Shield of Innocence (Alternate Places Book 4) (37 page)

Then he did that out loud, after
a fashion.

"I... What time is it?"

He didn't have a watch, which was
fine really, given everything. Claire had a pocket watch, which was too old
fashioned if she wanted to blend in. She did things like that on purpose
however, to remind people how old she was. The same was true of her dresses.
Her underwear was all cute and modern however, being far more comfortable than
what people had worn when she was young and human. It was all affectation,
meant to make a statement.

Looking at the silver thing,
pulled from her pocket book, she nodded.

"It's just now turning...
Nine. In the morning. I need to go and make certain Nikki is doing well. I was
told by Eve Benson that she should be able to bear the light now, but she's so
young. I'm afraid I'm being a bit of a mother hen."

"Ah. Cool. I need to get the
water here changed, and cleaned up. I'll be down in a few minutes? Then I...
Probably need to explain myself." That was a thing. It was all about
sharing information so that things that weren't him would be able to
understand.

The vampire, who he loved,
smiled, kissed him again and left, being worried about other things. That was
the correct way to be, Zack thought. It was hard to know what was correct, but
he wanted to integrate back into the real world. If he could.

Cleaning took a while, and he
used a lot of bleach, washing it away before it could smell more than clean,
since he was near a bunch of food establishments. Too strong an odor would be a
problem. That closest to the Chinese food place, just called
Chinese Food
.
Merry however moved back to the Italian Place, running that, since Mae wasn't
around again yet.

That reminded him that he needed
to go and make certain those people, his friend Xan, and the others, were all
right and didn't need him to get back home yet. There hadn't been a message,
but they might be trying to be polite and wait out his vacation. He should
probably get back to
that
, but there was no rush now.

He'd learned a lot over the last
twenty or fifty thousand years. Big Shadow hadn't told him it all, not knowing,
but after a while they'd come to share a lot, and he
understood
. Not
what he and the others all had to do, but part of what was going on. He didn't
think about that at the moment, not wanting to be bothered with anything as
unimportant as the fate of all reality.

No, he had other things to get to,
like frozen treats, and possibly hugging some people. That was a fun thing to
do. Eat. Holding people. Those were things that he recalled from before. It was
coming back now.

The world was very different
however, due to him noticing it all now. It was old, but new and fresh at the
same time. Each being flowed around him, their shadows, patterns and movements
upsetting and righting things constantly.

The floor, which was the
inside
ground, was made of brick, but the stone like things were actually tile, and
only about half an inch thick. Under that was cement, and beneath that... Other
things. There was, for instance, a basement that he'd never been to. Below that
a cave existed, connected only to the node system. He'd been aware of that,
naturally, but going there had never come up.

The mall was open, and nearly a
hundred and fifty people, beings, were already in for the day. They all did different
things, but also meshed with the world they were in. Even he did. Now. For
so
long that hadn't happened. There had been only the horror of being. There had
only been Pain Beast, and the Sufferer.

Thinking about it brought that
back, as if he were living it still. By the time he walked down to the other
end of the mall, where Frozen YoGurt was, he had most of that locked down. It
was still there, and would be, from then on, he knew, but it could be dealt
with.

At the place that had frozen food
in it, a thing he liked, there was a girl behind the counter. She had dark
hair, and was dead, but also bearing up under the light of day. Awake, and not
a corpse at all.

"Hey Nikki! Looking good.
What with all the movement, and all that." Zack smiled at her, the face
movement stiff and stilted, but apparently close enough for that early in the
day.

Her shadow beast was annoyed.
That was just the light however, and part of her training had been about faking
not being a bitch about it. That meant she smiled through the pain. That part
was so light, such a small thing, that Zack nearly couldn't find it within her.
It took enough focus for him to find her agony that she slowed down, her
movements coming almost to a standstill.

Wrinkling his nose, he let up on
that part of things and didn't judge her for feeling burdened by the burning
she felt. His own perspective was different, now, but there had been a time
where feeling like
he
was literally on fire would have impacted him a
lot more.

"Sorry, I kind of slipped
into slow time. Would it be all right for me to get something to eat? Anything
would be fine."

The vampire looked at him funny,
but got to work, putting out not just one thing, but a half dozen of them. They
were all in cups, but were the bigger ones, and made to look pretty, with lots
of whipped froth, which moved slowly. The whole thing did, being cold like it
was.

