An Earther in the Fonlands – 4
What is happening? What have you gotten me into, Zacchaeus? It is true that the majority of my being is on our Earth, but it is also true that the majority of my consciousness, my control, lies within you. If you were to perish with this me inside of you, the Needy on our Earth will never be as effective as it once was and it will eventually wither to nothing. If we should perish on this mysterious Earth, you will doom me Zacchaeus!
After the Lêgba had seized Zacchaeus and Coffey and hurled them through a portal from their location in the magical swamp of a different Earth imbued with the Divine Essence of the Fonlands, Zacchaeus and Coffey tumbled through seemingly nothing, flailing and falling like they traveled a great distance, until they finally landed on what felt like a floor of slick and polished stone. Zacchaeus couldn’t see the floor, it was covered in a light blue mist that matched the color of the shirt he wore underneath the black cloak that gave off a dark smoke. The smoke from his cloak began to mingle with the mist, but not for long before the mist was repelled by the smoke and Zacchaeus saw the floor was actually a mirror that was pristinely clean and couldn’t be smudged. He was startled at the sudden realization, at unexpectedly seeing his own reflection, and he jumped up to his feet to get an idea of his surroundings.
Upon standing, Zacchaeus realized that the device that had been strapped to his right hand was no longer there and he looked down at his feet, at the clearing of the mist and the reflection of the vast sky above him that was dominated by billowing white, gray, rose, blue, green, and golden clouds that were unmoving. Zacchaeus looked up and around himself with panic and then wonder. It was like he had stepped into an elaborate painting, the colors of his surroundings were so vibrant and deliberate that it felt unnatural.
Zacchaeus saw that the mirrored surface where he stood with the blue mist floating all around except to avoid the smoke of the Needy, extended as far as he could see in every direction. There was no sign of the man that had brought him to that place.
“Coffey!” Zacchaeus yelled as he moved around, clearing the mist at his feet as he searched for the sublime device. “Coffey you here?”
Eventually, he stumbled into the body of the woman that had been obscured by the mist. She was unconscious and her skin was the same color blue as the mist.
“Is this something new?” Zacchaeus heard a booming voice ask and when he looked up in the direction of the voice, he was shocked to see a huge bolt of lightning strike the mist, though there was no thunder. There was hardly any sound in that place and Zacchaeus imagined that it might be a nice place to spend time if he hadn’t been forced there by a creepy man who could teleport.
A man appeared in the spot where the lighting struck the mist and Zacchaeus stared at him in wonder. The man had the look and bearing of a God and Zacchaeus was struck by a respectful awe. The man’s skin was like polished mahogany. He wore an elaborate headdress made of reeds and gold, and there were two sets of horns protruding from his face. He approached Zacchaeus from a distance and as he walked, he flickered in and out of existence as an electrical shock and he seemed to be doing it intentionally to arrive at Zacchaeus faster. When he stood before Zacchaeus, he was almost twice his size and Zacchaeus fell to one knee out of both fear and respect. He bowed his head, afraid to gaze on the face of the God.
“I am Xêvioso,” he said and even though he spoke at a normal level, there seemed to be an echo that reached up to the clouds. “And you are no Fonlander. What is Lêgba up to?”
“I’m here because he brought me and my friend here,” Zacchaeus said shakily. “We didn’t ask to come, we don’t know where we are. If you could send us back where we came from, we would appreciate it.”
Xêvioso eyed Zacchaeus skeptically.
“You have never been in the presence of a Vodun before,” he said and knelt down on one knee like Zacchaeus did. “The awe you feel towards me, did you feel it for the Lêgba you encountered?”
Zacchaeus shook his head before Xêvioso finished his sentence. He had never felt the reverence that filled him as he knelt before Xêvioso. The Needy was seemingly awed as well, he hadn’t said a word since the silent lightning that brought the godly man.
“The real Lêgba is my brother, he is like me, but different. What brought you here was an imposter, and that is beneath me. I feel a very powerful, arcane signature off you, what is your name? Look at me as you speak, I would know you.”
Zacchaeus introduced himself as he struggled to look the God in the eyes.
“Zacchaeus, I am the Vodun of Divine Justice. As the impartial arbiter, I was gifted with a sight by the mother-father. I can see the truth of your existence. You are a bad man, in possession of evil powers, and yet you manage to do good. My brother Gû would enjoy meeting you, but unfortunately we are occupied with the mission of the mother-father to find the real Lêgba. There is no time to bring him to this place on Lêgba’s disc. But I would spar with you so that Gû can view it later. Would you do me the honor of engaging in nonlethal combat?”
Do it Zacchaeus, the God is impressed with us. And there are things that I could learn.
Zacchaeus felt the urging of the Needy move his body to standing and he felt the dark power of the Needy course through his body and settle at his fists.
