Mother
Alternate
Finality
Chapter 6: Ascension
The first thing that Julian was aware of when he came to was the bright light that seemed to permeate the very air he was breathing. His head was spinning, and his lungs ached terribly, but all he could really notice was the light which seemed to pour in from everywhere, as if he were standing right next to the sun.
Slowly he stumbled
to his feet and looked around. He was
still on the same platform, although he couldn’t tell where the platform itself
had taken him. The chaos that he had
just lived through within the confines of the
Once his eyes adjusted to the light, Julian was able to decipher where he was, at least partially. The platform that had served as a means of transport for its unwilling passengers was suspended high above the ground—so high that it managed to break the cloud barrier, and any vestiges of the earth were obscured by a blanket of white amidst a sea of blue.
Surrounding the floating platform were several floating, shifting rocks, arranged like a sort of ring. For a fleeting moment, Julian had the impression that maybe the thing that brought them here had somehow broken off from this formation…as if it had been sent to wait for his arrival, and then whisk him back here…
That thought had to be put on hold as Julian was suddenly able to tear himself from his awe-inspired thoughts and think of his friends.
“You guys! Are you okay?” Julian jogged over to Peel and laid a hand on her shoulder, shaking her prone form gently. After a few seconds her eyes fluttered open and she took in a deep breath, drawing a slight sigh of relief from Julian.
“Ugh…” was the only thing she managed to stammer as her trembling hands went to the floor and pushed her off the ground shakily. “What…happened?”
Julian shrugged nonchalantly as he helped Peel to her feet. “I don’t know. Wherever we are, we’re certainly high up.”
Peel nodded to acknowledge Julian’s comment, but the sudden movement of her head caused her to stumble clumsily as a dizzying sensation racked her head from the inside. Wordlessly, Julian scrambled to her side and wrapped his arms around her for support, a shadow of a frown across his face.
“What’s the matter?” he asked worriedly. “Is there anything wrong?”
Peel closed her eyes and shook her head, slowly this time. When she spoke, her voice came out as a hoarse whisper. “No…I’m just dizzy. I guess I’m still recovering.”
A moan was heard behind the duo, and they turned to find Vee, propped up on her elbow while she rubbed her head. Cautiously, Julian and Peel made their way over to her, and helped her up when she fully regained consciousness.
Vee was almost as disoriented as Julian was when he woke up. “Where…are we? Why’s it so bright?”
“We’re not sure,” replied Julian, who slung Vee’s arm over his shoulder and helped her stand. “But we’ll find out as soon as we get back on our feet.”
“Speaking of which, where’s Joshua?” Peel was feeling better now, and she took to looking around for the youngest of the four while Julian helped Vee. She found the boy huddled, with his knees to his chest, on the far side of the platform, shivering slightly. He wasn’t accustomed to drastic changes in temperature and air pressure, and even his physique, which was strengthened by several years of living in the forest, was unable to handle being rushed upwards at such a tremendous speed.
“Hey kid, you okay?” she whispered as she tried to pry Joshua out of his curled position and stand him up.
Peel received an alarming response as Joshua’s eyes snapped open and he began to hyperventilate, knocking Peel’s hand from his back. He shot up instantly, his back straight as an arrow, and he began whirling his head from side to side in a desperate attempt to figure out his surroundings.
“Hey! Joshua, calm down!” Peel planted her hands on Joshua’s shoulders and tried to stop his frantic trembling, speaking in a hushed, calming tone. “It’s okay…it’s alright, calm down…” she whispered.
Her words met deaf ears, and Peel almost lost hope of bringing Joshua down to a state of calm when he faced her and sank his gaze into her. “Where’s Vee?!” were the only two words to come out of his mouth.
Peel slowly raised a finger and pointed it at Vee, who was still draped around Julian’s shoulder and struggling to regain her balance. Almost instantly, Joshua bolted up and made a mad dash for his adoptive sister, careening into her leg and wrapping his arms around her waist protectively.
“¡Ey, espera! Slow down, kiddo!” Vee disengaged herself from Julian and knelt down to give Joshua a reassuring hug. “It’s okay…I’m alright…”
Joshua pulled away and stared at Vee, then nodded shakily. “O-okay…” he said, abandoning his usual mature exterior and revealing the child that lay beneath. “I-I’m just happy you’re not hurt…”
“Yeah…although that still doesn’t explain where we are.”
At this point all four children turned to examine their surroundings more closely. The morning sun had begun to rise, and the entire area was coated with a purplish haze, while the sun shone a fiery orange. Except for the sound of the wind blowing and the slow, careful breathing of the four humans, nothing could be heard.
