Destiny

The night was long and cold in the drafty apartment building. Paula didn't want sleep, but the day had worn her out and she had a hard time keeping her eyes open. The room was small and dark, the beds piled high with blankets, and Paula couldn't help curling up under a thick comforter and giving in to the temptation for rest.

"Paula?" Ginny was different. She probably needed sleep too, but the night couldn't seem to shut her bright eyes, lulling her into dreams. When Paula looked up, Ginny was sitting on the other bed, swinging her legs over the side.

Yawning a little, Paula rubbed her eyes. "Everything okay, Ginny? You should probably get some rest..."

"But I can't sleep," Ginny said, shaking her head. "Everything's too new and interesting and when I think about it, I can't get to bed. Ivy's so nice... but I don't understand, Paula, how she said she was dead. Dead people can't talk to you! And you can't see them." She closed her eyes for a second, and Paula wondered whether she was thinking of her father, or of her grandfather, the late Geldegarde Monotoli.

"Oh, Ginny..." Paula sat up, pushing the covers to one side of the bed. "That's right, you can't normally, because that's just how things are. But this is a strange place we're in right now, and that's why we can see Ivy, and talk to her." She stood up, crossing to Ginny's bed. "I don't understand it any better than you do, I saw a lot of strange things during our last adventure too, and I guess you just have to start accepting things, because sometime's there's no explanation."

"Oh... like why we're here, all of us," Ginny mused, looking up at Paula, who was now seated beside her. "We don't know why we had to come through the painting and end up here, but that's just what happened, and that's all there is to it, right?"

Paula smiled. "Right," she answered with a nod. "Maybe we'll find out, and maybe we... well no, I'm sure we'll find out at some point, something's got to be going on here. But it doesn't matter that we don't know right now, because everything's going to be okay in the end." She leaned over and hugged Ginny. "Gonna get some sleep now?"

Ginny yawned. "Yeah... thanks Paula." She started to pull down the blankets as Paula stood up, waiting by the bedside to tuck her in. She was still fascinated with Ivy... so she was a ghost? But there were no such things as ghosts... but this had to be accepted, regardless. Being special was getting harder and harder, it seemed.

Eventually, Ginny fell asleep, but Paula stayed up for a while, staring out a window at the ruined city. Pressing her hand against the cold glass, she found herself thinking of her first visit to Fourside... no, not her first, far from it. It was her first time there with Ness and Jeff, when they'd walked across the Dusty Dunes Desert because of the traffic jam leading into the city. Fourside had looked different than she remembered, huge and full of promise, exciting... she measured so many things by that year, those few months... a transition in her life, the critical point that divided it into two eras, before and after the war against Giygas.

The moon pulsed, pink and piercing. Paula wondered if that division would last for long, if this day and those to come would become the new defining point of her life. Sometimes she thought only the stars knew the answers... but when Paula looked up, squinting at the hazy night sky, she saw that there were no stars here.

Tandy rubbed his eyes as he came down the stairs. It was morning, finally, although the early light did nothing for the the sorry ruins of Fourside. Looking out the window, he'd been greeted once more by the ominous red glow of the world, the gleam of pink light on the remains of the Topolla. He'd spent so much time there, skipping school to wait in line for concert tickets, sometimes for hours, and then sneaking into a movie at the cinema if there was time afterwards. Sure, he'd given his parents a heap of trouble, but it had been fun while it lasted. The memories just made it so much harder to look at the ruins and not feel a certain emptiness inside.

"Oh, good morning. I hope you... slept all right." Tandy looked around, not expecting the voice. In the corner of the room, he recognized Ivy's face, focused his eyes on her, remembered last night, stopped in his tracks. "You're all right, aren't you?"

"You're... sure, I slept, yeah. But..." He didn't usually feel like this, at a loss for words, but suddenly his speech was impaired. His eyes settled on her frame, her arms, her face, all remarkably pale now in the partially lit room. "You look different than you did last night," he finally said, entering the room at a distance.

