Courage (43 page)

Come to think of it, she better hurry up and harness her full power.

Nexus vanished once again and stayed hidden. The storm roiling overhead flashed lighting several times, a peal of thunder accompanying each cloud-to-cloud bolt.

Closing her eyes, Roxie widened her stance and concentrated on her Mana. She set it free and opened her eyes as the power surged up and out, and pressed her body towards the ground. It was time for her to do what everyone needed her to do.

“Oh, no you don’t,” Nexus said, his powerful voice resounding over the realm. The storm grumbled.

The air around her felt charged and smelled of ozone. Aerigo jumped between her and the storm, his arms raised towards the cumulonimbus. A bolt of lightning connected from the storm to his hands with a deafening bang. Roxie’s heart caught in her throat as she expected him to drop dead, but Aerigo stood unharmed, hands still raised, tiny arcs of electricity playing over them. He shook his hands out, then stood ready for another assault.

Nexus snarled.

Roxie desperately wanted to unleash Frava, but she needed a good few seconds to concentrate, unleash it, then take a moment to mentally adjust to whatever Aerigo had to be feeling. There was no way she was going to accomplish that with Nexus attacking them with bolts of lightning. If Aerigo could pull him out of the sky once again--an act that’d left her mouth ajar the first time--that’s when she’d make herself go full-powered.

Aerigo held up both hands like he was gesturing for Nexus to stop. The air shimmered in front of his hands, then spread into a sphere big enough to envelop them both, yet without hindering Roxie’s power.

Nexus unleashed a succession of lighting strikes right on top of them. She covered her ears and kept her power in check.

Aerigo clamped his hands into fists near his shoulders, and the bolts got sucked into two crackling spheres enveloping his hands. He threw his hands forward like a chest pass. Lightning balls erupted forth and surged into the heart of the storm. A huge white light flashed inside, revealing its contours and a contorted Nexus screaming in agony. Aerigo willed him into his outstretched hands. Nexus materialized with his arms hanging limp at his sides, mouth agape and breathing hard. Aerigo recommenced squeezing.

Something shot out from Nexus’ bare chest and hit Aerigo in his chest. He let go and staggered back.

Roxie did a double-take. A third arm stuck out from Nexus’ chest. At the end of it was a hand holding the hilt to Aerigo’s dagger, which was now protruding from his sternum, right over his heart. He retreated another step, then teetered backwards.

Roxie locked away her Mana, launched into a run, and guided Aerigo to the ground. She cradled his head in her lap as all the new bits and pieces of armor and uniforms turned white and evaporated with a sighing hiss. His white shirt soaked through with blood.

Aerigo’s blue eyes looked up at her. No, not at her. At nothing. There was no life in them. Roxie’s vision blurred with tears. She blindly groped for the hilt, then pulled the dagger out with a nauseating squelch. Blood got all over hand and arm, and was soaking into her pants, but she didn’t care. She closed Aerigo’s eyes, then pressed his head to her hollow chest.

She sucked in a breath as something sharp and metallic press against her neck, right under her jaw. The rest of her body froze at the sight of Nexus holding Aerigo’s bloodied dagger to her throat. He looked down at her smugly, almost bored, but then it shifted into a maniacal grin.

“That’s the expression I wanted to see before I send you to follow him. What I would have given to see Aerigo’s face when I stabbed him...” He laughed.

“Nexus
stop
!”

It was a woman’s voice. Roxie dared not crane her neck for fear of bringing Nexus’ attention back on her. He was looking up at the top of the plateau.

“Mother, you’re crying!”

The dagger sagged away. A small voice in Roxie’s head told her that this would be a great time to unlock both halves of her power, but she found herself able to do nothing but watch.

“Put the dagger down, Nexus.”

Roxie chanced turning her gaze to the top of the plateau. It had to be a hundred feet above her. She could barely make out a petite woman with flowing black hair and an emerald green dress. Awe washed over her. Even from this distance she could tell the woman was beautiful.

The dagger dug back into her neck. Nexus glowered at her as an internal struggled went on behind his dark eyes. His eyes were darker than hers and so cold, so full of hate.

