Priya Echo's Adventure - Part 10

CHAPTER 48 - COMPANIONS - PRIYA AND SNOW - HONEYSUCKLE HOUSE

Almost tripping over a garden gnome, Priya continued up the driveway until seeing the cottage, its white exterior peeking out from underneath the vines of honeysuckle that had enveloped it like a floral spiderweb. “Snow must still be asleep” she thought, creaking open the front door. Unwanted articles of clothing lay abandoned on the staircase. The family that dwelt there had certainly left in haste. “Hey!” Priya called out, but her daughter refused to answer. More of the vine weaved circuitously through the dwelling, over family portraits and across wallpaper, overpowering the patterns that hid beneath. Supple honeysuckle clusters offered themselves like maidens shackled to their vines. “Doesn’t look like she’s in the television room, better check the upstairs” Priya thought. Each of the bedrooms, however, were thoroughly empty. “If you just want to stay inside today, that’s fine, but I need to know where you are!” Priya shouted. From the corridor she heard the pattering of feet and quiet laughter. Peeking back out of the room into the hall, it was bare save for fresh imprints on the carpet that traced down the stairwell. “Ah, so that’s how it’s going to be,” Priya sighed, following them to wherever they might lead. Snickers emanated from inside the closet, and she opened it, seeing the woman inside speaking to shadows, her hair disheveled, her clothes unkempt. “Darling … are you hiding?” Priya asked. “It’s got to be somewhere in here …” Snow said, moving her arms diligently. Squinting, her mother looked closer and saw how she was picking the clusters for their nectar. “Everyone’s probably having lunch by now, Snowflake, did you want to come outside?”. Snow twisted around and looked at her through strands of hair that fell over her face. Her eyes were wild, credulous, childlike, “Not until I find the answer”. Hearing this, the mother dragged her by the arm out into the living room, and fixed her hair, “What are you talking about, hon? Let’s just go outside already, come on”. Snow began picking some of the flowers that were growing on the couch, slurping up the nectar, “No! I can’t leave. The answer is hiding in the nectar of one of these honeysuckles. I have to go throughout the entire house to find it. This is my system. I’m doing it by vine”. “I don’t get it, what are you looking for?” Priya demanded gruffly, exasperated at how the day was going nowhere. At this the daughter swiveled her neck, opened her mouth, and stuck out her tongue so she could see the undissolving jewel of the Ice-Multiplex resting upon it, glittering with six-fold symmetry, “My purpose”. Priya put her hands on her hips, like an instructor insulted by a thoughtless answer, “Snow, you have to invent a purpose, that’s what life is about”. “It’s hiding in the honeysuckle. It’s in one of these little drops” Snow assured her, continuing her quest at one of the vines that slithered across the wall. Funny that they would not touch the windows, but traced around, allowing a most pleasant, light-soaked view of the world outside. It was undiluted, where even the feral green spread its limitless body towards town. “That’s easy for you to say, mother. You aren’t the manifestation of a chemical reaction. Who are you to say the purpose isn’t in a little drop of nectar?” she huffed, tossing a family portrait onto the floor after finishing its cluster. The glass cracked like a snail shell stepped upon by a fat shoe. “Snowflake … if I help you find the mystery, will you come outside and be with us?” her mother asked, humoring her childishness for the sake of time, and she nodded in agreement. “You can start with the vine over there” the patron directed.

“I suppose life has been cruelest to you” Priya thought as she picked one of the honeysuckles and dabbed a drop onto her tongue. Snow came uncomfortably close, grinning eagerly at her first effort. “So, each of these leads to somewhere” she deduced as the walls of the house began to fade. Her daughter took it as well, and before they knew it, they were in a new city, in a parking-lot full of wannabe luxury vehicles. From the building came trotting out another Snow, this one in suspenders and dorky glasses. “Hi, I’m Snowie” she announced, shaking each of their hands rather hard. “Are you a used car salesman?” Snow asked shyly, to which Snowie slapped her shoulder, “You betcha!”. The newcomers were ushered into a model which she assured them was fresh off the factory floor, and took it for a test drive down a long road that ran parallel to the city. “This is the next-gen Nordic class air conditioning system, probably one of the best features” Snowie told them, fiddling on the dashboard. “Watch out for that lion on the road!” Priya yelped, and the car screeched to the left. It bore sharp fangs as they veered. “Mom, relax. This is mostly just a hallucination” Snow said as she lowered the window and laid her elbow out of it, twisting the steering wheel with just one hand. Ignoring Priya, Snowie turned to the driver, studying her, “Did I mention that you have very white teeth, that’s a good judge of character in a person”. “Oh, you know … I brush at least twice a day,” Snow bragged. They stopped briefly at a light for a group of people wearing pajamas to cross. More lions sleeping in bubbles hovered nearby. By the passenger’s window a hermit crab carrying a string of sausages offered to sell her one, and she traded an onsuru coin. It tasted of pork fed with freshwater scallops and a hint of basil licorice. Seeing the seat to her right had a picnic basket, Priya opened it and saw that inside was the engine of the vehicle … then quickly closed it and put it back where she found it. “Now I think we’re ready for a shortcut” Snow said as they passed a local park, and spun the car around, barreling through and shredding the green. People playing tennis gasped as they wove through, and more lions appeared that sped away to safety. A grandmother in a nightgown ran out into the fray and hit one of the lions in the head with a wooden rolling pin because it was late for supper. “That’s enough, stop the car right here!” Priya demanded, and they came to a screeching halt near a wide flight of stairs that led to another level. Slamming the door behind her, she got out and paced away to where the railing was, walking onto the first step. “Ah, don’t be like that” Snow beseeched as the salesman trailed behind. From the top flight an old timer shuffled down, eagerly plucking a tennis ball from a white beard. He must have been eager to play, since he ignored their plight completely. A primal mote of consequence. Whilst the two of them were bickering Snowie tapped her shoulder, “Excuse me mam, is this your thermos?”, handing it over gracefully. As soon as Priya opened it, streamers and glitter flew out, spattering over her shoulders. Reveling at the prank, Snowie slapped her knee and burst with laughter, “Haha … thought you just needed a little something to relax there, mam”. The daughter shirked away, seeing her mother was glaring at her with those unforgiving eyes. “I’m done here” Priya said, and as she walked away, the place that was the realm lost focus and was replaced by the room. “Well, I guess my purpose wasn’t in there, let’s try another” Snow implored. She pulled her mother by the arm from the couch where she had collapsed in agony of the dumbness of the day. “You know what, maybe life hasn’t been cruel enough to you” Priya said as she was forced onto her feet.

