This short story is basically a crossover between Dr. Strange and the Flash. Sadly, I don’t have the rights for neither of them. It was inspired by my last days as a student in Concordia University. And yes, the name Kristalina is a nod to Fantomina.
Axel
Part one
In between the seasons the leaves prepare to fall. An hour has passed and yet the pile of knowledge refuses to tumble down. Describing the sunlight as it passes through the window would be useless because no matter how many candles she burned through or if the lamp were standing or hanging or singing, the room would always remain dark. Perhaps that is why Kristalina never noticed that book, a certain book that sat behind the others all the way to the left on that one last shelf. The one book which remained silent. Watching her. Waiting.
During the last few weeks time had not been enough. The moon kept showing up early and her responsibilities were always draining sunlight. It was then that her neurones competed with the worst of thunderstorms and her breakfast lost its warmth. “Of course.”
“I don’t need more time!”
While the sun cruised through the sky her books kept jumping around from the table to the shelf and back again. Pages turned as the sun’s light moved from window to window. “Time manipulation. Time… manipulation… Time. Manipulation. I don’t want to travel through time. It’s just a simple manipulation.” Each newly opened book hurried the light away and her equation refused to show itself and as she climbed up the shelfs a ghost nearby lifted her hairs and a current ran through her fingers.
“Salut.”
The thundering book seemed to vibrate in her hand and dared to steal a smile from her. The title left her mind in stasis as she carefully climbed down the shelfs. Her stomach forced her to step on the rest of the lesser works, while her eyes showed her mind the theoretical background for the upcoming time manipulation. Her breakfast was tired of watching the sun pass through the windows, envious of her warmth but as Kristalina waved her hand her coffee recovered its joy. She devoured the delicious pages one after another as she began to understand her elegant solution.
The curious words were refreshing to her magical mind. Not unlike a scientific publication since the sentences didn’t make a lot of sense on their own for, they seem to stretch for pages at a time. Her disillusionment was greater than her discomfort. First, I have to figure out what time is. First. Later. Then what? She had asked the moon however the sun answered.
The sun locked eyes with her. She waved the star as she prepared her mind for the moon’s light. The sun refused to hide beneath the horizon. Without panic and just a little caution she peered through the window ready to ask the morning star what prevented her from moving but as soon as the street was in her view, she herself froze. The smile formed as soon as her mind realized what she had done.
The moon’s sister lingered above the skyline bathing in light the statues that adorned the streets. With the solution in her hands she returned to the pile of knowledge that little by little began to crumble. So deep was her mind into the Maelstrom that all else faded and her exquisite dark elixir seemed to have lost its hot embrace. With indifference it remained frozen. Ignoring the wave of her hand and every spell and every order she could conjure.
On any other day the cup would have bursted into flames reducing the entire building to ash. On any other day. Perhaps in another moment but not right now. Cold to the touch it remained and with trembling fingers she threatened to throw it down through the window ending its existence in that very instance but even without words and no soul to call its own the elixir challenged the witch’s commands. In this very instance! She repeated but her dull words got lost in time. Fine! I’ll just make another one of you!
However not even at the brink of oblivion did the elixir responded and in absolute defiance of the laws that comprise the physical world the dark elixir ignored even the mighty Gravity’s call!
Fear choked her cerebellum stealing the cup from her hand allowing Gravity to become its new master but in yet another stroke of terror she at last froze as her mind attempted to comprehend the apotheosis of her dark and exquisite elixir!
“This is ridiculous! “
Kristalina once again in control of the elixir looking down the delicious darkness questioned every spell and every thought. Cold it remained. So, in a stroke of misguided intelligence she reached for the bottom, sinking her fingers into the truth of the…
“Putain!”
With boiling blood and only two delicate fingers she let the weightless cup answer Gravity’s call but as soon as she detached herself so did the ancient one. For a second, the witch and the elixir looked at each other but she refused to lose the ultimate battle of wills against a soulless elixir so in a mad fury she sank her fingers and pulled down the elixir, breaking and making the laws of magical physics, using the song of Gravity to humble the dark elixir and remind it of its place in the universe.
“Tabarnac!”
With a burning finger and a satisfied tongue, she came to an irrevocable truth as she forgot the cup hanging without time.
“This is not going to work.”
Through the logical words of the thunderous book help was unfound. Oblivious to Kristalina’s needs through the window the book kissed the pavement. The screaming of the window stole the witch a tiny curse that reverberated across the no-time. With furious words she chased after the book of lightning which refused to compel to the rules previously established.
“Vraiment!?”
Indeed. The book relaxed amidst the statues in the street while bathing in the frozen silence of the sun. In the discomfort of the cold street she walked among the statues looking for her lost tantrum and wondering which head she had caused a concussion. The misplaced glass led her way. She found the scientific curse hidden beneath a frozen engine and began to recover her misplaced window. With each piece of the puzzle her stomach demanded more and more attention.