"That's because it was dark." Ivy stood just behind the desk, not quite looking at Tandy. "Of course, I look a little more faint in the light, I guess..." She examined her hands carefully, running one over the other. "It's not so different for me, I'm used to it."

Tandy shook his head. "Yeah, I suppose so..." He came a few steps closer to her, stopping when he noticed her moving away. "How long have you been here? I mean, since the thing with Giygas and all, but do you --"

"The concept of time is different here," Ivy cut in. "I don't know what day of the week it is, or what time, what year, even. There are no calendars and no clocks. In fact, I wouldn't be at all surprised if... well go on, have you got a watch?"

Instinctively, Tandy lifted his arm, peering at his wrist. "Almost two o'clock... wait, that's not right..." He looked up, noticing the knowing look in Ivy's eyes. "That can't be right, can it?"

"That's the time it was when you got here, I'd bet," Ivy said in reply. "Your watch probably stopped, the second hand's --"

"Not moving," he finished, shaking his wrist. "It's like there's no time here..."

"It's the future," Ivy whispered, coming around the desk. "I don't think the time here operates the same way, because... I don't know, maybe because this place isn't supposed to exist? Not at the same time as real time..." She looked at Tandy. "I'm going to introduce you to the others today, and I've also --"

"Tandy?" Both of them turned to see Ness on his way down the stairs. "Oh, hi Ivy. This place sure looks different in the morning than it does at night."

"Not different enough," Ivy and Tandy said at the same time, but neither of them laughed.

Ness just half-smiled, then nodded in agreement. "At least we can see... although it's true that there's not a whole lot left to see out there." He gazed across the room, and Ivy could tell he was staring at her, observing her paleness. "You said there are others, now?"

"Yes. They're older people," Ivy explained, "but nice to talk to. I'll go see if they're awake pretty soon... where's Paula, and the rest of your group?"

"Well, Poo slept in his own room, he wanted to do some meditation," Tandy replied. "Paula and Ginny --"

"I heard my name!" Paula called from the stairs. "Who's talking about me?"

"We was just wondering where you two were," Tandy said as Paula entered the lobby, followed closely by an energetic Ginny. "Slept in?"

"Didn't sleep much," Paula replied, thinking of last night. "I didn't want to go to bed, but my body gave up eventually, of course. Why, were you two up at the crack of dawn?"

"Good morning!" Ginny cried. "Hi Ivy! You still... well, you look okay to me."

"Thanks... good morning," Ivy replied a little uncomfortably. She hated being reminded that she wasn't alive, but with these five suddenly descending upon the ruins, she wagered she'd be confronted with the issue more and more often. "I'm going to go talk to John and Vivian, they're the other... well, you know." She hung her head slightly, as they'd seen her do before when this came up. "Is your friend meditating upstairs?"

Paula laughed a little. "Probably," she said with a nod, "but I'm sure he'll be down soon."

"Vivian had always wanted to see Scaraba, but we'd never had the time to go. It wasn't until after we both retired that I went to see a travel agent about planning a trip there." The man's voice was kind and grandfatherly, his eyes a faded shade of blue, his face and hair remarkably white. "It was a great week, you know... ever been to Scaraba?"

"Oh John, of course they have, these are the children who saved the world!" Vivian glanced around at all of them, smiling as if she'd seen them before, like they were her own grandchildren or some kids who lived in her neighborhood. "Do you want to finish telling it, or should I, dear?"

"Actually, I had a question to --"

"I will," John replied, cutting off Poo mid-sentence. "We had such a great week, loved the town, decided to take a little walk on the last morning we were there. It was so nice that day, sun beating down like I hadn't felt in years..."

"What happened?" Ginny blurted out. "I've never been to Scaraba... what's it like there?"

John smiled at her curiosity. "It's very warm there, and beautiful. Built right around a big desert, but it's an incredible place to see." He paused. "We took a walk, ended up down by the pyramid... you kids have been there, maybe you've seen it, the pyramid?"

