“Suddenly, an image started playing. It was Lily. She was in a similar situation to me, chains around her wrist connecting to something unseen in the darkness behind her. She was calling out to me, calling out to Traitor. And then a light appeared and lit up her face. At first I thought she was going to be able to see me too, and I called out to her, but a person stepped up. It was Jay, bloodied and bruised. He yelled something and her chains were shattered.”

“The image followed them as they left the pocket dimension. They talked about looking for me, how no one could even find a hint of where I was. Hanna turned to drinking like our parents did. Jay and Lily turned to each other.

“I watched them as they continued looking for me. When they finally gave up and went back to doing missions. I watched as they had a drink and laughed for the first time since escaping the dimension. I watched them bond. I watched them share a kiss. I watched them as they loved each other.”

“I got to see them find out that they were pregnant, and start a family. I watched as they inspired Hanna to move on from the bottle and get herself straight again. I watched them grow old and their beautiful children running around, frizzy hair like their mom, strong features like their dad. I saw as the poison finally took control of his body and he died in her arms. I saw her live out the rest of her life with my sister’s help, caring for those kids.

“And then the image faded. And I hung from those chains and I cried as my world carried on without me. I lived through it all, not aging a day, living in solitude. And then, a pinprick of light. It grew and grew and surrounded the space in front of me again, with only the border of darkness around me. I saw Lily hanging from the chains. I saw Jay rescue her. I saw it all again. Once again it faded, once again it came back.”

“Over and over, it returned and showed me the same things. I lived their happiness time and time again in front of me because it was the only damn thing that was on. My heart ripped from my chest. My soul torn asunder. I begged Traitor to kill me. I begged anyone to kill me. In between each showing, I sobbed until it was just a rattle pain. And every time it came back, I watched.”

“Then one time, there was no pinprick. A sudden, burst of radiant light filled the void I was chained to. My soul was stitched up as a heavenly light warmed my body. I was in fear and in awe, and it burned in a way that can only be described as cleansing. I was me again, but the betrayal was still there in my mind. I told myself it was all a part of something, and everything would be fine. Jay and Lily had been looking for me all along.”

“And I was partially right. While I was trapped, so were they. Except they weren’t seeing it like how I was. They were living it. Lily lived it through the eyes of a mother, being a badass protector of humanity and raising her children. Jay lived the same life, but felt the poison quick through his body as it fell apart and ate away at his soul.”

“They tore apart Jay’s body in his view. They gave Lily a life in hers, then tore it away, damaging her mind. And they fed off my emotions at their lowest point. They got what they wanted, which is why I’m mad their little ritual didn’t work.”

“The agency reached Jay first. Using the residual magic from the pocket dimension and his general knowledge of traveling between them, they found Lily. He burst in and saved her just like she saw. Then, they found me. They were so happy to see me, but it was clear how much happier they were to see each other. She couldn’t stop seeing how he saved her, just like she was shown. She knew what their kids would look like. She knew what loving him felt like. And he did too. If you knew you were going to die from the poison in your body, why wouldn’t you go for a small taste of guaranteed happiness?”

“She tried to make it work, but neither of us were having it. We all three felt bonds break when I saw how she looked at him. They each felt it once, but I felt both simultaneously. The pain of it isn’t possible to explain. But I can tell you that I would rather still be in that dimension hanging from chains watching life carry on without me forever than feel it again.”

“I tried talking to Natalie. I tried talking to Hanna. But I couldn’t get it out of my head. I couldn’t watch Jay and Lily love each other in real time like they’ve been doing it for millennia. I know it isn’t their fault. Their minds were fucked with just like mine, but that didn’t mean I had to watch it.”

“I found my parents. My mom had died, and my dad was slowly rotting away in his house. I almost killed him, but that would require a level of mercy I didn’t have in me at the time. Then I walked to a bridge Hanna and I lived under for a while. I went to the top of it and I jumped.”

“I put on my armor to weigh me down, and the water began filling my lungs. Just as it was about to take me out completely, I could breathe again. I was standing in a room not unlike the void, but everything was bathed in that white light that saved me. I was sopping wet and there were two steel chairs facing each other. In one was a man, and he had his arm stretched out for me to sit across from him. I took a seat.”

