away from the bridge. I am rather fond of the place.”

I asked, “Are you familiar with Dutchess Bear-Bear?”

Peter squinted and looked up and to the side for a moment. “There was a Fairyland Castle I spent a few days at. It was a while back. There was some talk about a Daemon named Bear-Bear. They were nervous she might trap the Real world side of the gateways I was putting in so we went through all sorts of hoops making sure the Real end would be safe.”

I said, “My name is Joshua Bear. Bear-Bear is my wife. The Fairyland Castle is mine, and the Deaths have been trying to kill me and my wife for quite some time. They recently killed me and then they killed me in Fairy form.”

Ursula appeared beside me and sat at the table I was at. “Peter, and, well, I don’t have your name yet, we have a small request of you. We don’t want to kill any innocents and if there was going to be a fight that destroyed anything, I can assure you I wouldn’t set any destructive traps on such a pretty bridge so it would have been destroyed by the Deaths. I don’t destroy pretty things.”

I said, “There was a gateway I hid in Paris where the trees around it were destroyed.”

Ursula poked me. “You are supposed to be on my side, dear. The gateway was to the castle where all our enemies had hidden. One of the trees had big thorns and put the first tear in my wedding dress. It had it coming.

“We want to be sure all the gateways the Deaths have to the castle are gone so none of them can send poisons or bombs or stinging insects or snakes, or rabid dogs or anything like that.”

I asked, “Do they really use rabid dogs?”

Ursula nodded. “It’s terrible. Poor little dogs used by nasty Deaths. I had to put the poor dogs down. I still feel bad about it. You know, I should at least kill one Death for each of the dogs they killed.”

I asked, “Haven’t you already taken out the Deaths responsible?”

Ursula frowned. “Honey, lets try to keep a united front in front of our enemies. Yes, the ones responsible were dealt with, but their whole organization is committed to defending these monsters. I will feel a lot better about killing the Deaths if I have a good additional reason like their abuse of animals.”

Peter asked, “If I remove the gateways, will I be allowed to live?”

Ursula said, “I have no intent on killing you anyway, unless you try to kill Joshua of course. If you just work with the Deaths, I wouldn’t feel good about causing you any lasting harm. Unlike them, I don’t kill innocents. If you don’t help us with our little gateway issue, I might feel like some punishment might be required for helping our enemies and putting us at risk though.”

Peter winced. “What sort of punishment?”

I said, “He father conspired to kill me. An attendant was pushing his wheel chair last time I saw him.”

Peter said, “As I recall I placed several gateways in the castle. All of them were on balconies.”

I asked, “None were hidden?”

Peter shook his head. “The fellow managing the place had set up the Fairyland to expel anyone who hid a gateway. We were being sneaky and putting gateways out in the open but where no one would see them so they were not hidden, but no one would find them. I suppose they could have put a carpet or rug over them and they could still be used. They wouldn’t have used them to leave the Fairyland so that would work."

I relaxed some of my suspicions since I now knew why I had been banished after hiding a gateway in my Fairyland. “How many gateways did you place?”

“That was several years ago. I spent less than five days there, so no more than ten.”

I asked, “Ursula honey, will you be okay if I go check on gateways?”

Ursula took my hand. “Be careful, the Deaths can be pretty treacherous. Summon me when you are done?”

I kissed her hand, let go and rode my motorcycle across the covered bridge and far enough down the road till I thought there would be no witnesses. I turned into a daemon and picked up the motorcycle before going to the Fairyland with the gateways and going to Chicago to use my gateway to my Castle Fairyland.

#

As a Raven I flew from balcony to balcony. I found one more gateway under a rug but the rest of the balconies were clear so I summoned Ursula.

“Dearest Ursula, this is your devoted husband, Joshua. I have probably gotten rid of all the gateways, if we can trust the maker of them.”

Ursula said, “Come on through.”

#

At the Cafe Ursula was sitting with the two men I left her with and another man dressed formally in a black suit.

Peter said, “Joshua, this is Cliff.”

Ursula said, “He wants to offer the gift of peace from the Deaths. I was just telling him I’m a bit more interested in watching them die of rabies than accepting a deal from a bunch of lying killers.”

Cliff said, “The Death are not killers.”

I said, “As a victim, I can assure you they are ruthless and horrible killers without an ounce of remorse.”

Cliff asked, “Did they really kill you?”

I said, “Ambushed me with a taser. Turned me to Fairy and shot me with steel shot.”

Cliff said, “There have been some bad members among the Deaths, but what they have done is not condoned by the rest of them.”

I asked, “Has their pursuit of Duchess Bear-Bear been condoned?”

Cliff said, “She killed several Deaths.”

“Cliff, I am not sure why you are defending these monsters, but they plotted to kill me and ruined my wife’s wedding. What she has done was all in self defense or to defend me. Since this supernatural motorcycle gang has been relentless in their attacks on us, you can’t honestly tell me that the Deaths are not cold blooded killers.

