Visioness (39 page)

Charlotte looked to her
sister. Something about the expression frightened Adabelle. It was brave and
defiant and…terrified. There was a dark truth behind those words, behind that
façade. It said,
I have a plan, though I do not know if it will work.
It
was something about the way Charlotte spoke that made Adabelle’s heart flutter
with fear.

“I am his flesh and blood,
Adabelle,” she said, “and I can make that decision for myself.”

“Yes! Good girl! Do this for
me!” Therron extended his arms, opening them wide, welcoming her towards him.
She took her first few steps.

Does she know she can’t do
this?
Adabelle thought suddenly. She realised Rhene’s hands were wrapped once again
around her waist. She had barely noticed it before, but he held her back again.
She tried to run, to stop her from making this mistake, but Rhene held her firm.

“Let her go,” he whispered.
“She knows what she’s doing.”

“How can she know?” Adabelle
replied, turning to face Rhene. “How can she possibly know?”

“Because we spoke about it,”
he replied solemnly. “While you were away, we talked about how we were going to
stop Therron. She knew what she had to do when the time came, if the time came.
She has accepted it.”

That’s the missing piece,
she thought, as everything
fell into place.
She’s what I was missing.

Charlotte.

“She’s only a girl,” she
whispered. “She has so much to do.”

“This is her choice,” Rhene
replied. “Let her make it.” He looked up to her. “She has been so very brave.”

As Adabelle turned back
around and found Charlotte hugging Therron. It terrified her.

“I can’t do anything,” she
whispered.
Only I can free him. She can end him, though.
She realised
the truth.
She was the one who was always meant to end him.

“The gifts of the Sturding,”
Therron said, rising up from the embrace. “Giving a man a second chance at
life.” He smiled down at Charlotte, his jubilation almost childlike. “Thank
you, for your gifts.”

“I am no Sturding,”
Charlotte replied, turning to look up at Therron.

This was it, the moment.
Adabelle tried to run for Therron. She tried to push Charlotte away. There had
to be another option! There was always another option!

Yet in the moments that came,
she quickly realised there were none. If this was to happen, it had to be this
way.

“No!” Therron cried, before
Charlotte tried to pull him from the Dream.

It all happened in the blink
of an eye. To Adabelle, it seemed to take forever.

Therron fought against Charlotte’s
grasp, but she held on too tightly. She tugged his arm, reaching for reality,
reaching for wakefulness. She smiled all the way, bravely facing oblivion with
the courage of a soldier. The entire fabric of their surrounding seemed to
groan in defiance as the rules of reality were broken, as the universe tried to
rectify that error. There was a brilliant flash of light, a snapping like
thunder, and then the pair were gone.

Adabelle and Rhene were
ejected from the Dreamspace as it began to collapse, crushing them, pushing
them, winding them with its force and then kicking them out before it dragged
them into Oblivion with it.

“Charlotte!” Adabelle
screamed. “Charlotte!” But there were no words to be heard. They were consumed
by the vortex of shadows and mist and memory as the entirety of Charlotte’s
mind collapsed and consumed itself.

But in that moment, she
understood, too. She knew it had to be that way, that it was the only outcome
possible. She herself could not do it, and neither could Rhene. Charlotte had
made the choice. Yet still the pain flowed and her sadness and her anger ran as
red as the blood that filled the streets.

All this madness in the
destruction, the chaos of all things ending, the noises like the tearing of
reality and the flashes of a mind breaking.

And then just silence and
the void.

There was nothing.

Oblivion.

After the end, time
continued.

Adabelle sobbed into Rhene’s
arms, screaming her sister’s name, begging if she wished hard enough she could have
Charlotte return.

But she was gone, her mind
lost to Oblivion.

“I have to get her,” she
whispered. “I have to go back. I have to get into Oblivion and save my sister.
It is the only way!”

“You can’t get her,
Adabelle,” Rhene whispered, softly into her ear. They sat in the room where
Adabelle had drank tea with Lady Morphier, beside Charlotte’s still, silent
body. He life leached from her, her once warm brown skin seemed cold, like
stone. “She’s gone. She can’t come back.”

