Power of the Lost

by Cebelius

  "Are you not ... responsible?"

  Her smile of happy contentment faltered, and she glanced back up at them. They smiled kindly down at her. Within her, they reached into every part of her and began to shut her body down as they asked, "Did you not trap Theseus here? Did you not feed those women to him, and then leave their daughters trapped with him? They lived such miserable lives under his ... your, control. You might have released him, even if only for their sake. Are you not responsible? Look in the mirror, Ariadne."

  She did, but not willingly. Boss was part of her. They were shaping almost every aspect of her, and had complete control. They turned her head, and forced her eyes to the mirror.

  Boss leaned down and their lips brushed the perfect shell of her perfect ear as they said, "I have granted your every wish. I have earned what you have to give me. All your power is mine. All that you are, is mine. I accept your offer, Ariadne. Now, I will take my payment."

  "Please," she gasped. "Don't."

  "Everything we do comes with a cost. Every decision we make has a price. You could have let him go, and spared much pain. You watched him. You could have stopped him ... and the only reason he was there is because you put him there."

  "I don't want to die," she whimpered, staring at herself, at Boss, in the mirror. "Not now! Please, forgive me!"

  "Terry, STOP!"

  Boss hesitated. Their eyes flickered to the mirror, met Laina's. She was staring hard at them, and she said with quiet conviction, "You can't kill her."

  "I can, and I should," they replied. "You don't know what she's done, what she let happen here."

  "I'm not stupid, Boss, and my ears work just fine. I heard what you said, what she admitted to. You still can't kill her. I don't know all of what's going on with you but I know you aren't yourself right now. I can tell. Don't do it."

  "If I don't, she will never pay for what she has done. There will be no justice."

  Laina shook her heavy head and said, "Boss, that's weak and you know it. You're smart. You out-thought the Vicereine. Out-think this. She can't make it right if you kill her, and you already have enough trouble sleeping nights. How much worse will it get if you do this?"

  "Please, please! I'll do whatever you ask, pay any price, just let me live!" Ariadne cried. "You cannot give me this, only to kill me! It's too cruel! Just give me a chance!"

  Boss considered. Their eyes never wavered from Laina's in the mirror, and she never looked away. She was gazing at them with firm conviction, and she believed they'd do the 'right' thing.

  As they thought about that, they felt uncertainty about something for the first time since they fused. They'd been sure killing Ariadne was the right thing. What she'd done, what she'd allowed to be done, was unforgivable. If they did not take her life, what could they take? They had already promised her that she would keep her appearance. They couldn't take it away now, or they would be breaking their word.

  As they thought, it occurred to them that there was something. One thing.

  They held out their other hand to Ariadne and said, "Give me the crown. Do this, and I will spare your life."

  Ariadne didn't hesitate. Not for an instant. She raised her hands to her brow and made a lifting motion. A ring of stars twinkled into being between her hands, and she set the Corona Borealis in their outstretched claw as she said, "Please, take it. I give it freely. Just let me live, let me ... be."

  Boss could see that her attention was back on her reflection in the mirror. Her expression was one of desperate longing. They could sense her thoughts, and right now she would do anything, give anything, be anything, just to get a chance to be beautiful for a while longer. The part of them that was Terry was nauseated, but the part that was Prada knew opportunity when it presented.

  "You will have a chance to live. Whether you make good on that chance remains to be seen," they said, and released their hold on the back of her neck.

  Ariadne collapsed in front of the mirrors, sobbing quietly.

  They turned, looking at those they loved.

  Laina was crying, but she was also smiling. As their eyes met, she nodded, then let out the breath she'd been holding in a half-stifled sob and covered her mouth as her eyes squeezed shut.

  Halla stood behind her, looking on in some confusion. Boss didn't expect her to understand, not yet. She simply didn't have the context.

  Shy was looking at Boss with an expression somewhere between wonder and horror on her face, and they realized as they met her eye that Terry's bond with the dryad was gone. They wondered if it would be there when Terry reappeared as himself.

