Mother
Alternate
Finality
Chapter Eight: Five-Year-Old Universe
You’re almost there…keep
going…
There’s no time to look back now.
What’s done is done…now there is only the road ahead
of you.
Your friends are lost and confused…
Your greatest power…
“Ugh…”
Julian was suddenly eased into the throes of the conscious world by a soft breeze which caressed his cheek. The awakening hadn’t been a pleasant one, however, and he was far from ready to take the helm of his body, especially now. All in all, it felt like Julian had just been woken from his sleep several hours too early.
Oddly enough, there was no pain; unlike the other times he had been forced into unconsciousness, his body wasn’t sore, and his head wasn’t spinning. As a matter of fact, he felt fine, at least physically—his mind was still trying to sort out the cavalcade of information that it had taken in a while ago. In an effort to clear his head, Julian slowly eased himself into a sitting position, eyes still closed, while he rubbed at his forehead and placed his hand on the grass for support.
Wait a minute…grass?!
Julian’s eyes
shot wide open. Are we back at the base
of
Julian finally worked up the nerve to stand up and take a look around, and the scenery spread out before his eyes shocked him. For one, he was on an island—a really small one. The whole thing barely had enough room to fit him, mainly because of the large birch tree that occupied the small piece of land with him. For a moment, it seemed to Julian as though someone literally scooped the piece of land he was on and deposited it inside a lake.
The lake was filled to the brim with shimmering, crystal-clear water. It, unlike the patch of land where Julian was currently located, was rather large, and more grassy plain surrounded it, stretching all the way to the horizon. The sky, surprisingly, shone with every color at once; it wasn’t like a rainbow, as much as it was like an illusion—when Julian looked at it, it was pink, but when he turned away he saw it turn lavender out of the corner of his eye, and when he looked again it was now a light purple.
Well, wherever he was he certainly wasn’t going to get anywhere by staying on that minute island, that was for sure. He had to find his friends, and figure out just what had happened before Diva could catch up to him. She could be anywhere by now, and—eep!!
Suddenly the tiny spot of land bobbed to one side and dumped Julian into the water, then stayed there, bobbing and swinging contentedly, like a cork.
Julian didn’t even have time to scream when he found himself landing bottom-first on the bottom of the lake, kicking up a cloud of dust that swirled around angrily before settling on the floor again. Immediately an alarm was set off in Julian’s head, ordering him to swim to the surface and get some oxygen. Julian was about to comply, too, if not for the fact that he found out that he could breathe perfectly well underwater. What’s more, he wasn’t floating to the surface.
After standing and regaining his balance, Julian looked up at the island he was standing on previously, and found that it was literally floating on the surface—the roots of the birch tree were sticking out of the bottom of the patch of land, and the island looked round from his vantage point. The soil on the lake floor was tinted a light blue, giving off the impression that Julian was somehow stuck in the ocean.
He hadn’t walked two paces when Julian tripped over something and fell flat on his face, producing a muffled ‘oomph’ and another cloud of dust. Immediately, almost dreamily, he got up, rubbed his forehead, and went to check on the little obstacle: a rock. A thick, round rock which just happened to be painted in a way that made it resemble a house. The top was painted a cheerful red, while the rest was yellow. A crooked image of a door was etched into one side, and there was even a small tendril of algae swirling beside the rock that was painted like a mailbox.
What is this place? Julian couldn’t stop asking himself that question as he sloshed out of the lake and walked away from it, towards no direction in particular. And where are the others? Are they here too?
As Julian was asking himself these questions he found himself walking into a small thicket, replete with trees and bushes. He hadn’t seen it on the horizon; it had just popped up when he reached it, as if the place didn’t even want to make itself known until Julian was right there. To tell the truth, it was almost as if the thicket was there to guide him. Maybe he was sent to this place for a reason…
“Shh! Be quiet, or they’ll hear us!”
A hushed voice, speaking in a harsh whisper, curled out of a bush to Julian’s right and reached his ears, causing him to whirl his head to the side and stare at the shrubbery, which was shaking slightly, obviously concealing something within. After that initial whisper came a short, frantic reply from another voice that tried to stifle the first:
“You’re the one making noise, four-eyes!”
