The End of the Fantasy (Book #6 of the Sage Saga) (18 page)

“I know it’s disconcerting to behold at first,” Tillian lamented. “But Veer should be getting everything started. Let’s give him a moment.”

“So they are my masters,” Lily whispered from within Bastion. “The Yama, or…the Delilah I guess. Are you believing all of this?” Bastion stretched his neck, but otherwise he gave no answer one way or the other. “I wonder if they know I’m here…it makes me wonder why they sent me to you. Because they had to have done it for a reason…I just want you to know that whatever that reason is, I don’t have a clue. Bastion, I knew nothing about what they’re telling you.”

Bastion nodded, but his face remained expressionless. Lily wished that he could talk to her, but he didn’t dare break concentration. Even if they spoke from within him, the Delilah were sure to notice. Before she could say something else, a humming sound reverberated throughout the room and the back wall changed completely. It shifted to the right as if a painter was wiping a brush across his canvas, and suddenly, they were watching a completely different world.

There was a vast meadow before them, with bumblebees and tall blades of vibrant green grass that was nearly knee high. There were thousands of red roses, as far as the eye could see, and so many that they nearly overpowered the grass blades. But what was the most surprising was not the landscape, but the elderly woman stooping down to smell the flowers. Catherine gasped and cupped her mouth, catching the attention of everyone in the room.

“That’s Ma Conun,” she whispered.

“Who’s that?” Bastion asked. He had been trying to stay silent, but he was eager to know.

“We met her and her husband near Old Prattle. They were killed…” Catherine paused to choose her words carefully, but then she opted for the truth. “They were killed by Kyran in order to convince Thorn that we were allies of his. They were a sweet elderly couple that showed us nothing but the best in hospitality.”

“So this is Paradise?” Daisy asked. Tillian nodded.

“A part of it. It’s near the entrance so this is the first place you see when you get off the bridge. If we were able to see beyond the field, you would find cities and villages. And more importantly, your loved ones, working hand in hand.”

“James is out there?’ Catherine asked, and he gave her a wide grin.

“Yes he is. So is Zhou, Arimus, Sway, Chloe, Kryan, Scarlet…all those that you thought were lost are there. And you’ll join them someday too. Now don’t you see how precious all of this is?”

“And those in Oblivion…” Bastion said. “Those that get sent there…I’m sure they don’t have the same experiences.”

“People like Seeker go there,” Tillian relied darkly. “So you have an idea of the kind of chaos that occurs. Thousands of individuals with egotistical minds, all fighting for supremacy. In a sense, they have their own Paradise. Think about it. If someone like Seeker got everything he wanted in this world, there would still be no end. He would get bored, and he would develop new enemies and new wars to wage. That’s how people like him are.”

“I get that,” Bastion said to Catherine’s surprise. “There has to be a separation in order for there to be any kind of peace.”

“Yes,” Tillian said, trying to maintain his excitement. “So now you understand the importance of the Emissary, and why you are the only one fitted to do this. It can only be you, Bastion. Not only do you have the strength, but you grasp the principles behind what we do. Not many people can.”

“And what about Lily?” he asked. “Why did you send her to me?”

“I know she’s with you now,” Tillian said, taking a big gulp. “So I can address you both. The truth is…when you killed those people in Languor, we knew that it was a very delicate moment for your psyche and your future. We thought that Daisy would follow you into the wilderness and be your guide. To help you deal with the horrors you committed and witnessed. But that was not the case. We were sure that if not Daisy, surely someone else would go after you. They all knew you were a child, trying to make sense of it all, but to our surprise, not a single one did. And so, we had to send Lily.”

“A young girl,” Bastion replied, clenching his fists instinctively. “Someone I would easily latch onto. Because you’ve probably seen how I interacted with Daisy. You saw how much I needed someone to love, and for them to love me back in return.”

“That’s right. We were afraid that if you stayed in the wilderness alone, you wouldn’t embrace your destiny. You wouldn’t intervene when the Yama arrived. You would just stand idly by and determine that you would just mess things up. We couldn’t have that. We needed you to realize how important you are to the world. And Lily was there to walk with you along that path, hand in hand.”

“The way she looks. Her personality…that was all for me?”

“We designed her for you, yes. And we had to take a risk and give her a level of power that would rival your own. Otherwise, you wouldn’t feel compatible.”

“If you have the ability to give her that amount of strength, why not use that to power the machines?”

“Because we need a body,” Tillian explained. “The body and spirit is a renewable and sustainable energy resource. The stones, as impressive as they may be, are not. There is a reason that in order to use them continually, the host must give up chunks of their life. In a way, every use by the host charges the stone.”

“So what happens now?”

“You decide. If you want to be the Emissary or not. If you don’t, then I will have to ask you to leave, but if you do…then we will begin the process immediately. There are two facilities that keep the bridge intact. Our current Emissary is keeping the bridge and gates secured from the second building, but we would start assisting him here, so that you can get used to the process.”

“So I’ll be stuck in a machine for the rest of my life?”

“No, not at all. Once a couple of years have gone by, and we’ve calibrated your body so that it can handle both this world’s atmosphere and that of Paradise, then you will be able to take breaks and walk your soul through Paradise. Depending on how much energy you’ve left behind for the machine, you could take months off at a time. It’s really not that bad. However, as you get older and weaker, of course, you will have to stay in the machine more often. As I’ve said, the Emissary only has a few more years left before he’ll be dead. So he’s been in the machine for the past six years.”

“And Lily?”

“As long as she latched onto you, she can be with you, even in Paradise. The stones are not souls like you and I, but they are alive. Funny enough, she’ll be able to withstand the atmosphere of Paradise long before you will.”

