Chapter 275, 1/2

Chapter 275, 1/2

Erick stared up at Young Erick Flatt from 1997 for a moment longer.

A lot of things were wrong in that moment.

Ericks mana was sluggish, and if he was being honest with himself, not moving at all. His insides felt dead, but not dead at all

And then Young Erick Flatt was about to say something more about a gay crisis again, because Erick had been staring for longer than a single moment. Time was moving fast, and Ericks thoughts were just as sluggish as his mana.

No time for words.

Erick saw an exit, laying on the floor in a pile; some clothes. His clothes, probably. Over there was the door. Erick launched out of the bed and started grabbing whatever was on the ground

Or at least thats what he tried to do. He caught himself in the mirror on the wall instead. Blonde. Blue eyes. White. Gym guy. Erick didnt know this guy at all. Not really.

And then Young Erick looked at Erick from behind, catching both of them in the mirror, saying, Are you freaking out on me, dude? You really shouldnt be too freaked

Fucking! The girl in the bed thrashed angrily, briefly, but she had been building up her anger for a while, now that she was completely exposed to the air. And then she sat up and glared pure hate at Young Erick. Its too cold to rip off covers, Erick.

She spat the last words at Young Erick, and Erick recognized her. She was Alice, one of his usual fucks that he just now remembered.

Well youre awake now, so it worked! Young Erick ignored Alice and gestured to the boxers in Ericks hands that he had yet to put on, If you wanna wear my underwear, go right ahead. Young Erick reached over and grabbed Ericks ass. But I expect it back.

Erick launched away from Young Erick, but in a normal sort of way, and not in the visceral, magic-empowered way that he probably could have, if he wasnt still waking up.

Stop teasing the poor guy, Alice said, before groaning as she sat on the side of the bed, holding her head. Hes obviously new at this. She tried to sneer through the pain of a hangover as she looked up at Erick, but all she managed to do was look tired. Her voice was tired, too, as she said, A practical virgin.

Erick grabbed the clothes he thought were his and not Young Ericks and then he put them on as fast as he could

Erick recalled this moment in time.

It had been buried, but he recalled this day Somewhat. He actually recalled a lot of moments like this, now that he was here, thinking about it. He looked at Young Erick, and picked out some words that were probably correct, but Ericks memory was kinda weird right now. He said, This is never going to happen again.

Young Erick faked a pout, using a hand to rub the air beside his face, like he was rubbing out tears. Poor closet case doesnt know what he likes. And then he spoke seriously, We had fun, whatever-your-name-was. Come by the quad again next weekend. He shrugged. Or dont!

Hes a fucking worthless townie, Alice said, as she looked at Erick. I thought the whole point of you sneaking onto campus was to get fucked. Well, now you did! And now you can get lost.

Erick suddenly remembered that Alice had always been like that. There was a very large reason that Alice was not Janes mother, and that vitriol was part of it.

Young Erick even winced to the side as he saw that vitriol, and then he noticed Erick looking at him, and he said, Dont worry. Next time it can be just you and me.

Alice laughed loudly. Harshly.

Erick said some words that were probably correct, There wont be a next time.

Guys had said that a lot to Erick, back then.

It was some date in 1997, after all.

Young Erick chuckled and said something about something and Alice responded with her own words, but Erick was out of there, with his pants on and his shirt on backwards and inside out, apparently and his shoes in his hand. Erick rushed out into the apartment hallway, trying not to panic, because he knew that even the slightest change to his past would fuck everything up down the line...

But then Erick walked a bit slower.

Would his presence fuck up anything at all?

The morning had already happened. Erick was now walking through campus housing that wasnt really campus housing or dorm rooms at all, because this wasnt really a dorm, and the college wasnt really a college. It was a community college, and this was an apartment building right next to the college, and the whole of the city beyond was kinda mashed in with the college to begin with. Only some nominal walls contained and separated the college from the city, and only 90% of the people who lived here were students at the community college.

All around Erick, in the early morning hours, were people moving around and getting ready to leave for the first classes of the day. Or, in the case of Old Man Hutch over there, he was getting ready to go fishing. It might have been a Monday, then?

