“I’m selling the land,” Ken told Jason. “In the end, it was a project to help me get over the loss of my son, and my boy came back to me.”
Ken caught Jason in a hug. Even when the family wearied him the most, his father’s warm and undemanding support was a balm.
“I’ve decided to look towards the future, instead of the past,” Ken said. “I’m going to help Hiro in his project. We’re going to build something for the family.”
“You were hesitant about taking essences,” Jason said. “That’s going to be a major magical endeavour.”
Ken shook his head.
“I’ve been thinking about it a lot,” he said. “There was a time that you needed me, and I wasn’t there. That’s not happening again. If this is your world now, then I’m in. All the way.”
Jason’s face broke into a smile, and he hugged his father again.
“You know,” Jason said, “Kaito can conjure a helicopter out of thin air now.”
“Is it Airwolf?” asked Ken, the original sinner of his children’s obsession with eighties action-adventure shows.
“Kind of,” Jason said. “It’s the same company that made the Bell 222, except it’s a concept helicopter. They haven’t even made a working prototype yet, according to Kai. It kind of looks like a sci-fi submarine.”
“Nice. Does that mean I could magic up a talking Trans-am?”
“I’ve already got a talking car, Dad. You don’t want a Team Knight Rider situation.”
“No, you don’t,” Ken said, shaking his head. “That boy Taika, what is in his head?”
“I know he got involved in some bad stuff when he was younger, back in New Zealand,” Jason said. “His father got him out and brought the whole family to Australia. Probably because he heard about the Team Knight Rider thing and knew his son was on a bad path.”
Farrah shook her head. “Can we just move on to the magic powers, please?”
“You know,” Ken said, “I saw those mirage chambers in your recordings. You could use them to make a show about a knight with a talking horse that solves crime.”
“A black horse with red eyes,” Jason said.
“Exactly,” Ken agreed.
Farrah put an exasperated hand over her eyes.
“They picked the wrong guy to save the world,” she grumbled.
73
I NEED TIME
Jason heard Hiro, Ken and Farrah having a discussion as he trudged through his houseboat towards the bar lounge.
“…point of setting it up this way is so that it can be modified as magical conditions change,” Farrah was explaining.
“Do you expect magical conditions to change?” Hiro asked.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Farrah looked up at Jason as he made his way through the door.
“For now,” she said, “let’s just say that I’m confident they will.”
Jason slumped into a chair and Shade approached, placing on the table a tray bearing an immaculately plated omelette, a large glass of juice and a neatly folded cloth napkin.
“Thanks, Shade,” Jason said with a tired smile. “You’re getting pretty good at this.”
“I have been watching the old episodes of Mrs Asano’s first cooking show on the internet,” Shade said. “It has many useful tips for people new to the methods and ingredients of this universe.”
Farrah, Hiro and Ken shared a look and got up, the men greeting Jason on their way out. Farrah dropped down into the seat opposite Jason.
“You look tired for a man who slept this late,” she said.
He didn’t answer immediately, having a forkful of omelette in his mouth. He took his time, chewing slowly before putting down his fork and dabbing at his mouth with his napkin.
“I’ve been thinking about when you and I first met,” Jason said. “Not the very first part, with the sacrificing and the shovel.”
“I think that was mostly you.”
“I’m talking about the little village with the waterfall.”
“Didn’t I see that village getting destroyed in your recordings?”
“You did,” Jason said.
“You seem to have some fate with that village,” Farrah said. “Every time you go there, you’re protecting it from monsters.”
“Not protecting it well enough. At least the people got out, but their homes were razed to the ground. The Duke sent funds, so hopefully, they’re back and resettled by now. I was thinking about before all that, when the three of us were passing through. I was so lost, still half-convinced that I’d gone mad. I knew almost nothing of where I was and what was happening, and what I did know, I didn’t believe.”
“I remember,” Farrah said. “You were kind of a mess. Although you befriended that whole town in about a day.”
“Those people were the first thing that made sense to me,” Jason said. “They reminded me of Uncle Robbo. My mum’s whole side of the family, really, except Mum herself. I used to spend a lot of time with them because it annoyed her. She didn’t like to be reminded that she came from common stock.”
“I’ve met your Uncle Robbo I think twice,” Farrah said. “I still like him more than her.”
“That’s a common reaction. So, I was in this village, with no idea of what to do and caught up with strangers that, to me, were very strange indeed.”
“I’m not strange,” Farrah said.
“That depends on context.”
“Speak for yourself,” Farrah said. “I used to think everyone from your world was strange, but it’s really just you, your sister, and your sister’s kid. You’re all weird, irrespective of context.”
“Anyway,” Jason said. “The point is that I was feeling completely adrift. No direction, no purpose. That was when Rufus told me something that was really important to my time in your world. This one too, really.”
“If you say so,” Farrah said. “I mostly remember Rufus kicking Anisa off the contract.”
“He told me that your world was a chance to reinvent myself. To become the person I wanted to be, without the baggage of my old life. I didn’t always succeed, but I always tried.”
“Ah,” Farrah said. “Now you find yourself back here and weighed down with all that baggage you put aside.”
“Exactly. I don’t think reconnecting with who I used to be is intrinsically bad, though. Back then, I was a na?ve idealist who had never had his principles put to the test. It felt like every time my ideals were put under strain, they crumbled. I think it’s good for me to take another look at those principles. Yes, they were foolish and innocent, but they also represented ideals that I think are worth striving for.”
“You want to be the best of both worlds.”
“Literally. The problem is, I feel like I’m becoming the worst of them. All the baggage from here bringing out the reactionary aggression that kept me alive over there.”
“The solution seems obvious. Ever since you returned to your world, you’ve been introducing your family to magic, dealing with a world you never realised was full of magic, working to rescue me. Usually, more than one of those at the same time.”