“Put the dagger down and leave her alone. We need to talk.
Now
.”

Nexus looked between Roxie and his mother several times, then gave Roxie one last glower. He chucked Aerigo’s dagger at the side of the plateau with a snarl. It buried itself up to the hilt. “His death should be sufficient torture for you right now. I’ll be back shortly.” He flew to his waiting mother and they disappeared over the plateau’s rim.

Roxie released the breath she’d been holding. She wanted to pass out. Her brain was overloading with emotions and she’d really almost died. Aerigo was dead. Yayu was dead. Tons of people were dying behind her. Baku had never jumped in to help. Why? What excuse did he have to not jump in and save Aerigo from dying?

Get up, you moron. Get up and fight while he has his back to you!

Roxie looked around the realm, at a loss for what to do. Aerigo wasn’t there to guide and help her anymore. She was only seventeen--almost eighteen--new to extended reality, and needed a lot more training to become proper hero material. But here she was, the last living Aigis with so many people that had their hopes riding on her chance to succeed. Aerigo had believed in her, Baku did, wherever he was, and so did Grandma.

Roxie looked at Aerigo’s lifeless face. It was already paling. His talk about him having to kill her for the greater good came to mind. But now he was dead and she was the only one left. If he was in her place, he’d certainly get up and do what needed to be done for the greater good.

Tears stung her eyes as she slid her lap out from under his head and gently placed it on the rocky ground. She thought of kissing him on the lips. They’d never done that. However, the thought of kissing a dead person didn’t sit well with her. She brushed her fingers along his lips, then got to her feet, tears falling freely.

The war raged close by, all of them forced to fight until she did something about that. Everyone on Earth would be next, along with all the other worlds. She couldn’t let that happen.

Without looking back, Roxie retrieved Aerigo’s dagger from the rock, then sized up the face of the plateau. She took a few steps back and released her Mana once more. It still wanted to run free but she pulled it close and used it to launch herself onto the plateau. The sensation of surging through the air with nothing but energy holding her up gave her an adrenaline rush. She hurdled over the rim and landed on the plateau at a jog, stopping when she saw other people and creatures. A few vanished, others stared, and the closest ones backed away. All of them were gods. All of them were afraid of her.

She ignored them.

There was also a dead tree on the plateau--well, almost dead. It had two leaves with a third one suspended midair. Strange to have a contorted tree in the middle of what was basically a barren wasteland of a realm. She ignored the tree and focused on her resolve to not allow Nexus to destroy any more lives, then backed up to the edge of the plateau. Nexus and his mother were flying towards a temple that looked much like Baku’s, but this one was grey with an amber light emanating from it. She ran forward and leapt off the other end of the plateau as she drew out Frava. The world around her went white.

The second half felt exhilarating, powerful. She felt like if she commanded all the gods present on the realm to kneel, they would do so. She felt her attire change as well, like Aerigo’s had, but it changed into something different, something that reflected what her perception of the ultimate guardian and protector was. No wonder Aerigo had been clad in a mishmash of uniforms and armor. He was already an exemplary guardian and protector. Those must have been pieces of his uniforms and whatnot from over the centuries.

Roxie felt a cuirass hug her torso, arm guards form over her forearms, her tank top spread into something long-sleeved, and her pants bunch into a knee-length skirt with spandex shorts underneath. Her boots turned into greaves, and feathery wings attached to her shoulder blades. The light faded and Roxie began steadily beating her energy-formed wings. A gleaming shield hugged the length of her forearm, a cutting edge lining the bottom. In her hand she now held a simple longsword that glowed white. Perfect.

Nexus and his mother turned. At the same time Roxie thought she sensed Nexus behind her as well. She peered over a beating wing and felt her attention draw to the gnarled tree. Nexus could probably make copies of himself, just like he’d made a third arm, but the tree didn’t feel like a copy. It was something else. She’d have to figure that out later, though. Her quarry lay ahead of her.

His will hit her with the intention to keep her as far away as possible, and Roxie’s flight slowed almost to a halt. She beat her wings harder, fighting Nexus’ will, and it felt like gravity was trying to drag her down. She began sinking.

