Chapter Sixty-Seven

Chapter Sixty-Seven

Hanna was sitting on the couch, the contents of her pouch dumped out on the cushion beside her. She rummaged through the leftover snacks and medical supplies, deciding what was worth keeping. “Did you know about this Other world they keep talking about?” 

“I had heard rumors,” DJ answered, grabbing two bottles of water from the fridge and walking back to the sitting area. “But I didn’t believe them.” He set a bottle on the table in front of Hanna before sitting in the armchair he inadvertently claimed. 

Hanna glanced at the mirror occasionally while she sorted through the supplies. “Do you think we should tell Lui the plan?” she asked quietly. 

“I don't think it would hurt anything,” he said. “It might comfort him a bit too. I would wait until he wakes up though.”

“Even the part about his memories?” Hanna stopped her task. “DJ, if we can’t help him from the other side… will you let his memories be erased?” 

“If there is absolutely no other option,” he said carefully. “I guess we would have to resort to that. I don’t know that I could bear seeing him not know us…” He offered a hopeful smile. “But we’ll make sure we don’t have to do that, right?” 

She returned the smile. “Right.” 

At that moment, Misty, Ace, and Jester walked back into the cabin. Hanna returned to her task and kept her head down. Maybe if she could focus on something productive, she could keep herself from lashing out at the strangers. She didn’t mind Misty, but she didn’t have the energy to deal with the other two any more than necessary. Her social battery ran out back in EDJ’s castle. Jester went over and plopped onto the other side of the couch. This action sent Hanna’s supplies into disarray. Realizing he sat on a book, Jester pulled the yellow tome out from under him and flipped it open. He propped his boots up on the coffee table, oblivious to the icy glare he was getting. Hanna held her tongue as she rearranged her items in the little space between them.

“Have you made your decision yet?” Ace asked. 

“We have,” DJ answered. “We’ve chosen to go to Thorae. Will you be going with us?” 

They said they would, Hanna thought, still focusing on her task. Then again, they said a lot of things that have yet to be proven. 

Ace narrowed his eyes at Hanna, but responded to DJ. “Of course! I wouldn't blame you if you didn't want us with you, but the Other world will be very dangerous if you don't know what you're doing.” 

“We don’t mind,” DJ answered pleasantly. “We’d be glad to have you along. It’s just that we’ve had a tough time of late with choosing who to trust.” 

“Understandable.” Ace walked up to EDJ and inspected the frozen form. “DJ, how dangerous is your Evil Other?” he asked. 

No hiding it then. “He isn’t terribly dangerous,” DJ responded. “As long as you don’t let him talk… and keep him trapped in that block of ice.” So I guess as dangerous as anyone else would be in the same situation. He tilted his head. “Why do you ask?” 

Ace walked in a circle around the frozen block before turning back to the group. “I asked because maybe Jester here and EDJ could make a team. You and Hanna make a team. And I can take Lui. That way we don’t leave anyone behind. Unless Misty…” He twisted around, but Misty was nowhere to be seen. Odd. He turned back to DJ. “Would you trust me with your friend?” 

“I’d sooner trust you with my life,” Hanna muttered, forgetting she was trying to stay out of trouble. 

Hearing Hanna’s comment, DJ grimaced before he turned to address Ace. “Are you sure leaving Jester and EO together is a good idea?”

“Well, you told me he wasn’t that dangerous,” Ace countered with a shrug. “Besides, I think they’d get along well.”

That’s what I’m afraid of, DJ thought. 

Seeing nothing of value in the empty pages, Jester tossed the book onto the table and readjusted, once again throwing off Hanna’s progress and accidentally knocking over her water bottle. Hanna inhaled sharply, trying to keep it together, as she picked up the bottle and started over. This warranted an odd look from Jester. “What’s your problem?” he asked. 

“Oh, nothing!” Hanna shot back sarcastically. She gave up and stuffed all the supplies back into her pouch. “Nothing at all. Just Joker here getting on my nerves.” She closed the pouch and stood up while Jester stared back at her in confusion. 

“You… think I’m annoying?” he asked in a hurt voice, as though her words cut him to the bone. He shook his head and took on a more offended tone. “And who you callin’ Joker?!” Hanna ignored him and stormed off to the kitchen to sort through the supplies in peace. 

“Hehe, sorry about that, Jester,” DJ offered. He watched the offended and sulking stranger on the couch stare at his own empty hand. 

With a twist and flick of his wrist, a flower suddenly appeared in Jester’s fingers. The Evil Other twisted the delicate flower as he stared at it, ignoring everything and everyone else in the room. He began plucking the white petals off. “She hates me… she hates me not… she hates me… she hates me not...”

DJ eyed the Evil Other suspiciously, before turning back to Ace. He could see Hanna watching from behind the kitchen island and noted her apprehensive expression. “EO’s danger is in his speech,” DJ said, attempting to return to the conversation. “He can convince even the best of people to do something they don't want to do. But you probably already knew this.” A look of shame crossed Hanna’s face before she snapped her attention back down to the countertop. She reorganized and sorted through supplies, but DJ suspected it was more of an attempt to keep herself occupied.

