“Hello, Diana,” Suki said softly.
Diana opened her eyes. “We have been chock full of visitors lately,” she said, not getting up from her chair. “The end of the world must be near.”
“Visitors?” Suki asked. “Was Skylar here?”
“I heard she was, yes,” Diana said. “With that beau of hers.”
“Argan!” Suki was excited, and relieved to hear he had found her. “That’s the best news!” She had completely forgotten Milicent was standing there.
“Ahem.” Milicent cleared her throat.
“Oh, Diana,” Suki said, returning to the task at hand. “I’ve brought your sister this time.” She stepped aside to give Milicent the floor.
“Hello, Diana. You’re looking well.” Milicent was reserved and cool.
Diana got up and walked to meet Milicent. Milicent stared at her as if she weren’t real. “You’ve been getting more sleep,” Diana said. “I’m glad.”
“Are you kidding me?” Suki exploded. “You’ve been obsessed with seeing your sister for twenty years and you’re talking about sleep? For God’s sake, show some emotion! She’s the one person you care about most in the world. Let her know that. God!” She threw her hands up and sat on a marble bench behind her.
Milicent gave Diana an awkward hug. “I’m sorry I lived.”
“I’m sorry I died,” Diana said. “But it was my time. I know I left you alone and the family unraveled and you had no one. I am so sorry. You must have been very angry.”
Milicent tried to shake it off but it showed on her face. Diana grabbed her hand and squeezed. “Thank you for never giving up on me. All these years, you knew I was still here—that I wasn’t gone forever. Persistence paid off, I guess.”
“I wasn’t giving up,” Milicent said.
“Well, I’m glad,” Diana said. “This is a gift, to be able to say what was left unsaid in the living world.”
Milicent relaxed slightly and walked around the room. “I’ll agree that life was a mess after you died. And I’ve spent the greater part of my life with a weight on my back. I want to be free like you.”
Diana glanced at Suki. “I’m hardly free.”
Milicent got distracted by the glowing citrine wall. “This is truly magnificent. You know all citrine was once amethyst? This wall would be better if it were purple.”
Diana laughed. “I guess some things don’t change.”
“I know you stay neutral down here, but it’s time to pick a side, Diana,” Milicent said. “You know Magus is looking for the citrine wall, and you don’t want him to find it any more than the rest of us. We have to figure out a way to help Skylar.”
Diana looked at the wall. It had been restored to its natural brilliance thanks to Skylar. She couldn’t ignore that. “Sides have been blurred throughout this story. It’s merely a lesson in how malleable life is, and in not getting too attached to one’s beliefs. They can change. It’s better to live in the curiosity.”
“No, no it isn’t. That’s just like you to say that, Diana, and all your lofty ideals sound great—but in the real world, you have to pick a side!” Milicent’s switch had flipped and the magic of her surroundings dissipated.
“Mil?”
The women turned toward a familiar voice to see Noah standing at the door of the cathedral. He was full of fear, his eyes squeezed shut. “Mil, where are you?” he cried blindly, like a desperate child.
“Good god, Noah,” Milicent said. “I told you not to follow us.” She glared at Suki, her anger visible. “How did he get through the door?”
Suki was surprised too. “I have no idea. Maybe we didn’t need to be holding hands. I’m still learning this stuff.”
“It is possible he rode the energy wave still lingering in the ethers,” Diana said. “He would only be able to get to wherever you went, nowhere else.”
Noah opened his eyes and ran over to her side. “Thank you, sweet goddess of the Underworld, for not keeping me here in darkness,” he babbled.
“All you did was open your eyes!” Milicent chided. “Diana, this is Noah.”
“Great goddess of the Underworld, I am humbled to make your acquaintance.” He bowed.
“Get up!” Milicent smacked him to stand upright. “She doesn’t need your worship.”
Diana laughed a belly laugh. “You are sweet,” she said to Noah. “Be kinder to him, Milicent. He’s fragile.” She walked back toward the courtyard. “Since you all have made the trip, let’s have some food. I’m sure the traveling took its toll on your system.”
“I’d actually rather head back,” Suki said. “I don’t really see a reason for me to stick around. They can go back through the door without me, can’t they?”
“As Noah followed once, he can follow back,” Diana said. “The energy signature should carry them through.”
“Should?” Noah asked. “I don’t want to be stuck here. No offense, Your Queenship.”
“It sounds fine,” Milicent said. “Suki, you can go.”
No thanks were given, sealing Suki’s decision to go back.
“See you on the flip side,” she said to them all and headed back toward the door.
“Suki,” Milicent called after her. “Thank you.”
Suki smiled, raised her hand to wave good-bye, and ran out of the courtyard.
“I’m not sorry,” Heather said quietly, staring at the hologram of Skylar suspended lifeless in the lab. She had taken part in heinous acts, dismantling layers of this young girl’s body, and for what? To find a way to extract the stone from her chest.
She had only come up with one way the plan worked, and it didn’t end well for any of them.
She looked at all of the technology in the room. What has it all been for? All of this had been created so the Archer would get what he wanted. Why is that the most important thing? What about what I want? She’d been raised by a warrior and scientist. She’d been taught how to disconnect from her conscience and create masterpieces in the laboratory. Nothing was beyond their reach—cloning, cancer, any weapon was possible. She looked at her latest creation: the dagger with the emerald tip. This was the answer. This half of the stone, now attached to an orichalcum blade, was powerful enough to pierce the protection of the three doves and remove the stone from Skylar’s chest. She loathed the three doves, how that image remained an open wound in her life. Revenge and sorrow teetered back and forth in her heart. One tear escaped her eye and she wiped it away, angrily. But Argan was a prisoner in the soul cage. She felt compassion for him, and anger. He loved Skylar too. Everyone loved Skylar. It made Heather more infuriated as she thought about it. That anger fueled her to finish the dagger.
“Hello,” an unfamiliar voice said from behind her.
Heather whirled around to see an ethereal presence. Like the primordial ocean mother herself, this woman embodied the dark sea. Her long dress, rich and luxurious, was black as night. A black so dark it didn’t exist in the material world. A slight shimmer of stardust undulated like waves as she walked. Her tendrils, piled high, were entwined with a thin, black-and-silver roping.