I Don't Need Wings To Fly, Dad
Chapter 22
XXII
After leaving Garandev, Michael called for the portal again…
"Portal, take me to wherever Shag and Maya are right now."
Michael stepped into the portal and found himself on a balcony overlooking an Emerald sea. He recognized this place… the Emerald Sea… the moons visible in the day sky… It was Xarius, and he was at the palace of Shaqor and Maya. Michael heard footsteps coming; then the doors to the balcony opened, and he found himself face to face with Shaqor-Niseel Vredis Davor, Zasharn of Xarius, affectionately nicknamed "Shag" by Maya, and usually called Shag by the royal family and their friends on Antar.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?"
"Shag! I'm Michael… You know me… Don't you remember?"
Shaqor shook his head. "I don't know a 'Michael.'"
"Rath," Michael said. "I'm called Rath. I'm from Antar!"
"Rath? …from Antar? I know that there was a warrior… a general named Rath… on Antar. He disappeared many years ago."
"No. Not that Rath… I'm Michael, from Earth…"
"Urth?"
"Earth… you know… Eluymer…"
"The place where my wife lived when I found her?"
"Yeah! That's it! Don't you remember? Max and I retook the throne of Antar…"
Shaqor raised his eyebrows. "Antar is at peace. The king of Antar is Zan… has been for almost a hundred years. His father was king before him… You cannot be who you say you are."
"Then how am I able to command the sphere of the portal," Michael asked.
Shaqor looked suddenly interested. "[b]My[/b] sphere? You cannot…"
"Portal!" Michael called.
A doorway that looked something like a mirror appeared. "Ask."
Michael looked at Shaqor. Shaqor's eyebrows had gone up considerably.
"Never mind," Michael said. "I won't need the portal right now."
The portal disappeared.
"Okay," Shag said. "Come in." Michael walked into Shag and Maya's bedroom behind him.
"Now start explaining… Michael… or whoever you are. How is it you are able to command my sphere? Only Maya and I can command it."
"And Liz," Michael added.
Shag shook his head. "I know of no Liz."
"You did," Michael replied. "She's Maya's direct descendent from Eluymer. She's Max's wife…"
"Who is Max?"
"Max is Zan… Geez, this is going to be hard…"
Michael sat down on a chair and began to explain everything to Shaqor. When he had finished, Shaqor shook his head and whistled lightly.
"You have a problem, Michael."
"I think it's bigger than me," Michael said.
Shag nodded. "I have to agree. If what you said is accurate, we have to find some way to correct the aberration in time."
"But how," Michael asked. "Maria doesn't remember me at all. She's married… to Brody of all people!"
"You'd rather it were someone else?" Shag asked.
"Of course not! I'd rather it were no one!" Michael retorted. Then he added, sadly, "I'd rather it were me…"
Shag nodded his understanding. "I don't know what can be done, my friend, but we will work on it together. Perhaps if we knew exactly what caused the aberration…"
"I guess I did," Michael replied. "I kept Nyykto from finding Rath, because he found me first and thought I was Rath. So Rath was able to attack Kivar and defeat him, because Kivar thought Nyykto had taken care of Rath… but it was me."
"Don't be too fast to blame yourself, Michael. I know something about time. I have lived for 12,337 years after all. It hasn't been without learning a few things along the way."
"How can I not blame myself, Shag? The evidence is all there."
"The evidence you see, Michael," Shaqor said. "There is usually more than what one sees to everything… and time is not so easily changed."
"I kept Nyykto from finding Rath, so Rath caught Kivar unaware. Result: The royal family didn't die, I never met Maria, my children were never born. It seems simple to me," Michael said.
"It may seem so, Michael, but time is like a river…"
"Yeah, I keep hearing that."
"Okay, well, imagine this… Nyykto finds you, thinks he found Rath… Does that change everything in time?"
"It looks like it did," Michael said.
"If you think of time as a river, Michael, imagine that the river is flowing along, and you dip your hand in it. Undoubtedly, you have had an effect, but have you changed the river?"
"No, of course not. It would
take more than my hand…"
"Okay, imagine that those little animals that you had on Eluymer with the flat
tails built one of their dams in the river… a big river like the river of time…
would it totally change the river?"
"Probably not really," Michael said. "If it was a small river or a creek, it might, but a large river would probably part and flow around the dam and rejoin somewhere downstream. The beavers might create a pond with their dam, but the river wouldn't be stopped or its course significantly altered except at that spot."
"Ah, so you agree that the effect to the river would not necessarily be catastrophic?"
"Yeah… I guess so."
"Then why do you think that Nykkto finding you instead of Rath catastrophically altered the river of time?"
"Because the evidence suggests it," Michael said.
"What if there were other evidence?"
"I would have to see it," Michael said, still unsure.
"We shall see," Shaqor replied. "We shall see if there are any other trails. I'm not asking you these things just to ease your conscience, Michael."
"Don't worry, Shag, you haven't."
Shaqor smiled. "In order to fix what is wrong, we have to find the true cause of the aberration… and if you are convinced that you are the one and only true cause… then you may be inclined not to look any further, and you will not see any clues that might be there. If you wish to see your Maria again…" Michael suddenly was listening with all his attention… "you must look for any clues… all clues… that would tell you what happened. Only when you know the cause will you be able to fix the problem."
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Back in the palace on Antar, in his own room, Michael looked at his shaking hands again and shook his head…
"I know who I am. Why did I act like Rath today? What's wrong with me?"
Michael thought about Maria… then about Jayyd… and Zorel… and Kryys… As he thought about them, a movement in the room got his attention, and Michael looked up suddenly.
"What? Is it possible? [b]Kryys?[/b] Oh my God! If you're here, where are Jayyd and Zorel?"
"Not born," Kryys said simply.''
"But how are you here then?"
Kryys smiled. "I don't need wings to fly, Dad."
"What does that mean, Kryys. I'm not a philosopher."
"Master Drax taught me to become one with time. When everyone else disappeared, my essence remained… just as theirs does, but they're not aware of themselves. I am here, because I am aware of myself, but I'm not really who I was, and you're not who you were."
"I don't understand."
"Your DNA was never sent to Earth… You were never born."
"But I'm here. If I'm here, how can I not have been born?"
"Haven't you figured that out yet, Dad?"
Michael shook his head.
Six months after you left the past, but before the time you were returning to, Rath disappeared… You ceased to exist at the same moment, because that's when your DNA was mixed with Earth DNA and 'Michael's' life began… only it didn't happen… and you never came back from the past."
Michael turned pale. "No! No, I'm not…" Michael thought back. "You're saying that I'm really Rath? …that Michael no longer exists? I… I still have my own memories."
"For now," Kryys said. "Master Drax said that is a good thing. As long as you have your own memories, too, there is hope that the river can be corrected."
"And if I forget… my own memories?"
Kryys shook his head. "Then that life will be gone… forever."
tbc