CHAPTER 18

The Congress of Unanswered Questions

Earth: the Present Present

            “No, brother, you don’t understand.” Eidan looked horrified. “That’s my name. I was called Mona before my master sent me to the city as Eidan, and the god I saw in the afterlife was…” Eidan’s voice shook. “That god was you.”

            Pete didn’t understand what he was saying. Allen was Eidan, Eidan was Monaxia, and Pete was the god who visited his dead brother in the afterlife? It made no sense. Pete couldn’t remember doing anything like that, and anyways, he wasn’t a god. He didn’t know the Secrets of the Universe, and he was pathetic in comparison to everybody else. Pete was nothing, let alone a god.

            At least now I can confirm that he’s Monaxia, Pete thought. Though he doesn’t seem like a god of terror and destruction. Our facts aren’t straight. Something isn’t right here.

            Pete shook his head. “No, you’re just imagining things. I’m Pete. I’m your brother, remember?”

            Eidan scowled, though he still looked afraid. “No, you are not my brother! This is all a hoax, an enigma that you designed! You ripped me from the Heavens and sent me here to Earth, then you plagued my mind with lies and blasphemy!”

            Pete stepped closer. “Please, Al—” He was about to beg for his brother to be rational, but then he stopped, watching as Eidan frantically removed a crystal from his pocket and held it out before him.

            Pete glowered. “Look, you damn idiot. You can read minds, you have incredible god-like powers, and hell! You could even kill me right now if you wanted to. But you know what I think? I think you don’t believe this bullshit you’re spewing. You’ve already dissected my mind for answers, but you didn’t find anything except the fact that we look nearly identical and there can only be one explanation why.”

            “It’s because you’re trying to trick me!”

            “No, dammit, we’re siblings! In this world, in this messed up reality, you’re Allen and I’m Pete. We’re halfblood Kinetics and nothing more, and then we have those lunatic gods that, that…” He searched for the right explanation. When he couldn’t find it, he shook his head and ran his fingers through his too short hair. “I don’t know, Al. I don’t even know if we’re real people or just illusions that those god-Atlasian things made up. All I know is that they’re manipulating us for some reason. They want both of us dead, they want Monaxia to wake up, and… and… hell, I don’t even know what any of that means. But we’re trapped here, Al. There’s nothing we can do.”

            Tears leaked from the creases of Eidan’s eyes. His lower lip trembled and he dropped the crystal onto the floor. Eidan looked pathetic, but his expression resembled the hopelessness that seemed to swallow Pete whole.

            He wiped the tears from his eyes and sniffed. “I understand. I know that this makes no sense, but…” He choked back a sob. “All I want is to see her again. My Farrah, the girl that I love! I was going to reunite with her after death, but death never came, and now I’m here and I don’t understand any of this. My head hurts, and I… I just want to be with her! Why can’t my life be simple, brother? Why must I be plagued with these tragedies, as if I was built to carry them!”

            Pete didn’t know how to respond. Was his brother’s life truly so horrible? But of course it was. Eidan’s life was hell compared to Pete’s. It was one tragedy after the other, and every day was like waking up in a horror movie. In fact, the only time Eidan was actually happy was when he was with Farrah. She showed him how to have fun and be himself, and… and how did Pete know any of this?

            I was just thinking, Pete thought. But neither Eidan nor Kaia told me about his relationship with Farrah, let alone his personal life. So how do I know any of it? It wasn’t an assumption, was it?

            Pete frowned. He’d just realized that Kaia was right all along. Earlier that day, she was trying to convince him that Pete was nothing more than Pete the halfblood Kinetic. Allen and Pete were siblings with a strange mental connection, and while his father might’ve actually been Gal all along—or maybe he was killed by Gal and Gal took his place—his mom was still human. At least, he hoped that she was. Oh, it didn’t matter. Her name was Holly Thorson, and she was amazing and she loved him even when he was like the beasts that she hunted.

            I should probably call her, Pete thought. She must be worried.

