“I’m working hard on figuring out the Cipher zombie thing. They had to have combined their power somehow. Me and a few others have been experimenting on how to replicate it. I think we’re getting close.”
“Anything about giving talents back?”
She shakes her head. “I’m sorry, Libby, but that one’s going to have to be all you. You’re the only one capable of taking talents. I’ve had some Perceptives try looking at Braden, and they can’t even sense the emptiness you can.”
“Now that I know how to counter the drugs, I’ll be able to at least have time to try and figure it out. I won’t have anything else to do,” I say.
“We know where you are,” Celia says. “Lance tracked you down the day after you were taken. They’re holding you in Denver. It’s not a regular Guardian compound so we can’t use the schematics from Braden to get you out.”
“You’re not trying to get me out anyway. Lance promised. You guys have to wait until my birthday.”
“Why?”
“Because that’s when Howe is going to release me.”
“He’s only going to let you out so he can kill you,” Celia reminds me.
I smirk only a tiny portion of my anger, directing it at the mists surrounding me. “Yeah, we’ll see how that works out for him, won’t we.”
The truth of that statement weighs down on me. I don’t have a choice, actually. All I can do is sit in my cell and wait. Howe will send Milo to drag me out in public where he will dramatically insist I give up my destiny and swear some kind of medieval fealty to him even though he knows I’d rather eat live scorpions than ever give in to him. He’ll wait for the moment my diktats flare, the signal that my talents have been fully unlocked, and I’ve truly become the Destroyer. That is the moment he will kill me, if his information about me is good enough. He might be in for a surprise if it isn’t.
Pulling my thoughts away from Howe and his righteous sword of murderous dreams, I remember the reason I came here in the first place. Celia’s last words to me before I was taken. “Celia, what did you mean when you said you were wrong about the spirit world?”
Her whole face blossoms into pure excitement. Celia jumps up and motions for me to do the same. “You’re not going to believe this,” she gushes. “You have to come with me!”
I stumble up beside her. Celia wastes no time on explanations, grabbing my hand and towing me along behind her as she zips through the mists. I really need to figure out how to speed travel better so I don’t have to bounce along behind people like baggage. “Where are we going?”
“To the Central Expanse. You’re going to flip when you see this!”
“Can’t you just tell me?” I ask as we slam to a stop.
“No,” Celia says. “You have to see it. But we’re here, anyway.”
I push my tangled hair out of my face and peer around the empty space. I want to ask what I’m supposed to be so hyped about, but Celia is already talking again.
“I figured it out the day you were taken,” Celia says. “Everything with Lance’s party and the way Milo was acting got a little overwhelming. Not to mention, I had a big performance coming up at school. I needed some alone time, but the training house was filled to the brim with people. I couldn’t find a single quiet place. That’s when I thought about the spirit world. I’d been there a few times already for training. They were mostly short trips, though, and I stayed near the barrier. When I went into the spirit world, I didn’t want to be disturbed by anyone else coming through so I went further in, to the Central Expanse. Here.”
She pulls me to the very center of the area, to the edge of a circular depression in the ground. It’s the only one like it I’ve ever seen in the spirit world, but no one could ever tell me why it was there. Celia stares at it excitedly.
“I was just sitting here thinking, at first, but after a while I noticed how different the spiritual energy felt here. It wasn’t like near the barrier.”
I hadn’t really noticed before, but now that Celia has mentioned it, this place does feel different. It’s odd because I’ve been here dozens of times and it has never felt like this before. Usually in the spirit world, the flow of spiritual energy seems to follow the current of the mists. Or maybe it’s the other way around. Either way, the energy was always just here, before, like the ocean. It wasn’t fed by any source like a lake is fed by a river. It was just a body of mist. Now I can feel the distinct pouring in of spiritual energy. It’s fresh and wonderful, like swimming in feathers. There is no doubt that the source is the depression in front of us.
“What is it?” I ask.
“It’s a gateway.”
