Shield of Innocence (Alternate Places Book 4)

by P. S. Power

  Kate frowned a bit.

  "Your friend Big Shadow is dealing with it?" It kind of made sense, even if it was wrong.

  "Nooo. If I have it right, it is Big Shadow. A very young one. I wouldn't normally credit it, but there really isn't any time there. Picking to go to an earlier time wouldn't be hard, or even to get time to run backwards there, I've just never done it. So, anyway, don't kill him, if you can help it."

  That got strange looks, but no one questioned it. After all, just because most people did the path of their life differently, that didn't mean that Big Shadow had to.

  Don took a breath.

  "Okay. Great. Well, so much for hanging with him for Christmas this year? Or is he still there, too?"

  Zack didn't know and didn't know how to explain it.

  "I think the answer is yes and no. I think he's around, but that he won't be really, until after this is handled, because it wasn't the last time he experienced it? It's a bit messed up, but hey, it will be fine, I think."

  Kate nodded, gave him a hug, and then looked at everyone.

  "So, no throwing Brit in there to see if she can do it? That would be cool, if she could, being a twin." It also wasn't going to happen. Britney and Blain were the same person, more or less. A lot more so than regular siblings would be. Blain stayed a boy most of the time, but only so they wouldn't have two identical super hot identical girls at the school really. That and he was a bit stronger and faster as a male, which helped with his fighting practice.

  Even if Britney could have done it, now that Blain hadn't, Zack figured that she never would.

  Unless he could figure out how to get Blain to do it first. The big issue seemed to be in how willing a person was to be open minded, more than anything else. Everyone was different that way, and human creativity seemed to be part of the equation, but not the whole thing. Mages were basically human so that made sense, and vampires once had been, but Alede could do it too. They were wonderful beings, but none of them wrote songs, or painted pictures. They didn't write stories, unless the tales were porn. Even then, the things weren't ever fresh or new, just retellings of things they'd seen, possibly with the names changed.

  They could be smart, but doing anything truly novel was really difficult for them. It was true for most other groups as well.

  Yet here they were with two Kaitlyn's that could do it. She was a great person, but not exactly an artistic genius. Smart, truly, but that wasn't the same thing.

  So whatever was stopping Blain might be something they could handle, if he worked at it hard enough.

  That would have to come later however, since he wasn't hanging out in the void with anyone else for a while.

  Chapter eleven

  It took nearly two hours and entry into two different realities to tell all the line walkers not to hang out in the void for the time being. The whole time Zack wondered if going through the empty black would be enough to have him found, but it honestly didn't seem to be a problem. He was nearly certain that Big Shadow would have been able to find him that way, since it was how they'd hunted demons together.

  That this earlier version of the being, and that really did feel right, now that he analyzed the whole thing, just didn't know how to do things like that yet. Even the attempts to kill Zack had been more than a little clumsy, just blasting out power and a roiling of space in an attempt to destroy him. If so, that could work to his advantage, at least in potential.

  For some reason, and he didn't know why, or how it might have happened, the beings that wished to invade what he thought of as real space, those monstrous creatures in the place beyond the void itself, had, and roughly held to, rules. For instance it wasn't considered fair to send anything after him that was too far out of his league. Which didn't mean that they wouldn't bring in arch-demons, or even several at once, to try and take him down.

  Which...

  The idea shook him a bit as he finally got to Lesser Shia, deciding to take a late shift. After all, if he was supposed to be a gateway, an entry line into reality, that part kind of made sense. They wouldn't be trying to really destroy him, but rather push Zack into opening a way into that far off realm that didn't exist. In a way, pushing him with creatures that weren't able to kill him instantly made sense. Several times now he'd had to do things that were creative and different to survive. Even becoming Maria the other day on his own had been that.

  So there might be a plan in place, rather than just things being tossed his way. A conditioning program, designed to make him into what those other things wanted him to be. If that was so, then everything, all reality, was in danger.

  Hathe wasn't in the node room, but there was a guard, who smiled at him, looking like a normal enough human man. True, one with blue hair, that had slightly shiny skin that reflected the overhead light, but that was probably cosmetic. Most of the people that he'd met had been basically human, he realized. It spoke to where he was in the scheme of reality, more than anything else. There were reptilians, and bird like people too, but most of those he met, regardless of what they looked like on the outside, were like he was.

  In an infinite reality scheme, that wouldn't be the truth for most places.

  "Hi! I was planning to see if anything needed to be done here? My schedule has been a bit messed up for a few days." He hadn't missed anything however, and the guard shrugged, clearly not understanding him. English wasn't the language of Lesser Shia after all. If they even had one, Zack wasn't certain what it would be.

  A translator in blue was called, and the fellow, and Zack was nearly certain it was one from their shadow, explained that the other line walkers had done everything for the time being. Then, rather pleasantly, he was told to leave and possibly to go and do something fun.

  That actually baffled him for a moment.

  It had been a very long time since he'd done anything like that, after all. It seemed a bit wrong to him, if he were going to be honest about it.

