Queen of the Magnetland (The Elemental Phases Book 5) (15 page)

“I
don’t care.”  Chason said as if Job was the one acting crazy.

“
I
care.  Too many Phases are looking for a scapegoat, right now, and you
might be giving them one.  The best way I can honor Mara is to make sure you’re
safe.  This should be a private ceremony.”

“Thank
you, Job.”  Mara whispered, because he was right.  Protecting Chason was
exactly what she would have wanted him to do.

“I
don’t care.”  Chason repeated and started for the hallway.

“Chason…”

“My
Match will have the funeral she deserves.”  Chason interrupted.  He turned to
look at Job over his shoulder, his purple eyes sparking with renewed life.  “I
don’t give a shit if anyone else likes it or not.  And that includes you.”

Job
sighed and followed him out of the room.  “Just be careful, alright?  There are
a lot of Phases gathered down there and we don’t know what they’ll do.”

Mara
hurried down the stairs after them, realizing that she was about to attend her
own funeral. 
Again
.  She had no recollection of her first time at the
event, but she must have been there.  Sleeping in a coffin.

Ick.

A
huge crowd of Phases, most of them dirty and exhausted, stood on the lawn of
the Magnet Fortress.  This had to have happened just after the Fall, given the
haunted expressions of everyone who’d gathered.  Still, a mountain of white roses
was piled around a marble crypt bearing Mara’s name.

Tears
burned the back of her eyes.

Chason.

Only
he could have done something so lovely for her.  It was humbling.

Job
gave up on trying to reason with Chason and joined the other mourners.  He
moved to stand between Tharsis, of the Water House and Freya of the Cold House
in the front row.

Freya
looked exhausted.  As the Elementals’ foremost doctor, she’d spent the Fall
trying vainly to save people who were doomed.

Thar
didn’t look much better.  He stood with his hands in the pockets of his grey
trousers, his face devoid of all expression.  Grey was the traditional color of
mourning for Phases.  Mara’s funeral was awash in it.  But, Thar looked
completely wrong in the somber shade.  The Water Phases were usually so…
bright.  Thar had brownish-red hair and turquoise eyes that usually sparked with
intelligence and mischief.

Now,
he looked so serious.

Mara
felt terrible for causing so much sadness.

The
crowd grew quiet as Chason stepped in front of them.  While most of the people
at the funeral wore grey, Chason
was
grey.  Even the purple streak at his
temple seemed less vibrant.

He
held a bouquet of white roses in one hand and he carefully placed them on top
of a stone coffin situated just outside the mausoleum’s door.  It was a
masterpiece of bas-relief sculpture.  Apple blossom garlands and musical
instruments decorated the sides of the perfect marble.

It
was so, so lovely, until Mara pictured her own body trapped within it.

“My
Match is gone.”  Chason’s voice sounded nothing like the polite gentleman Mara
knew.  It was viciously unforgiving, with an echoing hollowness.  “She hurt no
one.  She never did anything wrong.  She was perfect.”

Even
for a eulogy that was going a bit far.

“No
one’s perfect, Chason.”  Mara murmured.

Is
that really how he saw her?  As someone flawless and good and… bland?

He
laid a palm on the coffin as if he could still feel her.  “She’s gone and I’m
still here.  Why?  Why are any of us still here?  Didn’t we die with the others,
in every way that matters?”

In
the back row, Mara spotted her cousin.

Kahn
shook his head in something like impatience.  Frustration and anger were etched
all over his face.  He clearly didn’t approve of Mara being buried here in the
Magnetland.  Still, he wasn’t killing anyone or stealing her body, so she
realized he really was
trying
to honor her final request and get along
with Chason.  That was touching.

Chason’s
bloodshot eyes looked out over the crowd.  “Job told me that this funeral was
too big for just one person.  But, it’s
not
for just one person, is it? 
It’s for all of us.  For everyone who’s gone and mostly for those of us left
behind.  Everything that we were taught…  Everything we believed…  It’s all
buried here today.”  He swallowed.  “This funeral is for our entire way of
life.”