He ate, enjoying it, without
understanding what was going on for the most part. With each bite, he tried, as
hard as he could, to come back to his old self. It was a thing that he
understood wasn't going to easily happen. Too much had happened, and there was
no way for him to be what he was, because that Zack had died. Beheaded by a
cold blade.

It had been a mercy.

Not just for him, either.

As he finished, Zack cleaned up
and then walked over to his friend Lisa's shop. His place. Where he worked.
That part seemed distant. Inside there were parts of him. Kaitlyn, and Jelly.
Chris, his younger self, was behind the counter, looking out of place, but serious.

"Zack! Is something
wrong?" The boy could see his inner self, which had to be vastly changed
now.

So he smiled and nodded.

"I'll explain later? How are
things going here? I had to come back to do something, but that's finished for
now. The..." Kate ran from the back, looking like her male self. Kyle.

"Yo!" The boy, who was
good looking, being what he was, nearly tackled Zack. "Come to check on
us?"

"Nope? Just passing through.
I need to use the node soon. I have news, which is good. Or bad. I'm not really
certain. Anyway, you're looking slightly different."

Manly, but that wasn't polite to
mention really.

Kyle, his face smooth, but with a
great jaw line, gave a slightly cocky smile.

"Lyn has been coming by to
visit, and work a bit. I've been hanging out this way so no one gets too
confused.
Especially
Chris." There was mock glaring, but it was
easy to see that the guy didn't mean it.

Chris didn't even bother
blushing.

"Hey... I knew it was you, I
was just seeing if you wanted to have sex. Not to be too pushy about it, but
you kind of
like
that sort of thing, so..." It had the sound of a
story, and a lie, which they all got.

No one wanted to hear they were
being groped and propositioned by mistake though. The boy knew that
they
knew, their shadows all being honest enough about it.

Then, shadows were. Before his
could go into the long story, he waved, gave Jelly a hug as she came out of the
node, confusing her for a moment, and leaving, headed towards the other
realities.

Now that he knew more, there were
people to talk to, and things to explain, so they could plan.

It took
a few hours to go to all of the different realities and find the right people
to chat with.
Then
there was the hard part. Actually trying to speak the
words that were needed to convey the ideas that were held inside of him now. It
wasn't that the concepts were too much for him, but that there was no common
language to express the whole thing.

Honestly,
that
was the shield of innocence. The real one. The very idea that no
one could easily comprehend what was being done. It was his part in the thing,
to hide what had to happen from all of them well enough. The instant that they
could
understand
would be the point of true danger for reality.

So Zack
had to hide the real idea, while still explaining enough of the rest of it that
it made sense to the other versions of himself. Because it was the easiest
thing to do, he started with Gwen. She was, in many ways, the one that was
closest to him. Not physically, but inside of her spirit. She was so very
young, but at the same time had lived through things that paralleled some of
what he had. Thankfully that had only lasted mere moments for her. Years, but
that barely seemed to be anything now.

The
large place where she was staying had armored guards on the doors, he noticed
as he walked up to it. They were in shining pearl colors. One was a light blue,
and the others a more brilliant green. It was the kind of thing that would have
worked on a very fancy car, really. They had large energy clubs too, made of
metal that were cone shaped. One of them pointed at him as he walked up, so he
could examine it.

At first
Zack didn't understand the idea, but the muffled voice of the shadow inside the
powered metal explained. It just took him a while to get it. That was because
speaking was hard still.

"
Halt
."
Then the man yelled it, sounding a bit louder, as Zack moved toward him. It
wasn't until he fired that the underlying idea was understood.

The
armored man was scared for some reason.

The
focused bit of energy, which was like a bit of shadow substance, came at him,
trying to kill him. Without moving Zack waved that away with a flicker of
thought, and smiled.

"Sorry,
I didn't get your meaning at first. Is Gwen here? Um..." It took him a
while, and he had to really focus to get the rest of it, which had the intent
of the two men right on him. They were starring, even if he couldn't see their
eyes. "Farris? I would like to speak to her. Please?"

It
sounded polite to him, but the blue armored fellow tried to kill him again,
several times. Then his greenish friend had a go at it, using several different
types of power. He stopped them all, and stood there, trying to smile
pleasantly. That didn't really work, since they actually tried to rush him, their
energy clubs weren't working. As a fist came at him, Zack finally sighed. It
took a while for him to do that part, but stopping the flow of power that let
the men move was easier for him.

