Chapter 10

The Pillars

Rico’s hand extended downward, allowing Meredith the chance to take in his general look. It was shaggier than before, his black hair scruffy and nearly down to his neck, though he kept his face clean, and his body was as trimmed of fat as ever. Most important to her were his eyes, which she spent an inordinate amount of time staring into. When last she’d seen them, they’d been full of rage, warring against the pain he’d been unable to overcome.

Now, however, they were clear. As if a new, more benevolent, purpose had alighted inside of him. Meredith gripped the hand and was pulled up.

“The other world?” she asked on the way to her feet. Rico gave a sharp nod, but addressed someone else.

“Bring them in, and be quick about it. You know what that void can do,” Rico shouted. A twinkle of light soon manifested behind Meredith. The girl nearly stumbled at the sight of Lovelia and James of the Renegades appearing and entering the skyship. Their bodies sagged almost as soon as they stepped foot inside, but they made their way inwards. “Outside the cave, magic drains fast. Better to get your comrades inside, on our side, before any sort of deficiency can set in.”

“You’re helping us already?” Meredith asked. She pressed herself to the side as James and Lovelia supported Amelia and Emily out the door. Jay could be seen crawling to the engine room, while Bruce and Trent were standing under their own strength. Rico grunted, examining the broken part of the skyship.

“Looks like you took some damage. Fixable, maybe…You made contact with the wall, huh?”

“Rico, what is this place? And what are you doing here? Why are they all collapsing while we’re not?” Meredith’s cavalcade of questions made Rico consider the best way to answer, a frown coming to his lips. More Renegades bustled past them to drag the rest of the crew into the cave. Some were more affected than others, and it helped to answer at least one of her queries. “Magic…does Soul Magic have something to do with it?”

“Was just a theory until now. You’ve confirmed it. Step on in.” The leader of the Renegades jerked his head now that all the occupants of their skyship were safely inside the cave. Meredith felt she had no choice but to follow, making a small jump to the cave exit. She could still hear the pounding waterfall pouring over the edge of their world, but the further she looked up, the less she saw. Rico was moving far ahead. “We’ve taken to calling this place ‘the void’. It would seem to be a space between our world and the other world where magic does not exist. Those with high amounts of magical energy fall. Those with Soul Magic, clearly, do not. I’d say it has to do with our magic’s properties.”

“Our world? Other world?” Meredith was utterly confused now. She had expected something different, and a possible land beyond where they rested, but to hear it being called another world was a different issue entirely. The two passed into the cave, lit by a set of braziers, and she noticed the Renegades laying her companions down as they fought to regain their breaths. Rico bent to check Emil. “This is too much for me. Have you been here the whole time since you disappeared?”

“More or less,” he answered. With a quick examination, Rico nodded, convinced that Emil and all of the others were fine. The rest of his comrades went running back into the cavernous halls. “We needed a place to hide…and reflect. Turns out, the edge of the world is a perfect place.”

“But how did you get through without a skyship?” Being the only one in a state to ask questions, Meredith made her way around to his front. She was adamant in making sure he looked at her.

“I didn’t use a skyship. I used my soul. I was…desperate,” Rico responded. His gaze was far and away, yet at the same time aware. He looked at her, and the two felt as if there was a connection passing between their souls, despite the impossibility of them reaching one another. “Your words. That rather smarting blow…I didn’t know what to think. My belief was staunch, but you refused to let it break you. My own questions arose as to how right I was. I wanted a place to do nothing but think and be safe, and when I did, my soul connected me here. As if I was forcing my desire, it permitted me and the others through, to this cave. Something like passing through…”

“…a portal,” Meredith muttered. She understood the sensation, and now knew it for what it was. “A portal of souls. You rode the flow of souls…”

“Well reasoned, trial girl.” Hearing Rico call her that again made her blink. There wasn’t mockery or malice, but a playful gesture. She watched him, hoping to discern the meaning in his words, but his attention was elsewhere. The others were stirring, awakening after regaining their magical power. “Yes, I rode the flow of souls down, somehow. I’ve been used to siphoning magic from others’ souls but…this was something else entirely. It had been just little streams before, coalescing into me. This…this felt like I had become a soul, but not quite. I couldn’t control anything, but just ride the path, guide the already-set path.

