Chương 14: 13-The Eternal Stalemate

Jenna thrashed in the midst of a never-ending nightmare. She was fighting herself, or at least someone who looked very much like her shriveled corpse. It was not a beautiful fight—there was no technique, no tactics, or strategy. They just choked each other, trying to strangle their opponent before being strangled themselves. Jenna was trying to shift her freebie points to heal herself, and the magical poison on the dagger that had struck her was stopping her from using her powers.

She was not a magical juggernaut anymore, just a terrified nineteen-year-old with a pierced lung, in a losing fight for her life. Then, something happened. With a flash of light, a piece of jewelry manifested on her foe's neck. It was beautiful, shaped like a leaf. As the fight dragged on, the metal leaf slowly warmed, its temperature rising until it was red-hot. Her foe started to scream in pain, the smell of her rotten and now cooked flesh filling the air. As her foe weakened, Jenna fought with renewed strength.

She felt a fraction of her old powers return. Supernatural strength flooded her arms, and she broke her opponent's neck with a sudden snap. She opened her eyes. Bob and Billy were looking intently at her. She was still lying on the ground where she had been originally stabbed, but she was lying in a surprisingly comfortable improvised bed. Bob, probably. Knowing him, he had probably discovered Pantean Bedmaking.

"How long…" she croaked in a surprisingly frail voice.

"Shh, Jenna," Billy softly told her, holding her hand.

"You have been out for three days. Try to rest some more." You guys are the best, she tried to say, but she had already fallen asleep again. She woke two days later, feeling refreshed and whole. She had recovered her magical powers sometime along the way, and they had done the rest. Bob went away to check their surroundings, giving them some privacy. Billy hugged her for a long time.

"Billy, I will never mother you again after this," she promised him.

"Shut up and eat your soup," Billy curtly told her.

"I guess I had that one coming," Jenna smiled. Her mind went back to the day they had almost lost Bob in that martial-arts themed dungeon—she could only guess at what Billy had gone through for the past three days. This was the second time a Loser had almost died. She knew there would be more. She looked fondly at Billy, taking comfort in the knowledge that he would lose her before she lost him. She knew it was selfish of her, but she could not avoid it. Bob returned ten minutes later.

Jenna also gave him a big hug. Then they sat together, trying to pretend things were normal again. Jenna realized there was something hanging from her neck. A beautiful metal talisman in the shape of a leaf, the very same one she had seen in her vision on her foe's neck.

"This is beautiful. What is it? Did you make it, Bob?" Jenna asked her friend.

"No, Jenna," answered Bob.

"Billy did. It saved your life."

"Do you remember I told you I got a loot power?" Billy asked her.

"I used it on Akiros just before exploding in his throat. I can't control what I get, but I was praying for something that would help you. We were lucky. It mimics one of the powers of the Wrath of the Forest, the one that purges hostile magic."

"I can feel it," said Jenna, "it casts some sort of purifying effect every sixty seconds."

"It is more powerful than it looks. As loot coming from a tribulation, its effective stat value must be enormous," Billy went on.

"That is why it succeeded where Bob's pipes failed."

"I am sorry about that, Bob," Jenna told him, holding his hand.

"I know how much you valued those pipes."

"I can always build another casting tool," he smiled back at her.

"We have only one Jenna."

"However, I don't think I should get this talisman. It could be useful for either of you, and you were the ones doing the heavy lifting," she went on.

"You will have to suck it up, because it has bonded to you," Billy answered.

"It will not work for anyone else."

"Yes, I suppose that is the way these things go," Jenna sighed. Jenna stood up and tried her muscles. Her body seemed fully restored. She sighed and turned towards the other two Losers. There was work to do.

"There has been an update on the Dawn situation," she told them.

"She is no longer in this plane of existence, but in a neighboring reality. She has changed her behavior, too."

"What do you mean?" asked Bob.

"She is no longer running away. The Icosahedron is emitting the signal without interruption. It has been doing so for the past five days," she explained.

"She wants us to catch her. I think she has been testing us all this time, and whatever the test was, we passed it. She now wants to meet in person."

"But why not come to us? Why leave for another plane?" asked Bob.

"Because she knows we have things left to do here before we leave," Jenna answered with certainty.

"She is giving us some time to settle our business."

"And what business could we possibly have in this place?" asked Bob. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

"Balance," said Billy in a cold, controlled voice.

"Time to do something about him," added Jenna. She sat apart, trying to clear her mind. If they were going to face that bastard, they needed to understand his powers. There was only one person she could ask, but she did not relish the idea. The thought of speaking to the Compendium again made her stomach tighten. The sooner she started, the sooner this would be over, she thought as she fished her chewing tobacco bag from her pocket. She honed her visualization powers and looked into her own mind.

She closed her eyes. When she opened them, she was standing outside the Compendium's home. She cleaned her shoes on the mat. It had words written on it: If you want my cosmological axioms, you can take them from my cold, dead fingers. Okay, here goes nothing, she thought as she steeled herself. She gently knocked on the door.

"What the hell do you want?" Compendium's gruff voice came from the other side.

"I have come to watch the game with you," she gently said.

"Go to a bar, missus. Or to one of those Starhares or Starbunnies or wherever you woke snowflakes go when you want to watch TV without spending money," he replied.

"I brought tobacco," Jenna said cheerfully.

