Chapter 20
What Are You Going to Do?
Day 82
He had asked that she leave when he slept. She nodded in agreement, and she said "no" to herself. She had watched him before he met her. Before he knew she was. She had watched him when he held the remains of the one that connected them. She had watched him before anyone knew that she had bore a demon. To her there was no question. She was going to watch him for as long as she could.
The sun had not risen. She was on top of the man. She had decided on this place, and she liked it. Then her world broke. She shook him. At the top of her voice she shouted, "Samuel, you stopped breathing. This is not allowed. Breathe..." She hit him on the chest. "Samuel, breathe! We are not done! Breathe! We are not done! Breathe! You cannot go! Breathe! You cannot go! You cannot go yet. Please, breathe." She hit him again.
Hoarsely, he muttered, "I will, if you get off me. And stop hitting me." He coughed a choking cough.
Mercy went limp without knowing. She laid half on the man half on the bed. Her eyes closed, and she said, "I will stop hitting you."
I believe she's sleeping. Seems almost human when she sleeps. He questioned his thoughts.
A whisper came from the darkness, "Sammy, I don't know if she knows it, but she lied. Nothing will work out if she doesn't let go of all the extra pieces. You know the sisters are still in the far place. She is trying to get you to join. It's the only way to save me, but it won't work until everyone is free. I'm sorry, Sammy. This means Allyssa, too. She must be freed with the rest."
He replied, "I don't know if I can do what you ask. Join with her." He did not call Mercy an it.
The small voice replied, "Don't worry, I've been watching. It'll work just fine. I mean all of your parts work. Ah? Well, You know? Yeah, I know that is not what you meant."
He said, "Yeah. That's not what I mean."
Trying to dispel the uneasiness, she interjected, "Got you. Remember, I'll be with you too. The monster is more than what it seems. For what it's worth, I believe it loves you. Well, you taught it about love anyway. Let it come to you with this. Think of me, it will help. When you're with her, think of me. That is, if you decide. It's up to you. I don't want to pressure you, but I kind of want to live."
"Yes, I can see that. Defiant?" He whispered. She gave no response. All of them slept.
His eyes opened. Memories of the night before were unclear. He said in a low voice, "Good morning, Mercy. Why are you on top of me?"
She responded flatly, "You were trying to have your way with me."
Dryly, he answered, "Yes, I see. With blankets and sheets between us? And you not even having a hugging fit."
She wrapped an arm around his neck. She squeezed and said, "I will have one now. Oh, wait. I have to pee." She ran to the toilet.
He spoke, "I'm very glad I taught you to pee inside. First time you left a hugging behind."
She returned a short time later. She inhaled deeply, tugged at her clothes, and said, "I was just glad to find you still breathing. Samuel, will you allow me to assist you in preparing for the day?"
He understood that it would be almost impossible to get rid of her. He could kill her? Maybe later. He said, "Yes, we'll start it off together."
She immediately chirped, "Good, I wish us to bathe today as well."
He replied, "Alright, but if you insist on bathing together, I'm not washing your backside. You keep sitting in stuff."
She answered him, "Samuel, I ask you to never joke about bathing together. Such ideas influence me."
He saw her quiver, "I will try to do as you request." It appears to influence her body parts and vocabulary also.
He sat by the window. He wondered about the girl in the creature. Could he really save her? Could his wife's soul be set free? Did Mercy have a reason for waiting this long. Maybe it was scared? He decided; he would pay any cost to free the girl and his wife. For the first time in a long time, he had something to gain and nothing to lose.
She sat in a chair pulled as close to the bed as it could be. Her face was about six inches from his chest. She had not spoken since before her bath. After a few minutes she faced the man.
He offered, "I believe I'm still breathing. Just like I was breathing last night."
She gazed into his eyes. Without warning she said, "Do you think this human is pretty?"
He said, "Yes, why do you ask?"
She blinked and answered, "Because you despise me. I repulse you. But you allow me to be inches from you? You must care for what remains of the human, my girl?"
