I allow a long breath of contentment to ease out of me. The world will endure. Part of me is sad that I had to make this sacrifice, but everything about it was worth the cost.
“I’m ready to go now.”
The Starfire voice lets out a chuckle. This was our last gift. We’ve grown quite attached to you and could not allow you to die. But to save you, we too needed to experience sacrifice. So, we repaired you. But, in doing so, it was our final experience.
What?
Strangely, tears burn the back of my eyes. The Starfire wasn’t even human, just an AI created long ago. Yet its desire to connect with life was so strong, it found a way to do so. To become human . . . or Alku through me. Through everyone. And the reality? Human or Alku doesn’t matter. Because essentially, we’re all the same and always have been.
“And what about the Protectors? My grandfather? I don’t feel them anymore.”
They are with us.
A tear escapes my eye—from joy—and slides down my cheek. “Tell my grandfather it was so nice to meet him.”
He relishes the time he spent with you. The wisps move faster and come together to form what appears to be a humanoid being of light. “Return and use your life well.”
I race to the Starfire being and wrap my arms around its neck. “Thank you,” I whisper.
No, my dear, thank you. The warmth of the being’s energy meets every cell in my body, and cyan light forms behind my closed lids, growing brighter and brighter as the warmth fades.
My lids flutter open to the cavern, specifically to the crystal-covered roof above me.
“She’s awake!” Max yells with relief, and then he’s quickly kneeling at my side. The fabric on the shoulder of his shirt is burned away, revealing a nasty scar.
With a gasp, I shove myself up into a sitting position. My head whips from side to side to take in the room, my friends, the situation. “What happened?” The Galaxis people are no longer in stasis, and a few bodies lay on the ground. Are any of them my friends? “You were shot! Are Beda and Yaletha okay?”
Max raises his eyebrows and turns his attention to Beda, who is limping toward us, blood running down her leg.
Relief explodes in my chest. She’s alive. “You’re hurt.”
Beda glances down at her leg. “I was able to partially heal Max’s shoulder in the middle of the battle, but now the healing powers are gone, and I can’t transport anymore.”
Dragging my attention from her, I find Yaletha. “I can’t either,” I answer, relieved she’s alive too.
Beda helps me to my feet. “Your connection caused everyone you froze to animate again. The attack started immediately, but for the most part, we were able to hold them off with the Starfire.”
“But then it all stopped.” Yaletha walks closer and rests an arm on Beda’s shoulder.
“Stopped?” Several people in Galaxis uniforms mill around the cavern, eyes glassy, no longer working. “Is the war over?”
Yaletha nods. “From what we can tell. The Starfire did something to us, and no one wanted to fight anymore.”
“Everywhere?”
“Hammond ordered the fighting to stop,” Max says, “and the World Senate has regrouped.” Tapping his Connect, Max flips through the news stories. One after the other, articles show people laying down arms all over the world after a great light encased the planet and began healing the atmosphere and absorbing pollutants.
Max starts to flip to a new story when I spot something. A giant, unfinished black structure flecked with crystals. “Is that a portal?”
“I think so. They’re popping up all over the world.” Max freezes the image, and I know exactly where they go.
Arcadia.
I need to be there. Now.
CHAPTER 23
We land our small hover on Arcadia’s side of the newly formed portal, just outside Primaro. Behind us, the center of the portal swirls with dark and light cyan. The air is clear of fighter ships and only a few vessels inch across a sky dotted with white, puffy clouds. You never would have known a battle to control two planets had taken place recently.
“How are we supposed to return to Paxon if Beda and I can’t port anymore?” Yaletha asks, twisting the end of her white braid nervously.
I think this is the first time that I’ve really seen her so shaky, but I don’t blame her. I can’t port or use the Starfire in any of the same ways I could before Renewal. She’s lived with her abilities all her life, while I’ve only had them for a short while. Although the Starfire didn’t give me all the answers, something inside me tells me it’s going to be okay.
“I’m going to find my father.” Max powers down the hover and turns to us. “You all need to find your families too.”
I activate my exit and step from the craft into a small, grassy field. Gazing up at the beauty of Primaro, warmth spreads over my chest. Not the same sensation the Starfire gave me, but one of love and pride.
The others step from the hover as Max taps his Connect. “He’s alive and still in Primaro, not too far from here.” His lips turn up to form a smile, and I can’t help but mirror the expression since the light in his eyes is so bright.
