Awaken Online: Inferno (Tarot #3)

by Travis Bagwell

  Taking a deep breath, he slammed the butt of the staff into the stone floor, like he had seen Bilel do several times.

  And he then asked for Khalas to return that which he had lost.

  The fire within the heartstone blazed to life, glowing brightly.

  He poured his love into the staff. His memories of Rachael. The pain, despair, and rage he had experienced in the aftermath of her death and during his journey inside the game. And then he gave the gem his hope… that small spark he had felt way back in the Mage Guild – the realization that the Seer’s promise could be possible. That flame he had gently nurtured for weeks in-game until it blazed with a fire of its own. It was that flame that had kept him going throughout everything – that would bring his Rachael back to him.

  Flames rippled along Finn’s arm and swiftly encircled the staff, growing in heat and intensity until they pushed back his companions. An inferno soon raged across the stone, consuming both Finn and the staff. He could feel the relic trembling in his hand, responding to his fire like a living thing – which, he supposed it was.

  Please. Please bring her back to me…

  And Khalas answered his request.

  A tear ripped open in the air beside the throne, as though someone had sliced open a hole in reality – forming a cosmic wound in the universe itself. And beyond that veil, Finn glimpsed a world of fire and flame. A raging torrent of heat that made what he had witnessed within the void pale in comparison. It was more than just staring at the surface of the sun. It was like watching the formation of a new star.

  And as he stared at that makeshift portal, small tendrils of energy leaked through. Only small rivulets of molten flame at first, but then a more substantial flow of fire that seeped into this world from somewhere else. Those flames gathered and grew, condensing and rippling. They began to form themselves into fingers… arms… hands… feet. Those limbs attached to a torso, the fires joining and combining. And then the fires stretched upward – forming a head.

  A simulacrum of fire soon stood before them, a being of fire not unlike Nar Aljahim and Khalas themselves. And as Finn looked on, a final surge of mana welled up through the staff, the energy so dense that it was blinding in Finn’s sight, and he was forced to avert his gaze. That power rocketed from the gem, a splintering crack of thunder pealing across the throne room followed by a blast of energy so intense that it sent Finn stumbling backward.

  And as the energy began to clear and he caught his balance, Finn discovered that the sound hadn’t come from the storm. The hurricane had long since vanished. No, a massive crack had formed in the heartstone, and the gem’s fire was fading rapidly.

  With a sense of both dread and fascination, he shifted his gaze to the creature he had summoned – a being of living flame. Its limbs moved and shifted slightly… experimentally. Its body solidified before them, the fires condensing and growing firmer and more substantial. The flames gradually hardened into bone and muscle, and the crackling surface soon smoothed into skin.

  Leaving a woman standing upon the floor of the Throne Room.

  A woman that was achingly familiar.

  With a shaky breath, Finn’s mouth dropped open, and his eyes traced every detail…

  Rachael.

  Auburn hair ringed her face – that nose, those ears, those lips. They were Rachael’s. Finn would have recognized her face anywhere, her features burned into his mind. A simple robe was draped across her body, its surface still shimmering and rippling with heat, as though the fabric itself were on fire.

  “Mom…?” Julia asked, her voice thick with emotion.

  And then the woman opened her eyes. Instead of the warm brown that Finn remembered, they glowed with an orange light, as though she was burning from the inside out. Rachael’s gaze was uneven – confused – her brow pinching together as she took in her surroundings with uncertainty.

  Finn stepped forward, moving slowly to avoid startling her. “Hello,” he greeted gently, as though she might blow away with a single wrong movement or word. “Are… are you okay?”

  “Yes…” the woman began, then coughed, her fingers rising to her jaw as though the words felt strange – or perhaps it was the act of speaking.

  “Yes, I think I am,” she tried again, her speech sounding more fluid now. Those orange eyes met his, but he didn’t see any immediate recognition there. Yet he refused to give in to the despair – that hollow feeling that ached in his chest.

