Teddy stood over me, his eyes glowing with excitement. He kept the arrows on me, but ignored my writing, watching carefully over the junk pile where Emmett had died.
"Good All!" he shouted, scaring me so I dropped my pen. "Emmett's left through his death portal! So that means . . . ghosts can portal out of here. I can kill a mortal if I want out." He winked at me as I scrabbled for my pen in the junk. "You may have a use after all, Queen Heather. But now, I want you to summon his spirit back here."
"Do what?" My voice quavered, my hand holding the pen shook.
"Use your ring, and summon Emmett's spirit back! I've allowed it to work again. Or . . . would you like me to kill you to make a portal?" Teddy tapped his foot and shoved the arrows closer to my throat.
I blinked. Emmett's spirit must have left the Lexiverse, traveling home as spirits do. Teddy needed a portal to pull Emmett back inside, if they were to fight.
Defying Teddy, I lifted my hand and twisted the ring on my finger. "There," I said. I hadn't summoned Emmett, nor turned the stone. Maybe Teddy would be fooled and Emmett would escape him.
Teddy sniffed the air.
"No, you stupid, useless girl. You're not doing it right. I'll kill you instead." His mouth formed a wicked grin, and he pulled back his bowstring.
I clutched the Nonbook to me, held it before my heart. As Teddy tensed the bowstring, I reached out to Emmett, one last time.
"Emmett—we'll be together soon," I said.
Teddy sniffed, then he eased up on the bowstring, smiling. "There it is. He's back." He laughed and laughed, while I sat puzzled. "It's not that cruxing Ring of Esperance at all. You're making them yourself! Stupid girl! You don't even realize you're a portal maker?"
"What?" I hugged the Nonbook to me, still expecting to be shot full of arrows.
"You create portals, girl. No wonder Emmett wants you. It's a ridiculously rare and valuable talent." A snarl marred Teddy's childish face. "He probably didn't want you to know."
I stared at him, hardly comprehending. I made portals? And somehow—probably in calling out to Emmett—I'd accidentally summoned him through one, and back.
Teddy was strutting around, waving his arrows at me. "You'll be a perfect addition to my new world, once I win this battle! And should anything not go . . . according to plan, I won't have to kill you to get out of here! What a stroke of luck!"
I burst into fresh sobs. I'd been unable to stop Teddy and now Emmett would be forced to battle him for the Coming End.
"Stop crying, stupid girl. Emmett will be right back," said Teddy, his grin wide and evil.
"How many times must you kill him?" I said in irrational pain and rage. Then I heard a hollow cough behind me. I spun around. There, next to me on the junk pile, stood a perfectly calm and composed Emmett, pale as a winter sky, in black funereal clothes, a muffler wrapped tight around his neck.
I took in his black-and-white coloring, the way his image shifted and his feet did not quite touch the junk we stood upon. When I moved to stroke his cheek, my hand sank through.
"Emmett . . . you're dead." I reached for him, in shock and unable to cry any more. He took my hand with his vaporous one.
"Aether, my little protégée. Listen to me. We both know I'm not good among the living. My memory goes, my death instinct increases, and I'm pretty much useless. But as a spirit, if you help me, we can save the worlds. And just because I'm dead—" He glanced down at his flickering, wafting feet, then into my eyes. "That doesn't mean we can't still go out."
"It doesn't?" I stared at him in disbelief.
"You did a marvelous job writing me," he said, gesturing toward the Nonbook I still clasped in my arms. "When you wrote in my Nonbook, it helped me retain my style. What some may call my essence. Then I heard you calling. I passed over the Dead Sea and returned to you. Emmett's dead, yes. But Emmett's not going away." He glared daggers at Teddy, who danced around with glee. "I need one more thing, my sweet little protégée. Please."
I bowed my head. "Incant," I said and running one sad hand through Emmett's vaporous body, I began it.
Chapter Eight
Fight
I prayed to the Lexiverse to grant us favor. I chanted for assistance from the four powers of the spirit world, intoning their four names, although my voice quavered when I got to Bellum's name.
Emmett was dead, but we wouldn't let it end like this. I pulled on everything I had, everything I'd learned the hard way. In remembrance of my father, in remembrance of my mortal sweetheart, Emmett, I'd incant the All like never before—and we'd finish this.
