Epilogue
Raven and Gabriel take in their surroundings. A quiet lake, lush foliage, a gentle breeze. There's a pathway leading through the greenery. They exchange a look and begin to walk down the path. Looking upwards, Raven can see what can only be described as a tree house perched among the trees. Soon, a clearing opens up. Raven spots a thriving garden, three cottages, a couple picnic tables, laundry hanging on clotheslines, and two young people – teenagers perhaps, or they might be in their early twenties – working in the garden. Raven and Gabriel observe them for a few moments. One of them is humming as she works, and she has a flower in her hair. The other whirls his head and spots Raven and Gabriel first.
"We, uh, we come in peace," Raven says, holding her hands up. She trips over the words a bit, knowing that they sound awkward. It's just that this place has thrown her off. No, she realizes an instant later, it's not really the place that has tripped her up. It's just that she can now see the two teenagers' faces well and something about them jolts her with eerie familiarity.
"Are you….Raven?" the young man asks, stepping closer to her, peering at her.
"Y-yes. And this is Gabriel."
The two young people exchange a look, and pandemonium is suddenly breaking out. One of them is screaming, "Mom! Dad! Everyone!" while the other is rushing up to a shocked Raven and embracing her.
"I'm Breeze," he says. "My grandparents knew you. You look just like in Grandma Clarke's drawings. Damn, she was good." He pauses and steps back, perhaps realizing that Raven needs a minute. "Clarke and Bellamy were my mom's parents. And Emori and Murphy were my dad's parents. Grandma Emori's still alive. She'll be so glad that you're here! Uh, you look a bit overwhelmed. Here, come on, sit at the picnic table and we'll go get everyone. It's lunchtime anyway."
Raven feels just a bit lightheaded as Breeze leads her to the table.
The food looks and smells delicious, but Raven can't eat any of it. (Gabriel has no problems digging right in though). She does take several sips of the cool, refreshing water. Moments ago when she first laid eyes on Emori and Madi, Raven found herself needing to splash some of the water on her face.
Emori and Madi are old women now, with hair in shades of gray and white, plenty of wrinkles on their faces. Emori is seated next to Raven now, after having spent several moments hugging her.
I used to think nothing throws me at this point, but I'm definitely thrown, Raven silently admits. She looks around the table at the different faces once more. A vase filled with flowers sits in the center of the table. "I'm sorry," Raven says when there's a lull in the conversation. (In between bites of his food, Gabriel has been firing away questions to the group assembled here but Raven would be horrified to admit that she hasn't absorbed much of it). "Can you all introduce yourselves again? I – uh just need to go over all of this again."
"It's a lot to take in," Madi smiles, patting Raven's hand. Raven can only stare at Madi's aged hand, which is replete with liver spots among the wrinkles. Madi was a 13 year old girl but now is an old woman.
"But we're glad to do it," smiles the man sitting across from her. Raven can't guess his age; he could possibly be in his forties, fifties, or maybe even a little older. "I'm Reyes. Named for you. I was the first one born here. To Murphy and," with a nod at his mother, "Emori."
"You have his mouth," Raven says quietly. "And his voice."
Reyes then points. "That's my brother Dominick."
"Not named for anyone," Dominick adds, smiling. "They just liked the name." He pops a berry into his mouth.
"Then I came along a couple years later," adds a woman. "My name's Tavia – named for Octavia. I'm – "
"Clarke and Bellamy's daughter," Raven finishes for her. "I see it now. I see it perfectly."
Tavia nods and then gestures at her two younger sisters. "Gail came next. Named for Abby – you know, like Abigail. We call her Gail. And then Daphne." She adds, "I take it you know how much my dad liked mythology."
"Yes," Raven says, finally starting to absorb it all. "And then the next generation…..?"
"Gail and I are married," Reyes supplies. "You met our younger two on your way in. Sky and Breeze. We went with nature names for our kids. Figured we'd hop on a theme."
"And I'm their eldest," says a woman who appears to be in her twenties as she gives a slight wave at Raven. "Name's Sunshine."
Raven nods and looks around the table. Everyone looks well and healthy, even Madi and Emori despite their advanced ages. "And so this is everybody?"
"Yeah," Reyes confirms.
Raven looks from Emori to Madi. "So….Clarke and Bellamy and Murphy…..?"
"And Miller and Jackson," Madi adds. "It was peaceful. All of them. Natural causes – either old age or illness."
