Everwinter: The Forerunner Archives (38 page)

“
Of course, I was forced to flee Krakelyn. That's when I headed to Everwinter, where I set up my lab and began experimenting to find a cure for human mutations. We used your DNA as a base, Juno. It was perfect because I’d made it that way. Your Father knew that the religion of the True Body Plan was too deeply ingrained in Eversummer culture to ever be overthrown by a revolution, so we had to find another way. A cure for
all
mutations. The True Body Plan couldn't survive if there were no mutations left to justify it. The Box was the result of my efforts."

I shake my head, just trying to process all this. "But the Box
caused
the mutations," I say. "It didn't
cure
anything."

"I know," Ursa nods. "And as I said, I still don't know how that happened. Our relationship with the mutants of Everwinter had always been tenuous at best. They never knew what we were actually trying to do. As long as we provided them with food and provisions, they tolerated our presence there."

"But the word got out, didn't it?"

"Yeah," Ursa confirms. "The mutants of Everwinter, having been formerly suppressed by the True Body Plan, believed mutations to be nothing to be ashamed of. They were
proud of what they were. When they found out that we were actually trying to
cure
mutations, they didn't take it so well. We were forced to abandon the lab and decommission, as I said.

“
We tried to pick up where we left off once we reestablished ourselves in Eversummer, but most of my team was killed during a riot, just before we left Everwinter. The plan was abandoned. But by then my body had been altered so severely that I became a recluse. I couldn't face your Father. My existence was just too dangerous for the wellbeing our family. We separated."

My teeth are grinding, my fists clenched tight.

My whole life has been a lie! My childhood!

Not to mention the story Ursa had
fed us when we'd first met her!

"If the Box was programmed with my DNA," I say, trying to keep calm, "then why did it go off when Traylor touched it?"
I look at my little brother, who's looking from me to Ursa, back and forth. Lost.

"Because you have nearly identical DNA sequences," Ursa replies. "Close enough, anyway."

I frown; there's something not quite right about that statement.

"I admit I'm not an expert," I say, "but I do have some knowledge of genetics from school. Traylor and I aren't twins. How could he
set off your machine if it was coded to me specifically?"

Ursa shakes her head. "The Box was altered somehow, as we already discussed. That might have something to do with it." I scowl; I don't entirely buy that, but don't know what else to say. Ursa smiles. "You always were a sharp one, Juno. You truly are my daughter."

A loud gasp issues to my left and I turn to see Traylor, mouth almost on the floor.

He hadn't figured it out until now.

"Come again?" he says.

55.

A few hours later, we're all resting comfortably in Ativan's former living quarters. It's here that Ursa bandages our wounds and explains everything so that Traylor can understand it.

I still don't know if I understand it myself.

My
Mother is alive!

"This whole trip to Everwinter wouldn't even be necessary if we still had that Box!" Ursa admonishes to Traylor. "I could just reprogram it and release a new pulse! Gods! I thought it was long gone! I can't believe it was my one of my children who found it!" She hesitates. "That's why you two were l
eft unaffected by it. It was coded to ignore your DNA sequences."

"But you know another way to cure the mutations, right?" Traylor asks, finally understanding the situation fully. "Using mine and Juno's pure blood?"

"Yes," Ursa confirms. "The old lab in Everwinter should still have the things I need to synthesize a serum. It's a lot more basic than the pulse machine we created, but it will work. The problem will be getting the cure to the rest of the world and manufacturing enough of it."

"We'll figure that out once we have it," Altair assures the woman, patting her shoulder as he comes and sits with her on the couch. "Until then, we'll rest here a few days. The final leg of our journey is at hand."

"
Everwinter
," I whisper, almost forgetting to breathe afterward.

"You're our
Mother," Traylor states flatly. 

Ursa nods uncomfortably. "Yes," she says. "But I don't expect you to call me that, Traylor. I abandoned you, after all."

Traylor shakes his head. "You had no choice," he says. "If you didn't, we might all be dead right now at the hands of the Deacons!"

Ursa laughs. "You are right about that," she admits. For a wonder, Traylor gives her a hug. I laugh too, but I don't know if I'll ever be able to accept this woman as my
Mother. 

Right now though, it's the least of my worries.

Everwinter is just over the horizon.

If we live to see our mission fulfilled,
and we can finally get on with our lives, maybe then I can truly bring my Mother back from the dead.

56.

Krakelyn
.

He's
finally made it back.

How many weeks has he been on the road?

Uncountable
. 

His feet feel more like lead bricks than appendages.

