Adabelle’s idea had turned into a week-long party.

People came to visit Jackson and were offered food, drink, and a chance to say their last goodbyes. There were a lot of laughter, tears, and music. Stories were thrown about casually for all to hear. The grill was almost always fired up, and everyone pitched in.

The days went by in a blur, and very little work got done though nobody thought to complain about it. The Summoned at the center of it all were exhausted, but happy, and feeling better about Jackson’s upcoming ritual.

Just as the mayor had told Trevor, it was exactly one week later when they were asked to come to the Summoner’s Tower at midnight. Thanks to the jovial atmosphere of the party, the mood was generally somber. Whatever feelings they had when they were first told of Jackson’s plans had been thoroughly talked through and reconciled with.

The large, open room at the top of the tower gave everyone except Adabelle pause. A whole mess of magical circles had been drawn all over the floors, walls, and ceiling, each with some strange gemstone in the middle of them. Sapphire teardrops, rubies that looked like fire, quartz that seemed almost as transparent as the breeze, and more were affixed in ways that the other Summoned had never seen before.

Sitting over the usual summoning circle in the middle of the room was one at least twice the size as the next largest. It had five circles just inside the edges that Trevor assumed were for them, and one large one in the middle. Several of the gemstones littered this one, too. As he gazed over the room as a whole, the young man had the feeling that he could study this for years and still not have enough information to discover what the pattern was.

“Thank you all for coming,” Jackson said, approaching them while making sure not to mess with any of the circles drawn on the ground.

“Of course we were coming, Jack,” Wayne said. “You asked us to, and we’re here.”

“Meow,” Mr. Tiggles said from Rashie’s arms.

“The ritual has a somewhat long startup time, so please, come and sit.” The mayor waved them over, and they were just as careful where they stepped as he had been.

As Jackson moved to the center of the main magic circle, he directed everyone around him. Trevor gave Adabelle’s hand one more squeeze before moving to his designated spot and sat on the ground. There was more than enough room for him inside, and he could get comfortable.

Rashie set down Mr. Tiggles and pointed a finger at him. “Stay, kitty.”

“Meow,” the cat replied, though he did sit down to groom himself. Rashie moved to the last remaining circle.

As soon as she did, the whole setup began to glow. It started with the gemstones inside the main ritual circle, but slowly spread throughout the room. Trevor felt his body begin to tingle in a way very similar to the way it had when the Queen of the Feywood pulled the incomplete curse out of him, or when he allowed Adabelle’s key access to his home.

“You want to explain what’s going on, Jack?” Wayne asked, frowning down at the circle he had seated himself in. The other helpers did the same.

“First of all, I assure that none of you will be harmed by this circle,” the mayor said as he remained standing. “You will be tired, but you will be fine otherwise.”

“To actually answer your question,” Adabelle started. Trevor glanced over at her, and saw that she was sitting on her heels and had grabbed her tail in both hands to hold on her lap. “He’s using our admittedly weak connection with our original worlds to open a rift out of this one.”

“That is precisely right,” Jackson said with a nod. “Imagine every world out there as marbles in a bag. Using this ritual, I’m going to land somewhere in the middle of all of your original marbles, though it’s probably going to be closer to Trevor’s Earth because his connection is the strongest on account of still being able to go back, so I may be close to Wayne’s world as well.”

As Trevor checked the now incredibly thin line on his bicep, Wayne spoke. “You know, old man, you never did get around to telling us what the difference between our worlds was.”

Jackson paused. “No, I suppose I haven’t,” he said with a chuckle before folding his hands in front of him. “I’m not sure if it’s even worth telling you both. It’s such a little thing.”

“Please?” Trevor requested.

“Spill it,” Wayne said at the same time.

Smiling, Jackson nodded. “Very well. Wayne, what was the name of those storybooks you read to your son? About the bears.”

Wayne cocked an eyebrow. “The Berenstein Bears?” he answered.

"Yes, that's right."

Trevor blinked. “No, that’s not right,” the young man said. “My parents read that to me, too, and it was definitely the Berenstain Bears. Stain, not stein.”

