The Watch – Part 190:

(In Tom’s perspective)

‘Are you two going to be alright for a while whilst I go back?’ Sebastian asked.

‘Yeah, we’ll be fine,’ Amy said.

‘You sure?’ he pressed. ‘You did just go through the Void after all. And you, Tom, that was your first time. To be honest, I’m quite surprised that you are as strong as you are. Amy and I both fell asleep as soon as we reached the other end.’

‘You know me, mate,’ I said, burping. ‘Besides, what’s the worst that can happen?’ I joked.

‘Oh, you really don’t want to be asking that,’ Sebastian chuckled with a hint of seriousness. That was all I needed to know. His fingers danced across the watch’s screen: His clothes gradually changed from everyday clothes to a really rather nice-looking suit.

‘Right, I’m off,’ He said casually, as if this is just another ordinary day to him.

‘Good luck,’ Amy said. ‘Hopefully, when you get back, I’ll be on my feet.’

He pressed one final button before he disappeared, leaving us two standing in a parallel universe on a planet this is near identical, if not completely, to our one, and that’s something that I need time to fully comprehend.

‘Do you have a tissue,’ I said as felt as if I wanted to throw up again.

‘Ewwwww,’ Amy said only now realising that I have been sick. Twice.

‘I’ll take that as a no, then,’ I said concentrating as hard as I can not to be sick.

‘Well, what do you expect? I don’t have my bag, and even then I wouldn’t want to come anywhere near that,’ she said indicating the…

I kept myself talking as that seemed to keep myself calm.

‘It’s strange to be standing on an alien planet,’ I said looking around and seeing nothing but wide open space with a few trees here and there around the perimeter.’

‘Tell be about it,’ Amy said with a sigh, ‘I thought we would be taking a trip to another universe on our own accord, not because of a sudden apocalyptic disaster. I mean, where on Earth did those meteorites come from?’

‘Not on Earth, I can assure you of that,’ I smiled.

‘Very funny,’ Amy said cocking her head as if to say ‘smart ass’

‘Sorry, couldn’t help myself.’

‘I know.’

‘You know, I still can’t get my head around that Sebastian is now, I mean right now, saving the world. That’s incredible.’

‘You’re not going to go all fan-boy, are you?’ Amy said worriedly.

‘No,’ I said quickly.

‘You didn’t hesitate, meaning you were about to.’

‘Hey, that’s not fair. If I had hesitated you would have had a go at me as well,’ I said a little hurt.

She shrugged, ‘I’m just saying, that’s all.’

I was about to retort with an angry comeback, but then I realised that I was a little bit over the top. ‘Yeah,’ I admitted. Amy smiled.

‘Call it a side-effect of travelling through the Void,’ I tried to compromise.

‘Sure,’ Amy said not believing me, but that’ll do. ‘Are you alright?’ she asked after a couple of seconds of silence.

‘I am now. I don’t feel as I want to hurl anymore. I’m not looking forward to the return trip, though.’

‘Sebastian said that we will get used to travelling through the Void the more times we do it,’ Amy explained.

‘I’m glad that’s a thing,’ I said. ‘How many times do you think he’s travelled through the Void?’ I asked.

‘As far as I know, he’s only gone to two parallel universes, so that means, approximately, four times?’ she guessed. ‘He’s certainly become immune to the effects, which is something I am really looking forward to. I wouldn’t mind getting up.’

‘Here,’ I said giving her my hand.

‘Thanks, but if I attempt to stand, I might fall back down. I’ll wait until I’m certain, if that’s alright.’

‘I can’t believe you got to travel through the Void before me.’

‘Yeah, well, you know what happened,’ Amy said matter-of-factly.’

‘I know,’ I didn’t want to ask this question, but it came out before I had the chance to contain it.

‘I think it was a little over the top to send her away like he did.’

‘You mean taking a version of me who didn’t know who he was to another world and leaving her there,’ Amy elaborated for me. She then sighed. ‘I do, too. And so do him. That’s why he made that promise never to do that again, no matter what. He acted upon the only decision that he was presented with at the time, especially in the time frame he had. You should have seen him when he opened up to me afterwards. I felt really bad. Terrible even. That’s when he made that promise, and that kind of development doesn’t come cheaply, as harsh as it sounds. He’s moved on from it as best he can, so we should, too.’

‘Sorry I brought it up,’ I said bowing my head.

‘No, I’m glad you did. The last thing you want to happen is for it to explode out of you uncontrollably and cause another rift in your relationship. In my opinion, I was surprised you even came back, even though I kept telling myself that you would.’

‘I never knew you were this insightful. You’re very good with your words.’

‘So I’ve been told,’ Amy said proudly.

‘And I’m sure he has told you in more ways than just words.’

‘That’s private,’ Amy said quickly.

‘You didn’t hesitate meaning it’s true.’

Amy knew that I had evened the score. ‘One all?’ she offered.

‘One all,’ I agreed.

‘That was a mean move, you know.’

‘But tactful,’ I said.

‘No. A bad way to change the subject.’

We slipped into natural silence whilst we waited for Sebastian to come back.

‘You know, I’m surprised he hasn’t come back yet,’ I said, ‘considering that he has the ability to travel in time, I would have thought he would have come back only a couple of seconds after he left.’

‘Oh, look at you being clever.’

‘Yeah,’ I said in a quick and obvious manner, ‘but you must admit it’s strange.’

‘Actually, now that you mention it, it is rather strange.’

‘What do you think is happening?’ I asked.

‘I don’t know.’

Then the field flickered and disappeared.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)