The Black Bayou Chapter 5

Chapter 5- Can't Happen Here


The days seemed to pass effortlessly to the people that encompassed the Black Bayou. Almost as soon as they had left Mass, it was time for it again. James, Tilly, and Harris joined each other much the same way as they always had. At Garrison's, they finally decided to talk about the things that had been going on and how the powers behind them seemed to be working together behind it almost in like they were in a deadly alliance with one another. Johnny had joined them for breakfast since they were all seemingly apart of this.

"So, what do we do?," Johnny said, snacking on bits of bacon, "I think I'm the biggest one that's startled by all this. I mean the other day I was a comfortably retired action star. Then all this Combine stuff hits on top of all the interdimensional 'sword of truth' malarkey." Harris nodded, "I know, I'm not sure what to make of it either. I'm getting the feeling that Combine paraphernalia might be what's causing people to turn into the weremonsters. I don't see how it could be an isolated incident."

Johnny warmed his hands with the mug of coffee," And if that Boaz of Nautilus character really is behind all of this, I'm kind of afraid. I've heard whispers of him in the past when I tangled with the Combine when I was in special ops, but not the whole story." Suddenly, a portal opened and out stepped Apollo, "I believe, Mr. Riedmeyer, that I might be able to offer a fresh perspective on the topic if you would be so kind as to follow me." "Sure why not? I've always depended on the kindness of strangers." "Don't mind Johnny Apollo," Tilly said, woofing down a patty melt and fries,"while he's very enlightened, he doesn't quite understand the Dream Web. Not yet anyway."

Apollo nodded," Mr. Riedmeyer, I assure you that you have nothing to fear from me or what I represent. I seek only to prepare you for what is to come." Apollo motioned to Tilly and the three of them followed closely in toe. Apollo tapped the tiled floor of Garrison's and another portal appeared, he motioned for Johnny to step through and with nothing to lose, he did. He, along with James, Tilly, and Harris, soon were in the paradise that was the Dream Web with fields of grass that seemed to stretch forever and pink, purple, and blue skies. It was peaceful and serene and took Johnny completely by surprise. "Is... is this heaven?" Apollo laughed watching Tilly, James, and Harris romp around like carefree children,"No Mr. Riedmeyer, though some have called it that. As I understand it, we are somewhere in the very recesses in the shared consciousness of the human mind where thoughts, ideas, and dreams themselves are born and sometimes nightmares, though those are incredibly rare. We call this, much like Summer's Willow told you, the Dream Web."

"Well, whatever it is, it's beautiful. Peaceful even." "The mind often hungers for comfort from the modern world mr. Riedmeyer," Apollo said," and here in the DreamWeb, we try our hardest to give it to them. To train the willing and able to ward off the bad inclinations of terrors beyond human comprehension, that is the goal of The Cult Of Shroud and their personal warriors, the Centurion Nouveau. But for the moment, let's discuss your role in all of this. While I'm not entirely sure what Summer's Willow has told you, I'm sure that you wouldn't mind if I began at the beginning." With a flick of his wrist, Apollo created a small viewing orb in the palm of his hand. "It all started well before the dawn of mankind in galaxies yet undiscovered by your people. It began with a sentient, symbiotic organism called Visceri. It played amongst itself in the darkness. However, a part of it was not so easily contented. It called itself Boaz. Eventually, it tried to poison the hivemind with it's own toxic ideologies. And in doing so, it was cast out. Freed, Boaz set about entertaining it's own interests. It created the heavens and the stars as well as the people that inhabited them. All seemed peaceful, but Boaz being of a chaotic nature, he set into motion the destruction of the many galaxies. He caused war, famine, and death. He would do this, extinguish everything, then start again; searching in vain for some sort of x-factor to keep himself interested. Eventually, the Visceri caught wind of what Boaz was up to and thankfully put a stop to it. It was in awe of what Boaz accomplished; a living, breathing universe. An outcast no longer, Boaz was welcomed back into the hivemind. But Boaz was still as cunning and cruel as ever. He infected himself with a plague that he himself had become immune to, but the other Visceri had not. In it's brief minglings with what I'm sure the Visceri would consider lesser beings, they learned that Boaz had created a world that was scientifically advanced, but also horribly backwards in ideologies. Boaz had created a sword infected with the same virus that could cause the entire universe to cease. That was Boaz's X-Factor. So the Visceri, what remained of it anyway, visited the planet in earnest. It stayed the war of two ruling families and blessed one with a small branding of the cosmos on the wrist of the wife that would be passed down from mother to child for generations to come. And that was the last of what I was told in my time amongst ancient cults in Macedonia."
Johnny pondered a moment, the branding on his wrist throbbing, "So, where does this leave me Apollo?"
"Sadly, for some reason Mr. Riedmeyer, you have been both blessed and cursed to lead your home into a new era of prosperity or suffer the fate of what became of the Visceri and the people that they tried in vain to shield from absolute evil. Because nothing, save you, can stop the onslaught of the most terrible evil in all the known galaxies. I would like you to stay here to train with someone who knows the power of the power of the Stargale better than even I do," a large, imposing, muck-encrusted shadow loomed over them both, "I believe you're familiar with the works of a Mr. Clive Manis?" Like being doused in a bucket of cold water , Johnny could feel another consciousness intermingling with his own "Hello Mr. Wuu," Clive said, extending a mossy hand to Johnny,"let me just say that I'm a very big fan of yours." "Pleasure's mine Clive, Cellars Of Blood kept me up for weeks." The world around them seemed to fade to black. Slowly, methodically, Clive was pulling Johnny into his own dreamspace that vaguely resembled the swamp where both he and Tily had consecrated their love for one another on numerous occasions. The swamp water, up to Johnny's ankles, was about the consistently of a warm, muddy slurry. But Johnny was well traveled and had been in the unforgiving climate of Vietnam and this was no different.