It wasn’t until Peel spotted something on the horizon that the group was jostled into action again.
“Hey…what’s that glowing thing over there?” Instinctively she pointed to a small dot half a kilometer away. It was emanating a greenish glow that stood out against the lavender sky, and it seemed to pulsate with a hidden energy that naturally drew her attention to it. When she spoke it caused the others to swivel around and stare at her, then at the glowing dot she had just seen.
“Well, I guess now we know where we need to go,” mused Julian as he stepped up to the edge of the platform they were on. “Although it doesn’t look like we’ll be getting there any time soon. It’s pretty far away.”
“We’ll just have to get started right away, then,” came Peel’s reply as she walked past Julian and hopped onto the nearest floating rock, causing it to bob slightly like a cork in water. “Come on, what are we waiting for?”
Thus began a long trek from the center of the seemingly surreal area to the fixed point on the horizon that Peel spotted. It certainly wasn’t easy, as the floating rocks that served as stepping stones were constantly moving and shifting, bouncing off each other when they collided and sinking down when anyone jumped on them, as if they were floating in water and not in midair. Julian and Vee jumped gracefully from rock to rock, with Peel lagging behind and Joshua using his psychic powers to fly above all of them, sparing himself the trouble.
After what seemed like an hour, Julian’s feet touched solid, unmoving ground, and he stopped. He was now very far away from the central platform, and on a large, fan shaped rock, so smooth that it seemed polished. This platform was seemingly at the very end of the area they were in, and its protrusions went beyond the ring of bizarre floating rocks, as if it was pointing at something, like a beacon, a signal.
Indeed it was a signal; Julian realized the truth of this when he caught sight of the thing Peel had pointed out to him earlier…his eyes locked on to it, and he was overcome with a curious sense of familiar foreboding, which was accentuated as he took a step forward, sending a resounding echo that permeated the seemingly endless sky. Even when Peel, Joshua, and Vee caught up to him, landing on the platform and joining him from behind, he was still focusing on that object—that strange, glowing thing floating in mid-air. Slowly Julian stepped forward once again, this time raising his right hand and holding it out in front of him at arm’s length…staring from the glyph on the back of his palm to the glyph floating in mid-air a few meters in front of him…
…realizing that they were the same, trace for trace, swatch for swatch.
“That’s…the Aswer…” whispered Peel, awestruck, while Julian looked from the glyph, to his hand, to the glyph again.
Joshua grabbed Julian’s hand and lowered it down to his eye level, and he looked it over with a wonder that had never been there before. The only words that could be heard to come from his mouth were in the form of an inaudible whisper.
“The [key]…so we’ve finally found it…”
“Dios mío…” Vee’s jaw nearly dropped. “Does that mean that…we’re finally here? This is the World Device?” Her heart began beating faster as a giddy exhilaration invaded her body, giving her goose bumps. “We’re…this is…no lo puedo creer…”
Peel approached the glyph and tried to touch it with the tips of her fingers, but the immaterial glyph was impossible to palpate, at least for her. When her fingers made contact with it the glyph dematerialized into billions of tiny, glowing sparks, which reformed into their previous form when Peel retracted her fingers.
She turned to Julian, her innate curiosity visible in her eyes. “I think it’s time you used the [key], you know?”
Julian nodded. “Yeah…”
Suddenly a dry chuckle escaped his lips, and he began taking those final, fated steps. “Funny…suddenly I feel…different. I can’t stop thinking of…”
Faint, distant memories, dormant in Julian’s mind, awakened and washed over him like a gentle breeze, filling him with nostalgia…
“That was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen! You really
showed them, didn’t you?!”
“I’ve never met anyone with powers like me. I’d…like
it if we became friends.”
“We all have to learn about the hardships of life!
Only then can we become stronger!”
<I can rest in peace by becoming part of you>
“I can prove what I’m saying…please; let me show
you…maybe I can help you!”
“The ones who gave you that…thing…are the same as the ones
who came to my husband…long ago.”
“I think you freaked because YOU wouldn’t be able to
fight the two Starmen.”
“You shouldn’t have run away.”
“He brought everything down on himself! All of it!”
“…I wouldn’t worry. I’ll always love you no matter
what, honey.”
Julian paused for a moment, then lowered his hand and turned to face his friends. “…I know this is going to sound weird coming from me, but…I’m glad I met you guys.”
Vee smiled and placed a hand to her forehead. “You’re right…it does sound weird.” She was about to continue, but then she saw Julian’s face and her mirth nearly disappeared. She stepped up to Julian and put a hand on his shoulder. “I’m glad I met you, too.”
