I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.
Last Chance
I open my eyes. Field. The same where I proposed to Marina.
So that's what heaven looks like huh? I can live with this. Just wish I had a way to watch over Marina.
I hear grass crunch behind me and turn, smiling as I see Eight. He smiles as well, stepping up beside me.
"Thank you," I say. "For saving her."
"Sorry I threw you in the way," Eight says.
"Don't be," I say. "It made Setrákus Ra stop attacking her, as opposed to him chasing her around the room while I'm still stuck in a wall. Besides, she's safe and by now Setrákus is either dead or about to be."
"Dead now," Eight says. "But John's not. or Five."
"Lucky bastards," I grumble. "They would make me die alone with Setrákus Ra. At least he didn't come to heaven with me."
"Heaven?" Eight asks before laughing. "Is that where you think this is? No no. This isn't heaven."
"Then where are we?" I ask. "It sure doesn't look like Hell."
"Far from it," Eight laughs. "This is the inside of your own mind."
"What?" I ask. "What, you mean I lived?"
"Oh hell no!" Eight snorts. "No you died. Kicked the bucket. Rang your bell."
"Then what the hell is going on?" I ask.
"Language James, language," Eight chuckles. "You were doing so well at that before. Besides, I'm here to explain. You did die. So did John. And Five."
"Then how are we alive?" I ask, turning to face him and glaring.
"Calm down," Eight laughs. "I'm trying to tell you that. Listen, when I intervened and used some of...what did Ella call him...Legacy's power to get my teleporting Legacy back long enough to help you save Marina, Legacy was thoroughly and truly confused. Couldn't understand how I could have the will power to take his energy, or why I would do it, when I'm already dead and have no reason left to interfere in the world of the living. He doesn't really understand feelings, and he doesn't understand why I would interfere when it's not my place. So, I spent some time, felt like longer than the few minutes it actually took, explaining to him that I love Marina, and that you're probably the best friend I've ever had aside from her. He still didn't understand. But I did manage to convince him to give you all a second chance. So, he gave Six a new Legacy, just long enough to save you all."
"The ability to bring the dead back to life," I summarize.
"Yes," Eight nods. "Her grief at you and John both being killed by Setrákus Ra activated the legacy and revived the two of you."
"But how?" I ask. "They were supposed to level the mountain."
"They did," Eight says. "After Six and Marina went to make sure Setrákus Ra was dead and retrieve the bodies of Marina's boyfriend and our fearless leader. When Six got there and saw you both, the legacy activated and brought you back to life, then burned itself out. Marina, who was understandably weeping on your chest, felt the first heartbeat and began to heal you, sealing your wounds but you still fell into a coma. Again. Of course, granted that there was no blood left in your body, you're lucky you didn't die again on the spot."
"True," I nod. "So, how long have I been out? And what happened?"
"Honestly, I'm not sure about either of those," Eight says. "I know Setrákus Ra is finished, and you've been out for more than a week, but I don't know exactly."
"Can I wake up myself?" I ask.
"Doubtful," Eight says. "Though, the fact that you're finally conscious enough for me to talk to you is progress. I think you'll be up soon. Anyway. My time's up. I gotta go. Legacy's going to be mad I took so long. This will be the only time we bring you back from the dead, so it'll be your last chance at being alive. I also won't be able to keep watching over you. But you don't need me to. From here on out, you're her guardian alone. Honestly, with that one exception, she never needed another. Take care James. And keep Marina safe."
Eight fades and I blink in surprise before turning, looking out across the field.
"How can I keep her safe if I can't even wake myself up?" I ask no one in particular. "And safe from what? The war's over, right?"
I sigh, closing my eyes and grit my teeth. I focus. Try to will myself awake. At first, all I get is a headache from gritting my teeth too hard. Then, I start to become aware of other things. The pain of lying in the same uncomfortable position for too long. The ache of hunger that comes from being on an IV of nutrients you need to live but inly enough to keep you alive. The pain of dehydration. The burn in my eyes from not using them for too long. I try to raise my hand to rub then and feel the ache of underused muscles that don't want to fully respond. Finally, I open my eyes and see a silhouette over me, a silhouette because of the painfully bright light behind them. I raise a hand to block the light, and just like that, it's out. I blink, my vision dark for a moment before focusing. After a moment, I blink, lowering my hand and looking around. Marina is over me, tears flooding down her face as she resists the urge to crush me to death with a hug. Next to the light switch is the now one-armed Nine. At his side are Hawkeye and Rookie, both of whom have a few old-looking scars on their exposed arms that I had never seen before.
I open my mouth to speak but feel like I might start bleeding if I do. Marina reaches up, healing my head of the brain damage I clearly have again, then hands me a glass of water. I drink half of it, wait a minute, then drink the rest.
"How long?" I croak, sounding awful.
"Almost a year," Marina says, helping me sit up, since everyone in the room knows I want to. "You've been out almost a full year."
"More than a week huh Eight?" I snort, the others all looking confused. "Eight payed me a visit before I woke up."
"Eight?" Marina asks. "The real Eight? Like, his spirit?"
"Yeah," I nod. "Nine, come here."
Nine walks over and I unpin his sleeve, letting it fall to his side before resting my hand on his shoulder. After a moment, it glows and Nine's arm slowly regrows until it's completely restored, albeit as white as my sheets.
"You can control that now?" Nine asks.
"Kind of," I say. "It's easier when it's a missing limb."
Nine nods, flexing and stretching his arm. Hawkeye passes me another glass of water and I drink it quickly then toss it back.