A pair of bros spotted Erick doing his walk of shame and called him on it, yelling those words loud and happy. A woman in a room across the hall came out of her room and roared hatred at the guys yelling about walks of shame, calling them too loud and almost starting a fight, but then the womans friend pulled her back.

Erick had already fucked up the timeline just by existing; just by walking through here.

Butterfly flaps, eh?

And yet Hmm.

Erick wasnt sure if he had messed up his timeline yet. He wasnt sure about a lot of things. He did know his way around the place, though, but it had been half a century since Erick had been here, so Erick had needed to walk slowly to remember everything.

The place looked the same, and Erick found himself staring a bit too hard at the wallpaper. It was a bright green floral print that Erick was pretty sure he recalled a story about the college, years and years after he attended, when he was thinking about going back and finishing his degree. Some wannabe historians had claimed that this apartment building had arsenic in the wallpaper, but that was an 1800s Victorian London thing. And yet, the people who called this place on its radioactive-green ivy/vine/floral wallpaper were insistent that the government needed to take a look.

The government officers found nothing wrong with the wallpaper, but they did find asbestos in a whole bunch of places. The apartment ended up getting torn down because of that.

Should he send them a concerned citizens letter about the walls, and their arsenic content? Replay that set of history? Or should he circumvent that concern, and send a letter about the asbestos itself?

Erick left that concern for another day.

He had too many concerns right now.

With a practiced walk, Erick skedaddled out of the apartment building

And then he remembered that the apartment building was located on the forest side of the college, and all the city was in the other direction, across the college campus. Townies, like Erick, had needed to walk across the college campus to get back to most of the rest of town. Most of the time, this was not a problem for the townies, but Erick already saw cops walking around out there, eager to bust townies who werent supposed to be on campus. It was a complete power-trip thing for them, too. Not actually something that they could enforce at all.

Young Erick had found that out later in life, and that drove him to kinda hate the cops just a bit more than he already had.

Erick still wasnt able to control his mana, to see anything beyond his own eyes, and he certainly wasnt casting any spells right now, so it looked like he had a walk across a campus full of power-tripping cops who had nothing better to do.

Erick made it to a public washroom instead of walking across campus. It was before the classroom buildings started. He ducked inside. No one was there. It was only 7 am on a On a day. Maybe Monday? Sunday? Probably Monday. A clock he had passed on the way here told the time, and some students were already up and about, but what was the actual date?

Erick didnt know the actual date

He decided the date didnt matter.

Erick was here, in the past, and that Young Erick was him.

Erick hung out in the bathroom for a while. Mostly, he felt out his soul, and began to wake up his mana. It was there. He hadnt lost it. He poked. He massaged. But nothing happened. The world was the world, and there was nothing he could do about it except for that which could be done with his hands. Erick stared at his hands, at the unfamiliarity of them. They looked like construction worker hands, with calluses and small cuts that had healed a while ago.

He rubbed his hands together

Dont panic, Erick said to himself. No need to panic.

He calmed himself, breathing easily, and then he rubbed his hands together, trying to wake up whatever weakness had settled into his

The solidity of the world began to wane. Mana flowed out of Ericks hands, where he had massaged them, like he had broken up some ice and the river below had been exposed. All at once, all of the ice cap of Ericks entire body eroded, and Erick was back to being himself, magically. Physically he was still whoever this was.

Erick cackled once, maniacally, and then softer, easier. He had almost emotionally lost it, but now he was back, and that yo-yo of emotion had broken him a little. Also, he was probably fae now, or something like that. Or maybe he was still transitioning?

Well.

Whatever!

Okay!

He had mana.

Good.

With practiced ease that came out more stilted than he wished he was still waking up, apparently Erick breathed out mana into the empty mens bathroom, like he had breathed out a minor cloud of smoke. The mana spread, through the walls, through the floor, through the ceiling and the windows, and Erick was right there with it to see everything it saw. Soon, Erick shifted the mana to invisible Mystical mana, and then Benevolence easily flowed into the world on strong pulses of invisible, intangible power.

