Drumheller

Chapter nineteen - the music maker

Kathy chucked the huge textbook onto her bed, letting out a sigh of content-ness "...alright" she mutters, moving into the kitchen and rummaging through her recycling she keeps putting off bringing to any depot, taking out an empty soup can. She brings it over to her table, and places it facing up "...triangle. Okay..." Kathy mutters to herself, standing back. She holds out her hands, forming a triangle with her index fingers and thumbs. She takes a few deep breaths, focusing on the can with all her might. After a few moments of silence and nothing happening, she lets out a long sigh and brings her hands back down to her sides "...damn"
​Kathy found Steph at the meeting the next day, even if she said she might not come "it's...getting better" Steph answered when Kathy asked her how her trauma was doing "Ziz doesn't scare me anymore...so I suppose I'm improving. I'm not going anywhere near Chaos though, heh" "right, heh" Kathy chuckled. She wanted to ask her more about her abilities, but she kept it on the downlow. Besides, she didn't think Steph would bother with showing her.
​Life now took the newest seat at the circle in the meeting, bringing the headcount count up to eight. Gabe said that Pam wasn't allowed to say that she wanted more people, now that literally the god of the universe had showed up. Life laughed at that
​"as you all know, last night could have gone a lot better than it did" Pam started off "although we did successfully infiltrate Chaos' domain, Steph was saved from near death by our new guest here...Sam, also known as Life" Pam motioned towards Life, who gave a slight wave with a small smile "just call me Sam, thanks" he says "Life is a weird name, especially since I'm...y'know, trying to disguise myself" "right, Sam. In any case. If we have any hope in doing that again, we have to come up with a much better plan" Pam says, looking around at everyone "that being said...does anyone have any suggestions?"
​Kathy couldn't stop glancing at Sam. Did this count as meeting a celebrity? She'd always wanted to meet a singer, especially when she was growing up. She supposed it did count, because Sam was the god of the known universe. There's a large chance that he'd know every secret there was to the universe, and for some reason, that excited Kathy. She never had any interest in science, but since this whole thing started, she's been thinking more and more about the universe. God was he handsome. He didn't even wear anything fancy, hell, he had a denim jacket that had tears in it, and his hair was slightly greying, but something about his blue eyes gave a dashing look to him. She wanted him to listen to her, and for him to say "wow, Kathy. You may be in your late thirties, but you look beautiful in that outfit"
​Kathy mentally slapped herself. How the heck was she literally falling for the creator of the universe?
​Did this make her Christian?
​What happens to religion because of this?
​Who knew meeting the god of the known universe would raise so many questions "honestly, I think we still need a day to think" Steph spoke up "I'm still trying to get over from last night, and it's going to take a lot more than us believing we can do it to actually do anything to this monster" "I would agree to you, Steph...but Chaos could attack at any moment. I'm starting to think that Chaos will attack at the end of the month, and that's...less than a week away" Adrian said, fiddling with something in his hands. Steph let out a sigh and rubbed her face. Sam grimaced "this is...quite the pickle we've gotten ourselves into" he says, looking around at everyone "sometimes I wish I didn't play it safe. Maybe if I really did try to kill him when he first attacked my creation, I could have defeated him"
​Kathy almost felt like throwing in the towel and moving away and pretending this whole thing was a dream. Everything felt terrible. Chaos might attack really soon and Steph is probably not going to be able to go back to Chaos in the state she's in, and she's the one with shadow bird powers! Gabe suggested what would happen if all of us went in at once, which was explained away by Sam, saying that, when calculated, six regular humans would add up to 0.0006% of the power of Chaos "the power of a million of you would be required to even come to par with Chaos" Sam explained "not to be...harrowing, but either Steph has a chance at defeating Chaos...or all of you die trying"
​Later that day, after the meeting, Kathy went to the library for some time alone with herself. She brought the same empty soup can and went to the far corner of the library so no one will see her "triangle...was it index and thumb...?" Kathy muttered to herself. She tried the same stance, making a triangle with her index fingers and her thumbs. Focusing all her might into her hands, she tried to make the can fall over. She was so focused that she didn't see the onlooker "what are you doing, Kathy?"
