Book 1 Epilogue 1

Seven hours after the incident at the Albidian facility…

"C'mon, you infernal drone… hurry up!"

Tricia's drone had powered down in order to preserve its battery life in the other world. Yet another thing gone wrong on this most cursed of days. Moira had ordered a quick search and securing of the facility when her father finally arrived, taking everything that they could and destroying the Barrier behind them on the way out. They could not hold a location so far removed from their own territory, and there was no sense in leaving the location up once they abandoned it. Doing so would only tempt another group to use it as a base to fill in the inevitable power vacuum left by the Albidians' disappearance.

A part of her had wanted to wait there, sit in that gymnasium forever until John Newman returned… but it was a foolish and futile hope. He might not come back for days, weeks, months… and she could not risk the Golden Rose.

It was one of the few things she had that was still important to her, a list that had steadily dwindled since the day her Mother died.

After a wait that wore at what little patience Moira had left, the drone finally booted up. Moira's hands shifted on the controls, eager to seek out John. It had been hours since he left, she was hoping he was more subdued, at least enough to speak reasonably with - she didn't care if he wanted to hole up in his world, so long as he was taking care of himself. She just didn't want to lose him, or have him do something especially reckless.

Moira was not especially familiar with the manual drone controls, but she did manage to get it working well enough to weave along the rocky hilltops of John's mountain range. Moira didn't remember a massive range of mountains being in his world in the first place, so already she was at something of a disadvantage for locating him. She spent a long while roaming through the hills, not sure if she was going the right direction. Moira was probably steering herself in circles, but she refused to stop until she found John. She had to know that he was alright, to tell him how sorry she was… to do something, anything to temper the hate that she had seen in his eyes.

At last Moira was able to find the button that raised the drone up from a hover into open flight, allowing her to elevate the drone up over the hilly landscape. She had it nearly twenty feet over the landscape, just getting over some of the peaks, when something struck the drone - and hard.

The drone's motors whirred furiously, trying to correct its balance to no avail. Not due to any mechanical failure - the drone blared about the presence of a mana surge and physical **** being exerted upon it, just in time for Moira to catch sight of what she'd been looking for the whole time.

John Newman. Just as he grabbed hold of the drone, turned, and drove it an arm's length into the nearby rock wall.

The drone didn't register any damage done; he must have used one of his abilities to manipulate the rock, rather than forcing it back through the stony mountains. Moira didn't worry too much about the readouts, though - she was too focused on the man on the other side of the screen.

"John! Thank goodness you're alright, I-"

"I'm a long ways from alright, Moira."

"I… I know that, John. I'm sorry. I will never forgive myself for what happened, but I will do anything I can-"

"Leave me alone, Moira."

The words were harsh, but the tone was nothing like Moira had seen John a few hours ago. The light was gone from his eyes, the conviction from his tone… the emotions from his face. Aside from mild annoyance, John looked nearly dead inside.

"I'm not going to just abandon you like that, John-"

"No. That's what you can do for me… just… leave me alone, Moira."

John sighed, eyes cast downward, and for a moment he seemed to be toying with something in his hands, but the tunnel of rock in front of the drone's camera didn't leave much of a field of view. When he looked back up, he just looked saddened.

"I don't want to talk to anyone. I don't need help. I have everything I need here… and, honestly? I'm tired. When I do come back, it's not going to be pretty, and I'm not letting anyone risk their lives. Not anymore."

Moira thought to argue more, but she saw a certainty in those eyes that rivalled her own stubbornness. Besides, what could she do? She wouldn't threaten John, and even if she would, they'd be toothless and unenforceable. Moira had no way to reach John's world, and he no obligation to return to hers.

"I'll stop by here once every week or so… or whenever I feel like it. If something comes up, just… leave a message. If I see this drone again outside this hole, I'll destroy it. I do have one thing to ask though, Moira."

"Anything I can do for you," Moira vowed. She tried to nod but had unconsciously gotten so close to the screen she bumped her head into the display.

"Tell Tricia… tell her I forgive her. Scratch that, tell her there's nothing to forgive. I don't… I know she's probably eating herself up about this. She takes everything so hard. She doesn't need more. It wouldn't be fair."

"John, tell her yourself, just-"

John didn't bother letting Moira finish. The drone was thrust further back into the rock, and the hole allowing light in closed up.