Johnny could feel his wrist throbbing, the branding was calling to him. He touched it and suddenly a wave of intense energy sprouted from within his arm and created something resembling a Kendo stick. "Interesting," Clive murmured, "I guess the Stargale really is different for everybody." Johnny played with it, it was almost like a living organism, an extension of himself. "So, Clive, what do you know about the Stargale?" Another burst of light boomed and Clive was also armed with a weapon,"About as much as Apollo told you. My history with it is, well, rather grim. I was up late one night working on a story when I felt, well, I guess you could call it a prodding to start writing something else. For 36 hours, in a mental state beyond my own, I wrote a tapestry of the cosmos. It was sort of like a code book I think to tap into the power of the Stargale and make it my own. I almost had it, with every key stroke, the branding became clearer on my wrist. But then, something happened, all of the sudden this intense wall of blackness enveloped me and, well, I died and woke up here. From what Apollo surmised, I'm guessing I was deemed 'unworthy' by the greater cosmic forces. I trained with the Centurion Nouveau for a bit and that's how I was able to summon this energy sword and create my own personal space in the Dreamweb. Trust me, the mental energy you need to achieve both is humbling. So," Clive said, chopping down a thick wall of vines on a nearby tree, "shall we get started?"

Meanwhile, back in the Dreamweb, Tily, James, and Haris laid in the grass as a cool spring breeze passed by, pondering what to do next. James saw the Centurion Nouveau practicing in the distance and was curious as to how such feats could be achieved. "They're very welcoming you know," Tily said, trying to cover a large belch,"I'm sure they'd see no reason for you not to join them." "Are their powers limited to the Dreamweb?" "That I can't answer for sure. I think so?" Apollo appeared beside them, which startled James,"Dream power is the strongest ability in the universe. Stronger than your vampirism, young James, stronger than your years of training with Mr. Riedmeyer. If you wish to aid Mr. Riedmeyer in the coming days, I would implore you to intermingle with the Centurion Nouveau. What they can do is beyond mere description. It done with a beauty rivaling that of the martial arts." Apollo didn't need to say anything more, James' curiosity was in full bloom. James approached cautiously, as the Nouveau were seated, meditating around a large yellow pulsating crystal. The tiny gems on their foreheads also gleaming, feeding the large crystal with their own energies. One, a woman, could sense James and turned to look at James. She was a very beautiful, roughly about James' age. She offered him a seat beside her. They meditated together, and slowly James' could feel his consciousness dissipating from his body, crossing the multitude of dimensions of the mindspace of the Dreamweb. The woman, who called herself Kalia, greeted him as a mother would a child. Personally, James felt sick from the present sense weightlessness and was trying hard not to vomit. Kalia laughed,"Don't worry, you're not the first to experience that and I'm sure you won't be the last." "Where are we exactly?" "The crossroads of the mindspace were everything intersects with one another. Worlds upon worlds. Here we can go anywhere. But I'm curious though, why did you want to join us?" James tried to steady himself before he responded. He could feel something pulsating in his head, he was sure it was Kalia reading his mind. "You've experience a great deal of pain James," she said, helping him learn to hover in the mindspace,"especially at such a young age. I couldn't imagine it." James nodded, unsure of the true intention of her sympathies. Almost instantly, they had jumped into James' mind. And James was face to face with himself on that day, the day the hurricane came and blotted out his whole life like a painter correcting a mistake. James was alone in the blackness of his room, listening to horrible sounds coming from outside. He couldn't sleep. His father had reassured him, his mother, and his little sister earlier that it wouldn't be anything worth worrying about. That the people on the news and the officials were just making a lot of fuss over nothing. With a thundercrack, the huge oak tree outside slammed into the house, killing his mother, father, and sister instantly. James was, even now, unsure how he survived. Maybe it was fate? Who really knew. But other people were displaced as well, and they descended on the local church through rivers of toxic, polluted water for safety. The preacher and deacon, both Irish immigrants, had never seen anything like it. If there was a God that day, he turned a blind eye to the suffering that had occurred and no man or woman of faith could change that opinion. Tears, endless and strong, streamed down James' face. He had relived this moment hundreds of times, almost to the point of numbness, but seeing it play out in front of him just opened up something very raw within him. "Can," James said meekly,"can we stop this please?" Kalia agreed and they exited the mindspace of the Dreamweb. James was immediately thrown back into his own body and threw up a strange, cascading rainbow substance. "Interesting," Kalia said, helping James up from the deep meditation, "I've never seen a non-Nouveau throw up dreamstuff before. Usually it only happens when our ethereal bodies die or become injured." James said nothing, he was still unsteady and unsure.

