We made our way back to Earth through the pink waters. The sense of hostility we’d experienced before was gone, as we reached the surface and found ourselves surrounded by the beautiful Amazon rainforest, where we’d spotted werewolves and humans coexisting peacefully. Now they could keep living, without the threat of the Hermessi looming over them.
Of course, Earth had not been affected by the ritual—we’d stopped it before it had gotten that far, but just the thought of the Earthly Dimension falling like the others would have… it made my stomach clench.
Holding Eira’s hand in mine, I couldn’t stop myself from smiling as I breathed it all in. The solace from knowing our ordeal was over. The thought of going back to my parents, knowing they were both alive and well. The idea of tomorrow coming, with its bright sun and summery scents, and that I’d finally get a chance to see where this thing between Eira and me would lead. It felt like love. I wanted it to grow. I yearned to discover its depths.
“How are you feeling?” she asked me.
For the first time in what felt like forever, I laughed. “I think I’m okay.”
“I can’t believe we pulled through,” Herakles said, holding Riza tight by his side. The night had settled over the jungle, a starry sky stretching overhead. The moon smiled down at us, casting its twinkling lights across the Amazon River. The leaves rustled in the soft, midnight breeze. A panther roared somewhere in the distance.
Why would anyone want to simply delete all this and start over? It wasn’t perfect, but it was as good as it got, given the time it had taken to reach this stage. There was value in the life that had grown here. It deserved to keep going for as long as it could, unfettered by outside forces like the Hermessi.
“For a moment there, I thought we wouldn’t,” Amelia replied, her arms tied around Raphael’s waist. He gave her a soft smile, and love glowed in his mismatched eyes. After all the fighting, they, much like us, could finally allow themselves to feel things, to explore their relationship and to see where it might take them. “I was ready to accept my fate, you know?”
“I think we were all ready to do that, but we just didn’t want to,” I said. “I guess it had something to do with Death’s mark on me. The thought of immortality in front of the Hermessi did give me that extra kick in the pants.”
“But that’s gone now, isn’t it?” Eira asked. “Death did confirm earlier that the three of us would be marked until you stopped the ritual and brought Thieron back to her.”
“You did both, even though she couldn’t take Thieron just yet,” Lumi said, a faint smile settling on her bright face. Her white eyes glistened in the moonlight, the bluish rings shimmering with hope. “But Herakles is well within his rights to feel like this is all just… unbelievable. I’m still grappling with it, myself.”
Eva exhaled sharply. “I think we’re going to be okay, in the end. We lost five million people, among many others, but at least we got them back, right?”
“It’s better than nothing. It’s certainly better than spending the next few weeks organizing mass funerals across the In-Between and the Supernatural Dimension,” Varga said.
“We got a pretty sweet deal, if you think about it,” Nethissis chimed in. “Considering who we were dealing with. These higher powers are not usually so easy to approach or to talk to. Death creeps the hell out of me, to be honest. The Reapers, too. I know we had them as allies, but remember what the Soul Crusher said. They’re not our friends. So, bottom line is—”
“You’re just glad it’s over, and we don’t have to see them again.” Raphael chuckled. “I’m with you there, sister. All the way.”
We linked hands. It was Riza’s turn to teleport us straight back to The Shade. I braced myself for the flurry of emotions I knew I’d deal with—after all, my father had been resurrected, and my mother was dying to see me back. The whole GASP federation was ecstatic and eager to get back to work, to fix the damage that the Hermessi had done. Everyone was ready to return to living, tired of just struggling to survive against entities we’d had no control over.
“Prepare for the weepy part,” Varga warned us. “We’re about to see all the people we thought we’d never see again.”
“Oh, yeah, your grandma’s going to freak out.” Riza giggled. “You were always the apple of Claudia’s eye.”
“And I know Lenny will be happy to see me. I’m just worried Nevis will want to hug me. He might be as cold as ice—literally speaking—but I’m pretty sure he likes me more than he lets on,” Varga replied.
