by G. E. White
“You're saying that whoever made that was able to use Tyrell's materials to create a teleporter?"
"Not exactly. I mean technically didn't go anywhere."
"So what did happen?" she asked.
"I switched realms. I figured it out when Tyrell mentioned the materials coming from spare parts for the Phantasm,” Quinn said. “You said yourself that the metal was specifically crafted in order to travel between the first two realms. So, all the thief had to do was get into position where the star would be in the Second Realm, switch into the First Realm, grab the thing and switch back out again."
As Quinn flushed out his theory as to the thief’s escape, excitement and pride radiated off him. He turned to Surina hoping for some sort of praise or acknowledgment of his deduction but found her expression still troubled.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"Hmm? Oh, it's not that I doubt you're right it's just at the moment that information doesn't do us any good. By now the thief could be halfway around the world and in either of the two realms."
The blonde wilted under Surina's reasoning for a moment before his face lit up with an idea. "But the star won't do the thief any good either," Quinn reasoned.
"What do you mean?"
"The star's main purpose is to grant a wish, right? But it can only do that when it's whole."
"They need to put it back together," Surina finished in understanding.
"And I'm guessing that's not an easy thing to do."
"Next to impossible... I think I know who we are up against." She paused for a moment calculating the next course of action. "Go get something to eat then get Jared, we’re going to be leaving soon."
Surina said nothing else, but made a quick exit typing a number or text into the phone as she left; which now left Quinn with the awkward job of collecting Jared. It was odd – other than the first time they met, Quinn had not seen the Death God angry; irritated sure, but not angry. And of course, it didn't help that the anger was directed at him.
But then Surina did instruct him to eat. Perhaps in the time he would use to fill his belly the teen would figure out just how he might clear up the unpleasantness between them.
Jared stood in the doorway looking into a white room that the setting sun had painted in an orange glow. His chest ached as he recognized the room and its lone occupant that lay in the simple bed by the open window.
He prayed that he might wake and not have to witness this scene once again, yet his mind rebelled, keeping him locked in the memory of his former self.
He moved forward into the room, unbidden, his mouth moving on its own as the scene played out – Jared watching as if a passenger of his earlier incarnation.
The year was 1915, at the time he had been a British boy of just 18 years old, on the cusp of manhood, named Elliot Fisher, with fiery-red hair and a face full of freckles. The room he now stood in he would never forget; even as he was born anew twice now, it still continued to haunt him and probably always would.
“You really shouldn’t keep the windows open all the time,” he/Elliot scolded, moving to shut them.
“I think I’m past worrying about a cold,” the figure on the bed replied.
He turned to her, drinking in her appearance as it resonated inside his memory.
Alice Rydell was a woman of about forty years of age, with a fall of dark brown hair and a pair of gray eyes he would know anywhere. This incarnation of Athena, unlike the one he knew now was not just pale, but sickly pale with hollowing cheeks and dark circles under her eyes. “I didn’t think you’d come,” she said.
“Of course I came, did you think I’d leave without saying goodbye?”
“So you’re actually going?”
He shrugged. “It’s not like the war is going anywhere anytime soon. I go where the work is.”
“Marcus is already on the front lines I hear,” she commented.
Elliot nodded, his mind straying to the current incarnation of Ares. “The guy is having a ball if his last letter is anything to go by. I don’t really get it.”
“Despite your job you’ve never been a horribly violent individual.”
“I know I’ve been on the battlefield before, but I don’t remember…”
“You’re scared,” she stated.
“Terrified… I’m the only one who never sees me coming,” he said, a slight quiver in his voice.
“Some might consider that a blessing.”
He lowered his head, shame stealing into his heart as he gazed at the woman reclining in the hospital bed. Each breath she took was labored as illness wracked her lungs.
Having known Alice since he was a child he had trouble reconciling the frail figure before him with the beautiful young woman he had once looked to for guidance and comfort.
“Before you go I have a favor to ask of you,” she said, a cough stealing her breath at the end of her sentence.
Elliot sat on the side of her bed clasping one of her hands between his own. He waited for the spell to pass, noticing with a heavy heart the thinness of skin covering her bony fingers. “Yes of course,” he said. “What is it?”
Alice stared directly into his eyes, her gaze unwavering. “I want you to end this.”
His face creased up in confusion. “End the war?” Elliot asked in an attempt to clarify, but Jared already knew the answer and wished that he might not hear it, but still the vision continued.
“No, me. I want you to end me.”
“You mean kill you?” he said standing, his hands slipping free from hers.
He was about to turn away when her voice called him back. “I wouldn’t ask this of you if there was any hope.”
“It’s not your time though,” he argued.
“I’ll decide when it’s my time damnit!” she snapped, the anger draining out of her as quickly as it had come. “Look at me Elliot. I’m dying – you and I both know it. Yes, I might have another month or two, or four left, but is it worth it? Do you remember what I always taught you?”
He hung his head but nodded all the same. “Death is necessary but not always the end.”