“I’ll go in her place!”
Adabelle sobbed. “I’ll go and she can come back. She needs another chance!”

“She chose this fate
herself. She knew what she was doing.”

“She’s just a girl, though!”
Adabelle screamed. “Just a child! How can she know?”

“She was fifteen, Adabelle,”
Rhene replied. “And a lot older and wiser than you give her credit for.”

She turned to her sister’s
body, wishing she could enter that mind again and reel back the life that had
once made her so. But she couldn’t. She couldn’t make that happen, and that
confused her and made her angry.

She didn’t even notice Aunt
Marie to the side, no longer in the wheelchair. She didn’t want to notice her for
a time at least. She wanted it to just be her and her sister.

“She didn’t deserve this,
though,” Adabelle whispered. She looked like she was sleeping, Adabelle
thought. Like she was dreaming. A tiny part of that gave her hope, even if she
knew it was false. “This can’t be the price of our freedom,” Adabelle
whispered. “This isn’t fair.”

Rhene didn’t say anything in
reply. He simply kept her close, stroking her arm gently, comfortingly. It was
all he could do, in truth.

Eventually, the police
arrived and took the body to another room, where she lay upon a bed. Adabelle
kept by her sister’s side, speaking to her, apologising as if the girl could
hear her. It was too late, but it gave her some small iota of comfort.

“I always underestimated
you,” Adabelle whispered, having calmed down enough to speak. “I always thought
of you as a child and I treated you as one. I never stopped to consider that
you were almost an adult yourself, that you were growing up just like I was. I
didn’t want you getting in the way or getting into trouble. I wanted to deal
with things alone, and that made me selfish. You were willing to help, to
shoulder the burden, and I just dismissed you like a child. I didn’t tell you
about Therron to begin with because I didn’t want to scare you, when I should
have been honest from the start. I should have told you everything. I should
have let you see my worry and see my fear so you could hug me and take me away.
And when you asked me what was wrong, I should have told you honestly. But I
didn’t. I didn’t want you to see my weakness. I didn’t want you to worry, or to
see me cry.” She inhaled deeply, the air coming in stops and starts. “But now
I’ve lost you, and all I want to do is cry.”

Her emotions welled in her
throat like a choking bubble, threatening to burst. But she held her feelings
in, and continued to speak.

“You and I were stronger
when we were together, and I never gave you the opportunity to show your
strength, and now, when you step in and show how truly strong you are, I cannot
thank you. I cannot hug you and have you hug me back, because you’re gone. I
underestimated you one more time, and it will be the last time I ever do.” She
wept into her hands. “Goodbye. I’m sorry.”

Rhene gave Adabelle the time
she needed to be alone. He didn’t want to bother her while she was alone with
her sister; she had to say what she needed to say. Rhene had already said his
goodbyes.

Rhene stepped out onto the
greens to discover that the battle had indeed ended, when Lady Morphier had
been shot, and Matthon revealed to have gone insane. None could explain it, so
when he had the chance, Rhene took the other generals aside to inform them of
Matthon’s lies, of his ability to Dream.

They all seemed shocked, and
rightly so. Their entire worldview had been built around this single idea: that
Dreaming was wrong. And their own leader and master had been lying this whole
time.

“What do we do, then?” asked
General Ferrant, who stared at Rhene with the greatest surprise on his face.
“We can’t exactly continue to fight now we have this knowledge. It would be
wrong. It would be…hypocritical.”

“We disband,” Rhene said.
“We end this now. If you look around, we can see the cost of our actions. The
lives we have lost today will serve in memory of those who fought in a pointless
war, and will remind us all to never do as we have done today.” The rain had
already begun to wash the streets clean.

“And what of the Oen’Aerei?”
asked Ferrant. “Lady Morphier is dead.” He pointed behind him, stepping aside
to allow Rhene a look. Indeed, Lady Morphier lay on the grass, arms and legs
splayed, a bullet hole sitting cleanly in the middle of her head, blood flowing
down her face like a crimson tear. The police had arrived and were questioning
those involved.