“It was…illuminating.”

“Is that why you look so different, Rico?” Emil’s croak broke up their conversation. Rico looked to his former comrade, smiling. The expression took Meredith aback, not recognizing a look on the man’s face that wasn’t apoplectic rage or indignation simmering beneath. “You look…calmer. More at peace with things.”

“As do you, friend.” His hand offered itself to Emil, pulling the boy up and taking him in a hug. Emil hesitated, but soon accepted it with a hug of his own. Their moment allowed the others to stand, confused about what had happened and how they’d gotten there. “Yes, I can see…you’ve made peace with your family. Decided on a path you want, and helped them to understand this is your path.”

“Don’t read my soul. It’s creepy,” Emil said when he’d drawn back. “Mera, please tell me you don’t do the same.”

“Only when necessary. I’d like to think I’m not as…intrusive.”

“An interesting way to put it, given all of you showed up on our doorstep,” Rico said, a barking laugh emerging. Amelia, the first to stand, lifted an eyebrow in his direction, which the man was aware of. “I would take it you’re here for a reason. You need me for something.”

“I think you already started answering the question, Rico,” Meredith said. It was his turn to arch an eyebrow, and Meredith saw his hands twitch. He was anxious to move along and get them somewhere, and she didn’t need any sort of connection to come to that conclusion. “But yeah, we need to find the final Weapon. And some sort of way to stop Marcus from possibly destroying the world as we know it.”

“Marcus…?” The man was evidently not as on top of the world’s current events as he seemed. Regardless, he began to take it in stride with a clearing of his throat. “Fill me in as we walk. There’s something you need to see.”

“You’re not driving us away?” Vivian asked. Her own voice sounded groggy from what had occurred, but her glare was palpable. Rico looked to her, examining her, before he finally emitted a soft smile.

“No need. We’re on the same side, aren’t we?”

If Vivian was floored by his reasoning, she didn’t allow it to show, stepping aside to allow Rico to lead them into the cavern proper. Meredith looked to her commander, and Amelia sighed with resignation. Meredith, Emil and Vivian set off after the Renegade.

“Sal, Kenny, take a look at the ship. Jay, keep an eye out.”

“Careful not to go too far off the edge, commander,” Rico shouted back. “The void is no place for us to go. The closer to our world you are, the safer.”

“Yeah, whatever. Get on it, Tempest Squad. Especially you two. You’re looking heartier than the rest.” Bruce and Trent, feigning exhaustion, jumped to standing and ran for their engineers. Amelia could be heard with another labored sigh. “Worlds and portals…what a mess…”

She still kept her eye on them while the trio kept pace with Rico, deeper into the cavern. The farther they went, the more the sounds of the waterfall beating atop it faded, and the braziers that made it feel like a comfy home were extinguished. The place grew dark. Rico, however, had a request. “Fill me in about what’s happened topside. We’ve tried gathering news, but the loss of the archipelago above has made it impossible to spend any length of time without a skyship.”

“Corps gone. Order has five of the seven Weapons and the falls are shrinking,” Vivian said, her tone clipped. She was nowhere near as willing to trust Rico as Emil was. Meredith tried to remain firmly centered, keeping all faculties on Rico to see his demeanor. “Oh, and Marcus is batshit insane with some crazy ideas about manipulating the world’s soul to save it.”

“That doesn’t surprise me…well, the goal. That it was Marcus is…” The corner of his cheek twitched with the development. The man pulled to a stop and the teens almost bumped into him. Meredith realized they had passed by hallways where the few Renegades that had been with Rico were doing things. She didn’t know what, but her attention was focused on the leader. He began to laugh. “So, that’s what deliberately forcing a possibility does…”

“Uh…Rico? Have you gone crazy here or something?” Emil asked, stepping around to wave a hand in front of him.

