The desert was cold enough come nightfall. In the dead of a midwinter night, it was truly punishing for any warm-blooded body without a decent coat of fur or the ability to hibernate. At the edge of their little campsite, Mystery lay at the edge of the heat lamp's radius, curled up with his chin padded by a mound of his tails. He'd found a sweet spot and he was content.

Chloe, on the other hand, formed a three-quarter wall of horseflesh around the heat lamp, nearly touching the searing metal and still shivering.

Mystery sighed. "Sitting out here isn't going to bring them back any faster. You'll get better heat retention if you take it into your tent." He jerked his chin at the oversized shelter nearby. "I'll shout if I see them."

She shook her head, her mane flying every which-way. "I c-can h-h-handle it."

Mystery rolled his eyes, rose, and quietly padded over to her tent. He stuck his nose inside and snagged an extra large survival blanket with his teeth. Dragging it back to the shivering unicorn, he pulled it up and over her bulk. "You're such a foal."

"Omae uzai kara kiero," she muttered, but there was no venom in it.

"You're welcome." He stretched straight against the ground, a couple inches closer to the lamp, and yawned.

"When do you think they're coming back?" Chloe asked.

Mystery lifted his shoulderblades. "I thought they would reappear after a few seconds." He flicked an ear. "Goes to show what I know."

"They've been gone all day. Do you think…" Chloe lifted her head to peer past Mystery, and he turned in the same direction. A few feet beyond him, a Deadbeat sat on the ground. That in itself was cause for concern. Mystery had seen Deadbeats sit on various pieces of furniture and fly and snuggle up to people, but never once had he watched one curl up on the ground like gravity was too much for it. Its tail was in a neat little spiral and it laid its head down there. The golden heart on its body thumped too slowly. It caught Mystery staring at it and warbled sadly at him.

The Deadbeat relay had been Lewis' idea, something to let Kay keep tabs on the twins as they trained. The twins had sent her hand-written notes from their desert campsite and she had sent back boxes of cookies or fresh pork buns with short, vague responses. Later, when the twins were asleep, the Deadbeat would hand Chloe and Mystery a detailed update on Arthur's condition. They never brought good news. After a while, the updates stopped coming and the Deadbeats dragged their tails along the ground as they approached.

Early this morning, Gareth and Ginny had vanished. All that was left of them was two mounds of golden hair in their tent, carefully shorn off.

"Do you think the gods are waiting until it's over to send the twins back?" Chloe asked. "It looks like maybe it's almost over."

Mystery turned away from the stricken Deadbeat. He didn't want to be out here. He wanted to be with Vivi. Or with Lewis, for that matter. He wanted… maybe, to say a few words at Arthur's bedside, too. He'd keep well back if he could be there, he knew better than to brush up against Arthur these days and it wasn't like Arthur was conscious–he'd never really woken up–but still. Arthur was… pack. Mystery had precious little of that left.

But Kay begged them to stay out here and wait for the kids to come back from their journey. Arthur would want that too, he knew, and it was the least Mystery could do for them. If the Deadbeat's behavior was any indication, Arthur's time was running out.

"Mystery?" Chloe whispered.

"What?"

"Am I a bad person?"

Mystery twisted his neck around to give her a look. Guilt seeped off her as she shifted under the blanket. "What brought this on?"

"I… it doesn't really hurt me." Her eyes flicked up, then down rather quickly. "Everyone's been upset about this for so long, and really I was relieved you asked me to come out here and train the kids with you. I can't fix anything and I don't know what to do to make it better for people, so getting away for a few months was a relief. I really like Ginny–and Gareth too, even if he doesn't like riding as much–so this trip was so much fun for me. And Kay is kind, and Arthur's always tried to be helpful but we were never…" she twitched her massive shoulders. "You know? It's sad, but it's not like… not like when Duet died. Not how it would be if I lost Dulcie, or even Vivi." She peeked up again. "Does that make me a bad person?"

Mystery slowly shook his head. "No, you silly foal, it doesn't make you bad. There's too much grief in the world already and you want to feel guilty for not taking on more?" He laid his head down on his forelegs. "You're honoring him by helping his children. You've taken Vivi for late-night rides when she needed to get away and stop thinking about it. You've talked for hours with Dulcie about absolutely nothing–as far as I can tell–to lift her spirits. If you didn't know him well enough, you aren't required to cry just to be a good person. You're doing enough helping the rest of them get through."

