Chapter Twenty-Two: A Song of Eternal Shadows and Endless Dreams
Abandoned Hospital, Brazil - 2017
"I'm here baby." Isabella said, looking down at the girl laying on a dirty metal table and hesitated for just a couple of seconds before leaning down to bite her. Just like in the original timeline Eliza reacted defensively, and bit back. As the link slowly started to establish, Eliza's consciousness flowed into her own body again as the process changed their physical forms.
"Isabella said it would take about a day." Alice turned away from her fiancé and headed down the back stairs of the hospital where Angela and Emmett had set up to capture Joham as he ran.
"Angel, do you have him?" Charlie asked out loud, as he cleaned off his blade of black animal blood.
"Yup, his mind isn't quite as squirrelly, but he's still him. What should we do with him, keep him alive for Eliza or just take his head now?" Angela asked, her own mind was equally jumbled. She had been dealing with her actions for years, and still hadn't been able to forgive herself for acting just like the woman who had tortured her.
"Leave that to me." Alice said as she pushed through the exit door and flashed over and grabbed Joham by the throat. "This is for Isabella and Eliza and all the death you caused." Alice ripped out his throat without hesitation, removed his head and then poured some lighter fluid on the body and lit a box of matches to set him ablaze.
"What are we going to do with these poor women?" Esme asked across the mental link Angela had established for the raid.
"Try to deliver the babies, and then turn them." Alice suggested
Esme nodded mostly to herself, as she held one of their hands and gave her a warm smile. "Do you speak English?" The woman nodded once. "We're going to knock you out, when you wake up you'll be different." The woman nodded again, clearly terrified, but the grateful look in her eyes was all the confirmation Esme needed. She pressed the release and lowered the medical bed, pushed enough morphine into her IV to knock her out and then started to prepare for the c-section.
"What are you going to do to her?" One of the other women asked with panic filled eyes, speaking in Portuguese.
"Just delivering her baby, we want to help you." Esme replied, having learned the language in preparation for this mission.
"Then kill us, he put monsters inside of us!" The woman begged, pulling on her restraints.
"No, they are innocent, I promise what is inside of you is not a monster. I will make sure you live through this, then we will take the child if you do not wish to keep it yourself." Esme explained as easily as she could, and the woman slowly nodded in understanding. The other two women both nodded as well when Esme met their eyes.
Angela arrived to take over the main surgery, and everyone else assisted her and Esme. She worked tirelessly, doing everything possible to save the lives of each mother and child. But in the end all four women died from complications. Of the five infants, two died during childbirth. Of the three that lived, only two were viable, twin girls who only survived because Joham's experiments were shared between them during gestation. The other was massively twisted and deformed and tried to attack Angela as she pulled it from its mother, forcing her to kill it.
After the surgery Angela retreated into her mind, to the sanctuary she had created for Talia, Brianna, Michelle and Eliza while they waited for their physical bodies. It was a perfect replica of the Waterfall House. Eliza had contributed a lot to the design, altering it to suit everyone's tastes, and it had become a place of peace for everyone in the link. Angela walked slowly towards the house from the edge of the forest, and sat down on the porch swing staring out over the expanse of grass and the giant tree dominating the field.
"Hey you." Talia said brightly as she sat down next to Angela.
"I miss you." Angela whispered, her body reacting to the grief of failure weighing on her heavily.
"I guess things didn't go well?" Talia guessed, as she wrapped her arm around Angela's shoulders and kissed her cheek.
"There were four women that were taken by Joham, four pregnancies. I lost most of them." Angela buried her face in her hands, and allowed herself to cry. In this place she was still human, still capable of a full range of emotions.
"Hun, you don't have to take this upon yourself." Talia squeezed Angela a bit closer, and Angela buried her face in Talia's shoulder.
"I've been ready for this for years, I knew they were there. I knew what I had to do, I prepared, I… I did everything I could to save them." Angela sounded broken, and despite the outward strength she had been broken since she had enacted her vengeance on Victoria.
