Chapter XXXII

After departing Scott Reiner’s dumpster of a home, Evan, Brad, and Rista followed the man to a small apartment duplex further to the south. Evan still wasn’t sure what to make of the man himself, but just the possibility that his serum could work was enough to gain both his attention and his cooperation. He understood the importance of perfecting such an idea and he knew that if they succeeded, then Nigreos and Album could be stopped. He wanted to get away from the magical world and what better way to do that than to create something that nullified mana. He was ecstatic and so he went with the others without a word of complaint as they ascended a staircase that took them to the second floor of the duplex. Scott then unlocked the door and led the three of them inside. Lilly hadn’t come with them since she said she had more important things to deal with, so Evan and Brad were only accompanied by the Ijirian man, Rista Pine. He still wasn’t sure how to feel about him, but he knew that was an issue for another time as they entered through the door and got a good look at the apartment’s interior.

It looked completely abandoned. Where Scott’s house had been so cluttered that he could hardly see the floor, this place was its complete antithesis. There wasn’t even a chair or any other furniture. It was just an empty, depressing room. Yet the man was already walking down the hall so they quietly went with him before coming to a bedroom that had been repurposed into a workshop, and Evan immediately found himself staring in awe.

“Holy shit,” he murmured.

Across the room was a giant workbench cluttered with various boxes of metal scraps, screws, bolts, and other building materials. Much like the office back at the house, more boxes were scattered around and the closet was so full of them that the door wouldn’t be able to slide shut. In the back corner was a small white box that Evan imagined must have been a fridge, but what quickly caught his attention was a shotgun laying on the workbench, looking only half-built, as if Scott were making it himself.

“Welcome to my workshop,” he grunted. “This is where I’ve done most of my research so almost all of my tools are here. If we’re gonna test the serum, this is where we’ll do it.”

Brad cocked an eyebrow as he surveyed the room, seeming a mix of intrigued and uncertain. “So do you have other vials here? You didn’t bring the ones from the house, so…”

“Yeah, I didn’t need those,” he said with a casual wave. “They were old. Only reason they were still there is cause I never bothered to clean up. The fresher vials should be in that fridge over there.” He indicated the white box with his thumb before moving toward one of the boxes on the other side of the room. “Hey, Pine,” he called over his shoulder. “If you don’t mind, go grab a knife from the kitchen and cut open your arm somewhere. Then collect the blood in this.”

He turned back and tossed an empty vial toward Rista, who barely managed to react in time and catch it. He then narrowed his eyes before regarding Scott with irritation. “So you just want me to open a wound? Just like that?”

The man snorted. “You were the one who said you were in a rush. If you wanna get this moving then hop to it. I know you magic folk can heal yourselves without much effort so a little cut shouldn’t be a big deal. Now get moving!”

Rista sighed begrudgingly before turning and heading back down the hall, muttering complaints under his breath as he did. While they waited, Evan and Brad just watched as Scott rummaged through different boxes as he searched for the tools he needed, and before long, Rista reappeared with the vial filled with blood, without a visible cut anywhere on him, indicating that he had, in fact, used healing magic when he was done.

“Alright, go set that on the desk,” Scott ordered. “The rest of you can just hang out for a moment. I’ll come get you when I’m ready to start.”

Rista seemed anxious to leave so he quickly excused himself and went to wait outside and Brad opted to go with him, Evan, however, was too intrigued by Scott Reiner to just walk away, so he remained where he was, checking out the various oddities around the workshop.

“I said you can leave, Wright,” Scott repeated, shooting him an annoyed glance.

Evan scoffed. “Yeah, I heard you, old man. But I thought I’d stick around and keep you company. I’m curious, you know. Why’d you go through all the trouble of making something like this? I mean, did you really think you’d ever get a proper shot at Nigreos?”

The man’s rummaging stopped for a moment and Evan expected him to snap at him again, so he was surprised when Scott turned back and sighed. “I didn’t make this stuff cause I wanted to kill Noctis,” he admitted. “I made it because I wanted to protect my wife. It was against her world’s laws to start a family with a magicless man, so if she were ever found, then Ijiria dictated that we would all be wiped out—erased.”

Evan shook his head and clicked his tongue bitterly. “Well, if I’ve learned anything about Ijiria, it’s that their laws are fucking stupid.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” he growled. “As Abi’s husband, I felt pathetic knowing that if they ever came for us, I wouldn’t be able to do anything to protect her. The Ijirians are far too powerful for magicless like us. They could kill us without a second thought. So, the only way I could truly protect my wife was if I found a way to fight mages.” He smiled sadly. “I spent so many nights studying mana and trying to perfect this serum so that when Ijiria came after Abi, I would be ready.” He swallowed and turned to stare down at the box before him. “But I wasn’t fast enough, and in the end, she was taken away anyway.”

