Chapter 23

The Reality

It was beautiful, the sea.

The way it glistened at all times of day, from the pure blue of noontime to the fiery orange of sunset. It was constant, and yet unpredictable. Marcus loved that about it.

What he loved more about the sea, was that it would always bring his father home every day. Then, there were those days where he went with his father on the waters, casting their nets out to bring back that day’s dinner. It was simple, honest work that kept them busy and fulfilled. While waiting, Marcus found himself always looking out, sometimes at the shore abutting the island they called home, and sometimes at the far distance with the haunting mists.

“Dad, what’s out there?” he asked one day, leaning over the side of the boat to get a better look. His father had pulled him back, careful to not let him fall overboard.

“Those are the falls at the edge of the world.”

“Are there more fish there?” That one drew a chortle from his father, appreciating the seeming humor. Marcus was confused by the action.

“Who knows?” his father had replied. There was little else said while he checked the nets, sighing. “Not as many fish today. Oh well, it’ll be enough.”

“Maybe we can fish beyond the falls?” Marcus suggested. His father didn’t indulge the thought, calling him over to help drag the net into their boat before heading towards the shore. “I wonder what’s past there…”

“I’m sure there are a great many wonders, Marcus,” his father said. The two of them set about putting their fish into barrels, doing the silent work with happy hearts. “But we can’t always think about what’s out there. Sometimes, most of the time, it’s about the people right in front of you.”

“Like you and mom,” Marcus confirmed, pleased to see his father nodding. “That’s what the Guardians are all about, right?”

“That, they are,” he said, tapping his son on the nose as their work concluded. Marcus sat back, watching the sea froth and foam, lost at the edge of that abyss. He really did wonder what was beyond there, and what it could mean for them. Before he could look any longer, Marcus found his father taking his hands. “Marcus, remember this: when we dream of the future, we have to still take care of the present. Even if it seems bleak. Like how we’re always thinking of the next season, but we still have to make sure to catch enough fish that day. And even if we don’t get enough, there’ll just be more the next day!”

“Oh…okay.” Marcus didn’t understand why his father was telling him this, but the warmth that radiated from the man he loved so much was enough to make him listen.

“What I’m trying to say, Marcus, is don’t give up hope for a better tomorrow just because you haven’t gotten a great today. The sea is never the same thing twice, ha ha!” Marcus nodded, understanding with a grin. He helped his father back to shore right after, the two of them disembarking and hauling their barrels out. “Not the best haul, but what do you think?”

“I think we’ll catch more tomorrow!”

“That’s the spirit!” His father ruffled his hair, turning away to do some more work with the barrels. Marcus turned back, staring out at the sea, listening to its ebb and flow, calming inside of him. He still wondered what was out there, but was happy; happy he would get another day of going fishing with his father. He felt an arm on his shoulder. “So, what do you see, kiddo?”

“The sea.”

“No, I mean, in the sea. And not fish, Marcus.”

“Oh…I see possibility!” Marcus said. His father laughed at that with a genial and heartwarming chuckle that stirred Marcus’s instinct to protect.

“What kind of possibility? What’re you dreaming of?”

“Hmmm…” That was the kind of question that Marcus had to think about, folding his arms and tapping his foot before he arrived at the answer. “The possibility of making the world even better! Filled with lots of fish!”

“Protect all the fish in the sea, will you? You’ll need to be a Guardian for that kind of work!” His father started steering him away from the sea, caught in the red sunset. It was beautiful to Marcus, but he allowed himself to be turned towards home.

“Then maybe I’ll be a Guardian! So I can protect you, and mom, and everyone. That way, we can all go see the other side together!”

“I like that thought, Guardian Arrant!” his father proclaimed, bending low to pick his son up and carry him on his shoulders. “But for now, Mama Arrant is gonna make a big meal for us! Guardians and fishermen both need to eat so we can go back out on the sea tomorrow! Come on!”

With an excited gait, his father carried them home, leaving the waves of possibility behind, and filling Marcus with hope.