“They will eventually find out they need something from me and want to be friendly, I have no reason to believe that they won’t turn around and attack me or my wife the moment they get what they want. The fact that they want peace when they need something makes me further suspect that I can’t trust them.”

Cliff asked, “What would they have to do to gain your trust?”

I said, “If they pledged on the oath stone to never turn against or harm my wife that would be a start.”

Cliff said, “The Deaths will never agree to a carte blance agreement. What if you turned destructive?”

Ursula said, “Oh, like the Death are? So we have to trust them but they can’t trust us? Sorry that sounds like a bad deal and it doesn’t even make up for the pain and suffering.”

Cliff said, “The Deaths don’t really have the funds to do that sort of thing.”

I said, “Yeah, that was probably why one of the Deaths who killed me was going through my wallet for credit cards and cash. You should probably stay away from the Deaths for a while. I think my darling wife has decided to stop just defending herself and is ready to bring them some direct pain. I can’t really think of anything to tell her apart from, ‘Be careful.’ ”

Cliff turned to the man beside Peter. “Boris, if you get a vision that tells us how to get through this mess, please let me know.”

Cliff looked back at me and said, “You really can’t win against City Hall. The Deaths have a lot of resources at their disposal. They have ties with the Devils. You don’t want to face that.”

A red headed woman with a lush figure walked up, took a chair, turned it around and sat on it. “No, in fact, the Devils are all rooting for Duchess Bear-Bear. While we have a working relationship with the North American Deaths, we are rather embarrassed since it makes us look evil from time to time. We know of three other groups that would be happy to take over for you and probably would if you keep this up without some serious reform. Duchess Bear-Bear’s group would need a few more members and I would hate to see them go corrupt after taking on the job, but I suspect they might be able to handle it too.

“Personally, I would love to see the North American Deaths go under and the Dread Lord’s operation take over. If only to see how conflicted that cute little boy could get. It probably wouldn’t be kind to such a sweet kid with so much responsibility though.

“Anyway, Cliff, before you get yourself killed here in this lovely little hamlet, why don’t you go back and propose that the Deaths get a governing body with a few ethical safeguards. See if Duchess Bear-Bear and Avery want to be on it. With a few others, you might even clean up your reputation.”

I asked, “Cliff are you a Death?”

Cliff disappeared.

The red head said, “And a chicken.” Then she disappeared too.

Peter said, “Thinking about it, I was at the castle for five days and I made two gateways a day. I got interrupted on one, so I am pretty sure I made nine gateways.”

I said, “Ursula, I need to go and recheck my work.”

#

Flying around the castle as a Raven trying to see if I missed a balcony, I saw one that looked different. I landed and examined it. As a human and as a Daemon it looked the same, but as a Raven it looked different. I found a corner where a layer that had been placed on top of the original balcony floor had a small bit stuck to the outside of the railing. I looked around the Death’s room. It was clear that he didn’t let the Fairies in to clean the place so I summoned Ursula.

“Dear, sweet Ursula, Josh here. I am in a Death’s room looking for something to break up a layer of plaster or paint or something that is probably hiding a gateway. How do I look for traps safely?”

Ursula said, “Bring me through.”

She appeared and held a pendulum in her hand. “No traps, but there is a gateway out on the balcony.”

She transformed and she had a pair of large tool bags and overalls. She took a large hammer out and stepped out onto the balcony and started wailing on the floor with the claw of the hammer.

I said, “I see it, you can stop now.”

I sat beside the gateway to dispel it and Ursula asked, “We should check the other side first.”

I stepped back and she opened it to let us see through it. It was in the middle of an intersection where the light was changing and people were crossing the street.

Ursula said, “Bold and hard to trap since people will be going over it constantly. Clever but it puts other people at risk. Let’s go through.”

We were standing in a busy intersection. The gateway was probably under the cement so it was well hidden. Since he only used it to get to the Castle, all he had to do was wait for the light to change and disappear in the middle of walking across the street.

There had to be a way the gateway could be seen so I kept looking and found that if you were right in the middle there was a small angled hole in the cement where you could see the gateway but only at the right angle and if you went the right way.

Ursula said, “Neat we’re in Seattle.”

I gestured to the hole and she asked, “What does he do when it fills with dirt?”

I shrugged and took her arm since the light was changing. “How can you tell this is Seattle?”

She said, “I saw, ‘Sleepless in Seattle.’ I recognize some of the buildings.’”

I asked, “Was it good?”

Ursula took my arm. “Let’s get you a pendulum.”

#

We were standing in an ancient looking town with narrow streets. A pair of large rats in vests looked at us and then looked away. Ursula led me to a shop with and iron grating on the door and in front of the window. She opened the door and gestured for me to go in.

A mole dressed as an old lady sat at a table with a crystal ball. She looked up at us.

