Starr
There was hell to pay after the battle. One look at my exhausted face, and Thanatos decided it was best to leave it to the school's Council. I was glad, considering I barely had the energy to stand up. Stark and Zoey, just to help out as much as they could, stayed behind while Erik and I hovered near Apollo. Aurox, Stevie Rae, and Shaunee remained with Z, not that I was surprised.
When Erik and I were home in the tunnels, Apollo went back to speak with the House's dragon-guardians. I collapsed onto Erik's bed, no longer able to support my own weight. I remembered everything, from the day I came to Tulsa to what I had done as the 'ferret's slave.
Erik sat on the edge of the bed next to me. "Do you know how long it took me to believe that you could be saved?" he asked quietly, breaking the unnerving silence.
"Long enough that you shouldn't remind yourself of it," I muttered, throwing my arm over my eyes. Everything ached from soreness. "Damien…?"
"Sacrificed himself. He, uh, wanted to see Jack again." I peered out from under my arm, one eyebrow raised in question. That could not have been the whole story, not after the power I sensed coming from Erik in battle. My Guardian sighed. "We needed the Master Rune, and the only way to get it was for someone to sacrifice themselves. So Damien wanted to be with the one he loved, and return me to the one I loved."
I searched my mind for anything called the Master Rune but came up short. "What's so important about it, then, if you needed a sacrifice?" I asked, deeply confused inside my migraine.
He turned so that I could see the back of his neck and the Mark left there, hardly visible under his hair. "This" – he faced me once more – "connects me to you."
"Can you be a little more specific?" I continued, trying to mull it over. What I really longed for was some sleep. No sooner had that thought crossed my mind than I yawned.
Pale blue depths softened. "Are you sure you want to hear about this now?" He entwined our fingers together. Eyelids slipping half-closed, I nodded and drew on some of his strength. He gently moved me over so that he could lie down next to me.
As he relayed everything that happened, I attempted to line it up with my own life in the past few weeks. When he commented that Aurox disappeared for a while, I knew exactly where the Vessel went. Everything else was a blur that I had yet to focus clearly on. After Stark had gone to meet the Dark version of me, the others had gone to find the Rune. Erik left nothing out, not even sugarcoating the despair he wallowed in for the majority of the time. It was bad enough hearing about how much he had gone through without recalling what happened under the 'ferret's and bull's control. If I could have spared both of us the pain, I would have.
With a sigh, I rested my head on his collarbone. "I missed you."
"I missed you, too," he breathed. "Now, seriously, get some rest. You deserve it."
Something tugged under my skin as I closed my eyes. I writhed once, uncomfortable. Erik squeezed my hand, but otherwise, he was careful not to touch me, a stiff pillow. I gave in after a minute and slipped past him.
"As much as I agree with you, there's something I need to check." I had no clue where I was going at first.
After several turns, though, I recognized the tunnel that had once held the prophecy for me. Erik kept at a respectable distance. I glanced back at him once, still perplexed, but continued on.
On the same wall as it used to be were the Greek letters I did not particularly miss.
η μάχη ανάμεσα στο σκοτάδι και το φως δεν θα σταματήσει μέχρι να ισορροπήσει κηδεμόνες τους ο ένας τον άλλον
As I read and reread the prophecy, I asked Erik, "Why does it seem like you want to stay away from me? If you freaked out so badly when I left, why separate yourself now that I'm home?"
"Do you know how many times you've died or made me think you died? I'm not particularly ready to have my heart ripped into a million pieces again." I swallowed hard. There was nothing I could really say to that to reassure him, even after I had gone through his death, as well.
Something clicked in my mind. Ignoring that answer, I looked at him excitedly. "We can fix everything. The prophecy gives us a clue as to how." I gestured to the wall. He raised his eyebrows at me, nonplussed. I knew where he wanted to go with this. "Every time one of us is in trouble, those who are left behind have to learn something new. It's not exactly pointless for all of this to keep happening. But if we stop the war, we stop all of the NDEs and captures." I wished he wasn't looking at me as if I was a student.
"And we can stop this how?"
Moving close to him, I wrapped my arms tightly around his waist. "Don't you see?" I exclaimed. He had to, or else I would feel crazier than I already was. "What if it wasn't our personalities and families that determined Light and Darkness? What if it was our power? 'Darkness does not always equate to evil, just as Light does not always bring good.' No one really understood that. Now I think I'm beginning to. It's what's kept me from the Otherworld for so long; we separate ourselves in fear that someone from the other side will come in and destroy us." I was strangely reminded of an Evanescence song. "The new prophecy, the one we found here before things spiraled out of control." This would result so well for us if we were right.
"'The battle between Darkness and Light will not cease until their guardians balance out each other'," he translated.
I nodded. "Take a guess, my Night."
"Umm…" He gave a look that confirmed I might as well have been going crazy. "Zoey and the 'ferret have to find peace – sorry, balance – before we can stop fighting this insane war?"
"More than that," I encouraged, my thoughts moving too fast. Why hadn't any of us thought of this before? "Erik, not one of them will triumph over the other. Ever heard of yin and yang? They cannot exist without each other, and if they do, the world is plunged into chaos. That's what's happening all over the world, especially here in Tulsa. Humans and even vampyres need reasons behind everything, when sometimes the only reason truly is a god or goddess' will. Wanna know what my will is?" I offered, calming a bit.
He returned my embrace at last, finally recognizing I was here to stay. "To get the peace the Sacred Runes themselves created you for in the first place," he guessed.
I smiled. "Exactly." He bent and kissed me, reassuring us both that I had made it back. This was where I intended to remain.
After that revelation, falling asleep was easy.