Morgan sat by herself. Teenagers surrounded her, but they were asleep, and at any rate Morgan was deeply ensconced in her own thoughts- so deeply she might have been the only living thing on the face of the earth.
Never had she met a group of people so utterly unlike herself. She couldn't understand the dynamics, but they were something between a large family and a military brigade, down to the youngest child. And each had the queerest knowledge shining in their eyes.
What they knew Morgan wasn't sure, but she wanted to know. She wanted it so badly she could taste it- she wanted that certainty they all seemed to have, that unshakable foundation of something that she couldn't touch.
And at the same time it was painfully familiar, as if she had known once but forgotten.
Knuckles had spoken of a place called Never-Land. The name meant nothing, but the emotions behind it, the inflection when Knuckles said the words, did. It reminded Morgan of the childhood dreams she had lost so very long ago.
"Up already?"
Morgan looked up. It was the leader of the hodge-podge group; an older boy named Peter. He gave her a gentle smile and sat on a bit of empty blanket beside her.
"I'm used to being up and running by dawn," Morgan said softly. She sighed heavily and looked at him with a penetrating gaze that took Peter aback.
"Where are you from? It seems important to you."
"The other side," said Peter. Morgan's brow knitted. What kind of an answer was that? Peter chewed on his lip and tried to form an explanation.
"There are two worlds- this one, the Mortal world, and the Deathless Lands, where mortals go afterwards. There is a small bubble between the two, a place where time passes but has no real meaning. We call it Never-Land. Levi says it's really the Place of Truth, whatever that means. It was created a very long time ago by very, very powerful magic- so long ago that it has been completely forgotten. From before my time."
Morgan got the impression that this boy—no, man, no boy had that ancient look in their eyes—was much older than he looked. Older than anything else she had ever encountered.
Peter gestured vaguely. "Whatever it was, the magic depends on faith. Specifically, children and youth and their belief in it. That and several other things, which confuse me, never mind everyone else. And now, as you said, there is almost no one alive who's that young. And from what I can see, those who are have completely lost their innocence, their belief. All of them. And the instant the last believer lost that, our home vanished into the mists from which it came.
"We are not part of that magic- most of us are from this realm, or our ancestors were. So we were sent back, but we don't belong here anymore. A great many of us never did." A great weariness settled onto his slender frame. "And I don't know if we can make it back."
There was something important here, but Morgan could no more grasp it than hold moonbeams in her hand.
"I can't decide if you people are crazy as all get out or telling the truth." Morgan stood. "I'll let you know when I decide."
She walked away, and Peter watched her go, the knowledge she so coveted shining in his hazel eyes.
It wasn't until later that Morgan realized that Peter's hand had gone slightly transparent while he was gesturing.
* * *
Griffin was cold.
As this was nothing new, and indeed had been a constant for quite some time now, he paid it no mind. At least his fingers hadn't fallen off. He was still sore at Dean for scaring him like that.
But what he didn't like at all was the stuffy nose.
He rubbed it furiously with the back of one hand and snuffled. He hated it- he had never had a stuffy nose in his life, and now that he did quite despised the sensation.
He tugged on his mother's sleeve, blissfully unaware that he was waking her from sleep only two hours after she had reached it. "Mommy," he said urgently. "I don't feel good." Yes, now that he said it there was a distinctly icky feeling rising in his stomach.
Before Griffin spoke, Levi would have grunted vaguely and tried to go back to sleep. But the instant his words sank into her foggy mind she sat bolt upward, fear curdling in her stomach.
"How do you not feel good?" she demanded, pressing one hand against the boy's forehead. No, he didn't have a fever, but that didn't mean anything.
"My nose is stuffy and my tummy feels funny," said Griffin miserably. "My head hurts."
Levi had the distinct feeling that this was very bad indeed.
"It's ok." She wrapped the boy in her blanket. "We'll get home soon and then you'll be all better. I promise."
This is one thing that parents throughout the ages have in common- when they and their children are in terrible circumstances; they will still lie through their teeth—usually as loudly as possible—about what will happen. This was no different.
Griffin curled up in his mother's lap, sniffling. Levi wrapped her arms around him possessively and rocked him gently, thinking of everything but what Morgan and DJ had said the day before. That way lay madness.
No one really noticed the exchange. At least, no one but DJ. A scowl settled onto his face. He wasn't stupid- he might not have gotten past the tenth grade, but that wasn't his fault. DJ was knowledgeable beyond his years and he knew that Griffin had caught the Plague with an intense certainty. He also knew that he had to get Griffin away from the others.
