Chapter 10

Everything gets wrapped up. Sort of.

The next time I woke, I was laid out in an unfamiliar silk hammock. My ankle pulsed dully in rhythm with my head. It took me a moment to remember what had happened.

I threw up.

The sound of my retching brought in Eleyn. She looked tired and worn. I was glad she was alive. She cleaned up quietly, not looking at me. Finally, I decided to break the silence.

“Are you okay, Eleyn? I haven’t had the chance to say it…I’m so sorry,”

She looked up at me, eyes twinkling slightly despite their sadness.

“Sorry? You saved us all. You really are too hard on yourself. Physically too, you’ve been asleep for three days,”

I blinked at her, not really processing. She continued.

“I’m glad you’re awake. I was starting to worry. In any case, Bartholomeus wanted to speak with you as soon as you woke up. I’ll send for him now if you don’t mind,”

I nodded, still waking up.

A few minutes past before Bartholomeus entered. All his fur was sticking on end, and he too looked tired, but I had never before seen him this happy. He looked positively jubilant.

“You’re awake at last! I need to thank you, La’a, for what you’ve done for my species. And yours as well, when it comes down to it. Your immense bravery has repaired the damage down centuries before your time, and though it has cost you much,” I winced, seeing Hugo in my mind’s eye, “Everything will be better in the future due mostly to your efforts,” He was almost bouncing with sincere enthusiasm quite at odds with his age and status. His joy was not catching.

“You knew,” I said it softly, certainly. “You knew that Hugo would die for me, and you let it happen,” I was angrier than I thought I would be. I needed to hear him confess what I had seen in his eyes that fateful morning.

He sobered at once.

“Yes, I knew. I knew a great many things that you, little one, did not. And though you may not believe me now, I think that that was, ultimately, for the best. You never saw the complete prophecy. In truth, neither did I. You remember that your prophecy was created long before even our living memories. Much happened since then. You also recall that the prophecy did not say who would win. Well, that was not strictly true. The prophecy would be pointless otherwise. The truth is this: Ademar Lepsi was supposed to win. That was what it said. But long before my time, there was a fire. Much was burned, including the final frame of the prophecy. The prophecy predicted you losing, and the fates are always correct. But the fire left me with a little hope. It seems I was right in that hope after all,”

“Do the others know this? Did Hugo?”

“No one knew. Not even Hugo. They all believed that the prophecy had no answer. Everything Hugo did was purely from his own heart. He died for you gladly, La’a, and not many can say they died for what they wanted to. You gave him the hero’s death he always wanted,”

I rubbed my eyes, not sure how I felt about this information. Confused, mostly. My head hurt. Bartholomeus turned to go, but hesitated.

“There is one more thing I wish to tell you, little one. You may, if you wish, go home to the world of humans. Hugo had spoken to me before…he wanted you to stay here. Forever. But he is gone now, and the choice is yours. If you wish to leave Eleyn will escort you out tomorrow morning. If not, you are welcome here. You are, after all, a hero,”

            And with those words, he left. I was alone with my thoughts and one huge decision. And a headache.

            The song “Should I Stay or Should I Go” started playing in my pounding head. Ugh. A month ago, I would have stayed because I couldn’t stop running long enough to face life. Two weeks ago I would have stayed for Hugo and Eleyn. Now I wasn’t so sure. Hugo was gone. Eleyn needed to grieve. I couldn’t really help her. Centuries of siblinghood would be difficult to lose.

            I thought of Will, my own brother. Would my never coming back kill him? And my Dad must feel guilty for what he said. I certainly did. Could I really leave them forever, live my own life with a different species?

            A species that worshipped me. I was a hero here. At home I was a weird, bookish girl with a broken life. Here I was the protagonist. I didn’t want to go back to being an extra in someone else’s life.

            But just maybe…I had stopped running on that mountaintop. Maybe now I could fix things, not fully, but a better job at least. Plug a few of the holes.

            Hugo. Was it better to leave his memory to this place or stay and honor it? Or let it consume me? Was leaving the same as running?

Should I stay or should I go now?

If I go there will be trouble/if I stay there will be double.

            I made my decision.

           

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            Eleyn picked me up from my room the next morning. She was sad to see me go, but I think that she was a little relieved too. One less person for her tender heart to worry about.

            We rode in comfortable silence, away from the abbey, down, gradually out of the web. It was bittersweet to see it all go. I forced myself to look ahead.

            I found that I could not really remember how I had entered the web. The subway station was my last memory, so I was interested to see how I had gotten there.

            I never found out.

            About ten minutes’ walk from the web, Eleyn stopped. I stepped gingerly off her back, favoring my left ankle.

            She looked at me with a sad smile in her eyes.

            “Well, friend. This is where we part. Good luck, and above all, remember us and your time here. We won’t meet again in this life. Goodbye,”

            I just had time to wonder why I would forget when I was hit by a sudden wave of nausea. The world tilted before everything faded to black.

 

 

            My head jerked up from the pole it was resting on. I looked around the empty subway, disoriented. As I realized where I was, a bone deep disappointment filled me. A dream. It was all a dream. None of it had happened. Nothing had changed. I put my head between my legs, defeated. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows were leaning on my painful left ankle. I picked it up, thinking. Stories didn’t have to have happened to be so very real. They could still change lives.

Smiling now, I reached down to touch my sore ankle. I stopped. There was something there. A soft, silken, dressing tied carefully around my ankle. It was impossible. And yet…

            I would never know. Without thinking, I took hold of the pole next my head. The vibrating pole. The subway was moving. I may still be afraid and broken and a little bit crazy, but I was moving. I was moving forward, and I wasn’t running. I was going home. Finally.

 

 

 

 

THE END

 

Author's Note

THE END. That was it. Still no editing. Keep a lookout for further drafts. This thing will be getting a big makeover. At least you get an ending. Hope you liked and please review.
Bye for now.