EDDIE'S POV
My heart is pounding.
My head is racing.
What do I do next?
I don't know which way to turn, how to act.
It's up to me to take down Set.
Nina and Esmay stand to my side, prepared for whatever happens next.
But I guess they weren't prepared enough, for the next thing I know, Set's materialization of smoke begins to fade and swiftly move. It flees to the back of the auditorium and bursts through the doors, bustling down the corridors. Esmay and Nina chase after it, and I'm about to follow them when I remember Cassidy.
I turn around. She's kneeling by his side, tears falling from her face. I never would've expected that: she said she'd forgotten how to cry. I guess finding something you love makes life all the more precious.
For the first time, Cass looks fragile and weak. She looks broken.
I kneel by her side, placing my hand on the small of her back.
She looks at me with glassy brown eyes. "What if I was right, Eddie? What if only four descendants really can survive? I thought it would've been me who died. I'm the spare. I'm not important."
I feel like I've been slapped across the face.
"Cassidy, look at me. You're no spare. Without you coming to this school, I never would have learned about my past. I never would have been able to solve this mystery. Heck, Fabian never would have! I never would have built up the courage to take down something I thought was threatening Patricia. We need you here. I need you. Like you said, you were born for a reason. You wouldn't have been born unless we really needed extra power to take down this evil. You're powerful, you're strong, you're brave. You're important. And Liam isn't going to die. I promise you that. I will keep him alive with my life."
I wave my hand to Fabian, signaling him to come over.
"Fabian, can you watch Liam? We've got a god to fight."
As if on cue, Liam's head shoots upright, colliding with Fabian's.
"Gahh!" Fabian cries, rubbing his forehead.
Blood stains his shirt and lips, but he has a sudden strength to him.
"I'm not giving up that easy," he says, standing up.
Cassidy runs and embraces him in a hug, leaving me there, gaping in confusion.
What just happened? How… how did Liam just suddenly come 'back to life?'
Maybe there really is something powerful about love, more powerful than fear. Maybe Liam loved Cassidy so much that nothing on earth could keep him down.
And maybe that's the answer.
Love.
How did it take me this long to figure it out?
Set threatened me, saying that my love for Patricia would get in the way. He said fear of losing her would shut me down.
He was totally bluffing.
I'll bet Set said that because he knew it is the only thing that can break him. Because love is a force more powerful than evil. It's the only thing I - anyone - has to lose if we lose to Set. Without love, there is nothing to fight for.
"PATRICIA!" I scream as a result of my epiphany.
I dash off of the stage and run through the corridors. She isn't anywhere to be seen. No one is. The halls are dark and musty, and not a person is in sight.
I scream her name again. I scream for Esmay, for Nina. I hear doors behind me, and my heart skips a beat until I see three familiar faces - Cassidy, Fabian, and Liam.
My heart rate slows down as I recognize them. I pause, giving them a chance to catch up to me.
When it crosses my mind that everyone may have deserted the school, I scour for the nearest exit and dash outside.
Oh. My. God.
Everyone who was just in the auditorium is lying on the grass on the front lawn. Their bodies are contorted and shaking, some of their mouths foaming. Blood streams from some of their lips.
It's just like Patricia described my appearance that first time I felt Set coming over me.
And now I understand her fear.
This is the most frightening thing I've ever seen. If Patricia was broken over just the sight of me, I can't imagine what she'd feel like at the sight of this.
Speaking of which… where is she?
"PATRICIA!" I scream at the top of my lungs. I scour the grounds, jumping over the bodies. It feels inhumane, but there isn't any other way. I continue to shout her name, my voice on a loop. All I can think is her name.
To my dismay, the only people who reply are the other descendants. Off in the distance, I hear Nina and Esmay. They bound towards me, leaping over the bodies as I did. I wince at the sight of them leaping over presumably dead, innocent people, but we're trying to save them. The girls meet us in the lawn, and I turn around to face the ones who had run with me outside, but I scream, for Fabian has fallen onto the grass, twitching and flailing just as the many other people out here are doing. Cassidy and Liam turn around after hearing me shout, and they, too, begin to panic. One thought goes through my head as to why we are left standing:
We're too powerful to be controlled by Set.
And suddenly, I have hope. I have hope that maybe we are outside of his realm of control, growing too strong to be taken down. The five of us together may have the strength to take down Set.
Or, I could be completely wrong. Set may have purposely kept us conscious.
I decide that I do not care as long as I find Patricia. After witnessing the strength Liam had at the knowledge he loved Cass, I know that love may be the only thing that can save me.
"PATRICIA! PATRI—NO!"
I see her sprawled across the ground, blood oozing from her lips and chest. Red splotches emblazon her once burgundy gown. Her soft hands have wrinkled, her nails a yellowing shade. And her eyes; they are open, wide open. I can see through them, as if there is no life left in them, just a door leading to death, and I begin to understand the phrase, "The eyes are windows to the soul." I feel like that's all she is now: a soul.
I fling myself atop her, her blood staining my clothes. I cry into her hair, soaking it that its dark red turns a murky brown.
"Eddie, please, please stand up. We need to fight Set. He is probably just controlling them. If we take him down, you'll get him back."
A deep, bellowing laugh emanates from nowhere.
"You think fighting me will save these people? While they are not dead yet, I plan to capture their mortal souls and they alone will allow me to possess my true form. The mighty Set will rise!"
My fists ball as I stand up bravely. I am sick of Set traumatizing me, my family, my friends - I'm done. I will not have this. So I offer the only thing I can think of that will stop him once and for all.
"Take me, Set. Kill me. Take my soul instead. I know it's only one soul, and you won't be able to regain a physical form, but you will have your vengeance, and you can leave knowing you have killed off the descendant of your enemy Osiris. Take me, and never hurt anyone here again." I can't believe I said the words as I said them. It is all too much to take in. And what if Patricia wakes up to me, dead, lifeless?
"As intriguing the offer, for it would be magnificent to taunt Osiris, I cannot. You do not have a mortal soul; you have the soul of a god. I can kill you anyway, take the souls from these people, retain a form and kill all who walk my path. I am here to seek vengeance on not only the gods, but this world."
"You will never get away with this!" Cassidy yells.
"Oh, but I will," Set responds coyly. "Watch."
Suddenly, a flash of light knocks me off of my feet. I see a streak of white light flash before my eyes, and then everything is black.