Paul stood as well, trying to ignore the hurt growing inside him. He really didn’t want to say good-bye to everyone. “Yeah, what’s the deal with the Chu thing? What happened back there?”
Master George stared at him, his face serious. “Two Alterants met, lad, face to face. Such a thing is a disaster-a complete disaster, always.”
“Why? What happens?” Paul asked.
“One survives, while the other is thrown into…” Master George looked about nervously. “Well, we don’t know for sure. But Reginald himself always called it the Nonex, and it’s something I hope to never encounter. Whenever Alterants meet like that, it causes a terrible disturbance in Chi’karda and the Realities. I wouldn’t be surprised if an entirely new Reality, perhaps even solid enough to be a main branch, was formed from this. Dreadful, really.”
Paul rubbed his eyes and temples. “My head hurts.”
“Yes, yes, off you go,” Master George said, shooing them away from Tick. “It’s time for you to go home. Rutger, please fetch my Barrier Wand.”
Chapter 51
Tick didn’t know how much time passed between the instant he grew aware of himself and the moment he opened his eyes. An hour maybe. Possibly two.
It was the pain that kept him hiding in his own darkness. Terrible, terrible pain, right in the middle of his skull, as if he’d spent the last week lending his head out as a neighborhood speed bump.
But he finally slid his eyelids open, scared the light would only make it worse but having no choice.
Master George sat in a chair to his left, leaning over him with a huge smile on his ruddy, puffy face. Sato sat to Tick’s right, his face swollen but somehow cheerful-for him, anyway.
Tick started to get up, but only made it an inch before thumps of pain slammed his brain like hard fists.
“Now, now, Tick,” Master George said, placing a hand on Tick’s arm. “Let’s not be hasty. You’ve been through quite an ordeal.”
Tick had squeezed his eyes shut again, but forced them open. “What
… what happened? Chu was there… and Mistress Jane… and a huge Barrier Wand-”
Master George patted his arm. “Yes, yes, we know much of what happened, thanks to Sofia. Though I’m quite anxious to debrief you about what happened from the time you left your two friends to the time Sofia knocked you senseless. Quite anxious indeed.”
“Tick,” Sato said, almost a whisper.
Tick tilted his head to the right, raised his eyebrows. “Yeah?”
“You’ve made me very unhappy. As soon as you’re better, I’m going to punch you in the ear.”
“Huh?”
Tick could only remember Sato smiling once during the few times they’d been together, but something close to a grin broke across the boy’s face.
“Twice, now, you have saved me,” Sato said. “You’re making me look bad.”
“I saved you?” Tick asked, then looked at Master George. “The antidote hit the thing? It worked? Last I remember, the whole place was about to fall down.”
“Atticus,” Master George said. “You’re in no condition right now to learn the things you need to about what happened in Chu’s black mountain. Just know that you’re safe and Dark Infinity is destroyed, as are the nanoplague bugs it was controlling. Though things did get a bit hairy, it’s all worked out in the end.”
“Well, what about-”
Master George shushed him, then held up a thick, messy binder stuffed with papers, some folded, others ripped. “It’s all been documented here for you to read while you recover. I’ll also be sending you home with a big stack of Realitant textbooks and manuals. Now that you’re a Realitant First Class, you can begin further study.”
“First Class?”
“That’s right, old chap.” Master George held out a card, similar to the one Tick had been given in May, but dark red this time. Tick saw the words printed on it:
Atticus Higginbottom
Realitant First Class
“I’ve already sent Rutger and Mothball ahead to have a very long discussion with your parents,” Master George said after he placed the card in Tick’s left hand. “I’m afraid you’ll need to be schooled at home now, and watched very closely-”
“What?” Tick tried to sit up again, but this time Sato pushed him back, gently. Pain throbbed through Tick’s head.
Master George continued speaking. “No need to worry, good man, no need to worry. As you’re well aware, you have an uncanny link to Chi’karda, and it appears capable of spinning completely out of control. But we’ll all keep a close eye on you, and if anything troubling happens again, we’ll wink you straight in and take care of it. It’ll be quite simple, really, considering you’ll have plenty of Chi’karda surrounding you wherever you go.”
Tick groaned, so confused at the swirl of emotions inside him he didn’t know if he felt sad, angry, hopeless, or happy. But suddenly, all he wanted in the world was to go home and see his family.
“Just wink me back,” he said. “Please. We can figure it out later. Just send me home.”
“An extraordinary idea, Master Tick! Exactly what I had in mind. Paul and Sofia have long since gone, and it’s your turn. Don’t worry”-Tick’s mouth had opened at the mention of his friends-“they said they’d have e-mails waiting for you by the time you arrived in Deer Park. Muffintops, Sato, and I will miss you greatly, but I’m sure our next reunion will happen very soon.”
Tick nodded, the pain in his head making him feel nauseated. “Where’s your Barrier Wand? Can you wink me from here?”
Master George bit his lip. “Well… yes, yes, we can, but I need you to do one thing for me first.”
“What?”
Master George looked across the bed. “Sato?”
Sato stood and walked out of the room, slightly limping. His arms were severely bruised, especially around his wrists.
A long minute passed. Muffintops wandered into the room and jumped up onto Tick’s chest, purring as she settled into a comfy position, staring at him with her glowing eyes.
“You be good, cat,” Tick said, wincing at how stupid it sounded. “Take care of the old man.”
A sound at the door took Tick’s attention away. Sato had returned and right behind him, looking even more disheveled and bruised than Sato or Tick, was Reginald Chu.
Tick sucked in a gasp of air, bolted into a sitting position, and squirmed backward until he hit the wall. Muffintops shrieked and jumped to the floor; Master George stood, trying to grab Tick’s arm.
“Calm yourself!” the old man said. “Master Atticus, calm yourself!”
Tick ignored the pain that exploded inside him. He noticed handcuffs on Chu’s wrists, but that meant nothing. Nothing! The man had more tricks up his sleeve than-
“Tick.” Chu said it, softly, calmly.
Tick ignored him, glaring back and forth between Master George and Sato. “How could you just let him walk around here?”
“Tick,” Chu repeated. “Please. Please, look at me.”
Finally, still breathing heavily, Tick did. An inexplicable warmth spread through him, and then a realization hit him. “What did you call me?” he whispered.
“Tick,” Chu said, acting as if he hadn’t heard. “Please tell these people who I am. I don’t know anything about what’s going on, or this other Reginald Chu they keep talking about. It’s me, Tick-please, tell them!”
Thoughts churned inside Tick’s mind. He remembered back in the woods by his house when Mr. Chu had appeared, looking haggard and desperate, acting like he wanted to help them. Something had seemed wrong then,