He didn't know how to respond, so he said, "You must consider other reasons."
She spoke with anger just below the surface. "I do not wish to consider other reasons. I wish for you to care about my girl."
He said not wanting to admit anything. "I can care for you and her; and have other reasons."
She rested her hand on his arm. "You care about me? I wish to learn the other reasons?" This minor admission swept all of her anger away.
He spoke of other reasons, "You hold something dear to me. Part of my wife is in there, in what you call the far place."
The creature promised. "Yes, I understand. This makes the offering easier. I think I can save you. Join with us. I will keep the mad death away."
He rejected her offer. "I'm not sure, you can make that promise. Anyway, I won't do it."
She jumped back, knocking over the chair. "Then, we will die together."
He pulled himself out of the bed. He was certain now. He would accept the mad death if it meant he could free the others. His life was nearly over in either case. He said, "Mercy, if you don't understand; I would like to explain. A way forward may still exist."
She mumbled through tears. "No. I will prepare for the end."
He replied, "I offer you one hug followed by one holding of the hand in exchange for one sitting and listening."
She countered, "I will accept if you add in one bathing together and one night hug."
He went on, "I agree to adding one night hug, but the bathing is off the table; it can be discussed at a later date. Maybe over a different matter. But for the night hug you have to be outside the bed coverings. You can't try and sneak under the covers."
She said, "I agree."
In time, Mercy's upset passed. She sat overjoyed. The man, her Samuel had offered, wanted to touch her. Nothing had been this good before. She squeezed his hand.
He started, "Mercy, you promised to free all of the sisters."
She began to mimic what he was saying. "All..."
He interrupted, "Little One, please let me tell you the sequence in my head before we talk about it?"
She nodded and stuck her lips out and mumbled, "Alright."
He said, "You promised to free all of the sisters if I agreed to choose. I believe you have freed all of the walking around ones. You have freed all the ones out here. But you haven't freed any from the far place. I'll concede that to you there's a difference. To me, you hold my wife. I will not even consider joining with you as long as you have her. When she is free, I will be free to consider joining with you."
She was curious. Still, she asked, "I thought you would wish to be with her?"
He answered, "No, I can't be with her and another at the same time. And I can't be responsible for holding what remains of her here."
Mercy lifted his hand. She held it above the bed. She said, "If you join with me now; you would be part of what holds her here? You speak of the realm of God and souls. Of such things, man is not fit to judge."
He concluded. "Yes, Mercy, I believe you begin to understand."
Mercy said, "Samuel, do you know who spoke those words?"
He answered. "No, I don't think so."
She held his hand in both of her hands. Solemnly, she said,"Samuel, know this, what I want from you I can take. To take or not to take is my choice. I have decided on my path. It was you who spoke those words. I will set all sisters free. I do this for me and you. It is a gift to us. No conditions will be placed on this gift. I will never take anything from you that is not given. I understand this now. One thing remains. We must speak of the girl."
He corrected her. "There's another thing, we must speak of Mercy." He heard her inhaling through her nose.
She ran to the tub. Her clothing flung about as she ran. He heard the pump working before his feet hit the floor. She yelled from the other room, "You may be correct. Samuel, may I use your bathing tub again. I am not stable. I must be stable. I must pay the price for freeing..."
He took a step. Leaned on the cane; then, he took a breath. He repeated this until he reached the door. He heard splashing before he crossed the room. He leaned on the door frame. One head and two hands were above the water.
One finger on one hand tried to point at the chair. She said," Please come sit near me. I overheated from freeing my sisters. I thought I would be alright. But it was too much at once. It is strange, once I cool off, I will have a hard time warming up."
He asked. "You've done this before?"
"Yes, when I do this, I become very hot. I get very sick. There are so few sisters, I did not think it would bother me. After all, none were in this world. I was wrong." Her head drifted below the water.
He waited.