  They hoped it would.

  Mila was curled into Yuri and would not look at them, while Yuri stared with an expression they couldn't fully parse. His tail was tucked between his legs and his ears were pinned back, but something about his face was different. Perhaps it was fear ... perhaps something else.

  Marcus was gazing steadily at Ariadne, and did not acknowledge their attention.

  Asturial looked at Boss with her arms folded across her chest, an expression of frank admiration on her face. When their eyes met hers, she nodded, once.

  "Come here," they said in a tone that brooked no argument.

  Her expression faltered, but with a wary glance around she did as she was bade. When she stood before them she was forced to look up at them. She was no longer their equal, at least, not in size.

  We could face her in combat now though ... at least, until she burned us.

  They stared down at her for a long moment in silence, and finally she asked, "What do you want? What have I done to warrant your anger this time?"

  "Asturial, you know I don't like you. You know why. You knew going into that fight in Florence that you wouldn't be able to keep your word to me if you lost, but you didn't cancel the fight. You are arrogant, careless, and lacking in every worthy human virtue. It has occurred to me that it may be to my benefit to abandon you here."

  Her expression darkened as they spoke. She stared up at them defiantly, then her face twisted into one of near despair as she looked away and spoke at the floor. "I'm trying, Terry Mack. I can do no more. I'm sorry."

  "Are you?"

  "Yes, dammit! Yes!" she snarled as she looked back up at him. "I've seen what it's like now. I need help ... I'm weak, just like all of you. I see that I can't live alone, that none of you ever could live alone, and I am sorry. I'll help as much as I can, where I can, because I can. You gave Ariadne a chance, where is mine?!"

  "Right here, right now."

  She looked up at them with sudden hope in her eyes as she asked, "You'll give me your bond?"

  They smirked and shook their head. "No. But I will give you a chance. You broke your word to me because you lost your ability to keep it, not because you intended to. You lied by omission. Your word is worthless ... but I am going to give you a chance to fix it, and we will go from there."

  Before she could respond, they lifted the crown of stars and placed it upon Asturial's head.

  "Congratulations," they said in wry tones. "You are the world's newest Power."

  The dragon gaped, and her expression was one they'd have given anything to get a snapshot of.

  It was completely priceless.

  They waggled a claw at the glowing cloud of stars that was now swirling around Asturial's head and said, "Now if you don't mind, figure that shit out and get us to Euryale, please. I'd really like to get her back before she does something I will regret. Once we get the band back together, you can keep your word and get us all safely to the Eastern Steppes."

  31

  Asturial’s Promise

  Terry and Prada separated soon after granting the crown to Asturial, who proved an exceptional student of the Corona Borealis. That, or wearing the crown granted the wearer an instinctive knowledge of its powers. The dragon did not reveal which, and Terry didn't ask.

  Both he and Prada needed time apart, and the split had been a mutual decision ... which was the only kind of decision
they were capable of making while so thoroughly integrated. She kept Halla's gift for the time being despite the fact that it was a slow drain on Terry's mana. Figuring out how to deal with being a giant wasn't something he was willing to try and deal with, and the drain was slow enough that they had a few days, presuming he didn't renew his strength with one or more of his bonds.

  When they'd parted, Terry wound up back at his usual six feet. Prada assumed the form of 'Charlie' from Top Gun again, and were it not for the fact that she was concentrating her form to increase her density, she'd have been twelve feet tall considering she still retained Halla's gift.

  She kissed him, sighing with relief as she murmured, "I cannot love you and be you, Husband. We are mighty ... but power is no longer the only thing I long for."

  He'd smiled at her and said nothing. She knew his thoughts, just as he knew hers. While together, he had afflicted her with his moral sense, his ethics, his need to seek justice for what had been done inside the Labyrinth. She had afflicted him with her freedom from obligations to others, or the need to seek approval for his actions from anyone. Prada had absolute confidence in what she wanted, and she had passed that confidence to him. Together, they had needed nothing from anyone else. Together, they had passed judgement, and were it not for Laina, they would have carried out the sentence.

