by Lola StVil
She gets as far back as she can while she scours the area. She doesn’t see anything that looks like a key. She’s running out of space to back up into. The Egans have her back to the wall, literally. The first Egan to touch her slices into her arm with his bony fingertip. She begins to bleed profusely. The others come in closer for their pound of flesh.
Just as they reach out for her, a bird makes its way onto the shore—a Phoenix. Diana reaches out for the bird but is only able to grab a feather. She holds it out in front of her and cries out to the heavens, “Phoenix! My son! He’s the key. He’s my key!”
Seconds later Diana is on the floor of the forest, with a bloody feather-shaped key in hand.
When Bex’s screen turns on, we find him in the middle of his castle without his wings, standing before his mother. She has glowing skin, dark eyes, and red lips. She’s poured her enviable full figure into a gorgeous beaded silver ball gown that drapes down to the floor. She sits on the throne and studies Bex with an undeniable sense of disapproval.
“Mom, what’s going on? What’s happened?” Bex asks as he looks around for possible danger.
“Well, son, from what I can gather, Apex is testing you,” she says.
“How, by draining some of my powers? I feel weak,” Bex asks.
“It’s more than that. Apex has rendered you human.”
“Why?” Bex replies.
“He wants to see if you can make it through this little adventure with no powers at all. He took every drop of Kon strength you had and placed it somewhere else,” she says.
“Where did he put my powers?”
“In your hands, Bexington.”
Bex looks down, and a thirty-two-ounce glass mason jar appears in the palms of his hands. Inside the jar is a brilliant golden light that illuminates it.
“What is this?” Bex asks.
“It’s a mason jar containing your powers. If you can make it out of this with the mason jar unbroken, you will regain your powers. But if the jar breaks or gets opened before you get back to the forest, you will lose all your powers.”
“Alright, I’ll take care of it,” Bex says as he holds the jar securely against his chest.
“You know this Apex being has me perplexed,” she admits.
“How so?”
“He wants to test you and find out if you can hold on to your powers. But what he really should be asking himself is if you are worthy of them in the first place,” she says sincerely.
“I know, Mom, I’m not good enough in your eyes. I never have been, especially after Dad died.”
“After you got him killed,” she corrects him.
“I was a kid. I made a mistake.”
“Oh, Bexington, how I wish it were only that one mistake.”
“What are you talking about?” Bex demands.
“I’m talking about you allowing your brother to get killed. I’m talking about you letting the castle burn to the ground while you sexed the First Noru. And most of all, I’m talking about the delusion you have of bringing a demon into this palace!”
“Diana is not evil. She has risked her life—”
“BEXINGTON, PERHAPS I AM NOT MAKING MYSELF CLEAR: I WANT THAT DEMON OUT OF MY CASTLE!” she says as she holds out her hands and sends a torrent of violent wind at Bex. He holds on tightly to the jar as he’s literally being blown out of the castle and out onto an endless battlefield perched on a cliff covered with angels, thousands of them, lying on the ground lifeless.
Bex is devastated as he looks around the field. Judging by the look on his face as he examines the bodies, many of them were Paras that were known to him personally. He knows he has to keep going and that he can’t settle here, but he can’t help but stop and say a silent prayer to honor his people. He sits down on the ground with the jar in hand and closes his eyes.
That’s not a good idea…
One of the dead Paras a few yards away suddenly sits up. The corpse of the angel is rotten and parts of its face have been hollowed out. It turns its head towards Bex. Judging by what’s left of the creature’s face, I think it was a female angel.
“Bex, open your eyes!” I shout.
Bex does as I ask, but he does not turn around. He’s too busy lamenting his fallen friends. The corpse stands up and slowly makes her way towards Bex.
What the hell? Really, Apex? Walking Dead, the angel version? Argh!
“Bex, turn around!” I shout again.
“C’mon, Kon, look behind you!” Dylan demands.
Bex finally turns and sees the corpse headed for him. But he’s not afraid. He’s not running away or even getting ready to battle. Instead, he looks on with happiness and wonder.