The camping area brightened just a little, as if the moon had spontaneously waxed a few slivers fuller. Chloe dipped her head toward Mystery, her crooked horn nearly touching him. "Arigato. I needed to hear that."

Mystery nodded at her. "You're pack."

"And you're herd," she tossed back.

"Strange herd."

"The strangest. But it's just right."

The fur on Mystery's back prickled a moment before a hole opened up in the earth between him and Chloe, swallowing the heat lamp. Mystery was up on his paws in a moment. It took Chloe a great deal more thrashing to find her hooves.

A crimson warhawk ascended from the hole, her armored talons and steel-tipped feathers gleaming in the moonlight. Behind her, two children stumbled up out of the hole like one unit, arms locked around each other.

They'd finally stopped asking. Every time it felt like a bolt between the shoulderblades.

Why?

Why?

Why?

Aji had wrested souls from the jaws of Ammit and led them through their trials to the safety of Aaru. She'd lost count of passages across the Styx that she'd wheedled out of old Charon for her charges. The times she found a blind, lost soul wandering in the wastes and reunited them with their ancestors were her favorites, though every bit as arduous a path as the others. In all those journeys, she never had the sense her charges blamed her for what she'd done. If anything, they were grateful anyone showed up to fight for them. Now…

Why?

Why couldn't we stay? Why did nothing change? What did we do wrong? How can we fix it, now?

Aji soared into the mortal realm, banking right to circle around the portal in the ground.

Ginny and Gareth looked nearly the same as when they'd left, save for an inch or so of regrowth on each of their heads. Gareth's hair had already begun to curl while Ginny's stuck out in all directions like a loose haystack.

And the tears. The tears were different. They'd left full of determination. Now they staggered back into their timeline, barely holding each other up on their feet.

The portal closed behind them. Immediately, Mystery was there. He circled for a moment and nosed ever-so-carefully between them. The two of them melted against his sides, hiding their tears in his fur. He licked their heads in turn. Chloe minced closer, nuzzling them as well.

Aji perched on the topmost pole of a nearby tent, watching.

Ginny was the first to choke out words. "We-we failed. We didn't… he… nothing's… Daddy's still…"

Mystery licked away a few of her tears. "Yes, Ginny. He's still dying."

She heaved a fresh sob into his coat.

Aji snapped her beak to get their attention. "You didn't fail."

Gareth raised his head, and Aji was startled at the anger in that gentle face. "Nothing changed!" he shouted, his fingers twisting in Mystery's fur. "It's just like when we left. We left to fix this! If we didn't fix it, we failed! Don't lie!"

"T-take us back," Ginny hiccuped. "We'll get it right! One more time, please! M-make them take us b-back, Gareth."

Aji's heart twisted at the desperate light in Gareth's eye. "Take us back!" He demanded. "Let us try again! I… I'm ordering you to do it!"

His tone tolled deep as a cast-iron bell, resonating with power and command. The sand shivered out in concentric circles around them.

Aji shook her head. "Nobody here is susceptible, Gareth. But it doesn't matter, you did exactly what had to be done."

Gareth sank to the ground. Ginny crawled over to him and wrapped her arms around his shaking shoulders. "I killed Dad," Gareth wept. "I messed up and killed him. Why? Why'd we go back at all?"

Aji straightened. "Gareth Kingsmen. Guinevere Kingsmen. I am Aji Pepper, messenger of Hades and guide to lost souls. So listen up." Stretching out one wing, she drew a circle in the air with the tip of a feather. The circle filled with the image of Arthur's face. He seemed to peer out with that intense, knit-brow smiling grimace of complete focus he got when working on a project. His skin was smooth and his hair a rich yellow. His eyes moved back and forth as if he were, indeed, working hard on some new project.

From the edges of the circle, a thousand brightly colored cords sprang out, stretching away from the center to create a brilliant, ragged halo around the image. Each cord had a different length. Some shone and some were dark, oozing ichor.

Aji strained to keep the illusion together. She got the feeling that this would be a snap for Lewis, but she rarely needed something as impractical as a visual aid so she was out of practice. She projected her voice from behind the central image, watching Arthur's face in reverse.