“It doesn’t sound too bad,” Bastion muttered, deep in thought. “Is there anything else to show me?”

“No, that’s it.”

“Then let me go outside for a moment to think. Alone.”

“Certainly,” Tillian said nervously as Bastion left the room first. Catherine and the others watched him curiously as he continued powerwalking out the building entirely and into the open air. The crashing of oceanic waves greeted him but they didn’t put his mind at ease. He bent down and put his hands on his knees, shaking his head at the ground. When he came back up for air, he gave out a heavy sigh and then looked out over the ocean, admiring its beauty from afar.

“Do you want to talk?” Lily asked him. Bastion didn’t respond at first. He just willed Lily to leave him. After she was outside his body and she had formed completely, he hugged her tight for a moment. “What is this for?” she laughed nervously. He gave out a low chuckle.

“I might not get any real contact with you for a while.”

“I’ll always be there for you.”

“Yeah, but you won’t be able to leave my body once I’m strapped to that machine.”

“So you’re going through with it?”

“Shouldn’t I?”

“I don’t know,” Lily said, putting a strand of hair behind her ear. “It’s what you want. Not what they want.”

“But…do I really have a choice? If I don’t do this, everyone could die.”

“Yeah,” she trailed off. She could barely look him in the eyes. “I know.”

“Do you believe them?” he asked her. She shrugged her shoulders.

“I don’t know. It’s a lot to take in at once, and it’s a huge decision. Once you’re in that machine, you probably can’t change your mind.”

“I would be trapped in a prison cell all over again,” he sighed. “Doesn’t matter if I can walk through Paradise from time to time. It’s still a prison. And you’ll be experiencing the same. You can’t just leave my body and walk around or feel the breeze. Look at the ocean or fly. We’ll be chained down, like we’ve been our whole lives, to serve the very people who oppressed us from the beginning.” Bastion paused to laugh. “How does that make sense?”

“It’s up to you,” she said to him, putting a finger on his chest and over his heart. “It doesn’t matter how they manipulated our lives to arrive at this moment, you still have to make the decision. That’s the one thing you do have control over.”

“You’re right,” Bastion replied. He took her hands into his. “You’re absolutely right.”

“What are you thinking?” she laughed nervously. “You’re getting that scary look in your eyes again.”

“Let’s just say that I have a few more questions for our hosts.”

“Okay.”

“Do you want to go back inside like you are, or inside of me?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Then come with me as you are,” he said, pulling her toward the building. They entered to see the expectant faces of Tillian, Veer, and the Sages. They all waited for his answer—one that he was not yet ready to give.

“I have a couple of questions,” he said. He noticed that Veer was sweating profusely.

“Sure,” Veer said. “Anything you like.”

“If the bridge and gates are destroyed…everyone dies?”

“Yes.”

“This is fact?”

“Well, no,” Tillian said as Veer glared at him angrily. “They are theories. But based on what we’ve assessed, that is the most likely scenario.”

“So in other words, the worst that can happen is that everyone on this current world loses their shell. You say that they will die, but really, they aren’t dead. They just lose their shield in a sense. It doesn’t affect those on Paradise or Oblivion at all.”

“No, it doesn’t affect them but—”

“So it actually levels the field,” Bastion said. “It makes us all equals, doesn’t it?”

“Why would you kill off—”

“I’m sick of hierarchies,” Bastion shouted at them, causing them to jump up in fear. “I’m tired of people trying to impose themselves on others. Even the ‘good guys’ do horrible things in order to further their cause. The only reason they’re considered good is because they
think
they are. At least the bad guys own up to their actions.”

“What are you saying?” Veer scoffed. “You would prefer that Oblivion and Paradise merge with our world? That we…we just fight among each other like barbarians?”

“It might not go like you say. We know what lies before us now. We know that if we die in Paradise or Oblivion, we cease to exist, and that is way scarier than what we thought before. Only those that don’t care for their existence will embrace death. But most of us? We’ll make sure we’re careful.”

“This is madness,” Tillian said, but Bastion wasn’t finished.

“I haven’t seen Oblivion, but I’m sure they aren’t just slaughtering each other left and right down there. They’re probably biding their time, building up their forces, and then executing a plan as perfectly as they possibly can to take down their opponent. I don’t think it’s as chaotic as you make it sound.”

“No,” Tillian replied. “It’s not. It’s the way you just described…but that doesn’t matter. If you break the gates, they will surely go after those on this world and the ones in Paradise.”

“Maybe they will. Maybe not. But who are you to decide the fate of these worlds? I’m sure there are people that deserved Paradise but they were sent to Oblivion. Did you think of that?”

“It’s possible but—”

“And I’m sure there are those in Oblivion that could have changed for the better if they were only given the opportunity. But you’ve taken that away from them. Imagine if I had snapped. How am I any different than them?”

“But you are different,” Veer said cautiously. “When the Quietus had you captive, they slowly introduced the chemicals that make up the stones into your system, along with all the other boys and girls you were with. It was in the water and food they gave you.”

“That’s how we are able to control you when you are unconscious,” Tillian said. “But it’s not to oppress you or take away your freedom. It was to ensure your survival. What if you had died? Where would we all be?”

“And when I go in the machine…will I be conscious then? Or will you be able to control my every decision? Deciding for me who goes to Oblivion and who doesn’t?”

“You’ll be conscious, of course. We’re not monsters.”

“No, I’m the monster,” Bastion said. “You should have let me die. Because at least then you would have looked for another. And perhaps then you would have found the Emissary you wanted. Because I’m not that person. I’m not doing this.”

“Bastion, you can’t let this happen!” Veer shouted in exasperation. “You’ll be killing us all!”