The gate in the wall is wide open, bent and twisted. He can see the Mainstreet Bridge through the stone arch. It's littered with debris. And people.

Beggars
.

Since when did Krakelyn allow so many beggars? Were things still this bad after the Final Judgment? How long has it been?
A few months anyway
. The Children of Mutanity still exists, but with Blaine dead, they've been reduced to a few nomadic sects with no central authority.

Are they still in Krakelyn?

Is that why things are still so...
scattered
?

Or are the Deacons back in control?

People he's known his whole life, now mutants, line the bridge from end to end, begging those that still go about their lives for whatever they can spare. Which isn't much. A few peddlers drag their carts about, attempting to hawk their wares. A few food vendors are still doing business, but the selection is dismal. The Glass Gardens must be ailing.

Or there aren't enough people to work them.

Some of these people look like they've just given up completely. He finishes crossing the bridge and passes through the arch at far end, falling into shade momentarily. 

A memory floods him.

This is where he'd first kissed Juno. 

Perfect, pure, Juno.
 The last human.

The last human must die!

Blaine's voice echoes in his mind, as it does all too often lately.

I'm not one of them anymore!
he reminds himself.
I'm not one of the Children. That was all a mistake! I was scared and alone and...

Thou shalt
only
suffer a mutant to live, Child Jude.

"No!" he screams out
loud, grabbing his head. A few passersby gawk at him but hurry on their way. He shakes his head. 

He has to get to the Manse.
 

He keeps going, passing a pale, hulking man with a broom, sweeping dirt
out
of the street and back onto the sidewalk for some reason.

The man reminds him of Dura.

He shivers.

Dura and the other mutant boys
living in that Manse out in the grasslands are descendants of Everwinter mutants. Not full Everwinter mutants, mind you, but close enough. He still doesn't know why they'd set the Children free after locking them up in that dome. Dura had made a promise to Juno, apparently. If the roles had been reversed, Jude was not sure
he
would have kept that promise. He probably would've left the Children to rot in those cells.

He shakes his head.

And that's why you never deserved Juno in the first place
.

She was too good for you. Too good a person. Truly pure.

Dura had kept the Children locked up for a week after Blaine's death. They'd been fed, watered. The boys had not treated them ill. Jude hadn't expected such compassion. A few had eyed them with hatred, of course, but somehow Dura's promise to Juno held sway over them. They were finally released into the grasslands. He and the other former Children stuck together at first, making their way to the Engie tracks and following them back toward Venecici. But that was where most of them had parted ways.

Jude had set off
on his own immediately, headed for Krakelyn.

He'd had nowhere else to go.

He'd been paranoid at first, expecting some of the more hateful boys from the Manse to try and follow and kill him.

But none did.

At the very least, he'd expected some form of vengeance for Tien's death. But that didn't happen either. Whenever he closes his eyes now, the image of that poor boy's head exploding haunts him. He'd shot Tien in cold blood. True, it wasn't the
only
murder he'd committed in the name of the Children but, somehow, this one was the worst.

Had Juno loved Tien?

Jude shakes his head.
No, but she had liked him.
There was a spark between them.

A spark that had been missing between himself and Juno.

Deep down, he'd always known she didn't love him.

Was that why he'd been unfaithful?

Jude sighs, dropping his gaze as he moves up the street. How can he blame Juno for his own shortcomings? Juno had never known that he and Rayanne Nedaris had been together a few times during the course of their relationship. Rayanne was just so...
easy
. There was no better way he could think to put it. And Rayanne had been eaten by the guilt ever after. That was why she was always following Juno around like a lost puppy, buying her coffee, trying to be her friend. It was almost comical.

Whatever
happened to Rayanne anyway?

The street m
akes a sharp rise directly ahead. Jude sticks to the center, avoiding the sidewalk traffic. Mutants everywhere. He never thought he'd see the day. The Quinn Manse is situated at the top of the hill overlooking Krakelyn, amongst a nicely wooded area.

He reaches the top.

Well, not so nicely now.

The trees lining the boulevar
d are all burnt; a result of the Children's raid here. When they'd discovered that Juno had escaped, they'd set fire to the Manse, the destruction spreading to some of the surrounding forest. Fortunately for the Quinns, a brief but powerful storm had swept in off the coast a few hours later, dousing most of the flames. Only half the Manse had been decimated.

The road takes a curve and, through the trees, Jude can see it now.

The wrought iron gate is smashed wide, the stone wall crumbled in a dozen places. Charred struts and other detritus stick out from the building where the fire damage was worst. But at least half of the building is still livable. It looks like it's been ransacked though.

