A Time to Be Young

"Then one day completely inexplicably while I was sitting at the desk writing a letter for posterity I wasn't there anymore. No lake full of water. No forest full of deer. No cabin for shelter. No fireplace for warmth. I found myself transported to a desert wasteland. I wasn't even on Earth anymore but another of many worlds. I was the last Earthling alive and all the death that had happened somehow opened a door.

"I was captured and made a slave. I couldn't understand what was being said to me so the masters communicated with a lash. I lived minute by minute, day by day. And then before I knew it a year had passed. Then another year. Then another. On and on it went. A decade I survived that hell. Then two decades more. I worked and that was all I was. So many new slaves came and died. So many new overseers came and went. Nobody noticed that I never aged and I never died. I was a slave for two hundred years."

"You escaped eventually." Jill added with empathy.

"I got away. Then later I was just a scavenger living off the land as best I could. At one point I supposed you could say I was a bandit. I became a foot soldier and an archer. And then at some point I snapped. Something happened and my mind went red. I became the destroyer. I burned everything. Every evil I could find, I set it on fire with black powder and napalm. And there was a lot of evil. I was on a holy quest not to make the world good but just to take revenge on anything I could get at. Armies, fire. Wizards, fire. Vampires, fire. Everything. I watched it burn.

"And then I was a king. I had destroyed so much and enacted so much justice that there were no nobles or warlords left anymore and so the people begged me out of fear or something else, to rule them. As king I was also a general and I fought wars. So many wars for so many years. For good reasons. For bad reasons. For no reason at all except to draw new maps. When we started fighting it was with bows and arrow on horseback and when we finished it was with warships traveling from one star to another.

"And one time there was a battle above a planet in rebellion. My fleet was broken. My men dead. My ship ripped in half. I was there floating in the nothingness of vacuum. I looked down at that world from on high. That world that had pushed back against me and won. I was going to die finally. I would have burned up in their atmosphere. I thought it was my time then but I thought of you and how unjust the entire universe was. How unjust all of the people on that world were for fighting to keep their institution of slavery and racist segregation laws after I had ordered them to change. The scars on my back burned and called out to me for vengeance. I saw again the faces and heard the cries for mercy of my fellow slaves from long ago. My rage kindled and then for the first time I saw the heart of the universe beating. The flow of energy all around us. I could reach out and touch it. Hold it. Smother it. I looked down on that world and I blew it up. Not with ships or cannons. I destroyed it with my mind. With my hatred. With the energy that the rebels themselves were unknowingly giving to me. One moment the planet was there. The next it turned white hot in all directions. And then it flew apart so far and so fast that gravity could not pull it back together. And I was flying in space with no atmosphere to threaten me. My life just went on and on and I brought death wherever I went. No one opposed me. In time I was emperor of a vast realm so large it could not even be crossed in one lifetime even with ships that went faster than light."

"How did you get back here?"

"Time, like space, is malleable. There is no universal clock, only the local ones and none of them are connected. I had ruled too long. There was too much peace. Too much order. Too much justice. Too much stability. The people wanted a change and I wanted to retire without a sword constantly hanging over my head. So I let them believe they defeated me and brought myself back here to you. I had to sacrifice a quarter of what was left over after the matter and antimatter annihilated each other in the big bang. I brought the Earth back to now. I intended to live a quiet life. I wanted to be just a man. A man with means to enjoy but just a man. However, now I see that this world too must have justice brought to it. My duty is never ending."

"David, you don't have a duty to anyone. I understand now. I do. You don't have to do anything. I love you. I do. Please don't do anything."

"You want racism to continue to exist?"

"No, obviously not but ..."

"But enough. I will not tolerate it. Different countries. Different groups. So much disorder causing so much pain and injustice. It ends because I can end it. I brought not humanity back from oblivion so that the same crimes could just continue to be committed because you're afraid of change. One united planet. One united people. There are no Asian people. There are no white people. There are no black people. These differences don't make anyone different. We are all one people. I will put right everything that is wrong. Anyone in my way will burn. It's time that this world learned who its true master is."