I recited the incantation of the All.
Plouton, Aletheia, Bellum, All,
Come together, unwrite the fall,
Return what subdivision stole,
Restore his memory, make Em whole.
What had I said? I slipped and called him Em instead of the All. And Emmett's appearance hadn't altered this time. He stood there, wafting transparent the same as before. Did it work?
"It worked," said Emmett the All, his voice booming so I covered my ears. "If you're wondering," he said more quietly. I shielded my eyes because his face now shone golden, all fire and glory.
A voice spoke, like Sam's messages, directly in my mind. The All—surprisingly, his mind messages had a clear, calm tone, much more comfortable than listening to him speak aloud.
—I need you, Aether. It is you who can join our two worlds. It was no mistake, Bellum killing you all those years ago. Emmett believed it to be spite, but I, the All, know Bellum did this to tip the balance of the battle in his favor. Had I fought him then, I surely would have lost.
This time, however, he has made mistakes. Killing mortals weakens his spirit presence and Bellum killed my mortal self. And then, he let you live. And that will be his downfall. But only if you stand by me, Aether of Esperance. The All is begging you. On my knees.
To my astonishment, the powerful deity knelt, lowered his glorified face, and bowed his magnificent head. Very gently, he took my hand in his.
—You can leave at any time, Aether. You are a portal maker, as the Bellum discerned. But I need you and the spirit world needs you. Remember, I once wrote to you of a time when your not inconsiderable talents would be needed by the spirit world. This is that time. We need you, Aether, as never before.
The All peered up at me and I shielded my eyes.
I fumbled to reply, unfamiliar with mind messaging a god.
—I wouldn't think of going anywhere, but with you. Not in two thousand years. Not ever. I will stand with you to the end.
I would kiss you," said the All, speaking aloud in confident, booming tones that hurt my ears and rattled the junk around us. "But that could be your demise, darling Aether, so instead, let's end this stupid fighting once and for All."
He whirled high into the air, facing Teddy. Then Emmett the All stood on the air, one finger pointed in his lecturing stance.
"Now, Teddy," said Emmett the All. "No more games."
"Crux!" said Teddy. "Not a lecture!"
His small form faded, but the All said, "Oh no, you don't!" Fading with him, the All grabbed the scruff of Teddy's shirt and pulled. Teddy popped back to a more lifelike consistency, scowling and struggling.
"You died too young," the All began. "And the tragedy is that, for the last hundred years, you have handled your immense power as a five-year-old would—taking what you want by any means possible. I once allowed that the order of the universe gave you your godhood for the alignment of the spirit world. We are to balance each other, so the wisdom goes. But what I've seen from you, in all my lives and deaths—I no longer believe you necessary to universal balance. We have been gifted as brothers with half the power of the spirit world. But you do not deserve yours!"
"I do! I deserve as much as you!" shouted Teddy and he rose, morphed into a whirl of smoke. When the smoke drifted away, before us levitated ancient Bellum, tall and gaunt.
"Is he Bellum?" I whispered. "Or is Bellum him?"
"He's my brother," said Emmett the All. "He's been my younger brother throughout time for two thousand years. And he's the Bellum, the spirit god of discord, the lord of chaos and disharmony, the force that turns things against each other and themselves."
"The War of All against All. And you're the All," I said.
"Yes. But I never wanted to be. I still don't, but someone has to stand up to him!" said the All.
"I will stand up to him." The certainty in my voice shocked me. "I'm going to finish what my father started."
The Bellum, tall and gaunt and old, stuck out his tongue at us. "You can't stop me!" he said, his voice not creaky with age, but high and childish. He ran from us, bounding from cloud bank to cloud bank screaming and giggling. When I blinked, he changed to his child form.
"I can," said the All, his voice sorrowful. "I don't know what's worse. That I can stop you and haven't, or that once I do, you won't be coming back."
Teddy, from the highest cloud bank, shrieked. "You wouldn't! You can't!" He waved his hands, drawing shape after shape up from the cloud banks. Within moments, he'd populated the junkyard with soldiers on foot and horseback. Tanks rumbled across the land, pushing junk aside. World War I planes screeched through the sky, zeppelins bumbling after them.
