Vanity

"Oh, yes!" Jay punched the air. "Hello, my room. Did you miss me?"

Merv followed him through the doorway, skeptical. "You...talk to your bedroom?"

Jay spun on his cane and faced her. He was giddy like a child, beaming and wiggling as if he were a toddler. "Only when I haven't seen it in almost three weeks," he said. "I've been sleeping in the hospital ward since I got back. But now that I'm doing better- besides this cold, of course- Uncle finally agreed to let me come home."

Crammed bookshelves lined every wall, and waist-high stacks of overspill books rose from the floor like tall grass. A narrow path between the 'grass' lead them to the bed and wardrobe, which were clustered close together. As if to defend each other against the invading book towers.

"You have...lots of books," Merv said.

"These are just my favorites, Merv." Jay wiped dust from the cover of one, then spun in a full circle on his heel. Then he sneezed.

"You know the library?" he asked, voice stuffy. "That big place down in Section Three?"

"Yes."

"I've read most of those, too." Jay plopped onto his bed. He pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his running nose.

"How have you found time?" Merv asked.

"Fifteen years, Merv. That's a lot of time." Jay propped his cane against the bed and surprised her by grabbing her hand, pulling her to her seat next to him, and winding his left arm around her in an embrace.

Merv tensed. Too close! He's too close-

"I'm so glad we're friends, Merv." Jay's voice lost all its levity. He looked at her with sad eyes. "I'm so, so glad..."

What's happening in his mind? Who has that much enthusiasm one minute, and that much sadness the next?

Ignoring her fight-or-flight instincts, she wrapped one arm around him, and then another. "Kai will come back," she said. "Please, do not worry yourself."

Jay breathed in deeply. "It's my fault," he said on the exhale. "I told them not to go after Kai. If we'd just followed him, none of this would have happened."

"You cannot blame yourself for Kai's choices," Merv said. "He just...let go of your hand."

"It's not the same, Merv!"

"What's not the same?" Pixal stood in the doorway, a relaxed hand on the pommel of her sword. Suki waddled beside her, chirruping happily.

Somehow, Pixal still managed to look like a noblewoman without her fancy dresses and jewelry. Her narrow, sharp eyes swept across the room, seeing everything in a glance. And her hair hung in loose ringlets over her shoulders. "Nice decorations," she said. "Very tasteful."

"Oh, good. What a tasteful sense of sarcasm you've brought with you." Jay shifted, making space for her on his right side. "Sit down. Where's Cole?"

"Not coming," Pixal said. "I talked to him a minute ago. Vara is sick."

"Right, then." Jay grabbed his cane and stood. "Let's go."

"Wait, are you serious?" Pixal gaped as Jay strode past her and out the door. "Jay! Cole doesn't-"

"He doesn't want Kai to die," Jay snapped. "And neither do we. We're going to talk to him."

Pixal took a step back. Merv tapped her arm, urging her to come.

Grumbling, Pixal beckoned to her bird, and they followed Jay.

Jay led them straight down the hall connecting sections Four- where Jay's room was located- and Five: the hospital. They passed very few people; most were winding down for bed.

"Uh...Cole's in the second door on the left?" Jay asked as they came into Hall Four.

"Yes," Pixal replied. "But I'm warning you, he's not... You're not listening." She threw her arms in the air as Jay opened the door without even bothering to knock.

"Cole," Jay said, Merv clinging to his arm: being around Cole made her nervous. "What's going on?"

Cole sat in a chair beside Varasach's bed, Chedva awake and drinking formula in his arms. He kept his head down as they approached.

A woman stood on the opposite side of the bed from them, scribbling in her notebook. She did not acknowledge their presence.

"You want to talk to me about Kai." Cole said it as a statement, not a question.

"Yes," Jay said. "We need to find him. I was thinking-"

"You're not going out there," Cole said, looking up. His eyes were dim. "Not with your sickness."

Jay opened his mouth to retort, then closed it. He wiped his nose again. "What's wrong with Vara?" he asked. "I'm...guessing it's not good."

"No," Cole said. "It's...it isn't good. No."

"According to the report Cole gave us," the woman said, "Varasach was nearly frozen by the time she was brought to Lord Zane. Damage like that, it cannot go unchecked. Also, she has been flung into a new, colder climate after a lifetime on Keitorin. Her immune system was already compromised before her hypothermia."

