Conflict

Part Two: Preparations

A horrid smell assaulted Chantelle's nostrils as she dozed uneasily. Was it a monster, wandering near the narrow rocky cleft in which she had taken refuge? Could it see through her protective covering of uprooted bushes? She gasped as she woke all the way up, coming to a defensive crouch … and fell out of bed.

"Ow." Slowly, she climbed to her feet, rubbing her butt. It was disorienting to look around at her hotel bedroom, to know for a fact that she was here, in civilisation once more. In her dreams, she had still been slowly starving to death within a stone's throw of a monstrous being from the depths of some horrific nightmare. Awake, she knew better. The relief was enormous.

Except that the smell was still very much present.

"Fortuna," she called, "what is that smell?" Pulling her bathrobe from where it hung on a hook, she belted it around herself as she wandered out into the kitchen area.

There was something bubbling on the small stovetop; it was from here that the smell originated. The counter was covered with pots and pans and other containers which she was sure had not been supplied by the hotel; these held the remains of the red and white nodule which she had carried from the vast flesh garden.

Earlier

"What is your power, exactly?" asked Chantelle as they paused for a rest, halfway up the side of the impact crater. Fortuna had found a series of rocky outcrops that even Chantelle could negotiate without using her hands to climb with. However, while the girl seemed capable of climbing all day, Chantelle wasn't feeling at her best after three days of not eating. Not that I was all that fit to begin with.

Fortuna turned to look at her. There was little to no emotion in her face or voice. "I see a need, and my power informs me of the path."

"But what if you get it wrong?"

The kid – no, not a kid, she's anything but a kid. She stabbed that thing, right in the neck – seemed to think about her words. "I can't. If my path says I can, then I can."

Chantelle blinked. "Oh. Well then, I'm glad you came here. And I'm really glad that I followed you down here."

Again, that impassive gaze. "You wanted to help me. Thank you for that. I think we will work well together." She started up the side of the crater once more. "We can go now."

Feeling more than a little as though she was caught up in events far beyond her control, Chantelle followed. One foot after another, stepping where Fortuna stepped. Breathe in, breathe out. Don't drop the damn lump of godling flesh. Her breath rasped in her throat. Sweat stung her eyes.

It was almost a surprise when she reached the lip of the crater. Pausing to catch her breath, she looked around. One of the larger groups was just wandering away. Did she wait to let them leave? Huh. "Where to now?"

"This way."

'This way' turned out to be a winding path through some of the narrow gullies that seamed the landscape. Chantelle knew one or two of them, having used them for shelter. At one point, Fortuna stopped and gestured for silence. They both froze; a moment later, there was a snuffling sound and a large creature – probably a monster – moved away from the gully.

Once more, Chantelle felt herself wanting to throw up, but there was nothing in her stomach any more. In any case, there wasn't the time; they moved on again, but this time for only about twenty metres. She was puzzled when the girl stopped next to a rocky outcrop and reached into a crevice. What could possibly be in there?

A moment later, her question was answered when Fortuna produced a battered handbag.

"Christ, I wondered where I'd lost that!" At the last moment, she remembered to keep her voice down. "I blundered around in the dark a lot. I remember putting it down for a moment, but I could never find it again. Thank you so much." She looked around. "Is the portal home around here somewhere?"

"Not any more." Fortuna pointed. "The portals have moved. The one you came through disappeared, and another opened. We have more walking to do."

They walked on, wending their way, as far as Chantelle could tell, more than halfway around the perimeter of the impact crater. She had long since ceased questioning Fortuna's choice of routes; if the girl decided that they had to go a certain way, they went that way. She chooses the Path. I follow.

Eventually, they came to a portal that was half-concealed in a hollow. Chantelle was almost certain that she'd already checked this one out, that it didn't lead to anywhere she found familiar, but she wasn't about to second-guess Fortuna. The girl stepped through, and she followed.

It was just as she recalled; a different landscape, but still no signs of civilisation. She'd climbed to the top of a nearby hill and stared in all directions for nearly an hour without seeing anything of note. Eventually, she'd returned back through the portal in order to search in a different direction. What does she know that I don't?