"I must," said the All. He took my hand very gently. "I will need your help, Aether. As a spiritualist and a medium."
I gulped. "You're going to kill him?"
The All shook his head. "He's already dead. It will be worse than that."
I wracked my brain. I thought of movies I'd seen about ghosts.
"Exorcism?" I said.
"Worse," said the All.
"Look at those flyers!" Teddy laughed, loud and hollow, pointing at the airplanes that buzzed overhead. "Want to play with flying machines, Emmett?"
The planes made an ascent, then dove—straight for us. As they closed in, the guns pumped in and out, firing into the clouds and sand.
Emmett the All expanded to a height of fifteen feet and bent over me, protecting me from the strafing of the planes. I huddled below, his energy so near it crackled and buzzed in my ears. I wanted to reach out and touch him, but I dared not.
"There will be no battle today, Teddy," boomed the All. "But there will be a fight, as I promised. You kept your side of the bargain and did not harm Aether. I allowed you to kill me. Now we fight, as agreed."
With that, Emmett the All rose, all fifteen feet of him, and stomped the toy soldiers, kicking them out of Teddy's grasp. The actual soldiers slumped, the tanks rumbled to a halt, and the planes crashed with glorious explosions into the cloud banks.
This wouldn't be a battle between armies, but a fight between two brothers. Could I help Emmett tip the balance? I was going to try!
"Little Teddy was no match for his big brother, Emmett," I said. Then, warming up, I shouted, "In a one-on-one fight, Emmett could clean Teddy's clock every time!"
Teddy snarled in my direction and sprouted into his skeletal, elongated form—twenty feet high. He slapped at Emmett and sent him flying into a pile of old tires. Emmett lay still.
"Emmett!" I shrieked.
I focused everything I had—all the energies of the Lexiverse—to shrink Bellum. I said, "Little Teddy, small Teddy, baby Teddy. A little boy with his toys. Nothing more than a five-year-old, still with his milk teeth. Not universal chaos or eternal division. Just a tiny boy who breaks all his toys."
Bellum sized down and put his thumb in his mouth. Had it worked? I held my breath, but then Bellum hurled his staff at Emmett, striking him on the jaw. Emmett the All fell back, flattened and Bellum leapt over him, stabbing with his staff as Emmett rolled and dodged.
"Little Teddy, small Teddy, baby Teddy," I said in a weaker voice, uncertainty creeping in. It wasn't working. Bellum leered, whirled his staff, and connected with Emmett's head. Emmett convulsed, spun in the sand, and collapsed. His eyes rolled back. He rose a foot above the sand and hovered, senseless. Bellum ran at him and kicked. He sent Emmett flying over the junk piles and crashing down beyond.
"Now!" Bellum's jaw hung open like a hungry snake's.
It wasn't enough. I couldn't break Bellum down! He was too strong in the Lexiverse to be crushed by direct words.
It never works to fight him head on.
I ran, using my knowledge of the junkyard's paths, dodging overhanging metal and leaping tire piles, until I found him. Emmett the All had crawled beneath that same overturned car body where we'd hidden before. He groaned, pale and near passing out.
"Emmett! Stay awake! Teddy's coming. But we can beat him," I said.
"We can?" He slurred when he spoke, his form transparent, his voice hollow, as if from a deep cave. I cradled his head in my arms. He was so weak now, it didn't burn to touch him.
"I admit, I don't know how," I said.
"Kiss me," said Emmett.
"Will it revive you?" I stoked his bruised face, dubious.
He smiled weakly. "No. I just like it when you kiss me," he said.
I bent down, brushed his lips with mine—then sat up again.
"No," I said.
"Why not?" Emmett's frown was both pained and puzzled.
"You're using this to give up. I'm not going to kiss you one last time. You're going to get up and fight him and you're going to win. Then I'll kiss you all you want. An hour in ecto-time, if you want," I said.
"An hour? In ecto-time?" Emmett's eyes opened wide at the possibilities. He sat up.
"We can do this. You just need to hit your stride somehow," I said.
"How?" He lay back down. "You don't know."
"I don't know. It doesn't matter. Em, get up and try things! But don't fight him the way he fights. Fight him like you," I repeated the incantation again, exactly as I had said it before.