"I'm sorry...who are you?" Jay asked.

"Ryndl," the woman said, smiling cordially. "A pleasure to meet you formally, Jay. Cyrus has said much about you."

"Another Nindroid, then?" Jay asked dryly.

"Yes."

"All right then. Go on."

Ryndl looked at her notes. "I was explaining it to Cole when you arrived," she said softly. "Gangrene, internal bleeding from ruptured organs, respiratory failure, to name but a few. She'll be lucky if she lasts another hour."

"I thought it was just a cold," Cole said. "She was drowsy, disoriented, had a bad cough..."

Chedva turned away from the bottle, whining pitifully. Cole set the formula next to his chair and put Chedva over his shoulder, rubbing her back.

Such a tiny little thing, Merv thought, watching the pink-skinned infant squirm in his father's arms, eventually finding comfort under his chin.

"How did Zane not see all this?" Jay asked. "He could have done something!"

"Most of these problems developed after the fact, most likely," Pixal said. "Also, the initial plan was to take her straight to a healer. So Zane wasn't concerned about monitoring her the whole journey."

Merv looked at Varasach, who was sleeping on the bed, blankets pulled up to her neck. Her skin was pale and bluish. Merv recognized that color; she had seen more than a few women on the Dark Island strangled to death by angry- or bored- stone warriors. Vara can't breathe, Merv realized. It sounds like her chest is full of water.

As if in response to this thought, Varasach coughed. It was a terrible, windless cough that shook her chest. Her eyes remained closed as she tried to force in a lungful of air. Milky and bloody liquids spewed from her lips, then were sucked in again with her next intake of breath. Ryndl swabbed her mouth with a towel.

But it wasn't enough. Varasach spasmed, whimpered, and gurgled, her body fighting against the fluids for all it was worth. Finally, Ryndl went mouth-to-mouth with the girl and flooded her lungs with air.

Just as suddenly as the cough started, it stopped. Varasach settled back into her uneasy sleep, and Ryndl stepped back, dabbing her lips with a napkin.

"She's always been so...timid," Cole said hoarsely. "She never told me when something was wrong, she never complained. As if...she thought she was supposed to handle everything alone." He pulled Varasach's hand from beneath the sheets. Four of the fingers were shriveled and black. The entire hand was severely discolored.

"You wouldn't let me take off your gloves," he murmured. "The whole trip back, you said you were cold and wanted to keep them on. I never..." He frowned anxiously. "She should have said something. Then maybe..."

Jay rested a hand on Cole's shoulder.

"Come, Jay," Pixal said. "It's like I told you. Let's go."

Jay looked at Cole and Varasach each in turn, forehead creased by the heaviness of the atmosphere. Then he spoke soberly. "You know, Pixal, what happened the last time we left a friend alone in his time of need."

"And if I wanted you to leave?" Cole asked.

"I'm not leaving," Jay said. "Kai didn't-"

"Don't talk to me about Kai!" Cole shouted, startling the baby. "Don't you get it? Kai is dead!"

"We don't know that," Jay said.

"I know it," Cole said. "I feel it. Everything is crumbling. Overlord has his hand in every single aspect of our lives. Every plant in the garden, overrun by the his weeds and diseases. Our strongest trees, corrupted. Rotting-"

"You can't blame everything on the Overlord," Jay said.

"Yes, I can!" Cole brought Varasach's hand to his chin. "Overlord is the reason Garmadon was poisoned. Because of that corruption, Garmadon sent his men into the North illegally, starting this whole mess. Vara was abused by those men, and we had to try and save Malian, and Kaytake was put in a dangerous position because of his ties to Cyrus and the Overlord. And so, Kai got angry and died."

"Cole..."

"Leave," Cole said. "Let me do this alone."

Merv wasn't sure if Jay would. But eventually he let go of Cole and limped back to the others.

"I will leave as well," Ryndl said, checking her wristwatch. "Cyrus has summoned us for a revising."

"Revising?" Jay repeated.

"Yes. According to the schedule, he has a new song list that he's offered for memorization."

"Are you serious?" Cole looked up at the tall, tallow-eyed woman. "Vara is dying, and you're going to leave her so you can insert a concert into your brain? How does Cyrus even have time for such things?"