I offer my hand to him and he takes it with enthusiasm. Then I pull him into a hug. “Thank you for everything you did for me, Max. If it wasn’t for your care after the accident, I don’t know if we ever would have gotten to this point. You’re a good person . . . you always have been.”
His arms tighten around our embrace. “Thanks for seeing that, even when I was confused.”
“There’s no way I was leaving you behind if I could help it.” Letting go of him, I gaze into his gray eyes. “Now, go find your dad.”
Max tips his head toward Beda. “Thank you for healing me.”
Beda lowers her chin slightly and then Max turns toward Primaro, racing across the small field where we landed and into the streets.
I face my friends, both of whom look a little uncharacteristically lost. “We’re finding your families too.” I tap my Connect to contact Dad.
Within seconds, the hologram activates and Dad’s face appears. “Cassi!” His voice is filled with relief and happiness. Tears pour down his cheeks and, upon seeing them, I lose it too.
Tears that I didn’t even know I had in me gush from my eyes.
“Where is she?” Mom’s voice sounds in the background, and my heart flutters at the sound. Mom being alive wasn’t a dream, and somehow she’s still here. Safe and sound.
“I sent you our coordinates,” I manage to get the words out and glance to Beda and Yaletha. “But where are the Alku? Irene?” The moment the words tumble from my lips my stomach drops. Where is Javen? I had assumed he was safe too, but I have no idea. My mental connection to him is gone.
“Some were lost, but I’ve been in contact with Vihann and most are alive,” Dad replies. “Irene made it out.”
Beda and I release a nearly synchronized sigh of relief, and she taps her Connect, probably to contact Wirren or her mother.
“And Javen?”
“Javen is alive. I haven’t spoken to him.” Dad glances behind him and then back to me. “We’re on our way. Will be at your location in a moment.”
I barely get a chance to nod when the image vanishes. “He’s coming.”
“Our families are all alive. I’ve spoken with my father.” Beda drapes her arm over Yaletha’s shoulder and pulls her into a side hug. Yaletha accepts it for a brief second but then slides out from underneath the embrace.
A few minutes later, the silver Australian ship we boarded to reach Primaro appears to our left, landing about a hundred feet from us. Wind rips through my now-loose hair as the vessel touches the ground.
We jog to the craft while my parents step out of it. I race to them, and though I want to spend way too much time hugging them, I shoo them back inside instead. “We must take Beda and Yaletha to the Alku. Did Hammond surrender?” I take a seat and click my safety harness into place while the ship ascends again.
Mom runs her free hand through her hair while Dad holds the other, across from us. “We thought all was lost. Even with the Starfire modifications, we were simply outgunned. Hammond had brought several large fleets through the Turner Space Fold, and they were waiting to be dispatched from Skybase. They just kept coming.”
“But then it all stopped,” Dad adds. “Everything froze, except our minds.”
“And the Starfire took over.” Mom reaches for me and takes my hand. “You took over.”
My eyes widen. “You saw that?”
Mom slides a brief glance to Dad. “I just know. I’ve known for a long time. Only, I couldn’t see the end.”
“I died,” I whisper, still shaken by the notion, “but the Starfire brought me back.”
Everyone goes silent. All I hear is the whirling of the ship. Mom’s firm hold remains on my hand as we absorb the gravity of what happened to us. What we saw. What we experienced.
Finally, I release her hand, leaning into the back of my seat. I still have so many questions. But for now, I know they can wait. I glance at my Connect and message Javen.
I’m coming.
Barely a second later, my Connect buzzes with a response.
I’m waiting.
We could message more, or even communicate with the hologram function, but nothing about that feels right. I need to see Javen in person. Be with him.
After about twenty minutes, the ship slows and I straighten up in my seat to catch a view of our location. Out the window something odd appears. The telltale dark, stone-like structures of an Alku village, infused with crystals—created by the Starfire—jut from the landscape and trees.
“Where are we going?” I ask Dad. I assumed we would be traveling to the Starfire mine, since the Alku had come to defend it. “There were no Alku villages on Arcadia before.”
“There are now,” Dad says. “It seems that when everything and everyone was connected, the Starfire joined Paxon and Arcadia as well.”
Yaletha stretches to get a glimpse of the village. “And the Intersection?”
“Integrated too,” Mom answers. “Everyone there is now here.”
I shake my head in disbelief, not understanding how this can be true.
The ship lands and my heart dances at what I’m about to see. I throw off my harness and race to the exit. When the door whooshes away, voices sound behind me, but I don’t hear what they’re saying. All I want is to find Javen.