“That’s right. I will die here, whether it is today, tomorrow or weeks from now, but we know it’s not far off. You’re going to have your hands full on the battlefield looking after the dead while trying to stay alive yourself. I don’t expect you to come back for me when I pass, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want you to be the one to ferry me on.”
Jared/Elliot’s eyes burned at her words while the back of his throat tightened painfully. “I can’t…” he croaked shaking his head, fighting back the tears threatening to fall.
“Please,” Alice choked, as tears of her own began to gather in her eyes. “You think I don’t know what’s happening to me? I’m weaker every day – it gets harder to speak, harder to move or eat, or even breathe. Soon I’ll only be able to lie here and shit myself, hoping that one of those damn nurses will check in on me… I don’t want to die like that. I’m a god damnit! I just want a little dignity…”
Elliot’s eyes met Alice’s as Jared felt his former self consider her plea. He cringed as he heard himself say, “How would you want to do it?”
The lines on her face smoothed back, revealing a face that held a shadow of her former youth. “Morphine, about two-hundred milliliters should do it. Doctor Taggart keeps several vials along with a syringe in a blue cabinet down the hall.”
“You’re really sure about this? If we go through with this, it really will be the end.”
“I’ll see you again,” she assured herself.
“But it won’t be you. You know how it works; Alice Rydell will never be brought back.”
“As it should be. I’ve had a decent run, perhaps not as long as I would have liked but I have no complaints where company is concerned.”
The next few minutes of the dream passed in a blur, though Jared was well aware of the actions that took place. Of how he/Elliot did as Alice bade him, moving along the hospital corridor
s unseen and retrieving the morphine and syringe she asked for. He returned to the room and gently laid the glass vials on her bed.
Alice took his hand in hers and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
Elliot filled the 50ml syringe with the clear liquid. He would have to do this at least three more times he told himself, but one look into the older woman’s eyes told him that he would continue to do this for her.
Once filled, he took the arm she offered him, the veins in the crook of her elbow clearly visible through her paper-thin skin. Jared remembered the next few minutes with horrific clarity, how easily the needle slid into her arm each time and the contented look she held as he pushed down the plunger, again and again.
Worse still was the smile she graced him with as she wheezed out her last words.
“Thank you…”
~ Chapter 24 ~
Jared faded into wakefulness, the memory of his former self still playing in the back of his mind. His chest felt tight and heavy as he remembered what he allowed himself to do to his fellow god, his friend.
In a way, her death had also shortened his own time as Elliot. He had shipped off to help the war effort a day later and had somehow managed to survive the next three weeks on the front lines of battle. As he struggled to collect the souls of each life snuffed out on both sides of the conflict, the guilt of Alice’s death weighed more heavily on him each day.
Finally the day came when he couldn’t bring himself to care anymore. He and what was left of his company had been holed up in a damp trench for the past four days. Elliot had moved further down the line to relieve himself in a small amount of privacy. After finishing his business, he slowly made his way back to the others.
He had heard the other soldier long before he saw him, but he was tired and just let him come. Elliot could practically feel the other boy, for that’s what the soldier was, as he lifted the hunting knife high to strike. It wasn’t until the last moment that he turned about to face his attacker, but made no move to protect himself. As the knife plunged deep into the crease where neck and shoulder met, the attacking soldier’s eyes grew wide, expecting Elliot to fight back, to call out for help. But only the soft gurgle of blood that pushed past his lips was heard and the Death God gave up the ghost.
This wasn’t the first time the memory had haunted Jared’s sleep and he had pleaded with his twin many times to help him guard his sleeping mind, but James could offer no help.
“You and I both know that it’s a memory, not a dream. I have no control over those.”
He then tried many times to contact Seraphina. If anyone could destroy the mirage of the past it would be her. Yet every time he got close to finding her she would disappear as if traveling along the wind.
Jared sat on the bed and hung his head. He knew that it had been not only Quinn’s words but his very presence that irritated the old scars, but Jared could no more blame the teen for them than he could his brother for being unable to help him.
There was a hesitant rap on the door of the quarters Sylvia had given them. Jared could hear the movement of the sneaker clad feet and see the shifting of the light that peaked under the doorway as the person on the other side anxiously shuffled his feet.
Jared rubbed at his eyes, and tamed the sleep-mussed locks of his hair. He knew who stood at the door, but was reluctant to answer. The anger he had felt toward the young man had long since left him. He knew that Quinn was not Alice and did not fully understand the weight that the Death God’s job pressed upon him.
The knock came again, followed by the teen’s wary voice. “Jared? You awake?”
No, Quinn wasn’t Alice, but neither was he Elliot.
He stood, banishing the memories of his former self and went to open the door.
After the second knock and softly asked question Quinn didn’t have to wait long before the occupant of the room pulled open the door from the other side.
While Jared's form no longer radiated an aura of anger he was still visibly weary. He looked down his nose at the younger man, giving an exasperated huff but moved aside and with a jerk of his head motioned for Quinn to enter.
