The Nycren

  “Marcus, you have to go into the light; you know that,” Rage says.

  “C’mon man, you know she’d be mad if she knew you were just sitting in front of her grave all day,” Jay pleads.

  “They’re right, Marcus. At least come with us to greet the second Council member. They were extremely upset that you didn’t show up the last time,” Miku says as Aaden plays with her crimson tipped wings.

  “Look, I don’t want to be a part of…I just want to be right here with her,” I reply.

  “You can’t do that,” Rage says.

  “No, what I can’t do is leave her,” I correct him.

  “She’s already gone, Marcus. Emmy is dead,” Rage replies.

  His words wound me more than any fireball could have. It pains me to hear what he’s saying. I try my best to block Rage’s words out. But it’s causing my chest to tighten.

  “Man, I know it’s hard. I miss her like hell too,” Rage says.

  “I keep thinking if I walk by her building I’ll see baby girl in the window. Trust me, it’s hard on us all,” Jay insists.

  “You are not the only one who thinks about her all the time. But you can’t keep doing this. You need to go into the light,” Rage says.

  “NO! I CAN’T GO INTO THE LIGHT. I DON’T CARE WHAT HAPPENS IF I’M NOT THERE TO GREET THE STUPID COUNCIL. I DON’T CARE ABOUT THEM. THE ONLY THING I GIVE A DAMN ABOUT IS BURIED HERE AND I’M GONNA STAY RIGHT HERE WITH HER. AND NOTHING, NOTHING IS GOING TO MOVE ME.”

  My outburst scares Aaden. He reaches out for his father, who takes him from Miku and cradles him in his arms.

  “Marcus, I know you’re hurting. But you need to grieve in the light. If you stay on earth any longer you’re only going to get weaker and weaker. Eventually, you will die here,” Miku says to me.

  I avoid her eyes. She takes my face in her hands and turns me towards her. She looks into my eyes and concern spreads throughout her face.

  “That’s your plan, isn’t it?” Miku says.

  “Yo, seriously? That’s what you’re trying to do? Stay here until your soul dies out?” Jay asks.

  “You are so fucking selfish, Marcus. What are we supposed to do without you?” Miku shouts.

  “I’m sorry, Pretty, okay? I just don’t want be in a world she is not in. I’ve known that since I met her,” I inform them.

  “If you die, you’d go to Difi, not Limbo,” Rage says as he hands Aaden to Jay.

  “I don’t care. I would be dead. And dead looks really good right now.”

  “That girl jumped off the side of a skyscraper to save you; killing yourself is betrayal and you know it,” Rage says.

  “I’m sorry I’m not as strong as you, Rage.”

  “Do you think you’re the only one who is grieving? Miku lost Rio, Jay lost Reese and I am raising my son alone. He will never meet his mother. He will never know how much she loved him. He won’t know what her laugh sounded like or how speculator she was in battle. This is not the way it was supposed to be. But it’s the way it turned out and I can’t just lie down and give up.”

  “NO YOU CAN’T, BECAUSE YOU HAVE AADEN. BUT ME, WHAT THE HELL DO I HAVE?”

  “You have us, Marcus. You will always have us,” he says as he reaches out and embraces me.

  The others join in. I burst into blue tears as the truth finally, finally starts to sink in.

  Emmy is dead and she is never coming back.

  It’s a few days later and I wish I could say that I’m better. While I did manage to leave the cemetery, I can’t bring myself to go into the light. Instead I go to the places where she used to be. And when I get there, I’m overwhelmed by sadness. Yet I can’t stay away.

  I walk by her school and remember being in the halls with her. She never knew it but I made it my mission to see her face as much as I could before class. I head to where the old Guardian home used to be. I remember us having our first kiss just after Ameana gave me back my Rah.

  I remember laying eyes on her for the first time ever and thinking she was some kind of demon because she had so much power over me. I play out our first meeting and the millions of arguments we’ve had since then. And yes, I even miss the arguing. Our first biggest one was when she left the twins to go off and get some alone time. The Akon Agony, followed her and she ended up in the hospital.

