Hello, ladies and gentlemen!
This is the last chapter of my first story. As I'm typing this, I'm still not sure how to begin. I have an idea about how it'll play out, though.
Anyway, go ahead and read. Information about a possible sequel is at the end.
Epilogue – Blood divided once again
Jasmine was in her basement, readying the necessary objects and drawing the symbols for the portal she was going to open. The librarian didn't have exceptionally much skill in magic, but she could still transport the soldiers back to their world. She wasn't entirely happy with it, though: not only could the three men prove themselves to be good guards for the village, she had also seen the sadness hiding behind the eyes of that Spidey girl. It was well concealed, but Jasmine wasn't easily fooled.
She had also felt the conflict in two of those soldiers. General Boone seemed fine, but Harry and Cody weren't entirely okay with leaving their new friends behind like that. Sure, she had caught wind of Cody's suicide mission and that he had left his friends in his world in order to perform it, but it still wasn't easy for him. Maybe it was even more difficult this time…
She finished the symbol she had been drawing on the wall for the last five minutes. Tired, she ran a hand through her hair and looked at the scene. The only thing it needed now was her magic directed at it. She would inform the soldiers first, of course.
Cody was sitting on a chair in Rachel's house. In front of him, Harry was pacing frantically. Neither of them had said a word, but they knew their respective conflicts were one and the same. They didn't want to leave Scott's side, but they also didn't want to leave their new friends.
Rachel herself wasn't home: she was talking some more with Spidey and Skelly. The three seemed to be getting closer. They were already able to have conversations, and Rachel already apologized to the two on behalf of the entire village. Her apology was accepted rather quickly.
"Harry, sit down." Cody sighed. "Pacing isn't going to help."
Before Harry could respond, the door opened. Scott entered, causing Harry to salute.
"Gene-" he began, before the older man interrupted him.
"At ease, corporal," he said. The younger soldier put his hand down and continued pacing.
Scott tilted his head slightly. "Is this what you think of when I say 'at ease'?"
Harry stopped his pace again and looked at the general. He shook his head.
"No, sir," he said.
"Sit down, corporal," the old man commanded. "I have some things to discuss with you two."
Harry obeyed him and sat on the other chair. Cody gave his father a nod.
"General," he said. "What did you want to talk about?"
Scott looked at them both. "I've noticed that you two have been a bit depressed lately," he replied, gaining questioning looks as an answer.
"How did you know?" Cody asked. His dad chuckled.
"I guess you two are just terrible at hiding your personal emotions," he joked, causing the two soldiers to let out a chuckle as well. Then, the atmosphere turned serious again.
"I'm general Scott Boone. If I didn't know how my son was feeling, I'd be a terrible father." He turned to Harry. "Same goes for my subordinates. The fact that you're more passionate than sergeant Boone and I made it all the more easy for me to notice your sadness, and I can't ignore it."
He looked at them both. "You don't want to leave your friends, do you?"
The younger males did what they usually did when they were asked a question like this. Harry burst out gibberish, stuttering as he attempted to form words and improvise at the same time in order to 'explain' the situation. Cody remained silent and seemingly calm, but averted his gaze slightly. His emotions were always hard for most others to read, but like the older man said, Scott was his father. He knew how his son worked.
"At ease, corporal," he repeated, silencing the corporal in question, who didn't make eye contact. Cody continued to use the deafening silence as his words.
Eventually, after several minutes of silence, the sergeant spoke up.
"You're right, general," he softly said. "We don't want to leave our friends." Scott sighed in response.
"No need to be so emotional about it, fellows," he said. "After all, now that the war in our world is over, things go back to their usual state." He let those words sink in for a moment.
"Including…" he continued. "The fact that the people who were once kids will leave their parents in order to start a life for themselves."
That caught their attention. They knew that before the war that kind of stuff happened, and never stopped for the Enlightened and the people whose minds they controlled. Resistance soldiers would usually stay with their families to protect them, and because travelling from base to base wasn't easy.
The general chuckled inwardly upon seeing their surprised faces and resumed his speech.
"I think it's time for you guys to do just that," he said. "I even encourage you to do so, 'cause the only home we have in the other world is that Resistance base. The one with the shitty beds and the dim lights."
The room got silent again. Cody and Harry were dumbfounded. General Boone, that cold, stern, 'do-what-I-tell-you-or-I-will-have-you-scrub-the-floor' man, would just let them go? Even his own son? They couldn't believe it.
Finally, Harry spoke up. "This is a dream, isn't it?" he chuckled. Cody then pierced the remaining silence with a simple but serious question.
"What about you?" he asked his father. "What're you going to do?"
The old man smiled. "I'm going back," he said. "I'm going to help with restoring the Earth. The war's messed it up badly, and everyone's planning to get that undone. It's time for me to get out there and give them a hand."
It was silent for a while. Then, the door opened and Jasmine, the librarian, entered.
"The preparations are complete," she said.
"Cody!"
The man in question turned around to see the two mobs running towards him. He had been wandering through the village after the old man departed from this world. The spell Jasmine used to send him back had created a somewhat small portal to the Resistance base. Nobody else was visible on the other side, and the soldiers had said their goodbyes before Scott stepped through it. The girls hadn't been informed yet, however.
Once they were near him, they stopped. He noticed their worried looks… or was it sadness he saw? They still thought that he was about to leave for good, so it would make sense.
He had to give them credit for doing a great job of hiding their emotions, though.
"Before I say anything…" Spidey suddenly said. "Don't think that me leaning on you three days ago meant anything, 'cause it… y'know… didn't."
Cody looked at her and said: "I never said it did."
Then, Skelly spoke up.
"When will you… leave?" she asked. Her voice trembled a bit.
"I'm not," Cody simply said. Upon hearing that, the girls' expressions became mixtures of shock, confusion and surprise.
"You see…" Cody continued. "My father went back to my world, but Harry and I are staying. The old man even encouraged us to do so, if you can believe that."
After mere seconds, Spidey's face became normal again.
"Of course you'd stay," she said in an almost bored voice. "Who'd leave their friends behind like that? It's only logical that you gotta start a life for yourself someday."
She walked off keeping a straight face, but Cody and Skelly detected some relief and joy from behind her eyes.
Skelly was still frozen, but then regained her composure too.
"I must say that I'm quite glad that you're staying here," she said in her usual formal tone, smiling. "I don't know how long it would've taken me to get over your departure."
"Well…" Cody airily said. "Spidey's right. Everyone has to gain independence from their parents eventually."
He looked at the moon, which had only just revealed itself from behind the mountains in the distance.
"We should go back," he said. "We're wasting moonlight, and the others are probably going to be relieved and pissed once we get back."
Skelly chuckled. "You're probably right," she agreed. "Though we will likely be returning here frequently now that we have a truce with the Koïtians."
There was a silence between the two for a while. It didn't take long, as Spidey suddenly came by again.
"Ready to go?" she asked.
Cody nodded and sighed.
"The others really are going to get pissed…" he said. "The only thing we have to do now other than go home is make up some excuses and alibis."
Hey guys!
I hope you all enjoyed my first story. Despite the fact that my skill in English is somewhat limited…
Anyway, I may make a possible sequel if you guys want. However, due to the fact that school just started for me again, its updates won't be as frequent.
Also, I'm still thinking about the plot. I have a few ideas, and might even make this a trilogy. Tell me what you think.
Have a great day!