She found out in short order; Fortuna led her downhill into a hollow overshadowed by a scrubby tree. And there, almost totally concealed between two boulders, was another portal.

The revelation was intense. Chantelle wanted to slap her forehead, but she was carrying the nodule and her handbag both. "I was looking in the wrong place, the whole time."

"Yes." Fortuna stepped through the portal and disappeared; Chantelle, clutching her treasures, followed her lead.

And that one led back here. Chantelle looked around at the hotel room. I'm just glad I had it paid up for the week. Nobody questioned an absence of three days. And it's been another day since then. Chantelle had bathed, slept, eaten voraciously, bathed again, slept again … civilisation was heavenly.

The toilet flushed, then there was the sound of running water. Fortuna emerged a moment later. "You're up," she observed without surprise.

"Well, yes." Chantelle smiled ruefully. "I had a nightmare. Your smelly concoction brought it on. Is that …"

"That is the essence, yes," Fortuna told her. "That is what you must drink in order to gain the powers of the godling."

Chantelle grimaced. "Please tell me that it tastes better than it smells."

"No." Fortuna shook her head. "Worse."

The smell was truly, astoundingly, baaad. "And there's no other way."

"There's no other way."

She trusted the girl, she really did. But the stench made her want to vomit. Drinking it would be … "Is there any way to make it not so vile?"

"I'm sorry." Fortuna almost sounded as though she meant it. "Altering it in any way will alter its potency."

"All right then, can I drink or eat something that will numb my tongue so that it's not so disgusting?"

Fortuna shook her head. "It needs to be absorbed immediately. The process will be slowed down if you've eaten or drunk anything in the last few minutes."

"Of course. How silly of me." Chantelle eyed the concoction balefully. "So I need to drink it right now?"

"No. We need to let it cool. And we need to find an isolated location."

Chantelle frowned. "Letting it cool I can understand. Why an isolated location?"

Because I'm going to get powers, duh. And I have to learn how not to use them. As in, not destroying the hotel in the process.

Chantelle stood in the middle of a wide expanse of dirt. They were several hours out of town, at a location that Fortuna had deemed 'safe' to drink the essence. The four-wheel-drive that she had hired for the occasion was situated some distance away; Fortuna waited with it.

She looked at the jar in her hand. It held the noxious liquid that Fortuna had quite literally cooked up in her hotel room kitchenette. The stuff looked off-brown with streaks of silver through it. I have to drink this shit.

Looking up, she glanced all around, then over at Fortuna, a tiny figure in the distance. The girl waved her arm. Get on with it.

Grimacing, Chantelle shook the jar vigorously. Make sure it's well mixed. Some parts might settle out, she said. She didn't want to know what 'parts' they were. Then she unscrewed the cap.

Despite her best efforts not to inhale through her nose, the smell hit her immediately. Closing her eyes, she brought the jar to her lips. She nearly hesitated, but to stop now would be fatal; she'd spent the last hour psyching herself up for this moment. Abruptly, she tilted the jar and let it flow into her mouth.

Fortuna had been right. It did taste worse than it smelled.

Convulsively, she swallowed it, if only to get the stuff down her throat and out of her mouth as fast as possible. There was so much of it, a good solid coffee cup full. At the back of her mind, she was screaming get this stuff out of me! But she kept drinking. She had to.

At long, long last, she reached the end of it. The final vile mouthful slithered down her throat; she threw the jar to the ground and spat, trying to get the taste from her mouth. Her stomach rebelled, trying to eject the horrific brew, but she repressed it. If I am to get powers, this is the only way.

And then the pain hit. White-hot fire exploded in her stomach and spread to her limbs, up into her head. She could feel it branching out, searing its way through her nervous system, reaching every last part of her body. Falling to her knees, she screamed her agony to the sky.

She never said it would hurt this much.

I never asked.

