ALL NOVEL Loop 254 - Part 124
“So, I think this means that the wing is relatively safe now, well, once clean-up finishes. So that means it’s safe for whoever wishes to return to the void house with us. Any takers?” Andy asked the group. They had caught up to Bill just as he was entering the conference. They were now all sitting around the room as Andy explained the newest developments. Cal, for his part, was doing his best not to make eye contact with Twonger.
“Nope, who knows what would happen if I tried to enter your reality? Mr. Wiggles and I are perfectly happy to help with the restoration work here. Plus, we’ve got more wings to explore once we figure that out, don’t we Wiggly-poo?” The Gryalth woman that Andy had introduced as Serilina answered as she stroked the back of the cat lying across her lap.
“I do strongly wish to join you, but first, I must help with the work here, perhaps in the future,” Libby said next.
“I’m in, not that I think I have much choice in it. Being away from the dogs for as short a time as it was was not pleasant,” Bart was currently sitting with the three of them on the ground, which helped to greatly emphasize his point.
“Clearly, I ain’t staying here. We made a deal, and I expect you to honor it. So get yer damn concoction and add me to your loops so I can safely get the hell out of here,” Twonger explained as he paced the room.
“Twonger, can we talk in private before that happens?” Cal asked, finally looking at the man. He knew he couldn’t avoid it any longer, and it would be cruel to even try to.
“Yeah, we probably could, but we aren’t gonna. I ain’t stupid. You can’t even manage to look at me. Every time the tree and I make eye contact, he looks ready to cry. So how’d it happen so badly that one yer loops won’t even fix it?” Twonger asked with a snarl, increasing the speed of pacing.
“He sacrificed himself to hold one of the realms and, likely by extension, the entire void house together. It was explained to me by someone who knows much more about how this all works than I do as total mana death. I’m sorry, and I had known he was considering it…” Cal started to explain before Twonger cut him off.
“You’d what? Have stopped him and let yer resistance die. Nah, you wouldn’t have done that. Look, am I really fucking pissed right now? Do I want to go get drunk and punch something until my fists bleed? Yes, to all of it, but the rage is even really directed at you. Yes, I still want in on your damn loops because now I need some revenge.” Twonger explained, his voice shifting between eerily calm and a barely held-in-check rage as he spoke.
Cal understood the man. Eventually, this all grated on you, the constant pressure. The unending fight against monsters that you still weren’t sure you could beat, but even with that empathic understanding, he knew there was another part. Only Twonger had lost a loved one forever in these loops. “If that’s what you want, then absolutely, you’ve more than earned the right,” Cal said.
“Give the other dose to Bart, I guess, then,” Twonger said.
“There is no other dose. Enough time has only passed to refine a single so far, but I doubt Bart needs it. He likely has the same abilities as the dogs do,” Andrew responded.
“And what about your weird summoning power? Think you can bring a penguin across from the abyss to the void?” Andy asked jokingly, clearly trying to lighten the mood.
One of the tables in the room smashed against a wall, exploding into splinters as it did so. Twonger followed up with two more in rapid succession. Cal had no idea what to say to help the man, but then, to his surprise, Frank, of all people, walked over and put his giant hand on Cyclopean’s shoulder.
“I will help you smash everything you want later, but right now isn’t the best time,” Frank said, and Twonger’s shoulders sagged in response. He only nodded back at the tree man.
“Yes, and now that we have everyone ready to leave the Under Library, we need to do that. It’s time to end this loop before we risk a bigger issue with the Gryalth. I can catch everyone up who hasn’t been yet in the next loop, but the gist of it is that I encountered something much more powerful than all of us that is one of, if not their main leader. To make that worse, one of the Gryalth on Pluto learned about the time loops, and we were not able to neutralize him. So, the sooner we end this loop, the better. I also promise next loop to give you full access to all our information on the Gryalth for whatever pain you want to give back to them Twonger,” Cal explained.
“I understand, so let’s do this and get the loop done with then,” Twonger said.
“I assume you brought my tools and the vial, Andy?” Andrew asked.
“Bill has it all in his pack. It should be everything you need,” Andy answered.
After a few minutes of getting the supplies prepped, Twonger sat in front of Andrea as he administered the injection. The cyclopean didn’t flinch as the needle broke his skin. “This is really all it takes? Pretty sure I didn’t feel anything,” Twonger said.
“It is,” Andrew said.
“Fine, then, now what?” Twonger asked.
“Now we head back, and I end the loop,” Cal answered.
***
“So, the idea is that if I hit you everything, I safely can let you store all the extra energy, and then we end the loop. Sound good?” Cal asked the Excalibur shortly after they had returned to the void house.
“If this is what you want, yes. I can make it easy enough for you as long as you are totally willing,” Excalibur answered.
“Considering the number of times I’ve exploded, or the nightmare-inducing time with Many Eyes, yeah, I think I’d prefer the gentler way,” Cal responded. He shuddered slightly as one of his earliest traumatic memories from the loops resurfaced.
“Then begin whenever you are ready,” the sword said.
Cal gripped the hilt of Excalibur and began channeling a steady stream of electricity into it. He felt it flow down the hilt before it seemed to disappear into the sword. It took him nearly twenty minutes of the slow, controlled mana release before he felt himself running on empty and gave the sword a nod.
Sleep rapidly overtook him as the loop came to a quiet end.