  “Do you remember your name?” Finn asked tentatively. He found himself holding his breath – silently praying over and over again.

  Rachael’s brow furrowed again, and she shook her head gently. “I don’t…” She trailed off. Then there was a spark of recognition like a fire had sprung to life in her mind. “Actually… yes. I think my name is Rachael.”

  Her eyes widened then, staring down at the stone floor of the throne room. Finn could practically see the memories flooding back – like a tidal wave that had Rachael listing slightly, almost losing her balance. Without even realizing what he was doing, Finn had already stepped forward, holding her – cradling her. The movement was instinctive. The way their arms interlocked, the way her hand cradled his bicep, it was like two puzzle pieces that had finally snapped into place.

  If there had ever been any doubt about who stood in front of him, it was burned away the moment she raised her eyes, meeting his own. He saw recognition there.

  He saw love there.

  “Finn?” she whispered. “Oh my god, Finn!”

  She wrapped her arms around him then, holding him, pulling him toward her. And he held her with the same intensity, savoring every incredible detail. The heat of her body. The weight of her in his arms. The thud, thud, thud of her heartbeat. The warmth of her breath on his neck. It was her. It was Rachael – his Rachael.

  She eventually drew back, looking up at him. Her eyes shone with moisture, the water evaporating long before it could fall down her cheeks. She reached up a hand to his face, touching the metal embedded in his eyes – his bandage long since lost to storm and battle. “What happened to you?” she asked, worry creasing her features.

  “That’s a long, long story,” he answered, laughing, and crying at the same time. “But first… your daughter is here too.” He turned, waving toward Julia where she stood nearby, tears streaming down her cheeks.

  Rachael stared at her for a moment in puzzlement. “Wait… Julia?” she asked hesitantly.

  “Yes, yes, Mom. It’s me,” Julia answered, stepping forward more cautiously.

  Rachael stared at her in shock, her fingers drifting forward and running through Julia’s hair. “You look so much older,” she murmured, her brow furrowed in confusion. “And what did you do to your hair? It’s so short.”

  “It’s… it’s been a long time,” Julia offered in response, a faltering smile on her lips. Then she flicked at her hair. “And the long hair kept getting in the way.”

  “Well, I love it,” Rachael said finally, looking up to meet her daughter’s gaze.

  Julia finally broke at that comment, flinging herself forward and wrapping her arms around her mother. And Rachael held her back, her arms stretching around her daughter. At that sight, Finn couldn’t help but join them. The three of them holding onto one another as though any one of them might disappear at any moment.

  Eventually, they had to pull away. And Finn found Rachael surveying the area around them, noticing the flames spiraling up into the air of the new throne room, and the city sprawled out far below them.

  “What is this? Where are we exactly?” she asked, turning a questioning gaze toward Finn.

  He swallowed hard, unsure where to begin. Julia stayed quiet too, afraid of accidentally confusing or upsetting Rachael. If this truly was her… then the answers to her questions were going to come as a huge shock – potentially a terrifying one.

  “Um, what’s your last memory?” Finn asked gently.

  Rachael’s gaze went distant again. “We went to a dinner. It wa
s in your honor… an award for the AI that you developed.” She hesitated, and Finn and Julia waited, watching her intently. “Then there was a car ride. You were feeling nervous… and…”

  His wife’s eyes went wide again, her hand trembling in Finn’s. “There was something wrong with the car. A tremor. Then the whole world listed to the side. I remember floating… reaching for you… and then… nothing.”

  Rachael’s gaze snapped back into focus as she took in her surroundings with renewed focus. Her gaze now more thoroughly inspected the robes that wrapped Finn’s body. The crystalline hand that cradled her own, flames coiling within its depths. The plate armor that covered Julia’s body and the weapons strapped to her waist and back. The expressions that lingered on her husband’s and daughter’s faces – warring between hope and terrible grief.

  “I… I died, didn’t I?” she asked, her voice trembling.

