Chapter 11

The blended harmony of Thra and another world carried on, its warmth and energy filling the cold, death-still air of the shadowed realm.

Jen did not know how long he had been playing. When one cycle of the song ended, he began another. It filled him with strength he'd never felt before, and he did not need to rest or pause for breath. GraGoh was right, the Gelfling reflected - when you had no need to eat or sleep, why not spend all your time making music?

And, as he played, he began to think about urSu's lesson many trine ago. If one could sometimes gain more wisdom by taking the less direct path, even if it took longer, perhaps that was his answer now.

GraGoh had regained all of his urSkek memories when the dead halves of his soul joined again, including what he had known about the Devouring. SoSu was said to have had the most knowledge of all, but his halves did not want to be rejoined.

But he was not the only one who might have knowledge that could be useful. From what Jen could understand, SoSu had shared pieces of what he knew with his followers. None alone might have the full story he needed, but perhaps, if he could gather enough different pieces ...

He glanced at GraGoh and urVa, who lingered nearby as he played. The urSkek's corona pulsed softly as he listened, while the Mystic wore a faint, sad smile, his eyes full of memory.

He couldn't leave them trapped in this empty place. They deserved the chance to move on to something more. But Jen also remembered Aughra saying that dead urRu and Skeksis could not return to Thra, since their souls had not come from it. If he did find some way to free them from this realm the Crystal had formed for them, what would become of them after that?

He lowered the firca from his lips. The music still hummed in the air, but it began to slowly fade, and he turned to GraGoh.

"I must ask. What happens to your people when they die a natural death?"

GraGoh's scattered corona flickered. "Our souls return to our world, just like Thra-kind's return to Thra. The Crystal of Truth is the source of our life too, so it calls us back."

"But what if you die away from your world?" Jen knew he was bringing up a sensitive subject, but he had to know. "I promised the Mystics I'd help them find a way out of here too. I know you said I shouldn't make that promise, but I know there's a way. And I want to help you too, GraGoh. If you left this place, could you still return to your world?"

"Possibly." The dead urSkek's corona brightened, the scattered motes dancing around him. "It's rare for an urSkek to die at all. I can only recall a few times it's happened since I was a neophyte. But we interstellar explorers did have a protocol in case such a thing happened. If one of our team happened to die on a mission, the survivors were to lend the deceased some of their own life energy, so their spirit could linger long enough for them to escort it back to the homeworld."

UrVa's eyes widened. If he'd still had breath, it would have caught in his throat. "... Yes, I remember that. My self who was one saw it happen once. A friend was lost to a sudden wave of dark energy from a star, but we who still lived helped bring his soul home."

Jen looked between the two of them. "I'm sure UngIm and the others would do that for you, if you let them."

For just a moment, GraGoh's corona turned dark at the mention of the Physician's name. "Maybe. He certainly owes it to me, after what he did. But I'm not ready to move on yet, Jen. There's not much point in returning to a world that's about to be devoured."

"That's true. But when you are ready, I hope you'll still let me help you." It felt good to say, but as Jen looked at urVa, uncertainty crept in again. "The other Mystics … could they still return, even if their souls stay divided?"

"I do not know," urVa replied simply. "I think such a division has never happened among our kind before. If it had, we would have known trying to purify ourselves was a mistake." He looked out at the fog with a distant, thoughtful expression. "Maybe our divided souls would be strong enough to last the journey. Maybe they would not. But if you're willing to open the way, then I'm willing to find out what lies beyond this realm."

"And what about me?!"

The three of them turned their heads, and watched as skekMal approached from across the entrance hall.

"I heard what you were talking about. If you get out of this place, what happens to me? If you don't make it, and you disappear into nothing, am I gonna be gone too?"

There was real fear in the once-Hunter's voice.

UrVa lowered his head. "I do not know."

The Skeksis growled, fear turning to anger. "Don't know why I'm surprised. You already killed me once. Why should you stop trying now?"

Jen's eyes shot wide. A Mystic killed his own Skeksis?

"I do not want to destroy you," urVa replied, his deep voice calm and steady. "Not anymore. I did what was needed then. The Hunt had to end, and no one else could have ended it." Wryly, he added, "You might take some comfort in knowing that."

SkekMal growled again, but by the way he hesitated, it was clear the Mystic's words had touched something inside him.

Jen watched the two of them, still sitting. In the back of his mind, he had known this was a question that would have to be answered. He was willing to set the dead urRu free … but the Skeksis?

He thought of his parents, and Mira, and all the other murdered Gelfling. He remembered the ruins he and Kira had visited over the trine - an entire civilization destroyed forever. He thought of the enslaved Podlings, of the Gruenaks and the Arathim, of Thra poisoned and dying from the Darkening.

If anyone deserved to be trapped in this place, he remembered thinking, the Skeksis did.

But was it right for him to condemn them to that fate?

They were dead now, no more than ghosts. They no longer had the power to harm Thra, or any other world. If he could set their souls free, could he live with himself if he chose not to?

If he left them to linger here in the cold and dark, forever cut off from their world, doing the same to them as they had done to the drained Gelfling, could he ever be at peace with himself?

"... You could go with him."

