by T. C. Edge
A vision appears in my mind. Of me, Minerva, the other Heralds of Awakening, journeying across the lands in our cloaks. Bringing joying, salvation, freedom to those who want it. Adryan could come with me, others could too. We can bring peace to the world. We can heal its wounds...
"I want to bring joy," I whisper, nodding as I look to the stone floor, smiling at the vision that forms in my head. "There are so many out there I can awaken." I turn my eyes up to hers. "Do they not deserve that chance?"
For a long pause, her green eyes just look at me. There is nothing on her face that shows she will relent. "Is that what they wanted for you?" she asks. "Is this you speaking, Brie, or them?"
I pull back, affronted by the suggestion. Yes, they spoke of such things, but what should that matter. "I am not them, Kira," I say. "I'm not the Prime or the Overseer. I'm me."
"For now, perhaps," she says. "But how long until you start to change? How long until you become what you have always fought against?"
"I won't. I'd never..."
"Do you really believe that?"
I turn away from her rebuking face, and look at Adryan to my side. I see that Minerva has retreated, set back with all the others. I have no allies here, not in this. None of them understand it.
"Kira is right, Brie," Adryan says. "You have to give up these powers. They will only corrupt you in the end."
"Think of Vesper," Kira adds, the two standing together ahead of me now. "Think of what happened to her..."
I do, briefly, though my mind doesn't shift. "I'm not Vesper either," I tell her, looking at them both. "And I won't become like her." I frown, hurt. "Why will no one trust me?" I glance back to the others. "You don't have faith like them."
Kira raises a red brow. "Faith?" she says.
"You...you know what I mean."
She connects with another unblinking stare, enough to wilt weeds and flowers both. Then, her face begins to soften, and her chin tilts into a nod. "I understand, Scout," she whispers. "I know you're trying to do some good, and perhaps you would. But, it's not only the risk of losing yourself, of becoming what you dread. It's...it's more than that." She stops, letting out a weary breath. "This is about Zander. He wants it. He wants to let go. But only if you let him."
I draw back. My chest crushes, imploding at her words. "He...told you this?" I whisper.
"He didn't have to," she says.
I step away and turn, not looking at them, not looking at the city, nor Minerva and the others upon the plateau. I look nowhere, really, my eyes merely finding a blank space on the horizon, where I turn inward, shutting my eyes, and step into my mind.
The grey-white world forms around me, the place where Zander and I meet. The city walls, the woods, the mountains, all form shadows and silhouettes at the borders of my vision. I stand and search, looking for him. And through the rippling mists, his form configures, stepping out towards me, clearer than ever before.
He smiles as he comes, striding from the fog, my lips silent until he stands right before me.
"It is true?" I ask him. "You want this, Zander?"
His square chin falls, a single motion. "I want it, Brie," he says. "I want it for both of us."
"But...why?" My words are ragged, deeply pained.
"Because it must be done." He takes a stride towards me, his figure shimmering, the edges unsettled, unsure. His hands take mine. His eyes are earnest. "They are right, Brie," he tells me softly. "You must give these powers up. And because of it, I must go."
My eyes shout 'no'. Tears start to well.
"I have fulfilled my purpose," he continues on, a whisper. "I wanted to save you, Brie, and I have. And I wish to do so still." His lips form a smile, so handsome. His eyes turn to the side, and mine follow.
I see another form manifesting there, stepping through the shroud. Kira, eyes a muted green here, hair a soft red, steps towards us, looking around. The neural connection we forged into her mind remains, allowing Zander to bring her to this place. She steps in, and Zander takes her into his arms. Her eyes are wet, gleaming in the strange, spiritual light, knowing this is it. The end.
"We never got to say goodbye before," Zander says gently, holding the girl who was once his best friend, and has now become mine. "Are you done now, Kira? Are your fighting days complete?"