This was not a diabolical plot, and he was not trying to hurt anyone. DJ was, in his own way, trying to save the rest of them. He knew it was probably useless, but he felt he had to at least make the attempt.
He stood and strode over to where the pair sat, curled up in their own little world. Levi started when she saw his shadow and looked up at him, fear snapping through her eyes when she recognized him.
"He can't stay," said DJ, his scowl fading to be replaced with pity and rock-hard determination- the same determination that had kept him and his sister alive on the streets for three years. "He just can't."
Levi's eyes flashed, the fear vanishing to be replaced with a deep anger bordering on rage- it was something that even Peter wouldn't go near. DJ was stupid enough to flounder onwards.
"You know just-"
"Shut. Up," Levi snarled. "I am NOT going to just abandon my son."
"He'll infect the others," DJ retorted, his anger rising to, if not match Levi's, then at least snap at its metaphorical heels. "You're being stupid."
Griffin's eyes darted from his mother to the stranger. He was scared now- he didn't know what was going on, but he knew it was bad.
Levi gingerly set Griffin on the ground and stood, drawing herself up to her full height and standing as if she had a ramrod for a spine. "Am I," she growled. It was not a question.
DJ finally realized that this was a Very Stupid Idea Indeed. The tension in the air couldn't have been cut with a razor, it was so thick. But he refused to back down. He was bigger than she was, if worst came to worst.
"What's going on?"
Levi and DJ's heads snapped towards the speaker, Peter, who was picking his way through drowsy forms lying in clumps on the damp asphalt. His gaze flickered between DJ, Levi, and Griffin, confusion reflected in his eyes.
Levi didn't speak. She didn't have to. Griffin chose that moment to sneeze loudly and start sniffling again. Instantly Peter knew exactly which critter had crawled up DJ's bum and died. His eyes flared in the early morning light.
"I'm not going to ask what you said," Peter said softly. Somehow that made him seem even more dangerous, like a giant cat slinking silently up to its prey. "But I will tell you that if you ever try it again you will be able to use your guts for garters. Have I made myself sufficiently clear?"
DJ nodded, swallowed hard, then turned and walked away.
As soon as DJ was out of earshot Levi slumped like a puppet whose strings had been cut. She sat heavily and buried her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking. Peter sat beside her and gingerly touched her shoulder. "Lyris?"
"Oh, what if he's right?" Levi wailed, flinging herself at Peter and sobbing into his shoulder. Expecting it, Peter wasn't knocked back, but it was a close thing.
"What happens if we never get home? What if we're trapped here?" Levi said between choking sobs. "What if-"
"Quiet," said Peter, not unkindly. "Don't think about it."
Levi did nothing of the sort, but after a few minutes she managed to stop crying and pull Griffin into a tight hug. Griffin normally would have objected, but he was feeling queasy and frightened and so he clutched his mother just as tightly as she clutched him. Peter, in turn, wrapped his arms around the both of them in a rather awkward and uncomfortable but sincere embrace.
Peter was just as scared and just as upset as the rest of his small family. But he didn't have the luxury of showing it- someone had to hold everyone else up, and besides he had this small group of the Lost's remnants depending on him for leadership. Leaders are never allowed to fall. To do so would to prove to the followers that the leader wasn't all he was cracked up to be. Leaders had to be above mere mortals, even if they weren't.
And besides, Peter had other things on his mind. He had starting getting strange numb feelings in his hands and feet, which would pass moments later. He was reasonably sure it wasn't the weather- frostbite didn't make your hands look slightly transparent. He felt like he was starting to Fade, which made no sense.
Except…
Well, Peter was the anchor, wasn't he? Just because Never-Land had gone didn't mean he wasn't the anchor anymore. And maybe, if things weren't fixed soon, he really would Fade…
All in all, it was not a happy trio clustered together on the pavement.
* * *
Knuckles felt lost.
This would have seemed obvious- she was in a world completely alien to her. But it was a deeper, more hopeless and helpless sort of feeling- the emotion one might identify as very depressed mingled with a lack of security, like a child without its mother.
She wandered down the empty streets, rummaging through any likely looking piles for something edible. Once she tried to fly and had to force back an angry scream when she remembered that they couldn't anymore.