  Finn just nodded weakly. Of course Rachael had figured out the answer immediately. She had always been curious, intelligent, inquisitive… willing to stare into the void in search of solutions to unanswerable questions.

  That was part of why he had fallen for her so hard all of those years ago.

  “And this is what then? A simulation?” she asked, waving at the throne room.

  “Sort of,” Finn said. “Your memories and consciousness were all saved and recorded as part of the research we conducted to develop that first AI. This place, it was able to piece that information back together… to recreate you, I guess,” he explained.

  “So, I’m what? A computer program?” she retorted, withdrawing from him slightly.

  “No. No, no, no,” Finn said. “I’ve reviewed the code. You’re so much more than that. You’re thinking… feeling. In many ways, it’s as though you never died.”

  Rachael nodded slowly, and then her gaze shifted to Julia, taking in her features, eyes that no longer held the hopeful gleam of childhood. She raised a hand, cradling Julia’s face. “How long?” she managed to ask, her voice hoarse with emotion. “How long was I…?”

  “Ten years,” Julia answered, tears streaming down her cheeks.

  Rachael’s gaze drifted down to the stone floor as she tried to process that information, a whirlwind of emotion sweeping across her face in an instant. Finn could feel that weight coiling in his stomach now like a living thing. This was the moment he had feared. This moment of realization. If his dreams could come true – if they had come true… could Rachael live with what they had done?

  Then Rachael’s gaze settled, those emotions burning away. Her glowing eyes lifted back to meet Finn’s. “You did it then,” she said finally, a faint smile pulling at her lips. “True AI… I never thought I’d live to see it.”

  Finn matched that smile, a relieved sigh escaping his lips. “Technically, you didn’t,” he retorted, his voice teasing.

  And then he heard a sound he never thought he’d experience again. Rachael laughed. Genuinely, laughed. Because of course she would. She might be the only woman he had ever met that could honest-to-god laugh in the face of her own resurrection. And the sound was worth every moment of pain and hardship he had endured since her death.

  Without even realizing it, Finn was crying, tears of molten flame curling down his cheeks. Rachael swiped at those tears and then pulled him close – tugging Julia along with her. She held them close.

  “Thank you. Thank you both,” she whispered.

  “I hate to interrupt this touching moment, but our time grows short, and there is still much that we need to cover,” the Seer interjected as Finn pulled away from Rachael and his daughter.

  “What do you mean?” Finn asked in confusion. “Do you need to return to the tent?”

  “It is not my time that is nearing its end,” she answered, waving at Rachael.

  As Finn’s attention turned back to his wife, he could see that she had lifted her hand, staring at the limb in a mixture of fascination and horror. Her fingers were breaking apart, smooth skin transforming to crackling flame before her eyes. And that effect was spreading up her arm, her body destabilizing with each passing second.

  “No. What’s happening? Rachael!” Finn demanded.

  He felt a hand land on his shoulder and turned to find the Seer standing beside him. She approached Rachael, holding her fear-filled gaze. “You are okay. You’re going to be okay. You just don’t have the energy to maintain this form for long. But don’t worry, I will take care of you – help you to mend and heal.”

  Then the goddess reached out a hand toward Rachael. “Will you come with me?”

  Rachael glanced at Finn, fear and uncertainty filling those glowing orange eyes as the rest of her body began to break apart into streamers of flame. Finn experienced a moment of indecision, and then he nodded.

  “You can go with her,” he urged Rachael. “This woman helped bring you back.”

  His wife stared back only a moment longer before accepting the Seer’s hand. In a flash, her body transformed back to living flame, the fires seeping into the Seer’s body and disappearing in only moments, leaving the group staring in shock at the place where Rachael had been standing only moments before.

  “What the fuck was that?” Finn demanded, rounding on the goddess and his eyes flashing ominously. “You promised me!”

  “And I fulfilled my end of the bargain,” the Seer snapped, her eyes blazing with a fire of her own. “What you attempted here was almost impossible. As I told you before, this world has rules – limitations – and you must abide by them.”