"Each person starts with many paths, many fates." She brushed the cords with a wing, causing them to sway. "Arthur had many fates open to him early on. Then…" The central image changed. Arthur lifted his eyes and seemed to step back from the camera as Kay entered the image with him. "He got close to Kay. He got caught up in our family's curse." As she spoke, many of the cords vanished, leaving gaps in between the rest. "At this point, he still could have saved himself. He could have cut all ties and run screaming, but he didn't."

In the image, Arthur stepped closer to Kay, drawing her into his arms. Aji froze the image for a moment and tenderly brushed Kay's face with a wingtip. "It wasn't her fault. And it wasn't his. There were consequences that neither of them knew about."

The image changed. Arthur stood in front of the Shiker, shouting at Lewis and Vivi with all the rage he could muster. Behind him, the Shiker dissolved into a green cloud. This poured into Arthur's body as he screamed at his friends. "It was here," Aji murmured. "This decision changed everything for him."

Abruptly, half of the cords remaining around the image vanished. Most of the remaining cords turned dark and all of them were cut shorter.

"This joining marked the turning point. No matter what happened next, his life was shortened."

"Send us there!" Ginny broke in, desperate. "We can do something then, right? Why'd you send us later than that?"

Aji didn't take her eyes off Arthur, who reeled down the cavern halls, laughing all the way. "If only, Ginny. If you'd been there, could you have kept the possession from happening? Could you have kept me from turning my rage on Arthur, then Kay? If you went even earlier, could you have stopped Arthur from shoving Lewis to his death? Probably. But…"

Here, the image in the center shifted to a view of female perfection, as the ancient Greeks would have portrayed it. Pale-skinned, lithe-limbed Persephone stared out with lifeless eyes. "You do that, and, Persephone stays a prisoner. Demeter wins. Our whole family drowns in madness and despair. The curse would just adapt to each new situation until it fulfilled itself. No." She shook her head. "You could not prevent the curse from bringing itself about. We had to get past the fulfillment of each, and then we had to end Demeter. And that was something Arthur could not have done if he were only mortal."

The few remaining cords began to disappear, one at a time. "Arthur did everything he could to turn things around for us, and by doing so he kept shortening his life and losing paths. By the time Persephone had authority back and consulted the Fates, there weren't many fates left to him." Here, Aji flew up above the image. " 'That you may seize the brightest path remaining after mother's wrath.' It wasn't even an option anymore. It had been cut. Still, she called together the Fates and goddesses of time to bend the rules with her."

Aji's talons darted out and seized a cord out of thin air. It was short, but longer than the rest still attached to the image. It shone pure as a star in her grasp. But this cord had been cut free of its mooring on the central image. "This path had been cut off, but Persephone called the two of you out from one end of this future–" here, the very end of the cord curled back in a loop that bridged the cut, "–to heal the path, calling it back into being." After looping back to bridge the gap, the cord began to weave itself forward again. Only the odd loop interrupted what was, otherwise, a straight line. The rest of the cords disappeared, leaving only the repaired cord attached.

The whole image dissolved, and Aji returned to the top of the tent. "You changed literally everything that you could change and still exist. You changed it for them, not for you. Gareth, you ran into your father when he couldn't deal with his new state and nearly ran off in the desert. You gave him something to hold onto until the others could catch up and bring him back. Your mother would have stayed lost in her head forever without you singing her into the knowledge of who she was and who she could be. After that, she was able to turn around and stabilize Arthur."

She turned to Ginny. "When Mystery chased your father down for Shiro Mori, Arthur was so scared he would have killed to get away. Shiro Mori would have taken vengeance for Mystery. She would have found Arthur on her own and destroyed him, leaving Kay a grief-stricken, single mother. Instead, you neutralized Mystery just as he trained you to, and Arthur escaped with Kay. Then you led Vivi to Shiro Mori's hiding place so she could open negotiations, giving everyone space to recover."

She turned back to Gareth. "You know that mountain meadow like the back of your hand. Your parents stopped there by chance, but you were waiting there ahead of them because you were faster and you knew the story. You led them to shelter and dropped the food Arthur needed to recover. Then, you guided your father through the last barrier in his mind leftover from the Shiker. You did for him what you had already done for your mother. You called him back to who he was and who he could be ."