  Thankfully, when he got back to Something Wonderful, there was a stack of envelopes for him, with hand drawn pictures of who he was supposed to take them to, as well as names and some specific information. This was, he realized, from Riley. That part of things left him feeling suspicious, because he didn't know if it was a trick or not, but they were just envelopes, and not bombs or anything.

  Zack knew, because he looked at each of them, and asked. Their shadows explained the basic contents to him, which was baffling as often as not, but seemed to be informative, rather than harmful. Like the Trickster really was just trying to get everything together. To make reality come out in the best way possible.

  Being clever like he was, Zack decided to try taking the first one to the person that was named right then, having time for it thanks to the others. Looking at the picture, he tried to get a sense of the whole thing first, then looked into the node, using it like a very good crystal ball. One that didn't show the future, specifically, but that could show him everything else, if he used it right. The place he ended up looking into was a bit plain seeming to him, being a solid purple and black room, but the man he wanted was there. Grabbing the envelope from the table, he stepped through, ending up about fifteen feet from the guy.

  Who was insanely huge. He was also incredibly pretty looking. His face was delicate, which shouldn't have been possible, given his size. Seven and a half feet tall, or more. Zack smiled, knowing that he wasn't being seen yet. That was clear, because when the man spun, he had a glowing piece of stone on his hand. That was white, but with blue arcane symbols all over it. At least from what he could see between the large and powerful looking fingers.

  The man spoke to him, his words familiar, but not really recognizable. It was like listening to German really. It was nearly sensible to him, but a lot of the words just missed what was needed. His shadow, thankfully, spoke far more clearly.

  They nearly always did.

  "Who are you?" It was a simple enough idea, though it might not actually have matched what was said perfect
ly, since there were more words than would be needed to say that. At least in English. He tried to project, in case the man could understand him that way.

  The shadow around him bulged out, into a bubble of some kind, as he spoke.

  "Hello! I'm Zack Hartley. Um, from a different reality? I guess, if I have this right, that I'm pretty much you? Which... Well, I think we can see who got the looks in the family. Anyway, I have a letter for you. I'll just point at it a few times and leave it on this table over here?" He moved slowly, but wasn't blasted across the room, or beaten by the huge man.

  He smiled a lot, and after a bit the other fellow did, too.

  "I can't really understand you. You're speaking the language of the Ancients, right? English?" The brown eyed man was watching him closely, so Zack nodded and moved away from the missive just as slowly. He was picking up more of what was being said now, but it was mainly informed by the man's shadow.

  "Right. English. I... Don't know how to explain this to you. You need to read this?" If the man could. Then, if the letter wasn't in a language he could read, that was Riley's fault.

  The giant got that the paper envelope, a large manila colored thing, was for him however, since his name was on it. That was explained with a sense of that being true, rather than words. Then, oddly enough, the man bowed to him, going low. Zack did it back, trying not to be clumsy about it, and then stepped back into the node that was right there.

  That had been handy, since otherwise he'd have ended up chasing the man all over the place, and from the feeling of things the strange room they were in wasn't around Earth at all, but was far off in space. Luckily the whole thing was inside a node point. Standing in a place that was pretty much not really there.

  Back in Something Wonderful he took the second envelope carefully, and looked at the name on it, which was in English this time. Hopefully that boded well for him. Gwen Farris.

  That sounded like a girl to him, but Zack knew that half of all the human versions of him in other places would be female. That just made sense. He kind of expected to find a dark girl with big brown eyes that looked like Maria, given that. What he found however, was a woman jogging in the woods, alone, wearing a tan jumpsuit, sturdy leather boots, and looking like a much plainer version of Kaitlyn. Far too much so for it to have been coincidence however. This time there was a node about fifty miles away, which meant tracking her through various shortcuts. He stepped out in front of her, about sixty feet down a dirt path, that being the nearest location to her.

  The woman dropped to the ground, pointed a finger at him, and fired a line of force at him. Seeing it coming he managed to fling himself to the side, and faked a laugh.

  "Hey! Don't kill me, I'm just the delivery boy!" It was kind of true, but for a second he didn't know if the woman would be able to understand him. Her shadow was different than her outer form, but she had two of them inside. That got him to stare, since he'd never noticed that before. The other one wasn't Maria either, however. Though it was the one in control.

  "Um, sorry. I normally don't get packages out here." The woman was thin looking and breathing harder than a healthy person should be, he realized. She also hid it well, trying not to seem weak in front of him. Just in case he was really there to try and kill her, which was possible, given her life. "Those tend to come to the front door."

  Her English was as good as his though, so he smiled. They even had similar accents.

  "That seems about right. I'm Zack Hartley, and well, I'm actually from another reality. I have a letter for you? It's from a Trickster, so keep that in mind." He held the big envelope out, and naturally the woman didn't move at all. She just stood there, staring at him.

  Finally, she gave him a smile that seemed forced, and a bit drawn. Like she was working past feeling a bit ill.

  "Right. That makes no sense to me. Except the part about being from a different reality. I am, so I guess that could happen. Gwen Farris. Pleased to meet you, Zack? I don't suppose that you're here to get me home?"

  He shook his head, then shrugged.

