Julia let out a relieved breath, getting up from her cross-legged position on the bed. "Thank god. I hoped you would, but I was really really worried that I'd do a shit job of explaining everything and scare you away."
"It takes more than alternate dimensions to frighten me." I told her. She replied with another one of those devil-may-care smiles. "Same here. Which is exactly why I went looking for you."
As usual, Lukas stepped in to be our voice of reason. "Ah, how do we fix these timelines, anyways?"
I could tell from his tone that he was still fairly skeptical about the whole thing. I couldn't exactly blame him.
Julia nodded. "Right. Unfortunately, to properly tell you that, we're gonna need someone else. And even more unfortunately, that someone else isn't exactly in this dimension." She hesitated for a moment. "Or…maybe he is. Have you gotten any strange messages from Ivor recently?"
"No. He's off searching for the rest of the original Order, and I haven't heard from him." I replied with a shake of my head.
"Another deviation." Julia muttered crossly. "Well, my Ivor started out looking for his friends, but someone or something distracted him. I'm not sure exactly how, but he discovered the timelines and the whole deviation problem. He told me all the stuff I just explained to you, with emphasis on the deviations and the fact that they needed to be fixed, but decided soon after that he was going to continue his research in his Far Lands lab. I didn't have a chance to go there to find out more, which in hindsight, was probably a pretty bad idea considering where I am now."
"So…" Lukas started. "In order to fix the deviations, we have to first figure out how. And to do that, we need to find Ivor, who is in the Far Lands. And not just the Far Lands, but the Far Lands of a different dimension."
Julia gave another enthusiastic nod. "Yep! Sounds like a real adventure, right?"
Lukas furrowed his brows, looking prepared to disagree, but I interrupted. "How do we get to your timeline? You know how, right?"
"Yes!" she assured me, then paused. "Actually, no. But I know how to find out. I bet that room you described in the Order's temple can yield a lot more information if you know what you're looking for."
She tried to take a small step forward but stumbled and almost collapsed. Lukas quickly steadied her.
"Careful! You're probably still weak, after being out for so long." he cautioned. Julia regained her balance, touching her forehead with a brown-skinned hand.
"Ugh, I almost forgot about that." she muttered. "I don't remember if I said thanks, by the way. I'd rather not think about what would've happened if you hadn't found me."
"Are you…gonna be fit for an adventure right now?" I asked. She didn't look too heavily injured, probably thanks to the Healing Potions that
Lukas had given her, but that didn't mean she was in peak quest condition.
She squared her stance, tossing her head and nudging Lukas's hand off her shoulder. "I'll be fine. This is more important than little injuries."
"How exactly did you get hurt so badly? You never told me." Lukas asked with narrowed eyes.
She gave him a scrutinizing look. "I'll fill you in on the way to the temple. Which, by the way, I think we should start heading towards."
"We should go by Beacontown first, so we can get supplies and horses. Also, I should probably tell Radar that I'm skipping town for a while." I pointed out.
Julia snapped her fingers and pointed at me. "Good thinking. I'd love to see your Beacontown; I wonder if it's very different from mine."
-
The three of us left Lukas's cottage, heading towards the town. Julia showed no other signs of injury, though there were a few times she acted like her head was bothering her.
"You said that the…me of your dimension isn't still in Beacontown?" Lukas asked. She nodded brightly.
"Yep. He decided to go with Petra when she disappeared off into the great unknown. It wasn't planned at all. I really wanted to go with her, because it'd be a ton of fun and I know she'd like the company, but I couldn't just leave Beacontown."
I grinned. That was exactly how I felt about the whole thing.
"Right before she left, she asked if I was completely sure I didn't want to go along." Julia continued. "We both knew I was going to say yes, but she asked anyway. And when I turned her down, instead of acting all disappointed, she just looked at Lukas and was all 'you know, I'm willing to extend the invite, I know we've had some issues recently but I'd really like the company', blah blah sappiness."
"And he went with her?" I asked. Something similar had happened with us, except that it had been me to suggest it and him to politely-but-adamantly say no.
"Yep." Julia said again. "Acted all unsure about it for a moment, but he was all for it. They've been in love with each other practically forever, so they must be having the time of their lives out there."
Her expression fell into something slightly wistful, and I wondered if she was regretting that she wasn't the one with Petra.
I glanced over at Lukas, wondering if he would have anything to say about the 'in love with each other' thing. He was looking ahead at the gates of Beacontown, and didn't appear to have heard. Or maybe he was just pretending.
"If we are gonna be gone for a while…I should probably let Aiden know." he murmured thoughtfully.
I bit back the sharp retort before it had a chance to slip out. "I'm not sure if we'll have time. I kinda feel like the sooner we deal with this, the better." I said instead.