​Kathy yelped, jumping and quickly hiding the can. It was Sam "nothing! I wasn't doing anything! I was just...looking for...uh..." "you were trying to use magic, weren't you?" Sam said, snickering. Kathy went red in the face "no!" Kathy shouts only to have a few people around her to shush her "u-uh...maybe" Kathy placed the can on the table. Sam crossed his arms "well...different people are able to do different things. Some people are born with at least some kind of magic power...while there are others who don't have that luxury" he said. Kathy sighed and closed her eyes "...right..." she said, looking down at the can
​Sam watched her for a few seconds before letting out a sigh "show me your figure" he asks, uncrossing his arms. Kathy, after looking to Sam for confirmation, puts out her hands in a triangle "alright, back straight, legs shoulder length apart. We want to have a good stance on the ground because you could be knocked off your feet if something happens. Keep relaxed and don't assume that your physical energy and your mental energy are the same thing. Assume your body is like...the weapon, and your mind is the bullet" Kathy follows Sam's instructions, taking a deep breath "now...let your mind do the talking. Imagine your soul gathering at your fingertips – you did get the triangle right – and have it...pour out of you"
​Kathy closed her eyes and tried to focus on what she assumed was her "soul". She let it gather at her fingers and...
​Thunk
​Kathy opened her eyes. The can had fallen over. Sam was about to grimace, but then realised that Kathy had made it fall over "well...congrats. You made a tin-can fall on its side"
​Kathy was, at first, ecstatic. The mere fact she used some kind of magical force to simply cause a can to fall down freaked her out. Sam was very surprised at how much she thought she did, but...soon realised that it wasn't how much she did, but what she did at all "there's...a lot more to magic than just making cans fall over, you know that?" Sam said, snapping his fingers. The tin-can turned into a .dove. Kathy watched in awe as the bird silently flapped its wings and perched itself on Sam's finger "i...suppose I could show you a few tricks" "r-really?" Kathy stuttered, her eyes full of stars. Sam laughed "yeah, why not. It's obvious you can do some magic...and you have a long way to go before you could do anything outside of really small things...so why not see how far you can take it?" "are you...sure? I mean, you're Life. You're probably constantly busy" Kathy said picking up the can. Sam shrugged "yeah, well, you're gonna be saving the world soon, so it isn't in vain" he said, letting the dove fly. Two seconds after it flew off his hand, it disappeared in a shower of blue sparks "that is...If you want to" "o-of course! I'd love to!" Kathy ecstatically said, picking up her textbook. Sam smiled "that's the spirit. Come on, there's a lot more space to mess up outside"
​Sam led Kathy out to the farther outskirts of town, past the dinosaur museum "if you don't mind me asking, sir" Kathy spoke up during the taxi ride over there "did you already know that Kathy was the Anchor?" Sam took a while to respond, thinking a bit "...no. I didn't. Not until I found her in the middle of the night. I was honestly just spying on Chaos because for some reason, this town, and to be more specific, it's water tower, is built right on top of a very thin section of Space-Time. I knew if there was anywhere Chaos would be hanging around, it would be this place, and so I followed his trail for a while and...ran into Steph when she had careened into the side of the road up to the town. I gave her a ride into town and...two days later, I realise she's the source of all the chaotic energy I was sensing
"now, Adrian and Jacob are my two, like, human scouts. My agents. I told them to go to Drumheller but I didn't tell them I'd be coming with them...so they were as surprised as all you were when I revealed myself. I had realised they figured Steph was the Anchor before it had hit me, and they thought to, as you know, kill her. I would have liked It if they actually...went to talk to me, but I'm sure they only meant to kill Steph with good intentions" Sam made himself laugh. His laugh was deep and hearty, and it made Kathy laugh along, even if he had just joked about Steph's death "anyway. Here we are"
The car stopped at a large open gravel field out in the middle of nowhere. Kathy stepped out of the car "not to be...doubting you, sir, but I don't know anything about magic. Are you sure I can be able to do the things that you can?" "I mean, no. But magic can be exciting if you can see how far you can push it. So..." Sam snaps his fingers. A small table appears out of nowhere with the same tin can that Kathy had made fall over "I want you to make it fly"
Kathy did a double take "fly? I could barely make it fall over!" she says, exasperated. Sam shrugged "it might take some time, but if you want to be my apprentice, I will push you" Sam said, his face suddenly shifting into a frown "do I make myself clear?" his blue eyes suddenly became sharp and serious. Kathy's spine shivered, why did she doubt him? gulping, she quickly nodded "right! Of course!" she said, turning towards the can. Sam's eyes went back to their casual look "good girl. Now remember what I told you. Your body is the weapon and your mind is the bullet. You can't use the gun without the bullet...and you can't use the bullet without the gun. does that make any sense?" Sam asked. Kathy nods approvingly.