Raven reaches for Emori's hand and squeezes it. "I'm sorry for your loss. I'm so sorry."
"It's okay," Emori says quietly. "I have my kids and my grandkids. But I miss him, of course." She pauses. "Are the others okay back on Sanctum? Octavia, Echo, Jordan?"
"Yes. Gabriel and I got here as soon as we figured out a way to control the anomaly and reduce the time difference. We thought it'd be safer if we left a few folks behind though, just to make sure."
Breeze leans forward in his seat and asks Gabriel to tell him more about the anomaly and Sanctum. Raven again silently berates herself for taking a backseat in this discussion – but she needs to. She can't stop looking at the faces sitting around the table. Tavia has Clarke's eyes and her voice. Gail has Bellamy's hair. And Sky's features remarkably suggest a perfect blend of all four of her grandparents.
"It – it looks nice here," Raven says, when Breeze seems to have all the answers he wants from Gabriel. "Tell me more about your lives here."
"It is nice," Daphne says, with a tilt of her head. "I'm the group healer. Uncle Jacks and my mom trained me." She looks at Sunshine, "And Sunshine is my apprentice. We're all pretty healthy though. We're lucky."
"Tavia's the best gardener," Reyes adds. "And Gail the best at sewing." He takes a breath and continues, "It hasn't been all rainbows and unicorns though. There've been things like miscarriages and chipped teeth – and our garden's failed three times over the years."
Raven again nearly shudders at how much like his father Reyes sounds.
Gabriel asks about how they handled it, and the group tells him about the fishing and foraging here. Daphne sounds proud as she says they could live off the food available from the forest if they had to. Raven notes that her namesake does the majority of the talking, followed perhaps by Daphne.
"Do you have a leader?" Raven asks.
"Well, Reyes thinks he runs the place," Dominick grumbles.
"But fortunately Tavia and I keep him in check," Daphne adds. She smiles but Raven can easily see steel in Daphne's eyes.
"And he listens to his Mom and me," Madi says. "He's a good boy."
"Come on, Aunt Madi, I'm hardly a boy anymore," Reyes rolls his eyes.
"Will you stay a bit?" Daphne asks Raven. "They won't miss you back on Sanctum since it sounds like less than a second is going to pass anyway. We can show you around the place and catch up."
"I would like to study this place a bit," Gabriel says. "What did you call it? Skyring?"
"Yes. I'll take you on a tour," Sunshine eagerly pops up from her seat. "Come on." Gabriel takes a forkful of the last bite of his lunch and then rises right away to follow her.
"I, uh, definitely want a tour," Raven says, "but I'd love to catch up with Emori more."
"It's grandma's nap time though," Sky says looking at Emori, and she's not joking - and Raven can only attempt to digest that as well.
"It's okay," Emori says. She slowly rises. "Raven, come with me to our cottage. I do need to lay down but we can talk."
Raven instinctively takes Emori's arm and they enter the largest of the three cottages.
"Madi and I share this one with the grandkids," Emori says. "They do a nice job looking after us." She points towards a smaller structure visible through the window and says, "Reyes and Gail live in that cottage, and Dominick, Tavia, and Daphne sleep in the other one."
Emori slowly lowers herself onto her bed, and Raven pulls up a chair by her side. The cottage is cozy and clean – charming, even. "Are, uh, are any of the others a couple? Aside from Reyes and Gail?"
"No," Emori says. "Dominick hooks up with Tavia and Daphne sometimes, but none of them are interested in marriage or having kids."
"Nothing wrong with an occasional hookup," Raven says. She takes a second to recall the fact that once, years ago, she hooked up with Tavia and Daphne's father Bellamy. Once again she feels the room spin a bit, and she does her best to adjust. Emori's voice is that of an old woman and Emori needs a nap. Raven has to blink a couple times but she has to accept this new reality.
"They're content to be aunts and uncle to the little ones," Emori adds.
Raven realizes that Emori is using the term "little ones" to refer to people who have to be right around Raven's own age. Emori has lived an entire life here. Just like Monty and Harper did on the Eligius. Without me.
"We all have had really nice lives here," Emori says. She lies on her side, looking at Raven. "We missed you of course. That's why we named our boy after you. But we've been very lucky to have lived our lives here."
"I'm honored. At the name. And-and I'm glad that you've been so content here."