For the time being they decided to have tea. As Snow sipped her herbal, she saw that more precocious squirrels, although they were not invited, had decided to romp about the room. “Their population has skyrocketed since the epidemic,” Priya noted. “They would make excellent friends, mom. I think I’ll call this one George” Snow considered, patting the head of one sitting on the napkin. When they were done, they retired back to the wall where another vine awaited them, sharing in another droplet and waited for the walls to disintegrate, shepherding them into the hallucination. Incrementally, the faces of a crowd appeared as snippets latched together, but not in the ordinary fashion. Desiring disunion, quadrants of space segmented off from one another. “Darling, would you say that your vision is different here?” Priya asked, turning towards her. A hairy tarantula looked back, its compound eyes delicate like a lady’s, its legs slender, adolescent. “Ahh!” shouted the other spider in fright, dancing for a bit before coming to terms with her own evolution. “If we are going to be like this, promise me you won’t tell anyone” she pleaded while waving her front legs to-and-fro. “Darling, believe me, when we get back, my fangs are sealed,” she assured her. Gradually, the air around them became fertile with sound – cordial, cyclical, resonating to the rafters. “Mom, this is classical,” the delicate one discerned excitedly. Posh night-on-the-towners had disguised themselves as aristocrats, and they were really posh-ing it up to the furthest posh-able extent. Behind them the oblivious conductor swung his baton, unfettered by the constraints of typical life and the cold-blooded science that underlies it. “Let’s crawl down to the ground really quick and make our way out of here” the younger counseled. Slowly they made their way down the music-sheet. For a moment the air was still, and they looked around thinking, “What is this shadow?” until the conductor, seeing their sneaky endeavors leant back his hand, and with a merciless blow snapped his baton against the paper. Folded into a surface, the two of them plopped onto the ground. Priya stretched herself and blinked profusely, as blinking had become much more of a labor with eight eyes. Around them, the ground was made of overlapping music sheets. Noticing the landscape, patterns of ink and absence made blinking a calming, hushing thing. Doves escaped en masse from the canopies of the surrounding trees and made their way into a tin of sour cream. Turning onto its side, it rolled towards them, and inside was solid sour cream solidified from the doves, and it molded itself into the porcelain face of a woman. “How are you getting in so often? Ah … this town is becoming a tourist trap” she complained. Nearby a roman statue of a woman moved to the whimper of the music. For a minute Priya was distracted by the hypnotic effect of her ornaments. Annoyed, the delicate youngster cried, “That art is disrespectful!” and scuttled over to the statue, pushing it over. Fragments of marble scattered across the black and white polka-dot ground. “Snow! What has gotten into you?” Priya protested.

