Nathan woke up in pitch darkness. His eyes were open, but he couldn’t see anything in the blackness of his surroundings. It was cold and damp, the way that underground spaces usually felt. Nathan appeared to be strapped to a chair that was bolted to the ground, as he couldn’t stand nor move his hands.
“So, you’re awake,” Claire’s voice spoke in the darkness.
Nathan sighed. He had been in worse situations before. “Who are you if you’re not Claire?” he asked calmly.
A light switch flipped on and fluorescent tubes flooded the warehouse with blinding white light. A figure made of light floated a foot off the ground in front of Nathan’s chair.
“My name is Shadow, the God of your world,” the figure said in Claire’s voice.
Nathan bust out laughing. “I’ve been around for a long time, ‘Shadow.’ I’m pretty sure you’re not ‘God.’“
The figure appeared amused. “Oh, really? What religion do you subscribe to?”
“I never really got into the whole Christianity thing,” Nathan bit back sarcastically. “I spent a few generations drifting and then all of a sudden it’s not cool to worship a set of gods including one that turns into animals for erotic purposes.”
The being condensed into something that looked almost exactly like Claire, except she had golden eyes and a golden aura. Nathan knew the real Claire had brown eyes and a cyan aura. Shadow laughed. “That’s so historically inaccurate. But joking aside, I always liked the ancient Greek’s religion. So imaginative, but so wrong.”
“I really liked it, too… when it was a thing. Wait, how could you be God?”
Shadow laughed. “I don’t know who first created the multiverses, but they left long ago. I merely adopted power over this universe from the Multiversal Council. Therefore, I’m the new God.”
“There’s no such thing as a god,” Nathan insisted.
Oh really? Shadow asked in his head. Well, I can do anything I want in your universe. Does that count?
STOP TALKING IN MY HEAD! Nathan screamed in his mind, struggling with his duct-tape bonds.
“Enough talking about me. Let’s talk about you,” Shadow said. She pulled his backpack out of a spacetime tear. “I found some interesting things in here.”
“What did you do with that?” Nathan demanded.
“Nothing,” Shadow said slyly. She unzipped the main pocket. “Let’s see what else is in this thing.”
“Leave my poor backpack alone!” he insisted.
Shadow pulled out a messy school binder. “Okay, cool. School supplies. Kind of anticlimactic, don’t you think.”
“Yeah, there’s totally a hidden stash of gold in my backpack,” he bit back sarcastically.
“Ooh! Secret pocket! That’s such a great idea!” She pulled out his lock picking kit, a compass, gauze, and his canvas roll. “Nice! That’s extremely versatile.”
“That’s why I have it, genius,” Nathan sighed. “You know, I’ve been around.”
“I’m impressed,” Shadow said, unzipping the front pocket. She pulled out a Swiss Army knife and a roll of duct tape. “Very practical.”
“I like stabby things,” he shrugged. “And duct tape is the closest thing to magic that I can still perform.”
“Oh, yes, your magic. It’s most intriguing. Please explain.”
“What? Wait, if you’re actually ‘God,’ even though gods don’t exist, shouldn’t you already know?”
“I don’t pay much attention to magic, usually. I’m more of a sci-fi guy,” Shadow admitted. “Anyway, spill the beans.”
Nathan felt slightly more relaxed, then immediately recognized this as a mental nudge. Somehow, he couldn’t resist the pull despite fully recognizing it.
“Well, when I could do it, ‘magic’ consisted of muttering a phrase or drawing combinations of symbols in order to allow me to manipulate reality in some way, on a small scale. For example, if I spent some time setting it up, I could make a circle in which someone would be compelled to tell things to me even if they would much rather spit in my ugly face.”
“I like your biting sarcasm,” Shadow chuckled. “I can see why you’re Claire’s friend.”
Nathan snorted. “So how does your thing work then, if it’s not magic?”
Suddenly, the door to the warehouse swung open, revealing a set of concrete stairs. A teenage girl with short black hair and a cyan soul stood behind it. It was the real Claire.
“This better be good. Ren, of all people… Oh, zut! Nathan, are you the breach?” Claire exclaimed. “Shadow, I should have seen that coming.”
“It’s okay, sweetie. I was being extremely vague,” Shadow said. Her eyes seemed to soften when speaking to Claire.
Nathan noticed that there were other differences between Claire and Shadow. Independent of aura, Shadow seemed to glow with an inner light. She had a powerful physique and faint scars on her face that flickered, sometimes there, sometimes not.
Claire, on the other hand, had a wild look in her eyes but appeared physically fatigued. Her face was also free of scaring.
“Which one of you did I ‘enlighten’?” Nathan asked.
The girls laughed almost identically. “Nice pun, Nathan,” Claire smiled.
“Of course, Claire’s the one with soul-sight,” Shadow explained. “The scars are for effect. Do you prefer a different look?” Suddenly, Shadow became a short teenage boy with brown hair and dark glasses.
Claire frowned. “Danny? Why him?”
“What are you doing?” Nathan demanded. “You’re not Daniel! I will not succumb to your heinous schemes!”
“I’m God. I can do whatever I want,” Shadow said, shapeshifting into yet another form—a tall teenage boy with ginger hair that glowed metallic in the light. As before, he had a golden aura and gold glowing in his blue eyes.
“They’re so awesome that way,” Claire said proudly.
“You’re awesome, too, dear,” Shadow smiled.
Nathan groaned. “Get a room.”
The two stared daggers into Nathan’s face-holes. “Excuse you?” Claire said in shock.
“Should I shut him up?” Shadow asked.
Claire nodded. “Yes. Make it painful.”
“I love your ideas, Claire,” Shadow said.
“Wait, what did I do?” Nathan demanded. “There’s no need to be rude!”
That stupid baseball bat rematerialized in Shadow’s hands. He swung it into Nathan’s face and pain exploded all over his mind before darkness greeted him like an old friend.
ns 18.68.41.140da2