  They would have both been wrong.

  As Terry thought about that he shuddered, then thanked God — not for the first time — for Laina Lowe.

  Asturial watched the blonde beauty walk away, then turned back to Terry and said, "I can only move the Labyrinth once. Then I have to wait for someone to enter before moving it again. It's one of the rules. I can eventually change the nature of this space, but not until everyone who exists here as a consequence of Ariadne's choices is gone. Where do you want to go?"

  Having had access to Ariadne's memories and knowledge of the Crown, Terry knew she was telling the truth, but as she asked the question it occurred to him that this wasn't a choice he should make.

  "Hey Yuri!"

  Terry turned and gestured the tiger man over, then said, "This is your choice. Where do you want to go?"

  Mila had come with him, and the two looked each other in the eye a moment before Yuri turned to Asturial and said, "Take us to the southern edge of the Eastern Steppes.

  "Euryale knew where we were trying to go," the tiger man said as he turned back to Terry. "Once she realizes we are gone, she will eventually logically conclude she has to meet us there. She knew of my quest, knew you had given your word to me ... and she knows you will do whatever you must to keep it. We should go to the Steppe and wait for her there. She can fly; it will not take her nearly as long to make the journey on her own. Not to mention putting us on the southern end of the Steppes will make it very likely one of Marcus' people will enter the Labyrinth fairly quickly, allowing it to move again."

  Terry nodded and glanced at Asturial. He wanted to find Euryale, and he worried about her state of mind, but knew that what Yuri said was true. She would find him, given the chance.

  Asturial offered him a slight smile and simply said, "It is done. What do you want me to do with all of ... Theseus' remaining bonds?"

  Terry thought about that, and something Ariadne had said in their first conversation came back to him. Combined with his knowledge of the crown, depending on how he answered, he could kill two birds with one stone.

  "Let them know that Theseus has died, tell them where we are, and give them the choice to go or stay. Give them the choice again each time you move to a new location, and bear their preferences in mind if you can until they are all out of here."

  "I can do that. Do you want them to know who killed-"

  "No. They're as likely to want to kill me as thank me. Just let them go. If they ask for an explanation just tell them that a challenger found and beat him. That's true enough."

  "Are you sure that's the right move, Tee?" Shy asked, joining the conversation. "Some of them will doubtless make powerful allies if they want to join you."

  At the sight of her, he felt for their bond, and sighed audibly as he found it. He reached out to her and took her into his arms, pulling her close. Shy's body was warm against his, and inside his mind he heard her voice.

  'I missed you, Tee. When I couldn't feel you in that ... thing, I was so afraid I'd lost you.'

  Trust me, I'm as happy as you are that you didn't.

  She pursed her lips in amusement. He kissed her, then glanced toward Halla, who was now seated Indian style next to Laina. The two were deep in conversation.

  "I imagine quite a few of them will want to leave immediately and we'll probably encounter a few of those. We'll deal with them on a case by case basis, but I don't want them to come looking for me. With Halla it was different ... I didn't know what had been done to her, to them. Now I know, and I don't want a whole bunch of people with that kind of baggage around me. Maybe it's selfish, but at this point I can't help how I feel. I don't want them, and they aren't my responsibility. Better to just unlock the cell door and let them make a life for themselves on their own terms."

  Shy nodded, her eyes never leaving his.

  "Do you want to leave now?" Asturial asked. "I can open a door to the outside world at any time."

  "Have you already informed those trapped in Theseus' portion of the Labyrinth?" he asked.

  "Yes. You are correct in that many of them immediately asked to leave."

  "We should wait a while then. Give them a chance to get gone. If you can manage it, just give us some place to rest."

  He grinned a bit and added, "Some place comfortable."

