??????
#16 of Jason Wolfe: Mortality
?????
Dawn
The Library was deathly quiet.
_Too_quiet.
Sam poked his head around the corner of one of the tall bookshelves that occupied the endless expanse of his Library. His big, triangular ears twitched right and left, trying to pick up any sounds. He had decided to stick with the Librarian's design for this place for now. It was more maze-like and he was more likely to lose the people chasing down his tail than if it was just an endless plane of white with bookshelves hovering everywhere.
He glanced left... then right... and sighed in relief.
Good, he thought. I think I lost him.
Slowly, he took a step away from the bookshelf and winced as his armour creaked loudly.
The one thing about wearing all this armour...
... is that sneaking around is a real bitch...
Making exaggerated steps through the expanse of his Library, Sam briefly marvelled at the irony that he was sneaking through his own realm. Him, the Writer of Reality. Any other time, he would be laughing but this was probably the only time he would actually get seriously hurt. He wouldn't die. No way. The guy after him wouldn't let him off that easily.
"There you are!"
Sam spun around and let out a loud yelp. He bolted -
WHAM!
And choked as he was slammed hard against the bookshelf. Dozens of books descended down above him, all coincidentally hitting his head - including one two thousand page volume - and never striking his assailant.
"What the hell!?" Dan Wolfe - F6 the Patriarch - demanded, slamming him hard against the bookshelf again. "Are you seriously Jason's son!?"
Sam choked and tried to prise Dan's fingers from around his neck. "Y - Yeah, I am! You've - ack - gotta believe me!"
"That's bullshit!" Dan roared, slamming him again. "What kind of messed up timeline is that!? You made me, I made Jason and Jason made you!? Tell me this wasn't just some crazy joke you were playing!?"
"Dan!" Sam cried, managing to pull his grandfather's fingers from around his neck. "It's me! I'm being honest! It's how my story went!"
Dan stepped back, growling, his sapphire-blue eyes sparking with both confusion and rage. "Why? Tell me why?"
Sam massaged his throat, gasping in relief. "Why what, granddad?"
He felt a sharp jab against his nose as Dan poked it hard. "Don't call me 'granddad'."
Offering a sheepish grin, Sam said, "Okay... How about 'F6'?"
Dan retreated a bit and crossed his arms grouchily. "Too formal..."
"Dan?"
Sighing, Dan nodded and gave Sam a sharp, demanding look. "Tell me this wasn't all some divine plan of yours. That what you felt... it was all real."
Sam felt his heart get tugged a little. He knew that it would be hard convincing those that he loved that everything he had done was genuine, everything he felt was genuine. It was the problem about knowing how a story would go and how it would end. Honesty was hard to emote.
"Dan..." he said softly, straightening. "We're all connected. You, me and my two dads... we're all part of the same family. I know how much I care about all of existence. You know I wouldn't have done what I did without considering the consequences and without a valid reason. I had to do it to preserve us all... to make sure that all of us continued to exist."
"Because if you don't exist, no one will," Dan muttered grouchily. "You're putting a large amount of faith in your own existence. You sure this wasn't just some selfish desire to keep living?"
Okay... that hurt...
Sam snorted. "You think I liked dying? I hadn't planned on sacrificing myself for my dads, Dan. I wanted to keep living alongside them. Hell, do you know what an awesome story it would've been if I had been right there, beside Jason when he was fighting D8? How awesome the reveal would've been had I just stood by my dad and told D8 who I really was? That the Derelict was going to destroy not only Enria but myself as well?
"Why do you think I chose to let myself 'die' instead?"
They stared each other down for a long moment...
... before Dan finally sighed and nodded. "Right... Okay... But... tell me why you've forbidden me to see my son."
Phew...
Sam beamed brightly. "Well... First off, let me first say that I'm sorry for what I did. I know a lot of people got hurt... Trust me, I'm trying to make it up to them. Going through all those personal realities is a bitch..."
"The point, Sam."