  “I told you not to go anywhere alone. You could have been killed,” I scolded.

  “I just needed some time to myself,” she explained.

  “You don’t get time to yourself. You get security 24 hours a day. That’s it.”

  “You don’t run my life. I will do what I want, when I want,” she shouted.

  I shake my head recalling how stubborn she was and how much I ached to hold her then and now. I leave the school and fly over to what’s left of the cave where we first made love. I was so worried I would hurt her. But she said she could handle it and once again she was right. I asked her to marry me the very next morning.

  “…All I know is that when I need to find the light, I don’t look up at the sky; I look up atyou…Emerson Hope Baxter, you are my Angel. I will never love anyone the way I loveyou. Please, say you’ll marry me?” I asked.

  “Um…yeah okay,” she said simply with tears in her eyes.

  Then there are the funny moments that make me smile even now. Like the time she watched us play Runner Ball. I was being attacked by one of the players and Emmy marched down from the bleachers and threatened to beat the hell out of everyone if they didn’t get the player off me.

  No matter what happened, she refused to stand aside and let someone get hurt. Even if the attackers were stronger than her, she would face them. There was the time she laughed at Cairo and called him a mama’s boy as he was torturing her. And the time she told Agony to go to hell while he broke her bones. That girl had a strength I have yet to encounter in anyone else.

  And I killed her…

  “So you guys are going to follow me around everywhere?” I ask them.

  Miku and Jay come out from behind the rocks. They have been tailing me since New York but I just let them because I knew they were concerned.

  Miku enters the cave with a big grin on her face. Jay has a similar expression.

  “Okay, what’s the smile for?” I ask.

  “Have you read the criteria for the Council yet?” Miku asks.

  “No. I will never read it because I couldn’t care less how they pick the Council members. It’s just another in a series of powerful forces that try and run our lives,” I reply.

  “You missed the second Council member gathering and the first. They are not happy,” Miku says.

  “Yeah, still don’t care,” I confess.

  “Well you will care because the Shoma has chosen the third Council member,” Jay says.

  “What does that have to do with me? I told you guys, I just don’t…”

  I can’t finish my thought. I’m drowning in grief.

  Dear Omnis please help me stop hurting, please.

  “Okay, fine but there’s one event you will come to. It’s not going to be in the light. It’s going to be on earth,” Miku says smiling even brighter.

  “I’m not in the mood to mingle or party. I’m glad we saved the world, but since she’s been gone, I just don’t want to be a part of it,” I tell them.

  “Well too bad, cause you’re coming to this event. Real talk. That’s what’s go’n down,” Jay says firmly.

  “Fine, what’s so special about this event?”

  “It’s our wedding,” Miku says.

  “Really?” I ask.

  “Yeah, we are getting married in a few hours,” Miku replies.

  “Wow, why so quick?”

  “The quicker we do this the faster we get to the honeymoon,” Jay replies.

  I knew they were back together but the marriage issue was placed on hold. I’m glad they have worked it out.

  “Okay, I will be there,” I promise.

  “Good, we will have your suit ready
and waiting for you. You will be walking me down the aisle,” Miku orders.

  “Sure, but why not do it in the light?” I ask.

  “We feel a connection to earth. After all we gave up a lot to save it. And plus we want Rage and Aaden to come,” Miku replies.

  “Good point.”

  “Can we leave you here and trust that you will come to our wedding?” she asks.

  “Promise.”

  A few hours later I am dressed in the suit Miku picked out for me, heading for her wedding ceremony. It’s bittersweet knowing that Emmy and I were supposed to get married. But I try really hard to focus on Miku and Jay. They deserve to be happy and today should be about them.

  The wedding is going to take place on top on the Green mountains. Miku couldn’t have picked a better spot to hold her wedding. A breathtaking view of the mountain range surrounds us. In addition there are vast fields of wild flowers and a clear, perfect blue sky above.

