The Editor, Part III
The Sidekick
Go back to » Part I « » Part II «
Go forward to » Part IV «
If you want to read more of my writings, please read my published books: The Seekers: Soul-Ties, Kirin, and Perrin Peters. And if you don’t want to buy my books but still want to support me, I’m on Patreon. And if you prefer one-time payments, you can Buy Me A Pizza.
Content warnings:
Chess as entertainment
“Cancer continues to be the leading cause of death worldwide. The successes in prevention, early diagnosis, and treatment are at odds with the growing world population. The higher life expectancy also plays a big role in increasing the number of cases. Since people live long lives, cancer has enough time to develop…”
Part of Lilia’s mind was listening to the TV, while another was mulling over what to do with her confirmed but weird power. The flower that became blue was the only success amongst all the changes she’s made, and so she figured that she could only change parts of reality she knew almost nothing about. How could she better the world while avoiding learning about its problems? How could she make sure her changes won’t mess up everything without researching what she was about to change? She could ask someone to suggest the topic, but was there a person she knew who could do the job?
Lilia turned off the TV and went out for a walk. At least, it was a walk until she wound herself in front of Liz’s apartment building.
Liz? Seriously? She pondered. Well, at least she’ll research it first.
Lilia grabbed the cold door handle, but did not pull it.
I can just stop, she thought. Forget about all of this and live a normal life.
Could she? Would she be able to live, knowing she could’ve changed something and didn’t? Well, she was already a fact-checker. The world was already a better place because of her work. Yet…
Her yes drilled the silvery handle bolted to the old, wooden door.
If I can do more, I must!
After climbing to the seventh floor, Lilia found herself in front of Liz’s metal door. I don’t actually know if she’s home, she thought while her finger pressed the button.
The silence was broken by the sound of her heartbeat, the TV in someone’s apartment, and the chirping of birds coming from the open staircase window.
“Who’s there?” The muffled voice came from the other side of the door.
But before Lilia could answer, the lock clacked, and the door swung open.
Liz’s big gray eyes widened. “Oh, Lilia!”
The barefoot hostess was clad in black sweatpants and an oversized dark-red T-shirt with some undecipherable writings. The round face looked a bit tired, but the expression of curiosity seemed genuine.
“Don’t tell me that you remembered your promise to play chess with me,” Liz added after seeing that her guest was alone.
Oh, yes, that! A wave of relief washed over Lilia. “If you yield, I can just go back home.”
Liz’s black eyebrows shot up, and then her mouth curved into a smile. “Well, I’ll be damned, a sassy Lilia.” She stepped back in, motioning for Lilia to follow. “What’s gotten into you?”
Lilia didn’t answer.
The apartment looked exactly as she remembered from the New Year party, except for the lack of decorations. The front door led directly to a spacious living room with a big, brown leather sofa in front of a big TV and a window. The door on the left led to the kitchen, and the door on the right hid the bedroom. The coffee table between the TV and the sofa was buried under a chessboard, stacks of books, and handwritten papers.
“Can I get you anything?” Liz asked on her way to the kitchen.
Lilia took a seat in the left corner of the comfy chair. “Whatever you have.”
Liz lingered for a second, eyeing Lilia suspiciously, but said nothing.
The TV was off, and the blinds of the window behind it were open, allowing Lilia to survey the green branches of the tree that grew very close to the apartment building. The wind caused the branches to tap on the glass, making it look more violent than it actually was.
Was it right to ask Liz for such a favor? Was it smart to tell her anything at all? There was no answer. But if there were a stupid thing to do, then it would be to keep changing the reality without anybody in your corner.
“So…” the hostess put a bottle of a soft drink in Lilia’s hand, sat down beside her, and pulled the chessboard closer to them. “I’ve heard that you and Edik—”
Lilia shook her head. “I’m here for a different reason. But yes, I broke up with him. And don’t even think about taking my place until he changes.”
“Hm…” Liz mused as she set up the board. “You said you’re here for a different reason. If the reason were chess, you’d just say so.”
Lilia nodded, looking at the old board and the scratched pieces.
“I need a sidekick. Someone who’d keep me honest, stop me from doing something stupid or evil, and push me into doing good.”
Liz’s eyebrows shot up. “Are you going into politics or something?”
Lilia sighed and began her story.
As she listened, the amusement and surprise on Liz’s face were replaced by confusion, then worry, and then by something strange. She stopped noticing her guest, instead looking through her at something far away. No word was said in return, and the room fell into silence.
“Liz?” Lilia said, and the hostess jerked back into reality. “It seems like you believe what I said, and that you have something on your mind. Something I can change.”
Liz looked down at herself and at the undecipherable writings on her red T-shirt, then her eyes met Lilia’s. There was a determination in her gaze, and… something else.
“You haven’t tried writing new articles?” she asked.
Lilia shook her head slowly. Indeed, why hadn’t she?
“Let’s say we’ll try to change not the whole thing, but just a small part,” Liz continued. “Maybe then it’ll work! And if it does, we may try to get rid of it. Not in the past, but in the future, so nothing would have to change retroactively.”
“Okay…” Lilia nodded. “I’m used to your cryptic way of speaking, Liz, but you know you have to spill it out eventually.”
Liz rushed to her feet, shaking her head rapidly, and pacing across the room. “I’m just trying to convince myself. If it won’t work… How can I give myself hope and watch it crumble?”