  "I can do that, since it's pretty much my day job, but I doubt it, really. If you want to do that we can? Even if you just want to visit. Mainly I'm just giving you this letter. I think, if Riley didn't lie to me, that you're me. From a different world, obviously. Probably the shadow inside you that is in control, since the other one looks like my adopted daughter, Kate. She's a line walker, like me. Also an Alede... Which is a succubus, more or less?" It was probably too much information to dump on someone you'd just jumped in the woods, but the woman nodded, seeming a little tired. Then, probably being a bit too trusting, she held her hand out for the package.

  "That sounds insane enough to be real. So do I read this now and... I don't know."

  Zack didn't either. There were no instructions on the thing. Not for him.

  "If you want? The last guy didn't. Huge man. Really pretty, too. I feel totally inferior now, by the way. So far all the other versions of me have been better looking than I am." Which was true enough. Then, someone had to be the ugly one.

  Gwen cleared her throat and gave him a look that was more than a little bit wry.

  "How many have you met?'

  "Three, including you. You're the first girl version however. What's that like? Never mind. Annoying. I know that's what's it like being me most days anyway. I've been a girl after all, so I know about that sort of thing."

  She just nodded, broke the red wax seal on the back of the thing, then sat directly on the ground, in the dirt, tailor fashion. A sheath of papers was pulled out, and the text inside was type written. Probably printed out, having been generated on a computer. After a bit there was a gasp.

  "Fuck. So this is about the Elder Gods? I should have known that crap wasn't over." Then she looked up at him, and winced. "Sorry about the language. Um... I'm going to have to read all of this. It says that you and I need to make a regular appointment to meet up? I can't go to your world, so you need to come find me. Let's call it once a month for the time being? It doesn't say here really, but that seems about right." She kept reading, her eyes scanning the page, with deep and sudden inhalations every few paragraphs.

  On the second sheet she carefully placed everything back inside the envelope and shook her head. Then she stood, and looked at him closely.

  "This is so weird. Okay, so, can we meet up like that? I can't let anyone here know about this yet, I don't think. That might change. My friend Beth was there, when we closed the gate last time." She looked at him, her face going hard. "We all nearly died. This entire world. We can't let those things in here. We can't."

  "Agreed. I'll try to be back in about a month then? We can have coffee and discuss how different our worlds are."

  Gwen nodded, and smiled at him, seeming a bit more genuine now. Like she really meant it.

  "See you then. Try not to scare me like this though. I don't know, come to the house and actually knock next time?"

  He smiled, nodded, and then started back through the shortcuts, since it would take a while to get back home.

  That left three envelopes for him to get to.

  It was tempting to just sit for a while and think about things, but that wasn't going to get the work done. Luckily the third envelope was easy enough to deliver, since it just had to go to Zack Hartley, at Hartley and Co. Books. That one didn't even require him having a conversation with other Zack. On the odd, or really not so strange, portion of things he did find Chris there, talking to Kaitlyn at the front desk.

  The only big thing there was that the kid should have probably been asleep. It was still the weekend though, and he was, regardless of how he looked, an adult now.

  "Hey all. Letter for Zack? This is easier. I've got two more realities to get to still."

  They looked at him like that actually made sense, and Kait waved at him, her face looking much prettier, if still the same, as the one that Gwen wore. Figuring out how that one had happened would be interesting he decided. The doub
le shadow thing was different.

  Not impossible however. After all, he'd spent centuries wrapped around and intertwined with the girl in front of him, after all. That it could happen in a different fashion, in another part of the infinite whatever you called it, just kind of made sense.

  He used the node there, in the owl room, and got himself back for the second to last letter delivery of the night. This one was harder, in a lot of ways.

  The first part of it was that the instant he tried to find the man, and stepped through the void, he ended up on what seemed to be a military base. He was dressed up in work clothes, which that day had him in a black shirt, slacks, shiny shoes and a slightly old fashioned button up vest. People looked at him, but also smiled and nodded.

  They were all in tan camo gear, which meant that he really stood out. Also, while it was nighttime in his world, and had been light outside, but clearly very early where Gwen had been, it was noon in this place.

  He didn't know where to go, honestly, but Merry, or at least a slightly taller version of her, with short hair, and a slightly pointed face, waved at him. She was in tan, too.

  "Hiya! Are you lost?" She seemed friendly, but didn't have Merry's accent at all. Or her tentative nature.

  "I truly am. I'm..." He didn't know what to say, but shrugged, and went with the truth, hoping it wouldn't start a fight. "Actually, I'm from a different reality, and need to deliver a letter too... Brian Yi? If it makes sense to you, he's me, from this place?"

  The girl, who was fidgeting madly, stopped, and stared at him. Then after a moment, she nodded.

  "Neat! I'm Bridget. Bridget Chambers. Your granddaughter. So, for Christmas, I'd like a pony. I keep asking, but so far no one has bitten on that one." She was playing, but her inner self did say that she was being honest about the relationship. Also that it had been a time travel thing.

  "That's because this would be a bad place for a pony. What's the deal here? I mean, are you in the military?" It was probably going to seem stupid, but the girl, the tiny ball of energy that looked a lot like one of his wives, danced in place and waved toward a tan brick building not that far away.