Evan clenched his teeth, having not expected Scott’s words to hit so close to home. He would have given anything to be able to get an edge on Nigreos and Album. If he had been stronger, could he have protected Rina? Could he have prevented her death? He did everything he could, but a magicless boy like him couldn’t ever hope to reach the levels of the Ijirian Masters.

“Yeah, I guess I understand that,” he muttered. “When Nigreos and Album came after us, I did everything I could to protect a girl I fell for, but I wasn’t strong enough. They…killed her. She’s not even in this realm. I can’t bring her back.”

“Yes,” Scott whispered. “It’s an awful feeling, is it not? To be powerless. That’s why I’ve still done everything I can to make this serum. I want to take them down. If I can’t reach them, I’ll drag them to me. So, Mr. Wright, why don’t we avenge the women we loved? Let’s make them pay.”

Evan grinned and chuckled softly. “Let’s kick their fucking asses.”

Until that moment, he hadn’t realized just how similar he was to Scott Reiner. The way he felt about his wife was exactly how Evan had felt about Rina. He hadn’t been strong enough that day, so if creating this stuff could make a difference, then he wanted to help. Fueled by a new sense of purpose and camaraderie, Evan remained behind in the office, watching as Scott produced a rather expensive looking microscope, as well as a container of pipettes. He then crossed the room and pulled out another set of red vials before placing them beside the one containing Rista’s blood. Once everything was in place, he sent Evan to go collect Brad and Rista, and soon enough, they’d begun their work.

Since they only intended to test whether his serum worked, it should have been a rather quick endeavor, but Evan knew it was never that easy. The microscope didn’t initially work and, after determining that the batteries had long since stopped working, the four of them spent the better part of an hour looking for replacements and once it was clear that there weren’t any new batteries in the apartment, they sent Rista out to the store to pick some up, as well as to get some food, as requested by Scott. Despite making it clear that he didn’t appreciate being their errand boy, Rista still did as he was asked, and by the time he returned, it was already getting dark. They then ate, and once they had the batteries in and had confirmed that the microscope was now functional, it was already far later than they had wanted it to be.

“What a productive fucking day,” Evan grumbled from his spot sitting on a box in the corner of the room.

Scott glared at him from the workbench. “Well, I told you that I hadn’t used any of this shit in a while. That’s why I needed your damn help, but now this shouldn’t take long.”

He used one of the pipettes to carefully extract some of Rista’s blood, which had been kept in the fridge during their errands, before delicately dripping some of it onto a glass slide. He now wore some oddly large lab goggles and had some yellow rubber gloves and a mask over his mouth, making him suddenly resemble a mad scientist, which forced Evan to bite back his laughter to avoid pissing the man off. To take his mind off of the amusing appearance, he turned and glanced around again before noticing a small pair of blue goggles laying on the ground beside him. He reached down and picked it up, recalling that he saw a similar pair laying on the desk at the house.

“So, Mr. Reiner, what’s with your goggle fetish?” he asked. “You have another one of these, right?”

Without looking away from what he was doing, Scott smiled softly and replied, “Those? Ah, they’re nothing amazing. Back before Abi left, she and I created our fair share of inventions, combining magic and technology. That was one of our more successful items.”

“And what do they do?”

Scott chuckled. “Put them on, why don’t you. And Pine? Can you quickly use a distortion spell?”

Rista, who had been chatting with Brad in the doorway, looked up at his name and frowned. “Distortion? Why?”

“Just do it!” the man snapped. “And when he does, put the goggles on and look at him, Wright.”

Evan watched as Rista cast the distortion spell, completely concealing his presence from the rest of them. Then, intrigued to see what Scott wanted to show him, Evan pulled the goggles over his head and put them on, then turned and gazed in the direction he knew Rista was. His eyes went wide and he was already smiling as he realized what they did: he could see Rista despite the man having the distortion spell up.

“That’s fucking awesome!” he exclaimed. “I can see you, Pine!”

Rista frowned, then nervously glanced back at Scott before looking at Evan. He then raised two fingers and waved them around in front of his face, as if trying to test and see whether he was lying or not.

“Yeah, I see you waving your hand around like a dumbass,” he grunted. “Ah! And hey, now you’re flipping me off?! Fuck you!”