"With the two of you there, he became more sure of who he was. He rested and hoarded the strength to face the last thing haunting him. And, Gareth, your final order to him sealed it in place. Even though he was terrified, he was compelled to meet with Shiro Mori."

They stared up at her, tears still streaming down their faces. She tried to soften her tone. "Of course you wouldn't see any changes in your timeline. Your path either happened as you knew it, or it never existed. But you changed everything for them. You changed them and everyone around them."

Chloe knelt next to them, bringing her great head down to eye-level with them. "It doesn't stop the hurting, but she's right. I've been here the whole time. I was not very close with Arthur, but I remember. He was getting harder. Angrier. Bitter. I was always a little afraid to be around him. But he changed. I know he's asleep a whole lot, and that's been hard on you, but whenever I see his face now it is always gentle and often smiling, especially around you. His hard edges… they went away by the time you were born."

Ginny kept her arms around Gareth, rocking back and forth like she could keep the two of them from shattering. One moment, Gareth clung to her like he'd never move again. The next moment, Ginny's arms were empty and a small shadow streaked across the desert sands, toward the compound.

Mystery didn't waste a moment. "Chloe, take Ginny. I'll catch Gareth. Aji?"

Aji sighed, wishing with all her heart that she could make it easier for them. "When I get there, that means it's time to guide Arthur back across the Styx. I'll take the scenic route over to give them some time. Hurry."

The sands blurred under Gareth's paws. He could push off of stone harder than sand, so he zig-zagged to catch boulders and small, flat outcroppings to propel himself faster, leaping over small plants and startling lizards with every other step. He couldn't cast a glamour worth beans, but he could burn that same power source for speed Ginny couldn't match, even on wings.

Home.

Mom.

Dad.

They had known the whole time. Their parents had prepared them their whole lives knowing… knowing it wouldn't work? Knowing Dad was still going to die like that?

The wind snatched tears from his eyes faster than they could fall. He heard a familiar stride behind him, catching up, but he didn't turn. Didn't stop.

Mom. Dad.

He would force Dad to stay. If he ordered his dad not to die, would that keep him here? Why hadn't he tried that before? Why couldn't he think like that? Why did he screw everything up?

It was his fault. No matter what Aji or Mystery or Chloe told him. Ginny had been right, it was his fault if he let Dad die. His fault that their parents figured out who they were too soon. That's where it started. It had to be. If he'd been better at keeping the secret, maybe it would have been different. Somehow.

Ahead, the evening lights of the compound gave off a muted glow, providing a beacon to follow. Mystery's pace was louder, closer, and Gareth pushed himself harder. Faster. He didn't want to talk to Mystery. He had to see Dad. Had to save him.

As he drew closer to the compound, he heard something. Soft strains of music reached out to him. That was Uncle Lewis' violin he heard. And Aunt Dulcie's voice! The volume increased every second.

There. Something was happening at the very edge, beyond staff housing on the lots still awaiting development. Out where there was nothing but packed earth, bulldozers, and backhoes, under a brilliant floodlight, something was happening. He adjusted course and crossed the last couple of miles in a few seconds, skidding to a halt hard enough to plow yards of tiny furrows in the ground.

He was familiar with this lot. He passed it often and listened to adult chatter enough to know for sure that Uncle Dib intended it to be a new wing of the university, not a stand-alone outdoor dance floor. Yet that's what Vivi glided across, nearly on tiptoe, as she drew a bow across violin strings with a master's hand.

The ends of her hair floated in a pink haze around her head and her eyes were closed, but she placed every step with measured grace in an intricate path that meandered around the polished hardwood. She danced as if gravity were a suggestion and played fit to bare two souls to the world. Around the edges of the lot there was a decorative wood railing. At intervals along the rail, torches burned with pink flame. These were hardly necessary. Coming in range of the dance floor was like stepping out of the night and into daylight.

Grandpa Tim and Grandma Teles were there, too. Grandma Teles wore her muffler, and the two of them moved in step with each other to the music. This was no complex dance, just simple steps with an occasional twirl. Sometimes one stepped out of time, or another fumbled a beat, but they recovered and kept turning around the floor.

At the edge of the dance floor, a bulldozer rested its scoop up against the railing. Aunt Dulcie perched atop the scoop. She lifted her voice alongside the violin as a second instrument, weaving a tender melody fit for a romantic evening. Her voice had deepened over the years, but it still had a roundness and depth few humans could match, though there was not an ounce of compulsion to it. Her eyes remained on her parents, never leaving their tenuous dance.