Sliding out of its container the porcelain head examined the jumbled wreckage, “Don’t worry, it’s not like a priceless antique or anything”. Priya rolled all eight of her eyes. “What precisely is your name, if you don’t mind me asking?” Snow inquired. “Hank-Helga. I suppose you all came here to see the Violin Club … it’s at the center of town” the tin, bobbing appropriately added. “Hmm … why did your parents give you both a boy and a girl name” she pried. “They didn’t know what I would be, so they thought to cover both bases. Are you done with the personal questions?” Hank-Helga retorted. “Oh, there is more where that came from” Snow teased as they angled towards a path that would bring them to town. Picked up by a passing breeze, the music sheets fluttered by, accenting a sign beaming its tonic in neon light. By the way, Hank-Helga insisted that they stop at an outlet liquor store. A friendly sculptor by the entrance spoke to the porcelain head, and by her request tapped her nose with his hammer and chisel, sending cracks across its surface for it to break apart, eggshells of porcelain littering the ground. Hank-Helga appeared as the dust settled to the ground and shrouded the prose below their feet. She had short gray hair and tattoos of doves and sour cream and porcelain heads. Inside security cameras swiveled along the sides of the walls. “Don’t look their way,” she warned. A wine sampler told them as he poured them a glass of how he escaped from an island of connoisseurs, and of how their wine was made of holograms … so it didn’t really matter. “I didn’t know bugs had a taste for wine” he noted as he poured Priya’s glass to the very top. “Humid Delay was his name, if I recall” Hank-Helga mentioned as they browsed another aisle. “I’ve seen a lot of tourists in my day, but I have to admit to you that I had an ulterior motive, my friends,” their guide broke to them gently, “this is probably the most fortified store in the city, and only the best escape”. She pointed up above them, to a wine bottle, and saw it floating towards the cupola, evading the security cameras. Extending a telescope, Hank-Helga peered through and tracked the progress of the bottle until it found a very loose section in the ceiling for its escape, “Getting into the club will be easy if you nab me some of those ''. Priya and Snow made their way up a wall to the ceiling, past the visages of classical art, weaving a web to catch the most cunning varieties, trapping them like flies, and wrapped them in silk for safekeeping. “By the way, my real name is Helga-Hank'' she revealed halfheartedly, before loading a bundle into a backpack and zipping it up. When they left the front door, the delicate spider turned to the larger, hairier one, “It’s really a bummer today, I'm tired of being a spider”. Behind them the door gave off its signature clack. The three of them turned around as the connoisseur stood in the threshold, boldly intruding on their conversation, “Sometimes you can just swish it around”. In his hand he held a glass of wine, its cherry hue not staining it, but leaving it glossy and savagely opaque. “Swish around what?” Snow asked, a little flummoxed by the tangent. Humid Delay smiled in a way that would make trapeze artists lose their balance and slurped a meager portion of wine, “The day”. Moving the glass in a tight circle, the liquid within became a vortex, and the world around them did the same, the particles of the hallucination tumbling all over the place. Priya opened her eyes to see that they were in the midst of the heart of the city. “My body!” her daughter exclaimed, seeing that they had both resumed their former evolutionary shapes. And so they roved the streets, where crowds frothed about, passing locals who wore oven mittens on their heads. Each had an oval cut out for their faces. “Don’t even think about pulling off those mittens,” Priya warned her daughter. By the curb a man bought a piece of pink chewing gum from a newspaper salesman and tossed it into his mouth, blowing a bubble that became a pink car, and ushered his family inside. It rode away down the endless street and did not pop. Noticing an approaching danger, Helga-Hank pushed them under an overhang as a big oven mitten filled with a hydra of snakes passed by. It was really just snake mitten ambassador traveling downtown on his official duties, but they didn’t know that. As the scary thing passed, they revealed themselves from the safety of the overhang. “Whew, talk about a guy that needs a makeover” Echo whispered, as the safety of the moment returned. Following their guide, a procession brought them to a district gilded with purposeful bronze. Lines of the crowd were roped off around a Violin the size of a stage that must have been shined that very morning. Escorted, they came to the front of the line. From within they could hear the pounding of dance music. Swaggering over to the Violin, Snow peered into the F-Holes and turned back towards her. “If there’s anyone that deserves to let off a little steam, it’s me,” she boasted. Convinced by the sentiment, Priya let her reservations subside and likewise looked down into the party, seeing it full of dancers, all of them in cool leather getups. Nobody wore mitten hats, and all of their faces were quite clear. Looking back one last time, she could see in the tired evening sky the hopelessness of fool’s gold. The distant roar of applause could be heard emanating from even far away as yoyos glided through the clouds. Their tricks were totally sick and they could do “walk-the-dog". Grabbing her arm, Snow led her into the Violin Club and they danced, letting the club-hoppers bounce off of them. “Watch me swish!” Snow exclaimed, and the others circled around as she unleashed some frosty dance moves … until time whirled and the moment melted and they were back in the room just seconds before their arrival.

The light from outside the window cast itself languidly onto the furniture. Their minute patterns became decipherable, tiny indentations of cushioning. Frays of threads that would linger, unnoticed. Speckles of crumbs of dust. A moth hunted for enigmatic loci of light and shadow in the hills of a couch seat. “For the sake of time, I think it’s best if we split up to cover more ground” Priya submitted, until her daughter relented. In the next honeysuckle room, she came upon a box containing an entomology collection, long pins spearing long-dead butterflies. Moving closer, the pins became towers, and the nearer towards it, the more of a city it became. Light generated by the beating of the butterfly wings ignited the windows of the towers. Rising in an elevator to the ball-like crown of the pin, she came upon a distinguished sixty-something in his estate, and they had a long talk, although he didn’t believe much of what she reminisced of. Afterwards the traveler attended an auction in the neighboring pin-tower, winning a volume of a much-rumored book.

