Out of Time the Grand Quest

by Christopher Douglass

  “That’sh eashy for you to shay. You're all grown up sho you don’t do thingsh like role-play anymore.”

  “Ha! I’ll have you know at home I am a closet role-player! I was always fighting my shadows or pretending I was some super spy, or any of a hundred other things.”

  “Yeah right. You’re jusht shaying that to make me feel better. No grown up actsh like that around here.”

  “Well I’m not from around here now am I, Jordon?”

  Jordon’s head jerked up in surprise at the mention of his name. Kimberly grinned down at him as she dusted herself off, offering him her hand. “Come on, let’s go on a quest together.”

  “A quesht?”

  “Yeah a quest. I’m a mediator you know. I can lend you my power for a little bit.”

  “But what kind of quesht are we going to go on?”

  Kimberly picked up a nearby stick, finding it a bit small, but worthy as a serviceable sword, holding it to her side in place of a sheath with her left hand.

  “The most epic quest I can think of. I shall be your knight as we go to find your courage to imagine and interact with the other kids.”

  With that announcement she grabbed the hilt of her weapon and drew her sword, pointing it off into the distance while thrusting our her chest in a heroic pose. She nearly dropped the weapon as she realized it was a real sword and not a stick, the sound of metal still echoing in the clear air. Looking down at herself she realized her clothes had changed to chain mail, with a tabard of blue and gold draped along her front.

  Chapter 4: The Power to Imagine

  The sword came from the left, Kimberly saw the lightning strike as if it were in slow motion. Her mind processed the options available to her in the split second between the time her eye noted the swing and the time she stepped inside the attack while pivoting on her foot. Sword clashed against sword, her shield slamming into the gut of her opponent. With a heave she brought the edge up under his chin before sending him sprawling on the ground.

  “Stop!”

  Kimberly stepped back, lowering her weapon and letting out a short breath. The world shimmered in her vision and the sword was a stick once more, the shield nowhere to be seen. Daniel was getting to his feet with Grell’s help. He was rubbing his jaw, working it back and forth to make sure it wasn’t broken. He picked up his sword and sheathed it with a rueful grin. His chain mail jangling with his movements.

  “Been a while since I’ve gotten such a drubbing with my strongest weapon. I’d blame it on not having used it for so long, but that’s no excuse. A knight of Camelot shouldn’t make excuses now should they?”

  “You were a knight of Camelot?”

  “Aye. I’m a Phaser like you. Came from the past about fifteen years gone. Spent some time on Atlantis getting oriented, then I was summoned over here for a quest fourteen years ago. My quest was successful, but my mage lost her life. Wandered about for a while until I finally settled down here.”

  “Were you a Knight of the Round?”

  “Me? Nah. I wasn’t as good as Lancelot or the other’s. I was just an above average swordsman under King Arthur’s command. I’d only been promoted to knight status for a three day before I was sucked away by a time rift. But you lady, you could probably have given any one of them a run for their money. I knew from the moment our blades first clashed that I was outclassed.”

  Joel stroked his chin in thought, watching Kimberly closely. “I’ve not seen a power like this before. Closest I can think of, is a guy who was able to mimic the effect of any spell he had seen. Didn’t have to go through the motions or incant any words, he just replicated it from thin air. Is a sword the only thing you can create?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve only tried it three times. Once with Jordon, once by myself to make sure I wasn’t going crazy, and then just now in front of you.”

  Jordon was standing nearby, his eyes wide with wonder as he watcher Kimi. She could feel the awe coming off of him in waves. She expected stars to appear in his eyes next as he leaned closer to get a better view.

  “How do you do it?”

  “I just-- imagine myself as a character.”

  “And do you read a lot of stories about knights?”

  “I suppose I have now that I think about it.”

  “Have you read anything with wizards in it?”

  “Tons. Kind of hard to pick up a fantasy without some kind of magic in it.”

  “Then try turning into a wizard. Well a sorceress, since I doubt you can change genders as well. Or can you? Imagine yourself as a male mage.”

