Disclaimer: Sometimes I wonder if I really have to bother with these. See previous disclaimers.
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The figure fell for a short distance and then floated to the ground. It must be Xerxes, Peter thought, as there had been no one else on Mount Niol. There was something strange about him, though. The face was the same as it had been the night before; it was the same as everyone's face had been the night before. Xerxes, if it was Xerxes, did not appear to have changed at all, except for one thing. The other boys gaped at the wings. They were huge, silver, butterfly-like wings, and they shone almost dazzlingly as the sun rose higher.
Crystal broke the stunned silence. "Give the password."
"Sainollan!" said Xerxes, so loudly that Peter's ears rang. "There is no need for a password now," he added, in a normal voice.
"No, there isn't," Peter agreed. "But what took you so long?"
"I had my own business with Sainollan," said Xerxes.
"What sort of business? Why isn't your face changed, too?" asked the other boys.
"I will not tell you now," said Xerxes, looking at the ground and blushing dark gray.
"Why do you have wings, then?" asked Martha.
"Because my business went well," said Xerxes, raising his head. "We should go back now."
Everyone helped take down the tents, and then they filed through the short passageway to Lydia's village. Almost everyone seemed to be outside, and Lydia spotted her family at once. "Can you find the way back through the forest without me?" she asked Xerxes. "You must be sure to mark your direction somehow before entering one of the clearings. There is no pattern to which side of the path they are on, and strangers can get turned around and become lost."
Peter had not thought about it before, but he could see now how it was possible to get lost on a straight path. Every clearing was the same, except for the side of the path it was on. The sun was nearly invisible, and if a traveler forgot which way a clearing faced, he could wake up in the morning and start off in the wrong direction. He could end up where he started, or, if he kept making mistakes, wander up and down the path until he ran out of provisions. It was not a pleasant thought. "I do wish we had a compass," Peter murmured.
"We will find the way," said Xerxes confidently, and he led the group out of the village toward the forest.
The trip back was slightly easier than Peter expected, but he was even more relieved to get out of the forest than he had been the first time. Each town was full of cheering people when they reached it, although at least half of the residents of the two previously unfriendly towns seemed to be hiding indoors. At last they came to the city they had started from.
The last city was silent, and the streets were deserted. Xerxes tried the door of his house, and it was unlocked, but there was no one home. "Where is everyone?" asked one of the boys nervously, when they had searched several houses and not found any sign of life.
"Let's go to the meeting place," suggested Crystal. "Maybe there is someone there."
They followed her advice. When they arrived at the meeting place, they saw that every person in town was there, sitting on the benches or the ground in complete silence. One small girl happened to turn her head. When she saw the travelers, she yelled joyfully, "Look, everybody! They're back!"
All of the townspeople jumped up and rushed to greet them. No one could hear a word anyone else was saying, because they were all talking at once, but the boys recognized their families as the only people that looked like they did. Most of them left when they found each other. The people who had no relatives in the group followed friends or acquaintances, even strangers, that did. The crowd trickled away until there was almost no one there.
Peter, Martha, Crystal, and Xerxes stood alone at the back of the meeting place. There had been no family that looked like Xerxes. Each face had been changed, except for his. There was, however, a small group of people walking toward him from the rows of benches. The woman spoke hesitantly. "Xerxes?" she asked, "Xerxes Nebuzaradan Remaliah Elihoreph Pharez? Is that you?"
Xerxes stepped aside to talk with his parents for a few minutes, and then returned to explain. "I want to go to Crystal's world," he said. "Will you take me with you?"
"Was that your own business?" asked Martha. "Why don't you want to stay, now that everything is changed?"
"Some things are different," Xerxes told her, "but others will not really be changed for generations. Outside, people are different. Inside, they are only beginning to be. They are a world of strangers, even to themselves and to their own kin. I know and care about you and Peter and Crystal more than my family. I will not miss anyone here, but I would miss all of you if I stayed here."
"Why are you going to Crystal's world, then, and not ours?"
"I asked Sainollan what I ought to do with my life, and that was the choice I was given. I could have either a new face or a pair of wings. One would allow me to live here, and one would let me go there. There is more than one reason I chose to leave, but I will not share them." He was looking at Crystal with an expression that Peter did not quite understand, but would have called silly if he had seen it on anyone else.
"You wouldn't like our world, anyway," said Peter, trying to break the tension. "People there often know but still don't care about each other, and they wouldn't take very kindly to you. That's their loss, of course."
"My people would be glad to have you with us, Xerxes," said Crystal. "So would I. We should go now, though. Take Peter's hand."
Xerxes, Crystal, Martha, and Peter joined hands. Xerxes said goodbye to his family. They looked thoughtful and serious, but not particularly sad. They did not really know Xerxes, and were losing their chance to ever know him, but they would not miss him. Peter and Martha touched the yellow rings they had kept carefully in their pockets, and that world faded.
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In the Wood Between the Worlds, Peter took off his yellow ring, brought his green ring out of his pocket, and handed them both to Xerxes.
"Somehow, I think you'll have more use for this than I will," he said. "Martha and I only need one set of rings to travel together. You and Crystal can take these. There's Crystal's pool. See that rock? Put on the green ring, hold hands, and jump into the water."
"I will never forget you," said Xerxes.
"I won't forget you, either. Maybe we'll visit each other sometime. Goodbye."
Peter and Martha hesitated at the edge of one pool to watch Crystal and Xerxes disappear into another. Peter sighed, took his little sister's hand, and jumped.
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"Peter?" called his mother. "Are you still there?"
"Yes."
"Good. Aunt Andrea just called on her cell phone. She's three miles away and needs directions. Wait until your cousins come, and take them skateboarding with you."
"All right," he yelled, and then whispered, "Don't tell anyone about this just yet, alright, Martha? They won't believe you, anyway." He put the remaining rings back into their tiny box and hid them in the bottom of his sock drawer.
The doorbell rang, and Peter could hear footsteps running up the stairs.
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The End
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Yes, I stopped work on this for a very long time, and then I didn't even add another chapter, just slightly lengthened and edited this one. I can't say how guilty I felt for leaving this story alone for so long. It is finished now, though.