“Me too…” Joshua peered up at Julian and showed him a warm smile. “I’m very happy that I was able to meet all of you…”
Peel stepped up to the group and did something she never thought she would do—come up to Julian from behind and wrap her arms around his chest. She didn’t say anything, but then again, she didn’t have to.
The four EarthBound ones stood there, silently, for a brief moment, drowning out the rest of the world and feeling only a great warmth. Then, carefully, Julian separated himself from his friends, gave them a reassuring nod, and raised his hand, intent on placing it against the floating glyph.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
Julian turned away from the glyph, his hand still close to touching it. Very calmly he looked to the source of the voice, and gave it a blank stare. “I don’t see why I shouldn’t, Lisa.” He stated blankly.
Dual Proghauser chuckled to herself from her vantage point atop one of the nearby floating rocks and shook her head. Her clothes were still dirty and ripped, and she still seemed to be injured, although any other emotional vestiges of what might have been her battle against Julian several hours before were gone.
With a hop Proghauser landed on the fan-shaped platform, and she stood on the very edge with her hands in her pockets while she tapped the toes of her sneaker against the stony ground. “This is the point of no return, you know…not even I know what’ll happen if you use the [key].”
“That’s irrelevant,” interrupted Joshua. “This is what we came for, and you know it.”
“I do,” replied Proghauser, “but you don’t seem to realize that this has all been planned…predicted. Are you willing to play into fate’s hands like this?”
“We’re ready for whatever else they plan to throw at us,” stated Peel boldly. “Besides, since when do you take to warning us? I thought you were on their side.”
“I am not speaking as someone who is directly concerned with these matters anymore.” Proghauser took her hands out of her pockets, only to place one on her hip as she tilted it to the side. “…I knew you would find this place…I knew that if I came here I would be able to see the event that we’ve been waiting for…but I think you four, of all people, would know that you’re about to set in motion a chain of events that could prove fatal, both to you and the rest of the world.”
This time Vee was the one to answer. “We’re going to put a stop to this, once and for all…we’ll make sure that no one else has to suffer…”
Proghauser closed her eyes and shook her head once more, a cynical smile creeping across her lips. Her eyes soon met Julian’s, and she gave him a demanding look, her head tilted to the side, almost as if she was daring Julian, challenging him…
Of course, that challenge was soon accepted as Julian thrust his hand forward, enveloping the glyph with his palm. Instantly, a loud ringing filled the area, and the very air around the platform they were on began to pulsate with energy. A strong wind began to blow, prompting everyone to shield their faces while Julian, whose hand was still glued to the glyph, struggled to keep himself aloft. The floating rocks around the platform then rushed from behind them to congregate in front of them, fitting together like a gigantic puzzle. Eventually they formed a large pathway, several meters below them, which seemed to dissolve the fog as it advanced until it reached the peak of a mountain which seemed to suddenly appear in the distance—the peak of Mt. Itoi. After that the ringing stopped, the glyph disappeared, and silence permeated the environment once more.
Julian rose and
looked over the edge of the platform, his eyes following the contour of the
pathway that had formed below them.
Peel, Joshua, and Vee soon joined him, and
together they looked to the
“So…I guess I don’t have to say what we should do next, huh?” asked Peel.
Julian raised his foot and held it in the air, then slowly lowered it and took a step forward. He was expecting to fall onto the stone below, but instead a mysterious force, originating from places unknown, caught him and supported him. This caused Julian to stumble, and he ended up taking a few more steps forward, onto thin air. When he regained his balance, he noted that the area directly below his feet glowed, as if there was an invisible walkway that only glowed when he stepped on it.
As Julian turned to his friends to call them, several glowing lights made themselves present along the sides of the invisible walkway, delineating a path that followed the contours of the stone path below, all the way to the observatory.
As if united by an unspoken bond, the four humans ran forward, not fearing the fact that they were all running on thin air. Proghauser, who was still on the platform, watched impassively as they ran.
***
There was a loud creaking as Julian and Vee each grabbed one of the rungs on the two large, wooden doors that served as the entryway to the observatory and pulled hard. The archaic-looking observatory groaned and rumbled as its doors were opened for the first time in several years, illuminating its dark insides with the light of the morning sun. Once the doors swung open, the four travelers stepped inside; their footsteps echoed as they tread on solid ground once again, their gazes wandering from left to right, up and down.
After they were all in, the doors, as if pushed by the will of the observatory itself, closed with a resounding slam, blocking off all light and bathing everything in darkness.