The day was long, but Kathy was determined to show Life what she could do. Life was very patient with Kathy, which made the whole experience a lot better, but it was obvious that Life didn't like it when she doubted herself. His eyes would grow annoyed, and Kathy felt like the worst person in the world any time she made Life like that. That being said, she did everything she could to not doubt herself "lets try again!" she would say, which typically made Life happy that she can keep going
"what does it take to be someone like you, Sam?" Kathy asked once as she tried the levitation again. Sam thought for a moment "I dunno. It's hard to describe someone with a job only one person can have. I guess you'd just need a lot of...creativity I suppose" he said, his hands clasped behind his back "of course, I didn't design all of this – actually I left most of it up to randomly generated content – but I did create the...concept of it. Does that make any sense?" "not really, sir" Kathy said, still focusing on the can. Sam laughed "maybe...imagine coding a video game. I coded the game, and I made how the game works, as well as who will be in it, and what the places look like...but those who play the game are all on their own, I can't control the people who play the game itself" Sam explained "like...I've heard people say that 'god has a plan' and stuff. I honestly don't, but if that makes them happy then...sure"
The can shook and hovered only a few centimetres off the ground. Four seconds later, the can dropped onto the ground and Kathy let out a big sigh "I'm pretty tired, sir, magic takes it out of you" she said, looking towards Sam. Sam chuckles "yeah, lets get going. It's starting to become evening so...we can continue this training tomorrow"
​On the ride back, Kathy watched the rocky terrain go by. She found herself wondering what the limits of her own abilities really could look like, would she be flying through the air someday? Or maybe taking some other...animalistic form like Pam? "I can't wait to levitate Chaos to death" Kathy said sarcastically, hoping that wouldn't make Sam mad. Instead, to Kathy's surprise, Sam started laughing. Kathy turned towards the laughing taxi driver "I'm sorry...haha...That really got me"
​They soon got back into town "should I drop you off at your place?" Sam asked, glancing over to his passenger. Kathy nodded "yeah. that'd be great, thanks" she said as Sam took a left turn. Kathy felt like this was a guy driving her back to her house after some kind of date, which caused Kathy to go red. Did this count as a date? Did Kathy literally just date god? What would life be like with Life? These questions rattled her head, to the point where Sam had to say her name twice to tell her that they made it to her house
​Sam got out and walked Kathy to the door "you don't have to walk me...heheh" Kathy chuckled. Sam shrugged "I'm a gentleman. Besides, it's getting dark, what if you were attacked by werewolves?" he said, turning to face Kathy at the door. Kathy laughed at that, only to then stop laughing when she realised what that meant "...are werewolves real?" "Pam is certainly one" Sam answered Kathy's question "anyway, I'll see you tomorrow" Sam turned to leave before Kathy called out once more. Sam turned to look "it was...nice to spend time with you!" Kathy said, fiddling with her hands. Sam smirked, then nodded. Without another word, he left
​It was no question now, Kathy had fallen for Life