The two Americans looked at each other for a moment, eyes narrowed until they widened at almost the same time. “Is that really it!?” Wayne yelled.

“That’s such a stupid difference!” Trevor laughed.

“Yes, it is a really minor detail,” Jackson admitted, amused. “Basically, anything that can be attributed to the Mandela effect can be seen as bleed over from your two particular worlds bumping into each other. There's a whole cluster of Earths that go through this process actually. Interesting, for sure. Harmless, but a source of confusion nonetheless.”

“Um, Jackson?” Rashie interrupted as Trevor and Wayne shared a glance.

“Yes, Rashie?”

The shark girl fidgeted in her circle, holding onto her tail much like Adabelle was, and clearly hesitated. “Does that mean you won’t go to my world?”

Jackson smiled and crouched down to her level. “It’s still in the realm of possibility,” he said. “But you don’t really care about that, do you? You just want me to turn into a big squid monster, right?”

“I mean, if it’s not too much trouble,” Rashie admitted. “You can always stay if you don’t think you can do it.”

“Are you having second thoughts on sending me off?”

Shaking her head, the shark girl sniffed loudly. “No, I just want you to be safe.”

The elf’s smile deepened as he stood up straight. “Don’t you worry about me. I’ve had a long life, much longer than anyone realizes, and I’ll be fine so long as I have this,” he said, pulling out a small device from his pocket.

It was pitch black aside from a blinking red light and looked like a bracelet, though it had six arms made up three pairs that didn’t quite meet in the middle. Jackson regarded it fondly, like a friend seeing someone they were once close to years ago.

“What is it?” Adabelle asked.

Jackson sighed and started pacing. “I am from an Earth, too,” he admitted. “Originally, we had no magic, normal technology, nothing major to differentiate us from any Earth, just more minor things. But, we were visited by another world.”

Settling down, the elf continued. “A single person came through a portal that showed up in, oh what was it, I believe it was Los Angeles during rush hour,” he said, turning to look at Adabelle and Rashie. “Take Eskretet, make it a thousand times bigger, and then regard the traffic as the same as it is during the festival for all but the wee hours of the night and you’ve got Los Angeles.”

Both the woman and girl blinked at him, trying to comprehend it, when Wayne nodded. “Yeah, that’s about the right of it,” he confirmed. “But that doesn’t tell us what that is.”This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“I’m getting there, Wayne, hold your horses,” Jackson chuckled. “Their world needed help, because it was being invaded by another. In a last ditch effort, they reached out to find heroes because their side was losing. Not everyone could go through the portal, however, otherwise America’s military alone could have handled things. No, less than 1% of the population could transition to the other side, and because it meant they could bring magic back into my world, it became a big thing all over the globe.

“I was in the last iteration of heroes, which was when I received this.” Jackson held up the strange bracelet to regard it before placing it on the back of his neck. It shifted and contoured itself to better fit the elf, causing the man to wince, but it was over in moments and he continued with a sigh. “This miraculous device was the cream of the crop back then, built with magic technology I haven’t seen since.”

“So what is it,” Wayne said more than asked.

“It’s called a Human-Magic Interface Apparatus, or HMIA," Jackson finally answered. "The AI inside of it was meant to help me take in the ambient mana of the world to give us game-like powers. We had the capacity to use magic, but no way of actually doing it except with tools such as this. This made it so any time we completed a quest or defeated a monster, we grew stronger quick, fast, and in a hurry.”

“That sounds kind of like the Quest Master,” Trevor noted slowly. “But for individuals?”

“Exactly right, young man,” Jackson confirmed. “And, in fact, the AI inside the HMIA is the base I used to create the Quest Master.”

“You made the Quest Master?” Adabelle stammered.

Jackson smirked. “I believe the Quest Master can speak for itself.”

To everyone’s surprise, they all saw the message.

[[I sure can!

I am an offshoot of the HMIA that was woven into the magic summoning rituals Jackson created within his first hundred years. Of course, I'm way better than any AI by leagues. Especially that one, though I understand why he's sentimental about it.