Uncle Dib and Grandpa Lance leaned against the railing close to Dulcie's perch. Unlike her, their attention was fixed much higher than this impromptu dance floor. Both shielded their eyes, staring up at the source of light bathing the area.

Gareth absorbed this in about ten seconds. He tilted his head up to see what Lance and Dib were staring at. As he saw, his hindquarters sagged to the ground. A long, high keen broke from his chest.

Too late.

Kay clasped the hands that held hers, sensing the leading nudge, the gentle squeeze, and followed his every step. She could almost tell what he was going to signal before he did. She arched back, allowing him to turn the two of them in several swift, smooth circles in the air, before righting herself and pressing up against his chest.

This warmth was different. Not the warmth of living flesh, but the warmth as felt from the sun on a crisp day. Arthur did not have the same firm boundaries Lewis could conjure for his form. Instead, everywhere she touched, she felt slightly subtly repelled, as if they were opposing magnets. Most of the others said they couldn't look straight at him, but Lewis could see past the blinding light. So could she.

There was nothing fearsome about him. He looked every inch like himself, though he shone like the heart of a star. This close, Kay could see the network of cracks that ran throughout his entire form, and a deep crevice nearly bisected his body from the forehead down. Each fracture was painstakingly stitched together with golden thread. Lengthy ends of each thread floated all around him, trailing like a thousand glimmering hairs.

As he pulled her close for a simpler slow dance, he dropped his face close to her ear. "You don't remember it, but I have always treasured in my memory the moment your soul chose me. Never, ever forget this moment, when I tell you that my soul has always chosen you."

Kay touched her fingers to her throat, where a new warmth burned under the old scars. She couldn't reconcile the tears that fell with the smile she wore.

He held her like that, swaying to the melody as it wound down. Under her feet, tiny squares of orange light appeared with each step, vanishing whenever she lifted a foot.

"Kay," he whispered in her ear. "We need to stop for a bit. Gareth is down there and Ginny's not far behind. We need to talk to them. Then," he chuckled. "I have to give Aji the bad news."

Kay giggled, wiping her eyes. "She'll curse you out, you know. Pretty sure she was expecting a routine pickup."

"Ah, well. She tried to burn my house down and she beat me to a pulp. I really don't feel guilty about making her wait a little longer to haul me off."

Arthur pulled back and held out one arm to Kay, who laid hers along the top of his. They descended one step at a time, as if traveling down a spiral staircase at a formal ball, until they joined the others on Lewis' dance floor. The last notes of the song faded away as they touched down, leaving only the sound of a broken-hearted fox, weeping.

The exhaustion was gone. That overwhelmed any other sensations for Arthur, the utter absence of exhaustion. He had no weight, and that was another strange one. He could not feel the touch of another person's living flesh like he used to, but he sensed the strength of Kay's soul and the warmth of her love. And with every word she spoke, the threads that bound him together vibrated.

He held her hand a moment longer, then released it, turning to their son. Mystery hovered behind Gareth, still keeping a body-length back and squinting at Arthur. A moment later, Chloe pulled up next to Mystery. Ginny didn't budge from Chloe's back, frozen at the sight of Arthur and what it meant.

He paused. He owed a brief moment to these friends. Arthur stepped past Gareth, laying one hand on Mystery's muzzle and the other on Chloe's. Mystery had to shut his eyes, but Chloe stared fixedly at him.

"Thank you," Arthur said. "Thank you for watching out for them. Thank you for all you've done for my family."

Mystery's tongue darted out, licking his hand as Chloe mumbled, "Well. S'pose you're herd, too."

Only then did Arthur reach up, plucking Ginny off Chloe's back. He set her down, running a hand through her hair. "Welcome home. You went an awfully long way, didn't you?"

She stared up at him, unable to answer.

Arthur took her hand and tugged her over. He sat on the ground next to Gareth. The little fox lay on his side like he'd been hit by a truck, his sides heaving. As Arthur gathered him up in one arm, Gareth reformed into a human boy, clinging and gasping, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Dad. I'm sorry."

Arthur curled around Gareth, holding him tight. "Gareth, Gareth. When are you going to believe me? This was never your fault."