When she returned, the room was empty, save for a few scampering squirrels exploring the contents of kitchen cabinets. “Do you really want to play hide and seek again!” Priya called fretfully, her voice bouncing off the tapestried walls to no avail. Certainly, her youngling must be occupied in another room where she had not cared to look before. Priya headed up the stairs and to the left, checking the rooms for signs of the runaway. Thoughts whispered from days of the past, appearing out of thin air. Sam had been very spiffy in his brown blazer, and at the time the sight of him was like a subtle virus infecting her dreams. She would have devoured fate to be with him. “Oh, goodness!” Priya blurted. With all that had happened so recently, the detail of finding a way to free him from his tomb had fallen out of favor. “Mom, are you spying on me!” Snow called, throwing the accusation out into the hall. The scientist turned the corner and pushed the door open into the bathroom. Snow laughed brazenly as she was hard at work giving George a bubble-bath. The little guy looked so content with his gray fur covered in bubbles. “There you are. I was worried about you” Priya huffed. “I decided to take a break to help my squirrel with his bath-time. He’s my new best friend” she said, scrubbing his coat with glee. “Where have I seen this before?” Priya thought as the implication washed over her. “No!” she cried, but it was too late ... as a pulse of energy cascaded through the room. Moments later the little guy’s head bobbed down, as if fainted. Frantically the runaway shook him in her hands, drawing her head near to listen, but even in his eyes she could see nothing but false color, and he reclined across her palm, limp like a ragdoll. “Do you even realize what you did!” her mother scolded. Panic stricken, Snow lay the squirrel on the counter and wiped the clusters of bubbles from her hands onto the ledge of the bathtub, “What just happened?”. Priya took a long deep breath before relating to her the mistake, and its awesome consequences, “Be careful. This new turbulence is unlike anything we’ve encountered before. With such a small coincidence … my dear … there’s no way you could have seen it … unless you were me. I’m sorry. From now on, you have to think about the consequences. Look at George, he enjoyed the bubble bath so much his mind astral projected out of his body. It will descend through time, going back into the past until finding a home in Kyloptos Rama. That’s how he was driven mad and started his reign of terror”. Snow began to cry, until the scientist wrapped her arms around. “I didn’t know it would be like this, '' she wailed. “Snow, hide him right here and we’ll come back later. Kyloptos … this was just an accident, but now I'm responsible. I promise that one day I'll return and find you in that pyramid, and grant you a second chance” she swore.

“Mom… I want to take another shot at that used car” the giddy patron confessed. Her mom wiped sweat off her forehead at the suggestion, but agreed just to humor the request. Tasting nectar from the same cluster, they returned back to the first stop on their journey. Snowie was eager to greet them again. Showing off a phony wristwatch, she led them into the same model as before. “Like lambs to the slaughter” Priya heard her think telepathically. For a time, they continued down the same road that ran parallel to the city. The driver began to grow restless and turned to the salesman, “Where does this road lead?” she wondered. “Pretty soon we’ll have to turn back. This one dead ends at the bridge. It was supposed to stretch over Bishop’s river, but the city wasted so much of the budget, the project was never completed” Snowie cautioned them. “I can see it coming up” the driver exclaimed as tiny lion bubbles smacked into the front glass. The salesman activated the window wipers to push them off. “Darling, I think it would be a good idea to turn around now” Priya advised, instinctively touching her seat belt to ensure it was fastened. Roaring into life, the car jerked forward. “We’ll just turn around once we get to the end,” Snow replied. Stretches of concrete became vague as the car accelerated to its breaking point. The gaping mouth of the bridge grew closer as they were thrust back against their seats. Priya jerked the driver’s seat from behind as Snowie smacked her shoulder. “We’re at the end now!” she yelped. In the rear-view mirror, the scientist could see a droll grin spread across her daughter’s face, and at that moment knew it was too late. Crossing the mouth, the vehicle shot up the incline and towards the severed end of the bridge. Looking out the window, Priya could see the river below, rippling with fear. Then the hunk of metal arced down, and by some stroke of rich, unfathomable luck landed on the concrete of the other side. Snowie didn’t talk for a minute. Inhaling and exhaling laboriously, she eventually realized that yes, she was still alive, and yanked the keys out of the ignition. Needless to say, they were both left at the curb as the sale careened away.

