Chapter 36

The door swung open extra-slowly. "Max?" said a small voice.

Five people quickly jumped in front of me, guarding me carefully.

"Keegan," Fang growled.

Keegan held up her hands in surrender. "Please, I only want to explain myself."

"You're a traitor," I said simply. "No need to explain. I've been through the routine."

"I'm not," Keegan insisted. "I'm not a traitor. I could never hurt you, Max. I'm your friend."

"How did you find me?" I demanded.

"I can find anything," she said. "I can do anything." She looked at me carefully. "When you saw me reaching out… I considered offering you reassurance. But I didn't want to take away your free will. I wanted you to form your own opinion about me."

"Right," I said. "Well, so far my opinion is that you're a sick, lying weasel."

"I deserve that," she said.

"Wait, so you would have been able to mess with my mind?" I demanded.

She shrugged. "Mess with your mind. Your body. Your existence. I can do anything."

"Anything?" I said skeptically.

"Yes," she said. "I was born a human, but my imagination… it runs rampant. And at one point, I discovered that with my imagination, I could do anything in the world that I wanted. I am a goddess. I am a queen. But at the same time, I'm just a fourteen-year-old girl, with all the expected frills. You know what it's like to bear that mantle."

"I'm not a goddess," I said.

"Yes you are," Keegan said. "Me? I'm powerful by sheer random chance. Everything you are ties into your destiny. You're the one who's fated to save the world, not me."

"Uh-huh," I said. "Wake me when you come up with an original line, won't you?"

"No, Max, listen to me," Keegan said. "I know more than anyone else does on this matter. I know precisely who you are. I know what you're destined for." She looked at me slyly. "Jeb wouldn't approve."

I perked up. "Go on."

She winced. "I shouldn't tell you. The future… people aren't supposed to know."

I looked at her, stunned. "What are you, Keegan?"

She shrugged. "I'm a very young girl. I'm a person who likes to learn and absorb culture. I'm the person that Niles loves."

"Does Niles… does he know?"

Keegan nodded, her eyes welling up. "He does. He was the first person I ever told who I was. He's always been so sweet. He told me to… to imagine that he and I would be in love forever and ever. It was the happiest I've ever been."

I scowled. "I want to forgive you. How do I know that the only reason I love you again is because you're forcing me?"

She buried her face in her hands. "There's no way of knowing. You'll never know for sure if you can trust me. All you can do is take my word for it, and take my promise that I will never erase the doubt from your mind."

Friendship means never having to give a reason, the Voice said.

"Okay," I said. "Okay. Well, I'll… I'll take that." I held out a hand to her. "Friends?"

She nodded, looking like the happiest person alive. She took my hand. "Thank you, Max. And… and this is your baby?"

"Sure is," I said. "I named her Airy."

Keegan looked down at the baby, who made perfect eye contact with her. "Hello, baby bird," Keegan said. "You are a blessed child. I imagine you living a long and beautiful life, improving the world and all of its people."

"Really?" Fang said.

"Yes," she said. "And if I imagine it… it will be."

"So, you can do anything?" Nudge said.

"Anything and everything," Keegan said.

"Then, why don't you just imagine that the world is at peace?" Nudge said. "You could imagine that there's no more global warming, no more evil corporations, no more hunger. Why haven't you done that? If you're omnipotent, then why is the world still flawed?"

"It's not my place," Keegan said. "That responsibility falls to you."

"Yeah, well, we're not gods," Fang retorted.

"That's not exactly true," Keegan said. "There's a difference between being a god and being omnipotent. I'm omnipotent… but you, the flock, you're gods. You will save the world. And I… I will observe. It's all I ever wanted to do with my life… observe."

I looked down at Airy, my precious child, then looked back up at Keegan. "Thank you," I said. "Thank you, Keegan. You've… you've inspired me. Thank you… thank you." I fought back the useless tears. "Thank you, Keegan."

She hugged me. "You're welcome," she said. "I'll always be your friend. Can you understand that?"

I nodded weakly. "Mm-hmm."

"Thank you," Keegan said. "Fang, come here."

Fang nervously approached, and Keegan pulled him into the hug. The entire flock joined in.

The family. Four people who looked up to me. One who could say that I was his, the only person in the world who could honestly claim ownership of me. One person who was mine, for I had made her right there in my body. And a friend, one friend. They were all I needed. For that brief moment, it felt like the world truly was a good place.

Review EVERY chapter. Last time I'm gonna say that, honest. But I'm still gonna expect you to review every chapter AFTER this one. If I don't start getting more reviews, I'm gonna start using author's notes to call out individuals who have to review the entire story before there are any updates.