"And beer?" asked the Compendium. Jenna thought she detected a hint of hope in his voice.

"No, not beer," she answered.

"Sorry." The Compendium thought for a moment, and then he finally opened the door.

"The house is a mess," he apologized.

"I have not cleaned it for the last two billion Aeons. If I knew you were coming, I would have strung some animal entrails on the walls."

"No need to worry, I am fine," Jenna said hurriedly.

"Make yourself comfortable," the Compendium said as he switched on the TV set, grabbing the chewing tobacco Jenna offered. She could feel the bitter flavor in her mouth as he chewed it. She knew none of it was real. In real life, it was she who was chewing. She would have that unpleasant taste in her mouth for the rest of the evening. The Compendium pointed at the TV with the remote, and they began to watch the game. She watched one of the players approach the field line, holding the ball.

Suddenly, he spontaneously combusted, screaming as he ran over the line and turned into a ball of fire.

"Come on, as if you could not see that was going to happen!" the Compendium exclaimed, annoyed.

"For the love of Me, where do they hire these guys?"

"Uhmm, why did he combust?" asked a horrified Jenna, fascinated despite herself.

"It was clear he was going to. He was born on a moonless night, the seventh son of a priest. You never cross the line in those conditions if you do not want to spontaneously combust," he gruffly explained.

"Do it, do it now, you are alone, you are not going to get a better chance!!" he screamed, his attention again on the TV. The player he was screaming at suddenly placed both hands on his head and snapped his neck 180º. He fell to the floor, dead.

"Well played," approved the Compendium.

"At least some of these guys know what they are doing." Jenna was unable to stop looking at the screen. It was like watching a car accident. The Compendium slowly relaxed and started to volunteer information.

"Balance, yeah, I know the kind," he answered when Jenna told him he had almost slain her.

"Seen one, seen all."

"You mean there have been more immortals with that role?" she asked, mystified.

"Of course. Billions of them. I have been active since the dawn of time. You get a lot of Balances that way, along with their endless variations: Equilibria, Stalemates, Status Quos…all boring," he explained as he watched the game.

"Bite his nose off, bite his nose off, you know he likes it!!" he suddenly screamed, his attention on the game again.

"But how did he do that thing with Orun?" Jenna went on, not wanting him to be distracted.

"Because he is Balance. He can empower his champions however he likes, as long as the power comes from him," he explained.

"Orun's true level was probably around 10. When he hit level 100, you can bet ole Balance level dropped down to 10. His greatest advantage is that he can choose a different path each time."

"No! No hope! Cosmic nihilism! Does your coach not teach you anything?" he screamed again.

"And why does he act that way?" Jenna pressed on. She had a feeling the game would not last for long, as both coaches were about to commit seppuku.

"I am pretty sure he sabotaged his own team of Reclaimers. Doesn't he want humanity to win?"

"No, he does not," the Compendium answered, chewing the last of the tobacco.

"He wants an eternal stalemate, two opposite forces countering each other forever, in this case, humanity and the Tribulations." The spectators were hugging each other and chanting victory songs. A huge murder of ravens descended on them, obscuring them from sight. When they flew off, only bones remained on the benches.

"He is Balance. Your Reclaimer friends were probably doing too well, tipping the scales too far to one side. That is why he had his agent remove them."

"Well, the game is over. Not bad, see yourself out, please," the Compendium said.

"And bring beer next time," he added as Jenna left the room.

"It's the finale—the winners have their hearts eaten by the dark presences. You will not want to miss it." Not the most pleasant of evenings, but at least she had obtained useful information. Suddenly, a phone rang. It was set to "Oops! … I Did It Again" by Britney Spears as its ringtone. Jenna was amazed. She had not heard a ringtone for the last few months. It took her a few seconds to realize she had the mysterious phone on her person. She located it and pulled it out of one of her pockets.

It was a very cute phone, personalized in gaudy colors. She opened it and saw the caller's identity: The Chant. It showed a photo of the Chant taking a selfie while making a peace symbol with his left hand. Jenna took the call.

"Yes?" she answered cautiously.

"I hope I am not calling you at a bad time," the Chant sang dramatically in his falsetto voice.

"I know you are a very, very, busy person, and I would not like to distract you from watching the game with your new friend, that distinguished gentleman you obviously care so much for," he went on.

"After all, I only saved your life a couple of days ago in Bjarfalla. But that is what we, non-glamorous friends, are for, aren't we? Do all the dirty life-saving work while you have fun with your other, more glamorous friends." Jenna could only gape. Was the Chant being jealous? This was a totally new situation for her. Her childhood had been far from normal.

Most girls her age knew how to cope with situations like Alice being angry with you for not inviting her to your party or Louise being cross for having bought a dress just like hers—Jenna had been busy learning how to hide her dessert so that she could give it to Bonnie later and avoid another beating. She missed all the obvious social cues. So, of course, she blew it.

"You can come watch the game with us next time," she offered kindly.

"Oh…oh…OH! You! You are so…so mean! Do not ever call me again!" sang the Chant as he cut the line.

"But it was you who called!" Jenna protested to the already dead line.

"I heard that!" the phone exclaimed, even though it was no longer working. Then it exploded into a cloud of violet perfume. Jenna sighed and dispelled the illusion from her mind. Billy and Bob were waiting for her.

"How did it go?" asked Bob.

"It went fine," Jenna said with a smile.

"I have a plan."