A/N: Here it is, the final chapter of The Carried! Enjoy! And PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE review! I only need another 26 reviews to make my goal! Please! But still, I only have this chapter, the sample chapter, and the thank-yous at the end to get reviews on, so pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeez, all reviews are welcome! Please, I really, really, really want to get those 26 more reviews…. Thanks for all the ones I have already! And for those of you that read about my brother before my mom made me delete it all, he's doing fine. He has a concussion, skull fracture, and blood behind his eardrum, but he will eventually be fine. PLEASE REVIEW!
Chapter 22
Suddenly, the One just ceased to exist. Its stolen, translucent body disappeared in a puff of smoke.
I gripped Cassie's hand tightly, unsure of what to think.
"What happened?" Rachel demanded, pulling away from Tobias' embrace.
"I… I don't know," I said, dazed.
One moment before, I had been staring at the One, waiting for him to absorb me and all of my friends. We had all heard Ax speak of being absorbed as living hell, and so we were all scared to death, not knowing how in the world we were going to get out of that one. Cassie and I had simply looked at each other, smiled, and held hands, facing the inevitable. I had felt my eyes stinging, and knew tears had been about to come.
After everything we had all been through, Cassie and I had been looking forward to finally marrying and settling down, but it had looked like that would never happen. When I had left earth, I had gone not caring whether I lived or died, but now I had cared very much. I wanted to live. I had squeezed Cassie's hand tighter, and she had squeezed back. We had known that there was no way out. The One had been only about five feet in front of us, when it suddenly disappeared. And we were left here, untouched.
I pulled Cassie in close, and we hugged. We had survived! I knew better than to celebrate prematurely, though. Three years at war with the Yeerks had taught me that.
"Where did it go?" Marco asked, always the calculating one. "It had us cold. It knew that we could not get away. Why did it disappear all of a sudden?"
I shrugged, and looked searchingly at the rest of my friends. "I just don't know. What were all of you doing when the One disappeared?"
"Nothing," Marco answered, seriously for once, "I was just remembering. I wanted to remember everything."
I was performing the death ritual, Prince Jake, Ax told me, his voice surprisingly calm. Yahal said that he had been doing the same.
"Jake, you and I were just holding hands and waiting," Cassie said to me. I nodded.
"I was asking myself what I thought death would be like," Tom told me.
Jeanne simply answered, "I was praying."
"Toby? Tobias? Rachel? What about you?"
"I was saying goodbye to the world," replied Toby.
"I was saying goodbye to Rachel…" Tobias said, his human face showing emotion for once in that he was blushing deeply.
We all looked at him expectantly. There was an awkward silence for a moment.
"We kissed each other goodbye, okay?" Rachel exclaimed, sounding annoyed that we were prying so much into their "last" moments.
"What do you think, Ax?" I asked him. He knew the most about the One, having been absorbed by him for nearly a year, even if he was scared stiff.
I do not know, Prince Jake. I can only guess. I do not have sufficient infor-
"Your guess is better than mine, and your guesses are always good. Just tell us what you guess," I said crossly, trying to learn if we were about to be attacked again or if he was gone for good.
Kissing is something that humans do when they care deeply for one another, true? Ax asked, his voice tight. I still noticed that he did not sound nearly as scared, though. I was very confused.
Rachel was now almost as pink as Tobias, although I do not know how much was from anger and how much from embarrassment. "Yes, it is," she said, rolling her eyes.
Then, I believe, seeing such an extreme gesture of love must have shocked the One. It is my belief that he has never witnessed love between two people before. He has seen people who love other people, but never an expression of love. He is pure evil, and seeing something so not evil might have even destroyed him, Ax answered jubilantly.
"He's gone?" I asked hollowly.
Possibly. It is most likely that he was extremely hurt, though. One or the other. Evil cannot exist in the face of love, from what I learned during my time being absorbed in him.
Tobias smiled and took Rachel's hand.
Rachel said, "Now that is too awesome. We kicked butt on the most evil guy in this galaxy because Tobias and I like each other? Sweet. And just think, he would still be here if it weren't for the fact that my wonderful best friend Cassie here hadn't exploded her spaceship." She was grinning madly.
My spaceship, Yahal corrected her, lowering his stalk eyes. It was a beautiful ship. His voice cracked.
Cassie smiled, celebrating the moment with us, but then her face fell. She was quiet for a moment, but then murmured, "'The six of your fates are entwined for all time; five of you are not whole without the sixth. What you did may not have been good, but it was needed.' That's what he said. It's coming true! Rachel was needed. To destroy the One." She became quiet and still, deep in her own thoughts.
"Cassie?" I asked.
She continued to stare into space.
"Cassie!" I snapped my fingers in front of her face, and she jumped. She looked at me, her eyes finally focusing. "What were you saying?" I questioned. It had sounded important.
"What the Ellimist told me."
"What?" Marco asked, confused.
"On the Iskoort homeworld, he said that to me. Only to me, the rest of you were frozen in time," she answered quietly.
"Why didn't you tell us this before?" Marco demanded.
I came to Cassie's defense. "If the Ellimist only spoke to her, he probably had a good reason for not saying anything to the rest of us. What she did was fine."
Ax nodded his head in agreement. Yes. The Ellimist is a trickster, and we should not trust him anyway.
Rachel turned to Cassie. "Okay, so what exactly did the Ellimist say? What was he talking about?"
"I asked him if it was right that we brought you back. He said that he did not know if it was good, but that it was needed because our fates were tied together," she answered.
Tobias started to say something, but just then something appeared. It was dark green, with lighter green lining around the eyes and mouth. Its skin was wrinkled like a prune. It had a stubby tail, and was about my own height.
"Drode," Rachel accused.
The alien that we knew as Drode, Crayak's intergalactic helper, smiled at her. He spoke, his voice sarcastic. "Thank you, thank you, oh wonderful Animorphs. My master Crayak wishes that I send you his gratitude from the very–" he paused, grinning maliciously, "–bottom of his heart. By destroying the One, you destroyed his one major obstacle to becoming more powerful than even Ellimist. Thank you, for ridding him of his little problem." Drode went into an exaggerated bow, cackled, and disappeared from our sight.
"Oh, no," Marco said. "That is not good. That is very not good."
A/N: Well, that's it! The next book is called The Unbeatable, and it should be out soon! Come check under my penname every once and a while and maybe it will be out! I'll email you when I post it, as well. Come see what happens with the Animorphs, Crayak, the Garatron, the Iskoort, and all the other free races in the universe; the happenings will surprise you, I promise. Thank you, all my readers and reviewers. I really appreciate it! Please R/R! Oh, and the sample chapter is posted as the next chapter.