Never had she realized just how much for granted she had taken her life in Never-Land. At first, when Peter had stolen her out from under the noses of a street gang and sent her on a journey into the sky, every instant was a precious gem. She had never lived with such furious determination than she had those first few months.
And then she became comfortable. She didn't bother pilfering things, because she didn't have to. She didn't pick locks, because she didn't have to. She didn't have to do anything dangerous to ensure her own survival. And so she had become soft, accustomed to living in relative comfort.
And now here she was, right back where she had started. A great deal older and not at all wiser. Her heart ached in her chest with a deep longing to change things, but she knew it would never happen.
"Miss it?"
Knuckles looked up. She could hardly stand the look of pity in DJ's eyes- it burnt more than her internal ache ever would. She nodded tersely.
DJ ambled towards her, hands in his pockets. "You're a close-knit bunch," he said softly. "I'd love to have a camaraderie like that."
"We've faced down evil together. You can't get much closer than that," Knuckles said, thinking back to the day that they had wiped the pirates off the face of Never-Land. "We trust each other completely."
"I feel like an intruder, jumping into all this," said DJ, waving his arms vaguely. "But I can't help feeling…"
"What?"
"It's nothing."
Now Knuckles' depression vanished, replaced by curiosity that was oddly intense in nature. "No, tell me," she said, watching his eyes for any flicker of emotion.
"Like I was part of it once," he said lamely. "As though I used to know what you all know."
"That's not surprising. Every child knows about our world, but forget…" This struck Knuckles deeply. It took her a moment to realize why. Then she let out a gasp and bolted down the street, ignoring DJ's cry of bewilderment.
* * *
"Peter!"
Peter's head snapped up, his body following a moment later as he stood with every nerve alight, ready to fight against danger or whisk his followers and family to relative safety.
Knuckles ran toward him, tripping over still sleeping forms and knocking into those standing. She reached him a moment later, disheveled and panting from her twenty-block sprint.
"I know why we're here," she gasped, clutching her ribs as she fought for breath. "What happened. No one believes anymore. All the children are gone, no one's left to believe."
"What?"
"The Plague! It killed everyone who believed in Never-Land, and made sure that any children in the future will never know." Knuckles collapsed in a boneless heap onto the chilly asphalt. "No more believers." She slumped backwards, having delivered her message, and focused her entire existence towards catching her breath. Funny, last she was in the Other World such a run would have left her only slightly winded, and now she felt as though her insides had imploded.
Levi stared at Knuckles, her mouth hanging open slightly. Just like it had for the blonde, all the pieces clicked into place in Levi's mind. She shuddered subconsciously and tightened her grip on Griffin, who was shivering pitiably.
Peter's brows contracted. It made sense. Perfect, terrifying sense. He swallowed hard, forcing down the bile in the back of his throat. If that was true, they were worse than dead here.
Unless…
DJ came jogging towards them. Unlike Knuckles, he was as fresh as if he had merely strolled down the street rather than chased down Knuckles, who despite her winded state was still fast as a gazelle when the mood struck her. DJ, by comparison, was slower but more intimately acquainted with the act of running pell-mell and his spare, wiry frame was very used to it.
"What's going on?" he asked, ignoring the chilly glares Peter and Levi sent his way. "Knuckles just ran off without explanation."
Peter stared at him a moment longer, then overcame his dislike for the teenager. "She figured out why we're here. Where is your sister?"
DJ was taken aback by the question. It seemed utterly out of context. Levi, however, looked up at Peter with a combination of bewilderment and annoyance flickering across her face in turns.
"I don't know. Somewhere. You need to talk to her?"
"Quite," Peter said tightly. "Find her, will you?"
DJ looked as if he would protest, but the stony look on Peter's face—one that chilled DJ to the very marrow—brooked no argument. He wandered away in search of Morgan.
Levi stood, shifting Griffin so that he was slung over one hip. "You're not thinking what I think you're thinking, are you?"
Peter met her gaze, eyes flickering with a plethora of thoughts and feelings only Levi had ever been able to interpret. "I think I am."
"She won't, Peter. She just won't. Someone doesn't forget at once, and a girl like her doesn't shed her shell that fast. You're snatching at dreams, Piotr."
"That's all we've ever had, dreams. All Never-Land ever was." A deep sadness settled into his face. The sight of Peter so hopeless, along with Griffin's sudden sickness, threatened to push Levi over the edge. It was becoming far too much to handle. He had always been so happy and cheerful, her rock when things went badly. And now even he was starting to crumble.
