This is getting good. We’re close. I feel it in the way the Verity warms my center. In how it pushes against the Void threatening to move past my arm. The war inside is tangible. Light versus darkness. Joy fighting sorrow. Life battling death.
I bite my lower lip. It takes everything in me not to burst from my chair and grab the book from Tide, which I’m certain holds a clue vital to our mission.
And he said there’s treasure. What waits for us at the end of all this? As far as I’m concerned, the destruction of the Void is treasure enough. What more is there?
“Retrieved what you requested, Captain,” Tide says. “Found a copy in the palace archives, just like you said I would.” He struts to Ky and plops the book on the table.
I glance at the title—Once upon a Reflection. Of course.
Tide backs away, leans against the glass wall with arms folded.
“Thank you.” Ky opens the book’s cover and flip, flip, flips the pages until he lands on a passage near the center. He holds a finger there as he says, “Before we left the Third I took a risk and filled Tide in on a few key points. If we made it to the Fourth, I knew we could face problems. With the Threshold water low, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Chaos? Suspicion? Recent events have put everyone on edge. As half the Void’s vessel I must be prepared for every outcome. But if anyone had diplomatic immunity, I knew it would be Tide.”
“Pays to be the son of a countess.” Tide smirks. Brushes off a shoulder with his knuckles.
His cockiness suits him in an I-know-I’m-awesome-so-why-deny-it? sort of way. I glance over at Ebony. She watches him, an effervescence in her eyes I’ve never before witnessed. Different from the way she’d flicker her eyelashes at boys in school. This isn’t the confident Quinn who believes she can get any guy she wants. This is my sister. Of all the people she could’ve imitated using her Shield, she chose Tide. And the way she stared at him on the ship? She is so in-like with Tide it’s not even funny.
Ky clears his throat and my attention transfers to him. He looks down. The book’s pages are yellowed, some of the corners dog-eared. Oh man, would that drive Mom up a wall and back if she saw. Dog-earing a book is equivalent to mortal sin in her mind. Will she return to the Second once we destroy the Void? Isabeau is still out there, revenge hot on her Trollish breath. One more thing to worry about. Even if we reach our goal, there will always be someone else to save. Always.
Will it ever end?
As if in response, Ky begins to read: “The Scrib’s Fate by Dimitri Gérard.”
Wait, what? The same guy who wrote the journal I’ve been studying?
“‘Whence I fell, he left me there.
Lost, nay abandoned; what did he care?
I needed him; away he flew.
I loved him so; he ne’er knew.
When I revealed my soul, my heart,
He turned away; I watched him part.
Without him now, darkness descends.
Where it begins, my light does end.’”
Ky turns the page and continues, “‘Once upon a Reflection, deep in the Garden of Epoch, there shone a light lovelier than any human eye had ever beheld.’”
The Verity! Has to be!
“‘No human had ever ventured into the garden, for all mortals carry darkness within their souls. And light cannot reside with darkness.’”
This is it. Ky’s theory on the Void’s origin is based on this very story. I’m so catching on to this allegory thing. Something Ky said when I arrived on the ship empties from a pocket in my mind. “. . . light cannot remain light if in love with darkness. It is impossible.” I scoot to the edge of my chair. Tilt my head. Listen.
“‘One day a man happened upon the Garden. With a sharp wit and brilliant mind, he was called to be a Scrib, and he knew in order to enter the Garden he would be required to answer the riddle of the Fervor Dragon who guarded its gate.’” He licks his thumb, flips the page. “‘No one had ever solved the riddle. Three attempts were allowed, and three wrong answers forever ensued. Each who came before him was eaten alive by the Dragon, the consequence of an unsuitable response, never to be heard from again.’”
Shudder. Sheesh. Why even try?
“‘But as a treasure awaited anyone who could get past the gate, many came and tried their hand, risking their fate at the gate of Epoch.’”
Ah, treasure. What else? I shake my head.
Ky licks his lips.
A thrill darts through me. “‘The Dragon’s nostrils flared and her chops watered as she crooned, “What is invisible, but may be held in your arms? Heavier than all the water contained in the sea, but light enough to carry? Surpasses time, but dies with a word?”’”
That’s the riddle? Really? It’s so simple.
“‘Three attempts were not necessary for this particular man. Oh no. He knew the answer, for it is what he had searched for all his days.’”
The words trigger something inside. But I can’t put my finger on it. Not yet anyway.
“‘“True love,” the man replied.’” Ky pauses. Thinks something for my mind alone.
My heart is putty in my chest.
“‘The Dragon huffed her disappointment, for her supper would have to wait. She moved aside. Her scaly tail was, indeed, the gate guarding Epoch. She swung it open and the man entered.’”
This is way cooler than the stories Mom used to tell. What else have I missed growing up in the dull old Third? I’m so getting my hands on that book when we’re done. I’ve a feeling there are more stories just as epic. And if they’re all true? Even better.