Emori continues, "I have. All the deaths were hard, of course. Each time someone lost their spouse, it was really hard. Clarke didn't live a year after Bellamy died from the cancer. They both were old but…you know….that doesn't make it any easier. When Bellamy died, Clarke lost her heart so we all knew she'd follow him soon." Emori is silent for a few seconds and then continues, "Same with Jackson and Miller. Miller had some illness – we never really knew what it was. Just like with Bellamy, when it got really bad, when it was clearly the end, we honored their requests and gave them herbs to help them on their journeys. When Miller finally passed, Jackson just stayed in and slept most of the day. Didn't want to eat, and died a few months later."
Raven takes in her words and looks at her. Emori looks tired and her eyes are half-closed but she's clearly not going to miss this chance to talk to Raven. "I miss my cockroach," Emori adds, with a gentle laugh. "But we had a good life together and he was happy here. A great father. His first 24 years were so hard. So hard. He deserved this peace. He died in his sleep one night. Four years ago." She's quiet before adding, "The kids and grandkids keep me going, so I'm not eager to join Murphy anytime soon. Not just yet."
Emori asks Raven to tell her what she's missed on Sanctum, but so little time has gone by that she's missed almost nothing. Raven tells her a bit about what she and Gabriel did to stabilize the anomaly and minimize the time difference, though she thinks she's repeating what Gabriel might have said over lunch.
Breeze and Sky eventually enter the cottage. "Hey Raven," Breeze says. "Can we talk more?"
Raven nods, they pull up chairs, and join her.
"We heard every story," Breeze begins. "About life on earth – and on the Ark and the ring and on Sanctum. Every bit of it."
"It sounds horrible," Sky says, looking at her brother instead of at Raven. "Grandpa Murphy getting tortured, getting his fingernails pulled off. Grandma Emori getting beaten up by the people she came from, all because of the way her hand looks. Uncle Nate and Uncle Jacks having to eat human flesh. We could go on and on."
"All of that was true," Raven says. "You're right – we could go on for days listing all the bad things that happened." She almost smirks at the memory of their "Grandpa Murphy" shooting her in the dropship. Water under the bridge, she thinks. She misses him – even though as far as she's concerned, she just saw him a day ago. She again shudders at the fact that she never got to say goodbye.
"Yeah, but it's also fascinating. Life outside of here," Breeze says, leaning forward, and Raven realizes she's in the middle of a sibling debate. "So many people to meet. Different experiences to have, things to learn. Things to do other than working on food, clothes, or shelter. Getting to listen to real music, and not just mom singing all the time. And – you know, things like falling in love and having sex." He adds, "Not necessarily in that order."
"Sex is overrated," Daphne says as she enters the cabin. She calls over her shoulder, "No offense, Dominick," as Dominick enters after her.
"But love isn't," Breeze says firmly. "Romantic love, I mean. Just ask Grandma. Or Mom and Dad."
"Madi's always been fine without it," Sky shrugs.
Raven glances at Emori. As far as she can tell, Emori has fallen asleep despite the number of people now clustering around them, talking.
"I want to go back with you," Breeze says firmly, looking at Raven.
As she has been a thousand times today, Raven is somewhat at a loss for words. She simply nods at Breeze's declaration, suspecting that someone else will respond. Reyes and Gail have now entered the cabin as well.
"I want to see the world," he continues. "I like it here, but someday I want to have a girlfriend or boyfriend. And kids. And to just do something else."
"I can't bless that, son," Reyes says, walking up to Breeze. He crosses his arms over his chest. "You know what you'd be walking into. A hellhole. Death. Misery."
"Listen to Dad," Sky insists. "I mean I'd like to somehow have a partner and kids of my own someday. But is it enough to risk living somewhere where they bodysnatch you? Or put a shock collar on you? Stay the hell here."
"He can go if he wants," Emori says. Raven startles – apparently Emori was not asleep. Her eyes are closed though. "Breeze, just be aware that Raven and the others can't protect you from everything. You could get hurt. You could regret it." Emori's voice is soft and faint, but it carries; the others clearly listen to her.
"I won't."
"Guys, come on," Reyes says, his voice insistent now. "Grandma needs her nap. Everybody out. Raven, let me show you around."
Having had some time to process things, Raven finds the rest of the day going better and making more sense. The others lead her on the tour of Skyring. They continue to pepper her with questions, with Breeze asking the most, followed by Reyes and Daphne.
Gabriel and Sunshine approach their group. "I'd like to stay the night here, Raven," Gabriel says. "I'm still gathering data. And we have the time; when we return to Sanctum, we'll have been gone less than a second."