  Asturial surprised him when she reached out and touched his forehead, and the white marble mess around them vanished, to be replaced by a circle driveway fronting a mansion that Terry recognized.

  "It is empty," Asturial said as his eyes widened. "But this is the most luxurious place in your memories."

  "Uh ..."

  This is Bossman Voight's place!

  He swallowed the immediate objection that came to mind as he glanced around and noticed that everyone else in his group was staring in open-mouthed awe at the mansion. Even Shy was looking around with wide eyes, clearly impressed. Terry had been given a tour after his third of five fights at the mobster's behest. Voight had made his first offer then, and Terry had refused. It didn't matter how impressive the digs, he wasn't about to turn himself into a hired thug for a drug kingpin. Now his memories of that place had been dredged up, and everyone around him was as impressed as Voight thought he should have been.

  Fuck it. May as well get some use out of the place. There's no need to let everyone else know just how many bodies and ruined lives built this. Half of them probably wouldn't even care, and in this case it probably doesn't even matter. Not like this is actually HIS house.

  "Thanks. This'll do fine ... uh, can we do something about Halla's size?" he asked, glancing toward the person in question, who even seated was a good seven or eight feet tall.

  "Halla is an oni," Yuri replied absently, his eyes on the building. "She can change her own size whenever she wants."

  "Well, have fun then guys," Terry said. "The house has plenty of room for everyone. If you need help with the fixtures, let me know. Most of the lights should just come on automatically when you walk in a room."

  Prada clapped her hands to get everyone's attention and said, "Come on inside with me and I'll show you how the toilets work before that rather unpleasant possibility becomes an issue."

  Terry watched as Halla got up, and whether she did it on purpose or it was simply something that happened because she wanted it to, she wound up matching Laina's height exactly as the two women walked toward the house together.

  In the end, only Shy, Asturial, Marcus, and Terry remained outside.

  Marcus walked over to join them, and Terry asked, "You okay, big man? I know you thought the world of Ariadne, but ..."

  "She wasn't who I thought she was," Marcus rumbled
. After a moment's hesitation he added, "I'm glad you let her live, and I hope she makes good."

  Terry chuckled and shook his head as he said, "Yeah well, my conscience is kinda hard to ignore, and has yet to steer me wrong."

  He nodded, then set a hand on Terry's shoulder and said, "My folk are near where Asturial brought us. I look forward to introducing you, brother."

  So saying, he turned and hustled over to Ariadne. They spoke for a few seconds, and then he gently picked her up and made for the front door, leaving Terry looking after him thoughtfully.

  "I really need to have a sit down with him sometime," he mused aloud.

  "You'll get your chance soon, Tee. I'm sure of it," Shy assured him. "Now, I don't need toilets, and you already know how to use them. Why don't you show me to a bedroom while you tell me about this place?"

  He laughed and wrapped a hand around her waist, guiding her toward the front door as he said, "Sure, why not."

  In the end, he'd parted company with Shy to make use of a bathroom himself before they had their fun, and wound up spending a long, long time in a shower. He had no idea why the electricity worked, or the water, but at this point he was too far past caring to give it more than a stray thought or two.

  As the hot water beat down on him, he closed his eyes and wondered for just a moment if this wasn't where the illusion would finally crumble away, and he'd step out of the shower and into the looney bin where they'd no doubt been keeping him for the past however long he'd been trapped in the nightmare.

  Dizziness and dysphoria swept through him with staggering abruptness, and he leaned against the back wall of the shower and sagged off his feet, letting the water pour down over him as he put his head between his knees and concentrated on taking one breath after another.

  There's no way. If I wound up back in the real world, there's no way I'd be able to make it there now. My life HERE is real ... everything before that was the real nightmare. At least here, what I do matters.

  Shy flickered through his mind, the moonlight playing off her flesh as she stretched out a hand to him. Then Laina was gazing across the river as she talked to him about her sister, about her childhood, about what she wanted. Euryale as she curled into him, crying just because someone had taken the time to understand her, and hold her close.