"We've been in it, actually," Paula explained, "quite... well, it was an adventure, I'll say that much." She glanced over at Ness and then at Poo, meeting their eyes, recalling old memories. "But the pyramid was sealed, you couldn't have gone inside, did you?"

John looked at Vivian, then back at the kids. "No... didn't make it that far. There was this big... creature, some kind of striped thing, couldn't tell what it was..."

"I don't think I've ever seen an animal like that before," Vivian added, shuddering. "I think it had purple on it, some other color, the sun was in my eyes that day because I'd left my sunglasses at the hotel by mistake --"

"Great Crested Booka," Ness whispered, and Paula nodded in agreement. "I think that's what it was that... well, what you met up with, the thing, it's called a Great Crested Booka, funny looking creature."

"What a silly name, Great Crested... Booka, is it?" Vivian watched as Ness nodded. "It certainly wasn't very... friendly, though." She blinked a little, and John reached for her pale white hand. "Our vacation ended a little sooner than expected."

"I'm... so sorry," Paula said, shaking her head. "It's just dreadful..."

"If you don't mind my changing the subject," Poo interjected suddenly, "I wanted to ask you something a while back..."

"Oh, anything," John said, "anything at all."

"I was just wondering," Poo asked, "how you know who we are? I mean, you seemed to know we were the Chosen Ones..."

Vivian stared hard at Poo, then glanced at the others. "Oh... I don't know, you just seem like... no, wait, you weren't... you didn't go with them, did you?" She addressed Tandy, just a little unsure of herself. "Not then..."

Tandy's eyes widened. "I didn't, that's right! But how could you have known --"

"I'm not sure," Vivian continued, looking over at John. "You recognized them too, didn't you, John? I mean, once I mentioned... your memory's not what it used to be, dear..."

John peered at the group, one at a time. "No, no, you're right, I do... you look familiar," he said, looking at Poo. "And... no, he doesn't look familiar, you're right," glancing at Tandy. "And not... Viv, not the little girl, either?" He made it a question, doubting his own thoughts.

Vivian focused in on Ginny, studying her features. "No, oh, you're quite right, dear, she wasn't with them either."

"How did you... how can you tell that?" Poo asked again. "You're right, of course, but I don't see how --"

"A dream?" Vivian's eyes looked distant, her mind somewhere far away, trying to make a connection. "Maybe not, but... it almost feels as if I've seen you three before, as if in a dream, or just... familiar, that's the right word."

"Familiar," John repeated, nodding, "but I can't recall how or... where I've seen... if I've seen you at all before." He glanced over at Ivy, who was listening patiently to the conversation. "Ivy, did they seem familiar to you?"

Ivy stepped back as everyone turned to face her. "Familiar? Well..." Her gaze moved from person to person, Paula, Ginny, Poo, Ness, Tandy. "I... don't know. A connection, maybe? I just don't know if... I've ever seen you before, I can't tell. I don't know." She turned her head for a moment, closed her eyes, exhaled lightly. "But I'm kind of glad you're all here, because, well, I wanted to tell you..." Her eyes met Vivian's, then John's. "I wanted to tell them about the woods..."

"Woods?" Tandy repeated. "You mean that dark cloud on --"

"It's a forest," Ivy said with a nod, "it's not a dark cloud. You see, it's been growing up there for some time -- some time now, definitely -- and we didn't know what to make of it here, it's started to intrude upon what's left of the city, weaving in and out of the remains of buildings and..." She stopped herself, sighing lightly.

"What's wrong with it?" Paula asked. "The trees, I mean... is something bad going on, with the --"

"There are voices," Vivian cut in, "coming from the woods, the very heart of it, it sounds like, and there were never any voices before, no sounds resembling... oh, you tell it, Ivy dear, you wanted to."

"I wanted to, only because I feel like I have to..." Her voice faded in and out, on the verge of trailing away. "It's a horrible, rasping thing, that voice, all smoky and rough and I feel like it wants something, because it never seems to stop..."

