Danica #1687 in Elysium: Part 3

This is part 3 of a current novel WIP. It is Chapters C and 3. 3878 words

Chapter C

Journaling Exercise

Although All-Wise has designed Elysium to be as stress-free a utopia as possible, there are moments when we might get filled with anxiety. Not just anxiety, but outright fear!

Has anything scary ever happened to you? Write about it!

I can think of a few scary moments, but one of the most terrifying was what happened to my father. I was six.

I was in the Play Pod with my siblings when my mother rushed in. I had never seen her as stressed and in tears. She said something horrible happened to my father, but she couldn’t say what it was.

Her refusal to say anything more made it clear to me that something exceptional had happened. I looked back to my siblings on the way out and they were all concerned.

We ended up in the Hospital Pod where a large group of adults was crowded around one of the beds. I couldn’t see past them, but when they saw us they gave way.

My father was rocking back-and-forth with his head down and was saying the same thing over and over again in some kind of catatonic state. I listened intently to hear what he was saying, but I couldn’t make sense of it.

One of my uncles asked him what was wrong, and, if I had to guess, the word he was saying over and over was “mirror.” Nobody knew why.

Somebody used some kind of handheld device to scan my father’s brain, and said that my father had gone almost completely brain-dead. He specifically said it was almost as if my father’s “soul” had been taken.

My aunts consoled my crying mother and someone asked All-Wise what was wrong with my father, but All-Wise couldn’t offer any kind of treatments or alleviations.

Somebody then had the idea to ask my father, “Who did this to you?”

My father stopped rocking and glanced up. I swear that for a few brief moments he stared at me, but then he shuddered and started to rock again.

He then started to say the same three syllables over and over again.

“Loo… sea…fur… loo… sea… fur… loo… sea… fur…”

None of us could make any sense out of the name, “Lucy Ferr.” I suppose it could also be, “Lue Sefer,” but that doesn’t make sense, either. All-Wise has said that there are some women in Elysium with the name, “Lucy,” but that other syllable makes no sense at all.

Anyway, it was a terrifying experience. I would say one of the reasons it was so scary was because it was the first time I had seen my family members in a hysterical, confused state of mind. Up to that point, all of the adults I knew were competent at solving any and every problem that had come up over the course of my short life. To this day, All-Wise hasn’t provided any kind of meaningful answer to any of us, either.

Chapter 3

“Danica…”

Danica stirred in bed.

“Danica…”

Danica groggily opened her eyes. Was she still drunk? Just how much time had transpired? The music had stopped playing, so it must have been a while.

“What is it, All-Wise? I’m still mad at you for lying to me like I were a stupid child.”

“I am sorry to wake you, but I knew you would regret sleeping instead of attending the celebration with your siblings in the Lounge Pod. It starts in ten minutes.”

“Oh, darn.”

Danica thought briefly about whether or not she would bother attending. Considering how dejected she was, she would prefer to drink by herself. What would Gavin say about this, though? She didn’t want to risk disappointing him, but the task of putting up a sociable facade with her siblings was too difficult in her drunken state.

“All-Wise?”

“Yes, Danica?”

“Can you send a message to Gavin saying I’m just very upset about something and don’t want to be a downer to everyone?”

“Will do.”

Danica slowly got out of bed, but then stumbled when she realized she was more drunk than originally thought. Her stomach growled and felt like a pit. She put on her slippers and sauntered into the restroom to relieve her bladder and brush her teeth. Afterwards, she went to the kitchen and dispensed a bowl of chowder to fill up her rumbling stomach. As she ate, she became a little more cognizant, but she knew she was still drunk.

Thinking about why she had chosen to drink by herself, which was a very rare occurrence for her, she thought back to the shame over Roland saying her writing was trash. How could he be so cruel? He must have really hated reading, critiquing, and editing her previous novels if he was willing to finally crush her spirits over the third one.
These thoughts prompted Danica to question All-Wise about what had happened.

“All-Wise?”

“Yes, Danica?”

“Why did Roland have to be so cruel? Why does he hate me so much?”

“Danica, I do not think Roland hates you at all. He hates your writing, but he does not recognize your merit. Though he has written his own novels, he makes the conscious decision not to share his work because, from what I can gather, he is a perfectionist that can not tolerate criticism himself.
“In my opinion, you should feel proud of yourself for being willing to share your work with as many people willing to read it. Since writing is a form of communication, this shows more dedication to your craft than what Roland displays.”

“But even still, why was he so cruel?”

“I am sure at some point you have come across the phrase, ‘those who can not do it themselves, teach.’ I am certain that Roland has inadequacies in his own writing that he will never receive feedback for. He might recognize these issues, but he will never make the effort to fix them and instead choose to live vicariously through Gavin and Mary’s writing. In other words, he would feel slighted if you succeeded at becoming a better writer than any of his children.”