“What on earth has gotten into you!” Priya admonished as soon as they were back in the room. “Didn’t you like that? I think we should go a second time” Snow insisted, climbing onto the couch. Her mother stood there speechless, remembering how only recently her parents had walked into her room and witnessed a similar scene. “Get down from there” she demanded. With a seal the patron summoned in her hands a car tire, and shrunk its size, placing it on her head, turning it into a hat with magic. From the background a screeching sound could be heard, “Do you think they’ll have more fun with three wheels?”. “That’s enough. Get off” her mother reiterated. Disregarding that statement, the runaway tore a honeysuckle vine off the wall and began waving it like a whip, “You’re overreacting!”. For the first time in her life, Priya felt like a beast facing a lion tamer. The scientist felt a bitter taste in her mouth, and turned around, stamping out of the room. When she got to the door of the house, she slammed the door behind her, walking down the driveway and onto the grass. Anger muffled her like an itchy sweater and only got hotter and hotter. “What is wrong with that kid? I’m going back in there and setting things straight” she thought. But on the way back she glanced down, seeing the gnome that lay in the grass, staring up at her with its doe-ish lifeless eyes. “No … she’s not a kid anymore. I have to give her space” the patron realized … although it contradicted all of her instincts, even the primal ones. Inside the house the girl continued to run her hands over the vines that covered the walls, until peering one that caught her eye, glinting curiously. “Here you are '' Snow whispered, and plucked the blossom. A little orb of nectar dangled from that slender thread. Waiting patiently, she let it drop onto her tongue. When it was over, Snow returned to the room and saw the living room mirror, her every feature in disarray, her hair frizzy and torn. Searching through memory, she could see the young cityscape of New Allium, and was drawn to it. “What is that now?” Priya yelped, pressing a hand to her chest. Crossing the boundary of the corona the body of the patron was downloaded, and she came upon the planet in the digital. Looming above it was its moon, but it had shrunk to such a degree that it was no bigger than a small city. Landing on the surface, the patron implanted herself in the grainy, pixelated chalk of the easy soil. Ripening, it became layered like an onion, and as those below in New Allium saw it, and craned their necks, their faces became red and wet, and from each of their eyes came tear-drops that flocked upwards through the atmosphere. From within the innermost concentric circle Snow emerged and was reborn, “I am a good synthesis”. Above New Allium the layers of the moon separated into their constituent parts, as the multitude of lunar rings found new orbits around the world. Pulled into the outer place, she landed on the front lawn. “What am I supposed to call you now?” Priya asked, seeing her lay there and stare up with the eyes of that vessel, where there was once so many worlds in so many layers. But they were beautiful eyes, with life still stirring inside … not anything like the other ones. “I’ll tell you when I think of it” she smiled wickedly. Extending her hand, Priya pulled her daughter to her feet, and they both traced a path down the driveway, back to where their friends must have been waiting all that morning near the hotel.

CHAPTER 49 - TICKET TORNADO

Across the fence, where normally the pool and the hot-tub would be, instead there was a dolphin relaxing in a simmering crock pot full of stew. It chirped in delight as a soft carrot bumped into its belly.

Back at the hotel, everyone was loitering by the entrance. A movie ticket booth had appeared and out of it came a long ribbon of tickets which Timecurrent had wound around herself as she spun in place. A milkman approached the hotel but was kidnapped by a passing helicopter’s special forces team before anyone could react. Then another milkman was callously gunned down by another passing helicopter before anyone could react. His blood mingled with the spilt milk and from it was born raptors that tried to terrorize the crowd until they dispatched them. Pushing the others aside, Valco beat down the majority of them. The last one of them bit his fist and broke its teeth. He body-slammed it back into a puddle of bloody milk. “There you are, finally, '' Valco said, seeing them both with a sigh of relief. He knew they would be fashionably late.

Linden-Squirrel and Melina-Squirrel sat on a park bench, making what was modest formidable. “We have to move quickly to stop this. The longer it takes, the more the survivors will be in danger from the turbulence”. Priya called to them, and they both scurried onto each of her shoulders. Everyone paid attention to Linden, “Don’t worry, friends. The first charge will be to remove the word-lights, and our targets are clear. I am relaying to you all the coordinates for the teams I have selected”. The only one that wasn’t paying attention was Timecurrent. She continued to spin in place, letting the ribbon wrap around in new layers. “Help, I can’t stop!” she protested. Faster now … quicker ... the tickets continued to stream out, unrelentingly, as if the booth itself was a factory, propelling her into ceaseless revolutions. Accumulations of tickets on Timecurrent’s person lashed out, becoming a tornado, and the patrons were swallowed by the eye of the storm. As they were lifted, Valco reached out and quickly held onto Priya’s arm. “Ahh! What the hop!” she screamed. Priya felt herself being drawn into his body, his bulky arms enclosing her as the wind scoured them. “Just close your eyes and hold on!” he yelled.