Normally, with mana flowing around, other people could sense it if they had the capability. If someone had been looking, they might have seen Ericks first expulsion of white Benevolence into this world, but even now that first bit of Benevolence was disguising itself with Wizards Clarity. People would still see mana if they were out there and looking, but no one was out there and looking. Ericks Benevolence wasnt a memetic hazard like with Nothanganathors Malevolence; Ericks Benevolence had become something quieter. In fact, if people wanted to accrete or cultivate with that mana he let loose, they could, and it would work rather perfectly for their established power sets.

Erick wondered if people could cultivate Malevolence so easily. He hadnt touched the stuff yet, and he hadnt had much experience with actual users of the stuff

Eh.

Later.

Erick cycled his mana for a while, pushing out power, and then letting it come back, and the mana went unnoticed as it gradually flowed back to its source, letting Erick sense the world as though he was simply mana sensing through the ambient mana, like anyone else.

The world looked somewhat like it should

But there was a difference. A really big difference compared to what Erick had seen in 2047, but hed get to that later; his plate was already too full of problems.

Young Erick and Alice were walking with each other to class, and Young Erick asked Alice, Who was that this morning?

Alice laughed loudly. I thought you knew him!

I thought you knew him. Young Erick said, I dont think I even got to touch him, except in sleep. Do you remember last night?

Fuck, dude. I dont remember shit. That party was rad. Alice said, Hes a fucking worthless townie, anyway. He was probably shit in bed.

Young Erick ignored Alices acerbic words. It was a great party, wasnt it. He smiled. Did you see Margaret dancing?

Alice sneered at Erick. You like that bitch?

Young Erick laughed to stop himself from lashing out, and Alice didnt notice that at all. Young Erick probably didnt even notice that about himself; he wouldnt realize he did that for years to come. Young Erick did try to get Alice to be nicer, though, by playfully saying, Dont call her that!

Alice rolled her eyes. Im not helping you with her. Remember to wrap it when you get her. I heard shes a total slut.

Young Erick was about to say something about them being sluts, too, but he decided not to press that button. Erick, watching them from half a mile away, recalled guarding his words with Alice all the time, though Young Erick didnt seem to realize that he was actively doing that yet. He would, eventually.

Young Erick changed the topic to English homework, and to how he had failed to do anything, and did Alice think that he could bullshit his way through the presentation today? Young Erick bet he could. Alice was nicer when it came to schoolwork, and she would end up helping Young Erick with his English presentation on Shakespeare for about 10 minutes. Itd be enough for a C, which was fine.

Erick returned to himself.

Erick was feeling some kinda way. Embarrassment? Subtle loss of opportunity for cheating himself out of a proper education? Happy that the whole arc of his life turned out like it did, anyway? Anger at Alices angry nature that Erick hadnt felt in 50 years? There was a lot there.

Erick would think about all that later, too. Or probably not at all.

He focused inward on his Status, which he had finally gotten online.

It was not the same as before.

Erick Flatt, [70-ish], [Current Year Earth, Layer 99,081: 1997]

Mana split; Soul, Body, Mind: 31%, 30%, 30%

Reson allocation rate: 9%

Soul: 1b per day / 11,574 per second , [Mark of Benevolence Level = 1]

Body: 1500

Mind: 2500

Overall Stability: [+10,532, -15] Basic upkeep

In the year 2047, there was no magic on Earth at all. Nothanganthor had claimed that he had removed all of his Malevolence from Earth which he had said was here, and the cause of Ericks own Benevolence and left Earth to Erick. And yeah, Erick saw some Malevolence here, so at least that part of Nothanganathors story was true. Red Sparks glittered in the heart of a father over there, as he roared at his teenage son that the son needed to do better in school, or else he would be disowned. Gods. Seeing the father yell at his own son almost sent Erick into a rage, but then the Malevolence connected to the son and the son gained his own spark of Red. Erick opened his Fractal Sight.

That son would go on to bully kids in his school, and thus do better in school by way of stealing the homework of others.

It was a cycle of violence.

Erick wanted to intervene, and yet If he did that, then He wasnt sure what would happen. There was no easy solution to that sort of problem, anyway. Maybe he could reincarnate the father as a better person? But the father was probably getting shit on in his own life, causing that shit to roll downhill...

All of Earth had problems.

Magic, however didnt seem to be a problem?

