Home Sweet Home - Ch.54 - The Good Old Days

"Hey love," I said as I sat down on the sofa next to Jenna. I slipped an arm around her shoulders and gave her a gentle side-hug then asked, "How are you doing?"

She'd been sitting in the living-room all morning, alternating between cuddling with her big pink plushie pony and staring at her camera's built-in screen like she was studying the pictures she took yesterday at the nature reserve.

I knew she wasn't happy about the unexpected meeting with her progenitor, but I thought she'd get over it fairly quickly. In the twenty-one months we'd been together she'd never been much for brooding, and any time she did seem a bit down it usually didn't take very long for her to bounce back to her usual happy bubbly self. Except not this time. She'd been quiet and withdrawn since we got home yesterday, and I was starting to worry about her.

Another half minute passed without a response so I added softly, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Jenna let out a long slow sigh then slumped closer until she was pressed against me, with her head resting on my shoulder. Her eyes were still focused down on her camera, which was currently displaying a close-up picture of a salamander on its little screen.

"I was just wondering whether or not I should use these pictures," she finally replied. "I'm sure he used magic to find the salamanders, and that would break my rule about not using magic for school stuff."

It was pretty clear that wasn't the only thing on her mind. For that matter I doubted it was the main thing. It was a start though.

So I agreed, "Possibly. But you don't know that for sure, do you? Maybe he's just really in tune with nature or something."

My genie frowned as she continued staring at the tiny image on the back of her camera, but she didn't respond this time.

"The way I see it," I continued after another couple seconds, "It's no different than if we'd run into another hiker out there, who happened to know where to find some salamanders. You didn't use your own magic, and you didn't ask anyone else to use magic on your behalf. You got a tip from a stranger, that's all."

"Maybe," she sighed. "Except I'm positive he used magic. He can't leave his cave, so it's not like he was actually hiking around looking at nature."

She went quiet again after that, so after another long pause I decided to try being a little more direct.

"This isn't really about the pictures, is it love?" I asked. "Was it something else he said?"

Jenna sighed again then nodded. She pushed the power button on her camera before carefully setting it down on the opposite cushion, next to her big pink pony. Then she cuddled a little closer against my side and mumbled, "You're right Vikki. I'm worried about all the other stuff he said. About what he's doing, what he's working on."

"You mean about making magic more common?" I asked. "Or are you worried because he said he's working with Cassandra Underwood?"

My girlfriend shook her head, "I'm worried because he said the impossible demon goddess was working for him. But yeah, all that other stuff about freeing all the other genies and making the world more magical like it was back in his time? That's what I'm really worried about."

I couldn't help feeling a little surprised to hear that. "I'd have thought you'd want your fellow genies to be free? And wouldn't making the world more magical help you? I'm sure it would help your supernatural friends too, like Ashley and Ember."

Jenna grimaced, "It might, and I'm sure some supernaturals would want that. But I don't believe him when he says that's his goal. And freeing all the other genies sounds like a good thing on the surface, but we're not all like me Vikki. There's a reason my kind have a reputation for being evil and untrustworthy."

"He didn't outright say it," she added softly, "But he sort of implied that I've been free the longest? Which means the other two who freed themselves got caught in less than two years. Maybe the other two were nice people, maybe they just made mistakes? But maybe not. Maybe they were the mean kind, who got caught because they used their freedom to be mean to people. He said he was proud of me for being good, remember?"

That left me quiet this time, as I considered her words. I wasn't ready to speculate on the fates of the two other genies allegedly freed before my girlfriend, so I mostly thought about the mysterious cave-dweller instead. Not that I had much to go on there, beyond what he told the two of us and what he wrote in that card he sent Jenna two summers ago.

I finally asked, "So what do you think is his real goal?"

"He wants to be free," she stated with another little shrug. "He said he's been trapped in his cave domain for seventy thousand years. He made it sound like time doesn't mean anything, he said a century or two is nothing to him. But seven hundred centuries? That's a long time to be stuck anywhere. Especially underground."

At that point my girlfriend sat up straight then turned to face me. She looked and sounded serious as she explained, "The thing is there's always been people who think the world was better 'in their time' or 'back then' or 'in the good old days' or whatever. Only that's never true. Ok maybe in some very small limited way some specific detail might have been better in the past? Or more likely 'the good old days' they're thinking of was only good for them, and people like them."

"Like nowadays," she added, "I'm sure lots of bigots think the world was better back when gay or trans people didn't have any rights and had to keep their true selves hidden. And misogynists probably pine for 'the good old days' when women didn't have any rights. Rich people think the 'golden age' was when their money meant they could do whatever they wanted and get away with absolutely anything. Some religious fanatics might think things were better back everyone worshiped 'the right god', because if you didn't you got thrown in jail. Or executed."

Jenna shook her head, "That cave guy wants to make the world like it was seventy thousand years ago. I don't know what things were like that far back, but whatever it was it probably wouldn't seem very nice or fun to most people today."

I frowned, "No I don't think it would. If I'm remembering my high school ancient history classes right, seventy thousand years is way before anything even resembling civilization. Or agriculture. In fact I'm pretty sure that's actual stone-age hunter-gatherer time, like before writing. Maybe even before language?"

"He said he watched humans evolve and language develop," my girlfriend quietly reminded me. "And he said he predates both gods and demons."

That only made me frown a little harder. "So you think he wants to destroy civilization? And maybe get rid of gods and goddesses? And demons? Is that even possible?"