...

George Brown was shaking with fear as he stood there next to be called.

"I gave not permission to the accused to speak." the Emperor said and then George saw President James Bison of Delaware fall to his knees in pain. The Emperor turned his attention again to the former speaker of the United States House of Representatives. "This law is trying to bring back segregation, one step at a time."

"Your highness. Your excellency. That is not the intention."

"Think you us all illiterate? Think you me an idiot? I have read every word on every page and the true intention is clear. You are a racist and so is he."

"That is only one interpretation."

"It is MY interpretation and therefore it is the ONLY one that matters. You are Guilty. And so is he." The Emperor looked to guards and nodded. "Take her to the bridge and put him with the others."

George didn't know what fate awaited the woman at the bridge but he could see what was going to be done with the President of the United States. The man was placed and bound shoulder to shoulder with other presidents, prime ministers, kings, queens, cardinals, bishops, imams, warlords, CEOs, and any other great leaders who would not immediately bend their knee and pledge their people to the man known only as the Emperor. All the formerly great men and women of the world were laid flat and then a great wooden platform was lowered down on top of them. George heard their groans and cries of pain as the weight of the platform and everything on it crushed down on them. Atop the platform were very heavy statues lining three sides. In the center there was a large banquet table arrayed with a feast.

The Emperor ascended up onto the platform and sat at the head of the table. Next to him was a young woman dressed in the finest clothes but she looked down in shame. Many dignitaries from around the world approached to grovel at the Emperor's feet but they were not allowed to join him at the table. Instead it was widows, orphans, the poor and the homeless who were so honored as to eat with him while the great men and women of the world wailed under them.

Finally George was asked to come before the Emperor and he alone of all those who were called to speak to the Emperor was allowed to sit.

"Be not afraid." the Emperor said. "I expected not to see you ever again but here we are."

"Yes, uh, highness."

"What progress have you made?"

"We are still gathering information at this point. I know you want us to hurry but we have to do it right."

"Mr. Brown, please understand that this is not a timetable I am setting for you. Your enemy is the illness. I am giving you the full support of every institution on the planet. All of the resources of humanity are at your disposal because if you fail then we all die."

"I understand. We will work harder."

"I would appreciate that. As a backup, in case a cure can not be found I am preparing an evacuation plan. I hope very much that your efforts will mean that we never have to use it."

...

It was getting very late. Jill looked at her lavish bed in the huge palace and wondered if the dreams would come that night. Ever since that day with the witch and the beast she hadn't had them when she slept. Even still her sleep had not improved. Though it was said she could come and go as she pleased with her brother still being angry with her she knew very well that she was in a kind of prison.

Instead of going to bed she went to her door but had to ask for it to be opened. As she walked the halls and corridors she was tailed by her 'protection'. A month ago she was a waitress making less than minimum wage and relying on tips and now she was allegedly the most powerful woman on the planet but needed permission to go pee.

"I want to see my brother." Jill announced to the guard outside of David's bed chamber.

Without question they let her in. She was expecting to be searched or told to go away but they had just let her in and then she alone entered while her escort stayed outside. Jill looked around and had forgotten which world leader used to inhabit this place before her brother had put them on trial for treason and taken the palace as his own.

Her brother was sleeping or appeared to be sleeping. She wondered if he was even human anymore. Did he even need sleep anymore? She came to his bed and sat there looking at him.

"I have a favor to ask of you. You said I could ask anything. You said any time."

David didn't respond. He continued to sleep seemingly unaware of her presence.

"I want to know where the lake is. I want to know where the cabin is. I want you to show it to me. Like the vision I had before I want you to show me what happened there."

Still her brother didn't respond. She climbed onto the bed and looked at the pillow. She looked at David's face. She brought her body closer to him and then as she slept she kissed him on the lips.

And just like that she saw it. "I'm scared." Jill heard herself say as she arrived at David's dorm room door. Then, Jill saw herself, David, and some old man hiking through the woods and finding the cabin.