Rista dropped the spell and just stared in shock while Evan laughed at how unsettled the Ijirian was. Brad didn’t appear to know what to think and Scott merely smiled proudly as he continued with his work, now dripping some of the red serum into the blood.

“How did you do that?” Rista asked the man. “I mean, I know there are talismans that have been known to see through distortion, and some really powerful mages can still sense people, but I’ve never heard of magicless technology being able to do it.”

Scott shrugged. “Well, it's not technically magicless. Abi put a little charm on it that merged with some of the original attempts at the anti-mana serum. Even I’m not completely sure how it works, but it's one of the only counters I’ve ever been certain could do what it was designed to do.”

Rista didn’t reply, instead just standing there, gaping at Scott, as if he still couldn't fully process everything that had happened that day. Evan didn’t really know all the details, but Brad had told him that Rista had been adopted by Scott’s wife back in Ijiria, so it must have been quite the shock to meet her husband, especially considering how broken of a man he clearly was. He couldn’t imagine what Rista must have been thinking as he watched Scott Reiner.

“Hey, tell me,” the Ijirian began quietly. “Your wife… Abigail… How did you meet her? How did a relationship with her begin when you two had such different backgrounds?”

“Well, that’s a long story, Mr. Pine, and while the circumstances that brought us together were filled with chance meetings and luck, I do believe that whatever being controls this multiverse, whether it be a god or fate itself, meant for us to come together.” He smiled sadly as he pulled the pipette away and turned to gaze through the lens of the microscope. “She was an amazing woman and I am certain that I will never meet someone like her again. I could go on and on about the time we spent together…and if there’s time between now and our departure from this realm, perhaps I’ll tell you some of them.”

Rista nodded, though his disappointment was clear for all to see. “Okay. But then…can you at least answer one question?”

“Depends on the question,” Scott said.

“W-well…” He paused for a moment, and Evan could tell that he was struggling with how to ask. “You said back at the house that Ryokumo Caeli came here with her, but I was never under the impression that anybody had known she went to Omaruo. I mean, if Master Caeli knew, then why wouldn’t he have turned you over?”

Scott furrowed his brow and slowly looked away from the microscope to stare back at Rista. “On that, I don’t know. Like I said, I didn’t know Caeli all that well and he only came to Wilham on occasion. All I know is that Abi trusted him with her life. She always promised me that Caeli would die before turning her over to the authorities. That was good enough for me.”

That answer only seemed to make Rista more confused, and Evan felt as if he was missing something.

“The fuck’s a Caeli?” he interrupted. “What are we talking about here?”

The Ijirian turned toward him and grimaced. “He’s another Master of Ijiria—the Master of Wind, to be precise. I always thought he was just as twisted as the rest of them, but if he knew…”

“Another Master?” Brad parroted, breaking his quiet observation of the conversation. “So then…is he not on Nigreos and Album’s side? Or…?”

Rista shook his head. “I…don’t know.”

For a few seconds, the room was overcome by a tense silence as Rista took in the sudden information that clearly threw him off, but that silence was soon broken by the ringing of the man’s phone. He quickly reached into his pocket and checked the caller before answering it.

“Harper? What’s up?”

At that, both Brad and Evan straightened up. If Lilly were calling then something might have happened. With any luck, she found the mana port and they could begin their escape within the next few days. However, that hope was soon dashed by the stunned look on Rista’s face.

“W-what do you mean?” he stammered. “Why would I need a spell to fix something? What did you break? The glass door?!”

“Wait, what’s going on?” Brad tried to interrupt but Rista ignored him.

“Harper, stop beating around the bush and explain to me what happened? Why would my sliding door be broken? Are you okay?”

The silence returned as Evan and Brad waited to learn what had happened, and Rista’s constantly shifting facial expressions did little to ease their worries. He was first shocked, then confused, then what might have been impressed, and was finalized with a look of relief as he exhaled softly.

“Well, at least that was dealt with. I’ll be right there, Harper. Just…stay where you are. And keep an eye on Brooks. I’ll do my best to heal him.” Rista nodded. “Alright, see you in a moment. Bye.”

“What happened?!” Brad and Evan asked in tandem as Rista lowered the phone from his ear.

The Ijirian glanced between the two of them, then back to Scott, who hadn’t reacted much to the sudden phone call and was still fiddling with the microscope. “Harper’s okay. Apparently that creature inside of Brooks took control again, but she was able to use The Angel to destroy it. Brooks is alive and she’s doing well, too.”