"What happened?" Talia asked, separating from her lover, but keeping physical contact by interlocking their hands together. Talia let go with one hand and reached up to lift Angela's chin, locking eyes with her lover.
Angela let out a blast of air, despite the fact that she had no need for air in this place. "Human physiology isn't meant for a hybrid pregnancy, the amount of trauma I had to inflict on them was severe just to deliver their children. Normally, venom could be used to restore them, but for some reason their bodies rejected the process. In fact it seemed to hasten their deaths. I would've held off after the first, but I think they were all linked. After the first died, the other three immediately went into labor."
"Makes sense, given what happened with his soldiers during the battle turning into black sludge." Talia reasoned, but it didn't seem to help as Angela shut her eyes to hold back the pain she was feeling.
"Then how is Eliza different? I still don't understand his process." Angela finally replied after almost a minute of silence and tears.
"You're there now right? Go through his notes, check his records. He sounds like the kind of monster that kept everything." Talia suggested, although she frowned after a moment after thinking about the implications of such research.
"For answers only, I need to destroy it all so that no one will ever attempt to do this again." Angela felt her resolve returning, and sat back feeling confident in her next actions.
"Well yes, that would be the moral choice." Talia smiled, happy that Angela was still mostly herself after everything.
Angela bit into her left cheek as she felt another wave of dissociation and madness threaten to overwhelm her mind again. "After what I did to Victoria, it has to be my choice. I can't go down that path again." Her voice cracked saying the name again.
"I know my love." Talia reached out and caressed Angela's cheek, wishing she could do it for real. She had no real sensation of touch, just a phantom impression like a residual memory of touching that was fading little by little. She could never tell Angela the truth of their situation, but she wasn't sure whatever remained of her would last much longer.
Port Angeles - 2017
"Leah!" Eliza called to her fiancé as she hopped down the final two steps from the plane onto the tarmac, and ran over to her.
"Hey baby." Leah said as they wrapped their arms around each other and kissed. "You feel like you." She continued when they managed to part after almost a minute.
"Mom did the thing, so we're all us again. Rose and Emmett even have a couple of new babies. So all is right in the world." Eliza frowned, "except we don't have Brianna yet. But hey, at least my bio dad is ash."
"That's a lot. So what's next?" Leah looked to her lover, feeling full and complete finally after over a decade.
"I think we just live. I mean there aren't any more threats." Eliza shrugged, wondering if Leah had already bought her house.
"What about the Volturi? Edward witnessed Alice's vision and he could've gone to Aro." Leah asked, looking around at the gathered family.
"Maybe, but I really don't know if they will try and start a fight with us now, especially if they realize we are all stronger and faster than their guard." Alice reasoned, but couldn't quite wipe the worry from her voice.
"Yes, but it is still a risk." Esme fretted, as Charlie stepped beside her and gently wrapped his arms around her waist. She immediately leaned back and kissed his cheek, then covered his hands with her own.
"Then we lay low, use our resources to hide most of the time." Rosalie suggested, as she stepped up next to Esme and Charlie, in her arms was a newborn infant sleeping peacefully, her strange dark blue hair already an inch long. Emmett was beside her with another baby girl with the same matching hair color.
"Have you given them names yet?" Leah asked Rosalie, who shook her head.
"I've been going back and forth on it, and Emmett has been no help at all." Rose glanced over at her husband who rolled his eyes at her.
"What is wrong with Lily and Fern? My mother's name was Fern." Emmett argued again, and Rose shook her head.
"Lily is fine, although two flower names in a family are pushing it. I cannot name my daughter Fern, regardless of the connections." Rosalie was clearly not willing to give in, and Emmett pouted for a moment before the girl in his arms yawned and his attention was completely diverted.
"There is one thing we need to do, I have a date in about four years." Angela sent the feeling of a kiss towards Talia, who was still standing on the imaginary porch waiting.
North of Verneuil d'Avre et d'Iton, France - 2021
Talia's vampire eyes opened, expecting to find the monster who had turned her into something else. Instead she found a beautiful woman sitting near her, tending a small campfire.