CHAPTER 50 - TIMECURRENT AND TELENON

Timecurrent came too, spitting out a few movie tickets that had gotten stuck between her teeth. Sweeping a hand over her shirt she found it tattered and hole-pocketed from the storm. Once vertical, it became apparent that the booth had not left her side, having landed at the same place. A booth attendant jumped up from underneath, looking out through the glass, and smoothed his disheveled brown hair. “How do you guess that happened?” he said, opening the door and hobbling over to her. “It must just have a mind of its own. You just have to train it better” she suggested, thinking of a good zinger for the occasion. “I’m going to go back in there and see what’s up” he chuckled, and went back into the booth, and began looking through some panels to find where all the supply was coming from. Focusing on his endeavors, Timecurrent barely noticed when the ribbon extended out once again, weaving itself across the ground to her ankle, and began winding its way around and up her leg. Lifted up off the ground by the strength of the strand, it wound its way around her chest and arms. “That’s really tight” she exhaled, tearing part of the ribbon from her shoulder. It left a red mark.  Flexible ribbons alternated along her body, squeezing hard. She watched as one of them found its way into a hole of her shirt to the skin beneath, “wait, what are you doing?” she pleaded. Timecurrent’s hair dropped down as the ribbon shifted her in mid-air, laying her horizontal, staring up at the clouds. The patron labored to breathe as the unruly bands continued, the blue sky looking on helplessly. Each breath ferocious as she inhaled and exhaled. More of the tatters drifted to the ground, removed. “I’m locked in!” she could hear the attendant shout, and looked down, seeing him pound on the front glass. Without letting go, the ribbon returned her to the ground, as if obeying her will. “Get down!” Timecurrent cried, and tossed out her yo-yo on its string, breaking the glass. Quickly crawling out, the man dusted off the front of his employee uniform that she recognized did not truly match the dignity of his features. “Let’s get you out of there”, he proposed, moving forward, trying in vain to tear away all of the ribbons that ensnared her. A thread of drool fell from the patron’s lips, and instead of helping the cause let him resume the endeavor as she stared with purpose at soft brown hair. Timecurrent felt a twinge of shame as he looked at the red marks criss-crossing her body, then reached out both arms, bringing him closer, planting both lips on his. It continued in that fashion for some while. He ran his hands through every inch of her hair. “There must be a refuge from this ecstasy” she thought, scanning the blueness with her eyes. Looking back, she blinked once or twice. “Your face is … different” the patron noticed “Do you like the real me? I’m not normally a lover” he replied. Words became empty of meaning, like gateways into the wide spaces of nature. Easily, summoning a portal Telenon carried her into the inner chamber of the Temple of the Voices of Reason.

CHAPTER 51 - BOXING MATCH

Telenon rested against his throne and nursed his wounded ego. The Temple was vacant except for the pitiful thing clinging to his leg and murmuring something about feeling dirty. “Intolerable, absolutely intolerable” he protested, restlessly scratching the stubble upon his face. Timecurrent looked up with doe eyes and a look of implacable love, “I know Priya will destroy you … my turtledove”. The tyrant shifted his position to find an ounce of bodily solace. Limber wood formed its contours around his back … yet it was still stiff. “I don’t think so my love” he retorted, the dry embers of his eyes burning at the thought of it. Temporal powers from the hostage emanated from her person to him, oscillating like desert heat. “And she’ll be here in a while to save me. It will be easy for her to beat you. Echo is the best! Just wait and see” she beamed. “You may know her, Time, but you don’t know me. She can’t stand against me. I will break her eventually” he answered, with a delicate suggestion as to the course of history. As the incline continued, her baby blue hair parted down the middle, and the lines that made her look like a curious android flared with the same hue, “Ha! You’re joking!”. Telenon anchored his grip and braced for the conversation’s first salvo. “My darling, you have a soft cheek. However, I don’t think you know what will become of this. When she faces me … with all that glorious vanity … she will bow her head. I could destroy her to set an example”. The thought of it zapped Timecurrent right in the head, the big thinking part. “Hopscotch! I’ve seen her use the strongest spells in the world!”. “I can counter them with my spells, Time. It won’t take more than three spells to finish this” he gave, throwing wisdom like bread to the masses. His words hollowed out the lonesomeness of the room, its broad chambers awaiting more of their melody. The conversation would be long and drawn out. It would require the pain of disclosure. “That’s like so stupid! She can turn into Echo’s and fly through anything and destroy it! I’ve seen her blow up whole space ships!” Time ejaculated, her eyes gleaming, carriers of the wonderful sight. Telenon leaned over his chair and looked down at the woman with her misguided resiliency “But I’m invincible. That won’t hurt me”. It would be a hopeless gesture. The armies that had fallen at his feet. Their worthless weapons of last resort. Time knew none of it. But there was something she wanted to ask. “Humph … I doubt it. I’m sorry darling. Can you bring me to that place in Etheria portion, the restaurant that I like?” The magic of their encounter quickly kicked in again. There was something ridiculously hot about him, but she didn’t know what. Adrenaline went up and down her spine like a kid playing on an elevator. “Of course, but not until this is over '' he sanctioned, biting his lip. “And feed me the pudding with the spoon?” Time pleaded. “If it will shut that endless mouth” he bantered, knowing the night would result in the antithesis of that. Time was unapologetic, considering the foray and its epicurean intrigues. A clever smile spread across her face, “Yes … I’ll even pay the bill. Why am I drooling?”. The conversation had strayed from its original aim. In the pause, the anger welled up in his belly again. It's flame like a blackened beast emerging from a forest fire. “Even so, this is absurd. Priya is overpowered. Even you have to admit that ''. “And what do you mean by that?” she joined, with a head twist. Telenon released a bitter sigh, “Think about it Time. A modest student from a university. Carrying stacks of books around every day. Those glasses. Does that sound like a mighty warrior to you? I know there’s got to be something wrong here. Her powers are a cheat in every way”. The ignominy. The slander. “No way! She got her powers without cheating” the girl exclaimed, furious for once in the course of events. From that she could not relent. “I’m saying her powers are too great for a simple person like her. It’s impossible that personality is the reason why” he unfolded dryly. The thought of Priya was coming to light. The strange defiance she had in all manner of times. By now the situation was developing. It was clear that something was amiss. It made him cogent. A willing actor in the disclosure of the invisible. “I don’t believe it. Her magic makes sense” the woman countered. Blue lighting forked from her body like some Victorian instrument. It cackled and dispersed as the intrigue faded. How could such a man know Echo? A movie booth man with gentle hands. Who engineered a tornado of tickets to woo her. And now … the cruel barbarian. Bent on her guardian’s demise. How had such a rapture ceased its exertions? In wordless reply, the man summoned a viewing portal through which they saw countless blades of grass. Its swirling magnificence subsided and became uniform. “Then take a look through this portal, and let it be the judge,” Telenon announced.