In the next vision the old man wasn't there. David was trying to do something and Jill saw herself start to fuss at him. He wanted to argue back but just like the David she had known growing up he held his tongue and took her verbal abuse. As Jill walked away David was looking at her ass but then shook his head and forced himself to look away.

Another time after a very hard day when David was at the very end of his energy and just wanted to get five minutes of rest over to him came Jill to push and command and dominate him. He didn't want to but he obeyed, finding in himself reserves of energy from somewhere. Jill saw in herself the same pattern she remembered from her mother. Once the task was finished she saw David sneak over to a secret spot where he could watch Jill take her bath. He was telling himself that he was just watching to make sure she was safe but that wasn't the real reason.

Then another time David was having this great day. Jill couldn't see why but he was happy with a smile on his face as he skipped down the path to the cabin. He smiled until Jill came around the corner of the building. The smile was over as he came to her to comfort her because in that moment Jill was having a nervous breakdown from all the stress of the pandemic and the isolation that had happened to them caused by the collapse of civilization. David struggled to listen to her words because he had such a good view of her cleavage at that moment and it was back and forth with his eyes, looking, then telling himself not to look, and then getting a peek again.

Then it happened. David gave up. He was planning to leave. He wouldn't go far but he was planning to get some distance. He could still come back and see her. He could still share all his food with her and chop wood for her but he needed to go build another place that was just for himself so he could get away from her.

"Don't go." the other Jill was yelling when she caught him packing.

"I can't live like this anymore."

"You're supposed to be so fucking smart, college boy, and you can't figure out that this is the only safe place for you."

"We're two hundred miles from anyone if there is even anyone still out there. The radio is dead, Jill."

"Because you don't know how to get the solar panels working. You're supposed to be a genius. What the fuck happened to that?"

"Pardon me for not having a master's degree in electrical engineering. Jill, I can not go on this way. Double work, double work, double work, just to appease your ego. You make everything too hard."

"What you mean to say is I make your dick hard and you don't know how to handle it so you fuck everything up and have to do it over again."

"What? Are you out of your mind? No. It's not even like that. You're my sister."

Jill's hands went to the belt around her denim jeans and she started to get undressed. "You want to fuck me. I'm right here. Be a man and come get it."

David forced himself to turn away from her and not look. A part of his mind was in denial that Jill would get fully naked. Perhaps she'd just strip to her underwear like on that hot day back in the summer.

"Look at me." Jill demanded.

"Are you decent?"

"Look at me."

David started to turn and then saw from the corner of his eye that Jill was in fact fully nude. "Fuck, Jill. Put some fucking clothes on."

She came closer to him and he could sense her body behind his. He wouldn't turn to look at her no matter her prodding so she came around his side. He tried to turn more and it ended up with them face to face next to a wall. David was looking up to avoid her and she was standing there demanding she be looked at.

"Tell me I'm wrong." she accused.

"You're wrong. Way wrong. Way off base, Jill."

"David, look at me in the eyes and tell me I'm wrong and then explain to me why you have an erection."

He wouldn't respond to her so she started to punch him. He took her blows and just blocked.

"Fucking fight back, you coward."

"Ok, FINE. I want to have sex with you. So what. I haven't done it."

Jill grabbed his shirt and forced her brother to come closer to her. "You can fuck me. I'll let you. You can do whatever you want. Just don't go."

"This is crazy, Jill."

He might have said more but Jill kissed him. It started as a tryout, like the prototype of a kiss. It was just the first test of a peck on the lips but it changed the entire mood. It continued, morphed, and burned. He dropped his bag, picked her up, and brought her to the bed. It wasn't pretty sex from what Jill could see. It wasn't anything like her night in the hotel room with Emperor David. The old bed shaked and looked like it might break. Jill's legs were spread wide with the sun from the window coming in and lighting up everything down there. David wasn't even all the way out of his clothes. He still had his shirt on and his jeans were only pulled down low enough for him to get that huge dick of his out.