"Who are you?" Talia said as she stood and backed up a few steps.
"That is a very long, very complicated story. But to put your mind at ease, I'm a friend, I put down the nomad who turned you and killed your friend. Please sit, we have a lot to talk about." Angela had rehearsed what she was going to say to make sure Talia wouldn't react badly.
"Do I know you?" Talia asked, her mind roaring with newborn thirst. But for some reason being in this stranger's presence felt calming and safe.
"I do, but we've never met. My name is Angela Swan and I have a gift for you." Angela smiled, her dark citrine eyes examining Talia's face while trying not to let the feelings of longing show in her expression.
"What kind of gift?" Talia asked, feeling very nervous and unsure. Everything that had happened to her was strange and terrifying.
"All you need to do is bite my wrist." Angela met Talia's eyes and while the suggestion seemed wild and bizarre, she found herself leaning forward.
Talia hesitated for a couple of seconds, her mouth parted just above the soft skin of Angela's wrist. Then she bit down viciously, her newborn rage causing her to tear into the flesh. Angela winced at the pain, and then leaned over and bit into Talia's neck. The second her venom was released she felt the familiar sensation of connection as Talia's future soul merged with her body. They collapsed onto the dirt for hours as Talia's body changed.
Neither of them were aware of the two men that arrived a few minutes later, both had dark red eyes and serious expressions of anger on their faces.
"What is this?" Demetri asked, looking over at his partner who sneered.
"Perversion." Edward's eyes widened as he lifted a heavy sword and then plunged down through both of their chests in one motion. He pulled out the sword right away, marveling at the red blood covering the blade, when it should have been silver venom. Neither woman reacted to the injury, and he couldn't read their thoughts, some kind of wall kept him out.
"You are the perversion." Isabella whispered darkly from somewhere behind him. Edward's eyes went wide, recognizing the cadence and tone as the Isabella from Alice's dark vision of the future. He felt terror settle in his chest as began to spin around trying to find her.
"Do you honestly think a single blade through the heart would do anything to them?" Eliza added a second later.
"You! How're you alive?" Edward called out, continuing to spin around in a pointless attempt to spot his enemies. His hatred for Eliza overwhelmed his fear, as his face contorted into an open mouthed sneer.
"Edward what is this?" Demetri asked with wide eyed concern as he also prepared for an attack.
"Justice." Charlie said angrily as he appeared next to Edward a split second before swinging his blade horizontally through Edward's neck. Demetri watched in horror as his partner's body collapsed like a ragdoll onto the ground. The rest of the Swan coven appeared a moment later, surrounding Demetri on all sides. He gasped in surprise, and began to work his jaw trying to gauge his chances.
"Tell Aro and Caius their time is short if they chose to pursue further aggression against my family." Isabella said coldly, her stare giving Demetri a sense that this was more than just a threat.
"Are you declaring war on the Volturi? You must know, we don't give second chances." Demetri tried to threaten, glancing around desperately, hoping Felix was close enough to back him up if things turned violent.
"Looking for your friend?" Eliza asked with a small tilt of her head.
"Did you hurt Felix?" Demetri sputtered, as all hope of surviving this encounter floated away.
"Felix has honor, do you?" Isabella taunted him without confirming anything.
"What do you want?" Demetri tried to reason out what they wanted, then shut his eyes as he realized it was hopeless. "Aro and Caius want your heads, after witnessing the vision through Edward's memories."
"If that plays out, you will die, so will almost all of the Volturi. Yet we do not wish to kill those who understand Aro and Caius must be destroyed." Alice explained, as Demetri recognized Aro's most coveted prize. Her presence alone was enough to tip things in this coven's favor, but the stories that Edward told of Isabella de Volterra and her daughter sent shivers of terror down his spine.
Then Demetri realized how specific they were about Aro and Caius. "What about Marcus?"
"He is different." Isabella furrowed her brow, curious about what Demetri had in mind.
"Different, how?" Demetri asked, feeling even more confused.