She pulls back and blinks the tears from her eyes. "I'm done," she says, words cracking. "I turn now to Dom, and to Neorome." She smiles. "New challenges await."
"New challenges indeed," he says. He looks to the mists, to the unknown world beyond. I wonder what awaits him there.
"I'll miss you, Zander," Kira goes on. She takes his face and kisses his cheek. "But I'll see you again one day."
They hug again, and her eyes look to me, welling once more with tears. Then she turns, stepping away, fading back into the mists. Her form sinks in, and she is gone.
My heart now begins to beat mournful, each pulse a stab of pain. A nervousness infects my blood, my mind haunted by a horrid recollection. The day I lost Zander was the worst day of my life. It shatters my heart that I'm having to go through it all again.
In the silence that falls, in that long, slow pause, I suddenly reach out and grab him. I hold tight there, unable to let go, unwilling. I don't think of losing these vast powers I now possess; that comes a secondary concern. I think only of losing his presence, his voice, his guiding hand to lead me.
My mind forms words, but they die before leaving my lips. Don't do this, I want to say. Stay with me, don't go. I want to try to persuade him, convince him of another way. What lies beyond? I might ask. Do you even know? Why risk the nothingness, when you can have this?
I say none of those words. A dozen times my lips part, only to seal shut once more with a breath. I cling on, for as long as I'll allow, stretching the moment as far as I can. But eventually, as with all things, the moment snaps, casting me back from him, and a space appears between us.
His face is a smile, his eyes shining lights. The mists begin to gather around him.
"Enough tears, Brie," he tells me. "Enough tears for me. I will be fine. And now I know, so will you."
I stand rooted to the floor, the tears drying as they fall. I blink and let no more of them form. I let the moisture sit on my lashes, glistening within the strange, pale light. Enough tears. Enough...
"Brother," I croak, as the mists coil around him, the edges of his form just starting to ripple and fade.
"Yes, Brie?"
"Say hi to mother and father, if you see them." I smile, fighting my grief. "Tell them I love them. Will you...do that for me?"
"Of course," he says, his voice growing more distance. "Of course I will, Brie."
"I'll see you soon," I call out. I step forward, trying to reach him, trying to extend the moment. "I'll see you soon, brother."
"Not too soon," comes his reply, echoing now around me. "Live long and happy, sister. You don't need me anymore..."
The white-grey shroud consumes him, as he begins to turn and walk the other way. With a smile, he glances back, and then presses through the veil, and into the world beyond.
He is gone, from me, forever.
I stand, alone, lost for a moment in that place, as the edges begin to close in, the world around me collapsing. Without Zander here, this realm has no place, no meaning. His departure is its end. And closing my eyes, the world falls to darkness.
I open them to a brand new dawn.
I stand upon the top of the hill, as Kira and Adryan step towards me. He takes my face in his hands, and looks into my bloodshot eyes. And then he kisses my cheek, and hugs me, and shows me, without words, that he will never let me down, never let me go.
I grip him back, my grief purged.
Too much sadness, I think, too much gloom.
It is time to stride forward now, into the light.
214
AMBER
"How did it happen, Lil?" I ask, sitting at the foot of the Sacred Stairs, looking wearily out upon the square.
"Did you know about your powers?"
She sits uncomfortably, her eyes stained red, head tucked against my shoulder. A little into the square, Elian is arranging for our grandmother's body to be taken away, brought to the royal morgue to await her cremation. Others, thousands of others, are being gathered up too. The city will see many thousands of funerals in the coming days. They will not be en masse, but individual. Each fallen citizen here has left behind family and friends. They will all wish to say goodbye in their own time and way.
"It was right here," Lilly explains, her voice so small. She glances up the steps, stretching away behind us. "There were thousands of us, Amber. She changed so many."
I follow her eyes, and see Brie up there. She's standing with Kira and Adryan, right on the edge looking down. I have glanced up a few times already over the last few minutes. She did it, I think, still quite amazed. She defeated the Overseer and the Prime...