“She…used The Angel?” Brad uttered. “You’re sure she’s okay, Rista? You don’t think she lied?”

He shook his head. “No, I don’t think so, but I’m heading back to my apartment to take care of them. Keep an eye on things here and I’ll try to get back as soon as I can.”

With that, he quickly excused himself, apologized to Scott for leaving so abruptly, then took off, leaving Evan and Brad remaining behind, the latter looking pale despite being told that Lilly was okay. Evan recalled how his old friend had brought up a concern regarding Lilly’s usage of The Angel, but the topic had been quickly avoided, so he couldn’t help but wonder…

Is there something more to The Angel than they’ve let on?

***

After waiting in what wasn’t that long of a line for the ferris wheel, Vinny and Alice stepped into one of the carriages and took their seats across from each other, the latter still talking up how amazing of a view they were going to get treated to. Unlike with the drop tower, the fact that the ferris wheel had a roof and windows made it far less scary to get onto, so Vinny was actually excited to enjoy the ride. After a few more moments of waiting, the wheel slowly began to move, gradually ascending further and further into the sky and the boy soon found himself just gazing through the windows in wonder. Off to his right was the sea, the silver moonlight sparkling peacefully over the vast expanse of water that stretched all the way to the horizon. To his left were the lights of Wilham, almost seeming to glitter as he gazed at his hometown. It was breathtaking and he didn’t have the words to describe how cool of a sight it was.

“Man, I should have gotten a ride on this thing way sooner than I did,” he whispered, almost more to himself than to Alice. “What an awesome view.”

“What did I tell you?” she replied wryly. “We’ll have to come again sometime, yeah?”

“Absotutely. I’d love that.”

Forcing himself to look away from the sparkling Wilham, he glanced sidelong to see Alice gazing out at the city as well, grinning from ear to ear in an almost childlike fashion. There was an innocence to her that made her all the more endearing and the longer he watched her, the more he wished that serene moment could last forever. He’d never been this happy before. He’d never enjoyed himself like this. It was a bliss he never thought he would get to experience.

Is it really okay for me to feel like this? Is this really how my other self supposedly lived? Is it okay for me to want that? I told myself that Harper couldn’t be telling the truth because my life has never been easy like that. There’s never been an Eric Reiner to reach their hand out to me and offer me friendship. I’m alone. That’s how it’s always been, but…

“Well, I hope you know that I want to be your friend. Or maybe even more than a friend. And I mean that. If you ever need somebody to have lunch with or to call on the phone, I can be there for you.”

Alice had done the very thing he didn’t think he deserved. She had offered him friendship and companionship. She expressed interest in him and wanted to get to know him better.

And it all feels familiar. I feel like I’ve known this girl longer than I have. Magic is real, and now that I feel this way, can I really brush off Harper’s claims so easily? Could this world be fake? Could my life have been better than this? Vinny turned his head back to the view of Wilham and sighed. And if this is the fake one, then how beautiful would the real one look? I’d like to see it with her. I’d like to go to the pier and ride this ferris wheel with the real Alice Mendez—and as my real self.

“Alice,” he said softly. “Thank you for tonight. This…has meant more to me than I think I could ever articulate.”

When he looked back at her once again, her smile was directed right at him. “Of course. I’ve been wanting to get to know you more for a while, so I’m happy you were so willing, Vinny. Let’s do this again, okay? Maybe next time, we can go get lunch or dinner or something?”

“Yeah, that sounds fun,” he agreed. “Let’s do that.”

Even if it’s in another world… Even if we’re different people, I want to keep this going. I don’t want to lose this.

“Okay, maybe this Wednesday?” Alice suggested, leaning forward slightly, and Vinny found himself doing the same.

“I’m free Wednesday. We can go after your cross country practice gets out.”

“Cool. Then you pick the place. It’ll be your turn to choose where we go.”

“I’ll do that.”

Gently, as their faces drew closer to each other, Vinny pressed his lips against hers and kissed her. At any other moment, he never would have done something so sudden, yet it just felt right. She returned the kiss, not pulling away like he feared she would, and instead pressing herself closer to him. All at once, Vinny’s mind felt clear. Everything was okay. Everything was right in the world. He wasn’t sure how long the kiss lasted, but it felt like hours as they stayed together, and it reminded him of better, happier times.

Of a Christmas tree lighting surrounded by cheering people as the snow began falling around them.

Of the West Wilham courtyard and the many lunches they would have had together, laughing and enjoying each other’s company.

And of Ralph’s Diner, where he would go and watch her work, if only to be closer to her while she was busy.