"I have to try, Levi. I'm starting to follow it."
Instantly Levi's train of thought derailed. "Follow what?" she demanded, half-afraid of the answer.
"Never-Land."
"What do you mean?"
Peter shook his head, dropping his gaze to the street. "I'm Fading," he whispered. "In bits and pieces. Not all at once, but much faster than I should."
"You're too young," Levi replied, her words tinged with desperation. "That's impossible."
Peter laughed mirthlessly, looking back up at her. "Isn't it? I've seen too many things to disbelieve what I see and feel. Too many times that's been all I had to go on. I'm the anchor, Lyris, use your head. If Never-Land fails, I'm bound to follow it. I always have been."
"You haven't always been. You haven't been alive forever."
Peter's eyes went misty, distant. "It feels like I have."
Levi suddenly felt angry for no good reason. She set Griffin on the ground to more adequately face down Peter. The boy immediately sought shelter in Knuckles' lap.
"You listen to me, Piotr. You are not giving up on me, on any us of us! I don't care how long we're stuck here, even if it's forever, but no one is giving up. Least of all you." Her anger cracked slightly. "If you give up, we'll all lose hope, and that's all we have left."
"Sounds familiar."
Levi and Peter turned, startled, to see Morgan's diminutive form, nearly shadowed by her much taller brother. Her eyes, sharp as glass shards, flitted between the pair of them, silently entreating them for an explanation.
"Thank you, DJ. I need to speak with Morgan in private."
DJ nodded uncertainly and walked away, pausing to look over his shoulder every few moments. He soon disappeared. Knuckles stood and jogged after him, leaving Griffin. Levi automatically picked him up again. Griffin, unsettled by everything swirling around him, buried his face in Levi's neck.
"What is it?" Morgan asked, shifting her weight nervously from one foot to the other. "You look like your dog died."
Peter ignored her last statement. "I need your help."
"That's a surprise."
"I've no time for sarcasm, girl," he said mildly. Levi backed off slightly and sat on a scrap of dirty cloth, clutching Griffin close.
"Really? I have loads," Morgan replied, mimicking his tone. "Please, do tell. I'll have to check my schedule, you understand."
"Did you ever believe in fairy tales?"
Morgan's brow contracted in confusion. "Yeah, every little kid did."
"How long?"
Morgan shrugged carelessly. "I dunno."
"What was your dream, as a child?"
"Dream? What sort?"
"A child's dream."
Morgan eyed Peter speculatively, then sighed. "I wanted to catch a cloud in a jar, and live in a treehouse with a pet dragon."
"Did you dream about it?"
"Dream as in asleep or dream as in daydream?"
"Asleep." Peter was completely serious. This struck Morgan as rather odd, but did not comment on it.
"Both."
"Did you believe it would happen?"
"I wished."
"Peter, you cannot resurrect forgotten innocence with one terse conversation," said Levi suddenly, startling those who had nearly forgotten her presence as she watched the strange interchange. "You are regressing."
Peter turned and cast Levi a questioning look, beneath which Piotr's amusement lingered like a half-forgotten ghost. "Pray tell how?"
"You're expecting other people to read your mind again."
Peter let out a rather mirthless laugh and looked back at Morgan. He tilted his head slightly like a tailor visually taking someone's measure, which was not far from the truth. Then he nodded and gestured for Morgan to take a seat on the chilly pavement. There was no one else about that they could see—no one in the group, except perhaps Griffin, doubted in the least that there were unseen hordes of curious onlookers, eavesdropping on the strange proceedings—and so Peter felt moderately secure in unfolding the entire tale to Morgan.
"Let me tell it," said Levi. "You are a horrendous story-teller, Piotr."
Peter nodded, agreeing easily. "All right. Listen carefully, Morgan." He smiled slightly sardonically and sat, settling back on his haunches to listen to a story he knew so well he could recite it in his sleep.
Levi spent a few moments drawing her thoughts together, ironing things out in her mind. She rocked back forth, eyes distant, as she thought. Morgan was just getting restless when Levi looked up and began to speak.
"Long ago, before Time had begun to age itself, the realms were formed. The mortal lands, where everything living enjoyed their full expanse of time and then fell dark, as all living things do. And beside it was the world of death where spirits ruled.