Falling on to her side, she convulsed in the dust. Spasms wracked her body. One moment, she was curled in the foetal position, while the next, her back was arched in an impossible bow that had her heels nearly touching the back of her head. Flayed by invisible knives, impaled by immaterial skewers and torn apart on a molecular level, she couldn't even scream any more. Even thought fled before the sheer blinding agony that engulfed her entire being.

After an eternity of suffering, each level higher and more grotesque than the last, she found herself lying face-down. There was the taste of both blood and dirt in her mouth. Raising herself on to her elbows, she hacked and spat several times. When she explored with her tongue, she found where she had bitten her lip. There was still pain in her body, but it was the pain of overstretched muscles rather than the hellish torment of before.

"Ow." Gradually, she opened her eyes and pushed herself back into a sitting position. "Wow. Did it work?" I hope so. I'm never going through that again.

Fortuna spoke from behind her. "It worked. Look."

Turning, she looked at where the girl pointed. The four-wheel drive lay on its side. A grove of trees had been stripped bare of their leaves. Even the dirt beneath her felt warmer than it should. "Was that … was that me?"

"It was." Fortuna smiled. "Congratulations. You have powers."

Chantelle stood, a little unsteadily. "I have powers?" At the word, at the very thought, she felt the awareness unfolding at the back of her mind. The capabilities. The options that were now open to her. She picked one of them at a whim, and a moment later, her feet left the ground.

Too startled to be frightened, she soared skyward. The power exhilarated her, washing away all the pain and suffering that had led to this point. She could see forever, to the far blue horizon. Another power joined the first, and she could see further.

As she flew, she examined the other powers that she now had access to. There were hundreds. And she could take on more than one of them at a time. A smile creased her lips.

I can do this. I can really do this.

Chantelle came in for a landing next to Fortuna; she stumbled a few steps, but didn't fall over.

"You did that well," Fortuna observed. "You are getting a grasp on your powers."

"Yes," Chantelle agreed. For someone who had been flying for all of five minutes, she thought the landing had been very good indeed. "My god, the powers I have access to. It's amazing. When do I fight the Other?"

"Not yet," Fortuna advised her. "You're not strong enough." She turned to walk back toward the four-wheel drive.

"You have to be joking with me." Chantelle walked alongside her. She picked out a power; raising her hand, she fired off a glowing green beam that disintegrated one of the trees in the grove. "That didn't strain me at all. I feel that I could level a city and not be out of breath."

"The Other could level a continent without much in the way of effort," Fortuna stated flatly. "Its kind routinely blow up worlds for the energy before they move along. We need more preparation."

Not for a moment did Chantelle doubt her words; a chill ran down her spine at the thought of challenging a being with that level of power. "What sort of preparation?"

Fortuna's voice was matter of fact. "Allies, for the most part. If we excise certain parts from the godling we have, they can be made over into mixtures for other people. They won't be nearly as powerful as you are; each one will get just one powerset. For these, we will use those powers for which you have duplicates, or otherwise have no use for."

Chantelle frowned. "You want to go back there? I know you're good, but those monsters -"

"- will stand no chance against you," the girl replied. "In fact, it's time we claimed that area. Bought the land. Could your powers create a building around it?"

As the question was posed to Chantelle, powers flickered into her awareness. Building, creating, rearranging matter … "I … yes, I think I can. I could even put people back in their home worlds." She nodded slowly. "Maybe I could even close the portals. Yes, I think that's possible."

"Good." Fortuna's voice was definite. "We don't need anyone else doing what we're doing. That would introduce unwanted elements to the Path, and that would be a bad thing."

"I think I see what you mean." They reached the four-wheel-drive. Chantelle acquired a power that let her lift the vehicle and place it gently on its wheels, then she pulled up the one that had suggested itself to her before; the dented bodywork repaired itself, the shattered windows reforming into a seamless whole. She even touched up the paintwork while she was at it.

They opened the doors and got in. Fortuna expertly fastened her seatbelt, despite the fact that she'd never seen one before that day. In fact, mused Chantelle, she'd done it up perfectly when she'd gotten into the vehicle that morning as well. "Your power must be so useful."

"It is." Fortuna turned to her. "You're going to need a name, you know."