Present Day

Marcus stumbled back, his body nearly pushed to the ground. Meredith’s soul shined, straining against its confines but refusing to bend or break. She could feel them all inside him, just waiting to break loose, from Eddie to Silva and everyone else he had ever taken in. The air was erupting around the two of them, but Meredith couldn’t stop. Her soul gave them consciousness, and will, and she eventually found her hand sinking into Marcus’s soul, just as he had done to so many others before him. When she reached them, it felt like time froze.

Their souls twinkled, and then exploded with light.

Meredith was thrown back from the force, skidding along the platform that began to shatter beneath her. She nearly fell, only to find a hand grasping her wrist. Rico’s teeth were showing from the strain, but he lifted her up to safety. If it was, indeed, safe. Those behind her started to recuperate, moving their bodies to look up at Marcus, his eyes wide.

There was a second of silence in which nothing happened.

Then, he screamed.

A torrent of souls burst from within his body, their trails of white and the many hues that represented them streaming out with cries. They were free, many of them returning straight to the Great Soul, resuming its flow. Marcus’s influence over it ended, and he nearly fell to his knees, barely holding himself up. Meredith watched in awe as so many of the lives he’d taken were released, their wills once again their own until, finally, he had been emptied. There was nothing left inside.

Just Marcus.

Just Marcus and his broken soul.

He looked up. His eyes were empty, clear of their misery.

To Meredith, he was free.

As if the release of souls within him had broken the madness and brought him back to where he started, the former chief commander gave a wry smile. His mouth opened, desperately hoping to say something, but unable to find the words. The mineshaft continued to creak and crash, but everyone there remained fixated on Marcus.

“I…” he croaked out. He was smoking still, and Meredith knew from the regret on his face: he didn’t have much time left. “I just wanted to save the world. Were my…why were my ideals not enough…?”

“You never changed them, Marcus,” Meredith said. A part of her felt like embracing him, as if telling him it was okay to let go of that which had twisted him. She, however, remained at arm’s length. “Reality…has a way of making you forget what they’re for if you don’t adjust them. But if you do…you can do so much more, better than you could dream.”

“Reality…dreams…” Marcus’s hands dropped, his smile looking pained. Everyone watched him.

He began to fall, his eyes on Meredith. She took off after him, hoping to pull him back and tell him it was okay to move on. But when he spoke again, she knew there was nothing left for him. His soul, burdened for so long, had given up, now that everything sustaining it was gone.

He continued smiling.

“I want to watch the sea.”

Then, Marcus Arrant’s soul, irreparably fractured, gave out. His body faded, and his soul disappeared into wisps, their fragments joining the Great Soul, once more made part of its flow.

The fight was over.

Meredith expelled a breath, her connections dropping. She was exhausted, but remained standing, staring at where Marcus had faded. Part of her lamented that he was gone, wondering if things could have gone differently…if they could have still worked together…But she knew they couldn’t change it. Now, though, she just wanted to go home…if there was any home to return to.

It felt like the Great Soul and the mineshaft were responding to that thought. It shuddered, sending Meredith into Rico as he held her there. The others were stumbling over themselves, too. A crash to the side showed that Emily had just managed to get out of the way, a falling piece of platform breaking through where they were standing. The entire place was caving in.

“Commander! Need a lift out?” Bruce and Trent’s timely voices arrived, riding down on a lift attached to the cables. Their descent led Meredith to look up, witnessing all the cracks and fractures lining the mineshaft. The damage Marcus had done was causing everything to come apart at the seams, the world included.

“What’s going on above?” Amelia asked, taking command of their escape plan. Meredith didn’t think that would be enough, sighing as Vivian and Emil hobbled over to her. Already, Emily and Jay had picked up Raymond, dragging their captain to his other subordinates.

“We only got a peek,” Bruce answered.

“But it’s lookin’ bad,” Trent concluded. “Monsters are less, but there’s only so much of the land left, and the sea is all but gone from desertification.”