As she fought to stay aloft and press forward, Nexus heard his thoughts in her head. He was willing her to die. She felt the attack strongest on her heart, like it was trying to stop beating. She stopped trying to move forward as she repelled his deadly will.
I will not die. Not for you.

Then I will send you to your death!

Roxie got yanked out of the air by what felt like an invisible cold hand that wrapped around her entire body. She plummeted not towards the ground, but towards a blackness. She fell sideways and couldn’t get her wings to catch enough air as the wind roared and ruffled her feathers. No amount of willing herself to stop falling worked. She fell into the darkness, lost sight and sense of Nexus and his realm, and continued falling.

Chapter 30

A cold draft woke Roxie. Her face and extremities were icy cold. The basement windows to her room were wide open, the curtains parted. But it was August. The central air should be the only cold part of the environment this time of year. And if the air was on, the windows would be shut. She curled into fetal position.

The pale light of dawn crept through her window as well. It snuck between the maple leaves and clawed at the bookshelves lining her westside wall. The chill wind sent the leaves shivering. Cold nights weren’t unheard of, but still. It felt wintry cold. That was unheard of in August. She pulled her blankets tighter and snuggled deeper against her pillow.

She lay stock-still. What was she doing in her own bed?

Roxie looked around her room. Everything was as it should be, minus how cold it was. Her bookshelves lined one entire wall, brimming with books. Her desk and computer, and all the clutter she could never seem to keep organized was scattered about her desk the way she’d left it. Her dresser and mirror looked normal. Her triangular hammock full of stuffed animals was as she remembered it, but it felt like every last toy was staring at her, watching. Everything looked less colorful than it should be, like there was a grey film over her vision. What was she doing here? How did she even get here? Had she world-hopped on accident or something?

Had she... had she dreamed Aerigo and the rest of it all up?

Thinking of Aerigo made her chest ache with a hollow pain. That felt quite real. Maybe she was dreaming now. That would explain the grey film over everything, and the creepiness of her own room. Yeah, that had to be it. She pushed off her blankets and sat up.

There was a dagger and a shield on her carpeted floor. And she was wearing gold and silver-plated greaves decorated in a curving pattern with stray feathers woven in. She had matching gauntlets with arm guards, a cuirass, a white knee-length skirt, and... wings. Angelic wings. Okay, so this part of her waking world had carried into her latest dream. There were blood stains where Aerigo’s blood had smeared her hand, forearm and thigh, but the blood looked more a part of her outfit.

Now what?

Roxie slipped off her bed and pulled the blankets back up to her pillow. She didn’t try to make it look remotely perfect; just less noticeable that she’d been in bed. Why was she dreaming of home? She missed it, yes, along with her family, but her thoughts had been consumed by Aerigo and what they needed to do to stop Nexus. She never stopped to think about home. And now that she was home, or at least dreaming about it, she very much didn’t want to be here.

She picked up Aerigo’s dagger, which transformed into a glowing longsword. The steel blade looked so simple and beautiful, and its glow made it look potent. Too bad she didn’t know how to sword fight, but at least she felt safer having it. A scabbard was hanging from one hip. She slipped the sword inside with a metallic hiss, and the hilt settled against the scabbard with a satisfying click. She attached her shield to her arm guard and headed upstairs. At least Grandma would be happy to see her again. Her stay would be short, though. She needed to get out of this house. There was something so unsettling about it.

Maybe she’d somehow world-hopped here.

No, that couldn’t be it. They’d always ended up in random places somewhat close to where they wanted to end up; never exactly on top of their destination, and certainly never inside a house. Yeah, definitely dreaming.

It was dead quiet and still upstairs. She couldn’t find Grandma or their cat Tucker anywhere. She searched with her mind vision for both of them, feeling the slightest twinge of fear, but her mind vision didn’t get sucked towards anyone. She was the only living thing in the house. That couldn’t be right. Even if Grandma was out and about, Tucker was an indoor cat. She headed out onto the back porch. The door didn’t screech like it always did. That struck her as peculiar. Had she gone deaf in her dream? She swung the door back and forth a few times, yet failed to coax any sound out of it. No, she couldn’t have. She’d heard the cold breeze in the trees when she’d been laying down.