"A name?" She wasn't sure what the girl was talking about. "I have a name."

A shake of the head. "Not your name. A name to share with the world. If someone asks who you are while you're using your powers, you do not tell them Chantelle Thierry. You need another name, one that encompasses what you are now."

Chantelle frowned. "I had not imagined that I would even be talking to people. I am here to destroy the Other, right?"

Fortuna chuckled gently. "There are many people in the world. It will be hard to avoid encountering someone or other before we've finished our job, yes?"

"I suppose you're right." Chantelle tilted her head. "Perhaps Singer?"

"What your name actually means?" Fortuna looked thoughtful. "I'm not sure. I was thinking of something more … dramatic. Perhaps Legion, because you have many powers."

"It also sounds as though I am many people." Chantelle wrinkled her nose. "I am just me. Maybe Infinity?"

"You don't have an infinity of powers." Fortuna's tone was dry.

Chantelle rolled her eyes. "Details, details. Do you have a better one?"

Fortuna rubbed her chin. "Eternity. It's strong and dramatic."

"I like it. No, wait. Eternal."

"Eternal?" The girl raised an eyebrow. "That's … not bad, actually."

Chantelle raised her chin slightly, deepening her voice dramatically. "I am … Eternal." Then she giggled for perhaps the first time since this entire thing had started. "I sound so pretentious."

"Trust me," Fortuna said as Chantelle turned the key, "with the power that you wield, there is no way that you could actually sound pretentious."

"I suppose." The engine hadn't started. Chantelle turned the key once more. There was just a dry clunking sound. "Uh, I think I may have damaged the car when I blew it over. And while my powers could probably fix it, I don't know how."

"Well, I could fix it, given a toolbox," Fortuna replied. "But why should we bother? It's not as if we actually have to drive anywhere any more."

"Huh." Chantelle shook her head. "You're right." Taking hold of the steering wheel, she riffled through the powers at her beck and call. A moment later, she had the right one. "Hold on."

A green flash enveloped the vehicle, and they went.

One Day Later

First off, close the portals.

Monsters still roamed the landscape below, as did a few groups of humans, although Chantelle thought there were less of those than there had been before. She ruthlessly quashed the vague feeling of guilt. Maybe I could've come back as soon as I had powers, but I had to figure out how to use them first.

She concentrated, locating all the portals. Now that she had control over them, she simply turned them off. Opening one of her own, she stepped through to another version of the world, this one lacking the crater and the flesh garden. More portals existed here; she closed them off, as she had the original ones. Another portal, another world; carefully, she combed through the sheaf of parallels until she was sure that there were no more portals to be shut off.

Now, deal with the monsters.

This was the fun part. She had hidden, terrified, from these twisted abominations for three days straight. They had killed people as she watched from a distance. Now it's my turn.

Ruthlessly, she hunted them down, swooping over the landscape, locating them via the powers that had been forced upon them. As she came upon them, she unleashed a destroying beam, disintegrating them where they stood. Again, guilt tried to creep over her. These were once human. It was the powers that sent them crazy, drove them to attack people. Perhaps I could withdraw the powers from them, make them sane once more?

Pragmatically, she shook her head. Even if I could do it without killing them, they've hunted and killed their own kind. Either they enjoyed it, in which case they deserve death, or they would have to live with it for the rest of their lives, in which case they would beg for death. What I am doing is a mercy.

The last of the monsters dealt with, she began to herd the surviving people together. I have to send them all home. They resisted, being as terrified of the figure swooping over their heads as they were of the monsters. Merely flying toward them achieved little; they screamed and scattered in all directions.

Sighing, she closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. Humans. When she opened them again, she possessed a new power. Walls of force, glowing a dull orange, surrounded each contingent of humanity, moving inward, herding them toward the same area.

They attacked the force fields with rocks and sticks, to no avail. Some of the more enterprising ones tried to climb over, until she roofed it in. She wasn't sure what they thought was going on, but they were certainly attempting to resist it. Maybe they think I'm some kind of alien invader, here to take them away to be dissected? It didn't matter. These people were a mere detail, but one which she had to deal with.