“So, stopping Marcus didn’t halt a thing…”

“Of course, it didn’t,” Meredith said. She was rattled around by another tremor shuddering through the shaft. “The world was sick long before him. Right now, the only thing that can fix it is fixing the flow of souls…”

“How are we supposed to do something like that?” Emil asked. He was next to her now, studying her face. She knew what needed to be done, but was afraid to answer. She didn’t want to communicate what it meant for them. Vivian’s face was as inquisitive as Emil’s.

“We need to restore the pillars with six souls, guiding them to their place, and then…we have to…continue guiding the flow so the world doesn’t slip away.”

“Well, there’s plenty of souls here, so…”

“No.” Vivian’s voice was adamant. “You’re not thinking of doing something so asinine! You’re not staying here to guide the souls, Mera!”

“What?!” Emil threw his looks between the pair of girls.

“What else can we do? I’ve been inside the world’s soul, so I know-”

“Not something like this! We can still think of some other kind of plan! There has to be some other way. You’re good at finding them, right? Right, Mera?” Vivian had grabbed her collar, desperate to convince her not to. Meredith opened her mouth, ready to repeat the same rhetoric. “I can’t…I can’t lose another friend…not because of this…”

Vivian’s confession made Meredith’s mouth flap uselessly, unable to get her words out. She wasn’t sure if she would have been able to, but the point was rendered moot by a hand interceding between them, pushing the two girls apart.

“There is another way.” It was Rico, breathing heavily, but with earnestness in his eyes. He stumbled, collapsing from the strain he felt. Meredith grabbed him, finding Emil doing the same as there was another quake.

“Rico…I can’t ask you to…”

“I’m not asking, and neither are you,” he said. Gripping at his chest, Meredith could tell that Rico was barely containing the pain he’d endured in battle. Looking further, she could see he was still bleeding. Emily was out of energy, barely managing to walk with Raymond, and there was no way the man could make it back to the top. “I’m still a soul-user, and I’m partially to blame for this…this mess…”

“That’s no reason to just-!” Emil’s hand stopped her, and he shook his head. She began to feel useless. “Why? Why do you want to do this?”

“Think of it as…penance,” Rico said. His laugh was bitterly ironic, and he clutched his chest, wheezing with pain. “Or not penance, but duty. There are only two of us left to guide the souls to their proper places, and I’d rather it be me than you. You have a lot more places to go and protect, don’t you, trial girl? And I…told that fool I’d…let him rest…”

Meredith was uncertain. He was speaking sense, but the conflict within her was so great, she felt wrong to just leave him to such a callous fate. Rico had to have known that, for he stood, and put kind hands on her shoulders. His soul was telling her that he wanted this, and had come here with the express purpose of doing this in the first place. It was never an impulsive move. “Rico, are you…are you sure?”

“Yes.” No warning was given as he suddenly hugged her. She wasn’t sure what to do, or if they had time for it. Yet the tighter he hugged, the more Meredith felt the urge to return it, which she did. When he drew back, he was smiling. “Thank you for saving me.”

“And all of us.”

It was his voice, most of all, that gave the reassurance. Vivian and Emil reacted first, whipping in his direction as his soul appeared. The two soul-users were slower to turn, but were no less glad to see the six souls that had appeared from out of the Great Soul, tethered to it, but very much real.

“Eddie…” Vivian said. She was trembling, barely able to stay on her feet. Emil’s mouth was hung open in disbelief. His feet were stumbling over themselves, but he found it in him to run, the both of them reaching Eddie. “You’re…you’re real.”

“Just a soul now, but…yeah,” he said. He was rubbing the back of his head, like it was just another day where they met. Vivian and Emil didn’t treat it as such, both of them hugging him in their brief reunion. “Whoa! Didn’t realize you guys missed me that much!”

That made the two of them hold him harder. His eyes laughed, but soon became serious as he looked at Meredith and Rico both. It led their eyes along the panel of souls that had arrived with him. Some of them were fully aware as they stood there, while others looked to be subdued. Meredith saw Masters, his arms folded and nodding while he kept a hold on that of Cynthia’s soul. The frozen woman looked as if she was asleep, as did the other two priests. Keeping them in the chain was Captain Clive, grinning at Meredith. It was all six types of souls, for all the pillars.