  Emmy would have loved this…

  There are Paras, Originals and hundreds of other Angels. Normally I don’t think Paras would have shown up but since we finished the mission, we’ve been all too popular. I look up front and see Rage with Aaden. They are both dressed to impress per Miku’s orders.

  I look around for the bride and find her standing next to Jay in the back of the crowd. I’m confused because Jay’s not upfront with the Para who’s supposed to bless their union.

  Also Miku isn’t wearing a wedding dress. I have heard Ameana and Miku talk about wedding dresses for hours so I know she wanted to be in one. So, why isn’t she?

  “Hey, what’s wrong? Where’s your wedding dress?” I ask her.

  “Jay took it off me when we got married in Las Vegas, last week,” she says.

  She exchanges a sinful smile with Jay.

  “Wait, I don’t understand. I thought you guys were getting married today,” I reply.

  “No, we just needed a reason to get you here,” Jay says.

  “You guys staged this whole thing just to get me to come, why?” I ask, growing angry.

  “Because you have pissed off The Council. In fact, the third member, Death, is calling for you to be removed as First Guardian,” Miku says.

  “Seriously, just because I didn’t greet them?” I ask.

  “Yeah, this new Council is really strict. In fact the third member wants to see you face to face,” Rage says as he joins us.

  “Fine, whatever. So where is the Council?” I ask.

  “Up there,” Rage says.

  We watch as three hooded figures in white part the sky and descend on us. Everyone in the crowd is frozen with awe as the most powerful beings apart from Omnis land on top of the mountain.

  There are Paras standing near them to absorb some of the glow from the Council members because they are in fact too powerful for us to look at head on.

  “I’ve done everything I could to make sure we carried out our mission. I killed the only girl I loved and now they’re upset because I didn’t come up to the light and shake hands? Fine, if they want to have me removed, then let them,” I tell the team.

  “Hopefully it won’t come to that,” Miku says.

  I shake my head, pissed. Given the mood I’m in I may curse the Council out and end up in Difi but whatever. I’ve lost everything anyway. There is nothing else they can take from me.

  “First Guardian, you will come to us. Now,” the Council member on the right says.

  Judging by his infinity symbol, it’s Time that has summoned me. His voice is booming and demanding. The other two members remain quiet. I slowly walk up the aisle to them.

  As I get closer I try but can’t make out their faces because they are glowing too strongly.

  “You have failed to greet us in the manner befitting a First Guardian,” the Council member on the left says.

  According to his symbol, he is Fate. And Fate sounds like a real asshole. His voice takes up the entire mountain range.

  “Look I know I wasn’t there but—”

  Fate cuts me off.

  “You will speak only when spoken to. Do you understand, Guardian?” Fate asks so angrily that he shakes the whole mountain range.

  “Yes, I understand,” I reply begrudgingly.

  “Death has instructions for you: you will follow them carefully,” Fate and Time order at the same time.

  I focus on the Council member in the center, Death. According to Miku it’s Death that is most angry with me. I want to tell them off but I hold myself back.

  “You have something of mine, First Guardian and I want you to hand it over, now,” Death says in a dark, all knowing, booming voice.

  “I don’t have anything,” I reply.

  Then Death effortlessly waves its hand and summons Emmy’s engagement ring from my shirt pocket.

  “That’s not yours. It belongs to—”

  Before I can finish, Death removes its hood. It’s too bright to make anything out but awe-inspiring light. It takes a few moments to adjust to the glare. But when I do, I still can’t make anything out. Then Death dims its glow and I am able to make out one thing:

  Death has purple eyes…

  I fall to my knees before her. She gets down on the ground in front of me. I reach out and touch her face. It’s real. She’s real and she’s back. My heartbeat is back.

  I pull her to me with every ounce of strength I have. I press her against me so tightly, if she were still human she would have been injured. We cling to each other for dear life. I hold her face in my hand and I kiss her fervently.

