A/n:Thebeginning of this chapterwill be from the books. The rest is mine. Well, not the characters. They're KAA's. Unfortunately. evil grin
The human child called to me. The human child was dying, and nothing I could do within the rules of the game could change that fact. The human child, one of those who called themselves Animorphs, asked me to explain. In that final moment, the human wanted to know: Was it all worth it? The pain, the despair, the fear. The horror of violence suffered, and the corrupting horror of violence inflicted, was it all worth it? I said I could not answer that. I said the battle was not yet done.
"You," I said accusingly.
"Yes."
"Who are you?" I demanded. "Who are you to play games with us? You appear, you disappear, you use us, who are you, what are you?"
"Yes," I said. "You do deserve an answer. To this question I will give all the answer I know. And when you know me, you will ask another question. And I will answer that question too. And then-"
And then, after what seemed a very long time, the Ellimist told me. I saw. I understood. But I also knew he would not save me. That he couldn't under the arcane rules of his millennia-long war with Crayak. The Ellimist was there to honor me, and I guess that was nice of him. Wasn't going to help me much. I wanted so much to live. I wanted so much to stay and not to leave. In a moment, no answer would matter to me, but just the same, I wanted to know what I guess any dying person wants to know.
The human was silent. No begging, no pleading for life. At the end, acceptance came even to this strong, turbulent sprit.
"You said I could ask one more question."
"Yes."
"I can't ask if we win, I can't ask if it will all turn out okay."
"I don't know those answers."
"Okay, then answer this, Ellimist: Did I. . .did I make a difference? My life, and my. . . my death . . .was it worth it? Did my life really matter?"
"Yes. You were brave. You were strong. You were good. You mattered."
"Yeah. Okay, then. Okay, then."
I wondered if-
Suddenly, I had the feeling I was being zoomed through space. Finally, weak and angry at the fact that even a peaceful death had been ripped from my hands, I spun around looking to see where I was. I examined my surroundings carefully. It was pitch black. I could spot little pinpricks of light far off, but they weren't bright enough to light up my spirit or anything even close to that. I could barely see myself there, even. I then felt more than actually saw movement. Not that there was anything to feel, but still. I don't know. I just kind of knew. "Who's there?" I asked the presence I felt but could not see.
There, in front of me was figure just like Toomin/Ellimist used to be. I felt as if I knew who she was. And yes, I was sure she was a SHE. She gave off these feminine vibes. It's kind of hard to understand. I just kind of knew. She smiled slightly.
"My name is Aguella," she said in a voice like music. I hadn't felt this good in a long time. She made my head feel light and airy. Then I snapped out of it and understood what she had just said. "Aguella? Toomin's-"
"Dead friend? Yes, that is correct."
"But you're dead!"
"So are you."
At that I froze and looked down at myself. I felt alive. Finally, I looked up at Aguella. "What is it you want from me?" They all wanted something.
She smiled again but this time in a grim kind of way. "In the year 2011 the world is to be blown to bits by a meteor called the Rock. Only eighty men, woman and children will survive. They will be driven into space with some half tested technology. The Eighty consist of a 14 year old boy named Jobs,his friend,Mo'steel, and his mutated brother Edward, Yago, the president's son, 2Face, a girl whose face was ruined by a fire-" At that I shivered as I remembered Taylor. "Violet, a girl whose parents have died and, D-Caf, a boy who (with his brother) tried to get onto the ship butwhose brother was killed, Kubrick, a boy who is full of anger and who Mother experimented on, Tamara and her baby, the baby who is a Shipwright and has taken prisoner of his "mother', Billy, a boy was awake all those 500 years, Tate. . ." Did she not know about the evilness of a run-on sentence? Their entire tale seemed me to be a run-on sentence.Areally, really longrun-on sentence
I sighed. "What does this have to do with me? And why aren't Cassie, Jake, Tobias and the others there? I mean, they should have lived until 2011, shouldn't they?"
Aguella gives me a look of sympathy. "All except Cassie left to save Axmilli from the One. They were killed. Cassie would not go on the ship. She refused the offer. Your friends are all dead."
I just shut down right then. "ButI'm dead too! Why aren'tthey here? WHY!" I was crying by the time I had finished screaming.Icouldn't hold it all in. I just exploded.Why weren't they here? They shouldhave been here. But they weren't.
Finally I had calmed down enough to ask a question. "Who is this One?"
"The One is the beginnings of Mother. The One is the primitive form of Mother, before she gets all her information. Before she goes mad."
I nodded to show I understood. "But what does this have to do with me?"
She sighed. "I need you to lead one group of the Eighty. I need you to help them."
"But why not Ax? He's good with computers. Jake? He could lead them. Cassie? She could calm them down. Marco? He could come up with a plan. Tobias could help them see things. Me? I'm the least useful."
"You are the chosen one, Rachel. Do not argue with the choices of the Watchers not a Buffy reference They control everything. They chose the chosen. They doom the doomed. They control what there is to be controlled."
"They DO NOT control my life! Only one person does that. And that person is me. Not the Watchers or whatever, but me. And seriously, what is up with the Buffy shit?"
"But will you help them?"
I thought for a moment. Could I say no? But suddenly I thought of something. "What's in it for me?" I could gain something from this. Not thinking of failure, then though.
She smiled. "I was waiting for you to ask me that. There is something in for you. There is no way to bring your friends back, but we could make a fake world for you to live in. A world where your friends are alive. A world where Tobias loves you and you can love him back in peace. But he will not be real. The whole world will not be real."
I wanted nothing more than that. I wanted nothing more than my Tobias. My sweet Tobias. Cassie. My best friend. Jake. My cousin. Marco. Ax. The Animorphs. I wanted them back. But would I be able to deal with people that weren't even real? But first had I to do this. And before thatI had one more question.
"Is it possible for me to die?"
She nodded slowly and her eyes seemed troubled. "Yes. You will be turned into a real person. You will be 16 years old and you will be as real as you were when you died."
"Will I be able to morph?" I could be helpful in that way at least.
"Yes."
I sighed. "It seems there is only one answer for me, is there?"
"And it is?"
"I'll do it."
"You will feel slightly dizzy. Just close your eyes. Do not fight against it" I was doubtful for a moment. Hesitantly I closed my eyes and-