“I wish I could say what he looked like, but I honestly can’t. He told me that he appreciated what I had done for him. He was right to choose me. And as much as he tried not to step into our affairs on Earth aside from choosing followers, he couldn’t stand by and let me do that to myself. He knew what I went through was horrid. That’s why he sent a piece of himself to allow me to be found. And that’s why he stopped me from drowning.”

“He asked me what I wanted and I told him that I just wanted to live a normal life. He said he would absolutely do that, remove my powers and allow me peace for as long as I could make it last. But in exchange, when I died, he would require my services.”

“I told Traitor that it sounded like a deal as long as I didn’t come back a frail, old man. He laughed, a laugh of pure ambrosia. He said deal, and we shook on it. The shock of touching a Patron jarred me awake, back in my home, still soaking wet.”

“I left. I didn’t tell anyone. I could feel my powers were gone. I wasn’t a threat to anyone or anything, and I was of no help. It felt weird to be human again. To be weak again. But I left. I drove until I couldn’t anymore, settling down in some town out west. I worked odd jobs until a stranger liked how I worked and offered me an office job.”

“It was a boring job, but it paid well. I started making friends. I started going to get togethers. I bought a house, a nice car, everything that I could want. And I thought about this world, the world of the Traitor. Every now and then, I would see one follower or the other from some collective, but outside of major cities, they are few and far between. I would never any one twice, so whoever was taking care of it was doing their job right. And then I met Evelyn.”

“She was beautiful and funny and understanding. We met at a networking conference and hit it off. We began dating and getting to know each other and as time went on, she moved in. We got married and were thinking of starting a family, but I was hesitant. I knew what the world was really like, whether it affect me anymore or not. I couldn’t make up my mind and she was clearly growing frustrated. But as long as I kept bringing in nice commissions and buying her off with jewelry, she never got too upset. I guess that should have been a flag.”

“I always ignored mail from my insurance company, so didn’t notice when she took a policy out on me. I was out fishing with some friends when I heard a loud roar across the lake. I remember falling into the boat and blood pooling from my chest.”

“I met with Traitor again. He asked me how life turned out, and I yelled how I barely got a chance to find out. He looked sorry, but muttered something about not being used to how time passes for humans. A deal was a deal either way, and my friends were on their way to bring me back.”

“I saw Jay and hit him. He was my best friend. He knew how mental powers worked. I owed him that one punch. I tried to be nice and excited, but eventually I distanced myself. Beyond that, you know the rest.”

Mark stopped talking, watching Rylie as it sunk it. Tears were softly streaking down her cheeks, but she remained quiet. She met his eyes then stood up and crossed the room to him. He caught her and they hugged. He hadn’t realized just how much he needed it until he got it.

They pulled away and Rylie wiped her eyes, “So, now what?”

He summoned a knife into his hand and she pulled out hers. He grabbed two glasses from a cabinet. Cutting into his palm, he let the blood pour out into the glass. Rylie followed suit with the other. Once they were filled, he raised his glass and she clinked hers against it.

“Here to you, Rylie.”

“And to you.”

They both drank, and he could feel the bond forming. The fire that represented his connection to Traitor was changed, becoming less fire and more radiant. It spread out to every part of him, and the flame spread throughout. He watched Rylie as his fire and her light twisted inside of her. She looked scared yet excited as she could feel the magic reaching new heights.

Her body lit up, the light surrounding her like it did against the Modify follower, and Mark felt a pang of a connection. As the bond started relaxing, he grew curious.

“Summon a fireball,” he said.

Rylie looked at him curiously, then did it. Sure enough, the familiar sensation came back to it. As she held it palms up in her hand, he looked at it. He reached out mentally and the ball of white light began to flatten into a disc. He made it jump out of her hand and stretched it into a long, thin rope. He then widened it to form a stool, then added a back to make it a chair. He looked at her, both of them smiling with wonder, and she summoned another one, throwing it across the room. He caught it with his mind and boomeranged it back to him, catching it in its new form, a coin.

“Holy shit,” Rylie said.

He looked from the coin to his partner, “Now this is going to be fun.”