SkekMal whirled on him, his green eyes piercing. "What did you say?"

"If I can free urVa," said Jen, getting to his feet, "then I'll free you too. If you want it."

The Skeksis hesitated again. It was clear he hadn't expected Jen to make such an offer, and he seemed torn what to make of it now.

"What makes you think you even can?" he demanded at last. "I thought I'd conquered death once, but it took me anyway." He shot a glare at urVa. "How can a Gelfling defeat something even the Hunter couldn't? Death took your father and grandfather too, and they were great warriors. You're not even that."

"I know I'm not." Jen faced him. "That used to bother me, but not anymore. Warriors aren't what Thra needs now. It needs people to heal it, and bring it peace. That, I can do. That's what I'm offering you."

SkekMal made a derisive sound. "You're a naive little fool. But you have heart, I'll give you that." He looked the Gelfling over, weighing his words carefully. "Very well. If you can get us out of here, then I'll go too."

It wasn't as good as hearing him say he'd join with his other half again. But it was still enough to give Jen hope.

"I am glad of that," urVa addressed his other half. "Whatever might wait for us beyond, I'd rather face it together."

SkekMal was silent for a long moment.

"... Are you serious? After everything?"

"I am."

The Skeksis stared at him. "... I'll admit, being stuck here with you hasn't been as awful as I thought it would." He looked as if he wished to say far more, but hesitated yet again, resisting those thoughts. "But none of this means anything if the Gelfling can't make good on his word." He turned back to Jen. " How are you gonna get us out of here, Gelfling?"

The once-Hunter wasn't going to be satisfied with vague promises, Jen realized. He'd have to give him a real answer, if he wanted him to still follow.

The long session with his firca had left his heart lighter, his head clearer. He remembered how he had told GraGoh that the dead urSkek's song being able to carry through the Crystal was a sign that it was possible to pass beyond this realm.

Somehow, the Crystal must be the key. But it had taken GraGoh unum of practice to be able to reach them clearly. What was it that had finally let him succeed?

"When you were singing out to Aughra," he asked the urSkek, "where did you do it from?"

GraGoh pointed to the inner gateway skekMal had come through. "In the Crystal Chamber. When I started, I was singing to urSu and the others. After they didn't listen, I decided it was worth trying to reach beyond."

Jen thought of the hollow place above the darkened shaft, where the Crystal ought to be. The Mystics, who spoke of keeping their dark halves imprisoned in this realm, had formed a circle around it.

He remembered urVa's words: if you're willing to open the way.

"I have an idea."

They crossed the threshold back into the spectral Castle. When they did, skekVar was waiting for them.

The armored Skeksis drew his sword, pointing the tip directly at Jen's heart. "Stop where you are, Gelfling."

Jen did. The blade was as long as he was tall, and ghost or not, it still looked lethally sharp.

"Now what are you doing that for?" skekMal snarled. He stepped forward, confronting the other Skeksis, while urVa moved protectively closer to Jen. "You got your wish. He's not playing anymore."

"He could start again any moment." SkekVar turned his amber glare on Jen. "I heard you in there. You're plotting some trick."

Jen slowly turned his eyes up from the sword, and met skekVar's gaze. "It's no trick. I'm here to help."

SkekVar didn't answer for a moment. Jen saw uncertainty flicker across his face, before he gave a disbelieving snort. "There's nothing to be helped. This is where we're supposed to be. It's what the Emperor wants."

Jen watched the Skeksis closely. He was trying to sound steadfast, but that uncertainty was still there behind his words.

He'd managed to reach skekMal. Perhaps he could reach this Skeksis too.

He had to try.

"But is it what you want?"

SkekVar gave a deep growl. He raised the sword, pointing from Jen's heart to his throat. "How dare you question my loyalty!"

Jen kept his gaze steady. "I think that question was already inside you." He remembered what urVa had said. "Why do you still have to do what skekSo says? He's dead. You're dead. Nothing has to hold you to him anymore. You're free to be yourself."

SkekVar's shoulders tensed. The sword trembled faintly in his grip. "I should take your head for saying that."

Jen tilted his chin up. "Maybe. But I don't think that's what you really want either. It won't bring you peace. And neither will serving skekSo. Or staying here." He gave the once-General a small, friendly smile. "Come with us. If I can free the others, I can free you too."

SkekVar hesitated one last time. But then he growled again, fangs bared, and backed away. "Wretched Gelfling! You won't trick me. I'm not listening to another word." Sword still in hand, he turned and marched away, heading for the throne room.

SkekMal made a sound of disgust. "Don't waste your breath on him. That one's never been brave enough to step out of the Emperor's shadow."

He stood beside Jen, flanking him with urVa on the other side. With the two of them as his guards, Jen continued his way toward the Crystal Chamber.

They walked through the Chamber's archway: one Gelfling still glowing bright with life, a ghostly Skeksis and Mystic escorting him on either side, and the shade of an urSkek following close behind.

This time, the seven gathered urRu all looked up as Jen and his comrades approached. Up on the balconies, a handful of the dead Gelfling had gathered, and they watched with wide eyes and whispers.