Four…eyes…?
“A-HA! I’ve finally found you!”
Julian was immediately drawn away from the shrub and forced to look down at the small girl that gave that last exclamation. She wore a plain white shirt with a bow in the front, and a pair of beige shorts. There was a jungle of red hair growing out of the top of her head, which concealed her eyes and highlighted the freckles on her cheeks.
“Come on out! I know you’re in there!”
Julian gasped. He knew this girl.
The two voices from the bush suddenly gained owners as two boys popped out from within and brushed the leaves off their clothing. The first was a short boy in plain clothing, with neatly-combed gray hair and round, thick glasses. The second was much taller, wore a pink, sleeveless T-shirt and, surprisingly, a pair of sunglasses that nearly blended in with his jet-black hair. The former of the two turned to the girl and gave her an annoyed look.
“Aw, it’s no fun playing hide and seek with you, Pippi…you always win!”
Another gasp. That girl is…Pippi?
“Well, don’t play if you don’t want to, Loid! You know the rules!”
The largest boy placed his hands behind his head and began to walk away. “I think I’m bored with this game. I’m gonna go meet Ana at the square. You comin’?”
“Of course, Teddy!” replied the pipsqueak Pippi, who trailed behind the tiny Teddy with her hands tangled behind her back. Little Loid followed soon after.
Julian could barely form words. He held up a hand to try and stop the trio from leaving, but it lowered shakily when he saw that the children barely noticed him. His lips tried to form words, but he soon found that all he could do was follow…
“H-hey! Wait! Come back!”
It was surreal. Despite the fact that the children were only walking and that Julian was running as fast as his legs could carry him, he still trailed behind the mini-Pippi and her friends, and was almost unable to keep up with them. After what seemed like hours was Julian able to devise a small protrusion of building just over the horizon. He lost the kids as soon as they entered the town, leaving Julian to stop at the gate.
“Welcome to Magicant. Not Magic-Ant. Magicant.”
Julian stopped and stared at the small wooden arch decorated with lavender writing that served as the town’s entrance. Beyond that there were several rustic-looking houses, painted in all shades of color, from blue to brown to black. People were poking their heads out from almost every single second-story window, either talking to their neighbors or yelling or just plain looking—it didn’t look like it mattered. Most houses were either wide open or had small tents in front of them, like a sort of bazaar, and people walked freely from place to place, chatting and laughing. Their collective voices seemed to meld into a giant murmur that, oddly enough, was unperceivable until one actually passed through the gate.
Julian stepped onto the red brick streets and began walking around, his eyes unfocused and his attention wavering. The people all seemed to be dressed alike: the women all wore bonnets, and the men all wore hats. The children were the only ones who stood out, but there were very few of them, and they mostly limited themselves to looking at whatever they found in a tent, or playing with their contemporaries.
“Hey, Mister! You want a picture?”
A young boy called out to Julian from his left and drew him over. He had a small table set up sandwiched in between two bigger tents, and he sat there, arms crossed, while he beamed at Julian and hailed him. Strewn about across the table top were crayons of all colors and sizes, along with several sheets of white paper. Julian crouched down until he was eye to eye with the lad and tilted his head to the side.
“A picture of what?”
“Oh, you, of course! It’s what I do, see?” the boy stood and leaned over the table, then pointed at a small sign hanging from the edge, scribbled in green crayon. It said, “Drwaings on commissionn.” The S’s and the N’s were all backwards.
After reading the sign, Julian looked back to the child and shrugged. “I’m sorry; I don’t have any money…”
“That’s okay! I’ll do it for free!” The child immediately grabbed his crayons and began scribbling furiously on the paper while his tongue curled out of his mouth like a worm. After a few minutes he sighed and laid his crayons down, then slid the paper over for Julian to take it. “Here. Have a nice day!”
Julian took the paper, then grabbed his backpack and rummaged through it. He had to give the kid something…
“Here. It’s a compass. I don’t need it anyway.” Julian handed the black object over to the artist and gave him a warm smile. The child, in turn, looked the compass over with glazed eyes.
“Ooh…” he cooed. “The arrow’s spinning…I have to show this to my brother!” With that, he stood and was off.