"Right," he coughed. "Two people who suffered the most because of my machinations are Kevin and Chris... Kevin asked to be released from his Advocate rank. He's gone into another reality. As far as I can see, he's quite happy. Actually, he found his mate. A cute little bunny with a fluffy tail. When their story ends, they'll both be worthy of their realities and they'll live happily together."
"Great," Dan muttered bitterly. "And what about Chris? You know, that Malefactor that absorbed my wife and nearly destroyed the world?"
Sam's grin turned a little sheepish and he rubbed the back of his neck in a nervous gesture that seemed to run in the family. "Well... See, the thing is, he can't find happiness without you... So..."
"Dan! Don't kill him!"
Both of them turned to the end of the isle. Chris came running up to them, waving wildly.
"Chris!" Dan exclaimed.
It was almost an incredibly, corny, dramatic moment. The two of them came running at each other, arms wide and eyes filled with joy. If only they were on a beach and they were running in slow motion then it would be perfect.
The two collided, arms wrapped around each other and their lips firmly planted around each other's.
Chris was first to pull away. "Please, Dan, don't hurt him."
"I was only going to smack him around a little," Dan whispered with smile. He leaned into Chris' neck, nuzzling his love tenderly. "A grandfather has got to discipline his grandchild, you know."
Sam winced.
Great... I get the eerie feeling he's going to use that to his advantage now...
Though... I gotta admit, having my dads and my granddad in the same bed...
Sam stuck out his tongue and smiled.
Total turn-on.
"One thing," Dan said, turning back to him. "You still haven't answered my question why you won't let me see Jason again."
There, Sam grinned.
Oh, you're gonna love this, Dan.
"Let me ask you a question first," he said, holding up a finger. "Zenith, a sword of light that can split into several shards and recombine to become a strong weapon of righteousness and the heart, correct?"
"Right. Where is this -?"
Sam ignored him and continued. "Nadir, a sword of darkness that shifts forms and defends the weak despite its ever-changing form and its inherent darkness, right?"
"Yes, but -"
"Jason," Sam said, his grin broadening, "a hero of Enria who had his heart constantly broken and reforged, he once had his soul shattered, but he always came back, strong and powerful to stand against the odds, am I wrong?"
...
Dan didn't respond... his eyes were wide in horror.
Even Chris didn't know this and his jaw had dropped open in shock.
"Brett," Sam finished, folding his arms smugly, "a talented psychologist with a heart of gold who once fell into the darkness but adapted himself to the situation, accepting his role and choosing to use it to fight other sources of evil. Do you see where I'm going with this?"
...
They were both speechless.
Laughing, Sam shook his head and turned his head over his shoulder. "Come on out, guys!"
Zenith_and _Nadir appeared behind him.
Zenith_became encased in a dazzling white light while _Nadir seethed with dark energies.
Two figures stepped out from the burst of shades....
One was Jason Wolfe, dressed in white and gold armour.
The other was Brett Sykes Wolfe encased in jet-black armour with a surface that appeared like blackened water.
"Hey there, dad!" Jason exclaimed.
Dan stood numbly for a short moment... Then...
"Jason! Brett!"
The whole family came rushing together, hugging one another and laughing in relief and joy. Dan held both Jason and Brett tightly, tears flowing freely from his eyes and a big, broad grin on his face.
"I can't believe it..." Chris whispered, shaking his head. He came to stand beside Sam, watching the glorious reunion. "They were your Advocates all along... From the very beginning... They were there..."
Sam nodded, grinning from ear to ear.
He had first brought out Zenith and Nadir during the Descent Incident in Brett's presence... then against Chris when he and Jason fought him... And lastly, the two swords were handed to Jason during the No One War of Enria. The entire time, they had been there.
"I forbade Dan from seeing Jason and Brett again during their natural lives because if he did, then they'd choose to be Dan's Advocates. If that happened, they wouldn't have been mine - my 'overprotective fathers', so to speak - and they would never had played a pivotal role in saving Enria."