"A voice? Wait a minute," Paula said, squinting her eyes, "I didn't hear anything."

"Well, it does stop," Ivy explained, half-smiling, "but it keeps coming back. I hear it, and then maybe it'll go away, and then I go to sleep and when I wake up, sometime before sleep comes again, I'll hear it." She gestured to John and Vivian. "We've all heard it."

John nodded. "It's true. And it always seems to come back. I don't like it at all, I think there's something bad in those woods, and it's worrisome that it keeps getting closer and closer to --"

"I have a question," Ness asked, hating to interrupt. "A very, very serious one..."

"Ness?" Paula looked over at him, slightly confused, somewhat concerned.

"We have to know," he continued. "Is... is Giygas here? Is he... alive?"

The room was quiet and felt empty, but Tandy didn't mind being alone. He needed time to think, but unlike Ness and Paula, this was something he did better on his own than in a group. Maybe it just seemed that way because his thoughts felt more personal when he didn't have to share them, when no one was there to listen and comment on his ideas and fears. His focus had always been the clearest in a place without distractions, without sounds.

No, that wasn't true. Tandy had grown up in a world of distractions and sounds, the busy Fourside always hustling and bustling with activity, car horns honking, people chattering the day away as they walked the crowded streets, music blaring from the Topolla. Still, he had spent most of his life wanting to be independent, relying only on himself to get through. He'd quit school, found work, even ended up here all as a result of his own choices. Well, no, not entirely. This adventure was not necessarily what he would have chosen, but there hadn't really been a choice this time.

He wished he was back at the garage, working under a car, or lifting up the hood. There were a few variations, but for the most part, everything under the hood of a car looked the same. It wasn't that he didn't like surprises, just... engines looked so stable, the mechanics all laid out so that you knew what to expect. He was someplace he'd never been before, someplace no one had ever been before, someplace no one should be... and he had no idea what to expect, what was waiting, what kind of danger they were all in. He knew he could do an oil change with relative safety, but here, there were no guarantees, nothing even close.

Tracing the image of an engine in his mind, Tandy tried to forget the facial expressions when Ness had asked that question. John had blinked, a little surprised as if the possibility had never occurred to him, and said that he hoped Giygas wasn't around again. Vivian had shuddered at the mention of his name, gasping a little, trying desperately to recall the sound of the voice in her head, again and again, suddenly worried and wondering. And Ivy... she'd just closed her eyes and sighed a little, then opened them to face the group. Her eyes wandering from face to face, she told them that she didn't know, she just didn't know... she had the most haunting eyes, and although he couldn't quite make out the color, their expression, he had felt those eyes staring at each and every one of them, looking at him... looking through him?

He didn't understand her, didn't understand a lot of things. She had wanted to tell them about the woods, and yet she knew nothing about it... and hadn't she said that these ruins were the dwelling of the lost souls of Giygas, the victims of the war? Were she and John and Vivian the only ones? She'd made it sound like there were so many more, to the point where he'd pictured armies of ghosts, all surrounding them in greeting, waving their faint white hands, staring with empty gray eyes. Her eyes were anything but empty, but he couldn't put his finger on what was in there, what the spark was. Maybe he was overthinking things. Maybe she had been trying to see Poo over Tandy's shoulder, not staring through him. Maybe she knew more than she was telling. Maybe this was all just a dream.

Tandy shook his head. This was too real to be a dream, the room was too cold. He figured he should go join the others, who had been on their way to Paula and Ginny's room when he'd ducked in here. He needed time... to think, but when he did, it seemed like he was just avoiding thoughts, looking for escape routes. He had to concentrate, alone or with the group. This was real life, not some game, although it felt like dreaming. Down the hall, his friends were planning their collective fate, and he had to be there. An excursion into the woods, an investigation of the raspy voice... these were things that he didn't want, a destiny he hadn't asked for, but once again, he knew he had no choice -- destiny wasn't a question, but rather an answer, a single answer, the only answer.