Ryndl touched Varasach's face. "Do you believe in the power of music?" she asked.

Cole paused.

Ryndl twirled a few red strands of hair between her fingers. "Music is hope, Cole. Or don't you know? Music is a way of preserving our generation, and of remembering the histories of old.

"Kings sing songs of hope and victory as they lead their men into battle. Men take their sons and daughters on their knees and teach them songs that they carry with them their whole lives, teaching to their children, and they to their children. Birds sing songs of praise to their Creator, who made them so perfectly beautiful."

At the door, she turned and smiled sympathetically. "When I am done with the revision, perhaps I will come and sing for you."

And then she left.

The hallway, to Jay's bewilderment, was suddenly filled with migrating Nindroids, all on their way to Section Four, where Cyrus' lab was. They were silent, respectful of the sleeping humans in the rooms around them, both in the hospital and in the hall connecting Sections Four and Five.

Jay, Merv, and Pixal traveled among them; Jay's bedroom was near Cyrus' lab. Most of the Nindroids acknowledged Jay's presence and gave him respectful nods. They knew him, even if he knew none of them.

So much has changed since I left, Jay thought. Uncle is amazing. To think that he made this many androids in such a short amount of time... Sure, he probably had workers helping him with assembly. But this is an expensive, time-consuming project nonetheless. He hesitated, meeting one Nindroid male's solemn blue eyes. Why did he do it? What is the purpose of this army?

"Jay..."

Jay shook himself, then turned to Pixal. "What?"

Pixal gestured to a door. "Isn't this your bedroom?"

"O-Oh." So distracted was Jay that he'd went right past his door. He retraced his steps- Nindroids giving him a wide berth as he interrupted their flow- and lifted the latch. "You coming in, guys? Or you could just go to bed."

"I'm staying with you," Merv said immediately.

"I'm not going to bed yet," Pixal said. "Not until...well, not to sound insensitive, but I want to be there for Cole when Vara dies. I'll stay awake until then."

Jay nodded, entering his book-cluttered space. He resisted the urge to just fly to his bed, instead taking Merv's hand and walking patiently beside her.

"You okay?" Merv asked.

"Any reason why I shouldn't be?" Jay retorted.

Pixal flicked the back of his scalp.

Jay dropped his cane, whirled with superhuman speed, and grabbed her raised hand. "If you're going to be like that, go away. I don't need your junk right now."

Pixal blinked. Doubtless she was not accustomed to people resisting her teases.

"Fine." She wrestled herself free and turned on her heel, leaving in a huff.

Jay limped the remaining few feet and flopped onto the bed, setting his head on the pillow. He coughed into his sleeve, then swallowed.

"I hate to say it, but Cole's right." Jay reached into his pocket and drew out Nya's letter. The unbroken seal of the envelope glared at him like a red eye. "We're losing. Whether we attack or run away, he's there. He uses everything we say and do against us. He's so, so clever."

He traced the phoenix in the seal for the thousandth time since receiving the letter. "Systematically wearing us down, like weeds invading a garden. Like an ax to the roots of a tree.

"Eventually, we're going to fall."

He felt guilty for missing Nya so much. He didn't deserve to have her, and she probably hadn't even liked him. I was so selfish. Why couldn't I have just told her the truth? Now she's gone.

A quiet knock sounded at the door.

Jay looked up, shoving the envelope back into his pocket. "Eh? Who is it?"

The door opened gradually, and Besai peeked in. She regarded the room nervously. "Cyrus said I would find you here," she said. "Are you...busy?"

"Not really." Jay propped himself up on his pillow. "What can I do for you?"

Besai shrugged. "I...wanted to ask a question."

Jay gauged her expression carefully. There was sadness, of course. But also...agitation. Restlessness. Her twitchy fingers braided a lock of hair next to her ear.

"We can talk," Merv said. "Do you want Jay to leave?"

"Hey- Excuse me! This is my room!" He nodded to Besai. "Come sit. What's your question?"

Besai scurried down the book path and sat on the bed next to Merv, tucking her legs under her. She wiped her eyes. "I am sorry," she said.

"Don't be," Jay said. "Do you need a minute? I'm ready to listen whenever you're ready."

"N-No, I can ask now. I will hurry, so you can-"

"There's no hurry, Besai," Jay said. "Just take your time. It's all right."