What’s happening?
The corpse comes right up to Bex and they hold hands. He is lost in emotion as the corpse greets him.
“Hello, Bear,” she says.
“Key, I’ve missed you,” he admits.
Key! I can’t believe I didn’t recognize her. Even with the trauma to her body, I should have been able to see who she really is.
“I guess I look like hell, huh?” she says.
“Well…it’s not my favorite look on you, but you’re still beautiful to me,” Bex says.
“You aren’t shocked to see me?” Key asks.
“No. Apex would use what’s important to me to try to mess with me. And you are very important to me.”
“Bex, why didn’t you save me?” she asks.
“I couldn’t. You know I would have if it were possible. Please don’t tell me you’re here to say you hate me.”
“I wish you had tried to save me. I wish it had all been different. But I don’t blame you. I guess there was nothing you could do—back then. But now, now you can help me,” she says, filled with hope.
“How? Tell me. I’ll do anything,” Bex says anxiously.
“You can help me get back to the forest with you. I can leave this place.”
“How?” Bex says.
“With that,” Key says as she motions towards the jar.
Bex looks down at the container and anguish spreads across his face. “Key, that’s my power. If I give it to you, I will go back to our world powerless,” he says.
“Yes, but you’ll be alive and I’ll be alive.”
“Key, I can’t—”
“You said you would do anything, Bex. Anything.”
“I would, but I—”
“YOU DON’T EVEN DESERVE THESE POWERS! ALL YOU HAVE DONE AS KON IS GET THE ONES WHO LOVE YOU KILLED! GIVE ME THAT JAR! NOW!” Key leaps on top of Bex and starts to tear into his flesh. He struggles to pull her off him and hold on to the jar. Suddenly another corpse springs up and starts walking towards them. This one is less decomposed and easier to make out—Hunter.
Damn it! Bex seeing his little brother will totally screw with his head.
“C’mon, big brother, you know you never earned these powers, give them to us!” Hunter rages as he tackles Bex. The two of them gang up on Bex, and no matter how hard he tries, he can’t get them off him. A few moments later his childhood caregiver, Mrs. Doris, joins in. Her eyes are red with rage and she points her bony fingers at him.
“You let them murder me! You let me suffer! You should be here rotting with us!” Mrs. Doris yells as she hops onto Bex’s back and sinks her teeth into his neck. Dylan points my attention to a tree filled with black birds and tells me there were seven but now there are five.
“That’s his timer. Bex has to get out of there!” I reply.
Bex getting out of the battlefield becomes less and less likely due to the number of corpses that are now on their feet. In a matter of seconds, Bex is inundated from all sides. The whole battlefield has come to life. In the chaos and craziness, Key manages to get to Bex and yanks the jar out of his hands. She takes off running and tries to get the lid open. Bex takes off after her but can’t get far because of the sheer number of corpses now pulling on him. Key is about to open the jar and take away Bex’s powers forever.
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nbsp; “No!” Bex says as he tries to free himself from the horde.
Before Key can open the jar, Hunter comes up behind her and bashes in what’s left of her skull; Key falls down. The glass jar goes flying into the air. Hunter reaches for it but gets knocked down by the corpse closest to him. The jar gets kicked out of that corpse’s hand and goes right into Mrs. Doris’s. A new corpse runs alongside Mrs. Doris and snaps her neck. The jar is air bound once again.
Bex makes a play for the jar, ignoring the pain of his injuries. His fingers make contact with the surface but not enough to grab onto it. A corpse on the ground yanks at Bex’s feet and sends the Kon hurtling towards the ground. Bex stomps on the corpse who impeded his attempt and tries to back up. Bex succeeds; he gets back on his feet—just in time to watch as the jar goes over the cliff. “NOOOOOOO!” Bex screams as he hurls himself down after it.
Bex falls for what feels like a lifetime. Without any wings, I fear this is the end of him. Amazingly enough, he lands in a puddle of water in a dark alley, unhurt. Thankfully, he also managed to grab onto the jar and shield it from breaking with his body. He looks around the alley and curses at Apex. I think I know why. This is the alley where his father died.