Gareth groaned like he'd been stabbed. Next to Arthur, Ginny began to shake as she whispered, "No, Gareth, it's my fault, I got mad at you and yelled that he was going to die. Then he knew and he couldn't avoid it. It had to be me."

Arthur spread one arm and drew Ginny into the embrace. "Listen to me, you two. I already told you–the day Ginny joined us on the mountain–that I started to die the day the Shiker took my body again. I'm only human. My body couldn't handle his power. But even if I stopped using those powers, his body was a slow poison to mine. What you did gave me more time than I would have had, and you made that time good. Do you hear me? I wouldn't trade anything. Any of it. I could have become a monster. I could have died in agony. I could have destroyed everything around me. But I didn't. I had time to be your Dad and a husband and a friend. I had a good life."

He held them in silence for a few moments, letting them empty their tears. Then he pulled back so he could look them in the eyes. He had another flash of gratitude as he saw that they could look at him without shielding their faces. He smiled. "This is the final stone you have to hold. I died. But look at me, Ginny. Gareth. Look at me. I'm not tired. Nobody has to be careful around me anymore. And I regret nothing."

Ginny gulped for air, finding her words again. "But… but…"

"GODS DAMN IT, KINGSMEN!"

Arthur knew it was a serious moment. He knew his kids were still confused and hurting. Still, he couldn't help it. As Aji shouted at him from across the dance floor, he threw back his head and laughed.

"YOU SON OF A…" she choked on her words, thrashing her wings midair. She snagged on the twins' presence and floundered through the intended insults. "YOU… YOU… MOTHERLOVING… ILLEGITIMATE…"

Arthur sagged backward on the dance floor, racked with laughter. Kay had a hand over her mouth, but her shoulders shook too.

Vivi drifted by. Her eyes were still shut against the light and Lewis' voice addressed Aji from her mouth. "Careful, Aji. You're nowhere near expert enough to pull off rabid no-swear cursing. Spend a few weeks at the feet of the master." Vivi's right hand brushed off her left shoulder. "You'll be calling him a twaddle-footed string of Christmas shells in no time."

Aji rounded on Vivi. "He can't do this, Lewis!" she railed. "It's time! You all heard them! 'Come join us once there is an end.' He's the last one I have to guide back and… and what?… You can't just…" She swooped over and landed on Kay's shoulder, twisting her head around and down to inspect Kay's throat. "YOU CAN'T JUST ANCHOR TO HER VOICE AND SAY IT'S NOT OVER! HOW DOES THAT EVEN WORK?"

Dib called out, "If you have questions about that, you'll have to get in line. I have dozens of my own as soon as he finds his… er… feet. In this new form."

Arthur finally got up, crossing over to Kay. He offered his wrist to Aji, who sullenly hopped off Kay's shoulder onto his arm. "If it's any consolation, Aji, I had no idea what was going to happen."

She scowled up at him. "I don't believe you! You figured out how to anchor to her ahead of time, didn't you? You know I can't just rip you free without damaging her."

The light all around Arthur dimmed. "Aji Pepper. I thought you knew me better than that. I would never do anything to harm Kay. Look at me." His free hand traced the golden threads suturing every crack in his soul. "You're a ghost, too. You should know what you're seeing."

Aji ducked her head. "Yeah. I see."

"Wh…what?" Ginny's voice broke in, still quivery. Arthur turned back toward her. She supported Gareth, propping him up for the few steps it took to get closer to Arthur. "What's the threads?"

The smile returned to Arthur's face and everything around him brightened again. He knelt, still balancing Aji on his arm. He grabbed a floating thread and dragged it in front of their faces like a spiderweb. "The threads? These are all siren songs. Music. One or two of these are from Aji and your grandma. This one and this one," he traced two rather deep looking cracks that were held together with a thick orange thread. "These are from you, Gareth."

Gareth let go of his sister, reaching out to grasp the orange threads. He looked up at Arthur, a chasmic yearning in his eyes.

Arthur nodded to Gareth. "I told you, didn't I? That your voice could heal like a doctor. I wasn't lying to make you feel better. I just couldn't show you like I can now."