Mara
looked around the crowd.  No one seemed to resented Chason’s speech or this
massive ceremony.  On the contrary, they were crying and nodding at his words. 
They all looked at Chason like they expected him to tell them why this had
happened.  Like they had no idea what to do next.  Like they wanted him to help
them understand.  People always looked to Chason for leadership.

He
was born for greatness.

“Without
my Match, I don’t give a shit what happens to any of you.  Or to me.  Or this
kingdom.  Or any other.”

Mara’s
eyebrows shot up at Chason’s uninspiring words to his waiting people.

“Absolutely
nothing matters.”  Chason continued vacantly.  “I imagine a lot of you feel
that way.  What good are any of us, now?  What’s the point of going on?  Why
did the best of us die in the Fall and yet Parald, of the Air House still
lives?”

Even
more people started nodding.  Mara could see them reacting to Chason’s words.  Agreeing
with him.  Her gaze cut over to Job and found him frowning.  Or as close to
frowning as Job’s impassive face got.

“The
world is over.”  Chason hand slid along the carving of the coffin, fingering
the ornate flowers.  “We all died in the Fall.  Everyone knows that.  Job can
talk about re-forming the Council or going on… But, why the hell should we? 
What’s the point?”

Job
started forward.  “Chase…”

“What?” 
Chason pinned him with a venomous look and Job actually hesitated.  “You don’t
like hearing the truth, Job?  Don’t like reality crashing the fucking party?”  Chason
made a choked sound and Mara realized he was somewhere between hysterical
laughter and heartbroken sobs.  “Shit. 
Someone
needs to face the
truth.  To say what we’re all thinking.  This is
my
kingdom and she was
my
Match and I’ll say whatever the fuck I want!  And I say:  The world is
over!
”

This
time people cheered.

Tharsis
blinked at the sound, coming out of his cationic state long enough to focus on
Chason.  “Don’t.”  He grabbed hold of Job’s arm, preventing him from getting
any closer, while Chason started pacing like an evangelical preacher with the
spirit upon him.  “Chason’s not himself and he’s turning the crowd.”

“He’s
going to start a riot.”  Job shook his head.  “Or worse.  He’s obsessed with
Parald.  He won’t listen to me.”

“He’s
in shock.”  Freya diagnosed in a stage-whisper.  “This happens when a Phase
loses their Match.  They can’t handle the break.  God only knows what sort of
psychological trauma he’s under just from the Fall.  We’re all going nuts from
that.  Add in the death of his other half and he’s got to be hanging on by a thread. 
If you push him too hard, he’s going to snap and he’s had a lot of training
with swords, so…”

“Yes. 
Thank you, Freya.  I understand the problem.”  Job interrupted distractedly. 
“How do we fix it?”

Freya
was used to being cut off.  She talked a lot, so people usually had to
interrupt her if they were going to get a word in edgewise.

“I
don’t think we
can
fix this, Job.  With time, maybe Chason could learn
to function without his Match.  Others have survived alone.  His own father
did.   But, Chason loved Mara so
much
.  I honestly don’t think he can hang
on long enough to even
begin
to adjust.  They were such a true Match.  I’m
shocked he’s still alive, at all.  It’s like something’s keeping him here.”

Mara
blinked over at Freya, astonished at that diagnoses.

Of
course
Chason could go on without her.

He
had to.

Chason
gestured at Job.  “Well?  Explain to me why I’m wrong.  Explain how this is all
fair.  How it’s all part of some cosmic plan.”

The
crowd began murmuring agreements.

“Where
is the righteousness in this, Job?”  Chason was breathing hard.  “When’s karma
gonna kick in, huh?  When’s good going to triumph?  How am I supposed to go on
with
anything
knowing that every fucking word I ever learned about honor
and justice was bullshit?”