Herakles shot him a grin. “Or you’re just hoping he’ll hug you, because deep down you’re fond of him and you thought you’d never see him again.”
Varga thought about it for a moment and lowered his gaze. “I’ve always wanted a brother,” he admitted, prompting all of us to laugh.
What a sound this was! Pure laughter, unbroken by grief or sorrow. I’d missed it. I’d missed the nonchalance of an existence without fear. Riza zapped us out of the Amazon and straight into The Shade’s beach extension.
I felt my boots sinking slowly into the golden sand, the salty air brushing against my skin. I breathed it all in, thrilled to feel it all like this. Glancing around, the darkness of a Shadian midnight soothed my aching, tired soul. The ocean lapped at the smooth shore, its sound music to my ears.
Raphael patted me on the shoulder. “Listen, I’ll take the crew back to the grand hall. I bet the whole of GASP will go back there soon.”
“Yeah, Derek and Sofia are probably on Calliope now, welcoming back half of their family from the dead,” I said. “But they’ll definitely want to go home soon. I’ll see you all there in a bit.”
“Your mother and father are waiting,” Lumi said, smiling as she gazed at the first extension glass house. Two figures were outside, partially darkened by the night. I knew I was looking at my parents, and they were both waiting for me.
“We’ll catch up later,” I replied, giving my friends a warm smile.
Eira moved to go with them, but I caught her wrist. “You should stick around,” I said slowly. “My dad would probably love to hug you.”
Her cheeks turned rosy, a reaction I was hoping to elicit many times more in the future. She looked so beautiful when her shyness took over. What a gorgeous contradiction Eira was—a fighter, a military figure, a warrior by all accounts, yet so delicate and soft on the inside, her heart too big for this world or any other. No wonder I’d fallen in love with her.
Maybe it was too soon for an official “meet the parents” moment, even though she’d already been acquainted with my mother, and my father’s spirit, shortly before our departure to get Zetos, but after everything we’d survived, this felt like a most fitting conclusion to our adventure.
Eira gave me a faint smile, and we walked toward the glass house together. Behind us, Raphael and the others disappeared into the redwood forest. I would’ve expected them to teleport straight into the grand hall, but walking made sense, too. They wanted to take their time, to absorb every sensation around them. They certainly deserved every bit of enjoyment they could get, from wherever they could get it.
My father was the first to come down the extension’s steel steps, beaming as he caught me in a tight bear hug, breathing deeply as he held me close. I hugged him, my heart close to bursting open like a water balloon, filled with nothing but love and relief as I felt my father in my arms again. I could only imagine the joy and relief that my mother had felt upon seeing him alive again. They were bound to tell me all about it soon enough, anyway.
“Oh, it’s so good to have you back, my son,” he whispered in my ear. “I had all the faith in you. Deep down, I knew you’d somehow pull through.”
“Dad… I’m just happy you’re alive again,” I said. “For a moment, I thought I’d never see you again…”
“Tae, my baby!” my mother said as she put her arms around us both, tears tumbling down her cheeks. “You’re a bloody hero!”
Shaking my head, I chuckled. “I’m not a hero, Mom. I wasn’t on my own out there. We all fought hard to get here.”
“Speaking of, join us, missy!” my father exclaimed. His arm shot out and brought Eira into the fold. It made her laugh, but she didn’t fight it. The four of us hugged, thankful to be alive and near each other again, our circumstances infinitely different and better than the last time we’d seen each other out here.
“Death came through, Dad,” I said. “She brought you back.”
“At what cost?” my mother asked, pulling back with a frown. Her concern was so sweet and endearing, I couldn’t even roll my eyes over it, like I normally would’ve. She wiped her tears, ready to tear me a new one in case I’d gotten myself indebted to Death or anyone else. She’d always been adamant about not making deals with a bigger devil in order to defeat a smaller one, so to speak. Of course, we’d not known the Hermessi could be so evil when we’d initiated the Blackout.
“Nothing, Mom. She owed us. She said so herself,” I replied. “It’s over. We’re good. We’ll be okay.”