"No, John, come back!" Moira shouted, but it was pointless. He probably couldn't even hear her through that much dirt and rock. Moira slammed her gauntleted fist into the table so forcefully it cracked. She let out a frustrated howl, turning and striding away from the table. Tears welled at the corner of her eyes but she held them back. Moira slowly paced over to the table at the center of the room, where most of the lab's drones were focused.

On that table lay Tricia herself, unmoving but alive. She might have been sleeping, were it not for the grim look on her face… and for the brightly orange-hued eye glistening on her forehead. From that eye orange veins of energy traced along her body, racing across her skin until they eventually disappeared.

"Tricia… I need you to wake up, please. We need to find a way to reach John, to contact him, to help him. I want to make up for what I've done - to him, to you, to the Order… but I need your help."

Moira gently brushed her friend's cheek, but the Gorbachev did not stir in the slightest. The wounds that she had taken when the Albidians came in were severe, but not life-threatening. Why this eye had opened - and why Tricia still refused to wake up hours later - was beyond the abilities of the healers to determine.

"Tricia… I'm sorry," Moira whispered. Letting her hand drop away, Moira went to turn from the Gorbachev. Before she went too far, though, she stopped long enough to lean back in.

"And… if you can hear me… John wanted me to tell you that he forgives you. He said there's nothing he even needs to forgive you for. He wanted you to be safe and happy, Tricia." Moira then turned away from Tricia and strode out of the room, unable to bear the sorrow of that room any further.

And, as a direct result of that, missed the moment that the glowing orange eye on Tricia's forehead blinked for the first time since it appeared.

Ten hours after the incident at the Albidian facility…

It was hours past being considered "late", and if Etriyya had any form of sense, she would've had one of the healers put her under magically the minute she was home and out of her armor. Instead, here she was on her second bottle of vodka, halfway to losing the ability to stand, and yet still no closer to sleep. Every time she closed her eyes she saw John, Seras, or the bloody mess that they had stumbled upon when the Order reinforcements finally arrived.

It was stupid. Foolish even. She hadn't seen John or Seras in weeks, not since the late-bloomer had pried her most shameful secret out of her. Mostly because of the lingering anger and shame Etriyya felt about the encounter… and partially because she wondered exactly how close the boy's relationship with Gaia really was.

"It is dedication, not your grades, that have failed you. That was the last thing Professor Irvine said… ever. I never forgot the look in his eyes. If his quest really told him that, someone wanted me to open up to him. But why?"

It wasn't the first time the thought had crossed her mind since the incident, but it was bothering her now more than ever. Blaming John, herself, and the world for what had happened. She wasn't even entirely sure why; could one mid-tier Order mage have made a difference? Certainly not, even the Warden herself struggled against those men. Could she have gotten them to their destination any faster? No. Yet still she wondered at everything - could she have trained John to make him stronger, could she have taught Seras enough magic to hold her own, could she have been close enough for John to trust her with a stone and fought alongside his creations?

"Foolish. Arrogant. Futile," Etriyya cursed her own thoughts, swallowing the last of another glass. "There was only one way that this could have ended. This world breeds vanity, greed, and sociopathy, and it punishes the unique and the virtuous. John and his creations are a threat to the Abyss' status quo, a threat to the way of life for all the monsters and demons that lurk in the shadows. There was only one way this could end. One day they'll take him from us too."

Etriyya paused as she was in the middle of filling her glass again. Her fingers were trembling, and as she struggled to hold them still, she caught the eye of her own reflection. Glittering brown eyes stared back at themselves, timeless and unaging - the same face she'd had all those decades ago. Before her disgrace, she'd been an optimistic scholar, future soldier and servant to the Order. What had happened to that girl? Had she, too, fallen prey to the corruptions and darkness of the world? Or was she just too weak to stand up to all those evil forces she'd been so sure she'd defeat one day?

Either way, the problem was Etriyya herself. When had she become so jaded, so nihilistic? So… hopeless? Etriyya didn't want to save Seras because she cared about John; sadly, she didn't even want to save her because she cared about Seras. She wanted to save her because John had a fire and spirit and optimism she hadn't seen from herself in decades, and it lit one back into her. Now she was falling apart again, just like so often before, and she was watching the rest of the Order fall with her. She already knew that even after all these years she wouldn't have the strength to stop her fall this time either.

Angrily, Etriyya threw her glass across the room, shattering it against the far wall and sending ice, vodka, and glass raining down. Etriyya stumbled over to her bed and collapsed into it. Perhaps too disgusted by herself to remain awake a single moment longer, Etriyya finally slipped into a deep, disturbed slumber.