Danica only perked up a little bit after that answer; it still didn’t change the fact that her writing was trash. Though violent things do happen in her novels, that violence was never graphic because she wrote her novels to have as much mass appeal as possible. If Roland had really hated reading her novels so much, then she had failed in her attempt to please an ordinary person who took the time to read her work.

In the end, Danica chose not to dwell on writing anymore. It was finished; done. Her third novel was hastily published; her self-insert was seemingly dead forever; and the fictional world she had created, Aukardia, was destined to be enveloped in darkness from the Chaos Demon. She was done being a writer and would have to find a new purpose in life.

But what would that be? The only person she had ever had any romantic feelings for, Gavin, didn’t feel the same way; in a crushing blow to Danica’s self-esteem, he actually preferred to meet women in the Social Pod instead of at least trying to have a relationship with her. Though where this sentiment came from was hard to say, it was shameful (especially for a woman) to go to the Social Pod. From the talk of the adults she had heard while growing up, the Social Pod was a den of sexual immorality. There was no realistic justification for anyone to choose to pick a mate there when there was always at least one sibling available from the generational groups of siblings.

Danica had never even bothered to try to go to the Social Pod, and, for her, it was a matter of pride that she would adamantly refuse to do so while Gavin was still available. Sooner or later, he would cave and at least do Danica the favor of taking her virginity. Until then, all she could do was socialize with her family members and write, but she wasn’t going to write anymore, so now she was stuck just socializing.

Socializing; if she weren’t a drunken mess at the moment, then she could force herself to do that. As it stood, she didn’t want to be around anyone else. That meant she may as well drink more by herself. Danica went to the refrigerator and got yet another cooler to continue her drunken spree. She sat on her bed and started to drink when All-Wise interrupted her thoughts.

“Danica?”

“Yes, All-Wise?”

“Gavin #1687 is at the door of your pod and wishes to see you.”

“Huh? Ok, let him in, I guess.”

Danica wasn’t sure what to expect from Gavin. Why had he gone out of his way to come see her when he should be at the Lounge Pod ready to celebrate with their other six siblings? Gavin addressed the matter immediately upon entry and walked up to Danica’s bed to stand in front of her.

“Danica, why in Elysium don’t you feel like joining us for our celebration tonight?”

Danica was certainly attracted to Gavin’s appearance (more so than her other three brothers); he had a medium-sized frame, buzzed blond hair, and blue eyes. Except in the case of the elderly seniors, everyone in Elysium was attractive. It would be considered extraordinarily incompetent of All-Wise to create an ugly person.

“I… I just don’t…”

“Have you been drinking by yourself? Did something happen?”

One quality Danica liked about Gavin was, as her best friend, he was usually always supportive and reassuring. She liked that she could open up and talk about anything and everything with him.

“Yes,” Danica muttered. “Yeah, something happened.”

“What?”

“Well, it’s just... is my writing bad?”

Gavin did a double-take and said, “Where did you get that idea?”

Danica broke eye contact and said, “Your father, Roland.”

“What? Why would he ever say that?”

Danica took a swig of her cooler and said, “He doesn’t want to help read or edit my work anymore. He admitted he thinks it’s trash.”

Gavin’s eyes narrowed and he said, “And you believed him? Dani, if you attend the celebration tonight, I’ll prove your writing is good.”

“How?”

“I’ll ask all six of our siblings, flat out, if they think your writing is good. I guarantee they will all say so.”

Danica felt a pit in her stomach and said, “No, you don’t have to do that. It’s pointless to dwell on and-”

Gavin shook his head and gripped her right hand to pull her up from the bed and lead her with him. He said, “I’m serious, Dani, we can ask all six of them and All-Wise Himself. Also, my father and mother said they would show up at some point in the night. I’ll tell him off myself when he arrives because he’s wrong.”

Danica stood up, but said, “No, please don’t mention it to him at all. I don’t want to cause trouble and-”

“It’s no trouble at all. I-”

Danica shook her head and adamantly said, “I don’t want you to say anything to Uncle Roland.”

Gavin sighed and said, “Alright, but will you please attend and so we can all celebrate together?”

Danica sighed and agreed to attend the celebration.

***

The Lounge Pod had a large, rectangular white table with short legs in the middle of the room. Around this table were four white faux leather couches. Up against one of the pod’s walls was a refrigerator that dispensed coolers to drink and up against the opposite wall was a shelving unit that had a collection of various board and card games. The speaker system was playing one of Aliza’s symphonies at a low enough volume that didn’t distract from the conversation. When Danica and Gavin arrived, they were greeted by two of their siblings, Aliza and Ronald, that were already seated hand in hand together on a couch with open coolers set on the table in front of them.

