Submerging

  “What happened to him? Is he still on Earth?”

  “I suppose. He’s hard to keep track of.” Elysian narrowed his gaze. “But it was said he would meet his end. His death has already begun. Justice will come to him, and it will be his undoing.”

  “How did he trick you?” I asked.

  “Before he left, he managed to convince me to help steal some water from the River of Life.”

  “What’s the River of Life?”

  “It’s pretty self-explanatory from the name.” Elysian rolled his eyes. “The River Veil protects this world from the fallen; the River of Life is the source of all life. It’s said to be made of the blood of the Prince himself.”

  “That’s creepy.” I tried to add some levity into the conversation.

  “It’s because of the River’s power that he was able to shed his dragon skin and transform into a human-like form,” Elysian said. “I was tricked into getting it.”

  “How did you manage to steal it?”

  “Aleia is one of the Stars who watch over it. Lady Time remains here, in the ongoing present, but Memory has to flow somewhere. You’ll find all sorts of memories in the River of Life.” Elysian hung his head. “I was her friend before we fell. But I betrayed her.”

  “So that’s why you have trust issues,” I joked. I didn’t want to talk about this anymore. I don’t know why, exactly, but it was hard to brush off. I was getting scared.

  Elysian bristled. “You’d feel different about it if it had been you.”

  “Probably.” I thought about what Alora had said about compassion earlier. But I didn’t need to read Elysian’s emotions; they were written plainly on his face.

  “That’s why,” Elysian continued, “you need to forget about Starry Knight, whether you love her or not. You’ll only end up hurting her, or getting hurt yourself. And that’s not going to help us capture the Sinisters again.”

  I didn’t know if I agreed with him or not. He had a point, and it had been a hard lesson he’d learned. I didn’t want to diminish that. “I am sorry about what happened to you, Elysian.”

  He sat down on the ground and crossed his arms. “I thought if I could get you to seal away the Sinisters again, it might help us get back into the Celestial Kingdom.” He glared at me. “I guess you don’t need that, though, since you’ve been ‘forgiven,’ according to Adonaias.”

  “I might not need to earn forgiveness,” I agreed. “But I’m still on Earth. And that should tell you forgiveness is important, but it’s not the same as not needing it. It’s not the same as perfection.”

  “It’s not on us to earn forgiveness.” Elysian and I looked to see St. Brendan standing behind us. He was still in his captain’s outfit, but he looked strangely at home in the gardens of Time. He took his hat off in greeting and looked over at me. “You can earn trust, and respect, and even affection. But mercy earned is not mercy.”

  Elysian snorted. “I don’t remember inviting you into the conversation.”

  “Elysian,” I muttered. “It’s all right. It’s not like we were talking in private.”

  “I was.”

  St. Brendan smiled. “In terms of invitations, I’ve come to extend one of my own. Lady Alora has asked that you, now that you’ve rested, come and see her in the atrium once more.”

  “Sure.” I nodded. “Can you just give us a few moments?”

  “Aye, no problem. She’ll be waiting for you.”

  “Thanks.” I watched as he exited as quietly as he’d entered, before turning back to Elysian. “Let’s talk about this later, okay? I need a break.”

  “It’s always later for you. It’s an insult,” Elysian insisted, “that you are forgiven, when you have obviously done more wrong than I have.”

  I could feel my patience snap. “What do you mean, ‘obviously?’” I asked, my own temper kindling. “Besides, I don’t know why I fell, and you don’t seem to know either, and I really don’t see how I caused you any grief before we met on Earth. You might wish you were better than me, Elysian, and goodness knows you act like it all the time. But you’re not, and you’re not going to be. Especially with that kind of thinking.” I pointed up at the remainder of his brother above us. “Maybe you’ll end up like him if you’re not careful.”

  I stood up and turned around. “I’m going to see Alora. You coming?”

  “Pft. No,” Elysian snarled.

