Chapter 14: Far Out
A/N: Not gonna lie, I was expecting this to take longer. When I started, I had no idea what I was going to do. Yet I'm happy with how it's turned out. Hopefully you all enjoy it as well.
I was led out to the hospital entrance and, reluctantly, returned to the ship.
I sat down at the captain's chair, looking out over the planet somberly.
It felt awful to leave the kid when she was at her weakest. I knew she was in good hands, and that she needed her rest, but... what if something happened? With how insane this planet was, something horrible could end up happening and I wouldn't know until it was far too late!
I put my hand to my temples and forced myself to take a deep breath.
I knew I was overreacting. What could possibly happen at a hospital, of all places?
But the possibility was still there, as negligible as it might've been, and that was what concerned me.
Any risk at all was a risk too big.
I sighed.
I needed sleep... or at least to try to sleep.
So, with great reluctance, I pulled myself over to the attic elevator, called it down, and when I was in, I meandered over to my bed and crawled inside, staring at the wooden ceiling above me.
Two days, it'd been.
Two days...
After who knows how long-whether it be a nanosecond, an eon, or anywhere in between-I found myself in a strange place. I couldn't see anything, but I sensed something all around-
Oh, I knew this place. How'd I get here in my sleep?
Wait, was I actually here? Awake? It felt like it...
Did I teleport here by accident in my sleep?!
...
Welp. If I was gonna be here, there was only one thing to do.
I examined the fabric of reality around me, using my mind. It was strange, it was tangible in a way, but not in a way I could describe, nor interact with physically. Hence why it was indescribable.
But it was so weak. So frayed. It could be easily manipulated by one who knew how.
Why not give it a shot?
I began to focus, hard. Willing for something to happen or change.
After a very long time of straining my mind so hard my head ached, I felt it do as I commanded. A portal appeared in front of me.
I was completely exhausted... yet I grinned.
"Watch out, Traveller. Gonna give you a run for your money."
Finally, I was graced by things I could detect with human senses. Sound, the feeling of ground beneath my feet, light.
I opened my eyes, and found myself in what seemed Subcon Forest.
Something told me this wasn't the right Subcon Forest, though.
"Woah!"
I turned around to see someone barely stop themselves just in time to avoid a painful crash.
A woman, wearing a black fedora, with orange hair, green eyes, an eyepatch covering her right eye, and an interesting outfit that looked like one you'd see a 1920's mafia person wear. She was holding a book.
Wait... I saw this woman before... although I didn't remember the eyepatch.
This was that woman I saw in my vision, before we entered Moustache Girl's castle!
"Uh... hi?" She said, "You just appeared out of nowhere, I almost slammed into you!"
"I saw," I chuckled, "I'm guessing this isn't my universe."
She raised an eyebrow.
"You can travel universes, too?" She asked, "Heh... it's like everyone can, nowadays."
Suddenly, a faraway voice called out. It sounded like a man's voice... it sounded like the kind you'd hear a doctor have.
"Julia? Are you talking to someone?"
She turned around.
"Yeah, just give me a few minutes!" The woman, who must've been called Julia, replied.
She then turned back.
"I know a few others who can travel dimensions. I've never seen you before, though," She stated, "Yet something about you seems... familiar?"
Familiar? I'd never met this woman in my life.
But... I did notice something about her, as well.
"I sense it, too..." I muttered.
I suddenly had an alarming thought.
She was about my height, she was a human...
"Wait, you're not from Earth, are you?" I gasped.
"You know Earth?!" She shouted, "Are you from there, too?"
I nodded.
"What country?" She asked.
"Canada, you?" I replied.
"Oh, I'm from the U.S.," She stated, "It's pretty cool to meet someone else from home."
"No kidding," I agreed, "What'd make it even funnier is if we both had amnesia when we first left."
She seemed amazed.
"You can't be serious..." She said, "You lost your memories, too?"
"Uh... yeah," I said, "Seems like we share a similar story."
She nodded.
Suddenly, the same male voice from earlier shouted out again.
"Julia! We shouldn't keep the girls waiting!"
She frowned and turned around.
"Alright, I'll be right there!" She shouted back.
She turned back and shrugged.
"I wish I could stay and talk, but I'm really busy right now," She explained, "Maybe we can talk again later?"
"Understandable. And maybe. But yeah, I should get back to my own world anyway," I dismissed, "Before you go, though, I have one thing to warn you about. It's extremely important."
She adopted a curious and concerned look.
"What's the issue?" She asked.
"So, you're able to travel dimensions like me, yeah?" I asked.
"Yep... although I'm curious how you know that."
"Long story. But you know that the universes are bound to collide soon, right?" I inquired.
"Mhm."