UrSu tilted his head, unease written clearly on his wrinkled face. "Jen, what are you doing?"

"I'm doing just what you said, Master." Jen lifted his firca. "I'm saving what can be saved."

He brought the firca to his lips. The distortion in the air where the Crystal should be still hurt to look at, but he forced himself to keep his eyes on it.

In his mind, he thought back to the night in Aughra's observatory seven trine ago. He remembered the strange double note that had sounded when urSu first showed him the image of the shard in his scrying-bowl, and how, when he played that note, the true shard had glowed and sung back to him.

He played that note now. With the music coming from his soul, and no need to pause for breath, it rang out clearer and steadier than it ever could in the living world. It filled the Chamber, and the Castle and ravine beyond.

And, above the darkened shaft, the distortion began to glow. In the gloomy gray-violet of the dead realm, the clear white light of the Crystal of Truth reached through for the first time.

But the light was faint, no brighter than the glow-moss Jen had seen in the Caves of Grot. He tried to play louder, putting all his heart into the notes, but he could not make it shine brighter. Like an ember that refused to grow into a flame, the distortion stayed faint, and grew dark once again as Jen stopped playing.

He couldn't bring himself to look at the ghosts. "I'm sorry. I thought it would work."

"Come now, there's no need for that." GraGoh drew closer. "It almost worked. We all saw it! You have the right idea. All it needs is someone to help." He nodded toward the distortion. "Try it again."

Jen looked at the distortion. He played the double note again, and as it sounded, GraGoh added his voice to the music.

Death had weakened the power of the urSkek's voice, but it hadn't destroyed it. The otherworldly song joined with the firca, echoing the double note, giving it new strength. The distortion glowed again, and this time it was brighter.

Yes! Jen thought as he watched. It is working! We just need more voices!

He paused again, letting the glow fade, and turned to the watching Mystics. "Please, will any of you lend your voices? I've seen what you were capable of in life. I'm sure you could do this."

The other Mystics glanced at him, and at urSu and each other, slowly considering the idea. But before any of them could decide, the sound of footsteps carried from the archway that led to the throne room.

SkekSo strode into the Chamber. SkekVar was by his side, and skekLi, skekLach, and skekTek followed close behind.

"So," he said to Jen, his harsh voice full of barely-restrained anger, "this is your new ploy. I should have expected. You couldn't get the answers you wanted about the Star-Shadow, so as your revenge, you mean to lure my subjects to oblivion."

Jen turned, facing the Skeksis. "That's not what I want at all. I don't know what waits for Skeksis beyond this place. But whatever it is, it has to be better than being trapped here with you forever."

SkekSo hissed. "You have no idea what you're speaking of. I brought Thra almost a thousand trine of prosperity before the Gelfling turned against us. I gave my people order, and purpose. I made us gods of our world. Could anyone else have done that?"

He turned to the four Skeksis around him, daring one of them to answer and challenge his words. Not one did.

Satisfied, he turned back to Jen. "So you see, I am Emperor because they want me to be. Even now, they know that I am the only one who can lead them."

He pointed a talon at skekMal. "You, Hunter. When you returned to us on the brink of death, I fought with all I had to save you. I sacrificed so much to bring you back. I ordered the death of Mother Aughra herself, and I would have killed a thousand more if I had to, because you are one of us! Does that mean so little to you? Are you going to turn your back on me - on all Skeksis - because of one Gelfling's lies?"

SkekMal watched him, in a long silence.

"... You say that you saved me. That's funny. The way I remember it, you thought I was dead, and you had me strung up and painted like some wretched ornament." He snarled in disgust at the memory. "You didn't save anyone. You're the one who's lying, and all of you," he waved his talons at the other Skeksis, "are too stupid to see it. You're so used to following him and believing what he says, you've forgotten how to trust your own memories."

He glared at skekSo defiantly. "Well, not me. My mind's clearer than it's ever been. I'm not the Hunter anymore. I'm more than that. And I remember it now."

SkekMal looked past Jen, towards urVa. "If we are going to face what's beyond," he said, "then I also want to face it together. Really together."

UrVa met his eyes. As the others watched, they slowly approached each other.

"Then we will," said the Mystic. "Whatever comes now, we choose to face it as one."

"Forever." For a moment, skekMal sounded afraid. "I don't want to lose my memories."

"You won't." UrVa's voice was gentle. "And neither will I. We'll always carry them inside us, the dark and the light." He stretched out one hand. "This is only one dream ending."

SkekMal reached for his hand. Instead of passing through it, the way his touch had through other ghosts, he clasped it firmly, half of one soul to the other. "Then let's start a new one."

The two embraced.

As they held each other close, Jen saw a white-gold light begin to glow inside them. It started in their hearts, and grew until it filled their forms completely. The two figures grew taller, their shapes merging, until none could tell where one ended and another began …

The light dissipated. And, after more than a thousand trine, the urSkek who had been called MalVa stood before all.

He hovered in silence, still adjusting as two minds became one. His white eyes glowed softly, and he stared down at his hands, and his restored form, in wonder. Like GraGoh, his corona was still clouded and scattered in death, but he was unmistakably MalVa, whole once again.