“Je sais. Je sais.”
Returning to her mausoleum she searched, singing to herself the recipe to end her stomach’s despair but no matter how much she juggled the notes from her cabinet no melody could be sung to nourish her. With thoughts interrupted she told herself, perhaps, with a little dark magic her kitchen would make itself useful for a change. So many choices but not a single solution. A hundred ideas had passed until the answer to the beast inside her became apparent and the logical part of her brain mocked the other one. The broken bread laid entombed in a plastic sarcophagus awaiting passage to the underworld and so she granted the one-day old bread its wish by measuring and weighting its organs for once everything was ready to be burned by domestic radiation and the prepared carcasses awaited the warm embrace of the dual prison that turned pale wheat into delicious coloured delight she gave the magic words life and one second became another. With sight regained the warm organs laid frozen inside the scientific oven and the carcasses that were once pale enjoyed a new color and with the guidance of Kristalina new life was found. A brief one yes but what a glorious life it was!
“Vive la grande torta!”
In time her roommate would be proud but for the expanded-now the triumph was all hers. However, her apartment was not. The delicious victory over the loss of time was wrongly swallowed as her body engaged all defences expecting the unexpected.
“That’s cheating.”
The spectre´s voice caressed her spine. The wonderful combination of flavour and genius was abandoned by both Gravity and the witch. Her lungs betrayed her as her heart screamed and her voiced shattered. The betrayal brought on by her genius prevented her voice to recover but little by little with one cough at a time her lungs restored life to her heart.
“Putain!”
“Are you alright Miss?”
Faster than Speed itself from within the fabric of outside time the inert air enjoyed a fleeting warmth that no one could say it really existed. With angel’s velocity everything in front of Kristalina trembled before the apparition. Lightless thunderbolts echoed in her skull.
“What are you doing in my house?!”
Gentle speed caressed her arms but with thunderous rage the spectre’s cheek was slapped and the blurred apparition walked in reverse fashion until the voice invaded her space once again. With apparent shame the voice apologized but the witch refused to share her breath.
“Does this form make you feel safer?”
The witch’s vocal storm threatened to undo the intruder’s new shape. The tight clothing wrapped around the strong body of the spectre sung with voiceless thunderbolts that against the rest of the frozen room they seemed to be quite reverse. With mirrored gestures and reflected face the spectre encountered the witch. A dead smile received the witch’s fury.
“Of course not! I don’t care if you look like a broken cup of coffee or a used sock! Just get out of my house! Get out you creepy ghost!”
Preferring the term spectre, the apparition clarified her shape and with worrying words fast truths shared with Kristalina who guarded herself in comforting and distant silence. A bite of her genius got in her way and as the reverse lightning tempted her eyes, her mouth thought on the right question for the situation. Refusing to move the spectre watched her new acquaintance while Kristalina stayed back, fearful of moving. What a strange person thought the spectre.
“Miss are you alright?”
I am fine she exclaimed! Fine as anyone would be after receiving a lightning-like ghost in one’s living room. With her face she looked toward the book of lightning but with her eyes she followed the spectre covered in reversed thunders.
“Yes miss, I am afraid this book is my property. I must have left it here when I studied at Sir George Williams University! I apologize. It is hard for a being such as I to properly keep track of time.”
Another bite of her genius kept her from speaking however the lightning in the spectre’s clothes had a hard time keeping up with her. The elastic clothes carried a piece of their time with them. The gentile ghost wore sympathy on her face while Kristalina battled with her nervous thoughts but as the spectre approached her steady mind, her heart began to jump. She commanded the spectre to remain still despite her speedy nature. Perhaps the owner of the thunderous book could be able to help her comprehend the mysterious equation that had taken over her world. So it was that as the lightning fast ghost delighted her eyes with the thunderous words, the witch remained invisible to the reverse being in front of her.
Uncomfortable and one-sided Silence made itself visible.
Nothing happened.
You are trapped in here as well… The question lingered in Kristalina’s busy mind, but her strong heart prevented her words from reaching the docile lightning that stood in her living room. But by magical divination an answer was presented. No. Not trapped but instead free! Free from everything and everywhen. Unlike you.
“Then just tell me how to get out because if you are not here to help then go and be free elsewhere.”
A thunderous clap closed the book of mystical science. Why such rudeness? It was all the witch’s fault; the book is not meant to be read by anyone. Only those who fulfill the requirements are allowed to comprehend the formula of liberation by velocity. But let it be known, the witch’s intelligence is impressive, and should not be ignored for being invested in other pursuits. I am really impressed that you managed to get here on your own miss, proclaimed the spectre of velocity. Veloz with a smile stared at the confusion.