“Hello, son,” a voice calls out from a few yards away.
Bex runs towards the voice and sees the corpse of his father propped up against a dumpster. His face is gaunt and pale. Bex tears up at the sight of his dad. He runs up to him and takes his hand.
“Dad, I never thought I’d see you again,” Bex says.
“It’s not much to see, son,” the former Kon replies.
“I’ve missed you so much. I’m so sorry I let you get hurt. I didn’t know what would happen that night. I didn’t know you would get killed,” Bex pleads. There’s a puddle near them, and three black birds land by it.
Bex has three minutes.
“I don’t have a lot of time. Dad, have you seen a key somewhere? I need it,” Bex says.
“I see a lot of things, son. Things you may not be ready to see,” he says with a smile.
“Dad, help me.”
“I will if I can. But first, son, I need you to give me the jar.”
“Dad, I can’t,” Bex says, sounding more hurt than I’ve ever heard him before.
“I can give you something in return. You give me the jar, let me come back and rule the kingdom of Paras once again, and I will give you something you have wanted all your life—forgiveness.”
“What?” Bex gasps.
“I will forgive you for getting me killed and butchered in this alley. Give me the jar and I will forgive all of it,” his father vows.
Bex slowly starts to hand his father the jar.
“No! Bex, you can’t!” I yell. A bird takes flight, leaving only two left.
Two minutes remaining…
Bex stops midway, and his father calls out his name.
“Give it to me, son.”
Bex continues to hand it over, but just as he is about to make contact with his father’s hand, he sees a small light coming from something on the ground near the trash. He looks closer and sees a piece of broken mirror. The jagged fragment has a key crudely carved on its surface.
One bird left…
One minute…
“Dad! Don’t!” Bex says, coming to his senses; it’s too late! His father is about to open the jar. Bex quickly reaches out to stop him. His father hurls him across the alley. Bex goes flying into the air and lands in the puddle; the jar lands next to him—shattered.
“Damn it!” he shouts.
His father curses and laughs at him. He tells Bex that he will never have power again.
Bex doesn’t have time to focus on the loss of power; he grabs the mirror fragment and holds it out before him. Nothing happens. The mirror fragment, although it has a key etched on it, is not the key.
AGRH!
“What am I missing?” Bex says out loud. He looks at the mirror as if hoping to see a sign.
Twelve seconds…
“C’mon, there has to be something I’m missing! What do I do with a damn mirror?”
“Fuck! What’s the key?” he yells at the sky above.
Nine seconds…
“I have to live with no power and now I can’t even open the damn gateway? Damn you, Apex!”
“Damn it! Why isn’t Diana here? She knows what to do with a mirror. She’d look at herself all day,” he jokes in desperation.
Five seconds…
“That’s it! ‘Self.’ The one in the mirror is the key. Me. I control my powers. Not the jar. Me. I’m the damn key,” Bex says as he waves his hand and watches the contents of the jar gather from the ground and enter his body. His powers return, as do his wings.
One…
He looks over at his dad and says, “I don’t need you to forgive me anymore. I forgive me.”
The moment the words come out of his mouth, a clearing appears in the wall and Bex jumps into it. The Kon is back in the forest, with his team, where he belongs.
The final screen comes on and shows us Aaden in bed, sound asleep in a bright and sunny bedroom. He’s wearing boxers and a T-shirt while lying on plush, crisp white bedding. The room is decorated in light, calming blues, grays, and white. There’s a framed picture on the nightstand, but it’s turned away from the screen so I can’t make out who is in it. The window is open, allowing us to hear birds chirping and the neighbors greeting each other with, “Good morning.”
The sunlight beams across Aaden’s face, waking him up. As he checks out his surroundings, he remains on high alert. He gets out of bed, opens the closet door, and finds his clothes neatly hung up and ready to be worn. He quickly changes into jeans and a shirt. Just as he’s done getting dressed, he hears someone cry out, “Oh no! Please don’t kill me!” Aaden runs out the door, down the well-lit hallway, and down the stairs, ready to attack.