Misty emerged from the back again and looked around the room. DJ was weighing his options as he watched Jester. Hanna was glaring at the counter while she color-coded protein bars in neat rows. Ace was standing near EDJ with his arms folded, seemingly waiting on an answer. Of course, EDJ was still stuck in ice and Lui was still stuck in a mirror. Lastly, Jester was ripping petals off a flower saying, “She hates me… she hates me not…” over and over again. Misty let out a weary sigh. This group? This is the group that is going to save Lui? They get along as well as oil and water. And here I am trying to clean up the mess. She shook her head and walked up to Hanna. “Hey, can I talk to you real quick?” 

Hanna raised a brow. “Sure?” 

“Awesome, so you know how I said I-” Beep. Beep. A series of buzzes and beeps interrupted Misty. She looked down at her watch. Oh no. I missed check-in. This isn’t good. She looked at Hanna, who was still waiting for her to finish. This conversation is going to have to wait. Misty smiled apologetically. “Sorry. I need to go.” She walked up to Ace and said in a low voice, “Can I trust you to get them to Thorae?” 

“Of course,” he answered. 

Misty nodded. “Good. I’ll meet you there. Please take care of them.” She wrapped her scarf around her neck and left the cabin. 

“She hates me… she hates me not…” Jester continued until there were no petals left. He ended on, “She hates me.” 

“You’re starting to creep me out, Jester,” Hanna said. “What’s your deal?” She finally settled on which supplies she was taking along for the ride. She packed them with care in her satchel while throwing the rest away. 

Jester ignored the remark almost completely. He looked up from the flower he had been destroying, after all the petals were on the floor, and absently called out, “...did you say something?” 

Clearly, there’s no hope of these two ever getting along. Ace facepalmed, exasperated with his brother’s ambivalence. Frustrated, he asked, “So, what’s the verdict here? Do we send Jester with EDJ or not?”

“Well, that depends,” DJ answered with raised brows. “Will they be coming with us into Thorae?”

Ace nodded. “They’ll be there, but you won’t have to deal with them,” he responded. “Jester has a few… errands out of the way. Sending them together just seemed fitting, because they’re both Evil Others. Perhaps Jester can talk some sense into EDJ while they’re together.” Now there was a thought. If anyone could talk sense into DJ’s EO, it might have to be another EO. It wasn’t the worst idea ever. 

DOO DOO DOO DOOOOOO BAH-DEE DOO BEE-DOO! A loud chime startled Jester from his seat. He jumped up and searched his pockets until he fished out a phone. He muttered something about thinking it was on silent before he answered. “Hey… what?!” He glanced around before darting into another room. If he was hoping for privacy, it was canceled out by the volume of his own voice. “No! I’m busy … yeah, that… She what?! Of course not, you know I… okay, bye…” He strode back into the room a little too quickly, running into the coffee table with his leg. “Ow!” He rubbed his injured shin with a wince. “So, what’s the hold up? I'm losing what little patience I had in the first place.”

Ace narrowed his eyes and cryptically asked, “The call was from… her?” 

Jester nodded slowly. “Yeah…” 

The slightest sign of a smile crept over Ace’s face before he quickly replaced it with a blank expression. “Don’t feel bad, brother.” 

Hanna and DJ exchanged an awkward glance. Neither one of them had any insight on the conversation and both felt oddly out of place. “Whatever,” Jester said, apparently now in a fouler mood than before his phone call. “Are we doing this or not?” He went up to Ace and leaned in, whispering, “We have a proximity alert we need to take care of ASAP.”  

“I see,” Ace said quietly. We need to wrap this up quickly then.

“It’s probably none of my business,” DJ spoke up. “But since you seem so intent on helping us, I’m going to make it mine. What in the world was all that about?” He could see Hanna waiting for an answer as well. If distrust had a face, it was hers. 

“Oh, that? Just a bit of personal stuff… nothing important.” The only surprise in that response was the fact that Ace had said it, not Jester. “You are correct though, it is none of your business.” Ace smiled while DJ frowned. The Original was beginning to have second thoughts about leaving his EO in Jester’s care, but it was too late now. 

“We’re wasting time,” Hanna stated. “The sooner we get there and rescue Lui, the sooner things can go back to whatever semblance of normalcy I can manage.” 

“Agreed,” Ace said politely. “Tell me, do you know how far it is to the spot where EDJ’s castle was?” DJ laughed before he caught himself. He found the idea of the castle’s state being past tense funny. Ace scowled at him for a second before turning back to Hanna. 

“No more than a few minutes by snowmobile, I’d say,” she answered. “It wasn’t far.” Having just recently been to the castle ruins and back with Misty, she was fairly certain she could make her way there unassisted. 

“Good.” Ace nodded. “The easiest way to Thorae is to use an interdimensional rift to create a portal. There’s one just over a ridge on the other side of the castle. My brother and I have something we need to deal with first. We will meet you at the castle when we are finished and go from there.” 

“Fiiiiiiinally!” Jester turned and headed for the door. “I was getting tired of all the incoherent blathering. Let’s get outta here.”

“It was much more than incoherent blathering,” Ace said as he followed his brother. 

“Not to me, it wasn’t.” Jester opened the door and walked out. Ace turned to give a short farewell bow before closing the door behind them.