Chapter Forty-One: Sustained Life

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Wake up.

He felt death invade his body, like an ocean over the sand. The Grim Reaper took his left hand, and pulled him toward His gates.

Not yet. You haven't even begun to tell her yet. Wake up.

But then another hand took his right one, and tugged insistently. Neither of the grips abated in strength, and he found himself caught in a tug-of-war.

You yet owe us. Let go of Death's hand. Now!

The hand in his right pulled viciously, and he was dragged to its origins. Consequently, his back arched in agony, and he screamed until the sound shattered his own ears.

Don't be melodramatic. It's your own fault for not telling her quickly.

"Don't…" make me wake up.

But he already had, as was confirmed when he heard Sanar say, "Devnos?"

Life pushed its way back into his body; air screamed down into his lungs, forcing them to move in and out, and his heart to pump. His head lolled to the side, and his eyes found his sister. "Sanar," he croaked.

"Don't talk," she ordered quickly, and he noticed that her eyes were puffy. "Save your strength."

Save his strength? Devnos had no strength left; he was running off the will of the Force, and nothing else. "I'm going to die – either way, Brownie," he told her, energy spent. "It'll be – more painful if I – stay quiet."

The Force pumped more energy into him, and he found breath coming easier; it didn't whip his lungs as much now. But the loan also meant that he had the ability see details, and to notice how tired and scared Sanar looked.

"It's okay, Brownie," he murmured, taking her hand. "Pinky promise."

A sob escaped her, and she slammed a hand over her traitor mouth. In defence, her left arm wrapped around her stomach, revealing a book.

Devnos angled his head so that he could see the title of her book. Soul: A Collection of Triumph. His eyes flicked down, dreading what he would find, to the author's name. "Can I see that?" he asked throatily.

She gave it to him quickly and without protest. Murmuring gratitude, he pushed the Force's loaned energy to his hands, and flipped through the tome. Scanning the Table of Contents with resignation, he flipped through the pages. Most of them were here; he wanted to stab the words off their pages.

"Sanar?" he began softly. When she wiped her eyes and lowered her hands, he asked, "What would you say…if I told you that every one of these stories is true?"

She stared at him, then down at the book. She looked as sick as he had felt when he received his first vision.

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Jaina bled energy into Kip, and she understood what was occurring, and what should consequently happen. The Jaina of several months ago would have balked at the idea, even if she was capable of recognizing the significance. Since her death, however, she had seen firsthand how strange life could be. Souls that sickened without emotional or physical cause should be no problem to digest.

Shaking herself out of the Force trance that allowed her to conserve and share energy at the same time, Jaina scanned the room for her beloved. "Zekk? Could you take over for a bit?"

She stumbled for a second in her post-trance disorientation, and Zekk caught her by the elbow. "Energy drain?" he queried after her reasons.

"No, I'm okay, considering." She brushed his lips with hers reassuringly. "Don't worry. I just need to talk to Kyp."

"Don't bicker too long," he told her mock-sternly. "You kids never know when to stop."

"Yes, Master." Sticking her tongue out at him, she walked out the door.

When the door swished closed behind her, Jaina's smile died. Boots clipping the metallic floor, she walked about the ward, trying to find a private room. It wouldn't do for someone to see her talking to a ghost or – worse – nothing at all. Her path had become confusing enough without someone thinking her insane.

Finding an out of the way, abandoned office, Jaina entered, and locked the door behind her. Carefully approaching the River (always it beckoned, but always now she could fight it) and calling his name, Jaina was unsurprised when Kyp came more swiftly than ever before.

He knew to stay in the water, on the line between Life and Death.

/We need to talk, Durron./

/So talk./

She felt the pull; heard the calls; sensed the peace that waited, the friends that watched. /No. Play ghost. I'm tired./

Withdrawing from the River and Its eternal beckoning, Jaina felt her former master follow her out. He appeared before her in all his blue glory only seconds after she first tapped her foot.

"So, what's going on?"

Jaina raised an eyebrow, but played along. "Your clone's soul is disappearing."

Kyp's forehead creased in a frown. "Seriously?"

If it wasn't news to him, Jaina admitted, he did a good job of hiding it. "Seriously," she confirmed. "Physically, he's fine. As soon as he does something other than stare at the ceiling, the medics want to let him go."

"Will he recover?"

Jaina snorted. "Don't play coy; you know he won't. What makes Kip Kip will disappear – sooner rather than later."

"Wow. Strange. Do you know why?"

"Is it possible to create a soul in a test tube, out of tangible materials?" she asked rhetorically. "Even if they could, would it last?" She shrugged, but then eyed him suspiciously. "Did you know this was going to happen?"

Kyp shook his head. "No, I had no idea." Seeing her cocked eyebrow, he insisted, "I didn't. Believe me."

"But you knew something of this nature would occur?" she prodded.

He didn't seem to hear her, at first, but then, softly, he said, "I guess this is how it comes to be."

She stared at him, but then relented, nodding slowly. "I'll talk to Kip," she decided. "There's a chance we could save him – stop the withdrawal…" But she knew there wasn't, really.

"We'll need Sanar," Kyp told her. "No offence – you'll be able to help, but Sanar… Sanar has to be there."

Jaina drew a hand through her hair. "I'm not pulling her away from Devnos. She needs that much." Her eyes flicked up to Kyp. "Devnos is dying, did you know that?" Her voice broke a little.

Kyp watched her. "I know. I'm sorry, Jay."

"I – I know he isn't my brother, but…he is."

The ghost reached out to tip her chin up. The icy feel of his touch did what his transparent fingers could not. "Kip…will last another two days. Devnos won't. We can plan everything out for then."

Jaina brushed away the tears that had formed. "Right." She sniffled, nodded firmly. "Okay. You best say goodbye to anyone over there that's worth the last touch; in two days, we're going to see how much we can bend the whole Death-is-the-End thing."

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Please R&R :)

.Tjz