Not long after, Julian found himself entangled with another citizen of Magicant: an old woman carrying a large bag. She had dropped it after tripping on something and losing her glasses. Julian came to her rescue and helped her to her feet, then carried her groceries and helped her put them away when she got to her house. He was given a big, silver coin with a picture of a dancing pig (clad in piggy-print underwear) on it as a reward.
The rest of the day was spent like that, with Julian wandering through the town and mingling with its people. He spent his coin on a big, orange apple from a tent that belonged to a woman and her two children; he traded the apple to a dog juggler dressed as a cat for a juggling act, and then joined him by attracting the crowd with a horn and cheering him on. After that he played a game of throw-the-square-ball-through-the-hoop-while-blindfolded-after-spinning-in-place-for-way-too-long-to-even-think-about-how-silly-it-sounds-no-we’re-serious in a game tent and won a doll (the final score was 11 to Q; he barely won by two clarinets)—he gave the doll to a little girl who had dropped her candy on the floor and was crying. By the time he decided to stop, the sky began to display different shades of yellow, red, and orange, and most everyone had gone home. Julian suddenly found himself alone.
After placing his hands in his pockets he began to wander away from the crowded parts of the city and towards a part of Magicant that he had yet to see. When he finally got there he saw that at the town center was a large, circular opening with a fountain in the center. The fountain was spouting water contentedly showering passers-by with a light mist. And sitting on the very rim of that fountain was…
“Julian!” Peel ran up to meet her friend and embraced him, while Joshua and Vee looked at him perplexedly.
“Julian? Is that really you?” Soon enough Vee’s confusion melted into happiness and she returned the embrace. “Man, am I glad to see you! I thought we’d lost you!”
Julian separated himself from his traveling buddies and set himself down on the rim of the fountain, next to her. “To tell you the truth, I don’t know where ‘here’ is…”
Joshua shook his head. “It’s a long story. Actually, we’re going to meet up with someone who’s been helping us here…I’m sure she’ll be able to help us now that we’re all together.”
Suddenly Vee leaned forward and looked to someone in the distance, coming from their right. “Speaking of which…” she raised her hand and waved to the four figures that were coming closer. “Hey! Over here!”
Julian turned his head to look at Vee’s friends, and gasped for the third time that day.
“Hey, it’s them!” the younger version of Teddy stepped up to Peel and looked her over, then shifted his gaze, which was still obscured by his sunglasses, over to Julian. “Who’s this?”
“Teddy! That’s not very polite!” mini-Pippi pinched Teddy’s arm in a scolding manner, then turned to Julian and curtsied politely. “We’re very pleased to meet you, whoever you are.”
Loid ambled out from behind Pippi and inspected Julian while he adjusted his glasses, glinting some of the waning light onto the lenses. “Ah, you’re not from around here, are you?”
Julian shot a look at his friends, who shrugged innocently. “Amazing, isn’t it?” was the only thing Vee was able to say. “Although you still have to meet the other one…”
“Other one?” Julian raised his eyebrows, and prepared to ask a question, when a fourth, gentler voice reached his ears. Instantly he turned to see the child version of Ana, who stood before him with her bonnet in her hands. The other kids went mute when she made herself present.
“Hello, you must be Julian…pleased to meet you.”
***
“So, you live here in this town...by yourselves?”
Julian, Peel, Joshua, Vee, and the four miniature duplicates of Ana and her friends all sat at a small table inside one of the houses beside the center, where the fountain was. A white, iridescent flower picked from a flower patch on the outskirts of Magicant was the only source of illumination.
“We’ve been here for as long as we can remember,” said Ana. “I wouldn’t be able to tell you much more than that.”
Julian frowned and stared down at the wooden surface of the table while Vee fixed her gaze on the purplish sky that could be seen through the window.
“So we still don’t know what this place is, do we?” asked Peel absently while she looked at Julian. “For all we know, we could be on another planet...another galaxy even. And we still don’t have any idea what happened to Diva. Is she still out there?”
A gloomy silence fell on the room as the EarthBound ones pondered this fact. From their perspective things looked pretty hopeless, and even though the four of them were together now, things didn’t seem to be looking up.