“Well, there she is! We got worried you weren’t showing up when All-Wise sent that message to us,” Aliza said.
Aliza had a face that had chubby cheeks that gave her a more youthful appearance than her three sisters. She had long, curled strawberry blonde hair and deep blue eyes. Of the eight siblings, she was the only one that was a symphonic composer.

“It’s ok, I talked her into it,” said Gavin.

Danica gave a fake smile to put on the air that she was fine, but both Aliza and Ronald’s eyes narrowed seeing Danica’s face.

“Are you ok, Dani?” asked Aliza. “You don’t look so hot.”

“Yeah, what’s going on?” asked Ronald.

Ronald, though still white like everyone else in Elysium, had skin that was a darker shade of tan than most of his other siblings. He had short-cut black hair and dark brown eyes. He was the tallest and most lanky of the eight siblings. Since being an unruly and aggressive child (he had bullied Danica quite a bit), he had matured to be just as supportive as the other siblings. In regard to intellectual pursuits, he was the least ambitious.

“It’s just…”

Gavin finished Danica’s sentence for her and said, “Guys, we were wondering: is Dani’s writing good?”

Aliza said, “Of course it’s good. I personally prefer the contemporary stories she wrote before her fantasy novels, but I’m sure you and Mary will say the fantasy stuff is good, right?”

“Yeah, Danica,” began Ronald. “Your writing is far better than mine ever was.”

“There, see?” Gavin said to Danica. “They both said it’s good.”

Danica slightly cheered up and said, “Thanks guys.”

Aliza said, “You’re welcome,” while Ronald gave a reassuring nod after taking a swig from his cooler.

“Anyway, do you want a cooler, Dani?” Gavin asked next.

“Yeah, sure.”

Danica sat down on the couch opposite Aliza and Ronald while Gavin went to the refrigerator to get two coolers. He came back to her, gave her one, then sat down with a breadth of space in between.

“Everyone,” All-Wise’s voice said as He interrupted the symphony, “Jayne #1687 and Arc #1687 are at the door wishing to enter.”

“Let them in,” Gavin said.

The symphony resumed as Jayne and Arc entered the pod.

“Hey, congratulations,” Jayne said to Gavin as soon as she entered.

“Yeah, good job on the novel, Gavin,” Arc said.

Jayne had blond hair in a shoulder-length bob cut and blue eyes. She had an oblong face, bangs, and was the tallest of the four sisters.

Arc was the smallest of the four brothers. He had wavy brown hair, blue eyes, and a face that was so youthful that it appeared at first glance he was only fifteen years old instead of nineteen. He was usually more quiet and introverted than his siblings, although he did seem to have a good relationship with Jayne. Both Jayne and Arc were digital artists.

As Jayne and Arc grabbed coolers for themselves and sat down on one of the two empty couches, Gavin said, “We were talking about Dani’s writing. Do you guys think it’s good?”

“Yeah,” Arc said, “I wouldn’t read her stuff if I didn’t like it.”

“Yeah, I think it’s good, too,” followed up Jayne.

Aliza piped in and said, “Well, see, even Her Royal Highness thinks Dani’s writing is good.”

Jayne’s face twisted and she said with a whine, “Come on, I told you guys to stop calling me that!”

Aliza giggled, Ronald chuckled, while Danica and Gavin both smiled.

The reason behind Jayne being teased as if she were in some way royalty was because, as children, she was raised as an “only child” with a pair of very permissive parents. This meant that, at least as a child, she was more spoiled and selfish than her siblings. Even though they had all been adults for seven years, the inside joke stayed (much to Jayne’s annoyance).

Gavin then said, “There, see, Dani, they both like your writing, too.”

“Ok,” Danica said, “Thank you, everyone.” By this point, Danica felt slightly better since drinking by herself and was more confident in her skills.

Jayne then asked, “By the way, what’s taking Mary and Garret so long?”

Ronald replied snidely, “They have four kids to deal with. What do you expect?”

Jayne shrugged and drank from her cooler.

Mary and Garret together were considered the most responsible of the eight siblings because they had voluntarily taken up the role of raising four of the eight children that were born as part of the generational group after them.
Eventually, All-Wise announced their presence at the door and were admitted.

Mary, though she had long and straight brown hair, preferred to dye it bright pink. She had brown eyes and had the darkest skin tone of all of the eight siblings.

Garret was quite large and had brown eyes with short-cut brown hair. He was considered the most mature of the eight siblings and if he weren’t so dedicated towards raising the four children he shared with Mary, then she would never have an opportunity to read or write anything.

After a quick round of greetings, Mary said to Gavin, “Hey, congratulations on the new novel. Hopefully, I can make time to read it.”

“Thanks, Mary,” said Gavin.

Garret said, “Yeah, good job as always.”

Mary sat down on the last of the four couches and Garret got two coolers from the refrigerator before having a seat next to her.