"I knew something was different," she goes on, her voice a little distant. "They were gathering people up to be assessed. Seeing what powers they had, seeing what they might become."
"And you?" I ask her. "You were still assigned to be with Lady Felina?"
"She protected me," she explains, shaking her head. "She was in the square watching when it happened, and took me away before they could bring me in for examination. She was afraid they'd find out I was a Fire-Blood..."
"And that they'd make you into a soldier?"
She nods, weary.
Nearby, Felina is already up and helping, the square being cleared. There are a great many hysterical people about. She seems to be quite good at calming them down.
I will have to thank her later, I think, smiling at the Farsight, so good natured and kind. It is one of the few things the Overseer did right, putting Lilly in her hands. In any other, she might be dead. I will be in Felina's debt, forever.
"And what happened with her?" I ask my sister. "Was it you who locked her away?"
She nods, and looks down at her palms. There are a couple of shallow gashes on them. "She started acting really strange, trying to rush out to fight. All she got was a knife from the kitchen. I knew something was wrong, so me and a couple of the other girls subdued her. We managed to get her into the freezer."
"Thought it might cool her down?" I lift a corner of my mouth, trying to lighten the mood.
Lilly manages a weak smile. "I guess," she says. "I'm just happy I could repay her, for everything she's done."
To the left, at the bottom of the stairs, Ares and Perses stand guard, the two towering men in quiet conversation with Marcus. I have heard a few glimpses of what they have said already, about Herald Avon's attack on the southern base. Avon, apparently, is secure there now, where Emperor Domitian, Secretary Burns, and General Decimus have all survived. It sounds like a lot of that is to do with Commander Maximus. It would appear that most of the leaders and prominent figures survived. We can count ourselves lucky on that at least, even if so many Fringers had to die.
I see the attention of the trio turn up the steps, and follow their eyes with my own. There, coming down the stairs, I see Brie, Adryan, and Kira. Behind them, I spot a woman I assume to be Minerva, trailing several steps back with the rest of the Heralds and Chosen, Lady Dianna among them, now woken and recovered.
It seems to be quite a profound, symbolic moment, the great and good of the city abandoning the hill. The people in the square seem to still as they step down. A quiet falls as all eyes turn to Brie, this young woman who has awakened so many. They all know, now, that the Prime are gone. They look upon Brie as the natural successor.
She steps a little ahead of the others, Kira and Adryan at her flanks. Her attention is on Perses, stepping towards the mountainous Herald. I see red around her eyes, and around Kira's too. Whatever has happened up there, it has been highly emotional.
"The city is yours, Perses," I hear her say. Her voice is a little raw, not as composed as it was before. "Kira tells me that the plan was for you to assume the mantle. Is that...still what you want?"
A silence consumes the square, the city watching on.
"I will lead for now," Perses says, "but the structure of governance and rule must change." He speaks loudly, his voice carrying across the square. "Together, we will decide on a new regime, one that is fair to all the people of Olympus, and the Fringe beyond."
A quiet sound of applause begins to fill the square, gentle and muted, yet spreading all the time. It is too soon to celebrate, the people know. There are too many dead here to show such disrespect. Yet they realise, too, the importance of this moment. In Perses, they will have a compassionate ruler, a man to take them forward into a prosperous, and equitable new age.
And looking right at him, I know that I will be by his side.
"We have suffered dearly, but now we are free," he goes on, turning now to look upon the people. "The dead will be remembered, and the city will be restored. Yet the lie we have been living, cannot be allowed to endure." He looks out upon the citizens and soldiers, Neoroman, Havenite, Olympian and Fringer alike. "Look to your brothers and sisters," he calls. "See that they are not so very different as you. We will forge alliances to make us stronger. We will call Havenite and Neoroman friend, and join them to secure a lasting peace. We will not look down upon the people of the Fringe, or demand their service and tribute. Those with powers, and those without, shall from here on out be counted as equal."