"Aro didn't… Is Marcus still alive?" Isabella asked with clear worry, taking a step forward aggressively.
"Of course, he was the one that sent me on this mission." Demetri shook his head, furrowing his brow as Isabella stepped back and a calm expression settled her countenance.
"I see. Alright, I have a different proposition for you. If you pledge to follow Marcus you can leave." Isabella's voice was different, almost warmer and no longer hostile.
"I don't understand, he is a member of the council." Demetri shook his head, not following her logic at all.
"He was betrayed by the council. Aro imprisoned Didyme for centuries. Just as he has done to Sulpicia and Athenodora. Aro and Caius are petty, cruel and malevolent. Do you truly owe them an ounce of loyalty?" Isabella explained, and Demetri felt like someone had punched him in the gut. The idea that Didyme was alive went against everything he knew about his masters. A defining moment for the Volturi, the original reason for their pursuit of law and justice. If that was a lie, then nothing about the Volturi was real.
"If what you are saying is true, I must hear it from Marcus." Demetri's shoulders had shifted, he was no longer afraid, he was angry and determined to find out the truth.
"So be it. Give me your word that you will not betray Marcus, if he confirms what we've told you." Isabella said with a very different tone of voice, one that felt almost friendly.
"You have my word." Demetri nodded, meeting her eyes. She let a small curl of a smile break her stony expression, she knew that look of resolve all too well.
"Then you are free, Felix is waiting for you down the hill. He has also vowed to follow Marcus." Isabella motioned in the direction of the abandoned farmhouse where they had left Felix in a similar state of confusion. Demetri looked around at the collection of strange eye colors and realized the time of the Volturi was over. Without another word he took off into the unknown.
Hilton, NY - 2021
"Aunt Talia is here!" Gretchen called out as everyone filed into the house. The property was nestled in a somewhat secluded section of beach along the southern coast of Lake Ontario. Sitting on twenty acres it had been in Rosalie's family for over a hundred years. The original house was still on the western edge of the property, and Esme and Charlie were in the process of fully restoring the structure to live in along with Rosalie, Emmett and their three children. The rest of the family all resided in the mansion on the eastern edge of the property.
The twins Gretchen and Lillian were only around four years old, but they were already physically and mentally around twelve years old. Their newborn brother, Carlisle, was also growing at an accelerated rate, at one year old he had the mind and body of a four year old.
Talia's eyes opened wide as a little girl rushed forward and wrapped her in a tight hug, she looked at Angela with a touch of confusion, before giving in and hugging her back. Then just as Gretchen let go, her twin appeared at the top of the stairs, and literally flew down them before floating over to Talia and stopping a couple of feet away.
"May I hug you?" Lillian asked, her expression tentative.
"Um, sure." Talia smiled brightly, although she knew about the twins, it was a different matter to physically meet them. Lillian set her feet down and closed the gap and hugged Talia, pressing her head against her chest.
She pulled away after a few seconds, "you are the last family member we'll meet when we're still growing. Brianna and Michelle are so far away."
"I know, they both wish they could meet you." Talia ran a hand along Lillian's straight blue hair and took a breath as she looked around her new home.
"Talia." Rosalie smiled at her sister as she entered the room carrying Carlisle, his blonde hair and bright blue eyes examining Talia intently.
"Good to see you Rose, I guess for the first time. That's hard to reconcile." Talia pursed her lips, but shrugged.
"I have good memories of that other life, even if they do feel like a dream sometimes. I cannot deny that they were right, all of this is wonderful. A life I never could have hoped to have." Rosalie looked content, happy.
"I'm just happy to be home." Eliza said with a small blast of air as she took Leah's hand and headed up to their room.
"Me too." Alice felt her mind settle, feeling at ease with her life for the first time in years.
Charlie and Esme moved into the kitchen alone, holding hands and trying not to make romantic eyes at each other. They had been close for years, as friends. Eventually lovers, and only recently engaged. Isabella had been thrilled they were able to connect, and despite it feeling a touch weird that her birth father and chosen mother were getting together, she felt real joy in watching their relationship blossom. Of course Isabella had eventually reconnected with her mother, happy to have Renee in her life, even in a limited capacity was something she hadn't expected.
