Chapter 14- Arrival

Dubs awoke in an unfamiliar bed. He gazed around him, noticing that the orientation of the room had changed.

"Where am I? This is not the room I fell asleep in.", Dubs pondered.

Dubs reached for his side and felt the cold metal of the dagger, and he rubbed his fingers across the engravings.

"It doesn't seem as if I've been robbed or kidnapped, but this room seems to be oddly similar to the previous one I slept in. Why is the window on the opposite side of the room though?"

Dubs slid out of bed and peeked out of the door. The same hallway as before presented itself before him, and it was dimly lit by the first few beams of the sun in the early morning.

The door to the room he previously laid in remained wide open, and inside the room was a horrifying sight.

The bed was removed, and there was a gaping hole in the floor. Dubs realized that dirt and grime covered his body and clothes, and that the hole in the floor did not seem to be something that was smoothly cut.

There were splinters of wood surrounding the hole, as if someone had forcefully torn the floor from its base.

"It seems like I've done it again. I didn't pay much attention to this when I was trapped in the lab, but now that i'm outside the lab I'm going to have to get a better control on things. How am I supposed to stop these occurrences though?" Dubs wondered

During his time in the labs, he often awoke to see a scene of destruction surrounding him. The first time this had occurred was when Dubs was 8 years old- three years into his initial experimentation past the incubation phase.

At first, Dubs was terrified by these occurrences, but as time passed on he had accepted them to be a regular event that was out of his control. Since Dubs had never needed to maintain good relations with the people experimenting on him, he never bothered to stop it from happening.

Now that Dubs had joined the resistance, it would harm his reputation among them if he couldn't control his other side. He deduced that he should try to get a better handle on it, but couldn't figure out how to do so.

"Well, thinking too much about this isn't going to do me any good. I'll just leave it in the back of my mind in case a way to solve this problem comes up. The best thing to do for now would be to lock myself up in my sleep to prevent anything from happening. "

This would prove to be an arduous task as well, as Dubs would not have an easy time constructing a space that would be able to contain his other self, however he would become a scientist and begin to research magic to work towards this purpose.

"At the very least, I now have a goal to work towards. I should go and apologize to the others, and figure out what they intend to do from here on out.", Dubs decided.

Walking down the stairs Dubs heard the clanking of dishes and some light footsteps. He saw the three party members having breakfast in the kitchen, and Clark was once again handling the cooking.

Lilith looked up fearfully, and seemed to be tormented by Dubs presence.

Ivan gave him a cold stare but slowly walked closer to Dubs

In the room to the right, these was a gaping hole in the floor that dug into the foundation of the manor. Dirt and grime was spewed across the living room in all directions, and Dubs put his hand behind his head, scratching himself, and gave a short smile.

"Heh heh. Sorry about whatever mess I caused last night. It didn't occur to me that my other self would cause such a mess for you guys. I hope nobody got hurt. Were you enough to deal with him?"

Dubs asked Ivan

Ivan relaxed himself and began to pace back and forth. "Well, he certainly was a handful, and he wanted to destroy everything. He didn't harm anyone, and while he was nuts I didn't sense any killing intent towards us. It seems your subconscious has enough control over him so that he will not harm any of the people who will assist you."

"I see..." Dubs began to think once again. "This is the first time I've ever had this happen among people who weren't out to attack me. I guess as crazy as my other self is, he still works in his own self interest, and it wouldn't benefit him if I were to die, or make enemies with the resistance. We may be on the same page then. "

"Well, I think you gave Lilith quite the scare, but in the resistance we're accustomed to being a step away from death at all times. Rest easy, we will help you to deal with him.", Ivan reassured Dubs.

"And he might even make for a useful ally, if we can get him on our side."

Dubs walked down the stairs and bowed to thank Ivan. "I'll do what I can to minimize the damage he causes, and I thank you for assisting me in this."