  “Fine.” I walked off, wondering if that was really the most honest conversation I’d ever had with Elysian.

  ☼15☼

  Knowing

  Alora was waiting for me inside her castle home, back in the atrium, where her star of light pooled brightly in the middle of everything. She nodded in welcome.

  “Hello.” I waved, just a bit nervously. I didn’t recall much about coming out of the pool before, but I had a feeling I didn’t look my best, and I didn’t want her to think of me as weak. I decided to do my best in improving upon my previous impression. “St. Brendan said you would be here.”

  “Thank you for coming,” she said. “I’m glad to see you are feeling well.”

  “Much better,” I agreed. “So, what’s next?” I almost joked about whether or not I would have to face a pit of snakes or a minotaur.

  “Your questions.” Alora’s gaze went solemn. She gestured for me to follow her as she began to walk around the room. “My questions have been answered.”

  “You mean about my commitment?” I asked.

  “Not quite. I was more curious about how you had managed to fall down to Earth to begin with,” Alora admitted. “There are very few instances where Stars and beings such as yourself have managed to get through without my approval or compliance. In fact,” she murmured, turning back toward the watery pool of light before us, “there has only been one major rip in my power since I was given charge over the Mortal Realm.”

  “That’s a pretty good record,” I said, trying to make her feel better about the situation.

  Her crystalline green eyes went sharp as she paused in her steps. “You know as well as I do the implications cannot be ignored.”

  “I know.” I shuffled my feet. It had been many months since I felt properly flustered. “Sorry.”

  “I’m not mad at you,” she assured me. “I’m angry at the evil that it has caused. But let us turn our attention to Orpheus and his charges.”

  “Starry Knight—er, Lady Justice—once called—”

  “You should call her Starry Knight,” Alora told me. “As of now, she has been able to rebuild an identity from the ruins of her former role. Let us call her what she would have us call her.”

  “Okay by me.” ‘Lady Justice’ was too weird of a name, anyway. It was hard to fit to the fighting figure I’d come to know as we sparred over Sinisters and demon creatures. “She once said that Orpheus had been a Leader in the Celestial Kingdom. What did she mean by that?”

  “He was originally in charge of the Seven Starry Virtues, who, incidentally, became the Seven Deadly Sinisters,” Alora told me. “He was their Leader Star, who watched over them, worked with them, and cared for them.”

  “So he was responsible for causing them to fall?” I asked.

  Alora began to move once more. “There are a couple of things I know you do not understand,” she began, “and I will try to answer your questions as much I can. But there are some things I cannot tell you, and for reasons I cannot tell you.”

  For the first time since my arrival, irritation plagued me. It would be too easy to have all the answers, I supposed.

  “One thing should be clear: You, and all Stars, make your own choices. Your logic, your emotions, your being, and even your instincts to a high degree—these are all gifts you have at your disposal, along with many more, and you have the choice to use them as you see fit. In a place with no time, there is very little cause for you to believe you have to make such choices or decisions right away.”

  I nodded, saying nothing.

  “Because of this, there are c
onsequences that follow, especially when evil choices are made. Falling is a punishment,” Alora explained. “But it is not the only one. The Sinisters chose to follow Orpheus, as he chose to follow his own master, and so they were punished by being trapped in a prison of light—trapped within the heart of a bright star.”

  A chilling awareness took hold of me. When the meteorite first struck Apollo City, starting this whole adventure and rekindling my dormant supernatural powers, I was caught up in the blast and knocked out. I was sent to the hospital to recover, only to dream a vision—a vision of a bright star; one that called to me in song and light. As I watched it, it exploded.

  Recognition finally hit me. “Starry Knight’s star.”

  “Yes.”

  “She was their sister.” It was incredulous, I thought. How could Adonaias make Starry Knight imprison her own sisters? That just seemed too cruel to me. But there was another, more-pressing question. “Why didn’t she choose to follow Orpheus, when he starting leading the rest away?” I asked. “I mean, she couldn’t have been trapped with them, so she refused to go along with Orpheus, right?”