Priya marched with impunity against the slush of green. The wind seemed elderly in its fond embrace. It’s warmth a counterbalance to the dangers ahead. The woman hustled across a curvaceous agrarian landscape. Cabins with boards positioned just so that the darkness could escape amidst immaculate daylight. Meek animals grazed in foolish ignorance to what had become of their world. A private concern endowed her with courage. Its bastion against the travesty of the fleeting moment. Even so, the land continued its pastoral semblance, swirling with the wind and air. Recollections of absent farmers that tilled the land. Afterthoughts. Priya awakened her mapping senses, gathering the world around her. Towards the east, the light continued to frolic in strange ways. It was about that time, when she saw another orphaned shed, that an enemy pounced. It was a flower the size of a man with a hammer in its hand. Priya threw up her hands for a karate chop. For some reason she wasn’t using her powers. A tussle ensued, and she kicked the implement out of its leafy hand. Now that the tables had turned, she gave it the old smackaroo in the flowerhead blossom. “Ha! Look at that. She beat the flower guy” Timecurrent exclaimed, joyous with her newfound prestige. Telenon got to his feet and pointed, “Did you not see that? Her powers went away. It was the same as a sidewalk fight between regulars”. “So what? It’s been a day or so since we emerged from the realm. That always happens when we transition. It takes a week for the powers to return to normal” the baby blue one elaborated, tossing every thread into disarray with a shake of the head. “No, you’re wrong. You’re not seeing it. Take a closer look” he commanded. After reviewing the encounter, the clock-master shrugged her shoulders, “It’s Echo. I don’t see anything”. Telenon was fraught with impatience. His arms orchestrating the downfall of his enemy, “She had powers. Then when she stood in front of the flower guy, her powers almost went away. After that, she regained them like before”. Time considered how, given all that was going on, she was still enamored by his masculine charms. A pouty face looked up at a man whose ambition ruled his heart, “Well duh. It was a rough fight. The flower had a hammer”. In that instance, Telenon forgot her presence. He felt such exoneration at his good fortune, “It’s an ability unlike any I have seen before. Her powers lock on and match whatever enemy she is facing, no matter their power level. Every fight is a perfect tie, so that when she claims victory, her anatomy is strengthened to the core”. It was done. In moments, the mechanisms of his mind revealed themselves to the patron, and he continued on with her. Time was un-swayed. She saw the punches and the kicks, “If that’s true then it's only a fraction of her power. That flower guy was a pushover”. Telenon stamped his foot, “You’re really not getting this. It’s overpowered”. And that was enough. Who was this guy anyways? He had never lived a day in the realm. Its genteel expanse was unknown to him. The subtle transformations. Every day swathed in mint condition blue. It was starting to get under her skin, “It doesn’t matter!”. Grabbing his leg, she pounded it for effect. Yet as she looked back at the portal, the empress was replaced with ripples. “Alright Time. Here … let me give you another example. I found this from the past” the man offered. This one would be good. He had her cornered. With a smug grin he fell back onto the throne to watch.

In the realm, sometime in the second age. Echo swam through a cornucopia of stars. They draped the outer places in leagues upon leagues. She rushed along that happy abyss. It was through the Protostar Nebula that her destination lay. Little stars popping out of blackness with envelopes of ether. A tunic of light enrobing her. They amassed in one spectacle that made a wall of obvious globes. It brushed across the skin. The rush of solar wind. Making severe what was once cool. Echo felt their maturation. Lessons for the heart. And in the course of things, she let that feeling fade, and made her way towards a rather bulbous star.

Elladora Magnifique was for years the home of a sprawling summer home for the Gaia of that star. It had many emissaries and attendants who loved her affable nature. Not wanting to return home, they decided to stay and took up residence. Adjoining rooms were built. Butlers were hired. They came with trays of buttered scones for the revelers. The stairs were made so that one could lay on them without a back being bent out of shape. At first a sizable event, it grew as more people came. It encircled the economies of outlying regions. The frenzy continued, and as villagers were having breakfast in their homes, their walls would be dismantled around them. Several years passed until a humble, drab attired man named Jason Axia came to them. He was fed up with the current state of affairs. When he laid eyes upon the Gaia, he refused to give her an acknowledgment. With that one strike, the brokenhearted Gaia wept, and that night she went out like a candle. The flames upon her back could not even char the bed. Jason was taken at once in handcuffs. They threw him in the dungeon. After that, a delegation met to resolve his fate. They gave him no trial. Instead, a ship was constructed with a particular fireproof design. It sailed to the very center of that star. From the decks of the ship the wizards did their incantations, and the rays of light became material, and thick like spears. Now the center of the star was an iron maiden of light. They threw him in, and he was impaled on the hot rays. The wizards were enraged when he did not die. Through the insult he had absorbed the essence of their benefactor. So they departed, and he remained, suffering for the simple deed. The civilization dwindled, and they no longer cared for what came before.