And don’t you all worry, I’m not going anywhere as I’m fully integrated into the world and the rituals. You are stuck with me until there are no Summoned left, and even then I can still be around if more come. Jackson didn't invent the idea of the Summoned, after all, just revolutionized it.]]

"Earth AI, huh? That explains a lot, actually," Trevor stated. "Uh, no offense or anything."

[[None taken... This time.]]

“That’s…” Adabelle started before frowning. “That’s a really heavy piece of information to take in, Jackson.”

“I’ve left all my notes for you in your new home, Lady Adabelle,” Jackson said as he smiled down at her. The gems were starting to glow brighter, and he sighed. “Listen, all of you. I have not always been successful in my goals. I’ve not always gone above and beyond, like Adabelle, or been efficient like Wayne. I haven’t always been happy, like Rashie, or true to myself like Mr. Tiggles…”

Jackson turned to face Trevor, and gave him a small smile. “I haven’t always cared like Trevor,” he continued before looking at everyone in turn. “I have had a lot of time to collect myself as I lived here as an elf. I’m not the same goofy oddball I was on my Earth, nor the angry delinquent I was in my second world, nor the reclusive deviant I was in my third. I have something from each of you now. And, in this next world I’m going to, I’m going to do my best to exemplify the traits I have seen in all of you. My friends.”

“You’re going to be just fine, old friend,” Wayne said, standing up as he wiped tears from eyes.

“And if you need help, find a way to come back,” Rashie added, standing up as well. “You can come visit even if you’re not a giant tentacle monster. I won’t hold it against you.”

“There better be a way to find you, Jackson,” Adabelle sniffed as she, too, stood up. “Because if there’s not, I’m going to have to search for you the hard way.”

Jackson chuckled. “I know. I don’t believe in forever goodbyes, and I fully expect to see you all again. Maybe not in this life, but the next. There are a lot of universes out there, and time stretches on forever.” He looked back at Mr. Tiggles, and saw that the cat was sleeping, and he laughed. “Oh, I'm going to miss you, Mr. Tiggles. You all make sure he stays well fed and happy while I'm gone.”

Trevor was the last to stand up. “What’s your name?” he asked. Jackson turned away from the cat to regard Trevor curiously. “You basically saved me from myself by bringing me here. I know it wasn’t intentional for it to be me, but I want to know the name of the man who did that for me. Jackson what? Or, what Jackson?”

Trevor saw a glimpse of a smile on the old elf's face just before the gems bathed the room in intense white light. “I'm only known as Jackson here,” he replied. “My Earth name is Keith, young man. Keith Carr.“

The light disappeared all at once, revealing that everyone had shielded their eyes. Once they blinked away the afterimage, they saw that the magic circles had all been erased from the walls and the gems were missing.

Just like Jackson.

Everyone stared at the center of the room before Wayne cleared his throat and looked towards the sky. “Quest Master, did it work?”

[[It did. I don’t know exactly where he’s gone, but Jackson has completely left this world.

It’s a sad occasion, but don’t be too down. I made sure that I’m still connected to the HMIA by the barest of strings. He has a lifeline back to all of us, should he need it. It may not be as an elf, or a human, or a giant sixty foot long squid monster with claws at the end of its tentacles, but he is likely to return to this world someday. When he does, I’ll be waiting, even if no one else is.]]

“Thank you, Quest Master,” Adabelle said as she stumbled over to Trevor. She leaned towards him and put her forehead on his shoulder, and he gathered her into a hug. Rashie joined them after picking up Mr. Tiggles, and Wayne brought it in.

There were no more tears, but everyone felt the sanguine mood.

“Wayne,” Rashie said quietly.

“Yes, Rashie?”

“I don’t want to be alone tonight,” she admitted. “Do you think I can sleep at your place?”

“That depends, shark,” Wayne said. “You can crash on the couch, but are you going to eat all of my pillows if you have a nightmare again?”

“That only happened once.”

“That happened three times, Rashie,” he chastised gently.

“Then what’s a fourth?” she asked.