"I'm … I'm here." His thought-voice was deep like urVa's, but with a hint of the roughness that had been in skekMal's. "I'm me. And I do remember."

GraGoh floated closer, his corona warm and a smile on his face. "I'd be tempted to say 'I told you so', but I'm just happy for you."

MalVa's corona brightened. He held out his hand, conjuring a small piece of his own aura, and GraGoh reached out and merged his own aura with it in an urSkek display of camraderie and affection.

Jen watched them, rapt. He'd seen the still-living urSkeks restored to themselves, but he'd been so filled with grief for Kira, he hadn't been able to appreciate it. Now he could see how beautiful the sight was - and all the more so because both had been willing.

The Skeksis and Mystics watched too, silent and transfixed. But skekSo was the first to snap out of it, and he stared at MalVa in what looked like genuine hurt. "... What have you done?"

As was skekSo's wont, anger quickly rose as a shield against fear. He rounded on GraGoh, brandishing his scepter. " YOU! This is all your fault, Heretic! You and those filthy Gelfling you lured to your cause! It wasn't enough that you told them our secrets, or that you gave them the Dual Glaive! You had to lure one here to destroy us even in death!"

MalVa's corona flickered. "I don't feel so destroyed."

"Be silent, traitor! If you want to leave so badly, then go. Consign yourself to the void. I banish you from my realm, and your name will never be spoken again. But I will not let you or that Gelfling bewitch any more of my subjects." He turned to skekVar. "I told you to silence the Gelfling once already, General, and you failed me. Go now and finish the job. You're no substitute for the Hunter, but perhaps you can still be good for something."

SkekVar started to reach for his sword. But he stopped.

"What are you waiting for?" skekSo demanded. "The Gelfling is right in front of you. He carries no weapon. Kill him."

"... No."

SkekSo blinked. "What did you say?"

"I said no." SkekVar drew himself up, and stepped away from the once-Emperor. "There was a time when I would have done anything you said. I would have followed you to the ends of the universe if you asked me. I remember the kind of leader you used to be. But you're not that leader anymore. And if everything I've done for you really means so little … then no more."

He turned from skekSo, and looked at Jen and the two urSkeks. "Because I remember who I used to be too. There was suffering then, and sorrow, but there was also hope and happiness. I want to be that person again. That might still be worth something."

The once-General approached an urRu - the large one with a wilted flower still tucked into his elaborate hood. He took off his helmet, and cast it down. The ghostly shape faded into nothing before it even reached the floor, and skekVar offered his hand to urMa. "Will you join me? I want to leave this place, but I don't want to go without you."

UrMa looked at him silently, dark eyes meeting amber ones. The weight of an Age of divided paths passed between them; one who had sown conflicts across the world, and one who had struggled to end them. The once-Peacemaker turned and glanced at urSu one last time … and removed his hood, stepped out of the circle, and took skekVar's hand.

"And I don't want to remain here without you. I believed keeping vigil here might finally bring peace to my own heart, but it hasn't. Nothing has, not truly, since we split apart. If you're willing to turn aside from the past, then I'm willing to move on with you."

They threw their arms around each other. White-gold light grew from their hearts, and two more who had been sundered became one. A moment later, the urSkek VarMa was there, whole and restored.

Jen's heart soared. One urSkek voice might not be enough to open the way back to Thra, but three was a number of power. "Please," he asked, lifting the firca, "sing with me. I'm sure it'll be enough now."

"Don't listen to him!" skekSo shouted.

A change had come over him at the sight of VarMa's transformation. He was still richly robed, but the fabrics were duller, the gold and silver threads and ornaments tarnished. His hair and feathers had thinned, and lines of age spread across his face.

"Can't you see? He means to undo all we've worked for! This Castle is ours. This is our empire, the Gelfling our subjects. No one is going to take that from us!"

"We're not your subjects."

More Gelfling had gathered, drawn by the music and commotion. Dozens of them now clustered along the balconies and in the archways. At the head of one group, Jen could see Mira standing firm, addressing the Skeksis without a trace of fear. "You have no power over us anymore. You took our essence, and our lives, but we still have our voices. You can't make us be silent, and you can't keep us here." She took a step forward, towards Jen. "We'll join your song. Maybe we're not as powerful as them," she glanced at the urSkeks, "but there are hundreds of us. That has to make a difference."

Jen smiled, and began to play again. GraGoh echoed the double note, and as MalVa and VarMa began to sing too, the distortion glowed brighter yet. Mira added her voice, clear and sweet, and Jen could hear the other Gelfling join in. The Crystal Chamber echoed with the notes, calling out to the living Crystal of Truth on the other side of death.

And it was working. Jen saw the distortion begin to change shape, stretching into an outline that mirrored the true Crystal. Just as he'd hoped, it was a gateway, and the music would unlock it.

But the outline was still hazy. The voices, even so many, were not enough. The way was still shut.

Jen lowered the firca, trying not to let his distress show. "We can still do it. But we need more to join in." He looked back and forth at the Skeksis and Mystics who remained. "Surely, one of you … ?"