            He looked down at his wrist, and his Snap-On phone had disappeared. Did he drop it when he was attacking Allen or did one of the false god-Kinetics confiscate it?

            He briefly scanned the room, and while he couldn’t find his phone, he noticed that it’d grown significantly darker in the past few seconds. “What the…?”

            Eidan was turned towards the window where the sun was quickly sinking in the sky. There was fear in his eyes. “Oh gods,” he muttered between huffs and sniffs. “Our reality is being altered.”

            “What?” Pete glanced at him, then he looked out the window. One by one, the clouds vanished and all the lights in the city went out. “Reality is… disappearing? But what does that even mean? Reality can’t just disappear. That’s impossible!”

            Eidan turned around to face him, and his gaze was hollow, his Kinetic state again. Even when reality itself was fading, little Al was still afraid of the dark. Somehow, this comforted Pete.

            Eidan faintly spoke. “Have you ever noticed that it doesn’t rain here?”

            Pete’s frown deepened. “Rain? What’s that?”

            His brother shrugged. “I’m not sure, but it has something to do with the clouds and water. On Ecual, it never rained, either.”

            Pete didn’t understand what he was saying. “But what’s rain? And why is this important?” He approached the window and gazed outside. It was nearly black now. The moon was white and perfectly round, just as it always was, and it seemed like the stars were going out. “What’s happening?” he murmured. “Is it the gods, you think? Are they closing in on us?”

            “I told you, our reality is being altered. Someone has access to our subconscious minds, and not only is it affecting both of us, but it’s altering this entire world. Look at the people over there.” He pointed down the street where a young couple stared up at the sky, panicking and afraid.  

            Pete shook his head. “But what god could have that kind of ability? Mina had to touch my forehead in order to get me to see what she saw.”

            Eidan seemed to glare at him. “Are you truly this dim? Look around you, brother. Explain to me how you know every street in this city.”

            Pete frowned. “But I…” His eyes widened when he realized that he did know the name of every street. Pete had never been to Harlem before, let alone this area of the borough, so how the hell did he know where he was? “You’re right. But how come I never realized this before?”

            Pete was quickly becoming terrified. The more Eidan pointed out the small, strange facts of the world, the more this seemed like a dream.

            Eidan’s bright blue eyes glowed like fire in the darkness, reflecting the faint light from the stars overhead. He gazed out the window, and together they watched as more things began to disappear. As the stars vanished, so did the buildings, one by one—the lampposts, the cars, electrical wires, the people and everything they interacted with. And the more that reality disappeared, the more Pete knew about the world he lived in.

            “Gods are said to know everything about their surroundings,” Eidan replied, “but when foreign intelligence seizes control of their subconscious mind, the assailant can place walls around the information that’s usually available to them.”

            Pete glanced at his brother. “Are you saying that I’ve been a god this entire time?”

            Eidan half smiled. “Anybody can become a god, brother. The mind of Peter Glass is only deteriorating, and when all the walls are torn down, only then will you become like a god. The same thing is happening to everybody else.”

            Pete’s eyes widened. He didn’t entirely understand what he was saying, but it didn’t sound good. Somebody was powerful enough to not only abolish reality and break down the walls of Pete’s mind, but he did the same thing to those around him, as well. But who was the true culprit? Were the gods that were chasing him responsible for this, or was Pete and Eidan only victims in another and more powerful god’s game?

            “But I don’t want to become a god,” he whispered. “I don’t want to wake up from this dream.”

            Pete grabbed onto the windowsill, gazing intently out the window. As more information poured into his head, he realized how terrifying it was to possess such an immense collection of knowledge. He wasn’t smart, per se, he just knew things. For example, that building over there had been owned by fifteen people, seven of them having connections with the mafia. The subway ran underground three blocks down, there was a crack in Mr. Rodger’s grandfather clock that terrified him, and little Ellie’s hamster died last night, but her parents didn’t want her to know so they said Squeak ran away. What stars were fading out now? Sirius, Capella, Castor, and oh, he was going to miss Polaris.