“No, not at all. I’ve found…perspective.” Whatever that meant, he didn’t say right away. He raised his head, wiping across his eyes, though Meredith wasn’t convinced whether he was crying, or if he was just shielding himself. “Funny what it can take to do that…”

“Do you ever realize how little you make sense? Even during the events in the Metropolis-” Vivian’s tirade in his direction was cut off by him snapping his head down. He started forward again, forcing them to follow. Jay took up a very careful rear.

“Yes, I suppose I owe you an apology for that. My methods were…clumsy. Incorrect.”

“But you don’t disagree with the notion, do you?” Meredith asked of him. He refused to stop in this instance, but he did choose to address her.

“I still believe the world was headed for a path of destruction that cared little for the lives that slipped through the cracks. From your desperation in finding me, I would suppose those kinds of fears came true,” he said to her.

Vivian scoffed. “Yeah, because you sent everyone into a spiral and gave Marcus the Reaper a foothold.”

“If I could choose an alternate method, I would,” he reiterated, his eyes closed. Rico led them deeper into the cave, where it seemed to glow, but left no details in the way of illumination. “I wanted to force things out, believing I could just pull people in whatever direction I wanted. Funny how seeing the other side can convince you otherwise.”

“Is that what this is? Like…we’re dead?” Emil asked in surprise. Meredith resisted her urge to slap him for such an asinine comment, but Rico took it with laughter.

“No, not at all. This is the other side of the veil of souls, remember?” Rico answered him. “Well, not quite. I can’t say I truly know all that much about it, to be honest, but on the other side of that final barrier is a world untouched by the Corps or our own history. Whether it’s another dimension or a planet, I couldn’t say, but it works so differently. Yet it’s still living.”

Meredith made no noise, but continued to watch Rico, the cogs in her brain working through what emotions he had wrestled with…and what he’d come out the other side with. The man betrayed nothing on his face but a sense of…well, it wasn’t quite peace. The burning rage was gone, however. Meredith put a stop to her own progression. “You were wrong.”

The whole party was forced to halt.

“You were wrong, Rico. You can’t force the world to do anything. It’s free.”

“Hence why I gained perspective.” His foot tapped on the ground, sighing with the labors of his soul. “I was damaged, as if I had screamed so hard to prove I still existed that my soul was fractured. There was nothing left, your words playing over and over, demanding I save myself. When I slipped myself and the rest of my family into the world’s flow, however, it all became clear. The souls were untamable, but throttled. I had to surrender myself. And watching the Wild, that unknown land that teemed with life, I knew that I could never force a result. Guide them? Maybe. But I was foolish.

“How could so broken a man as me possibly think to guide when I needed guidance?”

“Even the greatest leaders need supporters that push against them, Rico.”

“To that, I’ve become quite aware,” he said. Once more, his footsteps came to a halt, but Meredith could tell from his body language that he never had any intention of moving further. She wished to look around, but the leader of the Renegades’ faced her and bowed low. “Thank you, Meredith. Thank you for your words.”

“Um…uh…” Meredith stammered at Rico’s apology, not expecting it and unsure of what she could possibly say. She waved her hands in front of herself. “Er…no apology is necessary, really. It…it was nothing more than a clash of wills and convictions and beliefs and…er…”

“Maybe so, but your words to me, telling me to save myself, guided me here. Offered me that perspective. Offered me hope. And in this place, I made a very keen decision,” he said. Jay observed him from his place while the three teens awaited the place to which Rico had arrived. “As a soul-user, I have a responsibility to the people of this world. Not just to the broken ones, but all people. I was selfish for considering myself as the only one with pain enough that mattered. Too many more people are suffering, and I would be no better than the Reaper and the Order to ignore them.

“I want to help guide the world to a better future, with all of you, if you’ll accept us.”

“Renegade no longer, huh?” Emil joked, but his face was at ease. Meredith was grateful too, even with the healthy skepticism that both Vivian and Jay exhibited. She didn’t blame them, given the tussles that seemed to result each time the Renegades got involved. Hoping to alleviate that, Meredith drew closer to Rico.