"We'll join you." A deep, velvety voice reached his ears. The Gelfling who had gathered in the passage that led to the catacombs parted, and skekSa and urSan walked through them side by side. They looked as old and worn as when Jen had seen them before, but the Skeksis carried herself with confidence, and there was a smile on the urRu's face.

"You've accomplished something I thought no one ever could," said urSan. "You're a remarkable Gelfling, and I wish I'd had the chance to know you in life. If it's our help you need, then you have it."

SkekSa nodded in agreement, and turned to the urRu. "It's worth a try. But if this is our one chance to get out of here, then let's do it right. Whatever adventure comes next, we'll be stronger if we weather it together."

UrSan offered her hand. "Yes. We cannot undo what's past, but we still have time to make a sea-change. I'll show courage if you will."

SkekSa gave a wry smile at her choice of words, and took her hand. "All right then. To the unknown horizon."

"And to that which lies beyond."

The two embraced, and a moment later, SaSan took form.

"Perhaps we might join you too," the ragged, moss-covered Mystic spoke up. He stepped away from urSu and the others, his eyes focused on a Skeksis across the Chamber. "UrLii remembers when our voice was among the greatest of our kind. Our words could change worlds. If we had our true voice again, surely the way could be opened."

SkekLi watched him as he spoke. A storm of emotions played across his narrow face: fear and anger and regret, but last of all, hope. He started to approach the Mystic, but skekSo blocked his path with his scepter.

"Not another step, Satirist. You've come so far in your time here! You've finally proven yourself a worthy Skeksis, and earned a high place in my court. Don't cast that aside now!"

SkekLi looked down at the scepter, and then at the Skeksis holding it. His lips curled in disgust. "SkekSo, I'm going to tell you something I ought to have told you hundreds of trine ago: go lick a scrummuncher."

He made a vulgar gesture at the once-Emperor, and stepped through the scepter without a hint of resistance.

The once-Satirist and once-Storyteller met halfway across the Chamber. They embraced, and LiLii was one again.

SkekSo stared at him, eyes wide and fangs bared, too furious to speak or move. Before he could find a new target for his wrath, the sound of hissing, animalistic voices entered the Chamber, and he looked up sharply.

SkekHak and skekYi approached, whispering to each other in the primal Skeksis language Jen could not understand. Not that he needed to understand it now; their subdued steps and wondering, almost-fearful expressions, so different from when they'd pursued him earlier, said all.

SkekHak cautiously approached the two young-looking urRu. They backed away abruptly, with soft bleats of fear. The paler of the two stepped back so far that her foot went into the open shaft beneath the distortion, and she gasped and flailed in terror, desperately trying not to fall into the darkness -

The auburn Skeksis reached out, trying to catch her. His hand passed through the urRu, just as it had through GraGoh's robes, but the gesture was enough to make the two urRu realize he had not come to do harm. The one who had nearly fallen calmed, regaining her footing, while the other looked at the Skeksis with a new, questioning expression.

To Jen's amazement, the feral Skeksis bowed his head low before the second urRu. He held out one hand, palm up, in supplication. It was a plainer apology and plea for forgiveness than any words could have conveyed.

UrHom stared at him, still uncertain … and laid his hand over the Skeksis's. Gently, they wrapped their arms around each other. Auburn feathers and russet hair melded into white-gold light, and HakHom was restored. A moment later, the white Skeksis and the pale urRu also joined hands, and YiYa rejoined them.

SkekSo looked back and forth across the chamber, from shade to shade, seething as he watched those he had believed he still ruled slipping from his grasp. His appearance changed once again, morphing before Jen's eyes. He was much older now, his skin pale and withered, with a tight-fitting black cowl covering his head where the last of his feathers had fallen out. He now wore an intricate metal cover over his beak - armor, decoration, or something else, the Gelfling did not know.

He turned his icy eyes on Jen, and his voice grew dangerously calm. "I should have expected. Of all the Gelfling to survive and torment me, it would be that one's offspring. Do you know what legacy you come from, Gelfling?"

A spark of real anger flared inside Jen. He faced the Skeksis, and his voice snapped as he spoke. "My name is Jen. And I do know. I'm the son of Rian. You're hardly the first to notice it."

SkekSo gave a cold chuckle. "I wasn't thinking of Rian at all. You may have his features, but I can see more than that. You're her son. The Grottan witch who stole the Darkening. What was her name … oh yes," his mouth twisted as if the name were something foul, "Deet. "

The name echoed in Jen's mind. He thought back to Hup's stories about the gentle Grottan girl who had been his friend. Yes, he remembered now, the Podling had mentioned that Rian and Deet were lovers. And they'd had a child, who Deet had left in Hup's care when she and the other Gelfling left on some final mission against the Skeksis - one they'd never returned from.

Jen had tried to remember his parents many times over the trine, but the only memory he could be certain of was his mother as a shadow over his small form; a feeling more than a true image. But there had been other memories, half-glimpsed in dreams, and one of them came to him now: dark eyes, gentle green-skinned hands, and a flash of violet light that had frightened him. He'd tried to tell himself in the past that it was just a dream, blurred together from the other traumas of his early childhood, but what if it was real?

"... You knew my mother?"

