Lucas had hardly left when the door to the hospital room burst open and Ken rushed in. Haru stared at the fox-boy in surprise. "What are you doing here?" she asked.
Ken shrugged, too busy looking her over with concern to put on his usual smile. "I came to see if you were okay," he said. "Zara left me a message that you were at the hospital. What happened? Are you hurt?"
Haru smiled sadly. "N-no, I'm okay, it's just...some...some thing has taken over my...my third eye," she said. She was trying to maintain her composure, but the stress of the situation, and her disgust at being used like this, were welling up all at once; something about having him here made her feel like...like it was okay to let it out. She started to cry. "I don't like this!" she said. "I want them gone!" It was so strange; for all that she never really wanted this power, and felt like it was dragging her into a larger world than she was really comfortable in, to have it taken from her like this...this was everything she'd been afraid of when revealing her secret to Jon...that someone might try to exploit her for their own ends...that she would be nothing more than a tool...
Ken placed a hand on her shoulder, and she felt a little calmer. "It'll be okay," he said. "They'll figure this out."
Haru smiled in spite of herself and placed a hand on his arm. Neither of them said anything for a bit; then Ken asked, "Um...is there...anything I can do to help?"
Haru thought it was sweet of him to offer, but what could he do? Even the angel-woman with a connection to deep elemental magic hadn't just zapped her problem away. And Ken was just...just a normal...
She didn't say anything; she just rested her head on his chest. He sputtered a little, not sure how to react. She couldn't exactly look him in the eye from this position, so she just explained. "I...they're trying to see things with my eye," she said. "When I look at other people, I see all these crazy things that I only ever might understand if I get them to share their secrets with me. But...when I look at you...I just see you. You're the most honest thing I've ever seen. Let them look at that."
Ken smiled and put an arm around her.
Jon looked around the pizza place, feeling a little antsy. Lucas had left abruptly for some reason that she hadn't bothered to disclose, and Adam had left not long after, saying that she had some errands to run and looking on the mailbag she was wearing like a kid with a new toy. That left her and Joanna sitting in the booth with the last third of a pizza going mostly untouched and not much being said.
The slug-girl looked down at the pizza, then back up at the Neanderthal woman. "Um," she said, "about that wish...thank you for doing that for him. Her. I...I'm not trying to tell anybody to be anything they don't want to, really I'm not, it's just...I mean, people can want something they think will make them happy when it really won't, and I only have the one shot at this...I don't even know when the alignment that makes it possible is going to happen after this next one, if ever..." She flushed a little; she hated it when she realized she was rambling, but sometimes she just wanted to explain herself and there was so much to say...
Joanna nodded knowingly. "Trying to alter a wish is an even more difficult business than making one," she said. "I understand why you are looking at this solution. But I also understand why Lucas wants to be sure; would I want to become human again? I spent years feeling that I lived in the wrong body; I understand her feelings. And I do appreciate that she has taken such burdens on herself for the sake of the rest of the world."
Jon sighed. "Yeah...and, I mean, I'd have to think that for her, or for you, that's how it would work out anyway. I mean, how would you be better off going back to the way you were? And there's a girl at my school who wants to stay a girl, even though she was a guy...I dunno if I'll ever understand that myself, but...I hope I'm doing right by them...and...and anyway, you did give up those jewels..."
Joanna smiled. "You're doing the best you can," she said. "And I think you will come to understand many things better in time. As for the jewels, I meant it: they mean nothing. Jon, I can carve a piece of bone and paint it with ochre and have made jewelry out of scrap. But in a time like this, when I am living the rebirth of my people that I have waited years for without ever actually expecting to see, how can I be distraught over little baubles? I might as well get married and spend the entire wedding fretting over the napkins while ignoring my husband, for such a lack of priorities."
Jon chuckled, setting little quivering motions up her antennae. "I guess. D'you...do you really think you can bring them back? I mean, obviously it's great that your species is back, but...what about the rest?"
The Neanderthal woman shrugged. "Difficult to say," she said. "Completely as they were? Not likely. I'm afraid there is little room left in the world for hunter-gatherer peoples - and where there is, there are usually tribes already there. But...I remember our culture...I do not know how many of us have been changed because of some existing connection, as I was, but...if there is any reason for it, then perhaps they will be interested in hearing what I can share, and we can work out how best to preserve it in the modern world."
Jon raised an eyebrow. "You think there's a reason behind all this?" she asked. "I mean, from your story it's pretty obvious why you changed the way you did, but..."