“There’s no way that this, er, ‘Wild’ was the only thing to push you there. What else did you find?” Rico minced no more words, expanding his arms to indicate the space around them. It was dark, near impossible to make out anything in the depths of those caverns, and Meredith was led to stumble forward until she nearly smacked herself into a tall pillar. Her hand touched to it, and she could feel the vestiges of a former great energy inside.

“This cave is still part of our world. Inside it, we’re safe, but I don’t think the world is,” Rico explained. He joined Meredith at the pillar, putting his hand to it. “Part of me wondered whether this cave had manifested from nothing, or if the falls had long covered the cave and became visible. Over the last month or so, we’ve recorded how much of the cave entrances have begun to jut out from the water.”

“Makes sense, given the rate at which the world is shrinking,” Vivian commented. She had joined up with them now, also touching the pillar but finding nothing remarkable about it. “What does this place have to do with it?”

“Meredith, you remember the Gash? The voices you heard inside?”

“Of course. We’ve theorized it to be where the world’s soul is located, the exact thing Marcus hopes to manipulate,” she answered. Rico was relieved to have no need to further explain that element, clearing his throat.

“I think it leads to the world’s soul, but there’s more to it than that.” His hand pushed him away from the pillar, walking just a bit deeper inside the voluminous cave, to where a greater stone structure sat. Or it looked stone. On further inspection, Meredith had the feeling there was an even greater power behind it. “I think this, behind me, is the path that leads to that world’s soul, even further beneath our feet.”

“How does that make sense?” Vivian contested. “The Gash was all the way to the north, but we’re in the south.”

“You think things like this make locational sense, Viv?”

“Well, they should, Mera. It just makes it more confusing.”

“There’s no telling how far this all goes. Space here can sometimes feel…muddled. It’s why we keep as close to the edge as we can,” Rico continued explaining to them. “These caverns go far back, of course, but after our first maddening trip to discover more, it’s been a path we choose to not take. However, one way these caves don’t go is down.”

“Weird observation…” Emil commented alongside the otherwise reticent Jay.

Meredith tapped her chin, turning around the room to take in all that she could, even if it wasn’t much thanks to the darkness. “Maybe not so weird…”

“You can see it too, then?” Meredith wasn’t sure if that was the case, but to confirm it, she turned her Soul Vision on, glad to see it still worked in this space. The action itself was illuminating, but what it saw was more so.

The space in front of her contained nothing but their own souls, tiny yet bright. However, far beneath her feet was something larger. It was that which she hadn’t sensed since she’d drawn near to the Gash, a signal that the largest soul of them all rested far beneath. More important, though, were the six pillars that held that place up around the large cylinder in the center of the room. These were far weaker, their power having waned over time, but the direction and flow of the soul’s power that was contained within was obvious: it was going towards the world, itself.

“Rico…are these support systems for the world’s soul?”

“That’s the conclusion I came to.”

“But something’s off with them…”

“Yes. Just recently, one of the pillars went dark. Something was locking whatever soul was supporting it inside this pillar, but now that defense is gone.” Rico’s own observations led to Meredith tapping her foot, reasoning out all that had happened. She was already preparing a theory, one that Rico’s words all but clinched in her mind, despite leaving the others utterly confused. “Did something happen that might have caused this?”

“Yes…I think so,” she answered. Not wanting to share a half-baked theory, Meredith walked within the space, counting the number of pillars. “Six pillars…and a seventh to lock. Fire would be Violet…Water would be Kyle…Terrill would have been earth, that much is obvious…”

“Mera, is there something you want to say that isn’t mere mutterings?” Emil asked, but she shook her head to ignore him.

“Wind had to have been the spear, and light is obvious with the axe. Abyssal Blade suggests darkness…and the lock would have been…the one Marcus has…”

“Mera! Speak like a normal person!” Vivian was annoyed when Meredith jerked out of her ruminations. She offered a sheepish grin, and rejoined the group to share that which she had reasoned. “Honestly, you Soul Magic users can act so pretentious.”

“No more pretentious than you, Viv,” Meredith shot back. Vivian puffed her cheeks, but allowed Meredith to share her conclusions. “The pillars are connected to the Weapons. Just a month ago, one of them went dark.”