  “Yes. She was the only one he really wanted to follow him,” Alora explained. “Once she said no, he went after her sisters.”

  I felt my mouth open in surprise. “That’s just—”

  “What?” Alora asked, giving me a small, teasing smile. “Evil?”

  “Yes!” I sputtered. “That’s terrible. Why would he do that?”

  “Because he wanted her power,” Alora explained. “Power is a strong lure for evil.”

  I could understand wanting power. Being powerless was not fun; I knew that from high school all too well. “But he already had power,” I said. “He was in charge of her.”

  “Yes, but that doesn’t mean he could control her, or that she belonged to him.”

  It didn’t seem to make much difference to me. But then, my mother did have a lifelong appreciation of semantics for good reason. “I suppose.” I sighed. “So, I guess he’s still after power. That’s why he’s stealing the Soulfire from humans. He needs their power to do something.”

  “Yes.” Alora sighed. “Orpheus wants to rule over the Celestial Kingdom and all the Realms. The key to doing so lies in the Mortal Realm.”

  “Why? How? Soulfire doesn’t seem to do much, other than allow the Sinisters to move around and cause trouble with their minions.”

  “Soulfire is just part of it. Orpheus needs other things, too.”

  “Like what?”

  “Blood, for one. Blood is a powerful source of life and memory in humans, and in demons it can lend direction.” Alora sighed. “There is also Starsoul, and a Star’s wish. With these four things—Soulfire, blood, Starsoul, and a Star’s wish—he could manage to rip the kingdom from my power.”

  “Why those things?” I asked.

  “Soulfire is the life-giving energy from their origins. Blood helps seal them to the human world. Fire purifies.” She looked at me, and I had a sudden thought of Starry Knight’s feather. When I touched it before, it erupted into a bright flame. Was that its power? I wondered. To purify evil?

  Alora continued, unaware that I’d paused in my listening. “A Star’s wish has great power in moving worlds, or even Realms.”

  I jerked out of my contemplation. “And he has those things now?”

  “Not all of them. Soulfire from humans is readily available, and blood can easily be found in sacrifice. A Star’s wish—well, there aren’t too many in the Mortal Realm who have that power anymore, and of course, Starsoul is only found in Stars, too.” Alora sighed.

  Recalling how Orpheus wanted to kill me, rather than use my power, I was suddenly confused. Maybe mine wasn’t good enough, I recalled, since I had fallen.

  I decided to ask another question. “How can that stuff help him gain enough power to take his revenge? I can understand that it’s powerful stuff, but how does that affect us here?”

  “All of the Realms are intricately connected to the Immortal Realm. Your universe is the only one who has managed to break through my power.”

  “The rip in Space-Time you mentioned earlier?”

  “Yes.” She grimaced, and for the first time I could see the power in her hatred. There was a gritty, grim overcast to her expression. It made my toes curl just looking at it.

  I would not want her for a foe, I thought. “Why is the rip so important?”

  “Because, Orpheus’ master seeks to separate the kingdom from its King,” Alora explained. “There are two ways to take over a kingdom. One can either dispose of the king in question, or one can take the kingdom.”

  “So that is why the Prince has come to work with you. He’s working to stop him. Who is Orpheus’ master?” I asked.

  “Alküzor.” The name sent a stinging heat into my fingertips. Alora glanced over at her pool. A powerful cloud of green, glowing eyes that were looking up at me appeared in the misty waters.

  Recognition once more poured through me. “I’ve seen those eyes before.” I walked up and placed my hand against the waters. My hands were shielded against the wetness. “I saw them when the meteorite came crashing through Apollo City and exploded in the city. I was in the hospital at the time.” My fingers tightened against the glassy surface.

  “He is trapped in his spirit form, stuck inside the bright fires of the Earth, but he works through his minions.”

  “Why would Orpheus want to listen to him?” I asked.

