I don't know if any of you realized, but this is the last chapter for Dark Light! The end of my longest story to date! A lot of you disappeared after my extended absence, but I guess I can't blame you. But after this, we have the epilogue and a possible bonus chapter. Thank you all for sticking with me to the end!
And I think you'll find this greatly differs from the end of Breaking Dawn :D
Jez's POV
I didn't leave my garden again.
The spells I was weaving were far too delicate and difficult to leave unattended for any length of time. Seth brought me my meals, and Nessie and Tia helped me construct the spells.
It had only been two days since my vision and subsequent self-imposed exile. Seth had started to worry after the first hour. He knew I was keeping something from him. And thank the Goddess, he understood that I couldn't talk about it. Not yet. Not if I wanted this to work.
The day after my retreat, Rhea and Henry arrived. From what Tia said, Rhea already had a good idea of what I was planning. Tia also told me that Rhea had pledged herself and her abilities to help with the aftermath. That knowledge bolstered me, and gave me hope that my future with Seth – and our future children – was still possible.
The spells were the most complicated piece of magic I had ever attempted. Making sure they did what they were supposed to do, making sure they affected only the people they were supposed to… it was so complex.
I stopped sleeping. I pretty much stopped eating. I knew not taking care of myself would harm my chances of success, but there was no way it would work if it wasn't finished.
It was the day before the Volturi and the Shadow Circle arrived. Everyone was packing up to camp in the clearing where we would be fighting. At least, they were before an unexpected guest showed up.
Tia was by my side, attempting to get me to eat, when her head perked up.
"Sister, we have company. Witches. At least a dozen of them," she whispered to me.
I scanned the area briefly, and found a violent – and familiar – mind.
"Ask Nessie to send Raven in. I would like to speak with her," I requested with a smile on my face.
Tia gasped at Raven's name (Raven doesn't have the best of reputations among peace-loving witches), but she did as I asked.
Raven entered, took one look at me, and said, "Damn. Shit just got real, didn't it?"
I couldn't help but smile. "That's one way to put it."
"You look like death warmed over, Jez. Stress never affected you like this, even when we were pledges. What in the name of the Goddess is going on here? What the hell happened to you?"
"Like you said. Death," I put it simply. "But you didn't just come here to comment on my appearance, did you?"
"Tch, of course not. I'm here because… well, because…" she hesitated. I doubt Raven has ever hesitated in her life before this. "You were right. The Shadow Circle did try to dip into my power, just like you said they did with you. At first, I just left with a few of the other witches and decided to let you deal with it. But… we need to work together to defeat them."
"You're right. We do need each other, but not just to defeat them. We need to rebuild the witching world after the battle. The Shadow Circle has ruled for too long, and there are too many wounds. I can't do that alone, either. Will you help me rebuild?" I asked.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'll help," Raven said with a smile. "I'll go get acquainted with the other misfits in your ragtag team."
"You do that," I laughed, and sent a mental note to Tia and Nessie that sounded the all-clear.
"And whatever you're planning…" Raven added before she left. "Don't die."
My parting smile was ironic, and after she left, I said, "I'm not planning on it, but I can't make any promises."
Seth came in an hour later.
"Jezzie, we're all packed up. Are you ready to go?" he called. He came around the corner and spotted me next to a rosebush.
"There you are. Ready to go?" he asked, pointing his thumb over his shoulder towards the gate.
"Not yet. I need to stay for a while longer," I told him. "Go ahead with the others. I'll be along soon."
Seth regarded me cautiously. I knew what he was thinking. I knew two of his greatest needs were competing: his desire to do as I asked, and his desire to protect me from anything and everything, including myself. It was obvious which was going to win.
"Jez, I'm not comfortable leaving you alone here," Seth said slowly.
"I won't be alone; Tia is staying with me. Besides, if you want the Volturi and the Shadow Circle to end up in the right clearing, you guys need to get going now. Time isn't exactly on our side."
"I know that," Seth muttered.
I walked up to him and placed my hand on his cheek. "I'll be right behind you. Stop worrying."
He placed his hand on top of mine. "You'll be right behind me?"
"Yes. You'll barely even notice I was gone," I whispered.
"I love you," he said, holding me tightly.
"I love you, too," I whispered back.
I pulled away. "Now, get going. Everyone's going to leave without you."
He smiled. "I'm going, I'm going."
I couldn't help but smile as he left. I couldn't help but cry once he was gone. The spells were finally ready. In a few minutes, the Volturi would enter the state of Washington, heading straight for the Olympic Peninsula.
And this was probably the last time I would ever see Seth alive.
It was time.
Seth's POV
Jez was up to something. Tia and Nessie were helping her do it. And no matter what, the girls wouldn't say a word to us.
We tried interrogating Collin, but he truly had no idea what was going on, either. Rhea hinted that she knew, but also wasn't saying anything. I had already been ready to punch someone, and now Tia and Jez were staying behind for a few hours? Oh, hell no. I wasn't stupid. And all of this circling had to end.
I stopped Tia before she entered the garden. "Tia, I need to talk to you."
"I don't have time for this, Seth. I need to see Jez. Now," she insisted.
"You're hiding something from us, and I need to know what it is," I said firmly.
"No, you don't. Now let me get this lunch to Jez already, she needs it."
I sighed and let Tia disappear into the garden. Little did I know, she wasn't coming back out.
"Seth!" Nessie called to me from the porch. "You need to get in here!"
I sighed. "I'm coming!"
When I jogged back inside the house, I realized everyone was inside. And I mean everyone. Mac, the faeries, the hawks, Rhea and Henry, the Shadow Circle deserters, the Cullens, and the wolves were all inside, sitting on the floor. Nessie patted an empty spot beside her.