He stood once again, offering his free hand to Kay. She took his hand, winding her fingers through his as he spoke. "And you. Your voice was always there. Your voice knew me best. How could I not respond to you, Cayenne?" He raised her hand to his lips and kissed her fingers. "How could I not come with all joy whenever you call my name? Look at the great good you have always done for me. Yours, more than any other voice, saved me."

Kay closed her eyes, tears spilling from them as she bent her head over the hand that held hers.

Arthur looked back at Aji. "Long before I died, she was part of me and I was part of her. And you're surprised that her voice is the first thing I respond to upon dying? Even the Fates complained our threads were tangled." He tapped her lightly on the beak. "Is it really so bad that you have to wait a while longer so you can guide us over together?"

Aji sighed, ducking her head close to her body. "No. No. Should have expected something like this, really. Hades probably saw it a mile off. Persephone? Definitely. Damnit, Kingsmen, it's just maddening that you get to break the rules and get away with it."

He tilted his head to the side and waited.

Aji snapped her beak. "Alright, alright. Yes. It's a good thing you know how to loophole your way around. And yes… you're probably owed."

Arthur chuckled. "Faint praise, but I'll take what I can get." He raised his wrist higher. "Feel free to stop by anytime, but I'm not going anywhere for a while. You can tell Hades I'd be happy to say it to his face if he ever visits the mortal realm."

Aji snorted. "You kidding, Kingsmen? You're a legend in your own right now. They're scared sh… pants…less… of you. Not that they'd put it that way, but they're more set than ever about steering clear of the mortal realm." She raised a wing in salute. "Alright, I know a get-lost when I hear it. I'll see you around. Try not to cause too much trouble."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

With that, Aji spread her wings and lifted off his arm. She gained a little altitude, then banked to circle over Mystery's head. "Almost forgot. Your mother sends her love." A small, glowing orb dropped from under Aji's wing to splash on Mystery's nose. "Literally. She's doing much better. She's not at all afraid of the mortal maniacs over here, and you'll be seeing her again once she's had a little more time to recover."

The splash on Mystery's muzzle dissolved into his skin and his tails lifted off the ground. "Tell her I miss her, and I anticipate her return," he called up.

Aji flipped her tail and glided off into the desert. Within a few seconds, she was a small red dot off in the night sky. A moment later, she vanished.

Arthur knelt once more and wrapped his arms around Ginny and Gareth. "It's going to be okay. I finally know what I can promise you, and I promise I'm not going anywhere for a long, long time."

The next morning, Lewis ran his hand along the ground, smoothing over the sand around the new plaque. It was the third grave out in what had recently been designated the compound's official cemetery.

Duet

Aji Pepper

Arthur Kingsmen

Lewis had expected Dib to demand the body's cremation, but the Doctor had just made a face and asked, "And exactly who's going to be able to see the damn headstone is there, much less remember to dig up his corpse?"

It was a bit of a relief. Cremating loved ones by hand was… painful.

There had been no funeral. Nobody saw the point. It was just Lewis and Vivi out here, burying Arthur's earthly remains. It made sense to Lewis, but it still felt strange that Arthur's interment should be so ignored.

As he stood, Vivi slid her arm through his. "Penny for your thoughts."

"Who even carries pennies anymore?"

"Ask me that tomorrow. I'll flip a whole handful at you."

"If you remember to pick up the change."

She stuck her tongue out at him. "C'mon. You know what I mean. What's up?"

Lewis tucked his free hand behind his back, staring down. "Is it weird if I was thinking about asking if I could have my… body… relocated here?"

Vivi paused. "Yeah, a little. I mean, I get it, but… you're here already."

"Yeah. Yeah, I know. Forget it."

They stared down in silence for a few minutes.

"It means something to you, doesn't it?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"I'll talk to the boss about logistics. You talk to your folks about paperwork. We'll make it happen."

"Thanks, Vee."

They lapsed back into silence. Vivi leaned her head on Lewis' arm. "Still feel like hitting him?"

"Oh, definitely. But I'll give him a day or two. It's even better, now. I can probably punt him halfway across the desert and it won't do any serious damage."

"He might be able to take you, y'know."

"I never said I didn't deserve a few hits back. But I'll get mine in first."

"Just don't forget to train him in between sparring, okay? We can't all go around with shades all the time."

"Don't worry. If I could get my flames under control, he can figure out light. I saw him dim and brighten up last night. He can do it unconsciously, he just has to figure out how to get a conscious grip on the dimmer switch."