I look over at Celia in confusion. “A gateway? What do you mean? A gateway to where?”
“Not to where, from where. We can’t go through it, but others can come here,” she explains in a way that leaves me completely bewildered. “When I noticed the difference, I decided to poke around. So I gathered my own spiritual energy and sent it into the gateway.”
“Celia, that could have been dangerous!”
“I know. I wasn’t thinking, but it turned out all right. Putting my energy in opened up the gateway and they all came rushing through,” she says, her eyes alight and eager. “Pay attention so you can do it on your own next time.”
She starts gathering her energy and I panic. “Who came through? Celia, wait! Maybe you should explain things a little more before you just dive in again.”
Too late. Energy hurtles into the depression and the mists suddenly push away. Her energy seems to hover over the depression for a few seconds. Neither of us dares to take a breath. We watch as it sinks down slowly, an empty space forming at the center and growing larger. Startled, I take a step back. Celia does the opposite. When the emptiness engulfs the depression entirely the power stops. At first I don’t think anything is going to happen, then, mist starts pouring out of the gateway. It doesn’t remain mist for long, though. As soon as it clears the gateway, it coalesces into a shape, into a body. More and more forms emerge from the gateway.
“Celia,” I whisper, “what’s happening? Who are these people?”
“They’re ghosts!” she whispers back, her excitement making her voice turn high and squeaky.
“What?”
She nods. Her whole body bounces along with her head. “Before the Spiritualists locked the Ciphers in here, this is what people used the spirit world for, to talk to people who had passed on. Locking the Ciphers here did something to the gateway so it wouldn’t work anymore, but once they were gone it started working again. They just needed someone to activate it so they could come through.”
“These people are dead?” I ask.
“Yeah. I’ve only told a few people I can absolutely trust about it, and they have been coming here trying to find people they’ve lost. It’s been amazing,” Celia gushes. “It’s hard to find who you’re looking for, though, because I guess it’s pretty difficult to get through for them. The ones who’ve been dead the longest have the easiest time, because they’ve had more time to figure things out. People who were Spiritualists in life can come pretty easily, too, but it’s still hard to find who you’re looking for most of the time.”
“These people are all dead. You can talk to people who’ve died.” I can’t believe this. I turn to Celia in my astonishment, and say, “Celia, that means …”
“Libby?”
His rough voice has been softened by death, but I would recognize it anywhere. Tears well in my eyes and spill over in a torrent of joy. I turn around slowly, and meet his gaze.
“Dad,” I whisper, “you’re here.”
Chapter 31
Strangest Thing
The moment of shock wears off quickly and I run to him. Right before I throw my arms around him, I wonder if I’ll just pass through, but our spirit bodies collide softly and his arms encircle me. My tears evaporate before they even make it down my chin. So do my dad’s. Thoughts of getting back before Milo finds me dissolve under m
y dad’s touch. We hold each other and cry like there is no time or reality.
A lifetime later, my dad pulls back enough to see my face. New tears spring up as he touches my face gently. “Libby,” he sobs, “I’m so sorry. I’m sorry for everything I put you through.”
“It’s okay, Dad,” I say.
“I tried to change who you were. I left you to face all of this alone. I’m so sorry, Little Libby.” His whole body shakes as he weeps in earnest.
“Dad, it’s all right. Please don’t cry. Everything is all right, I promise,” I say.
Suddenly, his sobbing turns into rueful laughter. I look at him, worried his ghost self isn’t entirely stable. Who knows what happens to your mind after you die. He notices my concern and attempts to calm himself down. “I’m sorry, Libby, it’s just that I never thought you would be the one telling me everything would be all right. That was always my job.”
“Things have changed a lot since the last time you had to pull me out of one of my messes.”
“I know, sweetheart. Just seeing you, so grown up and beautiful, I can’t believe how much I’ve missed.” His eyes tear up again, but he holds them back. “And speaking of growing up, I want to hear about this young man you’re seeing. Braden, right?” he asks, looking over at Celia.