Ursula said, “We don’t need a fortune told, we just need to shop for a pendulum.”

The mole slowly shook her head. “Lots of folk are gifted with divination, few of them ever do much more than fool themselves.”

She looked at me and then at her crystal ball and then did a double take looking back between me and the crystal ball. “Well, well, well, the mighty Duchess Bear-Bear has brought in a man who cannot be. Maybe we can find something you want to buy. Do you have any affinities for stones or metals?”

I rubbed my head. “Not really, larimar is pretty.”

The mole said, “Don’t know it. Lets check back in the shop.”

The mole went to the door turned the sign over and locked it. She lead us back down a passage to a room with a table. The room was lined with drawers. She pulled a wooden board out and put it on the table. It had samples of crystals and metals set into the wood.

She took out a clear crystal pendulum and dangled it over the board. The pendulum spun around and then stopped over a dark slightly golden coin. “Electrum. A classic, but not a common choice these days. She went to a cord with a loop around a hook and took it off the hook. She let loose slack on the cord and a large metal ring with pendulums hanging from it lowered. She held the chord and brought the ring with the pendulums on it low enough for the pendulums to almost touch the table and then raised it.

“Don’t be shy lad. Put you hand out.”

I put my hand out and one of the pendulums swung and pointed to my hand. I moved my hand and it followed my movement.

The mole raised the ring back up and put the loop on the hook.

“I can give you the raw materials and the plan for it, but I don’t have any like you would need in stock. No one will. Not even Thomas’ Complete Shop of Sorcery.

“You will need someone to help you. Most practitioners avoid using a double pendulum like this. It is much harder to fake a result with. You would be best off making it yourself since I don’t have a middle piece apart from my example. Do you know anyone that knows how to use a lathe?”

I nodded.

She put her snout near my face. “Now we need to discuss payment.”

Ursula transformed and held out a large plastic bag full of moving worms. “I got five pounds of meal worms.”

The mole lady said, “That will do, that will do.”

#

I was beside a stream playing around with gossamer and making a water wheel like Jack used to power a lathe to turn wood when Bell walked up.

“You haven’t done anything with the data yet.”

I said, “I was worried that you might have banished me from this Fairyland so I started thinking about how to hide things from you. I have a lot figured out about you but not that.”

Bell said, “Your the first to have managed to enter my mind and leave. When I consider it, despite the evidence, it seems impossible.”

I smiled as I started to get the wheel ratio right and almost had a working lathe to start playing with. “That’s because you think this is all real.”

Bell said, “I know, we know what you are thinking. Most of me rejects it.”

I shrugged. “Your made to be statistically accurate by use of group consensus of a collection of brilliant minds. I have been researching outliers in data to trying and learn things outside of conventional science and understanding. I have to keep a more open mind than you can survive with.”

Bell said, “Well, at least we can discuss it. So your theory is that all of this is artificial reality. I can entertain the thought but it doesn’t quite stand up. Of course it is true in the eventual form but we are in the here and now.”

I said, “Well I have managed to escape the conventional rules twice. Maybe three times if you count my coma, but that is easily explained by your accepted model, so let’s just go with the two times. If my experience was the psychic equivalent of random neurons firing, then my vision of the Reincarnation Market is just a delusion.

“If my theory is right, then it is still a delusion but based on the best interpretation that my immaterial mind under stress could make of the data it received. The other possibility is that there really is a Reincarnation Market that looks like what I saw.

“But if you consider that human eyesight that can’t even notice the blank area the fovea keeps us from seeing and the fact that humans can’t really see red without extrapolation, and all of it is electron signals that get mangled in perception by the brain, the last two versions are virtually indistinguishable.”

Bell sat on the bank of the stream outside of the area where my wheel was splashing. “That does tend to support your theory that reality is artificial and I have some previous evidence that tends to agree, but I ignore the theory since someone still has to fix breakfast even if this is all a shared delusion.”

I nodded. “Breakfast is important, but breakfast doesn’t explain my experiences.”

Bell lay back on the bank. “Yes but it’s a lot better contemplating all of this with a full stomach. I’d really appreciate it if you started looking at the data.”

I made a gossamer blank of the electrum piece I was going to carve and a gossamer copy of what I wanted the final product to look like.

“Bell, I am used to using a laptop, but I am going to have to get something a bit more powerful if I am going to process this sort of data. I haven’t really had time to go shopping and see what is available out there. It’s all going to be a learning curve and even with a perfect computer I will still have to get used to it.

“I would go to a computer shop, but I half expect some of the Deaths to attack me if I do.”

Bell said, “You need a new cell phone as well. I’ll see what I can do for you. Horrid thing about being me, I don’t really mind the way you are using me. Don’t tell anyone, I prefer that everyone still thinks of me as a spoiled brat. If they find out they can use me to accelerate their process as a genius, they will all get lazy and stop taking care of themselves. By the way, don’t get lazy, that gets in the way of developing genius.”