Everyone split out into their private spaces. It was a few hours later when Charlie gasped in surprise. Esme looked over at him, her brow furrowed with worry.
"You need to see this." Charlie flattened out the newspaper on the kitchen island, and Esme craned her neck down to look.
Volterra in Ruins! Unexplained Supernatural Fight Breaks Out In Italian Village.
"That can't be good." Esme furrowed her brow at the headline.
"What can't be good?" Alice asked as she walked into the kitchen, going straight for the refrigerator and pulling out an apple.
"The Volturi have imploded, it looks like all out war." Esme motioned down towards the paper, as Alice leaned over to read the article.
"Isabella, Eliza, we have a big problem." Alice called out, and Isabella was at her side in the next second. Eliza and Leah both gasped, waking up together from a long nap.
"Already? It's been like two days." Eliza grumbled as she shuffled into the kitchen in slippered feet. Leah was right behind her with a serious case of bed head.
"What does this mean?" Leah asked as she read the article.
"Exposure, the humans will finally know about the existence of vampires." Isabella answered solemnly, as she played through the various scenarios in her head. Alice was doing the same, except using her visions. Isabella clenched her jaw as she peeked in to watch all of the potential futures. Every single outcome was apocalyptic.
"There's no answer to this. I've just run through several thousand… this isn't just some private war. It spills out. Vampires begin to turn people en masse, and it spreads like a plague, consuming most of the human population in weeks. Then there is war, endless war." Alice explained as she felt her mind splinter again.
"There has to be an answer." Isabella looked to Alice, realizing she was starting to slip away again. Alice started to shake her head, knowing this was all her fault. Then she tried to push on her power, maybe use the escape she had planned back when they first arrived in this timeline.
"I have to do something, this can't be how things play out." Alice almost yelled, as the rest of the house piled into the kitchen. Alice backed up against the kitchen wall, shaking her head violently as her mind started to unravel.
"Alice… don't do it." Isabella attempted to stop her, but Alice couldn't stop herself as her mind slipped out of the present. She felt the passage of time briefly, before it all stopped and she was suddenly in the mindscape, staring at the dreamscape version of the Waterfall house from the driveway.
"Are you quite done with this? It has lasted far longer than it should have." The voice was close behind her, and as Alice looked over she found a woman standing a few paces away. Her arms crossed, and her heavy frown humanized her otherworldly appearance.
The stranger was more than beautiful, she was ethereal with long golden blonde hair and pale silver eyes that seemed to shimmer in the moonlight. Her light yellow dress seemed to be made of sunshine and extended past her feet, flowing over the grass like a sheet of gold. A long row of flowers extended behind her, as if wherever she walked life grew in her wake. Her frown quickly shifted into a wide smile as she tilted her head and made direct eye contact with Alice.
"Who are you?" Alice shook her head, refusing to believe this was another form of death.
"I am Destiny, Kismet, The Moirai, the Weird Sister, the Parcae, the Norm, Cathos, Lachesis, Atropos… Destroyer of Worlds." Her voice was heavy and powerful, which made Alice shiver in her presence. Then she paused, and let out a small breathy laugh. "I am nothing more than the weaver of Fate. Your personal goddess, who bestowed upon you the gift of sight. Which you have abused rather heavily." Her voice grew sharp and pointed towards the end.
"Oh wow, are you like Isabella's Death?" Alice tried not to conjure the image of the goddess Isabella had encountered while she was recovering from the explosion. The memory of Isabella's charred body was still too raw and difficult to handle.
"I am her partner, her equal. Her wife." Destiny said, her eyes wide and wild.
"Of course you are, fucking perfect." Alice shook her head, realizing this was the answer to the unspoken question of her life. The answer to why she was different, with a gift that no one had ever had before or since.
