Chapter Thirty

"REPORT: SYSTEM ESTIMATE >> (JUDGMENT) BASED ON PRECEDENT, NINETEEN STANDARD YEARS.'"

Callana sat in the park, holding the Gina’s hand. They’d gotten an old quilt out from the hall closet and laid it down on the old hill where Callana had first given Gina a star, and they basked in the evening sun as it began to set off in the distance. Such a little star—hardly even a morsel. And yet, Callana would rather go another ten eternities without eating another star than live another day without the Gina.

She gave the Gina’s hand a gentle squeeze, and she felt the Gina squeeze back. As the clouds became a fiery red in the horizon, edging over the dunes and behind the sea, while the green planetary rings disappeared into the South, Callana leaned her head on the Gina’s shoulder and sighed.

“You ready to head out?” the Gina said.

“Hmm. Yes,” Callana said. “Where to next?”

“Remember that play you said you wanted to watch?”

“Mar-a-thon of Win-ter?” Callana said.

“I might have found a couple tickets,” the Gina said with a coy grin, fishing out two slips of paper from her back pocket.

“How did you get those?” Callana shrieked. “It is sold out ev-ery-where!”

“Huh. You know, I guess I must be a good girlfriend or something.”

“Did you bully the Von?”

“Might have bullied Von.”

“Well, he owed you anyway,” Callana said.

The Von had kept his distance for a few weeks after he moved out, but he and the Nard had eventually invited the two of them out to a sleazy old gorodki rink where they all hung out and threw bats at wooden pins. It had seemed like the Nard still kept his distance from Callana, even as he absolutely destroyed them at the game, but she couldn’t blame him for his reaction. He’d certainly taken the brunt of the shock from the earthquake incident, all things considered. Still, it had been nice to catch up, even if the vibe hadn’t quite gotten to its old, effortless comfort. Von had offered a small apology for his behavior, but it did seem a bit hollow. Despite that, Callana could tell that in a few years, he and the Gina would probably come to a mutual understanding.

The Gina, meanwhile, had gotten an acceptance letter from Eston University a few days ago. The school wasn’t that big, but it was just a twenty-minute drive away. While she’d debated going to a few nicer universities across the sound, she’d eventually settled for the closest option—both because she didn’t want to leave her social circle behind, and because she hadn’t gotten good enough grades to get accepted anywhere else. But Callana didn’t mind staying in Eston a while longer. With the Gina’s parents so close and the numerous parks and beaches—not to mention the dumb tourist attractions—the town had a lot of fun things to do. Arcades to visit, chintzy glass memorabilia to eat… yeah, it wasn’t a half-bad place to spend a few billion years.

As she followed the Gina over to her car, she paused for a moment. An unnaturally tall, dark-skinned young man sat right in front of their car, wearing simple, touristy clothes, and clearly waiting for them.

He locked his dull, green eyes with Callana’s. “Good evening, named one,” he said in that familiar, dreadful voice.

“You again?” the Gina said. “Didn’t you fuck things up enough last time, Bob?”

The One gave her a thin smile. “I have stayed on this world for several months,” he said. “With great effort, I halted the tsunami that resulted from my hasty entrance, and I have aided your healers in repairing the damage to the injured. For the harm I have caused, I apologize, miss Murovtskin.”

The Gina rolled her eyes. “Look, man, I’m glad you’re sorry, but we’re in the middle of a date. Do you mind?”

“I will leave shortly. But you, named one,” he said. “You emerged from death retaining the bulk of your might—and you have expressed regret for your actions, as I have expressed regret for mine. Assaulting you without provocation was… a deep error. Flagrant, impulsive. I may yet undergo disciplinary action from my superiors.”

“Oh,” Callana said. “I’m sorry.”

“No. The error was mine alone.”

He stood to his full, eight-foot height, blinking at them with dull eyes. He looked so plain, so average, yet Callana could tell that his face hid a far sharper, far more terrifying mind than even her own.