            Pointless information, facts and trivia he didn’t care to know, but he knew anyways because this was his world, this was the reality he and everybody else was born into. Didn’t they have the right to know everything about it, let alone possess the capability to learn? Pete finally understood now. These walls were built by humans because they wanted to be ignorant, and it was the gods, those who craved knowledge and understanding, who tore down these walls and saw with eyes that’d always been blind.

            So is this what true reality looks like?

            As the last of the stars went out, Pete turned around and found himself in a room so dark that the shadows fled the premises and black was the main preference for décor. Wondering if he could still see his body in such immense darkness, he lifted his hands only to feel something coarse burn against his wrists. He looked down, and while he was indeed perfectly visible, his wrists and ankles were bound to a heavy wooden chair.

            Pete tugged, certain that there must be a way out. It was only an illusion. Reality and the dreamworld no longer existed, and because reality was only relevant to the eyes of the beholder, Pete could make the rope vanish if he wanted to, so… so why wouldn’t the rope disappear?

            “Dammit!” he hissed. He looked around him with a scowl. Eidan was right beside him, trapped in a chair to his right. “Do you know what’s going on? You’re not doing this, are you?”

            Eidan wiggled his fingers, but he didn’t bother trying to break free. “No, but whoever did do this completely eradicated reality. Physics and the Laws and Secrets don’t exist here. This is… this is nothing, nothing but pure consciousness.” He looked at Pete with fear in his eyes. “The question is, whose conscience are we trapped in?”

            Pete gritted his teeth and turned away. He wanted to blame everything that’d happened on Monaxia, but he already knew that poor little Al wasn’t at fault here. Instead, he turned his thoughts on his mom and everybody else he knew and cared for. Reality was destroyed and now Pete and Eidan were trapped in somebody’s conscience. Was everybody else trapped, as well? Or was Pete and Eidan the only forms of reality that remained while everybody’s consciences swam around them in an ocean of pure black?

            Pete sighed. He might’ve known a lot about the reality he just came from, but this world was a complete mystery to him.

            “I just wanna know what’s going on,” Pete murmured. “I don’t understand. This all started when… well, I became aware of everything when you came along, Al. Did you know that Kaia’s a god? And then Gal, he actually pretended to be Leone Gallaway a long time ago.” Pete’s frown deepened. “Wait, hold on. I almost forgot, Al. You’re from Atlas, aren’t you? You’re an Atlasian. So that means we can’t be siblings, right?”

            He remembered the vision he’d had earlier that day about how Monaxia lost his parents. He was three thousand years old, immortal and trapped in an eight-year-old’s body. Now that Pete considered this, it was impossible for them to be siblings.

            Eidan looked confused. “Atlas? I suppose it’s possible. But to be honest, I never truly thought we were siblings.”

            Pete glowered. “Great. I’m sure you’ve been laughing at me this entire time, then.”

            Eidan faintly smiled. “No, Pete, we’re not siblings by blood, but you actually remind me of my adoptive brother from Ecual.”

            “Oh, is that so?”

            Eidan nodded. “He was very noble and brave, but he was also reckless and cared more about enjoying himself than maintaining a good reputation.”

            “What! Are you saying I’m a loser?”

             Eidan looked genuinely confused. “A loser? I don’t understand. You seem to win at a lot of things, except… well, except for your school markings and friend count. Kaia told me about how you—”

            “Alright, alright, I get it. You think I’m like that brother of yours so you decided to let me think that we were related. I still don’t get it, though. If we’re not biological siblings, then why do we look so much alike? I mean, we’re not identical twins, but we… we both resemble my father, especially you.”

            Eidan shook his head and released a breath. He looked tired and grievous. “I lived my life on Ecual while you lived yours here. My life wasn’t confusing, facts made sense, but then I look at your life and wonder if any of it was real. I’m sorry, brother, but everybody you’ve had a personal relationship with isn’t the person you thought they were. As you said, Kaia and Gal are gods, and even Stile, and possibly your mother…”

            Pete gritted his teeth. He didn’t want to believe this. His mom was all he had left to hope for, the only person he was allowed to love. “No, that can’t be right,” he quietly replied. “She was normal the entire time.”