"But Time sought to create a place where it need not march ever onward, where it could rest. And so in between the two, a small bubble came into being. It took the form of an island, surrounded by indigo waters. And because Time is inexorably tied up with life, life too was in that place. But unlike in the mortal world, it would grow to maturity, and simply be, until it was wearied and passed on easily and painlessly, as Time thought it should. Plants and animals, birds and insects. And people as well- mer-folk, to rule the waters, aborigines, to rule the land…" here Levi drifted off, as if lost in her own memory, then shook her head and smiled. She quickly remembered what Janus had said and resumed, "and flighty folks to rule the skies. The name they gave themselves is lost in antiquity. For they alone could, if so inclined, leave their world and roam the mortal world. At first they found and brought people to live among them, but these journeys slowly faded into distant memory as humanity in mortality became more hostile, and the journey more hazardous.
"And so in the realm where Time was but was not, they all prospered."
"This is a wonderful bedtime story, but what is the point?" Morgan asked suddenly. She quailed slightly at the sudden glares both Peter and Levi sent her way.
"This is our most precious tale. Be respectful," Peter said roughly. Levi nodded sharply and resumed speaking, although with a more snappish tone.
"And then one night, after many rebuffs, the Fae invaded. They had not been invited, for they commanded magic and a personality most treacherous. The combination destroyed the delicate balance that had existed for untold millennia, and though the Fae had escaped human persecution, they had destroyed an entire civilization. True time overwhelmed the island, and those that could fled into the mortal world. Those of flight were affected the worst, for they were intricately bound up with the magic. For within their number was the blood that bound the island to the heavens, and the power that kept the realm living. All of their number, down to the smallest child and oldest elder, made the dangerous journey.
"Except one. He knew not why, for such knowledge had been lost long before, but he felt bound to the land, despite its fall from glory. He stayed, even when all he loved flew in fear for their lives." Levi glanced uncertainly at Peter, whose stoic expression revealed no emotions as if a mask had dropped over his features. He never spoke of that time, between her leaving and her return, but knew it could not have been pleasant.
"The Fae rejoiced in their triumph, until the found the one remaining. Recognizing his binding power, rather than removing him they destroyed his memories and used the greatest magic they had to reverse the damage time had wrought, making him a boy rather than the man he ought to be. He forgot his life from before, and spent many happy years in ignorance.
"Then he began making forays into the mortal world, for what he knew not. He rescued countless youths and brought them to the island, unknowingly doing what his ancestors had countless years before. And all the time he was searching… for what he knew not.
"One of these that he rescued was a young girl. They saw within each other something peculiar, as if they had met in a half-forgotten dream. And eventually they recognized what had been. Once upon a time, long before, she had been his…" Levi hesitated, searching for the right word, "wife, before the escape into the heavens. She was a reincarnation, but still the same person. He was the same as ever, unchanged but for his memory.
"And then something happened that the Fae could not tolerate- they remembered, both of them, what had been before true Time had fled their realm and the island had frozen in time from the Fae's clumsy attempts at repair. The Fae tried to dispose of the girl, and instead the boy-that-was-not was nearly killed.
"The power that controlled and created the island was bound up in the people of flight, and she was the bearer. She bent Time, twisted it so that what had been the boy's wound became hers, for if he had died the island would have fallen from the sky, as a boat without an anchor will drift and be smashed upon the rocks. She lived, miraculously. And Time unknotted; the island became as it had been before. The Fae vanished, to whence no one knew."
This was usually where the story—Levi having told an extremely condensed and abridged version of their history—ended, but Levi took a deep breath to continue. But Peter cut her off and told it, for there were pieces he had not told her that needed to be told. Morgan and Levi both looked slightly confused, but Peter forged onward regardless.
"They lived in peace for several years, but then the boy, the anchor, began sensing strange things. Feeling things that meant the island was not well, that it was ailing invisibly. He knew not why, nor the cure.
"Then one morning it truly did fall from the sky, banishing its mortal-born inhabitants to the mortal realms. They banded together, confused, and tried to find the reason. They found out why, but not how to return."
Morgan, who had been getting into the story despite her best efforts, looked indignant when neither Levi nor Peter continued speaking. "Then what?"
"We don't know yet," Levi said simply. "I'm afraid you are the only one who can finish the story. Whether it is good or ill is all up to you. The ball, as they say, is in your court."
"You don't really believe that's all true."
Stony stares were Morgan's only answer.
Morgan stood, shaking her head. "I know why you all know each other. You were cellmates in a looney bin, that's why!" She turned and bolted down the grimy street.