He loved her. He wanted to be with her.

He never wanted to forget her again.

***

Lilly’s body was constantly hit with spasms of pain but she bit the sensations back and tried to remain calm. She was in Rista’s apartment, sitting on his couch with Jay’s head resting in her lap, his eyes closed and his breathing steady. She’d already called Rista to tell him what happened, and soon he would arrive to fix the shattered glass door and hopefully deal with any cops should they arrive. She wasn’t sure what to expect from the fake civilians of the erased realm, but she’d been dreading the sound of sirens for a while, and thus far, the street had been silent. With any luck, nobody would show up and they could pretend like the battle with the nerich never happened.

She glanced down at her left arm, bandaged from her wrist all the way to her bicep. She’d done her best to tend to the wounds, but with only one hand free to do it, it was a rather sloppy job. Her right arm was red and looked as if it had come close to bursting like her left did, and the rest of her body was in a similar state, but her left arm was the only part where blood was drawn.

But it was worth it. Jay’s safe. The nerich is gone. He won’t be tormented by it any more.

As she watched the boy sleep, his eyes slowly began to flicker open before focussing on her. Unsure of how he would be feeling or what might be going through his mind, Lilly smiled to assure him that everything was okay.

“You’re safe now, Jay,” she told him. “That thing can’t hurt you anymore.”

She wanted to ask if he remembered what happened, but his pained expression and the tears that began to form in his eyes were enough to confirm that he did.

“I’m so sorry, Lilly. I almost killed you. I—”

“No, you didn’t,” she corrected. “The nerich almost killed me. You didn’t do anything wrong, but it doesn’t matter now. The nerich is dead. The Angel killed it.”

“But…” His eyes briefly moved to her arm. “You’re hurt. Your arm…”

“I did this,” she said. “I used too much of The Angel’s power and my body couldn’t handle it, but Rista knows healing magic so it’ll be alright. He’ll fix it up once he gets here and I’ll be good as new.”

“Why lie to him, Harper? He’ll find out anyway when Pine tries to heal you. Wounds from The Angel cannot be fixed by mere nature magic.”

I’m well aware, but technically, this isn’t my real body, so when we get out of here, everything will be good as new, yeah? So it’s no big deal.

“I feel like you’re a little too calm about this. I can tell you’re in pain, you know?”

Lilly ignored them and focussed only on Jay, knowing that comforting him was her primary objective.

“Did I…hurt anybody else?” he finally asked.

She shook her head. “Nope. Nobody even saw you. Everything was handled.”

Jay exhaled slowly then closed his eyes once more, his breathing settling down. “I’m sorry about everything. That thing’s been in my head since my memories came back and it's been aggravating me…making me say things I don’t mean. You’re not my enemy, Lilly, and you never will be. I didn’t mean to say that to you. I love you, too.”

“I know, Jay,” she told him. “I had a feeling that the nerich was still inside you. It’s okay.”

“Bring Alice back. You guys are right. I know you are. The only way to truly help her is for her to make peace here, where Rina and Audrey still exist. I know that. I wish it wasn’t like this, but…”

His words devolved into sobs as he broke down, so Lilly gently caressed his head, running her hands through his hair to calm him down. He had been through so much in his life and there was still more to go. Unless Nigreos and Album were defeated, they would always be targets of Ijiria. And even if they somehow managed to take the Masters down, there was no guarantee that others wouldn’t be sent after them in retaliation. They might never truly escape and he and Alice would be forever wrapped up in it all. It just wasn’t fair in her mind.

After a few more minutes of crying, Jay fell back to sleep and seemed to reach some semblance of peace. She then continued to wait for Rista to arrive, and it wasn’t long before she heard a knocking at the door, though she couldn’t help but frown at how fast-paced the sound was, almost like the visitor was in a rush.

Was he that anxious to get here? she wondered.

“It’s unlocked!”

She watched the door swing open rather suddenly, but could only gape when it wasn’t Rista Pine who rushed through the door. The boy was smiling in a way that she hadn’t seen in a very long time, but it was his bright eyes and his boisterous grin that told her everything without her even having to ask. It was familiar to her. She didn’t know how it was possible, but she couldn’t deny it.

“Dear Lilly!” he exclaimed with a laugh. “I’m back, my friend! It’s good to see you again!”

After the stress of the night and all the pain she went through to save Jay, she realized just how close she had been to breaking down when tears started pouring down her cheeks. Yet even so, she smiled the widest grin she could manage and greeted him with pure and utter joy.

“Vinny! Welcome back.”