Jude heads up the paved cobblestone drive.

The doublewide oak front door hangs free, flapping lightly in the breeze. There can't possibly be anyone living here anymore. He mounts the steps and heads inside. All is silent, dark and still. His footfalls echo hollowly throughout the halls. 

What is his plan here, exactly?
 

He's not sure.
 

He shakes his head.
 No, that's not true. He's come here to wait for Juno. She has to return, eventually. He can't even begin to imagine how he can make up for what he's done to her.

B
ut he's going to try.

He still loves her. He
–

Thwump!

The muffled sound echoes from the upper floor.

"Hello?" he calls out, his voice sounding dead to his own ears. The floor above creaks as something moves. "Is someone here?" he sounds again. The creaking stops.

Fearless, he heads for the stairs, half charred by the fire. He has to tread carefully. He makes it to the top without incident, turning left in the direction of the noise.

A dark shape
steps out into the hallway.

"Don't. Bloody. Move." The voice is firm, authoritative.

Jude throws his hands in the air. The man has a shooting iron pointed directly at his chest. The figure steps down the hall, coming out of the darkness and into the light streaming through a nearby window.

Jude gasps.

The man drops his guard.

"For the sake of the gods!" the man says, his
demeanor doing a one-eighty. "Jude?"

"Hello, Jonathan," Jude greets Juno's
Father with a smile, dropping his hands. "I'm just as surprised to see you here. I thought you were dead."

Jonathan laughs. "So did I. I should have been, especially after that attack on the Manse by the Children of Mutanity."

"I know," Jude admits. "That was some ugly business. They set me free from the cellar when the raid was over."

Jonathan seems to sigh in relief. "Well, thank the gods for that," he says. "I wasn't sure what happened to you. All I knew was that you were gone." Jonathan steps forward, taking Jude by surprise. He pulls the young man into a full embrace. "What happened to you?" the former High Deacon asks.

Jude hesitates. He doesn't know what to say. How can he tell this man–the Father of the girl that he still loves–that he'd tried to kill her? He'd been brainwashed, sure, but still... 

To his own surprise, with his head buried in Jonathan's shoulder, Jude finds total comfort.

He breaks down and starts to cry. 

And he tells Jonathan everything.
 

When it's over, he expects Jonathan to ream him out; maybe even kill him.

But that doesn't happen.

"Juno's still alive?" Jonathan asks, as is to confirm he'd heard the story correctly.

Jude nods. "And Traylor." He hesitates. "Jonathan, they're
both
still human."

"I know," Jonathan admits. "I was the one that sent them away from here." He pauses. "Were they alone, or were they traveling with others?"

Jude frowns. "They were with others," he replies. "A man–I think he was an Assassin if you can believe that–and a very weird woman, horribly mutated." Jonathan seems relieved at that.

"Where were they going anyway? When I was with the Children, we followed them as far as the outer Fringes. Blaine was killed." He starts to sob again. "I'm so sorry for what I did, Jonathan."

Jonathan waves him down. "It doesn't matter now, son. You were just doing what you had to in order to survive. The important thing is that Juno and Traylor are alive...and headed for Everwinter."

"Everwinter?" Jude repeats, skeptical. "But... Why would you send them there?"

Jonathan frowns, then cocks his head down the hallway. "Come on," he says, "I need to show you something."

Jude doesn't protest. He follows Jonathan, coming to the study at the end of the hall. On the
desk tucked into the far corner is an object Jude recognizes instantly.

"Gods!" he exclaims. "Is that the Box?"

"Yes," Jonathan confirms. "The same one you and Juno found on the beach. Thomas Whiskeyjack saw you guys take it. He saw what it did to your face, Jude."

Jude nods; he’d surmised that much already. “That’s why you had
him Judged, isn’t it? To protect us.”

Jonathan bo
bs his head. "Yes. I knew it was hidden here somewhere at the Manse, but I thought it best I didn’t know where just in case the wrong people came looking for it. After the fire though,” Jonathan continues, “I found it on the main floor, fallen from somewhere above." He shakes his head. "If I'd known it could still work the way it was intended, I'd never have sent my children off to Everwinter!"

Jude sha
kes his own head, confused. "What?"

"T
he Box was never meant to
cause
mutations, Jude. It was supposed to cure them! Somebody tampered with it. Altered its purpose. I thought it was broken, but I managed to alter it back. It can be used to reverse the Final Judgment." Jude gapes, letting that revelation sink in. He stares at the Box in disbelief. Next to the Box, on the desk, sits a large pack, stuffed to the brim.