            “But she was also absent a majority of the time, wasn’t she?” Eidan looked completely serious again, as if he’d returned to his Kinetic state.

            Pete narrowed his eyes. “Yeah, I guess, but she was like a special agent or something like that. She hunted Kinetics like I did and… and what does that have to do with anything?”

            Eidan averted his gaze. He seemed upset. “During these past few minutes I’ve been contemplating something, and I’ve decided that, in theory, reality can’t be destroyed. There’s so many people in the world who affect every second of every day, and even if they were to all perish, reality would still exist. As long as there’s an observer, even if it's as small as a flea or a shion, it’s impossible to destroy reality.”

            Pete shook his head. “So you’re saying that what just happened was…?”

            Eidan looked at him. “You can’t destroy reality without inhibiting the intelligent being who created it. Look at us, brother. We’re trapped in a void that’s made us too weak to escape from mere ropes and chairs.” Pete gasped, finally comprehending what his brother was implying. “Reality was destroyed because somebody is holding us here. That means that we created that universe. You and I, together.”

            “That’s why they needed me to capture you,” Pete quickly said. “That’s why Conner tried to kill us, because it was the easiest way to inhibit us. But instead they… wait, what exactly did they do to us?”

            Pete looked around him, as if the four gods that’d trapped them were lurking somewhere nearby.

            “I’m not sure, brother, but you’re forgetting something very important. They wanted us both here together. Both of us. And earlier today they’d claimed that they only wanted Monaxia to wake up.”

            Pete’s eyes widened. He stared at his brother, at the face that looked so similar to his, then he remembered their mental connection and how Eidan had the same scars as Pete did on his left side. They weren’t twins, they weren’t even two separate people—they were Monaxia, one person split into two bodies. It made sense why they were so different now, why they accepted each other as brothers even when they knew they weren’t biologically related. They were Monaxia. No, he was Monaxia.

            Suddenly, he became aware of everything, and he knew everything that Pete and Eidan were never allowed to know. Mona and his beloved Ari’el had created both of their worlds within their minds, and for over thirty years they’d lived as billions of people of all different kinds. They were Eidan and Zuri, Darim Set and Father Theo, and then they died through the ploy of two confused gods until Mona was forced into creating the world of Peter Glass. He became Pete and everybody else, and as the false gods tried to make sense of why he didn’t want to wake, the immortals Kaia, Holly, Gal, Stile, Minervina and Constantine all came to this world with Gal’s permission and interfered.

            He was the ancient Atlasian Monaxia, the only one left of his kind, and with this single realization alone, the ropes broke free from around his limbs and he was allowed to stand up. He looked down at two hands that were a healthy shade of green, then he looked up and saw the darkness that surrounded him, and he remembered a time when all he knew was a world where the skies were constantly gray and where shadows swept across the land to taunt him.

            At once, black clouds rolled in overhead and torrents of rain poured down from the sky. He was standing on a slick black surface, a type of rock protruding from a graveyard of shions, and a sea of black waves crashed and raged around him. The winds were fierce, the sky flashed with lightning, and he shivered from the arctic breeze that whirled like tornadoes around him.

            Mona was alone. For forty days and forty nights, storms plagued the earth in an attempt to purify it from the radiation the Intergalactic War had left behind, a war that Mona had no part in, but had been affected by with curses of solitude and a promise that no one would ever understand him. He was the only remaining human from Atlas, and while this storm with its shrill cries and raging winds was foreign to him, it became the perfect representation of the plague of loneliness that eroded his insides and ate away at the depths of his mind.

            Mona was terrified. Once again, he’d been returned to such a horrifying place, and there was no one alive in the world who could save him. He was alone, hopelessly encompassed by solitude.

            “Monaxia!” a voice cried.

            It frightened him, the shadows again, teaming up with the wind to torment him. He spun around in search of the demon culprit only to be seized by two strong hands.

            Mona cried out and quickly backed away, but the ground