  Kimberly closed her eyes, trying to ignore all the stares as people waited breathlessly. Kimi noted that Maria looked fit to burst out of her skin with joy. As if seeing the two of them partnered up now that Kimberly had a special power. Taking a deep breath she set her mind like she always did while imagining things.

  She was Arch- mage Antonius, Lord of the Eastern Hills. Protector of Kalifor from the hordes of demons that constantly threatened. He stood atop the highest hill, looking down upon the gathering armies preparing to invade. He was the first line of defense, and they would get no farther. His men had been killed and he stood alone. But still he would protect his King’s kingdom with his last breath. A strong wind picked up, rustling his gray beard and threatening to remove his pointed hat while whipping his robes around wildly. Spreading his legs, he struck the ground with his staff in challenge, hearing the hordes below roar back in anger.

  Opening her eyes, she found the stick she held was now an intricately carved staff just like the one she had imagined. Purple robes fluttered around her in an invisible wind printed with stars and moons. Her black hair was loosened from its braid, also being lifted and thrown about in the wind that only flowed around her. She was also most definitely still a female.

  Without warning Joel, threw a ball of lightning at her. Her hands were moving before she registered the thought, twirling the staff around to create a vortex of wind that caught the ball. She circled it around her head and threw it back, all within the space of a few seconds. Joel chuckled as he caught it one handed and tossed it back in one smooth underhanded motion, this time as a ball of fire. Kimberly brought her left hand up from her side, water shooting from the ground to engulf the flame, putting it out. She puffed her cheeks and blew on the water, sending missiles from the wall she had created towards the Grand Wizard.

  Jumping backwards, he flicked the air in rapid succession with his fingers, popping the water lances with puffs of wind while sweeping his foot out in front of him. The ground below Kimberly opened in a gapping maw, yet she didn’t fall. She had created a platform of air to stand on, giving her time to back away to solid ground. Her knees felt weak suddenly and she knelt as the world spun in a circle. The ball of ice hurtling from the sky towards her head suddenly changed to water, sprinkling her head with its shower. Her robes reverted to her gray shirt and blue jeans and the staff became a stick once more.

  “Interesting. Just to be sure, you’ve never cast magic before correct?”

  “I think I can safely answer no to that. I’ve only ever read about it.”

  “Hmm, then I can only make educated guesses here, but I would call this ability of yours the Power of Imagination. Not the best name I know, but it fits. If you can imagine it, you can become it. I don’t know if you need some sort of focus, like the stick represented both a sword and a staff in both transformations. Those weapons being how you identified a knight and a wizard as being a knight and wizard. Without more testing I can’t say for sure, but I think your knowledge of the character you create is limited by what you know of them. Since you have read a lot about knights and wizards, you can easily become a skilled swordsman or a top rate caster. Try it again. This time imagine yourself as something you aren’t too familiar with.”

  “Later Joel. Can’t you see the girl is drained? Without a mage partner she uses more energy for her abilities than normal. I’m surprised she lasted this long on her own. I know fr
om experience how much energy it takes to sustain a mediator ability for extended periods of time. No doubt that knowledge she gains of how to cast and move is also part of her ability. Right now her stomach is probably ready to eat her spine. So she can fill that up before you go picking her apart like some lab rat.”

  “Oh all right, if you insist dear.”

  The look of suffering on Joel’s face made Kimi smile a bit foolishly. Grell helped her stand up, supporting her as the world tilted sideways. As she led Kimberly to the house, she invited the others to come eat as well. Daniel declined, stating he needed to get back to the orphanage, but Jordon ran after without a second urging. Grell sat Kimberly down at the table and headed for the kitchen. Without the old woman to support her, Kimberly was forced to prop her head up with both arms on either side of her head. Jordon sat as close as he could, the amazement having turned into pure hero worship. Maria was across the table from Kimi, but she wasn’t sitting. She was leaning forward as far as she could, her hands planted on the wood to keep her from toppling forward. Kimi half expected her to crawl across the table at any moment to close the distance.