SkekSo realized he'd found a weak spot, and he grinned. "I did. She was a mad, blighted creature who took hold of a power she could neither control nor understand. 'Gentle' Deet, they called her, but she was a murderer." SkekLach stood by his left side, and he gave her a meaningful look. "I know you won't be foolish enough to follow this one, Collector. Perhaps he truly doesn't mean harm, but he'll destroy you as surely as his mother did."

"You mean he's that little green beast's brat?" SkekLach stared at Jen as if he were a venomous insect and she wasn't sure if she should squash him or flee in fear.

"Precisely. And she wasn't satisfied with murdering you." SkekSo turned to Jen again. "She led her friends to the Castle, right to the heart of the Darkening. They thought they could defy their own prophecy and heal the Crystal themselves." He laughed darkly. "They were wrong. And when they realized they couldn't escape, Deet showed her true nature. She unleashed the Darkening through the whole valley. She took her own life, and Rian's, and all the Gelfling with them."

Jen choked, feeling sick. Had that been what happened to his parents? He remembered the sight of the dying Bah-Lem Valley - had his own mother been responsible for that?

"It was me she meant to kill, of course," skekSo gloated. "But she failed even that. When the Darkening subsided, she and her Gelfling friends were dead, and I still lived. A pathetic life that ended in vain. Just as yours will when the Star-Shadow comes for Thra."

Jen suddenly realized that he hadn't thought of the Devouring in some time. The struggle to open the way to the living world, and the wonder of seeing the Skeksis and Mystics rejoined, had consumed his thoughts.

But now he thought of Kira, and their child, and fierce, protective love welled inside him. He thought of Kira waiting for him, depending on him to find a way to save them all. He thought of how, on that fateful day, he had been ready to let the Skeksis take the shard if it meant sparing her life, but how she had tossed him the shard instead, sacrificing herself so that he could heal the Crystal.

So many people had sacrificed their lives for him: Kira, and urSu, and now he could count Deet and Rian. Perhaps Deet hadn't managed to kill skekSo, but he remembered what urSu had said: he had been weakened.

And if she had meant to take her own life, and those of her friends … if the alternative would have been falling into the Skeksis' claws, and facing an even worse death in the draining-chairs, was it really wrong for her to have made the choice she did?

"If she died in vain," Jen slowly spoke, "then why is Thra still living? She fought so her world could have a future. They all did. And now all of Thra heals and grows, and your empire is dead. I was able to heal the Crystal because of all those who resisted you before me. I won't fail them by letting the Star-Shadow destroy our world."

SkekSo growled low in his throat. "Pretty, empty words. I'll ask you again: why should any of us care to save a world that wanted us gone?"

"Because even in death, you're still part of that world. This realm," Jen looked at the Chamber around them, "it's still connected to the Crystal. Outside of Thra, but still part of it. If something destroys the Crystal, how do you know it won't take you as well? Do you really want to wait here in the dark until you find out?"

Only three urRu still remained by the distortion: urSu, urTih, and the green-clad one who Jen had never known in life. As Jen spoke, it was that one who listened.

"... He is right." UrSen's voice was whisper-soft. "Centuries ago, I received a glimpse of the death that awaited me. I accepted it then. I cloistered myself from my brothers, and from the rest of Thra, so that my loss would not pain them so much when it came."

He shook his head gently, the flaps of his linen cap swaying. "But I have received no vision of what comes after this. Perhaps that means oblivion is our fate … or perhaps it means the future is still unwritten." He looked at urSu. "I am choosing to believe the second. And if the first proves true in the end, then I go to my fate knowing that this time, I acted."

Slowly, the once-Monk crossed the Chamber. He looked up at skekLach with gentle eyes. "I will not ask you to join with me. Whatever you choose, it will be your choice alone. But know that, despite all that's passed, I would welcome you."

SkekLach stared at him, her beak open. She turned her gaze to the urSkeks, and then to skekSo and skekTek, weighing the choice of one eternity against another. Out of habit, she reached up and scratched at a pustule - her talons came away slimy with pus, and she stared at the mess for a long moment.

Finally, she shrugged. "Why not? It can't be any worse than this."

Before skekSo could move to stop her, the once-Collector crossed the floor to her urRu. She started to reach for urSen, paused, wiped her talons clean on her robes, and then took his hand.

The two embraced, and LachSen came to be again.

Only two Skeksis remained now, skekSo and skekTek. The once-Scientist looked as if he were about to say something to Jen, but his mechanical eye swiveled up and around. He saw the dozens of Gelfling looking down at him, and saw that all their faces were full of hate and revulsion.

He hung his head. "Don't bother, Gelfling. I will remain here. This plane of existence is ineluctable. And it's what I deserve."

Jen searched for words to object, but could find none. All the Skeksis had played a part in the death of the Gelfling and the ruin of Thra, but it had been the Scientist who was personally responsible for draining them. For all the lost souls here, skekTek had been the last living face they saw, when he strapped them to the chairs and turned the corrupted power of the dark Crystal on them. Jen remembered how he had appeared in Kira's memory - gleeful and remorseless at the thought of what his unholy invention would do to her.