Besai took a deep breath, then let it out. "Does...Kai love me?"

"Vanity."

Kai pulled himself out of slumber with a start.

"Vanity of vanities, all is vanity."

Kai ached all over. Especially his legs and abdomen. It was as if every muscle in his body had been twisted and pulled and stretched until nothing but gut-wrenching pain remained.

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven."

The voice was pensive. Calm, thoughtful. As if the speaker was talking aloud to himself.

Yes, Kai could tell it was a 'he'. The voice was a distinct tenor, and a little...familiar.

"A time to be born, and a time to die..."

Shivering, Kai brought his hands close. He felt a twinge in his palm, and he opened his eyes, staring at the fingers until they unbent. Crusted in drying blood, indented into his tender skin, was the earring. He'd been holding it so tightly...

"A time to kill, and a time to heal..."

Kai closed his hand and tried to sit up. His hands were no longer shackled, but he still wanted to move, if only to convince himself that he did have some measure of freedom in this tiny, dark cell.

"A time to break down, and a time to build up..."

"Hello?" Kai got to his hands and knees, but his joints trembled too much. He collapsed. "Hey...who's there?"

Then Kai noticed a still silhouette in the corner to his right.

"I'm sorry," the stranger said. "I shouldn't have said anything. Maybe then your circumstances would not have been so dire."

"What...huh?"

A long pause. "You don't remember? I don't blame you. I'd block it out, too. If I could. But, of course, I'm not human, so I have a harder time forgetting."

The name finally clicked. "Kyle?" Kai said.

"In the flesh. Here, ah, look to your left a ways. I left a bit of food for you."

Suddenly Kai became acutely aware of just how hungry he was. He reached to his left, finding a plate full of cut fruit. He ate eagerly.

"A time to weep, and a time to laugh," Kyle continued. "A time to mourn, and a time to dance..."

Kai hardly tasted the fruit; he was so hungry that the sickeningly sweet and slimy pieces practically skipped his teeth, going straight to his stomach.

"A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from..." He moaned suddenly, words fading into the gloomy, damp air around them.

"I'm sorry, Kyle said. "I really am. I told him I'd protect you."

"Who? Cyrus?"

"Overlord," Kyle nearly whimpered. "I said I would. That no one could harm you. And...he took it as a challenge, and he hurt you. Then he hurt me. And then he went back and hurt you again, except he made me watch that time."

"He...hurt hurt you?"

"No. He can't do that to me. I'm not human. But...I'm hurt."

"Come over here," Kai said. "Let me see. Can I fix it?"

"No," Kyle said. "I'm dying, Kai. I-I'm sorry. I tried to protect you, but..."

"No, no, don't be sorry." Kai pushed himself up again and, now with a bit of nourishment in his body, found he had enough strength to crawl the distance.

He found Kyle leaning against the wall, head lolling to the side. His empty yellow eyes stared bleakly out into the darkness a thousand miles away.

Kai scooted himself against the wall beside Kyle, grimly ignoring the sharp soreness in his hips and thighs as he did so. He touched Kyle's arm. It was cold as stone.

Not stone. Steel.

"What happened?" Kai asked.

"Your clothes were in the corner," Kyle said. "Hope you don't mind, I got you dressed while you were unconscious."

"...Okay, thank you. But what about you, Kyle? Why did he take you?"

Kyle chuckled. "I killed Kozu," he said. "He brought me here for punishment. As for what that entailed...well, I'm a jumbled mess of scrap metal on the inside. I cut nearly all my functions after I was done taking care of you to save power- my battery is damaged- so I can't move. I can't see. I can't smell; even my sense of touch is gone. But...I can think, and talk, and hear. And that's all I need for this last job."

"Job?"

"Cyrus gave me a book," Kyle said. "He added it to my matrix on that afternoon I was to pick up the antidote for Grayren's wife. I've been studying it every minute of every hour. It's so...fascinating.

"And I suspect it will help me save you, Kai."

"Will it show us a way out of this cell?" Kai asked.

"No."

"Will it help me forget what happened?"

"No."

"Okay...will it teach us how to destroy the Overlord?"

"...I don't know."

Kai's temper rose. "Them what does this book do?"

A long silence. Even the passage outside their cell was quiet.