At last, they were all in the same general area. Chantelle had never worked with cattle or any other sort of domestic animal before, but with Fortuna's advice she had worked out a way to draft off the people into areas corresponding to each Earth that they belonged to. The walls of force shifted, forming narrow corridors, down which each person had to walk single file. Some clung to others; more walls of force slid down, separating them. If they are from the same world, they will meet again.

One by one, the people ventured – or were shoved – down the corridors. Her power could determine which world they were from, and so she opened a portal to the appropriate Earth as each person approached. Again, some people were reluctant to step through, but she didn't exactly give them a choice in the matter.

After the last of them had been drafted into their appropriate reality, she did one last sweep of the surrounding worlds to ensure that nobody had been left behind. There were a few stragglers; she dealt with these quickly.

All right, that's done. Now to enclose the flesh garden.

Stepping back to that world, she began to reshape the very ground upon which the godling lay. It became stonelike and smooth. The walls of the crater became walls in truth, the entire chamber assuming a rectangular shape, vast enough to encompass the entire bulk of the godling. This was not the true size of it, she knew; there were extensions into dimensions which undoubtedly held far more of the godling than what lay here on this Earth. She didn't understand how this aspect worked, only that it did.

With a grinding noise, the roof closed over the chamber. It was dark inside, until she created patches of glowing stone for light. The walls and ceiling were tens of feet thick; she added vents to allow air in and out, then a series of chambers that would allow Fortuna and herself to rest in comfort while visiting their captive godling.

"Well, that's done," she sighed as she stepped back through space into the hotel room. "I sent the people home, and the thing is now enclosed it its own private vault."

Fortuna looked up from where she had been watching TV. "Good," she said. "Have you been looking more at your powers?"

"Yes, and you were right. There is a very interesting power there." Chantelle shucked off the hooded robe that she had been wearing, and sat down on the sofa. "It allows me to access … some kind of semi-autonomous beings. I have to set them to build bodies for themselves, but once created, they're self-maintaining. They're quite powerful. I'm thinking I might activate one for the fight against the Other."

Fortuna shook her head. "No."

"No?" Chantelle concentrated, and a chilled drink appeared in her hand. "What do you mean, no?"

"Don't just activate one. Activate them all. It's the only way you'll even stand a chance."

Chantelle's eyes widened. "But … there's twenty of them. And they can devastate entire countries. If they slip from my control …"

Fortuna looked at her seriously. "Build in commands that prevent them from attacking anyone that's weaker than themselves. Make it so that their only viable target is the Other. We cannot hope to win without them."

Slowly, Chantelle nodded. "You make a very good point. I'll activate them all now."

"One needs to be a shape-shifter of some sort," Fortuna advised. "And another needs to be able to manipulate emotions. As well as the rest of what they can do. When it finds that its fellow godling has been neutralised, use of that godling's image will be key in keeping it off balance."

Chantelle smiled. "I like how you think." Closing her eyes, she sent out the order for each of the twenty super-weapons to activate and begin building itself a body. "It will take some time. Months, certainly. Perhaps a year or more. I could go faster if I activated them one at a time."

"We don't want them one at a time," Fortuna said. "We want them all at once. The Other will not strike at this world immediately; it will take it a few years to decide that it wants to destroy everything. We must strike before then."

"And in the meantime, you will be treating more people with your vile concoctions. Good luck getting volunteers." But Chantelle's voice was teasing.

"The other vials of essence won't be nearly as bad as the one you had." Fortuna's voice was earnest.

"And how is that fair?" Chantelle grinned even as she voiced the complaint.

"Because they won't be getting anywhere near the same level of power as you have." Fortuna spoke over her shoulder as she got up and went to the kitchenette. Chantelle heard the fridge open.

"Oh, well, that's all right then." Chantelle sipped from her chilled fruit concoction. It was delicious. "That stuff was horrific."

"I know. But it had to be done." Fortuna returned from the kitchenette with a bottle of soda. She held it up in a toast. "To the future."

Chantelle clinked her glass against it. "May we see it through together."

End of Part Two