by N. P. Martin
"Back to the world again," Athelstan said as Sanaka took hold of his arm. "It always scares me going back."
You should be scared.
"Trust me," I said with a smile. "You're gonna love it."
"Oh my good God," Athelstan said as soon as we landed back in Blackham. Per my request, Sanaka had teleported us smack into the middle of Main Street in Freetown. I thought Athelstan needed to see for himself the extent of the Dark Codex's reach this time, or rather Gordon Grayson's reach, as it was him directing everything.
"Told you," I said with a grim smile that I couldn't keep from my face. Even Sanaka looked shocked at the chaos happening all around, and that was saying something because I don't think I've ever seen Sanaka looked shocked at anything. You name it, it was walking or running around the streets like it had been there forever: unicorns in all colors (including a rainbow one), naked porn stars, celebrities, transformers, cartoon characters, bloody Surfs and every character our modern culture has thrown up, not forgetting the massive troll like creatures straight out of Warcraft, and monsters that could only have come from video games or movies, huge fucking things indiscriminately killing people and fucking whatever took their fancy. Either someone had transformed into one of those things, or they had somehow used their newfound magick to conjure one up. Whatever, the effect was the same. Total fucking chaos added to by the epic battles going on between monsters and superheroes, wizards and demons, giant Furbies and real life Pokemon characters.
"What the actual fuck?" Athelstan said as he gaped in awe, looking half afraid that something or someone was going to attack him at any moment, which was highly likely because the whole city seemed to have turned into a giant free for all. A huge battle arena straight out of some big budget fantasy movie. I could only imagine what was happening in the rest of the world. Something very similar no doubt. "What is happening?"
As I was about to answer, Bugs Bunny (un huh) sprinted by us, almost knocking Athelstan over and then shouting over his shoulder, "Sorry Doc!" I turned just as Elmer Fudd came running up (uh huh un huh) with a shotgun in his hand. "It's wabbit season, and I'm hunting wabbits," Elmer said gleefully, then ran off after Bugs Bunny.
I stood shaking my head. "Seriously. What the fuck is wrong with people?"
Athelstan looked deeply disturbed as he stood with wide eyes. "I've been here for two minutes, and already I feel like I'm insane. Again. Get me out of here. Let me go, Sanaka, please. I want to go back to my island."
"Sorry," I said, grabbing his arm, and then Sanaka's. "But you're staying until we're done."
"Until I'm dead or insane, you mean?" Athelstan moaned.
"Like the rest of us," I said just before I teleported the three of us down into the sewers where the gate to the Grayson Dimension was.
Was being the operative word, for the fucking gate was gone. "No," I said. "Grayson, you motherfucker."
"I'm assuming Grayson closed the gate," Sanaka said as we stared into an empty sewer tunnel. Or at least it was empty until the fucking Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles came running up it, shouting, "Cowabunga dudes!" as they somersaulted by.
Athelstan looked like he was about to cry. "Who...what..."
"Don't ask," I said, then turned to Sanaka. "Any ideas?"
Sanaka shook his head. "Not as yet."
"Fuck," I said, gritting my teeth. Suddenly, I wished Leona were there with me. I don't know why she popped into my mind at that moment. Maybe because she always kept me calm, or because anything seemed possible when she was around. Either way, I realized with almost knee-bending emotion that I missed the hell out of her. Was she okay? I wondered. What if she was in trouble in DC? What if she needed my help? What if I never saw her again? It was all I could do not to turn tail, grab the nearest superhero and force them to fly me to DC so I could be with the woman who would have my heart always and forever.
But then something distracted me. A voice in the shadows of the tunnel behind us. "You looking for the gate?" Jordan Grayson stepped forward into the light, dressed in black and as striking as ever. "It's gone, but I know how to get it back."
I nearly ran to her just to hug her for saying that, but I knew she wouldn't appreciate it. "Jordan? What are you doing here? Why aren't you with your father?"
She snorted and shook her head as she stood several feet back from us. "I don't have a father anymore." A dark look crossed her face. "I don't think I ever did."