“Which one?”

“The Earth-Splitter. But that’s irrelevant. I don’t know what these pillars mean for the world’s soul, but I’m pretty sure they’re connected to the Legendary Weapons and whatever it’s sealing.” Rico was curious, a wish for earnest discussion in his eyes. It was one that Meredith wanted to have as well: a purely candid discussion between two soul-users who could see things that others couldn’t. “I was told that the Weapons were created to seal off something that was eroding the world, and there are seven in all: one for each element, and the final one that locked it all in place. That lock must have broken a long time ago, forcing the pillars to resume the flow of souls to wherever they shouldn’t be going. Now, we lost an actual pillar sustaining the world. Or whatever kept its last vestiges alive, at least.”

“Except, I don’t sense the soul of the spear I used in here.”

“Then it must not be exact. They are within the Weapons, after all…”

“My word, speak plainly so us plebeians can understand!” Vivian whined, flopping upon the ground with a sigh of exhaustion. Meredith and Rico looked at one another and then addressed the three with them, lost in the messy conversation.

“There are six pillars,” Rico told her. She huffed away from him, but listened intently despite her ill feelings. “My guess would be that, in the past, these pillars supported the world’s soul and maintained a sense of order. Whatever happened after that, those pillars became…intertwined with the Weapons.”

“Not entirely, of course. The Weapons represent one of the elements, each: fire, water, earth, wind, light and darkness,” Meredith continued explaining. She felt she had a better grasp on what they’d discovered here, pacing back and forth while the reasoning worked itself out in her head. “The pillars do the same. When that event Terrill mentioned happened and the flow of the world’s souls began to slide in one direction, they put a lock on it by essentially freezing the pillars in place. It prevented the world from being sucked dry at its soul. When the first Weapon’s soul vanished, the pillars became active, flowing towards that direction, resuming the destruction of the world. Now, Terrill’s soul did the same and one pillar is gone.”

“The world’s coming to an end, in other words,” Jay concluded. He was leaning against the wall, nodding with every piece of information that he managed to process.

“To put it plainly, yes,” was Rico’s response.

“Could have just said all that…”

“But then I wouldn’t be able to bore you with a long-winded explanation you couldn’t make sense of. Oh, how the tables have turned Viv.” Her cheeky expression earned an enchanted blast of air fired in her direction. She dodged and it impacted with the center cylinder, not making a scratch.

“This info is great and all, but uh…does it get us any closer to the reason we’re actually here?” Jay reminded the teens. Emil shrugged, unsure, and turned to his former comrade to address the request.

“Rico, you and Mera keep mentioning the flow of souls…Can you…control it?”

“I can’t force a soul to do that which it doesn’t want to. I’m done trying that. You can’t force an option.”

“That’s not what he’s asking, dumbass,” Vivian sighed. She stood up again, adjusting her shoe while she leaned against the nearest pillar. “He’s wondering if you can remove souls from something it doesn’t belong in.”

“The Weapons?” Meredith folded her hands together at Rico’s question. She hadn’t considered that, even standing amidst the pillars. To her, they were all that was keeping things afloat in the world above. However, she didn’t want to discuss that, and she shook her head.

“Marcus,” she answered back. Rico’s eyes narrowed, as if he could pinpoint exactly what she was asking the longer he stared. “He’s taken in so many souls, trapping them there. We think it’s starting to drive him mad, and that he needs them all for his ultimate plan. We want to remove the souls that don’t belong to him.”

Rico wasn’t surprised. Meredith was starting to realize that the news of Marcus being synonymous with the Reaper had eliminated any surprise that could have been had. He was tight-lipped on the answer, though, staring to each of them but Jay. Resignation and sadness was what she saw there, before he blew outwards. “And where’s your friend? Edwin?”

Vivian and Emil looked away, and Meredith bit at her tongue. She refused to look anywhere but at Rico, imploring him to answer the question and move on. He refused to. Meredith knew she had no choice. “Taken. His soul is inside Marcus.”

“You know that you can’t restore him, right?” Rico sighed out, sitting down. “Believe me, I tried once. Acting well beyond our ability…It does nothing but break the soul.”