"I realize now what I was made to do, Kai," Kyle eventually said. "Cyrus was preparing me- all of us- for this task. Us Nindroids were never soldiers for some stupid rebellion. We were never supposed to be office assistants, sentinels, or bodyguards."

"Then what are you?" Kai asked.

"I am a shepherd," Kyle said. "I am an encourager. I am a bringer of hope. I am a light for those wandering in the darkness. And you, you, My Lord, are my first- and last- assignment."

"That...sounds both presumptuous and depressing," Kai said. "Just stop talking, okay? Save your energy. We can get out of here and get you back to Cyrus. He'll fix your battery."

"No," Kyle said. "Please, just let me talk. Lay down, listen to what I have to say. You may find this book valuable."

Even paralyzed and dying, the Nindroid was stubborn enough to win the argument. Or maybe Kai was just too tired to bother fighting back.

Kai lowered himself to the floor, each muscle crying out at the abuse. He closed his eyes. "Start, then," he said. "Share with me this information so important that you're willing to waste your remaining power making sure I hear it."

"Yes, Lord Kai." Kyle went silent for another long spell, then began.

"In the beginning..."

Ryndl sang sweetly, as though her voice had been created for that one sole purpose. Every other part of her, imperfect and inconsequential.

But her voice! It was like a lullaby. It kept Varasach from waking up- from feeling any pain- and it stirred something deep in Cole's heart. Something he'd forgotten he had.

Ryndl sat in a chair next to Cole, stroking Varasach's hair as she sang. It was a song of hope, and of joy. A request for peace, and an offering of love. Cole had never heard such a song before. And that was saying something because he'd heard a lot of songs in his twenty-three winters.

No creature should be able to sing like that. Even Mother, whose voice rang clearer than a crystalline mountain stream, would hardly have compared.

Varasach was hardly breathing. But she wasn't struggling anymore; her body had resigned itself to its fate, her heart was slowing to compensate for the lethargy of her fluid-filled lungs.

Chedva slept in her sling, more soundly than she had ever done before. Listening to the melody of the Hosts in her dreams.

Not that Cole believed in the Hosts, or the First King, for that matter. If there really was a god who watched over them from his place in the skies, then he certainly didn't watch over his people as well as he should. The First King. What a fraud. He never was a god. And there never was a Retired God, either. We're all alone in the world.

Ryndl sang a line about salvation and sacrifice, and Cole cringed. This song was probably a hymn sung in the First King's temple. No wonder he hadn't heard it before.

Cole wanted to tell her to stop, but he did not have the heart. He was sure that everyone in this hall could hear her voice, and were soothed by it.

Cole leaned in and pressed his forehead to Varasach's, tears heavy inside his closed eyes. Nineteen winters. That's too young.

"I love you, Vara," he murmured in her ear.

So many. So many dead.

"I'll be there soon. Okay? Tell them to wait for me." He smoothed her hair. Her beautiful red hair, so pure and bold. Just like Via's. Like Mother's.

The door burst open behind them, and Ryndl cut her song short. A short woman rushed in, breathing hard. "S...Sir Cole," she said. "Ryndl. There's trouble."

Overlord, thought Cole instinctively, reclining in his seat numbly.

Ryndl stood. "What is it, Aysha?"

"There are...intruders," Aysha said, as if it was an inconceivable notion. "They broke into Section Three. It's bad. We need Blade wielders."

"What?" Ryndl blinked "That's not possible. We are prepared for these situations. Which Section are they in now? Can we set up the defense?"

"They're in Section Four," Aysha said. "No, we can't counter-attack. They've taken Cyrus, Liana, and a couple others hostage. They're demanding-"

"How many enemies?" Ryndl asked. "Come on, girl. Speak faster!"

"Fifty, at least. Led by a boy." Aysha looked at Cole. "Please, sir. Come and save us."

Only the reminder that Cole was standing over the almost-corpse of his sister kept him from laughing brazenly.

Save them? Save Liana, the girl who lives in Hagar's place because Cyrus thought his daughter deserved life more than her? Save the man who murdered my wife?

But...wait.

"Others?" Cole asked. "Cyrus, Liana, and who else?"

"Does that matter?" Ryndl snapped.

"Jay," Aysha explained "They have Jay, Besai, and Merv, too."