A wave of sympathy went through me, and I went to her this time to put a friendly hand on her shoulder, which she didn't immediately shrug off. "I'm sorry, Jordan. I know exactly what you're going through."
"Yeah," she said. "You never did dish the dirt on that, did you?"
I smiled. "Hey, not my fault you passed out."
Something of a sad smile appeared on Jordan's weary face. "Thanks, Creed."
"What for?"
"You made me realize what a cunt my father is, or rather, what a cunt he's been to me over the years." She shook her head. "I can't believe it's taken me this long to accept that he never loved me, and he only used me."
"I'm sure some part of him does love you," I said, aware that Sanaka and Athelstan were standing behind waiting.
"I don't care anymore, Creed. I'm through whatever."
"Through?"
"With everything."
I frowned, slightly disturbed by her tone. "You're going to make it through this with the rest of us, Jordan. Trust me on that."
More promises you can't hope to keep, eh, Creed?
"And then what? I have nothing, Creed. I have no one." Tears began to form in her eyes, but she wiped them away.
I placed both hands on her shoulders. "You'll figure it out. I'll be there to help you."
She looked doubtful. "Will you?"
"We're friends. Right?" I doubted she even knew what friends were.
"Sure," she said after a moment. "I guess."
"Well then, I always look after my friends. You'll learn that about me. I'm a caring guy."
She laughed, and her near perfect face lit up for a moment. "You make me laugh, Creed."
"I think you said that already, back in your quarters," I said.
"Well, you do, and no one has ever made me laugh since my mother died."
"That's a long time."
"Yes, it is."
"Eh," Athelstan shouted over. "It's not that I'm at all anxious to meet my possible demise or anything, but this waiting around is killing me. So if you two could hurry the fuck up, that would be great. Just saying."
"Who the hell is that guy?" Jordan asked.
"Would you believe the guy who wrote the Dark Codex?"
Jordan looked shocked for a second. "Get the fuck out of here. That guy?"
"That guy. You should have seen him earlier. He lives on an island all alone like Robinson fucking Crusoe. Long beard and loin cloth and everything. Lives in a mud hut writing novels. You believe that? He's also immortal, in case you're wondering."
Jordan nodded. "I was actually. Can he help stop my father?"
"Possibly," I said turning around finally to walk back to Sanaka and Athelstan. "We'll see."
"See what?" Athelstan said. "And who is this?" He pointed at Jordan.
"This is Jordan Grayson," I said.
"Belfoir," Jordan said. "I'm going by my mother's name from now on."
"Good call," I said, then looked at Athelstan. "Jordan can open the gate for us."
"Your father," Sanaka broke in. "What protection does he have?"
"Are you kidding?" Jordan said back, looking at Sanaka and probably wondering who he was. "He has the power of the universe at his fingertips, and if that somehow isn't enough, he has about a hundred armed followers who are willing to kill and die to protect their messiah. They are all his disciples, even though he doesn't give a shit about any of them...about anyone."
"I don't think we should be focusing too much on Gordon, not until we get the book," I said.
"And then what?" Jordan a
sked.
"Then I try to find something in the book to help us take down your father," I said.
Jordan shook her head. "Are you mad? You're going to read that book?"
"I don't see any other choice," I said. "Your father can't be stopped by conventional means. He's too damn powerful. The only place to access equal or greater power is in the book." I registered her look of concern. "Don't worry. I'm not your father, Jordan. I'm not going to make myself into a demigod. Once I'm done, Athelstan here will hopefully be able to destroy the book for good."
"And most likely myself along with it," Athelstan said, looking like he hadn't quite accepted his possible imminent demise just yet.
"Well," Jordan said. "That all sounds great, as long as my father doesn't kill you all first. And what about magick? You know you can't use it in there."
"We're hoping Sanaka here will find a work around, otherwise..."
Jordan shook her head. "You all are lucky I showed up. I can lower the wards my father put in place. I know all of his security systems, providing he hasn't changed anything."