“Really impressed indeed. The last tenant kept using my book to keep the table from tipping over.”
It was in that inexistence that fear took over her mouth while her arms shielded her from the uninvited spirit! Get out! Her voiced horror pierced through the spectre. The intangible being approached her but her heart and her mind casted fire into her eyes. “Get out now!”
And so, the spectre vanished. Sound exploded in front of Kristalina leaving her in isolation outside everywhen, with nothing but her busy brain and the hundreds of memories the spectre might have witnessed.
Alone she remained.
Part Two
The thunderous book forgotten, Kristalina laid in her vessel of dreams, hoping to enter the world of Morpheus but throughout the moonless night impotence coursed through her veins and not even the slammed door nor the obscured curtains allowed her to disappear into her dreams. Only her memories manifested inside her. The thousand and the hundred memories she kept of her life inside those walls. But lurking in the dark she knew now that there might had been a spectre of lightning. Just watching. Hopefully just watching.
After awakening from her anxious sleep and the curtain fell off the window, the sun made it clear that everything remained as she had left it, frozen in time. The nightmare was not over. As the sun was left hanging yet once again Kristalina walked towards the thunderous book, remembering the murdered excitement she had felt before.
“I apologize miss.”
Her body burnt. The air all around her collapsed and was broken down into electrons creating a reactive chain of destruction that filled the frozen home with self-destructive fear. The intangible spectre remained standing as Kristalina fell. Her lungs desperate for life betrayed her. In no time the spectre carried her to her room, back to the safety of her privacy. And once again life filled her blood.
“Don’t touch me!”
The blurred lightening paused and, in its place, the mirrored image of Kristalina stood wrapped in elastic clothes. With so much to explain, the spectre walked towards her, but the threat of fire stopped her from touching the witch. Stop! Kristalina demanded, stop doing that please, just choose a form! The witch proclaimed. You are terrifying as it is! The fear permeated the room, but the spectre’s voice decided to reach for the terrified busy mind and try to explain. Explain what? The only thing that needed explaining is how long had the uninvited one been there, how long had the uninvited one spied on her!
“We cannot talk like this miss. I’ll come back… tomorrow for you but later for me. Once you are calm. Just remember to save your breath.”
Again, a sonic destruction announced the spectre’s disappearance.
“Tabarnac”
Attempting to restrain her shaky hands she stepped on the frozen fake floor, but her heart reminded her that it was still in control. Only a few steps into her living room and her lungs betrayed her once again. The spectre’s words resurfaced from within her fresh memory. And so, she saved her breath. Inside her room. The only place where her fire hadn’t consumed the double structure that gives life. But as her heart finally surrendered control over her, her stomach began to make its claim and with interrupted thoughts she walked through the void in her house sensing her blood saturate itself with the waste of energy, returning several times to the safety of her room, short feat of courage after another she achieved her goal and once everything was ready she opened her source of knowledge and borrowed the words to give them life and so it was that after revealing her eyes once again the clock had agreed to let her world move ahead just one minute.
Now thirst scratched her throat but after a quick look towards the domestic fountain another epiphany came into being. And so, she was forced, no, she decided. Kristalina decided that a walk among the silent street statues was next, no other alternative was possible and so she ventured into the breach protected solely by her loyal coat to traverse the soft roads of the absent morning. Above the statues her partial window longed for a soft landing but with the help of a tall provider of life she quickly guided them to their proper destination.
Waiting for her, inside the artificial winter, her shapeless entropy delighted by her warm embrace followed her towards the keeper of joys and things. Kristalina walked among the forgotten statues until she found herself half asleep waiting to be called upon. Behind the frozen statues her mind was yet to find her. And so, she waited, for her turn, behind the statues, to be called.
Tais-toi! She told the frozen keeper of joys and things when her mind finally found her in the absent morning. She left her valued paper as she left with bottled entropy. Again, at home she flew through the void until she rested inside her private room where her finger lowered the liquid life until it reached her and once she was satisfied, the bottled entropy was left inverted, prepared to be called upon once again by the single touch of her word maker.
The rest of the absent day was spent, singing silently for an answer within the worlds of her knowledge as she danced around her shrinking liberty and she avoided sharing the same space with the thunderous book. As Kristalina lingered in the void preparing another delicious victory she felt a storm raging within her bowels. Merde! And faster than the spectre of velocity she disappeared into the room of fountains with her knowledge of time in her hands.