“Their souls would work for the pillars, too?” Rico asked. He shuffled forward, questioning the usage of those that were unwilling.

“Of course,” Eddie said. The two teens drew back from him, and Meredith was surprised at the maturity that he spoke with, like his brief time inside the Great Soul had informed him of all things. “Like he said, anyone with that kind of magic power would suffice, and they’re the strongest. They’re asleep right now, because of Marcus, but in time they’d be strong, at least until our souls…move on.”

What he was saying hit Meredith, realizing what he meant. Their souls couldn’t stay in there forever. More souls, perhaps those unwilling to be used, would have to keep the persistent cycle afloat. It was something she could never do.

Rico, however, could.

“As long as it works, then, we can repair the pillars and resume the correct flow. It will ease the burden, I imagine?”

“Yes,” came Masters’s response. “It will mean no one can reach here again, and there will be significant changes to the world, but the torture of the souls will cease, so long as the pillars remain. So long as there is someone to guide them to their places. Perhaps my finest act as a Guardian, and one I wish to see succeed, even if by using their souls. It’s why I found them. We are ready. Let those who held on for this long rest.”

“Very well…” Rico walked forward, as the other five souls turned around, preparing to leave this space. The former Renegade stopped, all eyes on him as just Eddie’s soul lingered. He sighed. “I guess…this is the end.”

“I…I guess so…” Meredith breathed. She felt…elation. Not from herself, or from her friends, but from Rico. The man was ready to walk on and guide the souls. “You’re sure about all this? You can do it?”

“Yes. My soul is already fractured. Maybe it has been a long time, even. There’s no going back for me. Here, though, it can be of use,” he said. His back was still to her, but he looked at Eddie, the boy nodding. “I caused harm to the world just the same as Marcus. I hurt my family to do it. But now, I can make up for it, in my own way. Give them a chance to see a better world. Lovelia and the others will understand, I hope. After all, I think…I think that’s the way our magic should be used. One to guide…and one to lead. Our own paths.”

“Rico…” Emil said. Rico turned his head to him, and Meredith could see the smile. After that held gaze, Emil bowed. “Thank you.”

Rico nodded. There was no more passing of words between them. He began to walk on, stopping at the edge of the soul. No matter how much the place was falling around them, they felt isolated and safe. Rico prepared to take his step forward and locked eyes with Eddie. “Whenever you’re ready.”

“I won’t be long. Promise,” Eddie said.

Rico offered another nod, and like the five souls ahead of him, he walked into the Great Soul, body and all. Meredith went towards it, knowing she could feel him there and his intentions. Further in, she could see the other souls she’d freed, ones that had been trapped for a thousand years. Violet and Kyle reunited with their parents. Another with his family.

And Terrill, joining with the soul of the woman who’d shown her what needed to be done.

Their freedom brought on fresh tears.

“You can’t come back, can you, Eddie?” Vivian’s question brought them all to face him. “You’re going to be a pillar.”

“It’s not as bad as it sounds, I think,” he said, grinning at them. The smile fell off, but there was no sadness in his eyes. Meredith smiled; she knew he was at peace with this decision, like he always was. “Besides, it’s not quite goodbye.”

“Feels like one,” Emil muttered. He chewed the inside of his lip, and then walked up slapping Eddie on the back. “Well, if you’re okay with it, I guess we have to be, too, right?”

“Well, I do wish we could have spent more time together but…”

“But life never works out the way we plan,” Vivian said, breathing out and flapping her hair up. “If my life went the way I wanted, I’d have never met any of you, so…I guess we’ll have to be okay with it…But I just…I’ll miss you.”

“Me, too. But I’ll be there, I promise. You just won’t see me, but…”

He accepted their hug once more at this. Meredith momentarily watched the three of them, facing away to see everyone boarding the lift upwards. It really was a time for farewell.