“What is this?” asked Vee, startled. “What happened to the lights?”
Her question was answered as something within the room began to hum, and several blinking light flashed to life before them. The sound of a machine starting up filled the room, and beeps and bloops could be heard alongside the constant humming as an eerie, artificial light, which seemed to emanate from nowhere in particular, cast odd shadows.
It was only when the room was fully illuminated that Julian could truly appreciate the sight before him: it was a huge computer, several meters tall and several meters wide, which easily took up half the available space in the room. There were several screens spread across the front of it, and they all seemed to display several lines of computer code, showing that the machine was starting up after what seemed an eternity of dormancy. Dozens of knobs, buttons, lights and switches were present in rows, and they flashed several different colors as the tape spools, which were protected behind small glass panes, began to whirr. Finally, the fans that lined the bottom of the machine, and which were obviously put there to cool the monstrous contraption, began to spin rapidly.
The World Device then spoke; it was a disturbingly apathetic voice, and it reverberated across the room. Its voice sounded as if a man and a woman spoke at the same time, although it was apparent that both voices, which spoke in perfect synchronization, were coming from the same place.
“Four subjects have entered
the observatory. Now analyzing...
“Subject: Maria Francisca;
age: 17, blood type: A...possesses latent leadership skills and a strong sense
of justice...is a gifted martial artist...has had a hand in shaping recent
events by assisting in the defeat of several of the alien invaders...before,
she would have been considered a human like any other, but her role in the
battle between the EarthBound ones and the space
pirates has given her a different path. Fate Variability Ratio: 85%.
“Subject: Joshua; age: 9,
blood type: AB...orphaned from a young age, and forced to live in the forest as
a wild boy after an accident at his orphanage...possesses incredible psychic
abilities, which allow him to talk to animals, use telepathy, and bend the
fabric of space around him, allowing him to teleport...the strongest and most
powerful psychic in the database after Subject ‘Ana’...the third and youngest EarthBound one...Fate Variability Ratio: 87%.
“Subject: Peel; age: 13,
blood type: B...a genius who can build amazing devices out of seemingly
ordinary materials...has perfected several devices that are light years ahead
of present human technology, including voice-activated mines, remote devices
and plasma cannons...is an expert mechanic, engineer and hacker, despite her
young age...emotional, curious, and excitable...her amazing technical skill is
balanced by her weak physical state, and has the lowest combat skill of the EarthBound ones. Fate Variability Ratio: 87%.
“Subject: Julian; age: 13,
blood type; O...the keeper of the [key]...incredible physical and psychic
skills...has fused with the alien life form, ‘Gleyd’...his
participation in the shaping of Earth’s fate has changed the path of it and
altered its variables completely...he is inhibited, however, by several
emotional issues, which impede him from realizing his true potential...he is
the first of the EarthBound ones, and is their
leader...as of a few months ago, he can be considered the most important
component of the paths of both Earth and the alien invaders. Fate Variability
Ratio: 99%
“Welcome, Julian...I have been expecting you.”
“The World Device…” the words left Julian’s mouth in the form of a barely audible whisper. His eyes became wide and his jaw dropped as he felt the full impact of his own words, as a child after hearing his favorite story.
Julian was snapped out of his reverie when Peel spoke from behind him, even though Julian didn’t bother to turn and look at her. “I don’t believe this…here it is, the World Device! We’ve been looking for it for so long, and we finally found it! After all these months, we’re finally here! It’s like a dream, you know?!”
Julian took a few steps forward and reached for his pack, weaving his fingers between the objects inside until he grasped something cold and metallic. Slowly he pulled it out and held it in front of him, like an offering, and stared at the World Device expectantly.
“I have…so many questions…” he whispered. “There’s so much I want to know…”
“As you should,” answered the World Device. “You have been searching for me ever since
that night in Snowman so long ago, even if you did not know it. By all means,
please ask me what you want to know.”
There was a pause before Julian spoke again. When he did, the words came calmly and slowly, as if Julian had been rehearsing those very words, subconsciously, for a long time.
“After that night…everything in my life changed. I wandered without a purpose, following only the faint trail of someone who could explain what was happening to me…I just want to know why I had to be the one to do this…”
Suddenly his voice raised, and he lifted his head to look straight at the topmost screen of the World Device with a piercing glare. “Why did you do this to me? Why did you rip my life to shreds like this?!”
“There is a reason for
everything that has transpired,” came
the machine’s reply. “Absolutely everything that has happened to you and
your friends has a reason for being. All shall be answered, but for that to
happen you must restore the World Device to its full capacity.”