In the nearby field, Harris and Tilly were playing a game of catch with the white clay orb that Tilly had manifested earlier. "You still think about him," Harris asked causally," don't you?" "Who?" "You know who" "What? James? Maybe when we were younger I guess," Tilly replied pensively," I think when you're as young and close as we were, love kind of confusingly manifests itself. James is still too much of an overgrown child. Not that we're much better." Harris pitched the orb back to Tilly "True" "And well, me and Clive are sort of an item. Who'd have thought I'd trade in a relationship with mortal men for a dead swamp monster who haunts people's dreams?" "Stranger things have happened. I mean, look at us. Twisted creations of god and man, pollution and surging water." "And what's weirder is that I've been getting all these strange food cravings lately. Like I'm..." Harris finished the sentence "Pregnant?"
"Oh god, you think so? But how though?" "Simple, didn't you say that you had physically bonded for a little bit when you took Clive on as your Loa?" "But..." Harris nodded and Tilly looked down and saw her once slim physique blooming into womanhood, confused to what a muck monster and creature of the night could possibly sire.

Back in Clive's dreamspace, Johnny and Clive were pushing the Stargale and the Nouveau approximation to it's absolute limits. The two swords crackled with intense energy, both their wielders panting. They had been going for three hours straight, a sense of urgency and personal liberation in their strikes. With one deliberate, precise maneuver Johnny swung the Stargale with such force that a loud thunderclap that split Clive's reality wide open. "Well," Johnny said, the blackness fading backwards into the perpetual purple sunset of the Dreamweb,"didn't expect that to happen." Johnny helped up Clive out of the mucky water that somehow remained and noticed that Clive couldn't stop laughing "We did it Johnny, we did it!" "And what did we do exactly?" "We conquered the very fabric of reality. We unlocked the true potential of the Stargale." And then, Johnny started laughing too, and he had no idea why. The two of them dancing around like happy idiots. It Apollo approached the two of them with a wide smile,"Mr. Riedmeyer, Mr. Manis, I congratulate the two of you for your work today. You have conquered the fabric of the mind and the body with your dedication. But be warned, with this power comes a cautious responsibility to one's own self. The Black Lotus have made themselves a very dangerous enemy this day, more so than in the past. I wish you well on your journey Mr. Riedmeyer." And with that, Johnny, James, Tilly, and Harris were back in Garrison's like nothing had happened "Sir!," a waitress shouted,"Sir!" "Yes?!," Johnny piped up,"Can't you see thay we're having a meeting here?" "A meeting of what? All I see is a bunch of lifeless corpses. I was just asking you folks if you wanted some more coffee. Hopefully it'll get whatever drugs you kids have been on out of your system. Bunch of absolute space cases I tell yah." The waitress walked off and all of them started laughing hysterically, though none knew why.