"Raise your head, Dubs. Were resistance members. We may have a hierarchy, but we don't belittle our lower level members. Every one of us is willing to sacrifice for the sake of the resistance, and no member here holds any more worth than another.", Ivan proudly proclaimed

Dubs raised his head and walked over to the table. Lilith, who was shaking from fear drew herself back. "I.. I'm sorry Dubs. I don't know what I saw last night, but it was beyond my imagination. I can't bring myself to be comfortable around you..." Lilith shyly admitted.

Dubs nodded and spoke. "I understand how you feel. I too was terrified when I first awoke to see that the entire lab had been destroyed, and I wondered what kind of monster could have done it. When I found out it was myself, I didn't even know what to think anymore. Eventually, I stopped concerning myself with him, but now that I have comrades lives on the line I will do everything I can to control him. Rest easy though for now, as my other self will only emerge when at night."

Lilith, unconvincingly mumbled "mhm" and Dubs began to eat his breakfast.

It looked like this was not something that could be solved so easily.

After the team had finished eating, Reagan came downstairs. "Look at you, all nice and ready to set out, Dubs! I had a whole lot of fun gathering data on you last night. Do you really have to leave so soon? I wouldn't mind keeping you here for a little while longer." Reagan eagerly offered.

Ivan stopped her before Dubs could respond. "No, we have duties to attend to back in Lardis. As beneficial as it may be for him to stay here to gather data, I won't have time to travel back here when you've finished up your experiments. Since Dubs is not able to control any magic, he obviously cannot travel to Lardis alone, however when I have trained him sufficiently if he wishes I will send him here to try to deal with his other self in an environment that is sufficiently stable. Make preparations for that day, and try to build a lab that his other self wont destroy in the meantime, alright?"

Reagan put on a dissapointed expression at first, and agreed. "Fiiiine. I'll make preparations in the meantime. Goodbye Dubs, I cant wait for you to come back!"

Reagan gave Dubs a hug and Dubs stayed perfectly still. He didn't trust this woman, but he agreed that she might be able to help him overcome this challenge.

Dubs slowly brought his arms to hug her and then let go, ready to depart.

Clark and Lilith stood up from their seats and headed towards the exit.

Ivan gave Reagan a stare and demanded "Return the crows."

Reagan let out an annoyed sigh, and with a wave of her hand a flock of the red eyed crows flew in through the windows, causing a ruckus withing the house. Each one had a different colored aura surrounding its feet, and as they came close to Reagan they merged into her body.

"You're no fun as always Ivan.", Reagan complained

"Ivan turned towards Dubs and Lilith. "Those crows are her surveillance crew, and they are the ones who planted the traps that surround the manor. We won't have to deal with those on the way out."

Dubs took off the glasses that had allowed him to see the manor and gave them back to Ivan, who put them away within his jacket. The manor remained visible, as he was still within it.

The four of them exited the door and waved goodbye to Reagan. After exiting the gate, the manor vanished before Dubs eyes.

Ivan addressed Dubs once more. "When you learn to control your magic you will be able to direct it to your eyes so that you can see through the barriers and stealth techniques that are typically used. I'll teach you these things in due time, but for now we head back to the base. Lets set out."

Ivan took the lead once again and the three followed in suit. After a few hours of sledging through the swamp they came upon a forest region.

Oak trees spread across the horizon, and there seemed to be only a few gaps between them to walk.

"It will get a little bumpy from here, but we are soon to arrive at the entrance of Lardis." Ivan claimed.

Mushrooms sprouted from the roots of the trees of all different colors. Dubs and the party climbed over the thick roots and marched their way through the forest slowly.

Brushing through a patch of bushes, a stone tower appeared in front of Dubs, with a metal door and a few guards standing by.

"Alright then. Now you two, stay quiet and play along with what I say. We can't afford to attract any attention here." Ivan stated.

Dubs and Lilith nodded and Ivan began to lead the party towards the guards.