Julia shot me an odd look. "Aiden's…still alive in this timeline?"
"Yeah. He's not in yours?" I tipped my head to the side, feeling confused.
The young woman shook her head. "He killed himself a few years back. Really shook us all up."
Lukas stopped in his tracks. "Wait. He killed himself? You're serious?"
"Yeah. We found his body right near the amulet thingy in Beacontown. Cut both wrists, stabbed himself in the stomach, and it looked like there was a nefarious potion involved too. For the life of me, I'll never know what drove him to do it." She mused.
Lukas reached up and ran a hand through his hair, staring straight ahead. "Killed himself. I mean, he struggled with a lot of self-hate and depression a while back, but I never imagined…"
"I guess he just took a different path in this timeline." Julia guessed. "Made some different choices."
"So…does that count as a deviation? Because this is a difference between our timelines, even if it wasn't you or I that made the choice." I asked.
Julia bit her lower lip, scowling thoughtfully. "I think so. Even though the exact deviation wasn't done by a Prime, we still somehow influenced it. At least, I'm assuming we did. What happened after he ah…fell from Sky City?"
I stared at her, confused. "He…never…fell from Sky City. I did, Lukas did, Isa did, but not Aiden."
She blinked rapidly, looking surprised. "What? Really? So you didn't, like…you didn't, oh y'know, push him off?"
"Push him off?!" Lukas echoed from behind me. Julia swiveled her head back to look at him.
"Yeah. Oh, don't look at me like that, the bastard deserved it. The whole fight, all he did was mock me. Making jabs about Reuben, you know. Fuck, he flat-out told me to push him off, and I did." She added defensively.
Lukas and I looked at each other. "That's…entirely not what happened with us." I said slowly. "I fought him, yeah, but there wasn't much to it. He's never been a fantastic swordfighter, and when I disarmed him, he just…gave up. Asked for mercy, actually. I let him come down to the ground with us."
"He ended up in Isa's prison for a while, but there was no…he didn't…" Lukas stammered. He still seemed hung up on the fact that there was a timeline in which Aiden was dead.
Julia snorted, sounding disgusted. "Waaay more kindness than he deserved, if you ask me."
"So what do you think, that he deserved to die alone?" Lukas asked, a dangerous edge creeping into his voice. Julia shook her head, not looking at him.
"No, 'course not. But there's gotta be a middle ground between him being dead and him being allowed to go free and clear." Her voice was even, almost dismissive, and I could practically hear Lukas fuming.
Again, I decided to interfere before things got too heated. So far, it didn't seem like Julia and Lukas made the best duo. "Hey, alright. It doesn't really matter what happened to who in which dimension, so long as those things stay in their respective dimensions. Time is of the essence, right?"
Another flippant shrug from Julia. "S'pose so."
"So let's just focus on getting things done as quick as possible, so we can get to the temple before dark. Lukas, can you go to the stable and get horses for us? And if you see Aiden on the way, yeah, warn him you're gonna be gone. Julia and I will get supplies, and I'll try to
find Radar. Okay?"
"Sure." Lukas said noncommittally, still giving Julia a reproachful look.
She didn't seem to notice, grinning at the purple terracotta blocks as we strode through the entrance of Beacontown. "Couldn't stand to
look at the red anymore either, huh?"
I laughed. "Yeah. Too many bad memories associated with it."
"Same here. The gates to my Beacontown are cyan, though." She added.
"Cyan makes me think of the gauntlet. Purple is better." I said, making a face. Julia grinned. "Point taken. For the record, though, I wasn't the one who decided on blue."
Her eyes lifted to the floating tower, then she paused and turned in a slow circle, looking around at the town. "Whoa. This actually looks very different from mine. Most things are in the same places, but it's just…different." She murmured.
"How long did you say it's been since you defeated the Admin?" Lukas asked with a contemplative expression. Julia met his eyes. "I don't think I did, but it's been about three…four weeks. Not a full month yet."
I raised my eyebrows. "Well, that explains it. It's been over three months for us."
Julia froze. "…Oh. Okay, yeah, I suppose that fits."
"Is that a thing that can happen? The times of dimensions not matching up?" Lukas inquired.
Biting her lower lip, Julia slowly replied, "Yes…I think so. I'd have to ask Ivor, but I'm pretty sure…"
She looked suddenly much more serious and worried than she had before, and I got the feeling there was more to this than she was letting on.
"Is that bad? I mean, it's a deviation, right, so…?"
Julia shook her head. "No, it's not a deviation. Most of the timelines have little time differences. Each one 'starts' a little bit after the previous one. But…the thing is, I thought that the dimension I was going to took place after mine. Not before."
"How many timelines are there?" Lukas asked warily. Julia made a face.