“Very good,” Xêvioso said. Lightning struck the God and his headdress disappeared. He looked like a shirtless black man who was much closer to Zacchaeus’s height then.
“Before we do this,” Zacchaeus said, barely keeping the Needy at bay, “can you help my friend? I don’t know if she breathing, she blue. And I need help finding my device.”
Xêvioso’s eyes turned white and then he pointed to a clearing in the mist.
“There,” he said and Zacchaeus ran to retrieve the device, securing it to his hand. “Your friend is an Fonlander, she is not dead, but she is not used to this environment. She has a Third Heart, she was born with it, very rare. But she will be fine with time and her normal complexion will return once her body purges the essence that she is producing. Shall we?”
Zacchaeus stood before Xêvioso and he mostly let the Needy take control of his body. He was still in awe of the man, and so was the Needy, but he was just as curious to test his strength against the God.
The hood of Zacchaeus’s cloak covered his eyes as he settled into his fighting stance. His fists were black flames and he charged at Xêvioso, swinging his right fist at the God’s head. He connected just before he hooked his left fist to connect with the God’s midsection. As Zacchaeus reset to throw two punches at the God’s head, Xêvioso threw a fist that connected to Zacchaeus’s midsection and sent him tumbling back into the mists.
Zacchaeus sprung back up onto his feet and he lifted one hand before him. The flame morphed into two black rectangles the size of playing cards and he threw them at the God so fast that even the God was impressed. The black cards penetrated the God’s skin and they both exploded with substantial force. More cards appeared in both his hands and Zacchaeus launched an unrelenting assault of the black cards.
Xêvioso gathered lightning in two hands as the cards exploded to chip away at his form, and as he separated his hands, a ball of electricity grew around him, obliterating the cards as they impacted the electricity field.
Zacchaeus continued throwing cards as he evaded the bolts of lightning that struck out from Xêvioso’s electricity field. Zacchaeus concentrated on the gaps in the electricity field as he ran and flipped to evade lightning and just when he spotted an opening and prepared to launch a card through it, he was struck by one of Xêvioso’s bolts and he hit the ground hard.
It was harder to get up this time, but Zacchaeus was up on his feet as Xêvioso charged him, punching at him with fists that buzzed with electricity. Zacchaeus prided himself on his speed, but he was overwhelmed by the speed of the God, and though he managed to evade and even counter some of the blows, before long he was tired and the God hit him squarely on the jaw. Zacchaeus felt the force rock his head back and it rattled the Needy.
The strength is unlike anything I have ever known. Thank you for this Zacchaeus, I have learned very much. It is time to return home.
“Thank you, Zacchaeus,” Xêvioso said with a bow as the electricity field dissipated up into the clouds. “And your dark friend. Gû will be very pleased to see what we have done today. I must be going. Good luck in your travels and I do hope to encounter you again.”
“Is my friend ok yet?” Zacchaeus asked.
“I can send her to a place where she will get better much faster. And she’ll be safe from the iteration that brought you all here.”
Zacchaeus knelt next to Coffey in the mists. She seemed to be sleeping peacefully.
“Can you send her there? I think it’s time for me to go home.”
“Very well,” Xêvioso said and he brought a bolt of silent lightning down near Coffey. An oval portal appeared on the spot. “Take her through. It is the disc of Agê, she will be at home there.”
Zacchaeus thanked the God and then carried Coffey through the portal into a lush forest that was like the Umbatia swamp, but more magical, more overflowing with magic. Zacchaeus placed Coffey gently on a bed of grass that was softer than anything Zacchaeus had ever felt before. As he stood, Coffey opened her eyes and stared up at him. Zacchaeus watched as a blue mist issued from her body and the dark complexion of her skin returned.
“Thank you,” she said. “It was nice to meet you, Zacchaeus. I hope you get home safe.”
“You gone be ok here?” he asked, though she already looked better than she had the first time he laid eyes on her in the swamp.
“I think you finally brought me home,” she said. “I ain’t never had that before, but this place just feel right to me. Don’t worry about me. But if you ever find yourself here, wherever we are, come find me.”
“What about your friends in the swamp?”
Coffey chuckled and stood. “I don’t think that place was safe for me. I’ll find a way to get in touch with Sene and Lofet, but to hell with the rest of them.”
Zacchaeus hugged the woman, then he pressed the button of the device with his index finger and he felt the sublime overcome him.
Meanwhile, back on Lêgba’s disc, in the place that Zacchaeus and Coffey had left, the Lêgba is mad and scared. He’d hidden himself when Xêvioso appeared in the new place the real Lêgba had made for him to trap beings with Third Hearts while they waited to be harvested. He decided to teleport to the Agê disc in hopes of recapturing the Earther before the real Lêgba knew that she had gotten away. The real Lêgba would have been excited to have a Third Heart from an Earther-Fonlander hybrid, and he was definitely aware of the find if the iteration was aware of her. He had to get her back.
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