Chapter 22: Mortals and Fools
Harrison observed the Dark Realm through his drone's camera. This place was incredible, and the native beings had a way of life similar to that of a human being. He wondered if they were formerly humans, evolving in their new location. Some looked to have a humanoid shape with beady gold eyes and black-purple skin, albeit lacking the other facial features of a person—well, maybe they had mouths it was hard to tell. However, others appeared to be nothing more than balls of water or fire with an energy core in the center.
He looked to Maki, who was helping operate some machines and rocking Alexandrina, who was finally asleep. Now that she had a grasp on her powers, she used her ice to make snowmen, tiring herself out.
"Say, Maki, what's gonna happen if we actually succeed in breaking the curse?"
"Dorian goes back to his semi-normal life, I guess. But Chandra might get pissed and come back."
"That's what I'm worried about. If Chandra hasn't returned, does that mean we end up failing? Or is this like Back to the Future, and the effect the changes have on the timeline take longer to be made known, meaning she hasn't realized yet and will be back to ruin our day sooner or later?"
"I don't know." Was the reply, but Harrison wasn't done lamenting his worries to her,
"And he made Mia promise to isolate him if this mission fails, and kill him if it came to that. Would Chandra wait for that moment to come back, or does Dorian go nuts and get free? I don't know, and it's freaking me out."
Maki yawned, her voice monotone as she said, "You are aware that there was a second time-traveler, right?"
"Adelina? Yeah, I remember her. But Chandra seemed more eager to do this, and she's the one who resorted to harming us to make us submit, while Adelina decided to talk things out. Hence why I decided to lock Chandra in the box, and if I ever see her again, won't hesitate to do so again." He then started pacing, and Maki rolled her eyes,
"Ah, humans, so anxious about things. Just use the tablet, Mia asked me to build you five years ago." Harrison went to his desk and pulled out the tablet he had been given for his thirteenth birthday, "It will show you anything file in the multiverse you want to see."
"Alright then, I actually didn't realize it could do that."
"To be fair, Amelia didn't know it could do that either. I just wanted to test my skills."
Harrison searched for Chandra Nalaar, frowning when he came up empty. He did, however, find some leads as to who her future parents might be, before deciding this was irrelevant because it wasn't like he was going to go hunt down and kill her parents before she's born, so why would this matter.
(Well, if Dorian found out about Chandra's parents, Harrison didn't put it past him to go kill the parents.)
He sighed, about to turn off the tablet, before then deciding to look up a stone of tanzanite. Nothing except the rock itself, without magical properties.
"Just relax," Maki said, "Worst case, you smite her if she comes back. No biggie."
Harrison pondered this. Two years ago, he wouldn't dream of killing someone, but now it was a necessity to protect himself and those he cared about. And the fact it could be counted as self-defense—torture of Chandra not included—made the line between right and wrong grow increasingly blurry until it got to a point it was hard to tell if the killing was for self-defense or only murder.
He was a scientist at heart, wanting to discover the world's secrets and figure out the science behind magic, but he feared doing that would lead to inhumane treatment and only once had his morals been defied.
"What would your mother do if the curse was broken?"
Maki turned from where she was building some grenade, "I doubt she'd care. Chandra and Adelina are the only reason she bothered, and the rest is her taking advantage of the situation. But from what I've overheard, someone else would need to break the curse, and be okay with dying to do it."
"Damnit, how are we gonna get past that?"
"I'll do it." Was the quiet response, "I have no reason not to. It's only a matter of time before Mara realizes myself, Macy, and Lara are all traitors, so we'll likely die anyway. Might as well make mine worth something by saving the life of another—what can I say? Makane rubbed off on me a little."
"That's quite noble of you," Harry murmured, not liking the idea of another of Amelia's nice sisters going to the grave, "How many witches are left at this point?"
"Last I checked, it's 253. But it might be less. I don't know nor care about the condition of most of my sisters." She looked up at him, "What about you? How do you plan to spend your newly extended life?"
"Huh?"
"Makane gave her immortality to you. Because you're human and was dead at the time, I assume you will merely age must slower and have a couple hundred years instead of thousands."
"I didn't know about that," he replied, amazed that it was even possible.
"Well, now, you do. Don't expect to develop powers, though, you only have a longer life."
Harrison had been looking at his hands, with that thought in mind. At hearing that he wouldn't get superpowers, he sighed, "Bummer." Then he shrugged, "Oh well, I'm not complaining. But it is weird to imagine having not only an average lifespan but also an extended one. There are so many things I want to do! See the world, discover new things, imagine the possibilities!"
"I was born and raised knowing I'm immortal, the possibilities seem dull because of it," Maki went on to explain, "since you lose your appreciation for life. It's the immortal's curse, being eternally bored and eventually losing all morals because the guilt will go away in a couple hundred years. Hence, it's easier to care about another immortal. But due to my intelligence, I grew jaded before I even settled. I'm 118 now, and life back then for a girl is so pathetic, saying I belonged in the kitchen when all I wanted was to learn. And fuchsia hair didn't help things along. So appreciate the little things while you can, because soon the years will fly by and you lose care."