“Hello?” Her voice rang out over the dead silence and the chill breeze hissed through the nearby maple forest, also tinted grey over the usual bold green. Roxie rubbed a sleeve-clad upper arm more to comfort than warm herself. “Grandma?”

She descended the three wood steps to their backyard and stopped. Train tracks materialized down the middle, complete with a raised gravel path.
This is really strange
. She cautiously approached the tracks and tapped them with a boot. The tracks were solid iron, running parallel to hers and all the neighboring houses.

Since Grandma wasn’t home, and she really wanted to know why the tracks where there, along with where they led to, Roxie decided to follow them to the heart of dreamed-up Buffalo. As much as she wanted to see Grandma again, she really needed to figure out how to wake herself back up. Then she needed to find someone--if there was anyone--who could help her world-hop back to Nexus’ realm. Where the heck would she wake up anyway? If she was still on Nexus’ realm she’d most certainly be dead.

Roxie stopped in the middle of the tracks and took in the dawn sky. It had the lushness of a sky clearing after a heavy rain. Low puffy clouds scooted towards the sun’s blushing light. The rest of the sky was painted soft blues, yellow, and silver. She ran towards the sun and, with a swift downward beat of her wings, launched into the air, and the tracks fell away beneath her.

Having wings was strange--well, not too strange. They were just a manifestation of her power, like her new outfit and armor, and no less complicated to operate than her arms.

The view of the world below splayed out in a mix of dull and breathtaking. The ground was tinted grey over its normal colors, but the expansive sky was beautiful. Roxie no longer had reason to envy birds. The sky was hers. How neat it would be to fly around Earth after she woke up, stopped Nexus and his war, and made it back home. She’d fly around the entire globe, visit every country, and pretend she was showing it all to Aerigo, just like he’d shown--

Roxie’s eyes and nose stung, and her vision blurred. The sight of Aerigo toppling backwards, the blood soaking through his shirt, his lifeless blue eyes, leaving him behind--all of it sapped the energy from her. She glided to the tracks and landed at a run, then slowed to a walk. She wanted to curl up in fetal position and cry, but she felt more hollow than tearful. She must still be in shock. She followed the tracks with leaden steps.

* * *

Roxie followed the tracks for a good hour when she realized she still hadn’t reached Buffalo. Her house was nowhere in sight, but the suburbs kept stretching between her and the city. On top of that, the sun hadn’t moved. It was stuck slightly to the left of the tracks and two hand widths above the horizon. This was the strangest and most vivid dream she’d ever had.

Stranger still, a train station lay ahead. It hadn’t been there five seconds ago.

Roxie took flight and glided the rest of the way to the station, touching down on the edge of a broad cement platform. To her left stood a brick building with several green metal benches seated up against it. Several people populated the benches, and more stood waiting in line that led to a booth window. To her right lay the tracks and an unending maple forest.

The people weren’t tinted grey. They looked properly colored, but unmoving. They also wore clothing from all eras, dating all the way back to, she guessed, the 1600’s. Those in dated clothing stood or sat near those who were definitely from Roxie’s time, but all of them indifferent to the clash of eras. Surprisingly, they were indifferent to her as well. No one gawked at her armor and wings. In fact, no one even
looked
at her.

Their statuesque indifference made her feel like she was standing among zombies; they were luring her into complacency before they attempted to make a feast of her flesh. No one looked decayed or dead, though. That would’ve been some comfort if at least one of them would move.

A man wearing a trench coat and dress pants and shoes shifted his weight. His form wavered and became ethereal, then re-solidified once he stilled. The sight sent chills up and down Roxie’s spine. Not only was this dream strange, it was
creepy
.

Cautiously, Roxie approached the man who’d moved. He looked friendly, but he didn’t react to her presence when she stood in his line of vision. He stared blankly at the back of the person ahead of him.

“Hello,” Roxie said in a small voice.

He shifted again, wavering and solidifying again, but didn’t answer.

She took a step closer. “Can you see me, or even hear me?”