The teen hurried into the room, lest the older man change his mind. The Death God appeared more like himself now freshly groomed, as he moved to lounge on one of the small beds of the dorm.
"So?" Jared asked expectantly.
“Oh, um, Surina told me to tell you to pack up your things; we’re going to be leaving soon."
"Is that so?"
"Uh, yeah. She thinks she knows who the thief is..." Quinn said trailing off.
Jared's questioning gaze felt unnerving in its intensity. "How did she figure that out?”
"I found out how they were getting in and out of the temples. They were using this to switch between the First and Second Realms at the exact location of the stars," Quinn said, gesturing once again to the device still attached to his wrist. "Surina took it from there."
The dark-haired man nodded. "That was pretty clever of you."
Quinn gave a snort of dissention. "To be honest that was probably the cleverest thing I've ever done. For the so-called God of Wisdom, I don't feel very smart. It seems like I'm always doing or saying something stupid…" He left the statement open-ended, finally making eye contact with the older man.
Jared’s stern demeanor melted away as a soft chuckle escaped his lips. "I take it this is you trying to apologize?"
"Trying yes – though your laughter isn't making it very easy... I'm sorry about what I said last night, it wasn't right of me to make judgments like that," he continued, flopping down on the bed opposite the older man.
"No it's okay... I mean, what you said was wrong, but with us having the powers that we do and being the way we are, I know where you're coming from. Going from the regular world to what you're living in now, you almost expect that there should be some magical fix for everything." Jared stood his expression troubled. "To be honest there was a way for me to save Edelias.”
"Then, why didn't you?" Surprisingly neither anger nor betrayal colored Quinn's question, only concern and honest curiosity.
"It's like they say: there has to be a balance in the universe. If I chose to save her life I would be condemning someone else to a premature death. So, can you understand why I did nothing?"
Quinn contemplated Jared's request for a moment. "I do. I don't like it, but then I can tell you don't like it either." But then who possibly could? Faced with both the difficult and tempting power and responsibility Quinn doubted he would be able to do the right thing. "So... Are we okay?" the teen prodded.
"Yeah, we’re good. Besides, I doubt I could stay mad at you for very long, especially with Surina breathing down my neck once she caught wind of the situation."
"Oh I see, that's how it is; you're just accepting my apology to avoid an ass-kicking," Quinn returned, humor in his voice.
"No! And who said anything about an ass-kicking? I merely implied there would be nagging, and lots of it."
The return of the easy-going man he'd gotten to know at the small lakeside apartment caused the corners of Quinn’s lips to pull up into a full smile. "Speaking of nagging we should probably get going before Surina has to come after us."
"Agreed."
Together the two of them rounded up the few belongings Jared had unpacked to clean himself up, back into his bag and headed to the door.
Upon entering the Main Hall once again the two men caught sight of Surina and Instructor Sylvia exchanging words in hushed tones. Sylvia clasped the bespectacled woman's hand, the gesture speaking of both gratitude and reassurance.
"Thank you for being here," Quinn heard her say as they caught the tail end of the conversation.
Surina nodded her own thanks. "I know the temple is in good hands and I promise, once this is over I'll be sure to come back."
"I know you will."
Sylvia’s smile lessened as a small group of Lunar magi jogged by, most of them gripping a bow in their hands while full quive
rs were slung on their backs.
"What's going on?" Quinn asked approaching the two.
"Just some precautions," Sylvia replied.
“I've already sent word to the Solar temple about the theft and the murder of the High Priestess. But whether Reeves will take it as truth or believe that the whole thing was staged by the Temple of Artemis is anyone's guess," Surina added.
"Well, with any luck we won't have to worry about him. You still have a couple of days," Sylvia said.
Surina nodded. "I promise we will do everything we can to retrieve the star fragments in time."
The dark-skinned woman bowed her head slightly in acceptance. "Your word is good enough for me Surina."
Turning to her male companions Surina gestured for them to follow her, "Let's go."
Jared gave a slight bow to the priestess which Quinn parroted.
"Goodbye priestess Sylvia," he said looking up at her dark fey features.
In a way, they were truly alien, but as she returned his gaze and offered her hand which he took, the gesture was so human, he couldn’t imagine this unknown person being frightening.
"Goodbye Quinn."
The use of his first name triggered a swell of warmth in the teen's chest. His face broke out in a genuine smile, with the knowledge that there were people who saw him and not just Lord Athena.
"Come on!" Jared shouted back at the teen, snapping him from his reverie. Quinn turned from the main hall to follow the older man.
However, he was surprised to find that they were not leaving the temple but going deeper into its depths, down a dimly lit staircase.
"Where exactly are we going?" he asked, catching up to the other two.
"The temple has its own entrance into the gate system,” Surina explained. “I've already contacted Leo letting him know to expect us."
"That doesn't really answer my question," Quinn persisted. "You said before you might know who's behind this and now we’re suddenly on the move – care to elaborate?"