The conversation all but died after that, and soon enough Julian found himself lying on a small bed shaped like a rocket ship, in a small room with Joshua. The girls had a separate room to themselves, and the children had gone elsewhere, probably to turn in for the night as well. The last thing Julian saw before drifting off to sleep was the navy-blue hue of the sky…
The next day was spent doing any manner of chores and jobs around Magicant. As it turned out, Ana was the unofficial caretaker and leader of Magicant, and although she herself wouldn’t admit it, it was obvious that her numerous visits to the citizens of the town were more than just pleasant chances to converse. That day, Peel was the one who accompanied her on her small tour of the enchanted town.
“I’ve noticed a slight change in your mood ever since your friend arrived,” commented Ana absently as she and Peel wandered through the streets, weaving around the crowds of people that gathered around the tents. “Would you mind if I asked why?”
Peel’s eyes grew and her tilted as she shot the pre-pubescent Ana a look. “I…what are you talking about?” she asked nervously. “I-I haven’t changed one bit! You must be imagining things…”
Ana smiled warmly and looked at Peel, as if saying, “You’re a terrible liar. I know you don’t want to admit it, but you really care about him, don’t you?”
Peel tangled her fingers behind her back and cast her gaze down to the tips of her shoes. “I…”
Suddenly she stopped cold. To her right was a tent selling Air Guitars.
“I don’t know how to answer that question.”
***
Loid walked past Vee, who was staring intently at a woman who was wandering down the street on a unicycle.
“Come on, Vee! We only have ‘til
Vee whirled and looked down at Loid, who was holding a large sheet of paper. Drawn on the paper, in crayon, were pictures of several different food items. Apparently Loid was to purchase these items for Ana so that she might make lunch later on.
“Um, sorry...” she said to Loid with a smile. “I was distracted.”
Loid smiled. “That’s okay.”
The journalist in Vee reared its head, causing her to catch up to her pint-sized companion. “I thought you were the computer expert, not the grocery boy,” she commented. “What’s up with that?”
Loid glanced briefly at Vee, then adjusted his glasses. “Computer? What’s a computer?”
Vee chuckled. “It’s a machine that you can use to create things.”
Suddenly Loid’s eyes lit up. “Really? Wow, I bet I could do a lot of stuff with something like that…” He grinned happily and his pace quickened as he continued walking down the street, with Vee not too far behind. The latter of the two could barely help smiling.
“You don’t act much like the real Loid, do you?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Oh, nothing…you just remind me of a friend of mine…”
***
Since Joshua and Pippi were the absolute youngest of the group, they were allowed to go free while the others took care of all the chores. They weren’t allowed to leave town, since Joshua didn’t know his way around, so Pippi offered to show Joshua all of her favorite places.
“…and this is where the older people come to watch the musicians. Sometimes I come here and I listen to them. It’s nice.”
Joshua watched in awe as a troupe of musicians set their equipment up on the wooden stage and began to play. In the meantime, Magicant-ites of all ages (all older than Pippi, hence her earlier statement) flocked to the place. Some enjoyed the music quietly, while others talked amongst themselves. Pippi and Joshua stood there silently as well, but quickly enough Pippi broke off and grabbed Joshua’s hands.
“Hey Joshua…what’s it like where you’re from?”
The question struck the wild boy as odd. Quite frankly, he’d never thought about it.
“Well, I don’t know, really…I’ve never stopped to ponder it.”
Pippi let go of Joshua’s hands and took a step back. “Hey, I know! Maybe you could make a poem about it!”
Joshua furrowed his brow. “I don’t understand…”
“It’s easy! Just say things about where you live, and make them rhyme!”
The little nature boy blinked in confusion. Obviously he’d never heard of poetry before. Pippi soon noticed this, and led Joshua off to the side, where she sat him down on a bench. “Don’t worry! If you want, I’ll show you by making a poem about this place!”
Joshua’s eyes grew. “Really?”
“Yep! Just watch!” Pippi took a step back, then straitened her shoulders, clenched her fists, and took a deep breath. She’d been waiting for a chance to use this one. After a moment’s worth of holding her breath, she began:
“This place is just magic, a wonderful ride! A present with wonderful things stuffed inside! You’ll love all the streets and the houses and places, and tons of amazing fantastical faces! There’s people with dogs that do nothing but laugh! And then there’s that guy with the fifteen-foot staff! Apples and oranges, smoothy parfait! The tent with the platypus calls you José!”