I could have kissed her. "Maybe you could buy us some time as well," I said. "Give Athelstan a chance to locate the book."
"If I can," Athelstan said. "I've never tried before. Although, my connection to the book feels stronger here, so maybe we are close."
"Just get the coordinates," Sanaka said. "I will retrieve the book myself."
"Maybe I should," I said. "The book puts you in a trance if you look at it. It's the Medusa of books." I chuckled slightly, then shook my head as everyone just looked at me. "Anyway, Gordon has already made me immune to the trance state, so it shouldn't be a problem."
"We will see," Sanaka said.
"Alright then," I said. "Jordan, open the gate please, then lower the wards. Let's get this done."
Jordan closed her eyes as she seemed to concentrate. A moment later, the shimmering gate to the Grayson Dimension appeared behind us. Jordan and I stepped up first. She didn't look too thrilled about going through. "My father will know why I'm here," she said. "I already told him I was walking away."
"Tell him you changed your mind," I told her. "That you've nowhere else to go."
"The sad thing is, that's the truth," she said, then looked at me. "He'll know you've come the second you step through that portal. You know that, right? He sees everything now."
I nodded. "I figured as much. I'm counting on his ego telling him we aren't worth bothering with."
"Maybe," Jordan said.
"Are we going through now?" Athelstan asked anxiously. "Or should I call Dr Phil so you two can continue to work out your daddy issues?" When everyone gave Athelstan a funny look, he smiled awkwardly and shook his head. "Apologies. I'm a little tense."
"Don't sweat it," I said. "We all are." I looked at Sanaka who appeared as calm and composed as ever. "Most of us anyway."
There was nothing more to say by that point.
Taking a deep breath, I stepped through the gate into the Grayson Dimension and my possible doom.
27
Grayson Manor Revisited
Things had changed since the last time I was in the Grayson Dimension. A lot. As it happened, we didn't even get the chance to carry out our plan to split up and locate the Dark Codex. When we came through the gate, we came through straight into a gigantic chamber that looked like the great hall of a huge palace. The floors were made of white marble, and the walls appeared to be solid marble as well, with great gold pillars lining each side. Gathered in the hall were Grayson's disciples, the ones who tried to kill me the last time I saw them. About a hundred pairs of angry and suspicious eyes turned to look at us as we stayed by the gate. "So much for the plan," I muttered to myself as I spotted Grayson at the front of the huge chamber. He wore his usual white robes as he sat in a great iron throne. Or at least I think it was iron. It reflected the light in a strange way, as did the smaller throne beside his, on which a woman with long dark hair and white robes also sat. I didn't recognize the woman at all, although Jordan seemed to.
Jordan stopped dead on the marble floor and gaped at the woman like she had seen a ghost. "No," she said. "It can't be..." There were tears in her eyes as her face twisted with various emotions.
"Jordan?" I said. "Are you alright? Who is that?"
Her mouth opened, but she couldn't speak.
"Creed," Gordon Grayson said loudly from his throne. "I had a feeling I hadn't seen the last of you. And I see you've brought guests."
A few of Grayson's disciples--now wearing black robes and hoods like a bunch of Satanists--came to escort us to the front of the hall. Each of the escorts had a long knife in their hands. I pulled away when one of them tried to grab me. "Go fuck yourself," I snarled, and then I looked at Grayson. "Tell your brainwashed drones to keep their hands off."
"We have our own minds," one of the drones said, a man whose face I could hardly see under the hood. "We serve of our own free will."
"Even worse then," I said back.
"Jordan," Grayson said as he stood up, a strange sort of smile on his face like he was about to show off a new toy he had acquired. "Look who I brought back from the afterlife."
It clicked then who the woman next to Grayson was. It was Jordan's mother, still the same age as when she died. "Jesus..." I said.
"Mother?" Jordan said, her voice breaking as she pushed her way through the hooded disciples to get to the front of the hall.
"What now?" Athelstan said falling in beside me.
"Can you sense the book?" I asked quietly.