Peter turned and looked at Levi, who was staring morosely at the spot Morgan had just vacated. "She'll come around."
"I hope so."
Griffin sniffled and buried his face deeper into his mother's ribs.
* * *
After that, all they could do was wait.
Morgan stewed in silence. DJ did the same, although giving Levi and Peter a wide berth. Why they stayed with the group only Levi and Peter could guess at.
The city fluctuated between icy chill and tepid temperatures; snowfall alternating with ash as the distant volcanoes continued their silent belching to the sky. They found no more stragglers. Why became apparent two days after the ill-fated telling of the Lost's history.
The group was shuffling down the street towards the beach, hopeful of the distant prospect of a fish dinner. Morgan suddenly stopped short and grabbed DJ's hand. They both went stiff and still, faces paling. Those directly around the siblings stopped and felt a thrill of dread without knowing why.
"Hear that?" Morgan whispered. DJ nodded. The others exchanged bewildered glances.
"Hovers," Morgan hissed. "Ten or more. Street-side."
"Hovers?" asked a confused boy of ten or so.
"Hide, that's what it means!" DJ cried, unfreezing and moving into action with startling swiftness. "This way!" He seized his sister by the arm and ran.
The humming noise got louder. The twenty-something group of youth followed without question.
They bolted towards the beach, the only place where a group that large stood any reasonable chance of surviving against the hovers. That was before, anyway, DJ and Morgan skidded to a stop with dread in their eyes and hover-hums in their ears.
"They've cut off the beach!" Morgan yelped. "Ooh, we're gonna die for sure this time!"
"Shut up! Run!" DJ yelled, bolting for the nearest building. He had neatly usurped Peter's authority, but no one cared. He and Morgan knew the dangers of this strange world, and if that meant following them instead of their own leader then so be it.
Levi could hear her heart beating against her ribs. She swallowed her panic, clutched Griffin to her, and ran.
The hums got louder.
Louder.
Louder.
Louder!
And then a floating motorcycle came roaring around the corner like a horsemen of the apocalypse, its pilot swathed it protective gear, looking more alien than human. The kids screamed, scattering like a flock of brainless pigeons.
The rider lifted a hulking rifle, and fired one shot.
Just one.
Three teenagers toppled. The green-blue flash had blinded Levi; she turned her head and shielded Griffin's eyes. A sharp stench of burnt meat reached her nostrils. Griffin started crying.
The teens—Curtis, Amanda, Laura—were dead. Completely and utterly. Levi's breath hitched and she paused in her panicked flight.
"Amanda!" Dean took a flying leap at the hover, which had not slowed at all. The rider swung the rifle towards Dean, who never saw it coming.
Never saw anything, after that.
Levi unfroze. She wanted to stop it, wanted to call up her powers and DESTROY the threat to her friends, her family. Could only run, sobbing and hoping that death-ray found no more victims.
Levi scrambled beneath a half-collapsed building, still holding Griffin tightly. She wedged the pair of them in a dark crevice and shushed Griffin. He quieted so quickly Levi felt a jolt of fear.
She could hear screams. Levi wanted to join them, wanted to give voice to the animalistic terror rising in her chest. But she could only sit and wait in utter stillness, wait for silence and the absence of that dreadful hum.
Levi sat in the darkness and rocked Griffin back and forth.
Back and forth....
* * *
Knuckles pressed herself into the crevice, barely aware of the person beside her. All she knew was her own terror and that she must not scream. Once she started she would never be able to stop.
"Shh," someone murmured. Knuckles jumped- they were squashed so tightly together she could feel his breath against her ear. A moment later she realized it was DJ. "They're lazy, they'll leave."
"Sure?"
"I'm still alive, aren't I?"
Knuckles didn't answer. She stood there in the half-light, straining her ears for anything that indicated the hovers was gone.
"They can't turn it off, they'll need a pad to start it again," DJ murmured. "Listen. He's leaving."
Knuckles had no clue what he was talking about. She mentally took her hat off (not that she had one) to his panic-sharpened senses.
There was another tense minute, in which Knuckles became uncomfortably aware that she could feel every inch of DJ's body where he was pressed against her back, and the large, callused hand on her shoulder.
So fast it made her gasp, DJ slipped away towards the sunlight. Knuckles trailed after him, dread curdling in her gut as she thought of what awaited her outside.
Seven bodies lay in the street. One's face and upper body were so burnt Knuckles couldn't tell who it was. She took quick mental stock of the identifiable ones, as unpleasant as it was.