His words are greeted with applause, a rising tide of sound filling the square and streets. For a moment, just a moment, the people begin to clap and cheer, indulging their hysteria before settling again, and letting the square fall into a reverential, mournful silence. It is a moment that Perses deserves, his words stirring and impassioned, laying out his vision.
Not everyone will agree, of course, but complete concurrence was never to be expected. For now, the dissenters do not matter. This is a moment for Perses, for the people who wish to see progress. And as Felina always told me, there are more kind souls here than people think, who wish to see the Fringers freed, see the people of these lands truly unite. Now, for the first time, I am seeing that with my own eyes. And among them, I see Felina herself, her hands clapping wild and free.
Amid it all, I notice Brie spilling away, quietly taking her leave with Kira and Adryan alongside her. Ares and Marcus stay, aiding the Neoroman troops in the cleanup. To show their solidarity, the Heralds and the Chosen help too, some of them forced to do so under Perses's withering glare.
But my eyes are on Brie especially, moving off so sorrowful and glum. Her journey here has been turbulent, but in the end, she was the one who saved us. She, and her brother, locked away in her mind.
And watching them, I begin to realise, that she has let him go. It was what Perses said to me, many weeks ago, when he told me he'd met Zander in the spectral realm. I recall the memory clear as day.
For Zander to leave the spectral realm for good, he had told me, Brie will have to give him up, and let him go. He doesn't want that yet. Not until her task is done.
I look at them go and know. Her task now, is done.
And she has set him free.
It is early evening when I find myself back at the southern base, pacing up and down as I look southwards across the plains. Kira and Brie have gathered here too, neither wishing to spend any more time in the city tonight. I get the impression, with Brie especially, that she will never step foot there again.
She is with Adryan now, holed up in their private tent. Most of the rest of the leaders here have gathered in the royal marquee, where the Emperor is throwing an impromptu party. Some might call it insensitive, but I have heard it's the Neoroman way. When a war is won, you drink and sing. The dead will not thank you for mourning.
Right now, however, I stand alone, watching those lights on the horizon. There are a few of them, several cars. I look out and pray that Jude is in one of them.
"Ah, here you are. Taking some time alone?" I turn to the side, to see Kira appr
oach. She has two cups of wine in her hands, one clearly intended for me.
She hands it to me, and I accept. I draw up a weary smile. "Thanks," I say. "But you didn't have to come all the way out here."
She glances back, through the sea of tents, the royal marquee some way off. Still, you can hear the singing. I'm not sure who it is, but someone has a tremendous voice.
"Doesn't take me long to get around, Amber," Kira says, smiling fondly. "I wanted to come see you. We haven't had much chance to speak."
"There's been a lot going on," I say.
Her eyes show sympathy as she nods. "I'm sorry about Alberta," she tells me. "I wanted to say something earlier, but..." She shuts her lips and bites them, awkward. "Well, I couldn't find the right time."
"And that's what the wine's for?" I ask.
"It helps," she says. "Just...don't make a habit of it."
We manage to smile together, subverting the painful topic. She must be learning how to be a good Neoroman. My grandmother would have wanted us to smile, and drink. She'd hate the thought of us standing here all miserable.
We take a sip together, then, and let the moment pass. Upon the horizon, those lights get bigger. My chest tightens as they come.
"Waiting for Jude?" she asks me, a cool wind blowing across us, fluttering the flaps of the tents.
"They were expected back today," I say. "It must be them."
She nods and turns her gaze to the distance. Her figure seems to still, fixing in place like a statue. Those green eyes dilate and zoom, unblinking, unmoving for a moment. And then, with a smile, she draws back.
"Good news," she says. "He's there."
After a day in which my grandmother died, my sister lived, and all the other drama besides, I find my reaction to Jude's safety to be rather muted. A relief settles in me, of course, but in the end, I always thought he'd be OK.