"Like I said. Don't spend all your time sparring, please."

"Aye aye, fearless leader."

Vivi paused for a moment, then looked up at him. "You know, thinking about it a bit, you've got the right idea. It's a good idea to get moved out here. After all, where are they gonna put me when it's my time to go? I'd like it to be next to you. And out here, where I know everybody. Yeah, I won't be here, I'll be with you somewhere else, but…"

Lewis bent down to kiss her forehead. "I know what you mean."

She smiled up at him. After a moment, her eyes drifted up over his shoulder and her smile faded out. "What the… ow. OW." She threw her hands up over her eyes. "Lewis, for the love of every moss-laden eggbeater, you HAVE to train that deflated gallbladder fish how to control himself."

Lewis laid one huge hand over Vivi's eyes, then raised his own to the sky. Overhead, what looked like a shooting star sped across the desert about forty feet up. It whooped and hollered with excitement, drawing eye-searing circles in the sky around two other figures in flight. One was a young woman, gliding steadily on an outstretched pair of golden wings. The other was a small prairie hawk, zipping in and out of the circles and giving chase to the shooting star.

A moment later, Lewis noticed a plume of dust headed his way. He'd barely registered it before it passed him by, kicking up a cloud of fine sand three feet wide. Vivi coughed, choking on the dust. She pulled her shirt up over her face, groaning. "I take it the family's headed out to the boondocks for a choir session?"

"M'yep."

"Heh. He sounds excited. First time he gets to follow all the way, huh?"

"Yeah."

Vivi peeked out from below her collar. "You can head out with 'em, you know. I'm sure they'd welcome your violin."

He waved at the dust and threaded his arm through hers again. "I'm sure they would, but I'm booked for the day."

Vivi blinked. "Dib gave everyone the day off."

"Exactly. I was thinking it's a good day for a marathon."

It took a moment, but an absolutely evil grin crawled its way across her face. "I get every other pick."

"That's fine, but I get first pick. Sailor Moon."

"Beauty Water."

"Sailor Moon."

"The Exorcist."

"Sailor Moon."

"Life!"

"Sailor Moon."

"You and Chloe, I swear."

"No." He tilted her chin up. "You and me. Forever."

She wrapped her arms around him. "And always."

Note: The final chapter title is excerpted from Delta Rae's Dance In The Graveyard. Crazy. This final fanfic is my longest one to date, the first one that broke the hundred thousand word mark. This entire saga is also my longest one to date. It took roughly seven and a half years and is approximately 415,000 words long (give or take a few thousand for author notes and rounding down). In real life, the writing of it spanned two heartbreaks, the transition from dating to engagement to marriage, an out-of-state move, and a lengthy emotional recovery from old heartbreaks. I've made and lost friends throughout the length of it. I've changed so much I barely recognize myself. Looking back, it is fascinating how much writing this story told me about myself. My subconscious tattles all the time if you know how to read it. It's been a real ride. Might still be a few chapters left to compose in the oneshot collection if any of the characters bug me enough, but the linear story is complete. I hope I left you with enough joy to make the sorrows worth the read.

I owe major thanks to Humming-fly, whose single doodle kicked off the main kernel of inspiration for this entire freaking saga. I also owe a lot of thanks to R5h, Pipefoxesonthemoon, and the admin of The Rise and Fall of Nickelodeon account for helping me when I was stuck, or editing, or letting me rubber duck debug in the writing process. These names helped me through some of the hardest parts of this fic and I owe the fact that I got to the end, in large part, to these names.

Another large thank you goes to you, the reader, who got this far and stuck with me to the end. You have no idea how much the view count, the kudo, the like, and the comments have all meant to me. These have also helped me keep going, past the times when I felt like a fraud or felt like the story would completely fall apart under my fingers.

At this point, I ask one last thing of you. Please tell me your overall thoughts. Let me know what you liked, let me know what could have used more work or exploration. Let me know any lingering theories you might have. Let me know what you think might happen in the future with Ginny and Gareth. If you want to come back to this page and dump theories or other notes in the future, I would love it. You are NEVER bothering me. You are NEVER "spamming" me (unless you're legitimately leaving links to porn, plz no). I would love to hear your thoughts. Thank you, again, for joining me on this journey.