Chapter 702 - The Void

“You might not want to stand so close to the edge,” came a voice from nearby.  Zeke turned to see Tucker leaning against the deck’s inner railing.  Improbably, he still chose to dress like a stereotypical pirate, complete with a tricorn hat, long coat, and downturned boots.  He’d even added a cutlass to the ensemble, though Zeke suspected that it rarely saw any real use.  Tucker was a lot of things, but a melee fighter wasn’t one of them.  “There are things out there.”

“I know,” Zeke said, though he did follow the alchemist’s directions.  Soon enough, he was leaning next to his friend.  “You’ve seen them?”

“Doesn’t work that way,” Tucker revealed.  “Once we’re in the void, we won’t see or hear anything.  If we make too much noise, the monsters will come.”

“And then what do we do?”

“We disappear, never to be seen again,” Tucker answered.  “Happens a lot for smugglers.  Even strong ones will go missing, and not because they were caught by authorities.”

“Is that what Iris does?”

“It’s what we do.  We’re partners, and in every sense of the word,” Tucker stated. He grinned, adding, “It’s a pirate’s life for me, I s’pose.”

“We haven’t talked much since I got back.”

“No.  We haven’t.  Figured the others needed you a lot more’n me,” he responded.  “I got everything I ever wanted.  The love of a good woman, a fun job, and all the ingredients I could ever use.  As far as I’m concerned, I’m in heaven.”

“Except you’re a pirate.  How does that work?”

As far as Zeke knew, piracy was just as frowned upon in the Ethereal Realm as it was anywhere else.  And given just how powerful people could be, it didn’t seem like a safe way of life. 

“More of a smuggler, if I’m honest, though we do hijack a ship here and there.  Raid an outpost from time to time.  That sort of thing.  But mostly, we move goods from one place to another without having to go through the Ways,” he explained as the ship shuddered into motion.  It rose from where it’d been hovering only a few feet from the ground, steadily making its way toward the upper atmosphere. 

Zeke could feel mana surging all around them, though he also sensed something else.  Something that had become all-too-familiar.  Divine energy.

He mentioned that, then asked, “Where is it coming from?”

“Iris.  She doesn’t like to think of them as worshippers, but that’s what her crew is.  They’ll do whatever she says.  If she told ‘em to leap off the edge, they’d do it, and without any question.  If that ain’t worship, I don’t know what is,” he said.  He’d let his accent strengthen over the years, but that didn’t surprise Zeke.  A lot could change over the course of a century.  “That’s what protects us once we get out there into the Void.”

“I see.”

“You coming back threw everything into turmoil.  You know that, right?”

Zeke ran his hand through his hair.  “I didn’t mean to.”

Tucker shrugged.  “It’s how it had to be.  In some ways, it’s good.  The kobolds were getting restless,” he explained.  “And poor Talia…well, you know how it is with her.  She didn’t know what to do without you around.”

Zeke stared at the deck, wondering how to respond.  Fortunately, he didn’t need to because Tucker kept talking.

“Not that anyone blames you for going.  Pudge did for a while, but he’s better off for being left here.  Had a chance to build a life out from underneath your shadow,” Tucker said.  “And Talia, well – I don’t know that she’s built for happiness.  What happened with those undead, it hit her hard.  Don’t really blame them, either.  The world’s a tough place for their kind, so it stood to reason they’d want to be apart.  A few stayed, but most of ‘em headed off on their own.  Last I heard before we ascended, they were struggling.  Wars on all sides.”

“Why didn’t you help?”

“Not my place,” Tucker answered.  “I’m just a pirate.  I don’t really run anything around here.  Nothin’ except my lab.  Even on this boat, Iris is in charge.  I’m just along for the ride.”

“Something tells me that’s not really true,” Zeke said.

Tucker grinned.  “Don’t say that around the missus.  She likes to think she runs things.”

“What about the undead?” Zeke asked.

Tucker shrugged, then explained that the Crimson Tower had offered to help them, even going so far as sending a contingent of kobolds to assist.  They’d been turned away.  The undead preferred to be left alone, and their distrust of the living had become part of their culture. 

“Last I heard, they retreated far underground,” Tucker said.  “Don’t know what happened after that.  By that point, Talia had already moved on.  She was the first to ascend, you know.  Paved the way for us.”

“I didn’t know that.”

He nodded, saying, “Yeah.  That girl is a go-getter, that much is sure.  So different from the little slip of a thing I first met.  After what she’s been through, it’s a miracle that she’s still functional.”

“I think the same could be said for most of us.”

“Ain’t that the truth.  Power is struggle, and struggle is pain.  You probably know that better than most.”

Zeke didn’t argue that point.  The fact was that most people would never be capable of enduring the life he’d lived.  Even before his descent through Hell, he’d been put through so much pain that it would have broken just about anyone else. 

“Here we go.  Brace yourself,” Tucker said.  “It’s gonna feel a bit weird.”

Before Zeke could respond, the ship broke through the upper atmosphere and into what he could only characterize as space.  However, despite being surrounded by a vacuum, he could breathe perfectly fine.  He didn’t feel much different than before their ascent. 

“I don’t feel anything different,” he said.

“Wait for it…”

Just as Zeke opened his mouth to offer a response, the ship shuddered.  A moment later, the world shifted.  Suddenly, he felt like his entire body was being ripped apart by divine energy.  It only lasted a single instant, but in that second was a world of pain.  Then, just as suddenly as it had begun, it ceased.