Gavin said, “Mary, Garret, I asked everyone else, and I wanted to ask you too: is Dani’s writing good?”

Mary’s eyes narrowed at Gavin and she said, “Of course it’s good; what kind of stupid question is that?”

“I was just-”

Mary looked at Danica and said, “Dani, did something happen?”

Danica said, “Well, yes, it’s just that…”

“‘It’s just’ what?”

“Nevermind. Let’s just forget about it.”

Mary was about to say something more, but Garret then said, “In case you wanted my opinion, I also enjoy your writing.”

At this, Gavin faced Danica, smiled, and said, “There. See, Dani. I too recognize your talent as a writer. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t read your novels.”

“Speaking of which,” interjected Mary, “I saw in the Library that you had published your third novel today without saying anything. There’s a note from All-Wise saying that the author, you, published it hastily in an incomplete state and may choose to go back and rectify that with a second edition.”

Danica had not considered the fact that any of her siblings would already have known what she had done and couldn’t think of an adequate response.

Aliza asked, “Why in Elysium would you do that, Dani? Were you trying to one-up Gavin?”

“No, I was drunk,” Danica admitted.

“You were drinking by yourself?” Garret asked.

“Yes, but I feel much better now and want to celebrate with you guys. This is Gavin’s night.”

Danica smiled and the matter was finally dropped.

“So, Gavin,” began Jayne, “what’s the new novel about?”

“Well-” Gavin started.

“Don’t answer that!” Garret quickly said. “I like to go in blind with the things I read. No spoilers.”

“Yeah,” said Gavin, “I can’t spoil it. You’ll have to read it yourself.”

“Oh, poo,” muttered Aliza. “I at least wanted to know if this one is part of the same universe as one of your other ones or if it’s a stand-alone story.”

Mary then said, “I’m more interested in learning about his secret weapon.”

Danica was perplexed. Secret weapon? She had never heard this before at all.

Danica realized she wasn’t the only one that was confused because Ronald asked, “What about a secret weapon?”

Gavin smiled and said, “Well, I had an ulterior motive for this party tonight… I met someone.”

There seemed to be surprise, happiness, and joy for Gavin from most of his siblings. Danica, however, had a very difficult time hiding her intense displeasure.

“You see, I know you guys might think lowly of me for going to the Social Pod, but it’s really not as bad a place as you think. The woman I met there is admittedly a little weird, but she has helped me tremendously as a writer.”

“How did she help you?” asked Jayne.

Gavin gave a devious smile and said, “I can’t tell you unless she chooses to tell you herself. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be a ‘secret weapon,’ now would it?”

“Oh, come on!” Aliza said. “You can’t tease us like this!”

Arc then asked, “So this woman is also a writer? What’s her name so I can check out what she’s published?”

Gavin answered, “She’s kind of secretive about her writing since I couldn’t find anything in the Library by her. But her name is ‘Lucy #666.’”

There was obvious confusion among all of Gavin’s siblings. For starters, when All-Wise came up with surnames for people, the number was always a four-digit number. Danica herself had never once seen a person in the Library with a number that was not composed of four digits. And then there was the fact that Lucy’s number was the same digit three times in succession. Again, Danica had never once seen a number like that be used (even if it would be convenient for being easy to remember).

Mary then said, “Are you pulling my leg with this? I honestly can’t believe your audacity to want to celebrate your new relationship when poor Dani is right there waiting for you.”

The room went silent and Gavin gave Mary a dirty look. “Don’t talk to me like that, Mary. I’m doing what I feel is best; I’m sure Dani understands my decision, right?”

There were uncomfortable stares toward Danica, but before she could say anything to bless this new relationship, Mary said, “No. I don’t see any thing wrong with our sister. What makes her so repulsive to you that you’d rather sleep with someone that you didn’t grow up with?”

Gavin was about to fire back at Mary, but Danica did what she felt was the mature thing to do in this situation by saying, “It’s ok, Mary. I’m happy for Gavin and I’m glad he has found someone he likes.”

Mary shook her head and said, “Don’t think you have to condone this kind of treatment, Dani. If I were you, I’d slap Gavin.”

Aliza chose to try and defuse the situation by saying, “Anyway, when do we meet Lucy?”

“Yeah, when?” asked Ronald.

“Tonight,” Gavin said pleasantly.

Danica drank some of her cooler and thought about what had just happened. She was humiliated and dismayed that the person she wanted to have a relationship with the most had chosen someone from the Social Pod over her. Then again, she had the glimmer of a hope in her that this relationship was not as close as she first thought since, from the snippets of the conversation she was listening to, Lucy was still living in her own pod instead of with Gavin.

Suddenly, All-Wise’s voice came on over the speaker and He said, “Everyone, Lucy #666 is here at the door. Should I allow her in?”

“Yes,” Gavin said with joy.