“That’s not why I’m here!” Meredith shouted, her voice echoing. Vivian jumped a little while Meredith stepped towards Rico. He backed off, the light in his eyes changing from their usual pained sadness to an understanding and warmth. “I know…I know as well as anyone that Eddie can’t be brought back, but he can still be saved. They all can be! Silva! Your own friends that I’m sure the Reaper took. They just need guidance, and I want to know if it’s possible.”

“Of course, it’s possible. Any soul can be removed or guided.”

“How?” If Meredith sounded desperate, she hoped it wouldn’t drive Rico away the closer she got. Bending down to his level, she took his hands, their eyes meeting. For the first time, they were soul-users on the same level. They both knew the burden they held, and what had to be done to stop it. “How did you do it? Your Soul Siphon?”

“That is a method I would not use if I had to choose again.”

“But it’s the only way…”

“Is it? You taught me the exact opposite of that!” Rico had finally raised his voice. It was the first time they could talk so candidly, soul to soul, and Meredith didn’t back down. “You didn’t buckle to my will. You challenged it, even if I tried to take that from you. Do you really think a soul would just lay down to die inside a place it doesn’t belong?”

A soul can’t be broken.

That was an incontrovertible fact that she was consistently reminded of, yet she needed to hear it to believe in it. Eddie’s soul was still inside Marcus. Terrill’s soul was still inside the blade. They weren’t where they belonged, but they could still be spoken with. Marcus hadn’t had his way with them yet.

“If you talk with them, Meredith, they’ll listen. If you take the effort to remind them of their own individuality and self-worth…”

“I can free them…” It was a possibility of hope, one that she had not wanted to aspire to previously. Presented with it, however, and hearing Rico outright advocate for it, she knew it was the right path, and how possible it was. Just as she’d parted the veil of souls or Rico had ridden that same flow to come to this place, it was all possible. There was still a fighting chance.

“Not that I can promise it’ll be easy,” the leader of the Renegades said. “The Order is something else, and you’re trying to take away their biggest advantage. Even after that, there’s no telling what will happen. They’ll likely return to the world’s soul, but who knows where that’s going…or what kind of soul is keeping it stabilized in the meantime.”

“We never expected this to be easy,” Vivian huffed. She kicked at a loose stone, tossing it all the way over to the cylinder, where it rebounded. “The easy path was one all the other Guardians took, that her brother took. One that I might have taken. Meredith doesn’t choose the easy path, but it doesn’t give us a reason to give up the fight.”

“We chose to bring the fight to Marcus, and free them. We’ll return them to where they need to go, no matter the cost!” Emil shouted right after. The two flanked Meredith, standing strong with her as she observed Rico. Jay chuckled behind all of them, joined by the well-known footsteps that were Amelia’s. All they waited upon was Rico’s response, the man looking between each of them.

He laughed, softly at first before it became unhinged, reflecting the brokenness he still felt inside. In spite of his change in perspective, still Rico was struggling for air, to find something to believe in. “You Guardians…you’re all fools. So young, yet you’re tossing away a future for some fool’s errand.”

“There’s no future if Marcus transforms the world’s soul for his own ideal and will,” Meredith challenged him. “Besides, were you any different? You wanted to throw away everything to make sure people didn’t disappear. You were wrong in a lot of places, but you were right in some, and a large part of that was about saving people that others didn’t see. This is no different!”

“And when did you grow up, Guardian Girl?” he asked, the sardonic chuckle escaping with a pained wheeze. Amelia’s footsteps halted near Jay, but all Meredith cared about was Rico.

“This isn’t about Guardians or Renegades, Rico…” Emil told his friend.

“It’s just about people,” Meredith finished for him. She gripped his wrists, pulling him up to make sure he stood with them. “I know you can understand that, Rico. Because you and me are the same: same magic, same pain. Yet we stand up and try to shield others from what we feel inside. You saw it as a duty to do so. Isn’t freeing all those souls and restoring order to what’s left our duty, too? Or has your ‘perspective’ led you to not care about what you left behind?”