“Ugh,” Tucker groaned.  “Never get used to that.  If you’re gonna throw up, just do it on the deck.  Don’t get close to the edge.”

Zeke didn’t need the warning.  Though he couldn’t see past the grey haze that had sprung up around the ship, he could feel the Void on the other side.  It wasn’t just empty.  Not like the vacuum of space they’d just left behind.  Rather, it was so fundamentally different that, at first, Zeke struggled to wrap his head around what that meant.  Then, it hit him. 

“It’s reality.”

“What?” asked Tucker.

“The Void.  It’s a lack of reality.  Or maybe what lies beneath reality.  Like looking at the foundations.”

“It’s just emptiness.  No different than space,” Tucker asserted.  “I’ve gotten a glimpse.  Only the once, when we were attacked just as we arrived at a destination, but that look…only a second…I blacked out for nearly an hour.  Only reason we didn’t crash was because of one of Iris’ skills.  When we woke up, we were on the planet, just drifting through the sky.  Nobody really remembered what it was.  All we felt was this emptiness.  Like we were all hollow.”

Zeke frowned.  He knew it wasn’t empty out there.  He could feel that much.  But what he couldn’t ascertain was precisely what it was.  Or what it meant. 

He did know that he was much closer to the so-called Void than he’d ever been when traversing the Ways, so everything was just a little clearer.  Including the creatures outside. 

“You know there are…things out there.”

“We call them worms.”

“Fitting,” Zeke acknowledged.  They did feel roughly tubular, though they were tangled into pulsating knots.  Fortunately, none of them were as incomprehensibly vast as the one he’d sensed back in the Ways.  That one had been so large that Zeke could never hope to assess its true size. 

“The little ones are supposed to be roughly on the level of a greater god.  The big ones are…well, if one notices this ship, we’re all dead.  Including you,” Tucker said with a nervous grin.  He clapped Zeke on the shoulder.  “No stress, eh?  Good thing Iris’ skills keep us hidden, right?”

“Completely?”

Tucker shrugged.  “Far as we can tell, yeah.  We can even bump into ‘em, and they won’t react.  Most of the time.”

Zeke narrowed his eyes at his friend.

Tucker laughed.  “Just a little joke.  C’mon man.  Loosen up.  You weren’t this tense before.”

A trip through hell would do that to a man, but Zeke didn’t point that out.  He wasn’t so socially inept that he couldn’t recognize how that statement would derail the somewhat lighthearted conversation.  He did smile wryly though.

“What?” asked Tucker.

“Just thinking about how weird my world is,” he admitted.  Then, he explained his thought process, adding, “How messed up is it that a conversation about reality-shattering void worms is something I considered lighthearted?”  He shook his head. “Like I said, it’s a weird world.”

“Not going to argue with that,” Tucker said.  “But tell me it’s not at least a little cool.  I mean, hell notwithstanding, we’re dealing with gods and monsters of immeasurable power.  You fought a sea god and won.  It’s insane in the most interesting ways.”

He took a deep breath.  “But even with all that, do you want to know what I find the hardest to believe?”

“What?” asked Zeke.

“Her,” Tucker said, nodding toward Iris, who stood at the helm.  “We’ve been together for a century now.  A century, Zeke.  Think about how long that is.  Think about how many nights we’ve sat under the stars.  About the meals we’ve shared.  The conversations we’ve had.  And even now, I’m dumbfounded that she chose me.  Me, of all people.  I had no idea how lost I was before I met her.”

He went silent for a second before adding, “I’ve been with her longer than when I was with my wife back on Earth.  I always thought she’d be my one great love, but now I don’t know.  I feel differently about Iris.  It’s more urgent.  Less comfortable.  But I can’t say it’s less.  Does that make sense?”

Zeke nodded.  “I wish I had something like that,” he admitted.  Through his trip through Hell, he’d not had a lot of time to consider things like relationships.  Sure, he’d thought about Abby a lot, but that was more because the memories had been used to torture him.  Now, though, seeing how happy Pudge and Tucker were with their respective partners, it was difficult not to look at them and wonder if there ever could have been something like that for him.

“You could.”

“What?”

“You could have that,” Tucker insisted.  “There’s a little undead girl in the tower who’d love nothing more.”

“She’s –”

“You feel like it’s crossing a line.  You’re probably telling yourself she’s like a sister to you, right?” Tucker asked.  “Well, that’s bullshit, and you know it.  It’s a lie you’ve told yourself because you feel like pursuing it – even if both of you want it – is taking advantage of her vulnerability.  But here’s the thing, Zeke – she’s a grown woman.  More than a century old.  She can make her own choices, and buddy, she’s already chosen you.  You just need to open your eyes and recognize it.”

“And if I don’t want to do that to her?”

“Then you’ve got more issues than I thought.  You’re not doing anything to her.  It’s collaborative.  You’re not inflicting yourself on her.  You deserve happiness as much as anyone,” Tucker countered. 

“I…I’m not sure that’s true.  Not the deserving thing.  I’m not going to get into that.  But I’m not sure I can afford that kind of distraction.”

“You want my advice?”

Zeke just shrugged.

“Stop thinking about what you can afford and focus on this,” he said, slapping his hand against Zeke’s chest.  “What does it want?  No responsibilities.  No looming gods.  Just you and a girl you might like.”

“I…I don’t know.”

“Then don’t you think you ought to figure that out?” Tucker asked. “Take it from someone who ignored his humanity for far too long.  It ain’t worth it.  No matter how many times you tell yourself it is, it just ain’t.”

And with that, Tucker left Zeke to his own thoughts.