“Having
faith isn’t just for the easy times.”  Job said quietly.  “You’re not the only
one suffering today, Chason.  This does no good.”

“No,
I’m
not
the only one suffering, am I?  The Air House had endless victims
and you’re
protecting
those assholes from us!  You’ve blocked off the
Air Kingdom so we can’t get at them and…”

Job
cut him off.  “I stopped the battling, yes.  Haven’t there been enough deaths?”

“
No!
” 
Chason bellowed the word.  “There
haven’t
been enough fucking deaths,
because Parald is still breathing!”

Lansing,
of the Dust House let out a war-whoop of agreement.

“As
long as the Air House survives, I will fight them.”  Chason shouted over the
building cheers.  “And if that means fighting you, too, Job, then so be it.”

“I’m
not going to fight anyone.”  Job sounded tired.  “I’ve buried too many Phases,
already.  If you think this is how Mara would want you to honor her memory,
though, you’re very wrong.”

Job
was right.

Mara
would never want Chason to risk himself for her.  Especially not over a waste
of hair like Parald.  But, on the other hand, if Freya was right then his
hatred of Parald might be the only think keeping Chason alive.  Without
vengeance to give him a purpose, this burned out shell of her Match might have
just… given up.

Mara
refused to even consider a world without Chason.

Anything
he needed to do to hang on until she returned was suddenly alright with her.

“
Don’t
say her name!
”
 
The past Chason screamed.  “Not ever, again!  You
don’t know what it’s like to lose your goddamn soul, Job.  Parald stole my
heart and my light… And I swear on my Match’s grave, I will kill that
son-of-a-bitch or I will die trying.  There
will
be a reprisal.”  He
stalked off, countless people chanting his name in support.

Kahn
shook his head, again, and turned to vanish into the crowd.

Her
cousin might have been unimpressed, but Mara saw other people latch onto
Chason’s words like they were life-preservers.  Whether he intended to or not,
Chason had just provided a lot of desperate people with a lifeline.

She
watched as more scenes flickered by, each of them worse than the last.

Other
lost and grieving Phases joining Chason’s crusade and forming the Reprisal.

Chason’s
new army wreaking vengeance on the Air Phases.

Reprisal
soldiers kidnapping Nia and Chason setting her free.

Chason
using Ty to draw Parald into one final trap.

Chason
planning to kill himself at Mara’s grave.

Mara’s
palm covered her mouth in shock as she watched her Match deteriorating one
memory at a time.  Didn’t anyone see how hurt he was?  How much he needed
help?  Wasn’t there
anyone
who would try and save him?

The
scene shifted, again.  Now Chason was sitting behind his desk, hyper-focused on
what looked like old theater stubs.  He shifted them around on the blotter like
they were puzzle pieces and, if he arranged them just so, they’d reveal some
hidden picture.

Behind
him, a man who could only be Raiden, of the Radiation House stood with his arms
crossed over his massive chest and a long suffering expression on his face.  “Chason,
they’re just movie tickets.”  His voice must have been damaged by the vicious
scar on his throat.  It was a dark and rasping sound.  “They aren’t going to
tell you where your Match’s body is.”

“No,
these are a sign.”  Chason whispered.  “I found them in the library.  She used
as them as bookmarks and left them for me to find.”  He held one aloft like it
was a map to sunken pirate treasure.  “This
means
something.”

Mara
could have cried.  “It means I went to see
The Little Mermaid
back in
1989, Chason.  That’s all.”  She tried to run a hand over his disheveled hair,
even though he couldn’t feel her.  “Darling, what are you
doing
to
yourself?” 

Gaia,
he was so far gone, it was a miracle he’d even lasted until she returned.  Back
in reality, present day Chason had a chaotic swirl to his energy, but it was
nothing
like this instability.  He’d clearly improved dramatically in just a short
amount of time.

Because
she was back and helping to anchoring him?