Dean, Amanda, Laura, Ike, Curtis, and Slightly lay sprawled across the street. Only the first three casualties looked peaceful. Dean's entire body reflected his violent death, from his expression of utter rage to the eleven-inch hole in his gut. Ike and Slightly had fallen just outside the safety of the buildings, falling in a twisted tangle side by side. Slightly's hand was still extended outward, as if reaching for the uncertain safety the office building afforded.
Morgan emerged, followed by a handful of eight- and ten-year-olds. "You all right, DJ?" she asked, joining her brother. The left sleeve of her jacket had been seared away, exposing a red-black burn just above her elbow.
"Sideswiped?" DJ asked, examining his sister's wound without touching it. Morgan nodded, careful not to move the burnt arm. "Nearly got me. I slipped by, but those two weren't so lucky." She nodded towards Ike and Slightly's still forms.
Levi came crawling from beneath a half-collapsed building across the street. She still clutched Griffin. Both seemed unhurt, albeit extremely traumatized. When she saw the carnage, Levi placed a hand over her son's eyes. He didn't need to see it.
"Anyone else?" Levi asked shakily as she strode towards them. Griffin sniffled and buried his face in her shoulder. She didn't protest and held him tightly as she could.
"Somewhere," DJ said. "More dead, I don't know."
One of the smaller children, an eight-year-old girl named Erin, whimpered softly and latched onto Morgan's leg. Morgan's face twisted in annoyance and she almost pushed the girl away, but then her face softened and she patted Fox's shoulder awkwardly, completely unfamiliar with such outpourings of emotion from a small child.
Over the next few minutes those still alive filtered back out into the street in tight packs of two or three, still terrified. Only one wasn't.
Peter came striding out into the silent, looking around in panic. When he saw Levi and Griffin, one could almost feel the relief pouring off him as he rushed across the pavement and swept them into a tight hug.
"Hi," Levi said when Peter had released her, a lopsided smile on her face. "You okay?"
"Yeah. You two?"
Griffin nodded, sniffing slightly. Peter relieved Levi of the five-year-old, who wrapped his arms around his father's neck almost tight enough to choke him. The child was trembling all over.
"Hey, it's okay," Peter said, rubbing Griffin's back. "It's okay."
"Do you know who it is?" Levi asked quietly, jerking her head towards the faceless corpse lying in the street as if it were so much rubbish. She tried not to look at it- the sight made Levi sick to her stomach.
Peter shook his head. "We'll have to do a head count. No knowing for sure until then."
It took the better part of fifteen minutes to determine who the faceless fallen was- Randy, a boy of about eleven.
It was a somber group that walked out onto the beach that night, their numbers depleted and their shaky confidence shattered almost beyond recognition. Despite DJ and Morgan's assurances that they would be safe from hovers on the wide expanse of sand, no one slept well that night.
Peter doubted any of them ever would again.
* * *
Griffin hurt.
He had been hurt before, when he skinned his knee on the rocks at the beach. But not like this- he felt like fire ants were biting him all over. The darkness and the silence around him only made him feel worse.
"Mommy, I don't feel good," he whimpered, pressing tight against Levi's side. She had been half-asleep, but instantly awoke fully.
"What's wrong, sweetheart?" she asked, trying to see Griffin's face by the vague, watery light of the moon.
"I hurt all over," he said, trying not to cry. "It hurts, make it stop."
"Let me see," Levi said, tilting Griffin's head back to try and see him better. She stifled a gasp- he was deathly pale, a thin trickle of blood coming from his left nostril. "I'm so sorry Griffin, I can't," she murmured, voice breaking as the force of her own words hit her. "I can't."
Griffin curled up in Levi's lap, trying his best to be brave and not cry, but not doing very well. Levi wanted to cry herself. She wrapped her arms around his spare form and rocked him gently, singing a half-forgotten song under her breath.
"To touch the stars, to truly fly, is something for birds and not I…" Never before had that song been so painful. It was so true now, when even the slightest flight was beyond them. It was like losing a limb.
"But I can dream, and try to soar…" She couldn't sing the rest of it. It hurt far too much. Why she had even started she didn't know.
"Here I'm tied down to the earth, for I have duties I cannot shirk, but someday I'll Fade and then I'll fly, to join the stars up in the sky."
"Peter," Levi said softly, acknowledging his presence. Griffin had fallen asleep already, despite his discomfort. She felt better talking with Peter, without Griffin hearing.