Rico swayed at her convictions, glancing back to the pillars that were darkened. She knew he wanted to help; there had always been something deep inside Rico that demanded it. Yet his time in silence hadn’t done enough to heal the gaping wound on his soul. His desperate expression sold that when he looked at her. “Why are you here, Meredith?”

“The better question is why you’re here, Rico,” she shot back. “Running away? Giving up? Because neither of those options is saving yourself, and if you still need me to pull you out of whatever crap your brain is in to slug you again, then I’ll do it!”

“She’s good at that,” Vivian said, arms folded. “I think isolation can do the brain good, but too long in it and you start to think you need to shoulder things alone, or that you can’t even do anything at all.”

Meredith bit her lip when Rico frowned at Vivian. She couldn’t figure out how to break through, even after all the information he’d given to them. There was no way she could go back like this, not after seeing the broken shell of a man too hollow to continue caring. “Rico…didn’t you tell me that as a soul-user, we had a kind of purpose? That we knew what it felt like to experience all that despair around us? That it was the reason you had to do what you did? Are you really just going to stay here after saying stuff like that? After knowing what’s happening to the world you so loved, and to the people that live on it?

“Your family can still be saved, but you need to do it. If you want to send a message to this world and change it, get off your ass and help. Now’s the only time you have left!”

A quietude settled, but once more, Rico repeated, “Why are you here?”

“Well…” Meredith was finding herself at a loss for words now, rubbing the back of her head as she consulted Emil and Vivian. The latter didn’t care, but Emil nudged her, pointing to the blade on her belt. “I was just coming to ask you what I asked you and to find the final Legendary Weapon before Marcus could, but seeing you such a wreck after what you pulled made me want to punch you out.”

“You mean…he doesn’t have them all yet?”

“That’s what we’ve been saying this whole time. You think all of us would still be here if he did?” Vivian remarked. “He has his priests, including Maria, and five of the seven, like we said. That’s it.”

“Maria…and the Beastmaster, too…” Rico was conflicted, his pacing becoming agitated. Meredith hoped it was a sign of him relenting, and joining with them, but she couldn’t be sure as she waited. Her heart beat against her chest faster, only stalling when Rico touched to the giant cylinder. “You said he was…unstable?”

“Just a guess.”

“And the world is unstable, too, wavering with the conflicted thoughts and feelings of others…My doing…”

“More like his manipulation,” Amelia interjected. Rico paid her little mind. Too focused were his attentions on what formed the center of the room, and Meredith knew his soul was reaching forward. She stepped towards him, Emil with her.

“I must owe this world a great debt…”

“It’s not about debts anymore, Rico,” Emil told him. “It’s about living. Just doing our best and living. Living with pain, and regret, and the decisions we’ve made. I’m trying to do that, with them. Right now, living means stopping Marcus and keeping that kind of power out of his hands. Rico, isn’t it time we stop being Renegades and start being…people? Just people.”

Rico let his hand fall just as the mirth exploded on his face. He almost fell backwards from the laughter rumbling inside his gut. Emil recoiled, but Rico took him by surprise and into a hug. “Always sympathetic, Emil. Always trying to find a different path from us. Those trials…the Corps had some good for you after all.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Amelia shouted. This time, she was heeded by the man. Emil pushed him off, avoiding the smothering while he re-adjusted the scarf around his neck.

“It means I see some merit in Guardians, where I saw none before. Emil and your other participants here have shown that. I guess they’ve always shown it, haven’t you?” Rico’s gaze snapped over to Meredith, their souls in concert. “What was it you said? The world isn’t just about me and my pain. It doesn’t owe me any favors.”

“I also said I’d take on your pain, and a whole lot of other things.”

“But that…that stuck to me. It was foreign to me,” Rico admitted. Meredith was even closer now, right against the centerpiece of the room alongside the Renegade. “I couldn’t understand it, even down here. I sat and thought and thought and believed I was moving forward, but now you’re here, seeking a way to fix and make things right. You all hold pain but you keep moving forward and I’ve been…I’d given up while pretending I hadn’t.”