SkekSo drew closer to skekTek. When he spoke, he sounded disturbingly gentle. "Yes, you do. But it won't be such a punishment. You, dear Scientist, have proven yourself the most loyal of all my subjects. I will never forget that. I did not appreciate you in life as I should have, but I will now. You will be the Emperor's favorite, forever. Yours will be the highest honors, second only to mine …"

Jen watched the two as skekSo went on. If skekTek was listening to his promises, he gave no sign of it. His eyes, real and mechanical, stayed cast down, avoiding both skekSo's gaze and those of the dead Gelfling.

Oh, Jen thought again, he hadn't come here for this. He didn't like the thought of leaving anyone trapped in this cold, dark realm, but if skekTek truly believed he deserved to be here, could Jen honestly tell him otherwise?

He looked at the gathered urSkeks. Surely, between the eight of them, they would have enough knowledge to stop the Devouring and enough power to open the way out of here?

He stared up at them, silently asking that very question, but none answered.

His silence hadn't gone unnoticed by skekSo. "You see?" he purred to skekTek. "Even he does not want you to follow him. The Gelfling will never forgive what you've done. Neither will Aughra, or anyone else on Thra. The only place you have left is by my side. I am the only one who still cares for you."

… Jen saw urTih slowly step forward.

"He does not speak the whole truth." The once-Alchemist's voice was soft and slightly nasal, just as Jen remembered in life. His wooden leg slowed him, but nonetheless, he kept moving forward. "There is another who cares for you. One who has also suffered by your hand, many times. They know all that you have done, even before the beginning, but they still would choose eternity with you."

The Mystic tilted his right shoulder up. The sleeve of his front arm lifted, showing the jointed wooden hand urIm and urNol had helped craft for him.

SkekTek stared at it, and then down at his own right hand, where wires and tubes connected the amputated limb to a cybernetic arm.

"Even in life, I would have joined with you," said urTih. "We may have lost that chance, but it is not too late for us to be together now."

SkekTek still hesitated, fearful. He looked up at the dead Gelfling, at the hundreds of eyes still watching his soul. "... And what happens after that? I used to believe there was nothing after death. Now that I've been proven wrong, how do I know there isn't some even more excruciating torment waiting for me outside this place?"

"You do not." UrTih kept approaching. "And neither do I. Some things even our experiments cannot discover. I cannot promise you life, or redemption. All I can promise you is one soul's forgiveness." The Mystic gave a small smile. "Is that enough reason to have hope?"

"Enough!" SkekSo lunged forward, his scepter at the ready. "You will be silent, Mystic!"

He swung the scepter directly at urTih's face. It passed through him harmlessly, right at the level of his eyes, but the sight of skekSo attacking the urRu brought out something in skekTek. He stared at the once-Emperor in dawning realization, weighing skekSo's promises against his own memories …

He stepped between skekSo and urTih. "No! You will never harm either of us again! You cannot. And I don't care about winning your favor anymore. Your power is nonexistent, and your promises mean nothing!"

SkekTek offered his left hand - the one that had still been complete flesh in life - to urTih, who took it gladly. They embraced, hugging each other close, and Jen saw a hint of mirrored tears in each left eye.

"If no one truly knows what comes after," skekTek whispered, "then let's go discover it for ourselves."

UrTih nodded against his shoulder. "Together."

The white-gold light spread through them, and TekTih was restored.

For a moment, skekSo could only gape as the realization that he had lost his last follower slowly sunk in. He stared in silence as TekTih floated over to join the other urSkeks, who welcomed him with gentle pulses of their auras. He could not touch them - he knew that.

But Jen was still in front of him.

SkekSo let out a savage, bestial yell of rage. He advanced on the Gelfling, fearsome teeth bared. " You … you cursed, treacherous Gelfling. You may have stolen my world, my Crystal, and my subjects, but I will not let you leave this realm alive!"

Something in his voice gave Jen pause. He still remembered Aughra's claim that the dead could not harm the living. The dead could not harm each other, he had seen that for himself, but was she so sure about the rest?

Nonetheless, Jen stood his ground. "It's not too late. You can still leave with the rest of us. You could be whole again -"

"NEVER! "

SkekSo swung the scepter with all his might. On pure instinct, Jen raised both hands to block it.

If they had both been in their flesh and blood bodies, it would have been over in an instant. SkekSo was unquestionably stronger, and his strength was further fueled by his wrath. The blow would have smashed through Jen's hands and shattered his skull - perhaps taken his head off completely.

But they were not in their bodies now. They were matched, spirit to spirit, and only one's soul was complete.

Jen caught the weighted, claw-like head of the scepter. SkekSo staggered as the much-smaller Gelfling unexpectedly stopped his blow mid-swing. He snarled, his whole body straining as he still tried to strike, but Jen held on with both hands and all his spirit.

Gelfling and Skeksis struggled, neither one gaining or giving way. They locked eyes, warm dark blue to pale icy blue.

"You don't … have to … fight anymore! " the desperate Jen managed to say. "It's … over!"

As Jen held on, he could feel something beginning to hum inside him - a song and power that were not entirely his own. It made him think of the energy that had flowed into the Crystal at the moment of the Great Conjunction, only now he was the conduit for that energy.