Julian stared at the prism in his hand, it’s shiny, metallic surface gleaming with a new light as it realized that it had found its home. The circuit-like etchings that covered it whole seemed to carry a newfound energy through them, for they knew the time of the World Device’s reactivation was nigh.
“Do you think we should trust it?” asked Vee after hearing the Device’s speech. “Maybe we should wait a while, think things through.”
“There is no time for
that...Ninten is waiting for you.”
Julian’s eyes widened once more at the mention of Ninten. “What do you know about him?!” he demanded. “What’s so important about him that you had to bring me over here?!”
“Rest assured, all shall be
answered, but you must activate my functions once more. It is imperative!”
The impatience (if one could call it that) present in the World Device’s words was evident; it had probably already calculated the outcome of what would happen next, but it still took it upon itself to try and steer things in its chosen direction, just in case. Both Julian and the World Device knew that it would only be a matter of springing into action, for their thoughts, their movements, their very existence had already been decided by a force much more powerful than even they, who had the power to alter fate, could fathom.
Suddenly the doors of the observatory swung open violently to reveal the dark silhouette of Dual Proghauser standing before the orange sky.
“She’s…here…” croaked the argent-haired warrior, slightly out of breath. “Diva…is coming for you…”
Julian growled and whirled to face his friends, determination etched into his expressions. “We’ve come too far to get caught now. Peel, try to start up the machine while Joshua, Vee, and I try and hold off whatever’s coming. Got it?” The three others nodded, and Julian tossed the prism to Peel, who ran up to one of the consoles and began typing away at it frantically.
Vee unsheathed her sword and ran up to the door, nearly shoving Proghauser to the side as she did so. “Entonces? Are you with us or against us?” she yelled. Proghauser was unable to answer that question, and she merely stepped to the side as several Starmen began flooding the room.
Peel typed a few commands on the keyboard, her eyes glued to the small screen just above it that served as the primary interface. “Come on, you stupid piece of junk, work…”
“I am trying to reboot the
main driver, but I need your help to navigate the process. Are you capable of
doing that, Peel?”
“Just watch me.” Peel’s typing speed increased until her fingers became blurs gliding over the keyboard like a performing maestro. A trickle of sweat made its way down her temple, and the sounds of fighting reached her ears, but she blocked it all off, opting for concentrating on the task at hand.
Julian delivered a flying kick to a green-colored Starman and hit its face, using gravity to knock the robot to the floor and crush its head between the invisible floor of the walkway just outside the observatory and his heel. No sooner had he landed than he jumped up again to dodge a beam, cupping his hands and shooting forth a blast of PK Freeze to hit his attacker. We’re so close…I can’t give up now…he thought to himself. I can’t lose yet…
Vee leapt into the air, her sword held high above her while her eyes locked on a Starman waiting on the ground. Meanwhile, Joshua concentrated a great deal of psychic energy into his hands and introduced it into Vee’s blade channeling the power of PK Fire into her strike, which allowed her to cut through the Starman like it was made of nothing at all. Wisps of smoke curled out from the destroyed body of the Starman, and soon Vee was hacking away at another robot while Joshua provided assistance and cover.
The battle raged
on for what seemed like forever. It
could be said that every single attacking unit in the
“She’s finally here…”
Immediately the remaining Starmen discontinued their attack and backed off, leaving the three human fighters gasping for air, shocked. Slowly they backed away until they were right in front of Peel, who was still manipulating the World Device’s controls.
Dual Proghauser slowly ambled to the entrance of the observatory and got down on one knee ceremoniously, as any proper knight would before her queen. Slowly the observatory was inundated by a hazy, magenta aura that permeated the very air they were breathing, coloring their fears and their thoughts a gloomy purple. A dark purple orb came to being before the girl, crackling as it sent out large wisps of charged ions, jumping from place to place in a display that would have left anyone in awe if not for the ominous presence that it seemed to exhume from every point on its surface.
The sound that it made while it took shape could only be described as spine-racking. Julian could feel his bones rattling and his innards contracting as the orb stretched to gain new shape; one could say that the energy had acquired a rubbery property that it exercised as something tried to break out from inside. First one arm, then another…then two legs stretched the orb until the feet reached the floor. Finally, the general shape of a head stretched out on top. The dreadful moaning increased tenfold.
When the ritual was complete, the orb contracted to take on the new form of its occupant, who stood tall and stretched while the light dimmed, until the figure regained its composure and the orb melted into its skin, stark-white hair flowing from the head and an equally white robe materializing over its body, covering everything save for the hands, bare feet and head.
The light
disappeared, and in its place stood the Diva.