Other Worlds Than These: The Gunslinger's Apprentice

Home, But Not My Own

The car ride to the Dean's apartment was silent, as I spent my time looking out the window, enamored with my own thoughts. I imagined that the two members of the Ka-tet of--of Eighteen and Ninety-Nine would have questions for me, as I came from a reality similar to their own, if not the same one.

And I had questions for them. If they truly were Eddie Dean and Susannah Dean, who had--at the time--joined Roland Deschain, he of Gilead on his journey to the center of the Multiverse. How had Eddie Dean survived the rescue attempt in Blue Heaven. Why were they here, in Mantle instead of New York. And what had happened to Roland, Jake, Oy, Per Callahan, and their other allies?

Strangely enough, Mantle reminded me of most of the cities that my family had visited when I was still on Earth. Surprising, for a world as colorful as Remnant to have a bland place such as this. The slums--which certainly existed, as all cities had slums whether they denied it or not--would probably look the same as the ones back home. Aside from the odd flying drone that I assumed were controlled by the Atlas Military, and the shattered moon that hung up above, I would have easily mistaken this for an ordinary, but distant American--perhaps Canadian--city.

"We're here." Susannah announced as we pulled into the parking lot of what I assumed to be an apartment complex. While Susannah helped me with my crutches, Eddie walked over to a nearby door and put a card in what I had assumed to be an access card-based lock. The air was still cold enough to irritate my legs, which I supposed was a good thing as that meant the numbness was leaving them.

We entered the building and approached the Dean's apartment, which was room 1-21. Eddie opened the door and I observed the inside of the Dean's residence. It was more of a condo than an apartment, as from what can tell there were three separate rooms attached to a hallway to my left, and there was also the kitchen/living room that was in front of me.

"Bathroom is next to the bedroom with the calendar attached to the door if you need to go." He kissed Susannah on the cheek. "I'm going to go get some food from Jerry's. Make yourself comfortable." Eddie left, leaving me and Susannah in the apartment. She sighed. "Why don't you sit down. You obviously have some questions, and I have a few of my own."

I did as she asked, sitting on one of the couches, and she sat on the opposite one. A coffee table separated us, its mahogany wood seemed to gleam somewhat in the moonlight. "When are you from?" She asked, her voice going into a sort of drawl. Something in her eyes changed. Became more hostile. Detta Walker. "2016." I replied.

Her eyes became kinder after that. Odetta Holmes, I think. "How different is it from..." She didn't finish, but I knew what she meant. "I don't think I would properly know." I responded. "That time is all I've ever known. Sure there have been advancements in technology and social reforms, but I don't know how to describe it." She simply nodded, and her eyes changed again.

"Have you ever read any books written by a man named Stephen King?" She asked. I nodded. Susannah--if that was who I was talking to right now--straightened in her seat. "You know us." It was not a question, it was a statement of fact. I shifted my eyes to her legs. "Are those..." She looked down at her legs, and lifted one. "Atlas technology. Wonderful, aren't they?"

I nodded. Cybernetics were pretty cool. "What are you doing here...on Remnant, I mean?" I asked. Susannah blinked and responded. "Eddie and I came here after we killed the Crimson King." She replied. "Roland and Oy went on elsewhere, and Father Callahan went back to Earth with Patrick." I blinked at this new information. Had Roland stopped looping? What had occurred for such a thing to happen? "And Jake?" I asked next.

Susannah's eyes filled with pain.

Crap. "I'm sorry." I supposed that some things were unavoidable, in the end. "Don't apologise, it's not your fault. And we don't need your pity either." She said. I turned my questions to others that the Ka-tet had met. "Walter?" Susannah grimaced at the name. "We don't know." I should have felt somewhat comforted at that, since the man called Randall Flagg, also Walter Padick was killed by Mordred, the offspring of Roland, Susannah, the Crimson King, and the once-succubus named Mia.

It made sense in context.

"Mordred?" I asked again. "...We don't know that either." She responded. There was silence for a while. Then Susannah spoke. "Since I answered yours, I think that it's fair that you answer mine." I nodded. It was only fair. She had told me a lot of what I wanted to know. "You knew the name of this world. How?"

"It's part of a fictional series. Television, sort of." I answered her. "It's still ongoing, so I don't know everything that is going on." She nodded, as if this was expected. She asked other questions after that, trying to learn about the series known as RWBY. I told her as much as I knew, which was the plot-line, the creator, and the company that owned it.

She seemed particularly interested in Ruby Rose. I suppose it made sense. Roses were frequently referenced throughout the Dark Tower series, and had great importance in the journey of the Ka-tet of Eighteen and Ninety-Nine as a whole. There was also interest in the strange power of the silver eyes, but I could only tell her that they were capable of turning the creatures of Grimm to stone.

Eddie Dean returned some time later, with warm food carried in a take-out box. "Your new boss--that guy with the walrus mustache--is granting you two weeks of recovery. Said that the effect of the nano-machines would wear off by then and you should be fully healed." I kept quiet, but nodded my head.

Eddie continued to speak. "You're also being enrolled into the Atlas Academy by the good doctor." I opened my mouth to protest, but Susannah spoke first. "I thought that the Academy was for Huntsmen and Huntresses?" Eddie shrugged. "It's also where a lot of Atlas's top scientists come from, including Doctor Watts. Might as well get the kid some education while he's here."

"But won't that add to my debt?" I asked. Sure, I was displeased with the prospect of having to enroll in school, but I knew that I would need the education to blend in with the rest of society. "According to Watts, no. The debt only covers your medical expenses, but your education comes free. Well, free for you, but not free for Watts." Eddie explained. "You'll be taking some self defense classes, I think, but other than that your curriculum is mostly science-based."

I nodded and hummed, feeling tired from the day's adventure. I excused myself to bed and used a spare toothbrush that Eddie had pointed out for me to clean my teeth. When I reached the room itself, I found myself so tired that I immediately plopped down on the bed and felt myself drift off. Before my consciousness completely faded, I heard the married couple begin to whisper to each other, and one of them turned on a radio. The song was something similar to rock, and I wondered what Remnant called this counterpart genre.