[ForgottenCode]

When Charles opened his eyes, the world was moving. No, that wasn’t right. He was moving, but he was lying down. Confusion filled his not quite alert senses. It took him a few moments to remember where he was. When he did, his eyes shot fully open and he shook his head to clear it.

He had fallen unconscious after succeeding in helping Andrew to break free of his imprisonment within himself. Or at least, he’d hoped they’d succeeded, but then he was still alive and in the Spirit World and not dead in an afterlife of his own creation. At least he thought he was still alive.

Charles believed there was something out there. He wasn’t sure if it was the Christian God or something else entirely. But he’d seen too much not to believe there was a force out there that did things no one could explain. However, since he wasn’t sure exactly what the force was, the Christian myths of Heaven and Hell didn’t really apply. Charles believed that at death, people would go to an afterlife that they themselves had created. Therefore if a particularly faithful Christian was expecting to find themselves in Heaven, they would indeed appear to be at the Pearly Gates.

He’d never really given much thought to what his afterlife would look like. After all, it would be something more instinctual and not something he could prepare in advance to match some particularly wild dreams. He blushed, or at least thought he did. However, could this place be his afterlife? He didn’t think so. After all, he’d never been here before as far as he could remember. Surely his afterlife would be something more connected to his life as a whole.

He shook his head to clear it. Now was not the time to indulge in philosophy. He looked around. He was lying on a large beige pallet of some sort. No, that wasn’t quite right. He moved his arms to feel the surface. It was smooth in some places, and hard in others. And there were cracks as well. It was almost like he was lying on a giant…

He looked up and felt like smacking himself for being an idiot. He was lying on a giant hand, because Andrew was carrying him. His best friend was still enormous, but the feel of rage and violence that had been there before was now gone. So he was alive and he had succeeded. He smiled slightly as everything that had happened earlier came flooding back through his senses. It was only then that he remembered the fight with the monster and felt his aches, pains and cuts from the confrontation.

He clenched his eyes shut and groaned. He wondered for a brief moment if Marcos was feeling the same way. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to walk right now for long periods, but then the Transportation Moderator could fly. Perhaps he was doing that. Or perhaps Dr. Zorbino had healed his former nemesis’ apprentice. But then why hadn’t he himself been healed? He forced his eyes open to stop the train of thought. He needed more information obviously, all this idle speculation was useless.

As he looked around again, he realized that the world had stopped moving, or he supposed it was more accurate that Andrew had stopped. His friend’s voice boomed, and then after a moment settled down to a more normal tone that for a giant was probably the equivalent of a whisper.

“You’re awake. Thank God. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t awoken and I knew that I was responsible for it because I couldn’t find the strength alone to break free.”

Charles smiled slightly. Even though his best friend was as tall as a building, his personality hadn’t changed at all. “Its alright, my friend. The circumstances weren’t exactly regular.”

Charles looked over to Andrew’s other hand and saw someone else lying down, but the hands were too far apart for him to see details well. Charles felt a chill settle on him. “Who else are you carrying? Did something else attack while I was unconscious?”

Andrew shook his head slightly. “No, nothing attacked,” and Charles felt instantly better. “That’s Paul. He was the one who turned his arms into tree trunks to stop my axe.”

“Paul?!” Charles exclaimed.

Andrew nodded. “Exactly. Prophecy really chose these kids well. We already know about Todd’s courage, and now timid, quiet Paul puts himself in danger like this when all the adults could only stand by and watch – not that I blame them, there wasn’t anything anyone could have done. It makes me wonder what Sarah’s going to show us before all of this is said and done.”

Charles shook his head in disbelief. “Paul, wow. How’s he doing?”

Andrew shrugged slightly. “He’s still unconscious. Doing what he did took a lot out of him, but Dr. Zorbino looked at him and told me he’d be okay, he just needs some time to rest.”

Some of his idle speculation returned. “Why didn’t the Doctor heal me, by the way? And more importantly, why are you still a giant and where is everyone else?”

“Perhaps I should fill you in on what happened after you lost consciousness. I know you’re a naturally curious person, but please Charles, for everyone’s benefit, please save your questions until I’m done.”

[Waycos]

Cliff hanger... blast.

[linpixie]

WHEEE! New chapter! But... I don't like cliff hangers... *tear*

[Alchymist]

Firstly, WOOOT!

Secondly, thats not a cliff hanger.

[Prodigal7512]

Nope, it's just a plain old ending that leaves us hanging.

[Solar]

nice one FC, we should get an RSS feed for when you post these