“Be strong, Eddie.”

“We’ll…see you again.”

“Yeah.” His cheerful optimism gave them something to stop crying about as they backed up, giving Meredith room to approach her best friend one last time. There were no more tears left between them, just a silent acceptance of all that had come to pass, and all that would.

“Summer and the others wanted me to…to say goodbye.”

“I…see…I’ll miss them, too,” he said. More silence, then the soft smile, always buoying her, rose on his lips. “It’s weird…It looks like…this is an adventure I have to take without you, Mera.”

“Don’t get into too much trouble,” she said, smirking at him.

“That’s my line.” They descended into fits of giggles. Providing them with their private moment, Vivian and Emil started to walk away. When they had, Eddie’s face took on a serious countenance. “You will keep living, right, Mera?”

“I promised I would. And I don’t break my promises. Especially not to you, Eddie.” He was relieved by her saying that. It also left very little else to say, not between the two of them. She was ready to walk away, each on their own separate adventure, but had one last thing. “Eddie…you know I love you, right?”

“And I love you, Mera. Thanks for the greatest adventure a best friend could ask for.” His words were a balm, and his hands in hers were a reminder. She flashed him a dazzling smile, and then felt his lips brush the crown of her head. “Later, Guardian Mera.”

“Definitely later.” Her hands slipped away from his, taking her steps back. He lifted his arm, waving at her while he smiled, before turning around. He continued to wave, and then his soul slipped back inside, vanishing. He was off on his next adventure.

“Goodbye, Eddie.”

Before she could let her breath out, the platform shook, reminding her of where she stood, and what was about to happen. The glass began to shatter underneath, sending all of the Legendary Weapons into its depths, their souls gone. Meredith ran across the surface, dodging any new holes that were forming until she reached the other side, where Vivian and Emil pulled her on the lift.

“Going up!” Bruce shouted. He and Trent began pulling on the cables, taking their group towards the closing light above the mineshaft. Meredith soaked it in, realizing it was daylight: the first light of a new dawn on the world. “Faster, Trent!”

“You, go faster!”

“Ugh, you’re useless. Baroné, on my count!” Amelia instructed. Emil touched the bottom of the lift, ready for Amelia to say the word. A small pocket of wind formed beneath their slow-moving elevator. “Three…two…one…go!”

Amelia’s wind exploded, and the gravity of the lift changed. They all held on to one another as their elevator rocketed upwards. The cables rattled as more of the platforms and stone walls shattered and broke to pieces. Down below, the Great Soul grew smaller and smaller, but already, Meredith was beginning to feel the difference. The mineshaft’s entrance was closing in, and not because of the damage done. Suddenly, it seemed like the lift got faster, and Emil was looking at his hands in surprise.

“My magic power just jumped exponentially!” he cried.

“Good! Now focus on getting us out of here!” He complied, making sure the gravity continued to be applied upwards. The surface was crusting over, leaving a small gap through which they could make it. Jay attempted to put off the inevitable alongside Vivian as they sent enchanted air to rip apart the sealing spaces.

The group drew together, making themselves as small a target as possible in the hopes of fitting their thread through the tiny needle seeking to shut them out. Emil increased his magic, and the lift became a rocket until it crashed through the bedrock and sent them all flying. They catapulted through the air before landing on grass and rolling to the foot of a hill, coughing and spluttering. Meredith sat up in seconds.

She was on her feet, running headlong up the hill she once knew until she stood over it, glancing down. It was sealed up, nothing but grassy plain, and the renewed sea beyond. The Gash was closed.

“It’s over…” she exhaled, falling down. Vivian and Emil joined her, sighing as their exhaustion overtook them.

The sound of skyships and their rotors cut through the air.

The cries of Brynn, Conrad and Sal cheering and calling for them echoed.

The light of that morning’s sunrise washed over them.

And the sound of the waves on an expanding world, its pillars restored, beat back and forth as a reminder of a life, restored.

The world went on living.