The House of Yeel

Chapter 17: The Balancer





The room was gently lit by glowing orbs in all four corners. Yeel slid in carrying Jymoor’s corpse.

“The location is logical enough,” Yeel said to himself. “A course of exactly nineteen degrees from north, departing from the main fountain, which corresponds to the nineteen machines made by the genius Jegerni. Or perhaps some other algorithm was involved? No matter, here I am.”

An altar of shiny metal dominated the center of the room. It had a lid which lay open, revealing a wavy substance filling a central reservoir. A fist-sized pyramid glowed a dull green atop the device. One of Yeel’s tentacles whipped out and adjusted a setting. In response, a humanoid-shaped depression formed in the filling material of the altar.

Yeel reverently removed the moon armor and placed it aside. Then he put the body into the depression and arranged Jymoor’s arms and legs to fit.

“Hmm. I hope I took care to remember this correctly,” he said to himself.

Yeel engaged the mechanism by turning the green pyramid ninety degrees. The lid slid shut over Jymoor’s body.

A steady vibration made itself felt through the floor of the chamber. Yeel’s massive foot picked it up immediately. It was a steady droning thrum, building in energy.

Yeel fished through his reagents and brought out a tiny cluster of plant bulbs. He wrapped the bulbs in a loop of tentacle and crushed them, emitting a puff of tiny pink particles into the air. The faint cloud dissipated almost immediately.

Finally, the vibration peaked, causing a snap like a heavy timber cracking under a load.

The pyramid turned red briefly, and then returned to its familiar green glow. Yeel unlocked the device by returning the pyramid to its original position.

Then the lid slid open, revealing the person within. She looked similar to the previous occupant, though Yeel immediately noted subtle differences in clothing and physiology. Most notably, this creature was breathing.

She opened her eyes and bolted upright in the altar.

“Who are you? Where am I?”

“I am Yeel. This is my house.”

Jymoor blinked. “Yeel? That name is somehow familiar.”

“No matter.”

“This is your house?” She sat up. “Why am I so calm?”

“I haven’t brought you here to harm you,” Yeel hastily explained. “You’re calm for now, because I thought it best to lace the air with a sedative. That is, I cast a spell to keep you from being afraid.”

“What is this stone bed I’m on?” Jymoor ran her hand over the edge of the human-shaped depression.

“It is a machine. A magnificent machine called Jergerni’s Balancer.”

“I don’t recall ever hearing of such a machine. Why can’t I remember my arrival? This is unlike any place I’ve ever seen.”

“I’m sorry for the shock of it all. This is not your world. You’ve been brought to another.”

“Is that even possible?”

Jymoor stepped up out of the machine.

“It is. Don’t worry, you’ll find much is familiar here. You won’t have to start over completely from scratch. That might be depressing. Now, you live in this world.”

“Why?”

“This place is very much like the place from which I summoned you. So alike, there was a copy of you living here. But she died. So, I have brought you as a replacement.”

“If I replace myself…if I replace her here, then there is no me…at my old world.”

“Some universes have need of entities like Jymoor. Like you. Others have surpluses of them. Some universe needed her to be dead. This one needs her to be alive.”

Jymoor blinked.

“But why…why did you select a replacement to be like me…like her, when she failed?”

The new Jymoor saw a mirror on the wall and walked slowly toward it. Yeel followed.

“She was a good candidate. Circumstances conspired to end her reign quickly. But her qualities were very desirable in a Crescent Knight. She did not die a failure. She died a hero.”

“And I’m exactly like her?”

“Yes. No. You are a quantity that replaces her in this existence and is replaced by her in your existence in a way that improves the balance across the two. Usually this means you are very similar—unless someone has previously tampered with the balances before, in which case they started unequal and the trade was not equivalent. It would tend to balance them out. That is what I did in this case. Someone previously increased the power of a universe out there, probably selfishly, and this device made use of that difference, taking a bit out of your universe, to supply me with a living version of you instead of a dead one. Either that, or you are a net negative on whatever existence you enter, and I had it backward. Given what I know of you that seems unlikely.”

“I don’t want to know,” Jymoor said. She looked at herself in the mirror. “I think it’s still me, as far as I can tell,” she said.

“You have a sword at your hip,” Yeel said.

“I fence. My brother taught me,” Jymoor said. “Though honestly, I prefer a bow and arrow, which better suit a scout.”

“And you know no Yeel in your world?”

“Yeel? A creature of myth. Wait…are you…?”

“Yes. And your shadow worked with me, here.”

“In this world, I worked with Yeel…as the Crescent Knight! Now I know you’ve hypnotized me. This is impossible. It’s so ludicrous that I know it’s not true.”

“It is true. Please. Try to absorb this knowledge and remember it. Your doppelganger’s sacrifice should not be in vain. Your people need you in this copy of your world.”

“What’s going on?”

“A massive barbarian invasion. You and I are allied to stop it. I’ll give you your armor and show you around. The armor will help you to feel better.”

Yeel showed the new Jymoor how to wear the moon armor.

“The individual pieces feel heavy, but as you get most of it on, it lightens, or you strengthen, I’m not sure which since I haven’t worn it myself,” he said.

“It does feel…different,” she said. “I think maybe I’m still under your spell. All of this does not seem alarming.”

“Good, then you can get used to it for a while. I’ll tell you what I can.”

“I think I’ll need help, being in a different world. Shouldn’t I be mad that you’ve taken me here?”

“This world needs you more. And you can be more, here. The Crescent Knight. The scout who retrieved Yeel to aid your people.”

“Maybe.”

“Your teacher, Master Kasil, will help you. Her memory is much better than mine. No doubt she can tell you many details I’m not able to relate. Minutia, maybe, but in their totality it should help.”

“Master Kasil? Does she know I’m a…different version?”

“I told her you’ve been through a great trauma. Of a supernatural nature. She won’t be surprised if you act differently. She’ll simply teach you as best as she can, although now, since you already know the sword, you’ll presumably have more bad habits to break.”

“Thanks for the positive attitude,” Jymoor said.

“That’s exactly what the other Jymoor would say! Oh, and one more thing,” Yeel said. “I’m a horrible, rubbery, multitentacled monster. So don’t fall in love with me.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“Thank you for letting me know,” Jymoor said.

“It’s the least I could do,” Yeel answered.