Chris gave him a peculiar look. "Isn't there some sort of time paradox about touching your future-self that'll unravel all existence."
"There is," Sam said with a shrug. "But I'm the Writer of Reality."
Chris sighed and shook his head. "How many times have you used that excuse?"
"You'd be surprised, not very often."
Jason pulled away from his father, a dazzling smile on his face. "Come on, dad! Wait until you see our home!"
A brilliant, white door opened behind them...
... and through it, they could see the cliff overlooking Newroads... It was Jason's reality, not the true Enria but still a vivid representation. It was exactly like Enria...
... but with one major difference.
Just before the cliff edge, standing tall and proud...
... was a house...
Two houses actually...
A merged home... finally complete.
Dan's wavered, tears of joy running down his cheeks. "I... I can't believe it..." He staggered forward, the first to step through the door and embrace the small pocket reality that would serve as their sanctuary. Jason and Brett followed shortly after, excitedly telling him about all the features of the world that was their own.
Chris followed... but stopped. He turned back towards to Sam.
"Aren't you coming?"
Sam gave another member of his family a faint smile. "In a bit. I still got one thing I got to do."
"Don't take too long!" Brett shouted from beyond the door. "We still have to 'celebrate'!"
Sam laughed and waved at them. "Be there in a sec."
He turned around and opened another portal into a new and yet familiar reality. As the door shut behind him, his armour and coat shattered and recombined into a doctor's uniform complete with stethoscope around his neck.
He stopped in front of one of the wards, noting the number '3' painted on the doors. The high-tech, metallic doors slid open and he hurried down the white, metallic hall illuminated by artificial lights into a delivery room.
There, surrounded by nurses and one other doctor, were two timber wolves, one with a brown and cream fur and the other grey and white. The brown one - the mother - was on the bed, breathing heavily as the other - the father - clutched her hand tightly, bright, green eyes pleading.
"Come on, Becky! You can do it!"
Sam hurried to the woman, unopposed by the others.
The nurses and the doctor delivering the child were cheering her on.
"You're almost there!"
"Breathe! Remember to Breathe!"
"That's it!"
"Just one more push!"
The woman let out a loud cry... before falling into ragged gasps.
The doctor cut the placenta and umbilical cord and handed the wet, slick baby towards Sam who took it in his arms and turned away so that no one could see it.
"Oh, Becky..." the man sighed, leaning forward and kissing his wife's cheek tenderly. "You did it, Becky..."
"Zac..." she whimpered. "Why is it so quiet...? Why isn't there any crying?"
Sam new exactly why...
The child wasn't moving.
There was no heartbeat.
It was stillborn.
For now...
While everyone else was still too stunned to move at the prospect that the child may have been born dead, Sam pulled a small, grey blob from the air... and gently pressed it into the small, naked wolf's body. Quickly, the child's small, tiny, sapphire-blue eyes sprang open and immediately shut as the light seared its new retinas.
It began crying.
Everyone in the room instant went rigid in shock.
Sam quickly cleaned the child and turned back to the lucky parents.
"Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Reaper," he announced with a smile. "It's a boy!"
The relieved smiles on the parents were truly glorious.
"A boy..." the woman sighed. "Isaac... A boy...!"
"I know, Rebecca..." the man replied, his eyes filled with joy and pride.
Gently, Sam handed the child back to the mother as she held the baby to her heart, cradling him lovingly. Everyone else backed off to let her have her moment of peace before they cleaned her and the baby up.
"Do you have a name?" Sam asked.
Isaac regarded his wife for a moment... they exchanged glances... then turned to their baby who had fallen silent and was quietly rubbing himself against his mother's breast.
"We do," Isaac replied, reaching out with a finger. The baby wrapped his hands around Isaac's finger securely. "Jacob... His name is Jacob."
Rebecca smiled and kissed her child's forehead.
"Welcome to the world... Jacob Reaper."