"Farris?
Gwen? She's about..." That got him to stop again, for a long time, trying
to recall her. It wasn't that he knew her all that well, so he held out a hand,
just a few inches under his own head. "This tall? Dark curly hair?
Skinny?"

The
voice that came, from the green man wasn't all that happy.

"Who
the fuck are you?"

That got
him to blink, and wonder if
that
was the problem, rather than them
hating him on sight for being dressed differently.

"Ah!
Zack Hartley. Sorry to come unannounced like this? I'm from a different
reality, so it's hard to send letters. I said that I'd visit, and I have some
news for her. Is she not here?" That wasn't the truth, since he felt her,
inside. It was kind of clear, but you were supposed to ask questions like that.

The men
started to relax as he spoke to them, over the course of half an hour or so.
That lasted until another two suits of armor, these both being gray, flat and
dull looking in the afternoon light, came around the corner. They ran, after a
bit. It was a very slow thing, and clanked charmingly. It was rhythmic and
nearly musical.

They had
energy clubs too, but called out before bringing theirs up, since Zack waved at
them.

"Hi!
I'm here to visit with Gwen Farris? I know that she's inside, but we don't know
how to get word to her." Part of that was due to the fact that the men in
front of him both planned to hurt him if they got control of their outfits
back. Their shadows told him all about it, so he didn't let that happen. It
wasn't too hard, since all he had to do was not let the energy flow inside the
metal. The men were using their qi to make the things move, or rather internal
power, more like what the mages used back home. It was a bit different, now
that he paid attention to the idea.

One of
the new armored forms, who was a woman, stared at him, then, for some reason,
pulled her head off. Inside she was a white lady, with strawberry colored hair,
and a slightly annoyed expression on her face. It got him to blink, since the
forty odd year old woman, who had a bit more
odd
to her features than
forty, shook her head.

"What
the bells is this?" She waved from him to the men in front of her, who
were stuck in place.

"Oh.
They tried to use those clubs on me, so I had to make them not do that. I came
to visit Gwen, if that's possible? Farris?" He was starting to get the
idea that just saying the words weren't going to help him much, but the woman,
after staring at him for a bit, looked at the other gray armor.

"Get
her, Fibs. I'll stay here." Then she looked at Zack, as if sizing him up
for something. It wasn't a specific thing, her shadow mentioned. She might have
to kill him, or they might date later. She couldn't commit yet, in case he was
a real threat.

She
stared for a bit, past what was normal and polite, though it didn't bother him,
then she waved to the others there.

"Are
they alive?"

That got
him to smile and nod.

"Sure.
They just can't use their gear for now. Guys, say something? I really will let
you go as soon as you decide that hurting me isn't the best plan.
Honest
."

There
were mumbled replies, which were surly. Blue growled a bit.

"Fine.
I promise I won't hurt you."

Just
kill you.

Looking
at the new lady that had come, he shook his head.

"He
doesn't really mean it." He was going to explain that part, but the woman
laughed a bit.

"I
understand. Well, how about this. I'll order them not to do that, if you let
them get back to work? We'll need to move away from here, but Fibs will get
Gwen for us. I mean, you can't just walk into the royal palace for a
visit."

The
place was big, and very nice, so that one made sense to him, now that it was
mentioned.

"Oh.
I didn't know that was what this was. Sorry, everyone. That would seem strange,
right? People just walking up like this. Is that good? If I walk away? Where
should I go?" He looked around, and the lead colored armored woman put her
head back on, hiding her face. Not her shadow, which was really scared for some
reason, but her voice didn't show it. That part was calm, and in charge.

"This
way? You can let them go now."

Except
that, when he did, green tried to kill him again. He chuckled and made the man
freeze in place again.

Blue got
it, and glared a bit, as Zack turned and walked away from the cream and gold
colored palace. It wasn't a real castle, being more like one of the places in
Europe that way. The frightened, but rather brave, lady marched along with him,
her feet making deep thuds on the ground as she used magic to make the armor
move.

They
moved carefully to a path, then walked across the lawn, not making any marks.
The king, or whatever they called whoever led there, probably wouldn't like
that kind of thing. The grass wouldn't either, since the lady was way too heavy
for what she stepped on to be comfortable with it.

