Chapter 8: 8. Overwhelmed

=::= Danni's PoV =::=

"Thank you both for the sandwiches and the drinks," Skye said.

We'd all finished eating, and it felt like the big conversation was over as well. With all that out of the way I wasn't sure how much longer we'd be staying, before we went back to Earth.

That thought stuck in my head, for more than one reason. Going back to Earth. It was the sort of phrase you never really expected to use. Maybe astronauts did, maybe the guys who went to the moon did. But not twenty-nine year old body-mod artists from small-town Ontario.

"So when are we going to head back?" Emily asked. She didn't sound eager, more like she was just curious since it felt like our picnic lunch on Io was coming to a close.

Skye had one of those subtle smiles on her face again that told me she was about to show off somehow. "I hope you both saved room for dessert? I brought a little treat for the three of us."

Emily and I watched as Skye seemed to open a hole in the fabric of reality. She reached in and pulled out what I first thought to be three packages of candy. They were rectangular, roughly three inches by six inches, and about an inch thick. They looked like they were sealed in plastic or paper, and each was a different colour.

Skye leaned over and handed me the one with the pale blue package, she gave the one in a white wrapper to Emily, and kept the pink one for herself.

Once I was holding it I realized it was more like an ice-cream bar. It was cold, and from the feel of it the treat inside was circular and it was on a stick.

Skye tore hers open and demonstrated, she pulled it out and revealed something that looked like strawberry ice-cream pressed into a disk the size and shape of a hockey puck. It was ontop of a round stick that was about the diameter of a pencil.

I looked at mine and noted the writing on the package wasn't English. I didn't recognize it, but I figured it might be either something from the middle east or the far east. It definitely didn't use any kind of letters or symbols that I'd ever seen.

Me and Emily opened ours and I found myself with what seemed to be a pale blue ice-cream patty on a pencil. Emily's was the same, but white.

I licked mine and discovered it tasted like a cross between banana and lime. It was unusual, but it wasn't bad. It wasn't too sweet, but it was very rich. And it didn't melt in my mouth like I was used to with ice-cream. Instead of going from a frozen creamy solid to a liquid it went from frozen and creamy to almost powdery, before it finally seemed to melt into a liquid.

The three of us quietly enjoyed our dessert, while Emily had a look at the package hers came in.

After another minute or two she commented, "This is pretty good. I've never had anything like it though, and I don't recognize the language. Where'd you find these things?"

Skye made a vague gesture over her right shoulder and replied, "About twelve thousand light-years over that way. Don't worry, I made sure the ingredients were safe for humans. It's a similar world to Earth, similar environment. Life's a lot different there, but follows the same sort of biological rules."

I sort of froze for a moment as I stared at the tasty treat I was halfway through eating. And I noticed the look on Emily's face pretty much matched how I felt.

Like it was one thing to bring us to a moon orbiting Jupiter for a picnic, but casually revealing the existence of other intelligent life in the universe by feeding us their equivalent of an ice-cream bar was a whole different level.

Both Emily and I ended up staring at Skye, and the mysterious brunette teen started to blush again when she noticed how we were looking at her.

"It's no big deal," she mumbled softly. "Selene travels all over the place, she taught me how. Different worlds, different realities, different universes."

I knew Selene was powerful, just from the number of people she helped and what her magic could do. Not to mention the way her shop fit into the building, or didn't fit, depending on your point of view. But hearing Skye call interstellar travel 'no big deal' and finding out about other universes and alternate realities was yet another mind-blowing thing.

Emily spoke up before I could, she asked quietly "So other universes and realities, does that mean like alternate universes? Like are there other Earths out there? Do we have twins or duplicates in other realities?"

"No," Skye shook her head. "As far as I know, none of us have doubles or dopplegangers in other universes. There are other Earths though. Some are a lot like yours, some are very different. But each of us is unique."

I finally found my voice and asked, "So you and Selene... You're like Gods or something right? I mean you're not just normal witches or mages or sorceresses or whatever. You're actually Gods?"

She made a little face as she shook her head, "Nah we're not gods. Gods are limited, they're tied to whatever world and reality they're from? It's something to do with their power base. Sure they can do some magic and they're pretty impressive compared to normal mortals, but they're tied to their own world and limited by their worshipers."

Emily pointed out, "You told me you were immortal. Or you said Selene was, and you figured you were too. That's a God thing right?"

Skye shook her head again, "I told you Selene couldn't die, and I haven't tested yet to find out if I can. We're not goddesses though."

"I met a goddess in the spring," she added. "I wasn't impressed."

It almost felt like this picnic was one mind-blowing revelation after another. Travelling to Jupiter, finding out aliens exist, having alien ice-cream, finding out there's other universes, other realities, and other Earths. Then finding out Gods and Goddesses are real, but according to Skye they're 'limited'.