After unpleasant necessities her thoughts bounced back from the ceiling. It must be done, Il faut she whispered. The spectre’s words must be heard, she whispered to the domestic life giver in her arms as she allowed her thoughts and anxiety to be drowned by numbing dreams. The next day…
Vibrations knocked on her door, from wherever they came, they shook the walls of her frozen house and nothing more, for their owner waited in awkward politeness for her reply. Her delicious victory was interrupted by the voice of the reversed lightning who waited outside her door. With unclear voice the spectre remained uninvited. Through the door several apologies reached for the anxious mind. The truth seemed to await outside along with the living lightning so Kristalina tried to open her door, but her mind wouldn’t let her. How could the spectre know about the last tenant if not by spying? Interrupting her indecision through the door a vibrant hand slipped through the structural arrangement of reality. Veloz was the spectre’s name. How do you do? Asked the voice behind the locked door as Kristalina’s hand stroke the incomplete limb that phased through the frozen wood.
As both hands established the foundations of trust, the spectre’s body remained behind Kristalina’s protection but as she absorbed the hand’s light, she finally uttered the words and the uninvited guest received an invitation. Face to face and without panic Kristalina stood in front of her mirrored image wrapped in elastic lightning. Apologies were made for any inconveniences however, explanations remained wanted and the thunderous book demanded to be read by its true master. Being no ordinary ghost, Kristalina offered her reversed image a cup of her dark elixir wondering if it would disobey the spectre’s will as well. It is all vibrations really, the words uttered by the spectre reverberated through the frozen walls as the dark elixir subtly descended into the living lightning’s lips.
As the cup was emptied by the thirsty apparition, the witch released the thunderous book from Gravity’s grip and eagerly released it unto her bed next to the sitting spectre. An explanation was sure to be made at last.
It is a theory of course! And being able to walk through solid frozen objects doesn’t make one into a creeping ghost! The so-called thunderous book is not a compendium of incomprehensible spells and soft rules, it is a scientific theory of the upmost importance, unlike anything that has ever been feared or conceived. It is beyond any witch’s understanding. As Kristalina’s eyes played with fire and fear the spectre continued the one-sided conversation. Manipulation of matter on any given minute may seem all powerful to any other blessed ignorant but as any learned witch knows, there is always something new awaiting to be discovered.
A theory is unproven. Kristalina’s words surrounded the spectre’s ears and through the frozen light the witch admired the hanging star that failed to melt the frozen statues of the street. A theory is not complete, it is a certain uncertainty that forever vibrates and is without a solid form. A theory may only point to the truth, but it cannot hold it. The witch remained punctured by her own words as she realized that the spectre could not tell her why she was trapped outside time while her mirrored image was free to traverse anywhere.
An answer the spectre conjure could not. The theory which proven it was when she first disappeared into her accelerated existence was unreproducible by anything other than untimely accident. Kristalina being trapped outside of her world was no accident. Her words and her unhealthy obsession expelled time from her life. Books can only take time away because they are terrible at giving it back. The witch’s fault it was.
But how could I have known? And why was the book hiding in her house and not forgotten somewhere else? Inside the limbo of her own making the witch contemplated the silent space between them. Their jumping thoughts bounced from their head towards the wall and back at them.
It is an old book, the spectre claimed. Time moves different for you and very differently from me the mirrored image added. From all the phenomenons seen as the spirit of speed none had managed to stop Veloz’ mind like the witch’s, everyone is always trying to go back or skip a few steps ahead but staying in one place was just, not bizarre but also more than strange. From tomorrow to yesterday, all were silent subjects of time. What expectations did form inside a magical head? The spectre inquired.
I only wanted more time. How is a humble and tired student of magic words expected to finish her studies if time after night the knowledge always increases with exponential terror. Enough is not what I expected, time was nothing sort of infinite, always going and coming but never staying! Just as the words begin to reveal their secrets so does the night and the day flees with all concentration.
Look at me! And so Kristalina looked at her mirrored image and in her she saw her young face filled with hopes of dreams and curiosity for her future but underneath her logical eyes her untended self-began to strip the colour away from her passionate face. Reckless and tired she as herself behold. In her face time she saw none. In her face happiness she saw none. And the mirrored image of Kristalina finally spake with tenderless words. Help in her she could find but all she asked in exchange was that the witch with time and self-love absorbed not the endless stream of dead words under the music of the stars. All that the Spectre asked was that she looked for time not in magic words but that she for herself created her time. Not with careless sleep and tormented thought but with mirrored kindness and due time.
To the sun Kristalina looked in shame and enlightenment. Tired it was, and out of all the words she had carelessly absorbed none held the logical answer she sought, none illustrated the missing knowledge. And as tired as the sun, Kristalina looked at her mirrored image with the thunderous book imprisoned in her hands and with self-taught words she her eyes focused on the logical text of unproven theory and with finality and sufficient to stand she closed it. And at the right time asleep she fell under the rising moon.
FIN.
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