She nods happily. My eyes snap between them in disbelief.
“You’ve met my dad?” I ask Celia.
“A few weeks ago. He had a hard time getting here at first since he wasn’t a Spiritualist in life, but he came looking for you. I’ve caught him up on most of what’s been going on. The dead can’t see anything happening in the physical world like the Ciphers could,” Celia explains.
I look back at my dad in amazement. I want to stay here forever, but I know that can’t happen. “Dad, I don’t know how long I’ll be able to stay. I have to get back before Milo brings me dinner in my cell …”
My dad cringes at the mention of both Milo and my cell. Celia must have been very thorough in her explanation of my exploits.
“Libby,” Celia says, “I can go and come back before it’s time for Milo to come. That way you can visit with your dad without worrying about time.”
“I’m not for sure when Milo comes. I think it’s usually right before sunset.” The small shadow that grows dimmer as the light fades while Milo questions me is the only indication of time I have in my cell.
“He comes at six o’clock,” she says. When I look at her in confusion, she explains. “Lance. Those weeks where you were in pain, he felt it every day starting at six. Just to be safe, I’ll come back for you an hour before, okay? Stay with your dad until I come to get you. That way you won’t have to wonder.”
My heart expands with love for my friend. I pull her into a crushing hug, and whisper, “Thank you, Celia.”
She nods, smiling, and disappears.
Turning back to my dad, filled with relief, his stoic expression startles me. I know that look. It says I’m about to get in trouble. What on earth could he possibly …?
“Twenty-three?” he demands.
Oh. He’s serious, but I can’t help grinning. “Dad, please, you should be happy I’m dating someone who’s mature and level-headed. You weren’t exactly thrilled when Lance and I started dating because you said he was too reckless. You can’t have it both ways.”
“I know, but twenty-three? Really?” he complains. “He’s too old for you.”
“No, he’s not,” I say softly. “He’s exactly right for me. In every way.”
“Because he’s your Companion?”
“No, because he’s the only one who keeps me from forgetting this world is filled with as much love and beauty as it is hate and darkness,” I say. “And because I love him more than I have ever loved anyone, and he loves me just as much.”
My dad is silent for a long time. I’m afraid he’s going to fight me about this, which seems silly with everything else I’m facing. I wait silently, nervously. The slow turn of his frown into a smile lets me finally take a breath. “You really love him that much?” my dad asks.
“I really do,” I say with a grin.
“Then I guess I can’t complain. But I do want to meet him.”
That sours my expression. I hold up my wrist with its three sets of diktats. “That’s not going to be easy. Not only did I break Braden’s link to me as my Companion, I also stole his ability to come here. Until I figure out how to give his talents back …”
My dad takes my upraised hand and runs his fingers delicately across the black diktats. No doubt he’s reliving the night he tried to do the same thing and failed. Grief and regret plague him. Suddenly he shakes off those emotions and looks up at me. “You didn’t break your connection with Braden, Libby. You’re still Companions.”
“What?”
“The bond is still there, it’s just suppressed because his talents are gone. It’s the talents that amplify the connection. Without them, you can’t feel the effects of being Companions,” he says.
I try to contain the bubble of joy rising inside of me because of the lingering reality. “But, Dad, even if that’s true, I still can’t use the Companion link to help me unless I figure out a way to give Braden his talents back. You don’t know how to reverse the Serqet, do you?”
He shakes his head. I can’t stop myself from growling in frustration. “Mr. Walters said you could help me!”
“What do you mean?” my dad asks.
“Before he died, he left me a message that told me what he did wasn’t the first time I’d been betrayed. He had to have been talking about you. And the prophecy said I had to learn from the person who tried to take everything from me and failed, that I had to learn from it and use it to win. It has to mean you trying to perform the Serqet. There’s an answer there somewhere. I just can’t figure it out!”
My dad’s face crumples, his body drooping in shame. “I did betray you, didn’t I?”
