{"id":5786,"date":"2022-10-19T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-10-19T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/?p=5786"},"modified":"2022-10-19T00:47:47","modified_gmt":"2022-10-19T00:47:47","slug":"the-adventures-of-maite-and-kepa-part-123","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/2022\/10\/19\/the-adventures-of-maite-and-kepa-part-123\/","title":{"rendered":"The Adventures of Maite and Kepa: Part 123"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Not sure if anyone missed this since I didn’t get a chance to post last week, but just in case, here is an extra long installment… \ud83d\ude42<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

De Lancre stood in the shattered door frame, his face glowing in a sickly pale blue light as shadows danced across his features. His hands, held up and by his side, crackled with the same lightning that Maite remembered from their first encounter, the same lightning that de Lancre had used to literally fry Blas Telleria to death. She repressed a gag as the smell of burning flesh suddenly came back to her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m starting to get tired of this magic bullshit,\u201d said Latxe as she stared at the snarling man at the end of the hall. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
The Adventures of Maite and Kepa is a weekly serial. While it is a work of fiction, it has elements from both my own experiences and stories I’ve heard from various people. The characters, while in some cases inspired by real people, aren’t directly modeled on anyone in particular. I expect there will be inconsistencies and factual errors. I don’t know where it is going, and I’ll probably forget where it’s been. Why am I doing this? To give me an excuse and a deadline for some creative writing and because I thought people might enjoy it. Gozatu!<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cI can fix that!\u201d barked de Lancre as he thrust his hand forward and a lightning bolt burst from his open palm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Latxe jabbed at her tablet and suddenly a metal wall appeared between them and de Lancre, intercepting the lightning bolt before it could reach them. She jabbed a few more times and an opening appeared in the floor behind them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCome on,\u201d yelled Kepa as he grabbed Maite\u2019s hand. \u201cGoazen! Let\u2019s go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maite shook her head. \u201cEz, that\u2019s where he\u2019ll think we went.\u201d She pointed over at the balcony. \u201cThat way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kepa nodded as Maite led him and Latxe away from the hole in the floor and to the balcony, where they hid behind the wall. They could feel the heat on the metal wall Latxe had conjured intensify, until it suddenly melted into a pool of slag. Maite dared a peak around the wall and was stunned to watch de Lancre walk through the molten metal seemingly without harm. He reached the hole in the floor and, without hesitation, jumped into it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Latxe was looking over the balcony\u2019s railing. \u201cI think I can have the nanobots build us a bridge over to the neighboring building.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maite shook her head again, turning to Kepa. \u201cHe has the zatia. It\u2019s here, in his suite.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou saw it?\u201d asked Kepa incredulously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maite nodded. \u201cHe\u2019s had it for a while. He\u2019s keeping it so he can relish his life in this bubble.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Latxe looked at Kepa. \u201cWhat is she talking about? What bubble?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kepa looked at Latxe, sadness in his eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis world\u2026\u201d he began, but he couldn\u2019t bring himself to finish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maite turned to Latxe, taking her hand in hers. \u201cThis world isn\u2019t real,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s a parallel timeline created by a magical fragment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Latxe laughed. \u201cNot real?\u201d she asked, laughing. \u201cWhat do you mean it\u2019s not real?\u201d She punched Maite in the shoulder. \u201cDidn\u2019t that feel real?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is real,\u201d interjected Kepa, \u201cbut it isn\u2019t supposed to exist.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis world isn\u2019t meant to exist?\u201d repeated Latxe, shaking her head. The laughter had left her voice, replaced by a rising tide of panic. \u201cAre you saying I\u2019m not meant to exist?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou are meant to exist,\u201d answered Maite in a quiet voice that she hoped was soothing. If they were going to get out of this, they needed Latxe\u2019s help. \u201cJust not in this timeline.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t understand. What do you mean \u2018this timeline\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMagical fragments have been cast across time and space,\u201d replied Maite. \u201cEvery where they end up splits into a bubble of time, separate from the main timeline. Whenever these fragments, these zatia, are recovered, that bubble pops.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo, this reality will end,\u201d added Kepa, \u201cbut you still live in the main timeline.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Latxe slumped to the ground. In the background, she heard various explosions as de Lancre rampaged in the lower floors, looking for them. She looked up at Maite, and then Kepa, tears in her eyes. \u201cHow far back does this bubble go?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maite shook her head as she knelt down next to Latxe. \u201cWe don\u2019t know. Whenever the zatia arrived, but we don\u2019t know when that happened.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Latxe looked out over the city. \u201cAll of this will just disappear once you get the zatia thing?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maite nodded. \u201cYes, but you\u2019re still alive in the main timeline.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut this life will be gone,\u201d Latxe stated more than asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maite nodded again. \u201cI\u2019m afraid so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd he let this timeline go on for his own entertainment?\u201d asked Latxe, rage growing inside of her. \u201cHe could have ended this, but chose not too? Force us to live these false lives, knowing at some point he would end them all? He let all of us suffer for his own amusement?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maite looked at Kepa, who looked down at Latxe. All he could do was nod.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Latxe stood, anger etched into her face. \u201cThen let\u2019s destroy that bastard.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you get this post via email, the return-to address goes no where, so please write blas@buber.net<\/a> if you want to get in touch with me.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Not sure if anyone missed this since I didn’t get a chance to post last week, but just in case, here is an extra long installment… \ud83d\ude42 De Lancre stood in the shattered door frame, his face glowing in a sickly pale blue light as shadows danced across his features. His hands, held up and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4410,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2640,864],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adventures-of-maite-and-kepa","category-bubers-basque-story"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/maite-and-kepa-v2-01.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2sYNu-1vk","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5786"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5786\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5787,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5786\/revisions\/5787"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}