She died knowing her love
was unrequited,
he thought, feeling a tinge of sadness at her passing.
At
least she died with the truth.

“They will remain,” Rhene
explained. “They will get a new leader. Now that Therron is gone, I think we
can be sure it will be in good hands. Someone will step forward and take that
place, I’m sure.” He looked up at the Patron of Dreams, Melréar, and her stag
companion, its face shattered in places by stray bullets. “Someone who
understands what it means to Dream.”

“But Dreaming will
continue!” one of the Dreamless retorted. Rhene did not know his name. “They
will continue!”

“But not under the rule of
someone with malevolent intentions,” Rhene replied. “Besides, they need
training, to avoid having events like this. They need to be taught the proper
way, to respect their gifts. That’s how it’s meant to be, and that is the end
of it.” He was technically the second in command of the Dreamless armies,
thereby making him their leader for now. He announced in as loud a voice as he
could manage. “The Dreamless have ended. You may disband now. Collect your
things and find yourself a life somewhere. This all ends here.”

Rhene unbuttoned his coat,
letting the cool morning air blow against his chest. People were beginning to
wake in the city now, as the sun continued its ascent into the sky. It was a
new morning for many. For all, really. A fresh beginning.

A second chance,
Rhene thought. It wasn’t
something everyone got, and not something everyone deserved, but he was
appreciative regardless.

Thank you, Charlotte.

Adabelle and Rhene were
given their own room in the Halls of the Oen’Aerei for the day, so they could
be close to Charlotte.

“Time goes on,” Rhene said,
“and so must we.”

“I know,” Adabelle said.
“But for now, I just want to stay here.”

She could feel the
Frequencies at the edge of her mind, her thoughts naturally reaching out for
them; searching. She hoped to hear that voice, to feel that mind, to sense that
same sensation she had when Charlotte’s mind had first unlocked.

“There has to be a way out
of Oblivion,” she whispered, mostly to herself, but Rhene listened anyway. “She
can’t be down there forever, can she?”

“It’s what Oblivion is,” he
said. “A sea of nothing.”

“But if anyone could do it,
she could.” Adabelle felt herself grow angry now. Angry at Rhene for his
inaction, angry at the world for its cruelty. “She gave us all a second chance,
and lost hers.”

“She chose that herself. She
told me so.”

“And you kept that from me,”
Adabelle retorted angrily. “You kept that secret? You betrayed my trust?”

Rhene had nothing to say to
that, and for that Adabelle was happy. He lowered his head in shame.

The waves of shadow pushed
her onto the shores of nothing, tossing her once more into the inky abyss. She
had watched Therron drown only minutes ago—or had it been hours—his form too
weak to withstand the tumultuous storm of shadows. Yet she had stayed afloat,
pushing on. She could still hear his final words, cursing her trick. Those
words were meant to hurt, to scathe, but they only made her stronger, more
willing to push through the darkness.

Adabelle would tell you to
be strong,
she thought.
Stay strong and Oblivion won’t end you.

After a while—how long, she
didn’t know—she stood up, and walked the remainder of the way through the
darkness to where it would not toss her any more. The current pushed her
forwards, but never receded backwards. The way it pushed was oblivion, the way
back was reality, and there was no way to fight that current. No one had told
her otherwise, and yet she knew it. That current went in one direction; no one
went back into it.

She found a spot in the
shadows, where the ground was firm, feeling somewhat more firm than anywhere
else had been before. Everything was darkness and shadows, shifting onto itself,
forever and ever. Yet there were spots that seemed more…real…more sure of its
own existences. And in those spots, Charlotte found she could sit and think and
remember and wait.

There she sat on the shores
of Oblivion awaiting the end of the world.

The day dragged on, and when
the detectives arrived to question her, Adabelle was quite surprised to find
Detective Olin not involved.

“Where’s Detective Olin?”
she asked, staring at this unfamiliar man.