Realizing how my words must have seemed like a vicious accusation, I hurriedly try to apologize. “Dad, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.”
“No, it’s the truth.”
“You were trying to help. I understand that, Dad. And to be honest, at the time, if you would have told me what you wanted to do, I would have been all for it. I didn’t want to be the Destroyer any more than you wanted me to,” I said.
“But you wouldn’t say that, now, would you?” he asks, pride shining in his eyes.
I shake my head. “No. Even with everything I’ve been through because of who I am, I won’t choose to hide. I believe what I’m doing is important, and worth the risk. I have to see this through to the end. Whatever that may be.”
My dad steps over to me, his arms cradling me in a hug. “I’m so proud of you, Libby.”
“You might want to save that until I actually win,” I say. “I still have so much to figure out.”
“Well, I may not know how to reverse a Serqet,” he says, “but I think I might be able to help you with something else.”
“What?”
“Dorotabos.”
“What?” I ask again.
“Cipher zombies, Dorotabos, whatever you want to call them.”
My mouth quirks up at hearing this new nickname for the Cipher zombies. “Who came up with that name?”
“Alex Takima was the one who started it,” my dad says. “Apparently he speaks his native Japanese, and as soon as the others heard him using the name Dorotabos, it kind of stuck.”
Like everyone else seems to have done, I find myself liking the nickname quite a bit. I quickly decide to adopt it. It sounds way better than saying we were trying to find a way to kill zombies like a pack of B-movie characters. I’m sure Lance is the only one who might not appreciate the change. Given his fascination with the undead, he always loved the idea of becoming a zombie slayer.
My dad’s fingers start tapping against his leg like they always used to do when he got excited. The movement draws my attention back to him. His tapping always pro
mised something interesting. “Ever since Celia mentioned the problem with the Dorotabos creatures, I’ve been thinking about them and asking some of the other spirits about it.”
“And?”
“Your idea about the Guardians bypassing the need to unlock the Cipher’s talents is wrong,” he says bluntly.
He never was one to sugarcoat things. Every time I broke a bone or screwed something up, he would first make sure I was okay, and then say something like, “Libby, that was a very foolish thing to do.” Then he would usually go on to explain why whatever I had done was not a good idea. Knowing that, I wait for him to continue.
“If there’s one thing the Guardians haven’t lied about, it’s the impossibility of hijacking talents before they’re unlocked. Every class and faction in the world has tried with no success. Even Inquisitor Moore and I experimented with it because he thought that with my power I might be able to do it,” he says. “I couldn’t do a thing.”
“So, do you have any insight about what the Guardians did do?” I ask, trusting his assessment. I tried to get at Celia’s talents for quite a while before her Inquest and failed. And let’s face it, if I can’t do it, it probably really is impossible.
“Actually,” my dad says, “I do. You can’t hijack talents, but what you can do is force your own talents into someone else. It has to be someone whose talents haven’t been unlocked and it takes an incredible amount of power, which I’m still not sure how they acquired. The people I talked to said it was pretty much impossible, but that’s what people said about the Serqet, too.”
Which brings me back to the question Braden asked me when I first told him about the Dorotabos. How did the Guardians get that much power? I still don’t believe there are seven Guardians more powerful than me. They have to be combining their power. My dad hasn’t figured that out yet, so I leave it alone for now. I’ll have plenty of time to think about it back in my cell.
“Could we do something like that with Braden to get him into the spirit world?” I ask. “Without hurting him?”
He grimaces. “I don’t know if you even could, since his talents are gone, not simply unlocked. There has to be a talent pool in the person for someone to connect with for control. For example, you couldn’t force Naturalism into a person without any Naturalism to start with. Their body isn’t equipped to use it. But based on what happened to the Ciphers, I wouldn’t risk trying it on Braden anyway, Libby. You’re better off trying to combine power with him.”
Darkening Chaos: Book Three of The Destroyer Trilogy Page 29