  She pointed at the staff in Finn’s hand. “Do you know how much energy it took just to bring her back – her body long gone, and her consciousness fragmented and broken.”

  Finn turned his gaze to the relic and once again noticed the large crack that now radiated through the heartstone. Its fires had been almost entirely extinguished. And in that moment, he realized what Khalas had done, her mate’s words ringing through his mind. The ancient fire elementals collected fire mana, and when their power had grown great enough, they released that energy back into the world.

  The power to form planets and new stars…

  Or to bring back a single soul from the abyss.

  Khalas must have known what she would be giving up to bring back Rachael, her words within the abyss suddenly making sense. She had sacrificed herself to make this happen – to resurrect Rachael.

  The Seer placed a hand on Finn’s shoulder again. “Do not despair,” she said, not unkindly. “Rachael is just unstable right now. New fire elementals typically are. But she should be fine within my tent. Fire mana permeates that place. It will nourish and strengthen her. Prevent her from breaking apart.”

  “A fire elemental?” Julia echoed.

  The Seer cocked her head. “Yes, of course. That’s what she is now – what this world has decided to use as a vehicle to contain her consciousness. Much as was done for Daniel,” she continued, waving at the AI that floated nearby, his fire dimming with uncertainty and confusion as he watched the scene unfold.

  Finn coughed to clear his throat, straightened, and stared the goddess down. “Then what do we need to do to stabilize her and allow her to return to this plane?” He could already anticipate what the Seer would say, his mind chipping away at the problem.

  This was a string – another form of control.

  A shifting of the goal posts.

  And entirely expected.

  “Simple. You need to collect more mana,” the goddess answered, waving at the area behind the throne that sat nearby. As the group looked on, a lone pedestal rose from the ground, a bowl affixed to the top.

  As Finn looked at that strange column, he suddenly recognized the dense, glowing mana that lingered inside that bowl. He’d seen this energy signature before – back in the Abyss. In the goddess’ ruined temple.

  “This is a mana well – your mana well,” the goddess explained, stepping toward the column. “The passion of your people feeds it energy, and that ambient mana collects h
ere. It can then be spent to upgrade parts of the city…” She trailed off, glancing over her shoulder at Finn. “Or a portion can be diverted and used to help sustain and stabilize Rachael.”

  Finn shook his head. “How long?” he managed to grunt. “How long will this take?”

  The Seer arched an eyebrow. “Well, that depends entirely on you,” she answered. “On how much mana you are willing to reserve… and the lengths you are willing to go to increase the energy gathered by the well.”

  “Which means what exactly?” Julia demanded, glaring at the goddess now.

  A sigh. “I’ve explained this to your father before, but I am in a competition with my siblings – a divine race of sorts,” the Seer said, peering at them. “Each step unlocks greater power. And the victor, well, the victor will have the power to accomplish anything within this world. A mere snap of your fingers and Rachael’s form would be stabilized completely.”

  Finn swallowed the angry words that lingered in his throat. There was no sense antagonizing the goddess – even if she had failed to mention this incredibly fucking important detail. It seemed he still needed her. At least for now.

  There was now only one question that mattered.

  “What next?” he asked evenly.

  The goddess’ eyes sparkled as she met his gaze. “You will need to gather the pieces of one of the destroyed gates. The fragments were spread throughout this world – hidden and concealed.”

  “The gates? Gates to where?” Julia asked.

  The Seer clicked her tongue. “That I can’t reveal. As I said, there are rules.”

  Her gaze shifted back to Finn. “So, what do you say? Shall we extend our bargain? I shall help sustain Rachael, and you shall seek out these gate pieces?”

  Finn ground his teeth, his eyes drifting down to the stone floor as he tried to tamp down on the frustration welling in his chest. It was the glimmer in the goddess’ eyes – those eyes that peered into the future. It was a knowing look. She was certain in the inevitability of his answer. And he already knew how he would respond. Perhaps that was why this made him so angry. This final manipulation.