A spark of light grew inside him, white and blue and rose and gold. The light traveled from his heart, up through his arms, into his hands, and into the scepter. It spread through the spectral metal in glowing, humming veins, making it tremble in skekSo's grasp …

The scepter shattered. As the pieces flew in all directions, they vanished like the ghosts they were.

SkekSo staggered back in uncomprehending shock. Before he could even think of attacking Jen again, a long, wrinkled hand reached out and caught his wrist.

All this time, urSu had remained silent and passive, neither objecting nor rejoicing as the other urRu rejoined their dark halves. In his struggle with skekSo, Jen had not even noticed when his old Master stepped forward. But he was there at skekSo's side now, and his grip was firm.

"Jen is right. It is over. You may resist even now, but you know it, just as I do." UrSu narrowed his eyes in a disapproving way that Jen remembered from his childhood. "Once, I thought I would rather face oblivion than join with you again. Part of me still does dread the thought. But neither of us will have peace until we do. I swore to keep my dark half imprisoned. And if the best way to do that is inside my own heart … then so be it."

He released skekSo's wrist. "But I cannot force you to make the choice. So I ask you: join with me. We will not be exactly as we were, but we will still have our memories, and the chance for something more."

For an instant, skekSo looked like he might consider it. But he snarled wordlessly at urSu and backed away, retreating to the archway that led to the throne room.

UrSu shook his head sadly. "So be it. Your choice is your own to make, just as mine is my own." He turned his dark eyes on Jen. "And I choose to go with you."

SkekSo heard him. "What?"

Jen was startled too. "Master?"

UrSu smiled wryly. "I know now that you will not rest if you must leave me here. So I will go with you, to whatever lies beyond." His smile grew more loving. "I do not want you to be troubled. I was prepared to face an eternity of division in this place. An eternity of division beyond here, where I know that you are safe and happy, can only be an improvement."

He narrowed his eyes at skekSo again. "But you, my dark half. Are you prepared to face eternity sundered in this realm? Knowing that the universe will move on, until all have forgotten you? No one left here with you, not even to hate? You spent an Age fearing death above all things. But now I think you will discover there is something worse than death: to be alone, with only your own dark thoughts, forever."

The last Mystic turned his back on skekSo. "Play your music," he said to Jen. "I will lend my voice."

Jen desperately wished again that he could hug his old Master's shade. This wasn't precisely what he had hoped for when he came to this realm, but he was not going to object. Together, even incomplete, surely they could find how to stop the Devouring!

He raised his firca.

"... Wait."

The voice was weak and reedy, a striking change from the deep, commanding tone skekSo had used until now. When Jen looked across the Chamber at him, he saw that his shade's appearance had changed again, one last time.

The last Skeksis was crouched weakly on all fours in the dark archway, as if he no longer had the strength to stand. His robes hung in dusty, faded rags, and his cowl and headdress were gone, his bare head pale and skull-like. Most of his teeth were gone. The metal beak cover had vanished, and Jen couldn't help grimacing at the sight of the gaping, rotted hole in skekSo's snout. No wonder he wore that thing.

"... Please …" It was a visible struggle for him to speak. The Darkening that had rotted his beak must have damaged his lungs and vocal structure as well, and it didn't help that he barely knew what he was asking for. "Please … don't leave me. I … don't want to … be alone."

He stretched out a skeletal hand.

Jen watched the wretched, pleading skekSo. The once-Emperor was a pitiful sight now, and part of him resented that the sight reminded him, just a little, of how urSu had reached out for him on his deathbed.

Whether Jen liked it or not, skekSo was the other half of his beloved Master. Divided, that dark half had become a monster. But perhaps, if light and dark were balanced again, that darkness could still be channeled into something good.

UrSu crossed the Chamber, and took skekSo's hand. Gently, he helped him to his feet.

"Are you sure?" the Mystic whispered.

The Skeksis found the strength to put his arms around him. "I am."

For a moment, it seemed nothing happened.

Then slowly, white-gold light spread from their hearts. Two souls who had resisted for so long at last joined as one.

The light faded, and SoSu stood before all.

To Be Continued...

Notes: Whew! Now that it's no longer a spoiler, I can tell readers that this chapter is the core idea of the story that was developed by my friend Kooshmeister, who gave permission for me to turn it into a fic. He conceived of it as "an afterlife intervention for skekSo", and a number of details (GraGoh already being reunified in the afterlife, skekMal and urVa being the first to reunify "onscreen", skekVar turning from skekSo after he finally realizes So doesn't appreciate him, and some of urSu's dialogue toward his dark half) were his ideas completely. I do take credit for coming up with the Devouring, and everything involving Jen, Kira, their Thra-kind friends, and the urSkek homeworld (which we're not done with yet!), but those came later - the basic story wouldn't exist without Kooshmeister, and I can't thank him enough for it, or for letting me make use of it.

ALSO: You may have noticed urMa's pronouns and description changed a bit between here and chapter 7. There are some things I don't like about The Dark Crystal Bestiary (no, I do *not* buy that skekGra put the spike in his own head), and I would have preferred more she/her urRu in general, but this is one detail I'm willing to go back and edit into my fanwork.