“He’s being charged with
bribery and police corruption,” said the detective in reply. “I’m the new
detective put on this case. I’m Detective Kerr.” He extended his hand, smiling
warmly.

Therron’s touch had indeed
gone deep,
she thought, smiling as she returned the handshake.

Rhene stared at Charlotte’s
body, Adabelle’s words running through his head.

If anyone deserves a second
chance, it’s her.

He bit his lip, glancing
down at his hand with the hole in it. A nurse had already checked it and had
told him it would be fixed. They’d cleaned it, dressed it in fresh bandages and
sent him on his way. It would not need amputation.

I’ve emerged from this with
all my limbs, thank goodness,
he thought, stifling a chuckle as he looked down at
Charlotte.
People have died, though.

Charlotte looked out on that
shadowed ocean, with its impossibly black waters and impossible sky, with the
sun she could not see, but somehow knew was there. That sun seemed a goal.
Something about it called her, reminded her of where she came from, though she
could not see it. It was all just darkness and shadow and chaos. It was like a
weight against her heart, the echo of a memory. She knew that sun was a place
she had to be, and knew somewhere in those shadows was a brilliant, wonderful
light. But the waves pushed ever towards the shores, away from the sun, and she
was so very tired.

The sun called her, though,
tugged at her being, wanting her back
there
.

“I’ve proved them wrong
before,” she said. “Time to do it again.”

She rose up to her feet,
looking towards the sun she could not see and into the shadow that had no end,
and she began to walk, pushing against the current that did not recede.

Adabelle’s thought tendrils
only took a few hours after Charlotte’s death to pull back into her own mind.
She stopped her subconscious from searching, having accepted, in part, that Charlotte
would not be coming back. Oblivion was the end, and that was it. There was no return.

She had already promised
herself she would not go back into the Dream again. The desire to reach
Oblivion would consume her, lest she expend the rest of her days with research
as she attempted to break the unbreakable. A part of her wondered, whether she
would ever dream at all. Did she even want to? Would she be haunted by the
memory of her sister, by the way she tried to hug her to make her troubles go
away? Probably. But a part of her wanted to be troubled. A part of her needed
that reminder, so she couldn’t forget.

Rhene entered the Dream
Frequencies, feeling odd to be back amongst the shadows and darkness. He kept
to the border of thought, wondering what he would see in the lines that blur
between.

There was very little a
Sturding
couldn’t
do in a Dream. He had already proven so many things
wrong. He could break a black glass barrier, he could unlock a shackle; surely
he could reach into Oblivion and retrieve that one thing to make Adabelle happy
again.

It’s the only thing I can do
now,
he
thought,
to make up for the secret I kept.

He stood between the
boundary of two minds and stared deeply, through that thin, blurring line,
searching for the point where the Dream ended and Oblivion began.

Charlotte swam against the
current that didn’t stop, towards the sun she could not see. She knew it was a
goal, but a goal to what, she did not know. Perhaps there she would find the
end. A part of her told her she would find reality again. She would find the
Dream, and her body, and return to her mind the memories it had lost in taking
Therron into Oblivion.

“I can do this,” she said to
herself, as she swam through the darkness. “Be strong! Be brave!” She repeated
that over and over again, all the while pushing against the waves that barraged
her back towards the shore.

“Be strong! Be brave!”

And on she swam.

Rhene reached out with his
finger, pressing at the very edge of the boundary between dreams, and noticed
it seemed softer there. He touched it again, and in that he felt only coldness
and blackness, and an endless sea of nothing.

Oblivion,
he thought, as he reached
through that gap.

Adabelle finished her
discussion with Detective Kerr, who assured her that all legal matters with her
have been rectified. With Morphier’s journal, they were able to put blame on
Therron on all counts, and on Lady Morphier, too. As far as matters with Giles
Corbine, in that case it would be classed as manslaughter under duress in the
courts and Rhene would be free to continue his life.

“He might be requested to
perform some kind of service to the community, but that’s a
big
maybe.
It’s really not his fault he did what he did.”

“And Aunt Marie?” Adabelle
asked.

