Power

Okay, here's the last chapter. Finally I can finish this story and write about something else. heh. Enjoy…

Saint Dane and the plane Aja and I just jumped out of rolled to the bottom of the hill, triggering the tak. Soundless as tak was, a conflagration rapidly spread throughout the building without a sound. Determined to find and save Courtney, I headed in the direction of the fire.

"Bobby, no!" Aja yelled, grabbing my arm. "We have to get out of here!" The building began to crumble, and a piece of glass fell right in front of me. One cut into my leg, leaving a deep cut. The entire building was nearly engulfed in flames, with me and Aja still inside. I stopped in my tracks, and stared once more into the flames, thinking that if Saint Dane ever emerged out of the fire, I would kill him with whatever it took, to avenge Courtney. Then without looking back, I ran with Aja to the entrance where she typed in STAR. Coughing from the fumes, we stumbled out of the building and sprinted as far away as we possibly could when it burst into flames a few moments later.

We ran until we were sure we were safe, but I couldn't stop. The memories of Courtney kept running through my head, as I thought to avenge her with whatever it took. "Bobby…" Aja panted. "Stop running…" I didn't want to listen to her, but I slowed down anyway and turned around. Frustrated at the loss of Courtney, tears furiously rolled down my cheeks. "Running from regrets won't do anything," she said, catching her breath. She knew what I was thinking.

"I know," I breathed. After stopping, I realized how tired I was. She smiled and put her hand on mine. That calmed me down.

But then she gasped. "Bobby." I looked up. "The cut on your leg from the glass…it's gone." She then looked at her arm, startled, as if something just appeared on her wrist, but nothing was there. "Oh my gosh…"

"What?" I was totally confused. I suddenly felt something heavy on my wrist. It was a control bracelet from Veelox! But that couldn't be. This could only mean one thing…

"We're in a jump," Aja whispered, stunned. "I'll get us out of here," she said. Pressing a few buttons on the controller, everything went black.

A few minutes later, I slid out of the Veelox compartment and into the inside of Lifelight. I was so confused.

"What the…where is…how did we-"

Aja shushed me. "I think I have it all figured out," Aja said.

"No surprise," I muttered.

"This is Saint Dane's territory now," she explained, "and apparently virtual reality is no longer. Everything you think up in a jump is true, and Saint Dane has the power to corrupt people's virtual world. Just like what happened last time you were on this territory, when a phader was eaten by your quig, Pendragon, we can die in Lifelight. I guess that was Saint Dane's intentions." With a grim expression, she showed me a scratch on her palm from the explosion.

Her scratch looked deep. I felt sympathy for a second, but then I remembered my cut and looked at my leg. My pants were still torn, but the cut was no longer there. "If you still have your cut, why don't I still have mine?" I was still as confused as ever.

"When I saw that your cut was gone, I was sure that we were in a jump, so that's how we got out," Aja elucidated. "I didn't know everything was real yet. But after, my cut was still here. I guess you're just a fast healer."

The whole healing thing came up again. For some reason, Travelers were fast healers. But I've never healed this fast, and a cut never completely disappeared; there was always a scar.

I guess I was getting better at this healing stuff.

I shrugged, and decided to change the topic. "Back in the jump," I reminded her. "How did you deactivate the gars?"

"There was a code," she responded. No surprise. After all, the "territory" was called Crypto. "The clue was, 'power.'"

"Power?? How were you supposed to decode that?" I had no idea what the word could have been.

"Well, unlike you, I actually listen to people when they're talking, especially when Saint Dane revealed the answer to his own code," she rolled her eyes. I traced my memory back to when Saint Dane was ranting about wanting me to turn to his side again. His words echoed in my head.

Did you ever wonder what it's like to be able to change shape, to control the flumes, to bring myself from the dead? Have you ever gotten a taste of such immense power? I made power. I am power. Nothing in any territory's history has had any more power than me.

"Saint Dane!" I exclaimed.

Aja winked. "Bingo."

I'm back at Aja's home now, finishing up the last of the journal. Courtney, I guess you were an illusion that Saint Dane conjured up, because we tried looking for you afterwards. You were nowhere to be found.

I hope you guys are okay back at home. Watch your backs, okay? I can't emphasize this enough. Saint Dane is a tricky guy, I admit. He could be anyone. There's no telling where he'll appear next.

Till then, don't forget to study hard, exercise, and don't have too much fun without me, alright?

Miss you guys.

Finally, it's finished. I finished it right after I put up the last chapter, because I knew if I waited for reviews before writing, I would be too lazy to write again. Sorry if it sucks, but hey, I really wanted to get it over with. Please read and review and be as harsh as you want with comments, because I know this ending wasn't the best.

Thanks to all my reviewers!!