Ahead, the In-Between's oldest solar system unraveled, with its twenty planets and dozens of small, pearlescent moons, as they all orbited around an ancient, reddish sun. I recognized Yahwen first, then Aledras.
We seemed to be headed toward the latter, and my pulse went on a vicious race through my body, making my limbs tingle with an even mixture of dread, hope, and excitement.
"We're going to Aledras, it seems," the Word said through Lumi and Nethissis. "It's where the ritual is fated to end, after all."
"Rather fitting, if you ask me," the Time Master replied.
Indeed. It was where the ritual's final stage would unfold. The beginning of the end, in a most literal sense. Once the last fae was touched by the Hermessi, the apocalypse would be unleashed, and it would start right there, on Aledras.
We just needed to get there before that happened. Easier said than done, I thought.
A bright flicker enveloped the small planet for a fraction of a second. A pulse spread outward from its core, and we all felt it in the pits of our stomachs. The universe reacting, as the five millionth fae finally came down, somewhere in the In-Between.
The grief was insurmountable, my stomach clenching in agony as I understood what this meant. Five million fae had been affected. After weeks of turmoil and racing against what Brendel had often referred to as the inevitable… it was done. The Hermessi had finished it.
Vesta
Zeriel and I looked at each other, with no need for words.
We'd said everything we'd had to say, and we both knew our love would transcend everything, including death, life, and all that was between them. Now, we only had to wait—for salvation, or for our last breaths.
The sanctuary's hum persisted, but I'd already learned to ignore it. Rudolph stood by my side as whispers rustled across the great hall. Our bodies glowed brighter than ever, sealed inside the charmed crystal casings. Light rushed across in bold accents as a dull pain settled in my chest.
"Vesta, what's wrong?" Zeriel called out.
It was as if he'd sensed my attention had been grabbed by something terrible. The reality was impossible to ignore at this point, as I first looked down at him, then at the Novaks, whose expressions of dread mirrored mine. The Reapers gathered closer to our spirits, shadows nestled beneath their eyebrows as they stared at us. Waiting.
"The last fae has fallen," Rudolph announced, his voice echoing through the sanctuary. First, he addressed the Reapers. "Brothers, sisters, the moment we've all been dreading has arrived. I am not sure how we came to this point, or what we can expect of Taeral and his mission, but we cannot forsake our duties, regardless of how we might feel about this situation."
"What… what are you talking about?" I murmured.
"Five million fae have been taken by the Hermessi's influence," Rudolph said to me. "No matter what happens next, we must be ready and at peace with our fates—mine, to reap you, and yours, to let go and move on."
"No!" Grace screamed. "I'm not moving on. I'm not going anywhere. It's not over yet. No! Dammit, no!"
Ben held her close, though he wasn't in much better shape. Vita and Caia sobbed, hugging each other. Lucas had an arm around Kailyn's shoulders. All the other fae in the sanctuary looked broken and abandoned, barely visible wisps plagued by hopelessness and despair. It hurt me deeply to see them like this, and I couldn't do anything to help them.
"Vesta!" Zeriel shouted from below. "Something is happening!"
I glanced outside and noticed the pulse as it traveled across the darkening sky, like a moving crease in the fabric of our existence… an omen of something worse to come. Thunder boomed in the distance, like giants clapping from the clouds, laughing and jeering as death came for us.
"Zeriel… I think this is it," I said to him. "I'll… I'll see you again soon."
"Vesta…" he mumbled, unable to say anything else.
I moved back from the edge, my heart breaking slowly and painfully. I couldn't look at him anymore. The murmurs and cries of the fae in the sanctuary were too much to bear. Turning to face the Novaks again, I smiled. Though I was shaken to my core, I didn't want my death to be choked in struggle and grief. I'd been born and raised a warrior, mostly by circumstances I'd had no control over.
This wasn't all that different, if I were to think about it.
"It's starting," Malleus said grimly.
We could all feel it. The hum of the sanctuary got louder. The air denser, heavier than lead. Energy crackled around the building like whiplashes of lightning. Snap. Crackle. Pop.
It coincided with my life-chain breaking. I held my breath as I stared down and watched the blackened link split in two, the pieces falling on the marble floor with an insufferable clang.
That was it. My life gone, in the blink of an eye.
A chill ran through me, my soul no longer connected to my body. It felt empty and lonely. I was a solitary rock in the heart of a desert. A thorn fallen from a rose's stem. A broken dream abandoned on the bottom of existence.
I was not alone, though. No, not at all.
The last links cracked on every fae left living in the sanctuary. Snap. Crackle. Pop. Like the thunder exploding outside, the life-chains came down, severing the connection between the souls and the bodies of five million innocent creatures—not only here, but all over the In-Between and the Supernatural Dimension.
My head felt light as a feather. A sense of relief threatened to skew my resolve, because I was not yet ready to say goodbye to anyone. Not Zeriel. Not any of the Novaks. Not my life or my world or my parents and friends.
"I am sorry, Vesta," Rudolph said to me.
A single tear escaped his dark, starry eyes, and it surprised me. I'd never seen a Reaper cry before. I hadn’t even thought they were capable of such emotions, not after everything they'd experienced, even prior to this calamity.
The droplet landed on the floor, seeping through the marble. Its surface crackled, and a green seedling poked through, with three vibrant and daring leaves as it reached for the sky and the sun.
"What… How?" I wondered aloud, not yet able to accept the harsh truth of my condition. I'd yet to say it aloud.
"The Reaper's Tear." Rudolph sighed. "We don't normally cry, you know."
"But when we do, life comes through," Sidyan said, one hand resting on Lucas's shoulder. "Our tears are special, I suppose. When we cry for the end of one thing, we cause the beginning of another."
Ben, Grace, Vita, Caia, Lucas, and Kailyn all looked at me, their life-chains gone, quietly blackening at their feet. "I'm sorry," I whispered. "I'm sorry this is happening to us."