It was there. Nothanganathor claimed to rid the world of it in a few decades. So yeah, it made sense that it had been here. Erick had assumed that Nothanganathor had spoken of getting rid of Malevolence as what he had done to the magic of Earth, and since there was no magic, that meant that the only things here had been Malevolence. But that was obviously not the full story at all. The full story was that Nothanganathor killed all the magic users on Earth in like, 30 years, or something like that.

Erick closed his eyes to those problems, and focused on his own. As Erick turned his gaze back to the college, back to Young Erick, Erick noticed something that he had not noticed before.

Young Erick wasnt magical at all.

He had no Dark Mark. He had no power at all. His soul was a thin thing, rather weaker than all the other souls around him, actually. He was just a dude, coasting through life

So what the fuck did that mean?

Was Erick not born a Wizard at all?

Erick paused on the sidewalk, beside a park where kids played and moms gossiped with each other as they watched their kids. A thought had hit him. Did he make himself a Wizard? Well, sure. Thats what people had said before, but it was always a metaphorical sort of thing. You made yourself who you are and You certainly didnt start off throwing lightning bolts and all that sort of stuff had happened, but Rozeta had also said that Erick was a Wizard before he hit Veird Or rather, that Erick had been a Wizard when he entered the Script for the first time.

Hmm.

That Young Erick back in that room was Erick, but also not. Young Erick wasnt a Wizard. Young Erick was stuck here, in this life, in whatever he made of it. Young Erick had choices ahead of him, and all of his life could change based on any one of them.

But Jane didnt have any choices, because she did not exist. Not yet. Maybe not ever, if things didnt go how they had gone before.

Erick saw a Path open up before him.

He could sever himself from his own history, sending Young Erick down a path of something else, and thus Nothanganathor would have nothing to ever use against him. It wouldnt take much to do that. Erick could go back home to his parents oh, shit, his dad was still alive! Mom had already passed on from blood cancer, but Dad was sitting at home, not going to the doctors, and not getting diagnosed while he was still able to be healed for a given definition of healed. Medicine in 1997 wasnt great. Dad was only gonna get tested when the problems actually started to hurt him, and then insurance was going to drop him and he was going to die.

But Erick could fix all that, and then he could fix up Young Ericks life, and Jane would never happen and everything would change. Young Erick would take another 10 years to grow up properly and when he did he would have a family in his 30s. He would never go to Veird. Veird would remain as it was before Erick got there.

The war with Nothanganathor would never get as bad as it did, and then Erick could just go to Veird and blindside Nothanganathor, fighting him then and there, while he was still the Arbiter of Veird. He probably had some safeguards against that because he did win once, to Ascend to the God of Magic, and exist outside of time, like Erick did now, sort of, but it would be an easier fight

Maybe. Who knew.

That was Option One.

Option One also had concerns regarding multiversal shenanigans, but Erick would rip through those, too.

Option Two was to reinforce his history. Young Erick would go through some very big trials, and then Erick could have his family again exactly as it was, and this time This time, things would turn out how he wanted. Not how Nothanganthor wanted them.

The second way was much tougher, of course. Erick would need to thread a whole bunch of needles, all at once, and he would have to stay here for the next 23 years

Or maybe just step back? Let stuff happen? Maybe everything would happen as it needed to happen as soon as he wasnt here interfering

Well. No. Hed need to step in and help make Young Erick a Wizard; the guy had no Dark Mark at all. Maybe he gained one later? Somehow?

Option Two was Ericks choice, obviously.

It was selfish beyond belief in some ways, for Erick would be orchestrating everything for his own benefit But also, the Veird Erick and many others had worked hard to make, had been prepared to face Nothanganathor (as much as they could have been) and now, as soon as Fae Erick rejoined them, they would be more prepared. They could actually win.

Erick was going to be a little selfish. He was fine with that.

Anyway.

If Nothanganathor was to be believed, Erick became a Wizard in an almost immune response scenario against Malevolence. Erick didnt believe that for one fucking second And yet, it kinda made sense? Maybe it was the truth in the way that someone can say the sky is blue, but which doesnt take into account sunset, night, sunrise, storms, and all that.

Erick decided: he certainly wasnt going to spend the next 23-ish years on Earth, watching shit happen.