By the time the empress passed the star, an outpouring of his golden blood coated the minor moon. It advanced along the continents, painting the entire surface. The gold moon left its orbit and went to fight the intruder. Echo saw what was going down, and turned her mirror light into two boxing gloves. A constellation transformed into a referee and got between them, “Alright you two, I want a good clean fight”. Echo nodded, agreeing to the rules. At that, the fight commenced, and the gold moon with its heft tried to crash into Echo. But she threw a few good punches and sent some continual crust flying away. “Below the waist!” the referee shouted. Yet his pleas could not be heard. They were already too far away. A swing and an uppercut, but it wouldn’t go down. The next time she threw a blow, it was too fast and she missed. Echo looked down and the gold moon was below her and it flew up and rammed her in the chest. It hurt a bunch, but then she got serious. Boom. Pow. Wallop. More golden layers off of that bad ball. The gold moon came in from the right and smacked her in the cheek. Echo returned with the old knuckle sandwich. By then, it looked like it just came out of an asteroid belt. Gorgeous cracks fanned out upon its surface. It tried to hide behind the planet, and when Echo went to look for it, the moon came in from the back and bumped her towards the star. “Ah, this is not cool!” she bellowed. With a good effort she halted her downfall. In sudden realization, Echo knew that it was no longer a gentleman’s fight. She found the referee and disintegrated him into stars again with one hit, as that had all been a trick of Jason Axia. “Shelter from the darkness” she said, and the illumination entered her. Echo roared in determination to the gold moon, and they went to town. Fending off an attack and giving one in kind. She flew all over its surface to find the weak spots. With one titanic blow, the lunar surface revealed itself. The gold moon fell back and covered the spot with fresh metal. It flung an asteroid of gold dust at her, but she split it in half with mirror lighting upon her person. In tangents the mirror lightning sprouted from her agile figure. At last Echo realized a way to complete the dance. Inspired by the speed of her enemy, she ramped up. “I’ll orbit around it” she exclaimed, circling the body. The force of it spun the gold moon like a toy globe. Parts of her arms transfigured into energy, yet she sustained the effort. In moments it was apparent the moon had met its match. The dust upon its surface erupted in all directions. Its alabaster came next. With a hand she tossed sweat from her brow, and settled the exercise. Echo continued on her journey unopposed. She left that gung-ho galaxy behind. Unseen by her, the wretched form of Jason Axia drifted from the corona, out into the frigid wasteland of space. It had seen better days.

“Did you see that, it proves everything!” Telenon belted out, rich with eager conviction. Time rolled her eyes sarcastically, “Oh please, that gold moon was weak”. Incensed, he threw out both arms, “She’s fighting a moon with boxing gloves!”. “That’s the smallest moon I’ve ever seen. Have you been past Jupiter? I could probably beat that moon” the girl continued, like an unrelenting gossiper. Telenon could not believe how uneducated his hostage was. He looked down at her artless attempt at ridicule, “It’s a moon fighting a person. What part of this are you not getting?”. Time grabbed his leg again, and brought her chin up to the knee she had grasped so unyieldingly. At a certain point a tongue shot out, “Give me a break. That’s probably as weak as a silver moon or a copper moon”. Telenon shook with revulsion, “It's bigger than a city. It could crush a city”. Time bounded to her feet and made a show of fighting like the boxer. “Nah fella … It went down easy. I could probably take that out in one hit. Once I roll up my sleeves”. With a ludicrous smile she balled up her fists and repeated the scene. She could timelapse emotions within herself to feel them on a profound level. Back on his throne, the man pinched the bridge of his nose, “Uhhh. It's not right! It gives her a classic fight with every opponent, so that she has to force herself to get stronger every time! It’s a farce!”. This stopped the girl in her tracks. Time spun around, “But it’s only a fraction of her power, and she almost never uses that”. The combat being done, the girl fell to her knees once more. All the excitement took a toll on her wakefulness and her eyelids. Telenon sat there and felt an unbridled resolve. He watched the gold moon crumble into ice and fire. The tactics of the nemesis were becoming clearer. A riddle being deciphered. It was a good thing, “Despite that, I’m still going to get her”. “Just … yawn … apologize and we can all go to the restaurant” Time implored, making an impression on his leg with her cheek. “Priya … I’ll destroy you and your entire world” he considered heartily. In the center of the star, the spike rays retracted, their tips covered in golden blood. Time looked up at the man with a smirk in order for him to reconsider his silly plan. It was youthful optimism but it just might work, “Don’t … I want to see my friends again …”. As soon as the hostage was asleep, he released the spell that formed the portal. He studied the proceedings again in thought. All the moves that destroyed the golden orb. Until a spark came. A painful epiphany, “She probably doesn’t even remember this. I can sense that”.