The man’s grey eyes lost their vacant stare. He shook his head as if he’d been jolted out of a daydream. “Yes, I can see and hear you,” he said impatiently. “What do you want?”

Roxie backed out of the man’s personal space. She should’ve snapped at him for being unnecessarily rude, but instead she felt cowed by his anger and ghostliness. “Sorry to bother you. I just wanted to know if this train leads into Buffalo.”

The man shoved his hands in his pockets. He scrutinized her folded wings. “Is this a joke?”

Roxie flinched and furrowed her brows. “No.”

“Go pester some souls that are actually lost, Guide. I am making my peace.” The man turned towards the sunrise and started walking off, his form becoming transparent.

Souls? Guide? Nothing he said made sense. She pursued him. “I’m an Aigis, not a Guide. Why can’t you just answer my question? Is it really that much to ask?”

“When you can answer your own question, yes. Leave me alone.” He vanished before he walked off the edge of the platform.

Roxie stopped and stared at the empty space, then looked around the station. All the others stood still and acted as if they hadn’t been listening.

The off-key wail of a train horn cut into the still silence, making Roxie jump. A tiny light winked to life in Buffalo’s direction and it rapidly drew closer. At least this made the man’s lack of cooperation irrelevant. She crossed to the edge of the platform and waited.

The collection of statuesque people snapped out of their inert trances and joined her at the edge of the platform and the few people in line collected their boarding passes. She should probably go get a boarding pass but, since she was dreaming, why bother?

One moment the train was still hundreds of yards away. The next moment, it was stopped at the platform. No sound, no gush of air, no nothing; now there was a train to board. The stop had to be fast enough to break every last passenger’s neck and make a mess of all loose items. Maybe boarding this train wasn’t such a good idea. But what other choice did she have, besides wandering along train tracks for hours on end without getting anywhere? She was getting places only because things felt like appearing out of thin air now and then.

The train was made of brass and amber-colored metal. It looked solid and fast, and its endless row of windows were tinted, leaving the interior a mystery. Roxie guessed, gauging by the wideness of the wheels’ arcs, they were taller than her.

A door near the front of the train slid open with a low rumble and people began filing aboard on silent feet. The train let out intermittent hisses as puffs of steam shot into the chill air from the train’s belly.

The lack of sound and energy from the people waiting to board unnerved her. She wanted to shout to fill in the void. A train station should be full of voices, movement, and energy. This place might as well have been full of ghosts.

When it was finally her turn to board, the steward held out a white-gloved hand for her nonexistent boarding pass. Movement on the floor caught Roxie’s attention. Strange markings on the first step swirled, then morphed into a script she could read. Golden letters in all capitals read, MIND THE GAP.

“Oh, hello, Guide,” the steward said in a polite, soft voice. He clasped his gloved hands together. “What’s your destination?”

Roxie fumbled for words. She almost corrected him calling her a Guide but she thought better of it. Maybe she’d get more help if she pretended to be what two people so far had assumed she was. Fake it ‘till you make it. Not exactly what the phrase was implying in her case, but close enough. “Anywhere but here is fine. I need to get away from this place and think.” She put one foot on the first step.

The steward held an arm out, blocking her path. “I’m sorry. I thought you were a Guide. You’re not allowed on this train.”

What?
“Why?”

“You have to be either a Guide or be dead. I’m sorry. I can’t let you on.”

“Since when does being dead matter?”

He shifted his whole body in front of her, his dark eyes full of pity. “Please leave.”

“But I just want to get out of here!” She pushed his arms out of the way.

The steward held out both hands like he was gesturing at traffic to stop. “You’re not allowed on this train.”

Roxie bumped into an invisible wall, then staggered to her back foot on the platform. The steward had to be using extended reality. She shifted her weight and leaned into the invisible wall, hoping she could just muscle through it, but she might as well have been pushing against a mountain. “Please! Just let me on. I want to leave this place.” She reached for the steward and her hands went right through him, sending a throbbing chill up her arms like she’d just stuck them in a bucket of ice. She recoiled at the sight of her arms disappearing up to her elbow, then shook out the chill and stuck her hands under her underarms. The steward frowned at her pityingly, like he wholly regretted barring her from boarding.