"Plouton, Aletheia, Bellum, All,
Come together, unwrite the fall,
Return what subdivision stole,
Restore his memory, make Em whole."
"Make Em whole? Isn't it supposed to be 'make All whole'? No wonder I'm having trouble," said Emmett the All.
"I messed up that line, or thought I did. But there's a hidden advantage. You're more Emmett than you've ever been as a deity. Use that!" I said.
Junk crashed behind us and I turned to face Bellum's gaping maw. His lower jaw dragged almost to the sand, so wide open was his mouth. He staggered forward, eyes glazed, hands grasping.
I crouched before Emmett, shielding him. A gurgling laugh emitted from Bellum. His voice thundered from the Lexiverse sky. "Move aside, mortal child! I do not wish to eat the portal maker!'
I raised my hand and gave Emmett one concentrated blast of healing spectricity, from head to toes. All I had, I gave. I drooped forward, exhausted, as Emmett tensed to sit up.
"But I will destroy you too, if it means the Coming End!" shouted Bellum.
"Now!" I whispered. Emmett twitched as Bellum's jaw enveloped his shoes.
"Destroy this!" Emmett spun up from the ground, kicking wildly. Bellum gagged as Emmett slammed the roof of his mouth and knocked his head back. Bellum's distended jaw shrank back, absorbed into his ectoplasm. He gurgled and howled in fury.
Emmett danced around the Bellum, who screamed in a child's high-pitched voice and whirled his scepter. The topper flew open, revealing a knife point. Bellum jousted at Emmett and I thought he'd made contact, when CLANG! Emmett strained, his tuning fork held before him and the Bellum's spear caught on it. Emmett pushed and forced Bellum back. As Bellum stumbled, Emmett swung through the air and collided bodily with Bellum.
Bellum tumbled sideways. When he came up, he'd shrunk another foot.
"Yes! Use your tuning fork, Emmett!" I shrieked.
"Indeed," said Emmett. He glided upward, his index finger extended. With his other hand, he brandished the tuning fork. "This is a bident. For your information. It's a tradition weapon of demons."
Bellum sliced at Emmett with his scepter, a laser now burning from the end. Emmett stepp
ed deftly over it. I gasped. Was Emmett the All lecturing? That was essentially Emmett.
"Why've you got the bident, then? You're not a demon," I said, egging him on.
Emmett shrugged and darted around another of Bellum's jabs with the scepter, which now threw bursts of flame. "I got it some time ago. I won it at a party, I think."
Bellum roared and pumped a massive blast of flames at Emmett's lecturing form. Emmett, one hand on his temple as if thinking hard, split down the middle. I heard the tinkle of small objects raining down—coins, keys, bones—then Emmett's two halves rejoined, floating behind Bellum.
As long as he kept pontificating, he was unstoppable!
"When were you at a party with demons?" I asked breathlessly.
"No, no. I remember. It wasn't a party at all. It was an invasion. I took the bidents from Plouton that time. The entire collection. See?" He produced bident after bident, some small as door keys, the largest the size of a pitchfork. He caught Bellum's katana chop with the largest bident and twisted, yanking the weapon from Bellum's hand. He slid the scepter into his kriot. He bowed.
I cheered internally, but I had to keep him going, so I asked, "Isn't Plouton a god of the spirit world? Why didn't he take them back?"
"He couldn't. We sealed Plouton in the Underwood. And they're mine now. They've become my signature tool." Emmett blocked Bellum's punches with the smaller bidents, tossing his blows aside.
"We? Who did this with you?" I asked.
"The other powers and myself! Eons ago, we had to invade because of the Great Underwood Uprising. In which the demons rose up from the Underwood. Thus, the name." Emmett beamed.
"And you won that battle. How, pray tell?" I waited, holding my breath.
"Well, my little protégée, the demons had closed in on all sides, using their superior numbers." Emmett aimed a sharp kick at Bellum's nose, knocking him back. Bellum sprawled on the sand, his body shrunken and flickering.
Emmett continued. "We were all in a bad way, but I said, 'If we can just intimidate them,' and I led the others in manifesting a huge spectricity blast. Cheesy, but effective." Emmett grinned a ray of sunshine. I returned the grin.
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