By now Julian was nearly bursting with laughter. Satisfied, Pippi continued:
“My favorite tent is the one with the moose! Then there’s the one with the big red caboose! Be careful if you run into Mr. Chisel, ‘cause he’ll give you candy that sizzles and fizzles! Finally you’ll find a chicken with wings, ‘cause Magicant’s filled with all these crazy things! This is the end of my beautiful rhyme! If you want I can do it just one more time!”
Pippi curtsied as Joshua fell off his bench, his eyes closed and filled with tears while he clutched at his sides and rolled around on the floor. This was the first time Joshua had ever laughed so hard, and soon enough Pippi joined him. Together the two children rolled on the floor, laughing until their faces hurt. And even then they giggled some more until they were tired.
Then, like a bullet, Joshua rose and dusted himself off.
“Okay, now it’s my turn…”
Pippi rose, then sat on the bench as Joshua told her about the forest.
***
“So you found that big lake with the birch tree in it…”
“Yeah. Not much to look at, really.”
While the others were doing chores, Julian and Teddy did what all moody, reclusive hero-types do best: sit around and talk absently. They were sent to help a cook named Yum E. Chow (proprietor of Yum E. Chow and Grill) with a problem he had. The problem involved both ice cream and dictionaries, but Teddy and Julian easily took care of it. Now they were sitting on the edge of the very fountain where they had met the previous day.
Of course, what Julian liked about being paired up with Teddy was that they understood each other. Unlike the others, Teddy knew well enough to avoid trying to pry into Julian’s life, because he wouldn’t have liked Julian doing it to him, either. As a result, the only words exchanged between the two were pleasantries. Not that Julian disliked the company of his friends; he just wasn’t about to try and socialize any more than he had to.
“You know, Loid’s been talking a lot about you guys since you got here.” Teddy placed his hands behind his head while he said that.
Julian chuckled. “Yeah. Figures.”
“So, where do you plan to go from here, anyway?”
“I don’t know.”
“Oh.”
The rather mundane discussion was interrupted as an energetic boy ran up to Julian.
“Hey, it’s you!”
It was the same boy that drew Julian’s picture the day before. Julian waved to him and voiced a polite greeting, which the boy happily returned. After chatting for a while, the boy took out the compass that Julian had given him.
“I wanted to ask you something. See, before the little arrow was spinning, but today I woke up and it stopped. Now it’s always pointing in the same direction…”
Julian took the compass from the boy’s outstretched hand and looked it over. Strangely enough, the compass was no longer spinning; it had stopped and was now pointing in one direction, just like the boy said.
Julian stood and turned so that he was facing the same direction as the compass arrow. There didn’t seem to be anything particularly different about this direction, so Julian sat back down and handed the compass back to its owner.
But then, he felt it.
What is that? Julian rose again and took a tentative step in the direction pointed out by the compass. Teddy, surprised, stood and looked at him, but made no move to stop Julian as he raised his right hand and held it out in front of him.
There. Julian’s brow furrowed slightly as the tattoo on his hand began emitting tiny, glowing photons. There’s something there…
Slowly he summoned the Aswer and held it in front of him. Like his tattoo, the edges glowed brightly. That was nothing, however, compared to what could be seen through the body of the Aswer itself: a large, floating castle, waiting in the distance.
Teddy let out a wolf whistle as he stepped beside Julian and stared at the castle through the [key]. Just out of curiosity, he tried to find the castle in the distance, but he soon found that the only way to see the massive construction was to look through the Aswer, like a revealing lens.
***
“Oh, Julian it was awesome! First we went to see some people who looked really crazy, but it turns out they were just actors, and then we went to this weird restaurant where they served strawberry tofu! It’s kind of weird, but it’s really good, kind of like war ice cream, you know?”
Julian held up his hands in an attempt to calm Peel down, who seemed positively stoked. At the moment they were sitting at the table in Ana’s house. Julian and his excitable companion where the only ones there; the others were upstairs. While Peel tried to recap her day as vividly as possible, Julian’s thoughts strayed to what he had found earlier. What was that castle? Why was it calling out to him like that? Was that where he was supposed to go?
