Chapter 8

Carey tried to turn away before he saw her hit the ground, but couldn't. It all happened too fast for him to turn away. The whole scene was something he'd never forget. Or forgive himself for. He remained frozen, lying where he had been before, looking down at Fi's body, his vision already blurry. He saw her disappear just as Clu had the day before.

"She's gone. They took her too…" Carey said weakly to himself. That was the last straw. He broke down and cried harder than ever before. Each hard sob made his body shake so hard that it was actually hurting him. He just lay up there on the roof, crying, his teary gaze still fixed on the spot where Fi had been. After about half an hour, he made a decision. He slowly stood up, his vision still blurry from the tears that kept falling from his red eyes.

I never thought I'd die alone

I laughed the loudest, who'd have known?

I traced the cord back to the wall

No wonder it was never plugged in at all

I took my time, I hurried up

The choice was mine, I didn't think enough

I'm too depressed to go on, you'll be sorry when I'm gone

I never conquered, rarely came

16 just held such better days

Days when I still felt alive

We couldn't wait to get outside

The world was watching

Hate to try

The tour was over we'd survived

I couldn't wait till I got home

To pass the time in my room alone

I never thought I'd die alone

Another six months, I'll be unknown

Give all my things to all my friends

You'll never step foot in my room again

You'll close it off, board it up

Remember the time that I spilled the cup

Of apple juice in the hall

Please tell mom this is not her fault

I never conquered, rarely came

16 just held such better days

Days when I still felt alive

We couldn't wait to get outside

The world was watching

Hate to try

The tour was over we'd survived I couldn't wait till I got home

To pass the time in my room alone

He half-heard the song playing not far from where he was. It was very faint, but it could still be heard. It seemed to fit his current situation so well. He failed to hear the very last verse of the song as he became totally immersed into what he was about to do. He walked closer to the edge of the roof, looking down at the ground, contemplating what he was about to do. *The 3 people I love the most have been taken from me. There's nothing left to live for. I'd rather be dead and be with them than be alive alone with my guilt.* He walked even closer to the edge, now the tips of his shoes were no longer on solid ground. He raised his leg to take the final step when he heard a familiar voice.

"Carey don't!!!" Clark yelled. Carey put his leg back down but didn't even turn around. "Carey! Don't do this!!" he shouted again, walking over to his younger brother. Carey turned his head a little, but he refused to look at his brother. It had finally hit him that Clark was the ruler of Batakas. *Clark caused me all my pain. He took his own baby brother's life and he didn't even seem to regret it!* Clark managed to grab on to Carey's arm, pulling him from the edge. "Please don't do this" he pleaded.

Carey looked straight into his brother's flashing green eyes, anger flaring up in his own eyes. "Why the hell shouldn't I? There's nothing left for me here. Not after you took everything from me. I might as well just get it over with and kill myself." Clark was surprised at the anger in Carey's voice. This wasn't Carey. He would have never said anything so negative, so depressing.

"You can't jump bro. Please. You're too young still" Clark attempted to convince his brother. He instantly regretted it.

"Too young!??!!! Damn it you were younger than I am when you died! Clu and Fi were both too young to die also, but that didn't stop you from taking them!" he yelled pulling away from Clark's grip. "You set a trap for Fi! You said that I was the one the Assembly wanted! You told us to come here, that you'd give me Clu back! And instead you betray my trust and you take Fi instead! This is the consequence of your actions!! Now you have no right to stop me!!" Carey walked back to the edge and stepped over the edge, fully prepared for the end that he knew had to come soon.

But suddenly he stopped falling. He looked up to see Clark holding on to his arm, his grip so tight it was almost painful. Clark was crying openly, tears streaming form his eyes as he tried to pull Carey up. "Damn you, let me go!!!" Carey shouted, thrashing and squirming to make Clark loose his grip.

"I can't let you go! Don't you understand that if you die, Clu will be sent back but Fi will be killed anyway? Without you there's no one to protect her from the Assembly!" Clark explained as rationally as he could while holding on to his brother.

"I don't believe you!! Fi said that her dad was protecting her! Not me! Now LET ME GO!" he screamed.

"Yeah, her dad is protecting her, but he can't do it alone! The Assembly has gotten too strong for him. He needs you too!"

"Cut the crap and let me go!!" He shook and squirmed, even trying to bite, while Clark struggled to hold on. Suddenly Clark decided that he could no longer argue. He made sure one of his pixies, Leilani, was on the ground to catch Carey. Then he whispered

"Sorry" and swung Carey towards the wall, knocking him out and letting go of his arm. Carey fell to the ground into Leilani´s arms, as all of them disappeared into a bunch of multicolored orbs.

[Batakas, 40 minutes earlier]

Fi woke up on a bed, surprised to find that she was alive and that she felt no pain at all. She opened her eyes and saw that she was in a small golden room that contained 2 beds. The other one was currently unoccupied but it had obviously been slept in the previous night. She slowly sat up and finally saw a girl and a guy standing at the doorway. Her eyes adjusted to the light enough so she could see whom the people were. The girl she didn't really recognize, but the guy was definitely familiar.

It was Clu, as healthy as ever. She jumped up and raced towards him, and he wrapped her up in a big hug. "Clu…" she trailed off, so happy to see him. Then she realized that if she was with Clu, then she definitely had died. She was in Batakas. After a long 40 minutes of happy silence filled with smiles and an occasional word as Clu showed her around, Fi spoke. "Clu, where's Clark?" she asked him.

"I'm not sure. I'll ask one of the pixies" he walked off for a second and then came back. "They said that he left about 10 minutes ago. Something about having to save someone."

"Um Fi, How's Carey doing?" Clu asked, wanting to know exactly how hurt his brother was.

"Not so good. Last night he was extremely torn up about losing you and now that I'm gone too I don't know what he's gonna do." Tears filled her eyes. She had contributed to Carey's pain. "I hope he doesn't do anything stupid…" she trailed off as a flash of light gave way to 3 figures. One was unconscious on the ground.

It was Carey. They both ran to him as Fi realized what he had done, knowing that in part it was her fault. He'd jumped. He'd tried to kill himself. "Carey" she whispered, her weak voice heavy with sadness and concern for her friend. He didn't seem to be breathing or even have a pulse. As soon as they got to Carey's side, Clark picked him up and took him to the room Fi had woken up in. A third bed had appeared, and Clark set Carey down on it. Fi sat on the edge of the bed, and took Carey's hand in hers. She looked at him closely and noticed that he was hurt. There was a large, deep gash that was still bleeding on his forehead. His breathing was shallow and labored, as if it hurt him to take each breath. She cleaned up the blood a little using a small towel that was near the bed. Then she took his hand again and held it tightly, waiting for Carey to come around, not sure if he ever would…