Shifting and combing fingers through his hair, Ky reads, “‘The Garden was more beautiful than the man had surmised. Colors he did not know existed decked the flora and fauna. Roses the deepest shade of night bloomed. Trees with bark the color of honey grew tall and towering. The air was crisp, sweeter than the most pleasant of perfumes. Everything was so clear, as if the man had been blind his entire life and was just now gaining his sight.’”
I prop my elbow on the table and rest my face against my palm. My eyelids flutter south.
Ky’s voice lowers, awe weighing his next words. “‘The Garden itself was a treasure, and the man had no inclination to leave. He was entranced by the beauty of it all. Little did he realize he was not alone. No, the man was being watched.’” Ky turns another page. “‘Watched by a rainbow of light. A light with a voice like a song.’”
My breath hitches. I so nailed it. Rainbow light? I was the only one who saw the Verity’s true form when it deserted Joshua and Ky, became one within me. The swirling prism left me breathless. And the voice like a song? I never heard the Verity speak, but a Mirror’s song is created by a Kiss of Infinity bestowed by the Verity’s vessel. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Verity itself had a beautiful voice as well. Even the poem at the beginning of this tale has lyrics written all over it.
“‘The light was so entranced by the Scrib—the purest soul she had ever beheld—that a longing began in her own soul. She ached to hold the man, to love him, and kiss him, and die beside him. Her soul was the treasure, you see. A treasure any man would have been honored to receive. But it could only be given to one pure of heart and worthy. This Scrib was such a man. And so the light made a choice and took on humanity, sacrificing her perfect state for the flawed body of a mortal.’”
Intuition kicks me in the gut. Ky’s mouth turns down and he draws in a deep breath. I ready for what comes next, for the tragic end I’m sure will close this tale.
Another page turn. The last page. “‘She bestowed on him the most perfect of kisses, a Kiss of Infinity. But like all men, the Scrib carried his flaws too. Though he’d searched far and wide for true love, and though the light that had become woman was the most stunning creature he had ever seen, alas, he did not love her, and alas, her Kiss of Infinity was not returned.’”
Anger burns. Jerk.
“You can’t be forced to love someone, Em. A Kiss of Infinity comes from the deepest part of you.”
I can’t counter Ky’s thought. Because there’s nothing to say. He’s right. Again.
“‘So heartbroken was the woman that darkness descended upon her soul. The great power of the light within was twisted, and soon an evil that had never been known in the Garden formed. Such evil could not exist there. The woman had to rid herself of it or be forced to leave and ne’er return. So though she loved the man despite his unrequited sentiment, the woman had no option but to send the darkness into the one to whom her soul was linked. The Void must have a vessel and the Scrib was the nearest option.’”
The first vessel of the Void. Whoa.
“‘And this was the Scrib’s fate, cursed to walk the earth consumed with darkness crafted by the woman he did not love. Eventually he grew old and the darkness left him for another, latching onto one who loved the soul infused with light. The switch had to occur, for the light’s purpose was to be loved.’”
The Void enters the one who loves the Verity? This makes so much more sense. Ky and Joshua both love me, but my love for Ky isn’t something caused by the Verity. It’s not a result of some forced phenomenon.
I love him because I love him. I loved him before I linked my soul to his. I just didn’t know it.
“‘And the woman?’” Ky goes on, reeling me in to the final bit of the tale. “‘She suffered a fate far worse than death. For she remained immortal, doomed to wander the Reflections forever, lacking the one thing she’d eternally yearned for, the one treasure she had to offer but would not receive—true love. Bitter she became, and so the light could no longer dwell within her. Just like the man, the light abandoned her, searching for a pure soul in which it would thrive. It is said now only death can release the light, for it is through the death of an unloved soul the light abandoned its first vessel.’”
Ky shuts the book.
I sink back in my chair. A tear slides down my cheek and I swipe it with my sweatshirt. This is truly the tale of the Void and the Verity. And two things stand out among every other.
The man—he’d been searching for true love but could not find it. It’s Dimitri. He didn’t just write this story, this is his story. I’m positive. But what happened to the woman? If she remained immortal, is she out there somewhere? Destined to mourn the loss of love and light for all eternity?
What a horrible, despicable fate. My heart breaks for her, whoever she is. I kind of hate Dimitri. His journal remains tucked into my jeans. The feeling of it against my skin causes my stomach to churn.
The second thing, and perhaps the most pertinent, is how the Void chooses a soul. The story says the darkness latches onto the soul who loves light, not the other way around. Which means it is not the one I care for most who took on the Void, but the one—ones—who care most for me.
Ky.
Joshua.
And here it is. The ugly truth. The only thing that can kill an Ever is a broken heart. Joshua is vulnerable now without his Calling, but even if he regains the power in his blood, it won’t matter. Because Joshua still holds half the Void, which means he loves me just as much as Ky does. No matter what he’s done, or the bad decisions he’s made, deep down Joshua still loves me. And breaking his heart? It will destroy him. If the Void doesn’t take over, the heartbreak will.
And then I’m sobbing, right here in front of everyone. Head in my hands, snot on my face, sobbing.
I will always care for Joshua, but it’s Ky I’ve grown to love.
And when Joshua realizes this, if he hasn’t already . . .
He. Will. Die.