My girlfriend shrugged, "I don't know if it's possible, but he said he wanted to put a few of them in their place. And I don't think destroying civilization is his goal. It might be a side-effect though. Or something he's willing to sacrifice, if it means he gets his freedom and the world has more magic again."

I took a deep breath then asked nervously, "Is there anything we can do to stop him? What if I used another wish -"

"No," Jenna stated firmly. "There's no need for you to waste one of your last two wishes on this, Vikki."

Then she added with another sigh, "Anyways I doubt that would work. If he was telling the truth then all genies' power comes from him, and he's probably not stupid enough to give anyone power that could be used against him."

"So what can we do?" I asked. "There must be something."

A thoughtful frown settled on my girlfriend's expression. Eventually though her shoulders slumped as she shook her head and admitted, "I don't know."

We were both quiet for a few minutes after that, as we sat together cuddling in silence on the living-room sofa. In a way the whole thing kind of felt unreal, like I almost couldn't believe we were talking about the world possibly coming to an end. Especially not at the hands of some lonely hiker we ran into by chance yesterday, while my girlfriend was looking for cute animals to photograph for a college assignment.

On the other hand I'd certainly witnessed enough supernatural events and met enough non-human or partially-human people over the past two years that I couldn't deny it was a possibility, no matter how remote. Considering I had an actual Goddess in my office two days earlier looking to buy a second-hand church, it felt like just about anything was possible in this town.

That thought left me contemplating our local goddess of chaos, and the news that not only was she allegedly working for my girlfriend's mysterious progenitor but he even claimed to have helped create her in the first place. On the other hand, while I could hardly claim that I knew her based on only a couple brief interactions, she didn't strike me as the sort of person who'd willingly help destroy the world. Which finally led me to break the silence with a question.

"I know you're still leery about Cassandra Underwood, but maybe she could do something about him?" I asked. "Or if nothing else, maybe we could convince her to stop working with him?"

My girlfriend noticeably tensed a little more as she cuddled against me. Then she gulped, "You want me to try and talk to the impossible demon goddess?"

I gave her a gentle squeeze and replied, "If you're not comfortable talking to her then I can try reaching out to her. She gave me her contact information, so I could let her know if I came across a suitable church for sale."

Jenna stared at me for a second then stifled a giggle, "For thousands of years if people wanted to talk to the gods the best they could do was pray and hope. Now you've got one on speed dial."

"She's not on my speed dial," I insisted with a smile. "She's just in my contacts list."

My girlfriend's expression became serious again a moment later, and she sighed once more. "What if we try and warn her, but it turns out she's on his side? I don't know if she could hurt me, but she could definitely hurt you. And if she tries, I might not be able to stop her."

"I can't believe she'd willingly be working to end the world love," I told her. "I'm sure she's got enough power to do almost anything she wants, but she came to see me on Friday about buying a church. She even specified she wants a disused property, so she wouldn't disrupt any active congregations or parishioners. If she wanted to end the world then why would she worry about bothering a few dozen strangers?"

Jenna frowned as she thought that over. After a half minute or so she still hadn't responded though, so I spoke up again with another thought.

"I think he's probably manipulated her into working for him," I told her. "He practically said it himself, remember? He was bragging about pushes and nudges, getting his desired outcome after a century or two by putting in some subtle effort ahead of time?"

She nodded slowly, "Maybe. He can't manipulate just anyone though, since his powers are limited to his domain. And he said something about messing with a ritual? I don't think gods and goddesses need to do rituals, but maybe one of her friends did one in a cave somewhere."

It only took me a few more seconds to make up my mind. Then I picked up my phone and started composing a message to our local chaos goddess, "I'm going to text her. I'll ask if she can come by the office tomorrow so we can talk."

I felt my girlfriend tense up again next to me as I continued working on my text. Then she took a deep breath and said, "Ask if we can talk with her this afternoon. Or tonight. I can't let you do it alone Vikki, it's too dangerous. I need to be there, I need to make sure nothing happens to you."

"Alright love," I gave her another little hug before I started over with my text.

It was probably a little cryptic but the whole situation was too complicated to try and describe in a short message. And I wasn't sure it was safe to try, since I didn't think texts were all that secure. I did my best though, then read through it again before finally sending it off.

I had no idea if she'd even respond, for all I knew she was a busy goddess and my message would be lost among thousands of other texts from all her worshipers. There was also the possibility that she'd be annoyed with me for reaching out to her for something that had nothing to do with real estate. At least I could try and justify that, in the sense that if civilization ended then I wouldn't be able to keep searching MLS for abandoned churches like I promised.

With the message sent I put my phone back down on the coffee table, but no sooner had I done that when it pinged with a new message alert.

"Did she reply already?" Jenna asked nervously.

I picked the phone back up to check, then my eyes widened and a large smile settled on my face as I shook my head.

"It's not from Cassandra," I said as I tapped through to read the full text. "It's from Erin and Sherry."

Then I turned the phone so she could see the picture they'd sent. The image depicted a tired but happy looking Erin Rhodes sitting up in bed, with a proud and happy Sherry standing next to her. And cradled in Erin's arms was a tiny little newborn infant, bundled up in soft white blankets.

"Say hello to Emily Rhodes," I grinned happily, "Born just after six o'clock this morning."

** This chapter is brought to you courtesy of Meg, who commissioned it! **