“…but by then it was too late. Are you listening to me?!”
Julian blinked and looked at Peel. “Um…sure. Sorry about that.”
“Good. So, anyway…”
***
The sky was displaying a navy blue hue when it happened.
At first, it didn’t seem like much. The birch tree began to shake slightly as the island it was on bobbed weakly, creating small ripples in the mirror-like surface of the lake. But then, the island rocked more violently, causing a couple of birds, who found refuge for the night on the branches of the tree, to flutter away frightened. Soon enough the branches began to crack, unable to withstand the immense pressure put on them.
Then the whole island exploded in a flash of light.
“Julian! Please wake up!” Ana’s muffled voice could be heard on the other side of the wooden door as she pounded frantically on it. “It’s urgent! Please wake up!”
Julian stood from his bed, and the white flower on the table beside him came to life, inundating the room with light. Slowly he made his way over to the door and cracked it open, staring blankly at Ana. It only took him one look at her panicked face to realize something was wrong.
Quickly he went to Joshua’s bed and woke him up, then went to get dressed. After he and Joshua were fully clothed, he went to wake the girls. Once they were all together they headed downstairs, where Ana and her friends were waiting.
Outside, the citizens of Magicant had all left their houses, and were gathered around their separate doorways. Most mothers held their sleeping children to their bosoms, while the older children and the adults talked amongst themselves. When Julian and his friends left the confines of Ana’s house, they could only do the same.
“What’s happening? Why is everyone up like this?” asked Vee to no one in particular.
“We’re not sure,” replied Loid. “But some people say they heard a loud explosion a few minutes ago. We’re not sure what it is…”
Suddenly Loid’s discourse was cut off as the citizens finally spotted something in the distance and began to scream.
The white-hot light that was slowly advancing towards the town was easily consuming everything that stood in its path. Trees and bushes disintegrated in its wake, leaving nothing but scorched ground where there was once lush greenery. The light was advancing slowly, but surely, and slightly behind the giant wall of destruction, there was a figure…
“Diva…” Peel’s jaw dropped as she said the name none of the EarthBound ones wanted to hear, especially not now. “She found us…”
Teddy quickly assessed the situation. “You guys have to go! Quickly!”
Julian’s eyes widened. “What?! But what about you?”
Pippi shook her head and looked at Julian reassuringly. “This is how it has to be. Please hurry!” She then turned to Joshua and smiled. “I had lots of fun playing with you.”
Joshua’s eyes welled up with tears, and he began to sob silently. “But…what’ll happen to you?”
“We’ll be okay…”
Slowly Ana stepped up to Julian and hugged him, then did the same for Peel, Joshua, and Vee. “Please take care of yourselves,” she said softly. “And be safe.”
Vee was about to protest, but a look from Loid silenced her. Wordlessly Julian held out his hand until it glowed, indicating the direction of the invisible castle, and then took off running in that direction. The others followed, trying to hold back tears of grief.
The light was to the town limit now, and mercilessly it consumed the gate. The first houses disappeared as the light destroyed them. Diva’s cruel, unstoppable advances destroyed everything in their path, eliciting screams and sobs. There was no fire, no noise, nothing; just destruction and pain.
As Julian felt himself getting closer to the castle he summoned the Aswer and used it as a lens, quickly finding the castle and leading his friends to it. Surprisingly enough, once they got close to it, the gargantuan castle seemingly appeared out of thin air. Its lavender-colored walls seemed to beckon to the travelers, who quickly ran through the gate, which was made out of brick, like the entire structure. They stopped for a moment, standing in the shadow of the large, pointed arches that decorated the seemingly desolate castle. Then they turned to look at Magicant and grieve.
Ana, Loid, Teddy, and Pippi looked in
the direction where Julian had run.
Their backs were to the ever-consuming light that was coming closer, yet
they showed no fear. While Pippi wrung her hands behind her back, Ana held her bonnet,
Teddy crossed his arms and Loid placed his hands on
his hips. They managed to form weak
smiles as the light finally devoured them.