"Yes, yes, yes." Jill heard herself moaning out in sync with her brother's thrusting.

It was dirty. It was nasty. It was nothing like the impression she'd gotten from her brother's verbal description of the events. "I'm an abuser." real Jill said to her self a she watched vision Jill control and manipulate David.

But then Jill was wrong. She saw as herself and young David became like newlyweds. They were happy and completely blind to any of the flaws of the other. There was less arguing and more helping. There was more talking but also more silence as they just cherished holding each other.

"I must say, this is very interesting." Jill heard a new voice say.

Jill turned away from the vision version of herself and David and then looked at the Emperor standing there next to her looking around with curiosity.

"You can see my memories. This is a very interesting trick. Who taught you how to do this?"

"No one." Jill answered and she heard the fear in her own voice.

"Is that us? I have never been able to see back this clearly."

"You're not the one doing this?"

"Not consciously if I am. Of course I am sleeping right now. I do enjoy my sleep."

"You enjoy sleep?"

"Enjoy you not?"

"Sleep? You got me on that one, little brother. I just sleep and leave my enjoying for raunchy rom-coms." Then Jill looked away from what vision Jill and vision David were doing. "They're at it again. How many times did you need to fuck me in one day? Geez, you're insatiable."

"You started that one and you're participating just as much as me."

"I was here watching it. I did not start that one. You just bent me over the porch fence and started fucking me from behind. No wonder I'm walking around with just a shirt and no bottoms half the time. Gotta give my little brother easy access or he'll get moody."

"I was moody back then. Indeed I was. I was clingy and needy and scared out of my mind that we were the last two humans alive on the planet."

"YES! Oh sweet JESUS. Fuck me, fuck me. YEEEESSSSS!" vision Jill was yelling out.

Real Jill's eyes went wide and she looked at the Emperor. He was smiling. "I used to love it when I could get you to do that. I used to dream and fantasize everyday about ways to give you orgasms even if you returned them not. Likely it has something to do with ego or self esteem but I cared not so long as I could pleasure you."

"Do you have any control over this? Can you change the channel and show me something else?"

"I'm sleeping. You brought me into this."

Jill looked over at her counterpart and saw vision David spewing cum all over vision Jill's face.

"Really. On my face. Like a pornstar or something? David."

"You used to like it when I did that. Look, you're so happy."

"Well, just to set boundaries right now, you're never doing that to me. And for fuck's sake, do they ever stop. They're like energizer bunnies. There's already cum on my face and they're going at it for a third round here. Were you not allowed to finish until you hit every position?"

"If you want not to see this then get out of my bed or whatever it is you did to make this happen."

"If you're asleep then how do you know I'm in your bed?"

"Why wouldn't I know that? I'm asleep, not dead."

"Hey, babe, you wanna fuck me in the ass today?" vision Jill said with a kinky laugh.

Real Jill rolled her eyes while the Emperor tried to conceal his chuckle.

"Well, obviously, she's using sex as a coping mechanism for something." real Jill said. "And ... OH MY FUCKING GOD, How? How is your dick fitting in there. What the fuck? We're never doing that. Never. Ok. NE-VER."

"Well, just for the record, I only did anal with you because you asked me to. I prefer vaginal myself."

"I feel so violated right now. This is all so wrong. You having these memories of me is way worse than you just fantasizing about me."

"If it is any consolation to you, when I think back to remember this it's a bit fuzzy and rose-colored-glasses-ish. What you have going on here is very good. It's a talent."

"Yes, and I feel so proud that I'm using my talent to watch myself get fucked by my little brother. I mean look at her. There's cum already on my face and now your semen is leaking out of my ass and down over my pussy and I'm rubbing it in. What the hell was wrong with me? This is so disgusting."

"Look again Jill."

"You guys going to do it a forth time?"

"Look at your face."

"My cum covered face?"

"Yes. Look. Look at how happy you are. Look at how happy I am. We were two young idiots in love using sex to help each other deal with the situation we were in."