"Come on, Seth! You need to come sit down. Tia and Jez put a lot of protection spells around the house, but we're still going to feel this storm," Nessie said hurriedly.
"What storm?" I asked as I sat beside her.
Nessie's face glowed with triumph. "The Witch Queen's storm."
"What?" I gasped. What storm?
"Jez is gathering her power into a storm to unleash on the Volturi and the Shadow Circle. We need to stay inside so we only feel a minimal effect."
"What if we were outside?" Jake asked nervously.
"Then the power would rip through us. If it decided we weren't evil, it would rattle us, but leave us unharmed. For the Volturi and the Shadow Circle…" Nessie trailed off.
"It will tear them apart," Rhea finished. "This isn't as simple as Renesmee makes it sound. It is a complicated spell, and even more complicated because she is trying to protect us from the worst of the effects. Not to mention the backlash of such an enormous release of power."
A howling wind was picking up outside as we spoke.
"What does this backlash do?" I asked hesitantly, knowing I was going to hate the answer.
A tear escaped from Rhea's eyes. "It will rush back to its source, and tear it apart, as well."
"Jez," I whispered.
And then the world blasted apart.
The storm lasted until dawn. The whole house shook throughout the night, rattling the windows and anything that wasn't nailed to the ground… including our bones. We heard vicious thunder every three minutes or so, and the flashes of lightning that preceded them would make everyone jump.
Nessie, Tia, and Rhea raised their heads tentatively, then leaped to their feet.
"Everyone stay here!" Tia ordered, and the three of them disappeared out the door.
"Stay here, my ass!" I growled, and I jumped up to join them. My Jezzie was injured, but how badly? I had to see for myself that she was okay.
Before I could rush through the garden gate, Nessie pushed me out. One hand was covering her mouth like she was about to vomit, and she looked like she was sobbing.
She ran over to the other side of the garden fence and vomited.
"Nessie? You okay?" I asked tentatively.
"Don't go in there!" she gasped, then vomited again.
I glanced at the gate. "Why not?"
"The spells Rhea and Tia are weaving are delicate, very delicate," Nessie said after wiping her mouth. She walked back to me, her face even paler than a vampire's, and I thought she was about to pass out. "They said… they said there can be no doubt. No one in that garden can doubt that Jez will live, or the spells won't work right. And Jez will die."
My heart stopped, and I fell to my knees. Jez can't die. She can't. I've almost lost her so many times. I can't lose her again. I can't lose her for good.
"Seth… I saw her. I saw what's left of her, and it's bad. It's really bad. If you look at her… you wouldn't believe that body could still live. You have to stay out here," Nessie whispered. With that, she bolted back into the garden.
I have no idea how long I sat there, kneeling, praying to the Goddess that my Jezzie would come back to me in one piece.
Two weeks.
It had been two weeks since the Volturi and the Shadow Circle tried to destroy my family and my friends. Two weeks since Jez had sacrificed herself to save us all from certain death.
Nessie told me later about Jez's vision before the battle. No one on our side would have survived the fight. Instead of all of us dying, Jez had used her enormous power to save us. And had put her own life on the line in the process.
No one could tell me if Jez was going to survive. Tia and Rhea kept saying it was too soon to tell, that they could have no doubts, that they had to make sure Jez was going to make it before giving anything definitive.
All I had to do was wait. And it was killing me.
Nessie – and everyone else, for that matter – kept telling me I was losing too much weight. Nessie would always add that Jez would want me to take care of myself while she was away, and if I couldn't do it for me, I should do it for her. But I could never stomach anything.
I was sitting on the porch like I usually do, waiting to see if one of the girls would pop out of the garden for an update. I had been doing this for the past two weeks.
But today, I did not wait in vain.
"Seth!" Rhea called from the gate. I rushed over to her as fast as I could move. Rhea was beaming.
"Oh, Seth! She's going to make it!" Rhea cried out, and threw her arms around me, sobbing with joy. After so long, it didn't seem real.
"You can go in now," she sobbed, stepping away from me. "Go on! Go! But be careful!"
I rushed into the garden. Beside the seeing pond, underneath the willow tree, there was a low, narrow bed with my sleeping Queen. I walked over to her, not daring to breathe, and sank to my knees beside her. She was painfully thin, and covered with thick, black bruises.
But her eyes fluttered open, and they were a dim, glowing green.
"Hey, Jezzie, welcome back," I whispered, unable to speak louder.
"Hey," she whispered back. Her voice was hoarse and crackly. It was the most beautiful sound in the world.
"I was worried about you," I said. That was an understatement.
"I was worried about you, too," she replied. "Why are you so thin?"
"Like I said, I was worried about you."
"When I have enough strength to lift my arm, remind me to punch you."
"Can do, Jezzie."
I couldn't help but smile. With Jez, my life would never be simple or easy. But I guess I'm just too happy to care. Besides, how boring would that be?
"I love you, Jezzie," I said with all my heart.
"I love you, too. But, I'm kind of starving. What do I have to do to get some food at my own house?"
I laughed, the first real laugh in a month. Our stresses and worries were behind us. Well, most of them. And I kissed her with all of the love that was in me.
She gladly kissed me back, and I could feel all of her love, too. She sacrificed herself for me, and for all of our family and friends. It may sound cheesy, but if that's not love, I don't know what is.
No, our lives together wouldn't be easy. But that sounded pretty perfect to me.
Soooo, what do you guys think? I'm not certain about that last part, but it's as good as it's going to get. So, let me know what you thought of the whole series and this chapter in particular! We still have some loose ends to tie up with the epilogue, and I think I'm going to add a bonus chapter for the hell of it.
Thank you all again for reading, you have no idea what it means to me! (And the epilogue will be posted after five reviews since I only got two from the last chapter, so chop chop!)