Joanna frowned. "Maybe not in every case," she said. "And if there is, certainly it is not as simple as everybody becoming what they always wanted to be, obviously. But...the changes stem from your wish, Jon. A wish to make the world interesting. That in itself is a purpose. Perhaps that purpose leads to a method, even if we cannot tell it by looking. Have all of those who changed into my people felt a connection with that heritage before? Probably not. But perhaps they changed because they will be receptive to the idea? I don't know. I will not know until I find out. But it is a possibility. Perhaps these things do happen for a reason."
"I...I guess that's one way to look at it," Jon said. "Huh." She didn't even try to think of what the "reason" for her own situation might be...there wasn't one. After all, even Joanna didn't think that that was universally the case. It was just something that happened...
She heard someone approaching and turned to see Tim - and realized that she'd completely forgotten about him for the better part of half an hour. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" she gasped. "I...I didn't mean to just bail on you like that...really, I'm sorry..." And after she'd brought him here, too...
The drow-boy nodded. "It's...it's okay. Tiffany said it was something important. I just...um..." He fidgeted a little before sliding into the booth next to Joanna and opposite Jon, then leaned forward and lowered his voice. "Were you really the one that changed the Sun?" he asked.
The slug-girl gaped at him. "Y-you...you heard?" Tim smiled sheepishly and pointed to his ears - they weren't hugely oversized, but they did look like pretty efficient collectors of sound. "I...kinda couldn't help it," he said. "Sorry. I...I didn't say anything to Tiffany, but I think she had some level of a clue anyway...but she took off already."
Jon stared down at the table. "I...yeah," she said, quietly. "Yeah, it's true. I didn't mean to, I just didn't know what I was doing. I'm...I'm sorry, Tim, I know you said before that you got annoyed with how people treated you because of this..." She felt even more embarassed than when she'd admitted it to the other keepers; of course, it helped that all of them had some kind of botched wish or thing so that they could relate. But here...
Tim chuckled. "Look, it's okay," he said. "I mean, yeah, people annoy me, but that's nothing new. People just do that. And I already said I don't mind the body." He looked a little concerned. "Don't beat yourself up over it, okay?" he said. "You've got enough to worry about as it is."
Jon smiled in spite of herself. It...it seemed like everybody she told didn't even mind that she had turned the whole planet upside-down. Didn't mind what she had done to them. And...it was nice to know that she could trust Tim with her secret, too...
Somewhere within the collective mind that was forming around the kernel of Julian's consciousness, there was dissent. The angel had sent them a message; had let them know where to find the Water element. The Enemy wanted this power. Julian wanted this power. Therefore, they would go and get it. But there was a separate voice, an aspect of Julian's self that Julian didn't typically listen to, that was screaming.
Don't do it! it argued. It's a trap, goddammit, it's obviously a trap!
The Elements are keys to ultimate victory, said the Enemy. With them, we can remake all of reality to suit our goals.
Don't do it? Are you kidding me? responded Julian's ordinary way of thinking. This is a damn cosmic keystone! We pass this up, we may never get another chance like it! Think of what we could do with that power!
But it's that angel bitch! argued the small voice. You remember her! She's a tricky bastard, you know that! She wouldn't be doing this if she wasn't planning something!
Yeah, and? We're way the hell more powerful than we were last time. Even if she tries something, who's to say we can't beat her? Nothing ventured, right? 'Sides, isn't that all the more reason to kick her ass?
More powerful!? yelped the small voice. We got beat by a damn girl! An eight year old! These Enemy clowns don't know how to listen to our input, and they're doing weird things to our mind! The hell kind of chance do we stand against someone who's already beaten us when we're still figuring this out?
Look, snapped Julian's typical mindset. It's under control, got it? God, you're such a pussy. We know what we're doing. Besides, the Enemy are coming around, and they were close enough to working the first time. This time it'll be different. You'll see.
...they're consuming us, you know, said the small voice. Bit by bit.
Okay, seriously, said typical Julian. We know this is weird, but we've just gotta stick with it. We've gone too far to give up on it now. Just for a while. We give them what they want, and they give us what we want, and then we can call it quits. Besides,
"consume" is inaccurate, the Enemy pointed out. Nothing is lost. It is merely integrated.
So it's no big deal.
And then you'll quit? asked the small voice, but it was already growing indistinct. You'll really give up this power once you've got anoth- But it was gone before it could finish, buried under the noise of a developing collective entity planning its course of action.
I will, said what remained of Julian. I can quit any time I want.