For a
moment he felt sorry for the individual blades of grass, but had to stop
himself, since down
that
road lay the path to madness. The kind that
would end with him living in the void, unmoving, forever. Everything in this
world, every movement, thought or action, affected things. The very act of
living forced death to happen all around him. It was required for him to keep
going.

Doing
anything but forcing himself not to think about it would end up with him not
being able to act at all. Being alive meant being a killer, in a constant and
never ending fashion. Most just weren't aware of what they were doing all the
time.

"Oh!
Sorry, I told the others, but not you. I'm Zack. Hartley." He looked at
the woman, not feeling surprised, even though he didn't understand what was
going on. The sense of this lady was correct anyway, even if it seemed like it
shouldn't be. "I'm... You. From a different reality. Gwen as well."

Instead
of stopping or acting like that was insane, which it seemed to be to him, there
was just an answer.

"Heather
Westmorland. That kind of makes sense. Not you being here, but Gwen is
me
,
or so I hear. She was body swapped, from her own world, by the woman who she's
in now. Katherine Vernor. That piece of... Work, is still inside of her. It
isn't a good situation."

Zack had
to think for a long time, to try and recall the waif like version of Kate that
he'd met before. There
had
been two shadows in there, which made a lot
of sense. Now.

"That
makes sense then, like you said. Good. I didn't know you were here too, or I
would have asked for you as well. I came to get help. There's a problem coming,
and we have to stop it. Some others as well, but in the end it's down to
us." They kept moving, and his words were slow and clearly not normal
sounding. The shadow inside the armor was concerned for him.

Thinking
he might be insane.

Which
wasn't totally wrong. Not that he'd lost it, but there was no way to connect
with these beings now. It had been too long since he'd interacted with people.
The last hours, but before that it had been... As close to forever as he could
imagine. Longer than mere millions of years. It was part of how he was able to
understand a portion of what was going on now. He'd touched part of what they
had to face, so the rest of it made more sense to him now.

When
they stopped Heather took her helmet off again, which was a sign of great trust
in him, insane or not. There was a difference between harmful and dangerous
after all.

She
explained, echoing her own shadow about ten seconds after she told him on that
level.

"You
can turn this mess
off
, so it isn't that useful to me, if you decide to
take me out." The woman, who looked a lot like Glenda, stared at him with
green eyes. His were brown, but that wasn't what made a person themselves, he
knew.

The
outer body wasn't all that important. It was just the vessel, containing the
focus that was the intelligence within. It seemed strange that most people
didn't see it that way. They were always thinking of the body as being who, and
what, they were.

Zack
nodded, his mind wondering toward the palace, the shadow of Gwen coming. Above
the ground. When the body came into sight, from past the few trees in the way,
it was clear that she was flying. Only about fifteen feet above them, but
quickly enough to make it faster than walking. She was in a dress, and lying
flat, so that the wind pushed it down, not showing anything to them that wouldn't
be desired. The clothing was a bit old fashioned seeming, but a nice blue, that
was brightly colored, and seemed to be velvet when she closed with them,
landing slowly. Her arms were held out to the sides as she did it, making her
seem graceful, after a fashion.

"I
wasn't expecting visitors. I hear there was a problem?" She looked from
Zack to Heather, seeming a bit uneasy. Like it was her fault.

Heather
nodded, smiling in a strained fashion and Zack waved that away.

"Nothing
major. I didn't understand this was where the President lived."

Gwen
understood him, but made a correction, her shadow going into specific
protocols.

"King
Ferdinand. He's a nice man, but people have tried to kill him over the last few
years, so security is rather tight. The guys on the door are
not
going
to be happy with you for a while. You were supposed to die, clearly. They get
grumpy when people refuse to do their assigned jobs like that." She made a
tight mouth movement, which was a lot like a smile. It wasn't a natural thing,
and the part underneath didn't mimic it right. It made her look mean, really.
It was an interesting effect, given that she was decently pretty, if a bit too
thin. Then, a lot of actresses had that going on, too.

Her nose
was a bit straighter and larger than Kaitlyn's was, but it didn't leave her
looking ugly. Just a bit stronger, in some ways.

So he
nodded at her, taking the effort to be friendly, which was what she was going
for.
Trying
to smile, even if the move wasn't natural to her.