He finds a little girl with bright amber eyes who looks like the spitting image of Diana. She’s about four years old and has Aaden’s eyes. The little girl is in the living room, playing a handheld video game. She has on a jean jumper with big yellow sunflowers stitched on the front panel; under the jumper is a yellow shirt. The front of her hair is gathered on top of her head and held in place by a sunflower hairpin. The remaining hair flows down her back.
When she sees him come down the staircase, she holds both her hands out and away from her body in an over-the-top gesture and sighs dramatically.
“Daddy! I die again!” she says, tossing the game on the sofa.
“Sparks…” Aaden gasps in utter disbelief.
“I know, I know, no games on a school day. But I went to wake you up for school and I asked you, ‘Daddy, can I play my game before school?’ You did not say yes, but you did not say no. So I played. Am I in trouble?”
“Sparks…” Aaden whispers as he comes close and studies her.
“Am I in trouble, Daddy?” she asks.
He picks her up and scoops her into his arms. He holds her so tight that she complains. He holds her high up in the air at arm’s length and is on the verge of tears.
“Daddy, we gotta go. We’re gonna be late for school!” she scolds.
“Um…yeah, yeah. Okay. School,” he says.
“Can you put me down?” she asks.
“Oh, yeah. Okay,” he says as he puts her back down on the floor. She gathers her notebooks and papers and says she’s ready. Aaden is still trying to take it all in.
“Dad, look! I painted my nails! I put letters on them,” she says, showing off her colorful nails. She painted both the skin and the nails, but she is so proud, Aaden tells her they look great.
“Thank you! And, Daddy, do you like my rain boots?” she says.
He looks down at her hot pink rain boots and says he loves them.
“You do?” she replies.
“Yes, but, honey, it’s not raining,” he tells her.
“I know, but they were lonely. So I had to wear them,” she explains.
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bsp; “Oh, naturally,” he says, suppressing a smile.
“And tomorrow, I’m gonna wear my snowsuit and my red Minnie Mouse sandals,” she says confidently.
“Let me guess, they are lonely too?” Aaden asks, unable to stop smiling.
“Yup!” she says in her very best “official” tone.
“We should get you off to school, honey,” he says.
She takes his hand and the two of them head for the door. Once outside, Aaden finds himself on an active block full of angels, Quo, and humans. Everyone is greeting everyone as they go off to school or work. But Sparks stops suddenly and makes a big announcement.
“Dad! I forgot my coloring book on my bed! Be right back!” she says as she runs to the house.
Aaden stands in front of the house and looks around the neighborhood. He watches as seven figures with ash gray smooth, dome-shaped heads jog by wearing long black robes. There are three large, deep, and wide gashes where their eyes should be. They jog in a straight line, one behind the other, in perfect rhythm.
“Oh, don’t mind them,” a short slim man with glasses says as he walks over to Aaden.
“Who are they?” Aaden asks.
“They’re called Tick-Ticks. Very annoying.”
“Are they dangerous? What are their powers? Sparks, come out here now!” Aaden says as he peeks into the house.
“No, they aren’t dangerous at all. They just run around like that all the time. After a while you get used to it. We haven’t met before; I’m Marshall. Did you just move in?” he asks.
“Ah, yeah. What is this place?” Aaden asks, getting antsy as he walks back into the house, searching for Sparks.
“Safe Haven,” the man says.
“Dad! Let’s go! It’s the first day of school!” Sparks says as she blows past the two of them and runs down the street.
“Headed for school, huh?” Marshall asks as Aaden follows.
“Yeah, I think so,” Aaden replies, still not able to trust his eyes. He calls out to Sparks and tells her to wait for him.
“C’mon, Dad!” she says. He catches up with her and takes her hand. The school is only two blocks away. They fly together and land moments later. The two of them enter the front gate of the three-story schoolhouse. There are kids running into class from all directions. The Tick-Tick joggers are across the street, but this time there are only six of them.