  Alora smiled. “You should know, from all your time with the humans, why.”

  I shook my head. “I can’t imagine why.”

  “If there is something you want, something you desperately want, there is a way to get it. That’s why it’s important to want the right things.” Alora stepped into the archways of the atrium and looked out over a balcony. Farther than the eye could see, the growing power and majesty of the universe continually expanded from under my feet. “Orpheus wanted a power that wasn’t his. He wasn’t able to get it.”

  “So Alküzor got it for him?” I asked.

  “No.” Alora shook her head. “Starry Knight refused him.”

  A new appreciation for Starry Knight’s self-control budded inside of me, even though I’d lamented it earlier when we kissed.

  I was suddenly proud of her. She did the right thing, and, recalling Orpheus’ power, I had no doubt it had been no easy task. “So now Orpheus is determined to get revenge and power. He thinks his master will find a way to give him Starry Knight’s power once he has control over this Realm.”

  “Yes.”

  “That’s a large, complicated plan.” I shook my head. “Why doesn’t he just get over her rejection and just accept his power’s limitations? Seems simpler.”

  Alora laughed. “I wish that were so,” she said. “Some things are not so easy to get over. Maybe Aleia will tell you her story one day.”

  “Aleia?”

  “Yes.”

  I wondered at it, before I waved it off. “I know her story. Elysian told me. She has fallen because she was tricked into helping Draco.”

  “She has been forgiven for that,” Alora replied softly. “Though there is still a price to be paid.”

  “Helping me seems like a fitting punishment,” I said with a sigh.

  Alora chuckled. “I do not see it as a punishment,” she remarked, reminding me she was supposed to be helping me, too.

  “Good to know.” I grinned back. Star or not, it never hurt to be charming.

  “I do not see it as a chore, either,” Aleia interjected, as she stepped out onto the balcony, taking her place by her sister’s side.

  “Aleia.” I nearly jumped. “I wasn’t saying anything bad about you.”

  She laughed. “I’m not worried, I promise. I came to see how you were doing.”

  “Alora’s told me Orpheus is out to kidnap and conquer the universe for his master, so he can have the power he wants over Starry Knight and everyone else,” I explained.

  “That’s a
succinct way of putting it,” Alora murmured.

  “Did you get all your questions answered?” Aleia asked.

  “For the most part,” I said. “I do have one more question, I guess.”

  “What is it?”

  “Where do I fit in, with all this?” A whisper of helplessness wrecked through me suddenly. I fought hard to keep my confused turmoil out of my voice. “I mean, it’s all very well and good that Orpheus needs to be stopped, and Alküzor or whatever his name is should be punished, and all his evil contained. But where do I come in? I know I am a fallen star, but I didn’t even know about it until Elysian came to find me, and even now, I don’t remember everything I should.”

  By the time I was finished, there was a bitter anger that was unleashed with every word. Yes, I had been excited to embrace my supernatural powers. But now, I was up against the most determined egomaniac literature could describe, who had forces beyond what I could even imagine and all the time in the universe to achieve his goal. How could the eighty to a hundred years of my life make any difference?

  I glanced back up at the two of them, regretting my outburst, even though I was consumed by the paralyzed fear of an impossible situation.

  “You are a fallen star, called to seal away the Sinisters once more,” Aleia said.

  “I know that,” I scoffed. “Why?”

  Alora and Aleia exchanged glances and had a silent conversation between the two of them. They seemed to be weighing out their concerns between them. Finally, Alora turned back to me.

  “There are lots of reasons why,” she explained gently. “But you already know the answer.”

  I wanted to shout, “No I don’t!” But I thought better of it. “Then I don’t understand it.” (That sounded smarter.)

  “It could be something you’ll figure out later,” Aleia said. Her tone was light and, in all fairness, I knew she was only trying to be helpful. But I felt her words were condescending at best and reproachful at worst. “You’ll just need to have faith.”