He could bounce around some.

Maybe he could go live a quiet life down in, like, Australia, or something, as he waited for the big events in Young Ericks life to happen? That might be fun.

Erick smiled at nothing in particular and he started walking again, having only briefly stopped by the park with the kids and the moms. All his thoughts had taken but a half second to work out, so that was all working back as it should. Erick chuckled a little, and then he practiced, Gday mate. Crikey its a bonzer week. I need to get me thongs on and go walkabout outback.

Was any of that correct? Some of it sounded correct. Sort of.

A pair of moms had stopped their gossip to look at him, wondering what he was doing out here. They should have been looking more at their kids, but gods knew that Erick had trouble keeping up with Jane all the time; he didnt blame them for wanting to talk with each other instead of stare at their kids.

But one of their kids was about to poke the other one in the eye with a stick, and it wasnt going to be an accidental poke, either. Those kids fucking hated each other, but both the moms thought since they were good friends, that their kids were also good friends, but those two kids had been out for blood for, like, maybe a month? Erick guessed a month. They were only 6 and 7, though. They were both too young to understand their own feelings, or how much damage they could do with those sticks.

Erick had a thought.

The Dark would probably let the kids hurt themselves. Thatd be the usual go-to lesson plan on Veird. But Veird had good healing. Earth had no capability to replace eyeballs.

Erick pointed at the kids as he kept walking, saying, Theyre gonna poke an eye out with that.

Both moms stopped gossiping with each other and both of them got furious, real fast. One mom was almost ready to light into Erick and the other mom was going to help, but the other mom looked at her kid. Her eyes went wide and then her mouth opened wide as she yelled her childs full name, launching off of her seat. The first mom had a moment of uncertainty, and then she saw what was happening with her kid. She shot off of the bench, too, both of them yelling at their kids not to play with sticks like that.

Erick smiled at the scene. A thread of lightning untwisted within his vision, a tiny problem removing itself from the timeline that would have become a massive event in every one of their lives

Something twitched within Erick, as a Path diverged.

Erick kept walking, but his smile dropped as his Sight extended off into the future. He had just flapped a very large butterflys wings and Jane no longer existed, and thus this Young Erick Flatt never went to Veird.

Ah.

Shit.

So.

Uh

Where did he go wrong? Was it the kid back there

Something twitched again, and Young Erick Flatts Path was leading him back to Veird.

A mirror had shattered, and then it came back together.

Uh?

What just happened?

Erick had no idea.

He needed to sit down and think.

Erick got to walking under the bright morning sunshine, all the way until he reached a fast food joint. He went inside and ordered some food while he copied some money inside the cash register in order to pay. He changed the serial numbers on the cash, of course. With greasy breakfast sandwiches in hand, Erick sat down at a table beside the kids play area, which took up a good half of the seating space

Nostalgia hit Erick like a truck.

Some kids played in the ballpit inside the kid area, while another pair of kids played on some arcade machine. Jane never got to experience a kid area like this, and yet they used to be so common across America. Erick remembered playing in one when he was a kid, and his parents took him to a place like this every so often. Veird didnt have anything like this at all, or at least not outside of playgrounds.

Erick watched the kids play for a little while, feeling somber.

And he thought.

As he ate, he turned his senses inward, to see his Lightning Path, and to view the fractal splash of reality all around him, as he had so very many times when he was cleaning up the universe of those few spots of corruption. He also looked in the past, to see whatever that blip was that had happened after he stopped that kid from losing his eye.

He was no closer to understanding how the world had torn and then come back together after a half hour of magical thought experiments, but he had a few guesses. Perhaps Benevolence was working outside of his direct control? To fix things how he wanted? And yet That felt like a weak answer right now.

Perhaps Ericks very presence on this plane of existence was like a weight, ensuring that this history remained strong? That seemed closer to the truth, but not the whole truth. Erick was practically a walking Nexus Event right now.

Breakfast was great. It was exactly as delicious as he remembered, back when he was a kid. Of course the sausage and bacon and egg and the single squirt of ketchup was a pretty abysmal meal, but it tasted great when your taste buds were new, or when you didnt have to worry about heartburn. As Erick had gotten older, this meal had started to taste less and less good, and his body started telling him that the grease was bad. But Erick was young again, and the food was great.