"Another thing I don't know. I didn't get a chance to count them. We know for sure there's our two, and I'd bet there's at least two more. Could be more, though. Not sure."
I decided not to bother asking what she meant by counting them. Lukas turned towards the stables, splitting off from Julia and I as we hurried into the Order's headquarters.
I lead the way to our supply room, with Julia looking fascinatedly around. "This is so weird. It looks so similar to home, but not, at the same time. Like some kinda twisted déjà vu."
Radar was nowhere to be seen, despite the fact that he was usually around at that time of day. I opened a chest at random and knelt in front of it. "Grab some basic crafting material, whatever you think might come in handy. I never seem to actually be prepared when I set off on a quest, and I'd really like to start breaking that habit."
I was just putting some cobblestone and oak planks into my inventory when I heard the sound of the front door closing. Light, rapid footsteps announced my intern's presence just before he appeared in the entrance of the room.
"Boss! Are you serious right now?!" he demanded.
I closed the chest and stood up. "That depends. What's the matter?"
Radar crossed his arms. He was an inch or two taller than me due to a recent growth spurt, though he still wasn't exactly an intimidating figure. "I just ran into Lukas, and he seems to think you're leaving town again on another whacked adventure."
"Yeah, that sounds about right." I said calmly. He gave me an exasperated look.
"Jess, come on. Another crazy new escapade?"
"Radar, this is important." I countered, using the same stern tone of voice he was attempting.
He groaned. "Of course it is. Everything's important. You're the leader here, you can't just-"
It was then that he caught sight of Julia, who had just come up beside me. "Who are you? No, don't tell me, you're part of whatever 'important' thing Jess is getting himself into now."
She laughed. "I'm Julia, and yes. You're really trying hard to keep him on track, huh?"
Radar gave her a thoughtful look that bordered on a scowl. "Key word; trying." he replied simply.
"I'm serious. There's a problem with, well…the universe, I guess? That sounds too dramatic, so I'll just say our dimension. There's some
stuff we need to take care of."
"Dimension?" Radar echoed uncertainly.
"It's complicated. I swear, when I get back, I'll tell you everything." I promised.
He watched me cautiously for a few moments, seeming like he was trying to make a decision. Julia nudged my arm.
"We should go, if we want to get outta here before dark."
"Right." I agreed. I started to step around Radar, but he stopped me.
"I want to go with you."
I blinked in surprise. "What?"
"Whatever you're up to, I want to come. Adventuring may not be my favorite thing, but I don't want to get left behind."
Raising an eyebrow, I said, "What about Beacontown? Weren't you just needling me about leaving it leaderless?"
He shrugged. "Things are going well here; the town will survive for a few days. I was making excuses to get you to stay."
I paused, trying to decide whether or not to dissuade him, when Julia did it for me. "Radar, this might be dangerous. We don't fully know
what we're getting into yet, so the less people involved, the better."
He gave her a confused look. "How do you know my name? And if it's so dangerous, why are you dragging Jess into it?"
"She's not dragging me." I cut in, dodging his first question. "And we don't know for sure it's gonna be dangerous, she just said it might be.
Either way, I really don't want you to get hurt."
Radar responded with a surprisingly Petra-like glare. "Don't talk about things being dangerous. Maybe you forgot, but I'm building up a hero resume too. I was the one who tamed the giant Enderman and saved you guys in the Terminal Space, remember?"
I sighed. He had a point. Despite being small and nervous, he would be a good addition to the team. Plus, maybe he'd be able to help me keep Lukas and Julia from ticking each other off again.
"Fine, alright. You can come. But if anything- I mean anything -gets dicey, don't you dare try to do something heroic and stupid. Okay? I can't run this town without you."
He did a small, excited bounce. "Yes! You won't regret it, I swear! What are we saving the universe from? Should we get armoured up? Are you gonna get another cool weapon? Where are we headed?"
Julia brushed past him as she left the room, calling over her shoulder, "First, meet Lukas and get our horses. Then, the old Order's temple.
After that…is gonna take some explaining."
"Back to the temple?" Radar echoed, looking at me as I started to follow Julia. He didn't seem to mind that she'd only answered his last question.
"Yeah. There's some stuff there we need."
"Oh. From that weird room?" he asked.
I gave another affirmative. He quickened his pace, leaning close as he walked alongside me. "Also…why does she seem so familiar?!" he murmured.
I laughed loudly, and Radar startled. "Ooohh man. We have a lot to tell you."
-
The sun was just beginning to sink below the horizon when we arrived at the old Order's temple.
Radar stared up at it in awe as he dismounted his horse. "That's…wow. This is incredible."