Lilia watched her friend in silence, trying to guess what it could be. But when Liz hadn’t calmed down after a few seconds, she said, “I’m here with you, Liz. Sit down. Tell me everything, and I’ll do what I can.”
Liz stopped herself, sighed heavily, and sat down.
“It’s not so much about what happens if it doesn’t work, as about not giving me false hope. Shit, it can be so painful! So painful… It’s better just not to expect anything, but how can I? I can’t stop myself. I tried over and over, but hope always returns…”
The shitty feeling in Lilia’s chest was worse and worse. She could barely look at Liz, but she knew she had to be here for her and show no sign of weakness.
“Would you mind if I gave you a hug?” Lilia asked. “You may feel better.”
Or you may blame me for pretending to understand you or care for you, she thought.
Liz shook her head. “Maybe later. As I said, it won’t be too bad if it fails. I was just hoping…” She sighed. “I have breast cancer.”
Lilia immediately remembered the TV program she had half-listened to earlier today. Then, her mind rushed to remember everything she knew about the topic. Liz said it wouldn’t be too bad if the new article didn’t work, which meant…
“It’s stage two, and it’s in both breasts,” Liz continued. “The spots are gnarly, so I didn’t feel anything until the lumps grew. The treatments didn’t go well at all, which happens sometimes…”
Lilia remembered a few recent occurrences when Liz took a day off, which was so unlike her.
“…so they will have to remove my girls. I’ll live, but I won’t be whole anymore. But if you can help me…” The stare of her eyes was piercing.
“No need to convince me.” Lilia shook her head. “What do you have in mind?”
“Spontaneous remissions have been documented for all sorts of illnesses. I want you to just write about a similar case involving me. I’ll tell my doctor that I want him to take another look. You publish the article just before that, and when he looks at the images, he’ll see exactly what you’ll write.”
Lilia frowned. Would it even work? What should the exact wording be? There was still a lot she didn’t know, and if Liz suffers because she chose one wrong expression…
“It may work, Lilia!” Liz exclaimed, leaning forward and grabbing Lilia’s hands. “You will write about the future, so your ‘power’ or whatever won’t have to change anything in the past and won’t have to rewrite anyone’s memories. Changing the future should be the easiest thing you can do. We all change our futures every second of every day, just with less control than you have.”
Well, there was no value in worrying. She had to do it, hoping that the words she’d use would work. In any event, they will both learn from this experience.
“Okay.” Lilia nodded, looking her friend in the eyes. “I’ll write it now, and I’ll publish it on your signal. And if someone asks how I managed to know the future, I’ll just say I got the date wrong.”
Liz’s face lit up with a wide and hopeful smile. And as Lilia saw it, a huge weight was lifted from her shoulders. This smile made the Edik thing and turning the flowers blue totally worth it. And if she were to make more mistakes along the way, so be it!
~*~
Even though she’d never say it, Emil always knew that his sister loved flowers, potted or cut. The way she fussed over them every time their apartment or a hotel room in some faraway country had flowers said more than enough. So, when Emil headed to the florist, Emilia once again said that he shouldn’t be walking around town out in the open, and Emil once again ignored her.
While Emilia kept watch near the entrance to the shop, trying to seem indifferent to the sights and smells, Emil walked around the few shelves, looking for something special. The vendor was, as always, asking questions Emil couldn’t and didn’t want to answer. Seeing the lack of interest, he soon switched his attention to other customers.
At that very moment, Emil noticed beautiful, big flowers with deep-blue petals. They looked perfect, and as he approached, his nostrils caught the aroma that was no less wonderful than the flowers’ appearance. Just add a few yellow ones to these blue flowers, maybe also a few red ones, and it’ll be perfect!
The second Emil’s hand touched the stem of the closest blue flower, his knees weakened, his heart raced, and his ears rang. His thoughts seemed to make their way through something thick and heavy, and yet they never ran faster. It felt like he could fly, and yet his body was so heavy. It felt like he couldn’t hear anything through the ringing in his ears, and yet even Emilia’s quiet breath reached him easily.
This flower was touched by a Blessed! Unable to believe his luck, Emil carefully took the flower and stared at it from up close, hoping to feel additional information. The sensation was so strong that the Blessed must’ve touched the flower recently—
No, wait, it made no sense. A simple touch wouldn’t trigger his Gift. Even though they managed to find just a few Blessed before Harvester, Emil studied them well enough to know that a Blessed had to either own the object or influence it with their Gift. So, which one was it? Maybe the owner of this shop was a Blessed? Maybe the person who raised this flower? Or maybe the Blessed affected it in some way?
While thinking that, Emil grabbed a second blue flower for a bouquet, and the sensation was just as strong as from the first one. Whoever this Blessed was, time was short. Harvester was coming, and so Emil had to make a phone call right away.
He turned around, caught Emilia’s eyes, and she immediately tensed, surveying the shop and grabbing her concealed pistol without taking it out of its holster just yet. Time was of the essence, and everyone around them could be their enemy or the person they were trying to save. Emil just hoped they would be able to tell which was which.
The End of Part III
Anton Anderson, 2025
Go back to » Part I « » Part II «
Go forward to » Part IV «
Ooh this is great, I really like how the limits of her power are coming together while still being tested, and the closing in of the others who she has no idea are coming yet! Great tension building here