“I would ask a favor, though. If you would grant it.” He snapped his fingers and produced a small, wooden rectangle, hand-carved in a dozen places with runes and arced lines. It vaguely resembled a ‘teevee’ remote, but only in passing. “We, the Chalzaera, are but children to our doomed ancestors—yet we are the sole remaining bulwark against calamity. If you recognize the damage that you have caused in the past, then you understand that something must be done. Our war is slow—a losing battle, festering with tragedy. I will not lie to you; we exist solely to reduce harm, to slow the inevitable. The maggots—your kin—are far from our greatest foes.”

“I’m sorry,” the Gina said, “but do you really have to call them ‘maggots?’ That’s so… racist.”

The One grimaced. “Indeed, it is not a flattering word. Would you prefer if I called them ‘The Victorious Dead?’ Some of our number prefer that term.”

“To be honest, that seems pas-sive aggre-ssive too, considering…” Callana interjected.

“Look,” the Gina said, “if you’re trying to recruit her to your little army—”

“No,” The One said. “Merely to establish a line of communication.” He handed Callana the little piece of endelwood. “The Hierophant comes; really Rebirth looms at our door. I cannot apologize enough for my error, but if you wish to understand why we—why I… This device will let you speak to my commanding officer.”

“So, you are trying to recruit her,” the Gina snapped.

“I’ll think about it,” Callana said.

“Cal?”

Callana looked down, staring at the microorganisms in the grass. How small they were—how large she still was, despite everything. “I won’t say yes. And I won’t join—I don’t trust you. You att-ack-ed my girl-friend, you broke my city, you hurt my friends… but if I can come back from the… things I did? Then I have to give you the ben-e-fit of the doubt, too. So, I’ll talk to her. And if I think you are do-ing the right thing, I might consider lending a hand in a limited ca-pa-city. That is all I can pro-mise.”

“And that is more than I could ask for,” The One said, bowing. “But until we meet again, I must bid you goodbye. Farewell, named one, Callana—and may the united grace of Tora’Tsif and Harmony light your path.”

Callana started for a moment. She had expected to hear at least one of those names from him, but never both. After all those eons of warfare—perhaps things had changed, after all.

He walked off, leaving them to stare into the distance as he slowly wandered out of the parking lot and into the forest below. A few minutes later, Callana felt the tiniest twinge of the earth subtly rumbling beneath her feet. With that, The One who Follows went his own way.

“You didn’t have to do that,” the Gina said. “You don’t owe him anything.”

“I know,” Callana said. “But I want to help if I can. They aren’t bad peo-ple. Just scared.”

“Well, it’s a scary world,” the Gina said.

“It’s got its charms, though,” Callana said, winding her arm around the Gina’s waist.

“Ooh, saucy.”

“Yes! Sauce!” Callana chirped. She slipped into the passenger seat of the Gina’s brand-new car—purchased with a conveniently large wad of cash of legally unknown origin—leaned her seat back, and reached into the bag of bottles in the backseat. They clinked as she jostled around, looking for the right one to whet her palate. Eventually, she fished out an old, green beer bottle by the neck. She took a bite out of the base—oh, it was like Heaven. As she took another bite, she smiled as the Gina started driving off, singing out of tune with some pop song on the radio.

Yes, perhaps things had changed—and for the better, this time.

The End of Book One

Well, this has definitely been one of the strangest little projects I've ever worked on. I'm really thankful to all my patrons on Patreon, as well as my beautiful fiancée, Toni, who I may or may not have based Callana off of pretty much entirely. I'd originally intended this to be a little short story, perhaps only a few thousand words long, but it ballooned into a full novel, at (by my word processor's count) fifty thousand words. And I wrote it in two months lol. Take THAT, depression!

Since I've enjoyed this process so much, I'm gonna do my best to stick to Scribble Hub for a while! I have a gajillion ideas for stories in the Three Spheres, and I don't really think I'll ever stop. Maybe when I'm dead. Who knows? Either way, if you enjoyed this story, please consider supporting me on Patreon, because that's, like, a totally cool thing to do.

See you next time!