“Well that sucked.”
“I imagine it did.”
Lisbeth looked over at Typhon. He was sitting at a white table, that appeared to be from a cheep patio set. Except the two chairs we both of different styles. The table had an extravagant lacy tablecloth, the kind you weren’t actually suppose to put anything on. The table was set with a large assortment of different cookies, and a fancy silver tea set.
“Are you mocking me?” Lisbeth finished pulling herself out of the gateway she had open. She had to crawl for two reason, the first being it wasn’t big enough. The second was she didn’t have the strength to walk.
“I wouldn’t dream of it.”
“Yes you would.”
“Yes I would” Typhon acknowledged
“How long was gone for.” Lisbeth didn’t bother trying to get into the chair that had been left for her. Instead remaining on the grass.
“No idea.”
“You still understand how time works, and is measured.”
“Doesn’t mean I know how long you have been gone.”
“How long have I been gone relative to you?”
“Just over six months.”
“Fuck me.”
“I don’t swing that way.”
“Yes you do.”
“Well I don’t this century.” Typhon flashed Lisbeth one of his perfect smiles. Or it would have been perfect if he had human teeth. Since they were currently too sharp to be called human, his smile had a bit of a disturbing effect.
“Fair enough. Is Bill back yet?”
“No, and he won’t be. Nicely done Lisbeth.”
“I didn’t kill him, so why won’t he be?”
“Because finding the universe you fell out of is a pain in the ass. Much easier to just find a new one, maybe seed some planets if it gets boring. If he was going to come back he certainly would have beaten you back. So yeah, he’s a nonissue.”
“How did I make it back anyways?”
“You cheated.” Typhon waited for Lisbeth to ask the obvious question. When she instead simply propped herself up on one elbow, and raised an eyebrow at him, he decided to continue. “When our mistress made you a natural law she gave you the power to open portals just about anywhere. Getting cast out might have meant you stopped being a law, but the connection was still there. It acted as a tether.”
Lisbeth frowned. “I didn’t know it worked like that.”
“It doesn’t, she helped you.”
“Why?”
“I guess she wanted you to finish what you started.”
“Without me things probably started getting slightly less predictable. Wouldn’t she prefer that?”
“Maybe she wanted to see the two lovers reunited. And they didn’t, things oddly enough are following the original plan to the letter. Atreus, and your Mr. Lansky are surprisingly dedicated individuals, capable of following a plan laid out by someone who for all intents, and purposes ceased to exist.”
“Think they be happy to see me returned?”
“Probably, Atreus was all upset you missed your birthday.”
“I feel like I missed several hundred.”
“From your perspective you probably did.”
“I didn’t miss the lovers comment. How is she?”
“Your sweet little telepath? She’s doing fine, even figured out the trick to magic all on her own. She claimed your pocket, and books for her own once it became clear you weren’t coming back.”
“Good.”
“I did have to have a little chat with here about sharing.”
“Typhon” Lisbeth let that out as something of a hiss, more of a warning sound.
“Just a talk. But you will be interested to see the kinds of things she gets up to these days.”
“Tease.”
“You know it.” Typhon gave one of his all too toothy grins. “You feeling ok?”
Lisbeth’s body had given up, on the awake front. After hearing certain bits of news she started drifting off. It was mostly beyond her will, although she could have put it off if she really tried. Not that she saw much point in that, a nice long nap might be just what she needed.
Rest of course wasn’t exactly restful for her naturally. This night proved to be no exception to that. They were aware of her almost as soon as she started dreaming. When she was young they didn’t have the connections to know she existed. Now however she had met most of them.
She could almost feel them converging on her mind, like thousands of buzzards who had found a dead rabbit. They ran into each other before they reached her. Their progress was halted as they stopped to confer with each other. It didn’t take much time at all, or possibly it took days for them to come to a decision.
A number left, simply floating away. The vast majority stayed where they were, watching, waiting. One continued forward, slower than when he had first approached. She recognized him easily of course, they wouldn’t be foolish enough to send someone she didn’t know as better than an acquaintance.
When he reached her dream he gave a very polite knock on the outside, that she had shaped to be a large wooden door. The interior of her dream Lisbeth had turned into one of those old taverns. Something that could be found in an adventuring novel.
The wooden floor creaked with ever step, the tables were filled with drinking shadows. All of the patrons were shadows really, the only people she had bothered giving bodies was the waitress and the bartender. The bartender was stereotypical as well, a balding man large in stature wearing rough brown clothes, that seemed to blend in with the bar itself. The waitress however did not fit into the setting.
She was a pretty thing with a buxom chest and an outfit that one would expect from a much less reputable type of establishment. Lisbeth took her time looking at her creation, as she took her time letting the dream walker into her dream. She really had been alone for far to long. Something that she desperately needed to fix, but right now she apparently had business to deal with.
Raising Angels & Defection 