"And suddenly, all excitement of having a long life is gone," Harry muttered bitterly, "Gee, thanks." Maki shrugged,
"You're lucky to have had immortal friends right from the start. They're going to be around for a long time, assuming they don't get killed."
Harrison sighed, beginning to contemplate the meaning of life as he went back to watching the camera.
...
"So Dorian confessed to you," Amelia said, trying to fish for a reaction from Kelly, who had been unusually quiet.
Kelly shrugged, "Y-Yeah. How long have you known about his feelings for me?"
"I've known for a fact for roughly a week, but I've suspected for over a year. Dorian hasn't wanted to tell you because can you imagine the awkwardness, but what do you think of it?"
"I... don't know."
"Don't know?"
"I mean," Kelly ran a hand through his messy hair, "I care about him deeply, but then there's the curse and what Adelina said about me having kids in the future, and I'm not sure about my own feelings, and I'm not sure I'm ready for a relationship, even if I trust him with my life—"
"You're overthinking this. It doesn't matter right now if you're ready, because the priority right now is you understanding your feelings." She grabbed his shoulders, "Do you see him as more than a friend?"
"Yeah, I guess, if you put it that way."
"If the curse or what time travelers said wasn't a concern, could you imagine a future with him?"
"Yes, but I can also picture a life with you and Harry, and I am positive I'm not in love with either of you."
"You're hopeless, you know that, right?" She huffed, "You will never get past the awkward if you can't sort out your own feelings—I don't care whether you get with him or not, but you need a definite answer to gain peace of mind." She brightened as they went up some stairs, "How'd you feel when he kissed you? You've been touching your lips ever since we got into different groups. A teen's first kiss is a special moment—especially for you, turning eighteen tomorrow, or maybe we have already since time is weird here."
"I have no idea. What am I supposed to say?" Kelly bit his lip, crossing his arms as he tried to sort out his jumbled thoughts, "I don't know what love really is, besides that crush I had on Mor for like a month two years ago. Dorian's the first person to honestly know me and still say they love me romantically. A-And the first guy. With anyone else, I'm calm and know I don't love them. But with Dorian, I don't understand my own feelings, and it scares me. And there are so many things in our way if we did want to."
"This isn't Romeo and Juliet," Amelia muttered, "If it was, you both would be married and dead in a day, which you are neither of."
"Yeah, but that doesn't make things any less complicated. I really care about Dorian, but if I let myself try it out, what if things go wrong with the curse, and it ends in heartache? And I don't want to try anything when I'm so unsure, and I don't want to hurt him."
She giggled, "Sounds to me like you're in love and don't know what to do about it. I'm not saying go for it if you aren't ready, but we only live once. Just tell him you don't know your feelings and don't want to hurt him. Honestly, he expected instant rejection, and he thinks the world of you. But no matter what you choose, I will still be here for you—unless for some reason you choose to throw me into a volcano, in which case I will not be here for you and will be rather bitter."
Kelly laughed, ruffling her hair and messing it up to the point she had to redo her ponytail, "Thanks, Mia. Yeah! After this, I'm gonna talk to him."
"Kels, you're killing me. Am I going to get a panicked call from either you or Dorian saying you slept together and now don't know what to do?"
"I...doubt that."
Amelia shrugged, "I'll prepare for it anyway." She then froze, her violet eyes wide, "Morrigan..." Before Kelly could say he didn't see anything, she had already runoff. Because he hadn't seen Morrigan and assumed she saw things, he decided to keep going,
It wasn't long before he came across a bedroom. It looked surprisingly modern, probably in the suburbs. He then heard a crying child.
Going around to the other side of the bed, he gasped quietly when he saw a girl no older than eight, cutting into her arm with a kitchen knife, creating angry red lines, and occasionally drawing blood. Her long, brunette hair had fallen over her eyes, making it difficult to see her face.
Unsure of why there was a child in the Dark Realm and panicked at what he saw, he grabbed her hand, guiding the knife away from her flesh.
She looked up at him with big identically sapphire blue eyes, "D-Dad?"
Dad? His eyes widened as he remembered the picture Adelina showed him. For some reason, he was seeing his daughter from the future, and she was suffering.
"Hey, baby," he said, deciding to play the part, throwing the knife to a far corner of the room, "What are you doing?"
"I-It's not what it looks like!"
"Then tell me what it is. I want to help you, but I can't do that if I don't know what's going on." Her lip quivered, and he quietly started cleaning the cuts with a washcloth, "You can always come to me about this kind of thing, understand? I'm not going to let you hurt yourself, just talk to me. No matter the time, I'll listen."
His daughter smiled a little, hugging his neck, "Thanks, Daddy."
The girl and the bedroom vanished, and Kelly found himself in a dark and ominous tower and heard a voice in his head.
"See, this is why you can't be with Dorian, or can you? But whatever you choose, you could damn the girl to never exist." Kelly shuddered, not wanting to make a choice like that.
He turned and realized the voice was coming from an ornate gold mirror leaning against the wall.
He walked over to it and placed a hand on the glass, only to scream when a hand inside the mirror grabbed him and pulled him in.