"All your machinations, and you saved your family, only to lose everything else. Now you see how the threads of fate are easy to weave but you never know what pattern you are crafting until it is done? It takes eons of practice to weave something beautiful. This was a very clumsy first attempt." Kismet grimaced slightly, her sharp teeth parted slightly as she ran her forked tongue across them.
"First?" Alice took an involuntary step backwards, as she realized the scope of her own power.
"Haven't you figured out your role in all of this?" Cathos stepped forward aggressively, her body language practically screamed menace, before she shook her head and settled back on her heels, crossing her arms again.
"No, could you enlighten me?" Alice asked, feeling utterly lost, her voice cracking.
The Weird Sister made a sharp tsking sound. "That would be too easy. You must figure all of this out for yourself."
Alice nodded slowly, trying to wrap her head around her choice. "So, I guess I have two paths, well three. Continue on to where I was just trying to go, back to when I was a child. Or I can live with the mess I created… Or…" Alice couldn't say the words, couldn't imagine returning to that life where she lost Isabella.
"Go back to where you belong." Atropos finished Alice's thought, her eyes widening unnaturally.
"How?" The question was loaded, not just the process of returning to her proper life, but how she could commit to a world where she had lost the love of her life.
"The how is easy, the will is what you are struggling with." The Norm started waving her hand around in front of her, shifting it as though she were delicately weaving the air in front of her as though it had substance. Then trails of power began to extend from her fingertips as an image of the battlefield started to sharpen into focus, focused on Alice holding Isabella's limp body in her arms.
"Easy? How is any of that easy?" Alice gestured towards the image, almost unable to look at it.
"Because it should be for one such as yourself. You think just anyone can weave the threads?" The Moirai began to circle around Alice, a small knowing smile on her face.
"I can't go back there, at least here I have my family." Alice countered, because facing her own reality was too hard. It had been dark and cold and lonely for so long, only to have a flare of hope, only for it to be yanked away harshly. It was too much, too difficult to even consider.
"On a dying world. That's a very heavy cost." Cathos' nostrils flared, her eyes widened again in anger and frustration.
"I can't lose her." Alice gasped out, practically begging the goddess to understand.
"Ah, this is about your wife." Destiny said with a dismissive tone, as a look of disappointment spread across her face.
"We're handfast, not technically married." Alice said with indignation, the implication that Isabella's life didn't matter cut to her core.
"Hardly, you and Isabella have been married since you found one another. Your love is powerful, but not always fated." Atropos explained with an oddly wistful tone ending on a lilting sigh.
"How so?" Alice couldn't imagine a world where she never loved Isabella.
The Norm shrugged. "In all the multitudes of realities scattered across the multiverse, you and Isabella are together in most of them." She moved her hand in a line in front of her, and as she did images from thousands of different worlds appeared. "There are some exceptions, one where Isabella dies young, another where she ends up with a much nicer version of Edward. Another where she ends up with Rosalie, Leah or Jacob. The weaver of her fate seems quite content with screwing with her love life. But they are less common than your story. Alice, you are her first and best love."
"Is that the goddess she spoke of?" Alice asked, now curious about everything being presented to her. Actually seeing all those different realities opened her mind to infinite possibilities.
"Not exactly." Destiny shrugged, a small knowing smile curling her lips into a mysterious grin.
"Wait first, what does that mean?" Alice shook her head, spun by the implication that her reality was the first reality.
"Time is not a straight line, events do not progress one after the other as you perceive. Yet there is an order to reality, a beginning and an ending, which ironically loops in random and erratic circles. I know that sounds contrary, and it is difficult to properly explain to someone grounded on a timeline. Suffice it to say each cycle of time has its own unique path, but it all started with a single moment in time. A single choice, a single fate. You, dear Alice, are the beginning. The first story." Cathos explained with the cadence of a patient teacher, watching her student with the anticipation of understanding.
"I don't understand." Alice shook her head, unwilling to accept what she was being told.
The goddess frowned in disappointment, "well I guess it is not time for you to understand. It is time for you to make a choice."
"But… I can't live without her." Alice refused to relent, despite the fact that Isabella would still exist somewhere out in the universe, it wasn't enough.