The dwarf snorted. “I suppose we can steal the pillows out of Addy’s house when she leaves.”

“I think not,” the demonkin protested. “I’m planning on taking those when I move into the mayor’s house. The bed, too, because it’s specifically made to accommodate my horns. Trevor, I haven’t asked yet but I would greatly appreciate it if you helped me move, by the way.”

“Aww, really?” he replied with an exaggerated sigh. “That was one of my biggest fears when I was talking to the Quest Master about my Power. I thought I was wrong at the time, but now it’s really coming true.”

[[That’s true, actually. When he found out that he would have the Power of Inventory, he groaned and said, “now everyone’s going to ask me to help them move!”]]

“Wow, alright, telling everyone that sounds like a breach of privacy,” Trevor said over everyone else’s light laughter before smiling at his girlfriend. “I don’t have any problem with it, lady.”

“Alright, well, I’m going to go before I get roped into it,” Wayne said, backing away from the group hug. “Rashie, you coming?”

The shark girl buried her face in Adabelle’s leg before leaving them and heading towards the dwarf. “Can we eat before bed?”

“Now? It’s the middle of the night.”

“So?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll make something for you, kiddo,” Wayne said as he picked her up and placed her and Mr. Tiggles on his shoulder. Before he descended the stairs, he looked back and gave Adabelle and Trevor a nod. “Everything’s going to be just fine, right?”

“Right,” Adabelle agreed, nodding as she pulled away from Trevor.

“Right,” Trevor echoed.

“Good, then we’ll see you tomorrow. Mayor, cinnamon roll,” he drawled with another nod before heading downstairs.

As soon as he was gone, Trevor turned to Adabelle and took both of her hands in his. “How are you?”

The demonkin thought about it for a moment before offering him a thin smile. “I think I got out most of my grievances during the party. It is sad, but the fact that even the Quest Master was reluctant to let him go without a way to get back makes me-“ She stopped, eyes scanning in front of her. “No, that’s exactly what you did and I won’t read another word of you trying to say it’s not.”

Trevor smirked. “Giving you a hard time?”

“It’s trying to, but it’ll never succeed,” Adabelle said. She hesitated before pulling him back into a tight hug. “Trevor, you were serious about what you said back in the suite, right?”

“Which part? The one where I said the pinnacle of our relationship was spending the time getting to know you?” Trevor asked.

“No, but that’s a part of it,” she said quietly. “Look, Son of Ander, I’m a little emotionally run down at the moment. This past week has had a lot of ups and downs, and I would like a serious answer from you.”

“I know what you’re talking about,” Trevor gently replied. He pulled away from her, though he kept a hand in hers. She looked at him with concern as he pulled up the sleeve of his tattooed arm. His bicep had a single, razor-thin line around it. “Quest Master, t-minus how long?”

“Trevor?” she asked worriedly, watching the line as it disappeared completely.

[[Well, Jackson had it right. It sure did last as long as it takes to tell a story.

Trevor Anderson, by the ritual that summoned you, you have the rare chance to go back to the world you came from. This is a one-time opportunity, and you will not be receiving it again no matter how much you may beg, plead, or bargain. You have a whole day to make your decision.

But we already know what it is, so why don’t you say it before your girlfriend has an anxiety attack.]]

“Quest Master,” Trevor started as he pulled his eyes away from his now tattoo-free bicep. He stared into Adabelle’s eyes, noting for the first time something resembling fear in her features. The young man smiled. “Let the record show that nothing, absolutely nothing, will be enough to pull me away from my fantastic friends, this beautiful world, and especially not this wonderful woman."

Adabelle’s eyes started tearing up as relief flooded her face at his words. "You've taken a liking to me, have you?"

"More than just a liking, perhaps," he admitted. "But let me make myself perfectly clear, lady. It would take more than hell or high water to take me away from you. I’m staying right here.”

[[Yeah, yeah, we all get it. Just kiss her already.]]

Adabelle threw herself at him, causing the young man to stumble backwards, before they kissed again.

And even though the night was melancholic, the promise of a bright, loving future made sure that all was still right in the small town of Tosa.