"Now can I have something that will actual help?" I ask. "Like a lake?"
Hawkeye rolls his eyes, grinning, and I swing my legs off then bed. Marina helps me stand up and my legs wobble, threatening to give out. I'm thin. Very thin. And my legs struggle to support me, even though I'm willing to bet I weigh a whopping eighty pounds.
"So, where are we and what did I miss?" I ask.
"I'll fill him in on what I can while I get him dressed in something decent," Nine says.
"Hold on," Marina says.
He rests her hands on my shoulders, Nine holding me up with Telekinesis for her. Then, Marina's hands begin to glow. Slowly, the ache all over my body fades and my body fills back in, the muscles that had left me while I was out being restored until I look the same as when we went after Setrákus. I smile and Nine releases me. I stumble, then regain my balance. Muscles or no, my coordination and control is still shot. Marina hands me my clothes and leaves and Hawkeye, Nine, and Rookie take turns filling me in on current events. The various nations of the world had created combined rules that tried to govern Legacies. Among those is that I can only use my powers for good and that crap. They had also created laws governing how LANEs would be trained, even though Nine was the one training them, and laws for how the surviving Mogadorians could live and where, which happened to be an extremely cold prison camp. Then, Nine showed me a paper, a script. An Oath of Enlistment. It's not for any of the military branches that were around when I died. This was for joint military branch across several, if not all, nations and was called Earth Garde. The Oath was almost the same as the one I had recited for the Marine Corps, except it said Legacies could only be used for the betterment of mankind and that LANEs had to defend the planet, and faithfully serve their nation. Not the constitution, not the people, not even the planet. Nope. Anyone who joins Earth Garde serves only their nation. I make a disgusted face and hand it back, pushing myself up and stumbling before regaining my footing.
"I hate humans," I decide. "Give a few a special ability and they try to draft them into being militarized slaves."
"Yup," Nine nods, opening the door and stepping aside. "Shall we go get you working again?"
I nod and very carefully, and probably quite humorously, wobble my way out of the room. Marina's waiting in the hallway and meets me with a kiss. I kiss her back instantly, and only pull back when one of the others clears their throats.
"What?" I ask.
"We're supposed to be getting you going again," Nine says.
"Later," I say. "I'm excited to be alive."
As if on cue, my legs buckle and I sit down hard. I grumble in frustration, trying to stand only to drop again.
"Alright fine," I huff, Marina helping me up. "Let's go then."
"Once you get going, there are a couple of things you need to know," Marina says as we walk down the hallway of the Academy, a rip off of Charles Xavior's school for mutants, only we handle LANEs, apparently. "You've been getting letters from your father recently, five I think. And also, you were selected to be a police officer, or enforcer, for laws regarding Legacy usage."
"I was in a coma," I say. "How did I get chosen?"
"Nine was the only one to vote," Marina grins.
"Figures," I sigh. "Rookie, can you go grab my letters? And a Tavor and M16, if we have any."
"You're not ready for shooting," Nine laughs.
"True," I agree. "But rifle manual and drill will get my coordination back faster."
Rookie branches off at the next turn and I glance into a gymnasium where several LANEs are tossing footballs back and forth with Telekinesis.
"So, where's everyone else?" I ask.
"Well, Lexa lives here, as a benevolent hacker, keeping any Garde out of the news, just to be safe," Nine says. "Six and Sam are on a year long honeymoon vacation, may or may not come back with a plus one-"
"I doubt they're that stupid," Hawkeye says.
"Who said it'd be an accident?" Nine asks.
"Anyway," I say, deciding I'd like to avoid talking about Six and Sam's sex life for the time being. "What about the rest of the others?"
"John lives in the Himalayas, supposedly fixing up that cave where the teleport stone is," Nine says. "Not sure what for, but hey, whatever keeps him busy. Ella's there with him, living in the village at the foot of the mountains."
"And Sarah?" I ask.
"She lives in Paradise, Ohio again," Nine says. "John visits about once a week, apparently, but for whatever reason has decided to live in the mountains like a hermit rather than staying with is smokin' hot girlfriend. Aside from that, Daniela's helping rebuild New York, and Five's still dead."
I stop mid-stride and the others look over at me.
"What?" Marina asks.
"Uh...what about Adam?" I ask. "Was he arrested with the rest of the Mogadorian?"
"Not exactly," Marina says. "He wasn't arrested, but he does live there with them. He got a formal pardon from the world leaders so he could leave whenever he wants to, but he won't turn his back on his people."
"He's actually gotten a few to convert away from their dead psychopath dictator," Nine says.
I nod, starting forward again as we step outside where Hawkeye and Rookie have a shooting range and a nice big drill field.
"Alright," Nine grins. "So, we'll start off small. One lap around the drill field, minimal Telekinetic assistant."
"That's a full mile run," I say.
"Problem?" Nine asks.
"I can barely walk ten feet," I say.
Nine arches an eyebrow just as Rookie jogs over, a Tavor and M16 slung over his shoulders and a handful of letters in his hands. I take them from him, opening the oldest and scan it. I have a slight smile for about ten seconds. Then, it melts away.
"What?" Marina asks.
I ball up the first letter, tearing the second open and read it quickly. That one follows the first, as do the others in the same manner after I've read them all. When I finish the fifth, I lower it to my side, staring straight ahead.
"What's wrong?" Marina asks.
"Looks like I'm running after all," I say. "Marina, you better pack."
Marina looks confused before I turn, stumbling away, beginning around the drill field.
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