He went and got another one, and then he sat back down.

Soon, he left the place and went for another walk.

He walked for a few days, not bothering to sleep or do anything else but walk down the road, wherever it took him. He cleaned himself up when he got dirty. He ate when he felt like it. He copied some clothes and wore them. And he did little good things for people as he walked.

A very old woman was about to have a heart attack, as she struggled to get out of her car to go into the grocery store, but Erick healed her and helped her get her walker out. He also copied some of the money in her purse and gave her some more of what she already had, though he did change the serial numbers. He didnt want her to be suspected of counterfeiting. Later, the woman was so surprised at the register when she saw she had two extra 20s, which was more than enough to get everything she wanted. She told the boy scanning her groceries that she was going to have the best possible birthday party for her grandson this week. The boy scanning the groceries didnt care, but he pretended to.

The grandmothers grandson would go on to have a lot more birthdays with his grandmother because of Erick, and those two people would grow closer because of that. It was a fantastic outcome.

Erick saw a homeless guy sleeping under a bridge. The guy had some sort of plaque and tumor problem in his brain. Erick cleared that up, ridding the guy of his cause of early-onset dementia and cancer, and then Erick cleaned up the guy himself and gave him $20 in his pocket. Four days from now the guy would finally start to realize that the voices were gone, and that he could go back to living a normal life. He would go on to get help at the local shelter, and this time that help would allow him to help himself.

A little boy was running away from home because he was scared his father was going to beat him. The boy was completely unprepared to run away, because he was 9 years old and his backpack only had 1 sandwich in it, and the kid was on the edge of the forest, unsure where to go from there. He had managed to get a full ten miles from home, though. Erick saw the kid, crying beside a tree, so he walked over while opening his own backpack. With a sandwich and soda can in hand, Erick sat down with the kid, and the kid instantly latched onto him once he showed off the food. And then the kid started talking. Soon, as the kid cried and ate his food, the story came out. He was running away because he had broken a window by playing with the baseball inside the house, and he didnt want to be beaten. He was terrified of his father, and his father was going to be home in an hour.

You know whats more scary? Erick asked the kid.

Noo-ah? the kid said, his mouth full of sandwich.

Erick said, Getting a job. Making decisions for yourself. Taxes. Solving problems yourself but you dont know how. Being alone. He looked to the kid. Being alone is terrifying. You should go back home and accept your punishment. Just imagine what your father is going to experience when he gets home. Hell see a broken window and he wont see you at all. Hell be terrified. Dont do that to him. Dont do that to yourself.

Hell beat me! Thats what the television says!

Television lies. Real life is so much more complicated, and you wont make it home in any short length of time. Your father will be there before you get back, and your father will be worried sick. He will be crying. He will be furious. He will be happy to see you again. Erick shrugged. And if hes not, then you dont have to worry about his feelings ever again.

The kid had a complicated set of emotions.

Erick handed him another soda, saying, For the walk back.

And then Erick left.

He was pretty sure he knew exactly what was going to happen when the kid got home, which was why Erick had spoken to the kid in that way.

The kid stayed there, just on the edge of the forest, off the edge of the road, for a little while. Eventually he got up and started walking home. When he finally made it back it was dark but police cruisers sat in the front yard, red and blue lights spinning. The father was there, sobbing and terrified that something had happened. He was an absolute wreck, and then he saw his boy walking up to him. The father broke down, and then the son did, too. There was a hug, soft words, harsh words, questions, and anger, but there was no hitting. There was only hugging.

The father and the boys relationship became stronger, because the father cut back on work and the boy actually asked his father to play catch again, like he used to ask. And this time, the father actually played with the son. Soon, the father started to attend the boys little league games, and the son eventually got into the pros in his 20s.

Now that was a big butterfly flap.

Young Ericks timeline diverged, like the rumbling of a quake far, far out of sight. And then the timeline rumbled back into position, aiming back toward Veird. That future seemed even stronger after the rumbling, too, which was kinda weird. Kinda nice, but kinda weird, too.

Erick would figure it out, eventually.

Maybe it has something to do with my Ascent to True Wizard, and solidifying my own timeline...