  Jay is the first to scream and cheer. The crowd follows. Soon the whole mountain range is exploding with cheers and thunderous applause. The Para next to us asks if we still wish to be married.

  “Hell yeah!” I shout.

  I take her hand in mine and that’s when I notice it: patterns on her hand.

  “Emmy…?”

  “I never went to Limbo. In fact, I was chosen just as soon as the Shoma was assembled. I saw a blue flash before I closed my eyes, thought it was part of the Nycren but it wasn’t. It was the Shoma. I became Death so the Nycren couldn’t kill me. Then Alexi found me on my way to the light. I gave her our Sib to take to Noni. Then I had to stay in the light and wait until the other members were chosen,” she says beaming.

  “We’re gonna have a Sib?” I ask, dumbfounded.

  “Yes,” she says looking deeply into my eyes.

  I hold her and thank Omnis repeatedly for giving her back to me.

  “How did they choose you?” I ask, in disbelief.

  “Did you read the criteria?” Miku asks.

  “No, I was…I could not think about anything but how you were gone from me,” I tell Emmy.

  “Well if you had, Marcus, you would know that while everyone thought it would be Paras and Originals that would be chosen, The Shoma itself never limited its search to just Angels. The Shoma was seeking any being that has endured, sacrificed and loved beyond reason. Who is that if not Emmy?” Miku says.

  “Why didn’t you guys say anything?’ I ask the team.

  “We weren’t sure. We just suspected. And we didn’t want to give you false hope,” Rage says.

  “Then when we heard it was official from the Splash, we thought we’d surprise you,” Jay says.

  “Emmy baby, you’re here: with me,” I say to her still taken aback.

  “Forever. I’m here with you, forever,” she says as she kisses me once again.

  The Para, realizing we are never going to stop kissing, says a blessing for our union and before the angel world and our team, pronounces us husband and wife.

  “Okay, see now you’re just showing off,” I tease her.

  “I don’t know what you mean,” my wife replies.

  “The ‘stop the world’ thing you can do now,” I reply, smiling.

  “Well it’s just nice for a girl to have a little power now and then,” she laughs.

  “Well you can’t stop time whenever you want to show off.”

/>   “Okay, when can I stop time?” she asks.

  “When we have date night and I need to make out with you.”

  She laughs at me so hard she starts to change the weather near us.

  “You’re bringing out the sun. I think it’s supposed to be cloudy today. Hey, what are we doing in Times Square anyway?” I ask as we zip through the sky, our wings cutting through the air.

  “Fate and Time told me to be here on this spot at 7:03 exactly,” Emmy says as we land near a Starbucks.

  We stand a few yards away from the entrance of the coffee shop. Then we see a pretty black girl with long braids and high cheekbones about to enter. Just as she is walking in, Julian is walking out. The two of them bump into each other. The coffee Julian was holding spills on the girl’s dress.

  “Oh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t see—” Julian looks into the girl’s face for the first time.

  The shock on his face is priceless. I ask Emmy and she confirms that the girl is Femi.

  Then she leaps into his arms, crying happy tears.

  “How did you do that?” I ask Emmy.

  “It’s not me. It’s Omnis. Femi was in Limbo. Only Omnis could reach her. He saw what my father did for us in the forest. How he risked his life for you even though he didn’t want us to be together. For the first time, he put what he wanted aside and did what was best for the person he loved. So Omnis gave Femi back along with her memories.”

  “So Femi knows you?” I ask.

  “No, she only knows my dad. She won’t recall anything from her many lives. But that’s okay. Fate told me they end up happy. And that’s all I care about.”

  “You are an amazing woman,” I tell her as I pull her in close and kiss her.

  “Um…you’re gonna make me stop time again if you keep this up,” she warns with a sinister smile.

  Things have changed since the Council now has a being that was once human on it.

  Angels have tried to integrate humanity into their daily lives more. For one thing all Angels have to spend a certain amount of time on earth. They have to have homes and live among the humans so that they have a better understanding of their world.