Her eyes were big and golden-brown with a silver ring around the pupil. Her head slowly rose above the water. "I failed before. I understand now. Only two can truly join with me. I could not hold the sisters, the girl and you. To free my girl and try to save you, I had to free all others. I have not asked again. But I will understand, if you reject my offer. Thank you, Samuel. I did not want to be alone."
Samuel sat in the chair next to her.
She gripped the edge of the tub with both hands. She wailed out in pain then said, "I failed before. I did not understand that there was more than one price to pay. I feel so alone now, without them."
The man nodded at her.
She laughed a weak human laugh. "I find it very odd. When I am through, I will become very cold. Then I will have a hard time being warm. It is very odd how some things work. As my end nears, I am alone and cold. I never knew how good it was to have a friend... Until now."
Hours had passed. In the end, she reached out to Samuel. With her hands outstretched she spoke, "Help me. Help me, Samuel."
He was next to the weak little human-looking creature on his bed. He covered both of them with the bed coverings. She was so cold.
Day 83
The man lay near death. He had no memory of these days.
Day 90
The man's eyes opened. "Hello, Mercy."
She replied, "There's nobody by that name here. I'm Anne. Maybe, I should say there's no one out here by that name. It's nice to meet you in reality Sam. I've been dreaming about you for a while, now. How do you feel? You should be ready to get up soon."
He stated. "Anne? You seem very familiar. It's like I know you. I think I dreamed about you to?"
She replied, "Yes, if they were like mine; they were all pretty hot and sexy."
He shyly looked away and inquired, "I think they were. Where's Mercy?"
Playfully, she shook one finger at the man. She grinned and said, "Oh, I gave her a dream; she'll never leave. She's there, and you're there. Well, we traded places. The things you two are doing. Well, they are just unspeakable. Well, anyhow, you will be able to see them soon yourself."
He asked, "What about us; me and you?"
Her eyes smiled and she said cheerfully, "Let's see. I'm making soup. You're healing. I found a bunch of girls' clothes. The mule said he's fine. I don't know his name. We both have a parasite. And we'll live a long time. And. And I am free!"
He paused for a moment to gather his thoughts, and he replied, "The mule's name is Randolph, and you are free. Are all the sisters free? Are they all free?"
She moved to the bedside. She nudged him with the knuckles on her right hand. She answered as best she could, "Yes, that must be what you call the voices in my head. Not going to make any more of them. Close your eyes; then, tell me who do you want to have sex with? Come on. Who's the hottest girl in the room? Close them."
An odd look came to his face. His eyes were closed. He said, "Anne. Well, that's definitely you."
She said, "When I do that; I get you. Not that I'm saying anything weird. Kind of crazy. We just met today."
Sam asked, "Yes, and as long as we stay together; no more sisters or voices in your head. Am I right?"
She nodded and seemed to want something more.
He seemed to know what she expected. "Anne, I am very pleased to meet you today. You are definitely more beautiful than Mercy ever could be, and the cutest creature I ever met."
Anne rose from the bedside and went back to the soup. Relief filled her words. "That's good. I've been sleeping next to you, in the bed, and I'm not going to stop. I've been very cold. Still, I'm very glad that you're up. You can start feeding yourself now. It was very hard to get you to eat when you weren't conscious. Well, you were partly conscious. In a couple of days, I think we'll try to make it to the chairs by the tree, if you don't mind. Sam, in a short time, your entire life will be in my mind. But, I think, I would like you to tell me about it anyway."
Sam sat up in bed. His internal smile escaped. For no reason at all, he spoke out loud, "She said, 'I'm Anne.' You said your name was Anne."
She called him Sam. Sam was born today. When she woke, she was a slender female creature with honey brown eyes and short dark hair. Her name was Anne. Her mother had given her that name before she became a creature. She lay next to a male creature. Anne had loved Sam in her dreams. Maybe one day her dreams won't lie. But for now, her monster was locked away. The man who gave his life for her was still alive. She knew if he had to, he would do it again. Her life had been returned to her, and she was happy; even if all of her dreams had not come true.
Something of the world had been saved.
This ends the journey of the Goddess Queen.