Who should I choose?

by Jedh3

Arthur Has to decide whether to spend eternity with Suzy, or a mortal life with Leaf. I will probably add to it as I read the series again. One shot that fits toward the end of Chapter 29 in Lord Sunday.

I DO NOT OWN KEYS TO THE KINGDOM, ARTHUR PENHALIGON, SUZY TURQUOISE BLUE, LEAF NO LAST NAME, OR ANY OF GARTH NIX'S OTHER WORKS. ALTHOUGH IT WOULD BE QUITE AWESOME IF I DID.

He had finally done it. Arthur had finally claimed the seventh Key, and it had only taken him three weeks. He reflected on the irony of it. It had taken several years as Time flows in the House. But on Earth, it was only three weeks. Now it was all gone. The entire House. And with it, all of the Secondary Realms including Earth. He knew that he needed to creat it all again. But something was bothering him. In truth, it was bothering him since he claimed the first Key from Monday. Was he still human? Or more accurately, what life would he choose? Ultimately it came to a choice between two people. Leaf? Or Suzy?

He could remember the moments he knew he loved each of them. For Leaf, it was when she came to visit him in the hospital the day they were taken to the border sea. It was while he was telling her the story of Monday and Tuesday when he first felt attracted to her. She was sitting on the bed in her obscure band T-shirt. He loved that about her, it reminded him of his dad, Bob. But what really did it was being able to tell her what happened. being able to trust someone so much felt incredible. Granted, One could argue that the only reason that he trusted her, was because of the fact that she had shared a little bit of the danger with him already. But after he thought about it, he knew that ever since she saw him almost die, and she tried to save him, he trusted her intimately. Even if she never saw the Fetchers, or helped him kill the Scoucher, he was sure that he would have told her, if she asked what had happened to him. He loved her nievity about going on an adventure. He knew from experience that it was not fun, even afterwards. But the way she thought about it gave her a strange attraction he could not quite explain, even now. And the entire time she was aboard the Mantis and then on the Shiver, all he could do was worry about her. It was truly a rare moment when his attention was diverted toward something else.

One of these times was when he first saw Suzy on the Rat's Submarine, the Balaena. That was when he knew he loved her, as well. The only thing that made him realize it, was the fact that he was so worried that something was wrong with her. Seeing her in her primpy dress, and acting so proper, made him realize that he loved who she was. He loved the rough and tumble girl, that always stood by his side. she was loyal only to him, and only took orders from other people because they were on his side. If it was not for Arthur, Dame primus would have had an even harder time controlling the ink filler girl. Only he understood the extent of relief he felt when she finally discarded her dress in place of her normal, dirty street clothes and squashed top hat. and the joy he felt when she told him that she only acted that way so that she could see him, was incomparable to anything he had ever felt before! The gesture would not have meant much coming from most people, but it spoke volumes to him about her devotion. She always knew what to say and when to say it. She was rather impatient, but her intent was always good. She always spoke her mind no matter who heard, or she offended. She was Suzy, and no one would keep her from being otherwise. Except Arthur. He knew that it was not Dame Primus who made Suzy act so Proper on the Boarder Sea. It was Arthur. He was the only thing that could ever have made her agree to such conditions. Granted, it was Dame Primus who imposed the conditions, but that meant nothing to Suzy. Anyone of authority could have done the exact same thing. And as long as Arthur was waiting for her, she would have happily accepted.

But here were a few problems. He loved Suzy. And he loved Leaf. So which would he choose? Would he be a mortal on Earth with Leaf? The First time he asked himself this question, he thought instantly, "Yes!" He wanted to be human desperately! But then there was Suzy. She could not come back to Earth anymore. she did not have a place there. She spent too long in the House, it was where she belonged. He knew he loved her, but to be with her would mean to give up on not only his humanity, but also Leaf. And to choose Leaf would mean to give up on Suzy. But if he chose Suzy, Yes he would become a Denizen, but he would be Omnipotent. All of the Architect's powers would be his. He would be Lord of all Creation. But did he truly want that? He thought back over his time spent in the House. All of the chaos, the stupidity. The Denizens were nothing more than programs in a computer designed for a specific task. when taken out of their normal situation, they panicked or became easily confused. Did he really want to have to take care of them? Did he really want to run all of Creation? But he thought again, did he want other Denizens like the Morrowdays to be in charge? There was a reason the Old Architect wanted a mortal to be the New Architect. A Denizen would not cut it. It needed to be someone with imagination and skill. someone who could adapt to a changing situation. someone who did not need to be given orders. It had to be a mortal. It had to be him. Besides. it was not like he could re create The House and all of the Secondary Realms and just hand it over to a random human. No. That was what the Old Architect did. She became bored and tossed the universe aside like a toy, handing it to him. a random human. He had to remain. he had to be the New Architect. He had very little choice in the matter. But what about Leaf? He wanted her. He needed her. But she had to be on Earth. She did not belong in the House. He could not take her Humanity away like it had been stolen from Him, Suzy, and the other Piper's children.

Now he was torn in his own decision. He was beyond happy that he would be with Suzy! He already knew that he would make her his Sunday, and she would say yes because it was him who asked. But he could not leave Leaf alone either. Once he Created everything to what it was before all of this started, she would still remember. And who could she share it with? It was a gift to him, being able to take console with her. She would have no one. And there was still the problem that he would have disappeared from his family. From their perspective, he will have just vanished. never to be seen again by any of them. He knew that his mother would still be dead too. He could not bring himself to try to bring her back to life. it would be a fake imitation based only on his memories of her. it would be wrong. He could not do that to his father, his brothers, his sisters. He could not take both their mother and himself away. it was too much. But perhaps there was another way. An idea had sparked in his mind, perhaps he could make everyone happy, including himself! He drew out the Atlas again and began to create.