  “Now you have to become my mediator! I can help you regulate your power so you don’t get this drained so quickly. And if you are my partner I just know my power will unlock fully! There is no way we could fail the quest if the two of us were a team!”

  Grell came in with a bowl large enough to fit Jordon inside, filled to the brim with stew. She sat this container down in front of Kimi with an order to eat. Kimberly doubted she could eat all of it, but she did as she was told while Grell turned a glare on her grand-daughter.

  “Quiet with such foolish talk girl! Don’t act like it is all set in stone. For one thing, the quest is nothing to take lightly. Even if it may seem easy at first glance, there are always dangers. For another, there is no guarantee partnering with her will make you any more powerful or any more competent. For a third, she didn’t choose to come here. Mediators volunteer for the position on Atlantis. It is an honor and a privilege. They know full well if they are called, they will never see their family and friends again.

  “Just as their family knows they may disappear from their lives at any moment. Their families accept these facts and are recompensed accordingly if their son, daughter, husband, or wife is called. Kimberly here did not choose to be summoned. A certain foolish girl ripped her out of her reality to come here. Because she did not choose to be a mediator, that means she does not have to be.”

  “But she did not choose to be taken by a rift either. She would have ended up on Atlantis anyway.”

  “We don’t know that. For all we know the rift may never have opened up at that exact moment if you hadn’t gone and cast the spell. You might be the very reason the rift opened up and pulled her in. She might have been able to go back home to her mother and live out the rest of her life if that is the case. So just leave her be Maria. I don’t want to hear you bothering her about it again you hear? She still needs time to adjust like every other Phaser.”

  “But--”

  “No butt’s young lady. I told you what I expect, don’t push me on this.”

  Maria let out a long sigh as she sat back in her chair. “Yes, grandma.”

  Kimberly was surprised to find the bowl in front of her was almost empty. She lifted it up to slurp he dregs, but she still wanted more.

  “Still hungry?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Figured. It’s been a while since I’ve been wasted like you are, but I remember the feeling well. I’ll get you another bowl.”

  “I don’t want to eat all your food though.”

  “Pfft. You are in the house of a veteran mediator. You’re not going to eat me out of house and home. The basement is filled with enough meat to make a butcher envious. If you finish off all the stew, I’ll just make something else for lunch. Joel, Maria, and this little one won’t go hungry, don’t you worry about that.”

  As Grell left, Kimberly cocked her head in Jordon’s direction. Now that she wasn’t quite so hungry, she was feeling more like herself.

  “Why are you here anyway?”

  “Ish it a problem?”

  “No, but I did sort of blow you off even if I didn’t mean to. I thought you would be mad at me or something.”

  The boy shook his head, his smile growing even bigger. “It’sh okay, I didn’t mind. You sheemed more surprised than me. Beshidesh. You shaid we were going to go on a quesht together. Partnersh aren’t shuposhed to leave their mediator until the quesht is complete. Everybody knows that.”

  “What? You partnered up with him and not me? You’re going to go on a quest with this kid who can’t even talk right!”

  Jordon shrunk in on himself, the liveliness being wiped off his face immediately. It took Kimi only a moment to imagine herself as a sorceress again, her clothes changing to robes only as long as it took her to cast out her hand. The spoon elongated into a wand as purple light shot through the air to zap Maria. Maria’s face shriveled up like a prune, her nose growing long and crooked, the blond hair dull and lifeless while also becoming ragged and unevenly cut. She let out a cry of pain as she hunched over, her back bubbling unevenly and her tongue bloated and purple. Kimberly lowered her hand and her clothes reverted to normal but the effects of the magic she had cast persisted.

  “Wath hath ou donth to me!”

  “I just made your outsides look like how I think your insides are. I hate people who make fun of others because of how they look, talk or act. At least now you look like a real witch to me.”

  “Thanth me backth!”

  “I don’t think so. You can go around town like that for a while and see how much you like being made fun of.”