“Will be given compensation
for what Therron did to her through the treasuries of the Oen’Aerei. I can
assure you, she has nothing to worry about. And we can take her aside and
explain everything, too. Save you having to do it.”

“Thank you,” she said,
smiling. She turned to leave, but stopped. “And my money?”

“The account is still in
your family name, so it all goes back to you,” the detective explained. “You
have nothing else to worry about now. My suggestion: go to your sister and sit
with her a while.”

“But Rhene is there,” she
said. She was still angry with him. It had only been hours since Charlotte’s
death. The pain was still too fresh and she didn’t really wish to see him right
now.

“And he will always be
there,” the detective said. “He loves your sister, too, judging from what he
told me when we spoke to him. He misses her. My suggestion: forgive him for
what he did. He’d do the same if things were the other way around.”

Adabelle nodded, thankful
for his words.

“I’m off to see my sister
then. Good day, Detective Kerr.”

“And to you, Miss Blaise,”
he replied, dipping his hat in farewell.

She began her way to the
room where her sister was at rest, preparing her words of apology for Rhene.

Charlotte saw up ahead a
bright figure, glowing with the light of reality. It surrounded the figure like
a brilliant halo.

“Charlotte!” he cried, his
body appearing in the sky, surrounded by the corona of the sun she could not
see.

“Rhene?” she replied, in
surprise. “Rhene! I’m here! I’m coming!”

She reached out her hand, desperately
kicking through he shadows, grasping for the hand and the light and reality.

A wave crashed against her,
but she pushed on, determined. Unwilling to drown, unwilling to concede defeat.

Be brave,
she thought, too weak to
talk.
Be strong!

She reached out again,
desperately, hopefully. That light felt so warm, so inviting, so
real!
She stretched for it, against the force of the waves.

“Rhene,” she muttered,
straining her arm, grasping. And then…

…Rhene felt something touch
his hand, wrapping around it, grasping it tightly like a vice.

“RHENE!” Charlotte’s voice
boomed from within the shadows, sounding over the thunder of the waves, the
howling of the storm.

He pulled that weight up
through the boundary between reality and Oblivion, and with that weight and the
shadows and the impossible darkness, came Charlotte, dressed in her red coat,
smiling that beautiful smile of hers.

“Rhene?” Adabelle asked,
knocking on the door. “Are you in there?”

No reply.

“Rhene, if you are, I’m
coming in. I want to talk.”

She pushed open the door.

“How did you…?” Rhene asked
in amazement.

“I just swam,” she said,
“and I kept going until I found you. I knew where I wanted to go, and so I
went. And I’m back.” She jumped with excitement. “I’m back! I get my second
chance.”

“Well all do,” Rhene said.
“Now let’s go tell Adabelle.”

The pair snapped back into
wakefulness.

Adabelle could barely
contain her screams at what she saw.

Rhene stood beside
Charlotte, and Charlotte was standing there, hugging him. Her eyes flowed with
tears, streaming into his sleeve.

“Charlotte,” Adabelle said,
a moment after she’d screamed.

“I’m back,” Charlotte
replied, smiling.

“You’re back,” Adabelle
said, still standing in the doorway, paralysed by shock. “But…how…how did you
break out of….” She couldn’t finish the sentence.

“Rhene helped me,” she said.
“You didn’t think I’d just take Oblivion sitting down, do you?”

Adabelle’s shocked
expression turned into a grin. “I should have never underestimated you.”

“No you shouldn’t have,”
Charlotte said, beaming. She broke free of Rhene, who was crying now.

Adabelle opened her arms
wide, welcoming the hug that would take all her troubles away. Her sister ran
for her, embracing her tightly into a hold that was impossibly warm and welcome
and brilliant. The shadows receded from Adabelle’s mind, and she could see
light once more.

Rhene stepped forward;
extending a hand which Adabelle took hold of. She gripped it tightly, not
wanting to let go.

She held her sister in one
hand, and Rhene in the other, and there they would stay. Even from her wildest
dreams, she could ask for nothing more.