"No, you can't stay in a dying reality just to explore what could have been. You must go back." Atropos popped her mouth on the word back, with a clear sharpness in her voice. Her eyes met Alice's and the intensity of her glare forced Alice to look away.
Alice deflated, her entire body starting to shake with emotion. "Will they remember?"
The goddess nodded. "Yes. Isabella, Eliza, Brianna, Talia, Angela, Michelle and Leah were bound to you, their souls traveled with you, they are tied to you forever."
"Then Isabella?" Alice leaned forward, the implication being that Isabella was still a part of her soul.
"Can you truly kill death?" Moirai smiled playfully, a twinkle in her eye giving Alice hope.
Alice shook her head once, "what about the girls? Rosalie and Emmett's children?"
"They are unique to the timeline you created by going back and changing things. Yet their souls are tied to Rosalie and Emmett, so now that they are in the multiverse, they will live again, just in a different way. Now it is time to go Alice." Fate reached out and pulled Alice into a tight hug, which lasted for eternity or a second. Alice shut her eyes, and the world began to fall away. She was weightless, floating in a void for what felt like thousands of years. Until suddenly she felt solid ground below her, and Isabella's body in her arms, as the plateau took shape around her. The coldness of the rock under her knees, and the stillness of Isabella's body beneath her brought home the reality she so desperately wanted to refuse.
"Mom!" Eliza screamed, realizing Isabella was dead again. She rushed over and slid next to them. "Wait, Alice… what just happened?"
"Mama." Brianna called out as a flood of memories from over a decade living in Angela's mindscape. Brianna's expression shifted, a quiet maturity and confidence settled on her face. She walked over to her family, and knelt down next to them, as she worked to remember how her body moved.
They all felt Isabella's absence in the link, and each felt waves of pain as they processed sixteen years of memories.
Eliza finally broke the short silence, "we had years together. I could feel her starting to heal, she was happy."
Brianna pulled her sister close, "I got to spend those years with Michelle in that mindscape. I was at peace, ready to fade into nothing."
"Wait what?" Eliza looked at Brianna in confusion.
Brianna smiled, "in the last few years, we could feel ourselves losing strength. We wouldn't have lasted another sixty years. So we had accepted it, and never brought it up to the family. I've been able to work through my issues and the trauma committed by my father. I'm whole now, an adult. Alice, you gave me time, even if it was incorporeal and illusionary."
"I fucked up." Alice shut her eyes in pain, realizing she almost lost her daughter.
"No, that was a gift, we got to have her back." Eliza whispered, her entire body shaking with grief and pain.
"She lied to me." Alice muttered mostly to herself.
"Who?" Brianna asked, and Alice opened her eyes to look at her.
"Fate, she said Isabella can't die." Alice looked down at Isabella's lifeless body feeling helpless and broken.
"Another goddess?" Eliza's eyes widened with curiosity and extreme interest, now hopeful that her mother might return to them.
"I guess. She said she was Death's wife." Alice couldn't begin to unravel everything that was said, she barely understood half of it all.
"Weird, cool, but weird. Mom! Wake up!" Eliza slapped her mother, hoping a jolt was all she needed.
For three agonizing seconds nothing happened, then Isabella's eyes flew open, her connection to the link instantly returning. She gasped and took a heavy breath, before looking around and blinking in confusion.
"Not again!" Isabella shouted. Then she blinked and sat up. "Wait, we're here." Isabella managed to scan the area once before Eliza and Brianna tackle-hugged her.
"Don't ever do that again." Alice whispered, as she held onto her family tightly. Feeling her mind start to stabilize again, as her sanity returned.
Author's Note:
Yes, we are back in the prime reality. There are a number of things that will need to be resolved in the next couple of chapters, but that's it folks. Two more to go. I know this has been a long ride, and as it comes to a close it might feel as though you want more. But this is the culmination of twelve years of work, and I hope everyone will be satisfied with the ending.
Next Chapter: The Monster You Made Me
As always, thank you for reading and please take a moment to leave a comment!