Meredith nodded, understanding exactly where he was coming from. With all the tenderness she could muster, she took his hands, and smiled up at him. “Then how do you plan to fix it?”

“By saving the family I have…and saving myself.” What that meant, he made clear in very few seconds. He gripped Meredith’s hand, and together, pressed them both against the cylinder. “The soul of the world is beneath us, Meredith. All that pain and misery trapped in one place, unable to return to how it should be. This has to be the path to it which Marcus is trying to reach. It can rip a soul apart, diving into it, but you have no qualms.”

Meredith felt the cool surface, their hands still connected, and when she opened her Soul Vision wide, that essence burgeoned inside her. The world’s soul was thrumming away in silent chorus with the rest of the world. More importantly, however, Meredith could see. She could see far beyond the space they were in, reaching out to the great beyond, like the whole entire world was visible and naked to her. “Just like the Gash…”

“When you touch the world’s soul, you can see more. I didn’t want it. Now, however, you’ve given me something to strive and look for. A family I had left behind…and a world I wished to save.”

“Any reason for the turnaround?” she asked. He squeezed tight, her fingers turning purple under the pressure. She squeezed back.

“Call it…being saved.”

Rico’s own Soul Vision opened. Touching to him, Meredith could feel it. For the first time, she could see into Rico’s soul with her magic. His guard had dropped, letting her in, and that connection filled her up. Every agony Rico had endured, and every lost hope along the way. His rage, his abandonment.

And at the core of it was his family, those shining faces of James, Carlton and Lovelia, grinning back at him. Even Maria, in her twisted manipulation of him, held a place in Rico. He wanted to save her. Wanted to save all of them. That was all he ever wanted. Why he hid. Why he fought.

Meredith understood.

“Then let’s save it together. Bring them home.” The inevitability of what that meant drew a tear from Rico’s eye, and the two pressed forward. Vanishing to a realm of white where just they existed, their Soul Vision grew to the furthest reaches of the world, searching for the faintest traces of an unfamiliar soul. There were some shouts around them, telling Meredith that something odd was happening, but she didn’t stop searching.

Not until the soul, dyed black and resting, was located. She and Rico glanced to another, and their connection terminated. They fell; Meredith into the arms of her friends, and Rico to the floor. Hurried, harried footsteps reached him, and through her exhausted vision, Meredith saw Lovelia holding to him.

“Rico, you know touching it is dangerous!” she called out. He coughed, and then reached up to touch his beloved chosen sister’s face.

“No more dangerous than letting it go unseen, Lovelia.”

“Rico…” Meredith watched them, the family worried over one another. “What did you see?”

“Where it’s gathered. Where they’re gathered. And Maria…our sin.”

“Does that mean you found the blade? Hey, Mera!” Vivian bonked her on the head, causing Meredith to wave her off. “Well?”

“We found it, all right,” Rico grunted, sitting up with aid from Lovelia. He looked at Meredith, and she nodded. The pieces fell into place, looking in the direction where she’d seen it. She understood Terrill’s final actions at last. “It’s underneath the ruins of your precious Corps Castle.”

No one was more shocked than Amelia, but Meredith laughed underneath her breath. It soon turned hysterical, finding the irony of it all too rich. All the little clues of the last Weapon being kept close, the power beneath the vault and Terrill’s wild claims that he would never let Marcus have it…they all came together in a beautiful tapestry. Which left just one piece.

“So, Rico, you and your family: in or out?”

Lovelia was confused, but deferred to her leader for judgment. Rico, instead, raised up to tie his length of hair into a short ponytail. “A fight for our world and its future? A safe home for my family and all others? We’re undeniably in, this time, trial girl. Let’s work together again.”

His alliance rang loud. Vivian shook her head. Emil blew air from his cheeks in relief. Lovelia appeared concerned, but firmed up when she saw her leader’s conviction, nodding with her own steely gaze to Meredith. All that was left was Amelia, slamming her fists together with her usual sadistic grin.

“All hands on deck, then. The final mission of the old Corps is here. Whatever you want done, do it tonight and leave no regrets. Tomorrow morning, we ship out!”