Oddly enough, Julia looked equally mesmerized. "I swear it looks more majestic every time I come back here. Especially with the sunset light…god, I don't think I'll ever stop wondering what it looked like back before it as a ruin."
Julia had explained who she was and how the timelines worked to Radar on the way there, so he didn't question this comment. He'd actually taken the information a lot better than Lukas or I had, seeming to grasp the complicated topic fairly quickly. Of course, he'd still peppered Julia with questions, but for the most part, he hadn't been too overwhelmed with the landslide of information.
I partially suspected he was just in shock.
The four of us quickly made our way inside the temple, with Radar still looking raptly around at everything. Julia commented on how glad she was that the traps were no longer working, which made me laugh because that's what I had thought when Lukas and I had been there the previous week.
It wasn't long before we were watching the back wall of the library split apart after Lukas threw the hidden lever. I heard surprised gasps from both Julia and Radar as they saw the interior of the secret room, but I hardly noticed.
The little space wasn't any less disconcerting the second time. The dim light falling on the painted letters, unreadable chart, and pinned papers sent a shiver down my spine, though I didn't know why.
Julia gravitated towards the strange, treelike chart, while Radar immediately went to examine the painted words. I stood in the threshold, hesitant to go inside.
"What does this mean?" Radar asked in a hushed voice, gesturing to the black letters.
"It roughly translates to 'I know that I know nothing'." Lukas supplied. "Julia, what are we looking for?"
She didn't appear to have heard him, looking intently at the chart. Her nose couldn't have been more than two inches from the paper.
"Julia." I prompted. "You said you could find out how to get to your timeline?"
"Hm? Oh! Right, yes." She straightened up, wrenching her eyes away from the paper. "Though, if we're being technical, it's not as much of how to get into my timeline as how to get out of this one."
This earned her a confused look from Lukas. "What do you mean?"
Most of her focus had been diverted to scanning the miscellaneous papers pinned to the opposite wall, so her reply was halfhearted.
"Getting in is simple. It's getting out that takes certain knowledge that I don't have. I need to find the exit codes."
"Exit codes?" Radar echoed. She nodded distractedly. "There's…symbols that you make…lets you get out of a timeline. Different symbols for different timelines. It's like making portal frames; you need different materials for gates to different worlds. Except it entirely doesn't work like that, but whatever."
Lukas and I exchanged a doubtful look, but neither of us said anything. Radar had moved on to examining the large chart.
"Can you actually read this?" he asked, aiming the question at Julia.
"Mm-hm, kinda. I can read parts of it, and there's other bits that even though I don't know what exactly they say, I have a pretty good idea. It's hard to explain."
"Huh. I can't make heads or tails of it." Radar added quietly.
"Neither can I." Lukas contributed.
Julia let out a shout of triumph. She leaped up and snatched a paper off the wall, waving it gleefully in the air. "Found it! This is exactly what we need!"
"Nice!" I said approvingly. "How did you know where it would be?"
She shrugged. "I didn't know exactly. But Ivor had a lot of stuff like this that he said he'd found in a 'more unknown bit of the Order's old hangout', and I figured that had to mean here."
"So, what do we need to do? Build a portal frame or something?" Radar asked.
Julia shook her head. "Nah. Making a gate is a lot simpler than a portal. Well, physically, at least. No building required. But we should go back outside to do it, since gates can take up a lot of space."
She tucked the paper in her inventory. "You guys go ahead. I'm gonna grab a couple other things I think I'm gonna want to look at more in-depth later."
Making a dismissive motion with her hand, she turned back and took another pinned-up paper. I wasted no time in leaving the dim, creepy room, and Radar was quick to follow me.
Julia ended up being only a few paces behind as we returned to where we'd tied our horses. She had the first paper in one hand, and an enchanted diamond sword in the other.
Radar started forming another question. "How do you m-"
"Watch and see." Julia interrupted. She lifted the sword and began tracing elaborate symbols in the air. The motions left shimmering white shapes hovering where the sword tip had been, glowing a bright, pure white.
Before I could even think to wonder how it was possible, Julia brought the blade up high and slashed downwards, opening a glowing white gap in the air where the symbols had been.
"What…?" Lukas murmured, wide-eyed. Julia turned to face him, stowing her sword in her inventory and grinning like a Cheshire cat.
"That, my friend, is a gateway to another dimension."
Without waiting for a reply, she took her horse's lead in her hand and strolled straight into the brilliant gate.
"Wait! How…what does…we just go through? Is it safe?" Radar exclaimed, but she was already gone.
I twisted Inara's lead through my fingers, thinking.
Did I fully, 100% trust Julia? No. Not yet.
Did I believe her about the timelines, and that she had good intentions? Yes.
Before I overthought it too much, I followed Julia, my horse trailing after me as I walked into the shimmering abyss.