Emily asked quietly, "So you met a Goddess but you weren't impressed? You're stronger than her? Where'd you meet her?"

The not-Goddess seemed to finally realize what kind of effect this conversation was having on us. Or on me at least, I didn't know if Emily felt as overwhelmed as I did.

Skye started to blush and seemed embarrassed as she shrugged slightly, "It was at the shop. The goddess and her catgirl girlfriend stumbled into our store by mistake. Me and Selene had lunch with them, then they left. And I probably shouldn't say anything more. Maybe I've said too much about that already."

"Ok Skye," Emily said quietly. "Sorry if I was prying or asking too much."

That left the three of us in awkward silence again for a little while. I was still reeling from all this incredible new information.

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After a minute or two Emily glanced at me and gestured to her alien ice-cream then said, "So um, white tastes like cream soda and cherries. What's blue?"

"Banana and lime," I replied. I looked at Skye and asked, "What's pink?"

The enigmatic brunette blushed slightly and replied, "Coconut and fried shrimp."

She blushed a little more and shrugged as she added a little defensively, "I like shrimps, they're one of my favourite foods."

Emily looked like she was trying to hold back a giggle, while I found myself grinning. I shook my head, "I didn't say a word."

Skye continued to enjoy her dessert, then Emily resumed eating hers. I was still kind of freaked out about having alien ice-cream, but after another half minute I finally started eating it again.

As I enjoyed the otherworldly treat I looked towards Skye again and asked, "So is it true? You're really Selene's cat?"

She blushed again and shrugged, "I'm not sure it's accurate to say I belong to Selene but yes. I spend about half my time as a cat. I like it, it's comfortable."

"Does she feed you when you're a cat?" Emily asked. "Does she clean up after you?"

Skye's cheeks went another shade of pink and she mumbled, "Sometimes."

This time Emily didn't bother trying to suppress her giggle as she stated, "If she feeds you and cleans up after you, then you're her cat."

I stayed quiet but I had a grin on my face. Skye went silent as well, but the part-time cat was definitely still blushing.

When Emily was done with her alien ice-cream she tucked the stick and the wrapper into her cooler bag, I figured she was keeping them as souvenirs. Then she pulled her phone out of her purse and started taking some pictures and selfies.

Skye looked uncomfortable as she said, "Please don't post or share those, Emily."

"Why not?" the former cop asked with a grin. "It's not like anyone will think they're real. They'll assume it's some new filter or app or something."

I knew she had a point. It's not like anyone would see a selfie that had Jupiter floating massive in the background and instantly assume we had lunch on another world.

"I'm not worried about that," Skye said. "I don't want any pictures of me posted online please."

Emily nodded, "Ok Skye. Sorry I should have asked first. What about you Danni, do you mind if I get pictures of you and me together?"

I hesitated for a moment, then shook my head "Nah I don't mind."

She smiled and started taking pictures again, and added "I promise I won't post anything with you in it Skye. I'll just keep those ones for myself."

I watched her for another minute or so then decided it wasn't a bad idea. I pulled my phone out and got a few pictures, and with Skye's and Emily's permission I took a selfie of the three of us together.

And when we were all finished with the photography, Skye got to her feet and suggested "I'll take us back to Earth now. Then we should see Selene."

"Ok," I nodded and stood up as well.

I picked up my cooler, and gathered up the empty cans and everything so we didn't leave any trash behind. When we were all ready Skye did her thing, and suddenly I found myself blinking in the bright afternoon sunlight. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust, but when they did I saw the three of us were back where we started, standing outside the rear of the building where me and Skye worked.

As we all started around the side of the building I told the teens, "I may as well head into the shop and see how my dad's doing. Thanks for lunch, it was fun and strange."

Emily looked like she was going to say something, but Skye spoke up first. "Do you have to work right now Danni? I think I'd appreciate you staying with Emily and I while we see Selene."

I hesitated, then looked to Emily. "Is that ok with you?"

She nodded, "Yeah. I was going to ask the same thing."

"All right," I shrugged. I still didn't think I'd be able to contribute much, but I figured they wanted me along for moral support. Though if Selene did get cross with Skye there was no way in the world I'd want to get between the two of them.

Emily and I were still carrying our coolers as Skye led us both through the door and into Selene's shop. As usual the smell of incense was almost overpowering at first.

Selene was behind the counter, she looked exactly the same as always with her black dress and the silver pentacle around her neck. She watched the three of us march into the store, Skye in the lead then Emily and finally myself.

"Hello Emily, hello Danni," Selene greeted us, and from the tone of her voice and the way she raised an eyebrow I got the feeling Skye didn't tell her she was meeting the two of us. "And welcome back Skye. I didn't realize you were out with friends."