Raven nods. She's definitely not ready to leave Emori yet so it's easy to agree to stay the night. For the hundredth time today, Raven has to silently berate herself for feeling overwhelmed with what she's seeing and finding it hard to make decisions.
Raven spends the afternoon gathering some data of her own. She spends dinner with the group mostly listening to Reyes and Daphne recount the stories they've been told about the days back on earth and the ring, and she adds - where she can - a few details that had been forgotten or needed correcting. She sleeps that night in Breeze's bed, Breeze eagerly volunteering to take the floor instead. She sleeps soundly and deeply, easily the best sleep she's had since cryo. She spends the early morning taking a walk with Madi and Emori. "Should I be helping the others with their chores?" Raven asks as they stroll through the forested area. Gail is foraging mushrooms nearby, singing a song to herself as she works. "You're our guest; don't even think of it," Madi answers.
The group sits down to breakfast. "We should talk plans," Gabriel says, clasping his hands together. "I've collected a lot of data. Since the anomaly is stable, I think we should go back and get Octavia and the others. Ask if they want to come here for a visit. With your permission of course," he says, looking in the direction of Reyes and Emori. Reyes nods.
"It'll be hard for Octavia," Raven says, staring at her tea. "She will be pretty crushed when she hears that her brother is gone." The others have told her how Bellamy wrote letters to her up until the end, until he was too weak to hold a piece of charcoal. Most of the letters were buried at their annual memorial, though a few remain inside a drawer.
"She'll want to meet her nieces and nephews though," Madi says.
"I'm coming with you," Breeze states firmly. "It doesn't have to be permanent, not if we have a stable doorway now."
Several glances around the table are made, and Raven suspects that discussions on this issue went well on well into the night.
Reyes looks at Breeze, "You're old enough to make your own decisions." He pauses. "Even a bad one like this."
"Just keep in mind that the time difference is still in play," Gabriel says. "As you know, Raven and I found a way to shorten it - but a few days in Sanctum will be a few years on Skyring."
"Better than centuries. Or a millennium," Breeze says.
"Remember what we talked about," Reyes says, eyeing Gabriel and pointing a finger. "No one other than family is to come here. We don't want wars and battles and violence here."
"Agreed," Gabriel states. "We bring no one other than Octavia, Jordan, and Echo here. Indra, Gaia, and Niylah too if they want. And we guard that portal carefully."
Raven looks at Emori. She remembers Emori saying yesterday that she'd especially love to see Jordan and Echo again. She wonders if Echo decides to pay a visit, how awkward it might be for Echo, meeting the grandchildren of the man she only recently broke up with. As Raven is ruminating on all of this, she sees Reyes lean over and murmur to Breeze, "And remember that if your Grandma and Aunt Madi pass away in the next few years, you might miss your chance to say goodbye to them."
After breakfast, Raven and Emori find a quiet place to bid farewell to each other. Raven silently replays the words Reyes whispered to his son.
"I have to go with Gabriel," Raven says. "I know Octavia a lot better than he does, so I should to be the one to deliver the news about Bellamy." She shakes her head. "I think I'd rather die a hundred deaths than have to do that."
"I'm glad you're going," Emori says, grasping Raven's hand. "Breeze will be lucky to have you as a guide."
Raven shakes her head and lets out a bewildered groan. "So here I am. Getting ready to take the grandson of you and Murphy and Clarke and Bellamy to Sanctum. Partially so he can meet Monty and Harper's son. Meanwhile, as far as I'm concerned, it's been only six and a half years since I was at the dropship camp with Murphy and Monty the others!" She raises her hands in a frustrated gesture of stupefaction. "Six and a half years." she repeats, and then adds, "I don't count the time we were in cryo."
"Life is a strange thing," Emori acknowledges with a nod and with a look that Raven can only term wisdom. "But life is good. And…when you come back with Octavia and the others, you're welcome to stay here if you want. Stay for the rest of your life."
Raven looks down. "Maybe I will. I don't know. Sanctum needs people with brains right now. But it sure is nice here."
"Well, think about it," Emori says softly.
"I will." Raven pulls Emori into a hug. She's not one to get emotional but her words from a few moments ago – it has only been six and a half years since the dropship camp! – cycle through her mind. Well, I guess I should listen to what Emori said. Life is strange. But it's good. Maybe I will settle here….
THE END
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