  “I wonth do Shuth a think!”

  “You won’t have a choice. Once I fill up my stomach some more, I’ll imagine myself as a sorceress again and drag you along behind me on an invisible leash. I’ll force you to talk in front of people so they can see and hear how hideous you are.”

  “Ou wouthenth!”

  “I would. I’m not as nice as you might think. I can be just as vindictive and hateful as the next person. But at home I was too shy and didn’t want to stand out because I didn’t have any kind of power to change anything. So I kept my head down and tried not to be noticed. But now I have power, and you best believe I’m going to use it however I see fit. I’m stuck here and I will never see my home again because of you, so why shouldn’t I?”

  “Pweath! Chanthe me backth!”

  Grell came back in with another bowl of stew, seeing the pitiful state her grand-daughter was in. Maria tried to plead to her grand-mother, but Grell was hearing none of it.

  “I heard quite well from the kitchen and I agree with Kimberly. You’re too spoiled sometimes. I think this will be a good lesson for you. Just because this boy here has a speech impediment is no reason to act like it is some sort of defect or sin. I grew up with a few boys who had lisps, and couldn’t make proper words because of the shape of their lips. There was nothing wrong with their minds or bodies.”

  Grell ruffled the boys head as Kimberly started in on the food in front of her.

  “So what kind of quest are you two going to go on? The grand quest hasn’t been announced yet.”

  The boy looked up at Grell’s smile and tentatively grinned in return, regaining some of his earlier enthusiasm.

  “She’sh going to help me find my courage and imagination sho I can play with the other kidsh.”

  “A fine quest indeed. I bet the two of you will find it in no time. I’ll make you a bed then. Since, as you said, partners shouldn’t leave each others sides on a quest. I’ll make sure to let old Danny boy know you’ll be staying with us for a bit. How does that sound to you? ”

  “Great! You shure you don’t mind?”

  “I mind about as much as I mind Kimberly here turning my grand-daughter into an old crone to teach her a lesson. Which-- if you haven’t figured out already-- is not at all.”


  As the boy beamed, puffing out his chest at her words, Grell bent over to whisper so only Kimi could hear. “You are planning to change her back right?”

  Kimi replied in kind, her eyes watching as Maria broke down crying on the floor across the table. “Of course. I’m actually surprised the spell stayed active after I reverted to normal. Though even if I do nothing she should change back. I just used a spell I read about in a book once. In the story it only lasted for two hours.”

  Grell chuckled appreciatively while clapping a hand on Kimberly’s shoulder. “You’re evil.”

  “And I kind of like it.”

  That caused Grell to burst out in full blown laughter from the belly before heading off into the kitchen. She came back within moments with two much smaller bowls filled with stew. These she set down in front of Jordon, who attacked it without a second thought, and Maria. Kimberly could see there would be no way Maria would be able to eat anything with her gnarled fingers and distended tongue. While she hid her smile, Grell had one plastered from ear to ear the moment she turned away.

  As she passed, Kimi whispered, “You’re kind of evil yourself.”

  “I know. And I definitely like it.”

  Chapter 5: An Orphan’s Quest

  “Sho what’sh the Due Date?”

  “What?”

  “We are on a quesht right? Sho wat’sh the Due Date?”

  “I don’t understand, I’m still kind of new to all of this.”

  “When a team goesh out to fix Inconshish-- inconsh-- fix thingsh, they have a window of time to do sho. That window ish called the Due Date. If they don’t get it done by that time, the window closesh and the quesht fails.”

  “Ah so a deadline. Well then, how about we set it for four days? I think we will be able to find your courage and imagination in that amount of time. This place isn’t all that big, so it can’t hide forever.”

  “I’m not shtupid you know. My courage isn’t shome animal we are hunting. It ish somewhere inshide of me.”

  “Oh really? And in a world where magic exists, you would say something like that? I think it escaped from inside of you, took on a life of it’s own, and is now prowling the town hiding from you. Because it knows if you find it, you are going to use it. And it is afraid of that.”