"Well, this collision, this Cross Collapse or whatever you folks call it... it needs to be stopped. If it isn't, it will be the end of the Multiverse," I explained.
Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped.
"What?" She gasped.
I nodded grimly.
"How do you even know all of this?" She asked, completely astounded.
"I have a very special friend. He knows the Multiverse like no one else," I explained, "And, he has a plan. We need to gather people with abilities like ours to help stop it. So if you know any other people who can travel between dimensions at will, let them know when you see them."
She nodded.
"Okay, I definitely will," She stated, "I guess I should tell everyone..."
"That's up to you," I responded, "Now... I think we both have places to be."
She nodded.
"It was nice talking to you... what's your name?" She asked.
"Oh, I'm Markus," I explained, "Nice to meet you, Julia."
She nodded.
"And you too, Markus," She said, then took a few steps away before stopping. "One last thing... I accidentally let an evil shapeshifter loose into the Multiverse, so... look out for him."
I chuckled.
"Duly noted," I said, "See you later."
She nodded, then ran off.
Now that I was by myself... I needed to make a portal back to my world.
I closed my eyes, shut out all other senses, and focused on reality.
It was much harder to do now that I was in an actual world with other senses, but it was doable.
Now... here goes nothing.
I focused as hard as I could on making a portal that would actually take me home.
Eventually, I exhausted myself and fell to my knees.
"Hope that worked..." I muttered.
I looked up, and I saw a small portal, twitching and warping, and on the other side I could barely make out what seemed to be the spaceship. Exactly where I wanted.
The portal was beginning to shrink, though. Rapidly. And I knew I wouldn't have the mental stamina to make another.
I dove through before it closed.
I landed on carpet and sighed in relief. I looked at the giant monitor. 56/56. So far, it seemed right. I looked out the big window. It appeared to be early morning.
Now, it would be best to make absolutely sure this was the right universe. I was pretty sure, but...
I reckoned that the easiest way would be to check the attic, so I did.
Oh yeah. I was back home. All the stuff I knew was there.
I heard someone clear their throat behind me, and turned to see the Traveller standing there.
He was grinning from ear to ear.
"So, you made your first portals," He said, "You are learning very quickly. At this rate, we'll be ready to save the Multiverse in no time."
I smirked.
"And I found someone like me in that other universe," I explained, "That woman with the fedora."
He nodded. "I saw. Although, now that I think about it, I'm unsure how much assistance she will be able to provide..." He thought aloud.
I frowned.
"Why?" I asked.
He shook his head.
"That isn't my place to say," He said, "I'll simply watch how things progress, and we'll see what happens."
"Gee, that's reassuring," I grumbled.
He ignored that.
"Anyway, keep practicing making portals for now. If you can, try to find others," He said, "But for now, I have a job to do. Farewell."
Reality warped around him, before it stopped, and he was still there.
"Actually, I saw that the girl is sick. If you would rather wait until she is recovered to practice more, I'll allow it," He said.
'Allow it'?
Weird choice of words, but that was pretty thoughtful of him.
"Thank you," I said.
"Don't mention it," He replied.
Reality warped again, and this time he vanished.
I exited the attic and sat down in the main hub, taking a deep breath as I looked out the window.
So many happenings... so little time... it was a good thing I could handle information quickly.
I really wanted to go down and check on how the kid was doing... but it was still too early in the morning. She was probably still sleeping.
I would just have to sit and wait, as much as it would kill me to do so.
A/N: Well, there you have it. Another day, another chapter. And finally, another minor crossover moment... or whatever you call it, I dunno. This time, with Julia, from Konan720's Amnesiac's Journey series.
She already made an appearance in the last book, Markus saw a vision of her and her universe's Hat Kid before entering Moustache Girl's castle, but that wasn't really an interaction or crossover. That was Markus viewing an extremely tiny fragment of that story. One-sided.
So, I figured, if I were to have Markus visit another story's universe to talk to another story's OC in person and bring the bad news about the fate of the Multiverse, it was only fair for it to be her.
And also, hey, Amnesiac's Journey was the main inspiration behind this fic, so it's only fair to give credit where credit is due. I probably already said this, but if you haven't read Amnesiac's Journey and Julia's Return, do it. Really, just do it. It's way better than this.
Whew... that was a long note. Onto the reviews!
EmacSane (on Chapter 11): Mhm, that's the plan! Glad you're looking forward to it. Although we still don't have any idea when exactly it's gonna be happening, could be soon, could still be like a month or longer away, haha, I have no idea!
Snow Blizzard: Alright. I will keep that in mind, thank you. However... there'll always be that voice in the back of my head yelling at me to work harder and faster, no getting rid of it. But again, I will keep that in mind when that voice comes crawling back again.
Well, that does it for today's chapter. See ya later.
