Across Time and Worlds

Chapter Ten

"They found one."

The stick figure nodded and continued staring at the screen. I felt a smile creep up into my face. Everything was coming into action. And those three puny stick's didn't even know it. I should consider myself lucky that they accidentally fell into my world. Because now I have three free slaves to do all the hard work for me.

"What are you going to do with the items in the chest?" Chosen asked, pulling away from the computer and facing him.

"What do you think?" I asked him right back. He shrugged.

"Display them? I don't even know what is inside them."

I snorted. "Display them? When I could use the items to find the golden vault instead? Is that what you would do? Display them?"

He frowned and his fist curled around the mouse. "The golden vault? But isn't that just a story?"

I picked up a pencil and a loose piece of paper from the brown desk. "Here. Write this; the golden vault is real."

After giving me a look, he scribbled the words on and stared at it for a few moments. "Why isn't the paper burning?"

"Because the golden vault is real, genius!" I picked it up and flashed it in front of his face. "This is a random piece of paper. You can take any other paper here and write the same thing, and none of them will burn. You know better than anyone that any lie written on a paper will cause it to disintegrate."

Chosen nodded slowly. "I do . . . But the golden vault can't be real! Blue, green, red, those we know for a fact are real because we have found them already. But the gold vault hasn't yet. And the eight chests haven't been searched through either."

"Well, somebody might have been through them before," I relented. "They have been there since two thousand years ago. Who wouldn't want to look through them?"

"But the way you are carrying on, it seems like you expect the items to still be there."

"Right. I do expect them to be there. Have you heard of the rumor that the chests replenish themselves once a month? That means that if something is taken out, once a month it is always replaced."

Chosen threw his arms up to the low ceiling. "Really, Dark! Rumors! These are nothing but fairy tales, and you are falling for each and every one of them! I thought you were better than this!"

I scowled. "They aren't rumors. I have seen these words on paper myself."

"And did you check for a 'All the events that take place in this story are nothing more than the truths that happen in another universe?' Everybody knows that those are just fables. Why do you seem so persistent in believing that they are the truth?"

"Because they are! But, whatever." I turned away from him. "You'll see. Those dweebs will find the Golden Vault, or at least give me the direction to it. Everything in those chests? They contain a piece of information that tells us exactly where the vault is. All we need to do is wait patiently, and it will come to us."

Chosen crossed his arms and looked down at the carpet floor. "Well, I guess we'll see. But I'm warning you, don't get your hopes up too high. I'm going to check on the stick figures."

Before I could ask him why, he was out of the front door and already flying away, harmless golden fire leaving a short trail behind him. I shook my head, but decided not to go after him. I wanted to keep working on my plan anyway.

A zillion thoughts were flying through my head as I zoomed through the sky. Should I trust Dark? Should I tell the stick figures why I actually joined him? Could I trust them? Only the purple one seemed to know who Dark even was, and what he could do, although I don't know how. King was really tall, making him look like a formidable opponent that could win every fight. And the orange one definitely had a power similar to Dark's and mine. But it was slightly different . . .

Which was why I was coming to check on them. I wanted to know everything about them in order to be sure that I can trust them, or if I should let Dark do his work. Because despite all of his angry vengeance and knack for chaos, he was still brilliant, and was either the best work partner you were ever going to have, or he was the worst enemy you could ever make.

The trees zoomed underneath him as I flew by, flashing past me. The forest was devoid of any stick figure, and once in a while I would hear the clacking of a busy woodpecker, or the howl of an untamed wolf.

Is this really the best choice?

I stopped flying mid-air. The fire gushed past my body, warming me, but never burning me.

Can I stake my entire plan on three stick figures who would do anything to get out of this world? They might be desperate. They might tell Dark in order to weasel their way out of this place.

Clenching my fists, I bit my lip and shook my head. No, I couldn't. Not yet. Besides, if something were to go wrong, I couldn't immediately start my plan. I had to wait for a little while longer.

But I had still told Dark that I was going to check up on them. And he'll know if I don't, thanks to his tiny drones. Luckily, they're too small to record sound. With a sigh, I continued on. Even if I couldn't tell them my real reason for joining Dark, I could still tell them where two of the chests are. Maybe I'll be more believable when I finally do tell them anyway?"

So, armed with that thought, I flew on. They found one of the chests yesterday. Today, they'll find two more, and by the end of the fourth day, they will have three.

I nodded to myself. I could do that. 

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Sorry this is short, guys. It's an entire 600 words shorter than it could have been. I put that meme up there because that is literally how I feel about this book. I don't think I'm doing a good job for it, and I honestly just don't feel the excitement. I'll force myself to keep posting a chapter a week, and I swear, after I edit this thing, it will be a lot better. Sorry, guys.