"Yes," he said. "It's near. Very near. It feels like my blood is boiling. Most unpleasant actually."
"Good," I said. "Try to get an accurate location. Then I'll retrieve it."
"How? Him up there won't allow it."
"I don't expect him to."
"Then how?"
"I'll think of something."
Athelstan didn't look convinced. "You'll think of something? I don't--"
"Let's just go," I said cutting him off. I looked at Sanaka, who had both hands on the scabbard of his sword, obviously expecting trouble from Grayson's disciples. So was I, but not yet. I knew Grayson would want to boast for a while first, and I was happy to let him if it gave Athelstan time to pinpoint the pocket dimension in which the Dark Codex was being kept.
When we reached the front of the huge hall, Jordan was standing staring at her mother as her mother stood up slowly with tears in her eyes, obviously unable to believe that she was now staring at her daughter. No longer the little girl she would have remembered, they were both now around the same age. Gordon Grayson stood by his throne and looked on with a prideful smile on his face. "This is what you've always wanted," he said to his daughter. "And I am finally able to give it to you."
Jordan approached her mother slowly, almost cautiously like she was walking into a trap. "Jordan?" her mother said, then put her arms around Jordan. After a moment, Jordan hugged her back, and they stayed hugging for a long time as if they were afraid if they let each other go they would never see each other again.
I glanced away to see that Grayson was staring at me. "I take it you are here for the book," he said. "Of course you are."
"You have no need for it anymore," I said. "You've got all the power of the universe in you now. Why don't you just hand it over?"
Grayson shook his head. "The book belongs to me and me alone. I'm surprised you thought I would just hand it over, Creed."
I didn't, but I thought I would try. "I thought you would see reason, Gordon."
"Reason?" He laughed. "Trust me, Creed, I am far beyond petty human constructs such as reason."
"You're a god now, is that it?"
"If a god is one with ultimate power, then yes, I am a god. In fact, I was just about to let everyone know that." He sat back down again and smiled at his wife and daughter, who now stood staring at him like he was some kind of monster.
I sensed Grayson's mood begin to darken as he didn't take
too well to the anger and resentment coming from his wife and daughter. In an effort to prevent a possible outburst, I got his attention again. "By everyone, you mean the whole world," I said.
Grayson turned his attention to me again, his face still darkened, purple magick arcing all around him. "You are correct. I thought what people needed was independence. Freedom from those who oppressed them. I thought the people needed power, the power to make things better themselves. But I see now that I was wrong. What have they done with the power I gave them?"
"Became superheroes and conjured rainbow unicorns," I said, echoing his disgust.
"Indeed," Grayson said. "They are squandering the power I gave them on nonsense. People don't need freedom, Creed. I realize that now. The people need to be ruled. By me."
"You want to know what I think?" I said, hoping Athelstan would get a bead on the book soon. "I think this was your plan all along, Gordon. You knew this would happen, and that you would have to step in."
Grayson said nothing for a moment as he half smiled at me. "As far as the people of the world are concerned now, I am their God. In fact, I'm out there now, all over the world, telling everyone about the new regime change."
"But you're here."
"I am everywhere all at once, Creed. I am a god, remember?"
As if to prove it, a replica of Grayson appeared right in front of me, while his original self continued to smile over at me from his throne. "Nice trick," I said, taking a step back from him.
"Observe," he said as he waved his hand in the air. Above the heads of the gathered disciples, a number of shimmering windows appeared that showed various locations around the world, and in every one, there was Grayson standing by various landmarks, including the Eiffel Tower, the British Parliament buildings, the Roman Colosseum and of course, the White House. In every location, Grayson had made himself huge so that he was almost as tall as the buildings he was standing beside. "I am your God now," the various versions of himself proclaimed in a booming voice. "You will all serve me now. Your world will be dismantled, and a new world order will be constructed by me, which you will all follow. Nothing can stop me. Your weapons are useless. Try to use them, and you will incur my wrath. Serve me faithfully, however, and you will be rewarded in ways you cannot yet imagine."