"You all right?" Peter asked softly, brushing a lock of stray hair from Levi's face. "You never liked that song."
"I still don't," Levi said, a lump forming in her throat. "Especially now."
Peter nodded, his expression inscrutable in the heavy darkness. "I know." He pulled her close, Levi sighing forlornly as she rested her head on his shoulder.
"I've already lost one," she whispered brokenly, tears forming in her eyes despite her best efforts. "I can't… if we can't save him…"
"Shh. I know. We'll get home, promise."
They were silent for a long moment, three souls trapped in a maelstrom that had no escape. Levi unconsciously stroked Griffin's hair as he slept, wishing she could make him better and knowing she couldn't.
"Do you ever think," she said softly, breaking the silence, "about that night at the bridge?"
Peter sighed softly. "Sometimes."
"It was like you were meant to be there…"
"I was."
And then an understanding settled between them- no matter how wonderful or awful the past years had been, no mater what happened now, it was meant to be. Even if they never got home and they all died here, that was meant to be too. And if so, at least they'd had a long time to make good memories.
They'd be all right.
* * *
That night, Levi dreamt.
She was back in the little stone cottage in Greece. The same thatched roof and dirt floor. She could hear the stream outside and early-morning birds singing. She stood in the main room, feeling the dusty floor under her feet.
She heard giggling coming from the other room. A little girl came running in, laughing; her brilliant blue eyes alight with glee. A tall man came chasing her, laughing as well, his graying hair held back with a bandanna.
Levi's heart constricted. It was Phineas, looking so much older than he had that day so long ago, when she had died. And the girl… it had to be Autumn, at least seven years old.
Phineas caught her, swinging Autumn high into the air, their laughter mingling. Levi couldn't help but laugh herself.
"Happy birthday, Autumn!" Phineas said, setting Autumn back on her feet. "So, what do you want to do today?"
"Anything?" the girl asked, her face practically glowing as she bounced up and down excitedly.
Phineas laughed. "You're eight today. We can do whatever you want."
"Can we go see Mommy?"
Phineas nodded. "If you like. Right after breakfast."
The scene blurred. A moment later Levi found herself standing under a tree by the stream. Her name, Lyris, was carved on the trunk. Phineas and Autumn appeared over the hill, Autumn clutching a handful of wildflowers.
Levi felt extremely creeped out. She was quite literally standing on her own grave. Autumn ran towards the spot, her rough dress flapping. The girl skidded to a stop.
"I win!" she yelled, dancing on the spot. The girl calmed and laid the flowers on the ground. "Phineas, can you go wait?" she asked. Phineas nodded and retreated.
The little girl sat down on the thick grass and looked at the carved trunk with a strangely serious expression for someone so young.
"It's my birthday, Mommy. I want you to be with me, but you can't, so I'll leave you a present." She picked at the flowers. "Are you happy? I want you to be happy, like me and Phineas."
Levi wanted to cry.
The girl blurred, before Levi's eyes becoming a teenaged girl. Now Levi could see herself in the young woman before her- they could have been sisters. The same eyes and hair, although Autumn had Peter's tall lanky build and his nose.
"I'm fourteen today," Autumn said softly. "Yesterday Phineas wedded Ophelia. She's lovely, but she's not you." The girl tilted her head to one side. "He never told me about my father. I wish you could."
Levi watched as Autumn went from a teenager to an adult, then a slightly older woman with a small child in her lap, and eventually an old, old woman.
She was no longer young, her hair white and her hands wrinkled, but her eyes were still bright. The old woman that was Autumn sat gingerly on the grass, considering the carving that was now much farther up the tree.
"I was angry for a long time," she said, her voice quavering with age. "Because you died. But I've realized that you died to give me life. And before I pass on, I wanted to tell you I've lived a good life. I have children and grandchildren and a husband and not a day goes buy that I don't feel grateful for your gift.
"I've lived well. Just so you could know."
Levi awoke with tears on her face.
* * *
Knuckles blinked as the sunlight pierced her slumber, making her eyes water. She sat up, grimacing, and tried to brush the sand off her face.
Then she gasped.
There wasn't a single cloud in the sky, for as far as she could see. The volcanoes were silent, no ash fettering the sunlight. The sun was just creeping over the eastern horizon, sending fingers of yellow and pink and blue across the world.
For the first time since Knuckles had found herself in this strange world, she smiled.