Chapter 7

Someday

Clare's vision returned. She saw Vivec's body in front of her, the form of a god, defeated. His body began to disintegrate into light. The colors were ones that Clare had never seen before, ones that mortals were never meant to perceive. His lifeless body, his husk, was gone. Even his blood, his blood that was smeared all over Clare's fists vanished. There was only a pile of dust, bright gold dust that glowed in the darkness.

"He's gone. I did it. I won."

A feeling of melancholy swept over her. It almost felt wrong that she'd slain a god. It wasn't like killing an animal or a human. It felt much different, like something terrible, wonderful, and indescribable was gone from this world and could never return.

Clare shook the melancholy out of her head.

"He's not worth crying over. Besides, I have more important things to think about. My daughter's in here, somewhere."

She tried to stand up. Her legs wouldn't move. Her arms were weak, too weak to hold her up.

"No, Lucia. I need to get up. I need to find Lucia!" she thought.

She called out.

"Lucia! Lucia! Are you here? Lucia?"

There was no answer. Her head was filled with bad thoughts.

"She's probably dead."

"He could have banished her to oblivion."

"This was all stupid, very stupid. You're going to die. For what? This?"

She shook those thoughts away and listened to her heart.

"She's still alive. I know it. I just need to stand up. I just…"

"Clare?"

Clare looked up and saw Jason in front of her. She wasn't sure how he got there, but was glad to see him.

"Jason? I thought I told you to…"

"Guard the door, yes," he said.

He pulled Clare up to her feet. Her legs started to wobble, like she was going to fall down. Jason pulled a flask from his pocket, full of healing potion.

"Drink this," he said.

Clare drank the potion as fast as she could. Some of it even spill down her cheeks.

"I've got another. Here," Jason said.

He handed her a second flask. Clare gulped it down in a matter of seconds.

"Better?" Jason said.

"A little," Clare replied.

She was still in a lot of pain. Some wounds could not be mended with potions had to heal naturally.

Clare looked at the open door to Vivec's chamber. The halls were empty, save for a few dead ordinators. Clare was perplexed.

"Weren't there more ordinators?" Clare said.

"Only a few. I fought off maybe five of them before they started to retreat. A bunch of cowardly rats, they are," Jason said.

"Five of them?" Clare said.

"They're weak. They never have to fight anything, what with their god king Vivec here to protect them. They forget how to defend themselves when they're up against a real guard," Jason said.

Clare looked around in Vivec's chamber and saw a gem on the floor. It was a soul gem, a prison where beings were kept, but isolated as long they were in there. Clare tried to bend over, but her back ached. She turned to Jason.

"Can you get that for me?" she said.

Jason bent over and lifted the soul gem up. He could feel someone inside of there, a person.

"Is that her?" Jason said.

She handed it to Clare. Almost instantly, she recognized it as her daughter's soul. She handed it back to Jason.

"Break it open. Please," Clare said.

Jason tossed the soul gem onto the ground. It shattered into many pieces. He could see the soul, a young girl, fly out of it. Clare wanted to say something. She was overwhelmed with emotion. Only one word escaped her mouth.

"…Lucia."

Lucia didn't recognize her mother. She'd changed a lot since the last time they met. Lucia's ghost turned to Jason.

"Don't let the monster hurt me! Please! Please!"

Jason tried to hold Lucia, but his hands went right through her. Clare turned to her daughter.

"Lucia, I'm not a monster. It's me, Mommy."

Lucia tilted her head. This was like a nightmare. Vengeance had transformed her into something hideous, something that her daughter could barely recognize. Dark thoughts crept into Clare's mind.

"She wouldn't have wanted this, would she? This was all for nothing. I shouldn't have done this. I…"

"Mommy?"

Lucia walked toward her mother, finally recognizing her. Clare couldn't hold back the tears. She leaned in to hug her daughter, but she went right through her.

"Lucia, I'm so glad to see you again."

Lucia noticed her mother, her burns, her bruises, her open wounds, everything she had been through to get where she was.

"Mommy… What happened?" Lucia said.

"It doesn't matter, Lucia. We're finally together again," Clare said.

Lucia hovered her arms around Clare, careful not to go through her. It was the closest thing she could do to hugging her. Jason stood back so that they could have their moment together. Once they were done, Lucia looked sad.

"Mommy… I'm sorry. I can't be with you for long," she said.

"What? What do you mean?" Clare said.

Lucia's ghostly form began to dissipate.

"I'm the spirit of The Nerevarine. I have a destiny, a purpose," she said.

"Where are you going?" Clare said.

"I'm going… Somewhere, somewhere where I'm needed. Don't worry, I'll come back. I promise," Lucia said.

"You promise?" Clare said.

"I have to go. They need me, the new gods."

Clare wasn't sure how to feel. She wanted to scream. She wanted to curse the new gods' names. She wanted to kill them all, just like she did Vivec. She also wanted to stop. She'd nearly broken herself to be with her daughter, only for her to disappear moments later. Lucia could tell that her mother was in pain. She started to cry.

"I'm sorry, Mommy. I love you."

"I'll always love you, Lucia," Clare sobbed.

Lucia disappeared into thin air, no longer in this world. Jason helped Clare to her feet. She was still sobbing.

"Are you okay?" Jason said.

"I'm fine," Clare said as her tears stopped.

"You sure?" Jason said.

"I'm sure," she replied.

Clare and Jason left Vivec's chamber. There was nothing left for them there. It was time for them to move on. Vengeance and destruction was over. It was time to begin new lives. They headed out of Vivec City, never to return.

There was a final message from Lucia, written in golden dust, the dust that was once the god-king Vivec. It spelled out words, Lucia's final message to her mother.

WE WILL MEET AGAIN SOMEDAY

fin

Special thanks to beta readers Little Miss Diva 152, empire1003, ShoutFinder, and Deliverer. You guys were an amazing help. Thank you!

To everyone else: Thanks for reading!