I make my way into the village, and dead center in the road I see him. He’s there—tall, dark hair blowing in the gentle breeze. The sight of him stops me in my tracks and everything but us falls away.
His strong shoulders promise to support me, his hands commit to holding me, but neither of us moves.
My mind instantly recalls the connection we shared between the planets, and everything . . . I mean, everything becomes clear.
Javen is Arcadia. I am Earth. And we’re destined for one another.
The Starfire developed our partnership to create a passion necessary to complete our bond, and that of the two planets. We were and are their representation. Without each other—without our love—Renewal would have failed.
A tiny echo of the Starfire burns in my chest and I take a step, then another. Before I know it, both of us are in a full sprint toward each other, and we collide.
He sweeps me into his arms. My arms twine around his neck, and my legs wrap around his waist. Then my lips find his, and the kiss we share rivals the power of the stars. I’m not sure how I could ever have imagined myself without him. Everything about the kiss is crucial. Life.
My entire body shivers with energy as his strong hands support my back. Slowly, I ease my hold on his waist and lower my legs to the ground. Running my hands through his hair, I kiss him once more before releasing him. And I gasp for precious air.
Tears streak down his cheeks. “I never doubted you.”
There are no words to voice my gratitude for him. Instead, I place my hand over his heart and lay my head on his chest. His pulse is strong and steady, while mine calls to his and beats in time.
At that moment, my Connect buzzes, snapping me back to reality, and my eyes fall to the screen. Irene.
Alina and I retrieved my aunt and cousins from the lab. They were a little freaked out, but they’re okay now. Taking them to Primaro.
I loose a relieved breath just as footsteps sound from behind us.
Dad and Mom walk hand in hand—something that, before yesterday, I never thought I would see again.
Javen smiles and we ease from each other. “Mom, this is Javen.”
Her lips curve into a grin, and she touches the Starfire crystal still hanging from her neck. “We’ve met once before, and I’ve seen you in my visions since.” Mom chuckles, extending her free hand to Javen, and he takes it.
For the briefest of seconds, her eyes swirl with cyan. My mother is both human and Alku. Just as I am.
Javen gestures us forward. “Welcome home.”
EPILOGUE
A hint of pink and orange above the mountain top melds into the dim sparkle of the stars and moons. The heavenly bodies are ready to dance across the Arcadian sky as the sun crests behind the Tahm.
Some days I still call our planet Arcadia, even though Arcadia, Paxon, and the Intersection’s dimensions combined twelve years ago. The Starfire created one unified planet, and almost everyone agreed to call the planet Paxon.
To this day, the memory of my first live planet view—when the Pathfinder arrived—is stuck in my mind like it’s burned on my brain: the thick curtains pulling back, the crowd gasping, and there—Arcadia, in all its pristine glory. Earth’s salvation.
That salvation wasn’t what we expected it to be.
Our arrival started a journey I could never have imagined in my then-short life. I didn’t even want to be here and certainly didn’t envision never wanting to leave once I had arrived.
I cross my arms over my chest and rub at the prickles despite the eternally warm temperatures of Paxon. My eyes trail over the gauzy fabric of my navy, ankle-length skirt floating in the gentle breeze.
Calling this place Paxon was the right decision. It never belonged to Earth. Rather, Paxon was meant to be in forever partnership with her. The Starfire wove a love story between two planets, forever changing both and making each the best they could be.
Someone clears their throat from behind me, but I don’t turn. I already know who’s there. His presence is never far from me, even if we are light years apart—my position as Earth’s ambassador takes me away from him often. Even so, he’s been the starshine in my life every day for the last thirteen years.
Today is his day. We’ve been waiting a long time for Javen to succeed his father as Luminary.
His hands graze the tops of my shoulders. The light touch sends a zing down my spine. The thrill never fails, even after all these years. It seems that the Starfire left that as a gift, something that amplifies the natural connection Javen and I have shared since the moment we met.
“Are you coming?” Javen asks. His voice is still like comforting music to my soul.
“Hmm?” The sound vibrates on my lips. “I was considering it,” I tease. He tucks a portion of my shoulder-length hair over my right ear. I face him, my gaze sweeping over his features.
He’s different than when we first met. Older. A little wiser.
Javen’s sweet lips form a playful smile. He’s wearing a long white tunic and fitted pants. Tiny bits of cyan crystals are sewn around the collar of the shirt in an intricate pattern. The outfit is designed in the traditional Alku style for the Luminary ceremony. Everything about the ensemble suits him, especially as the white contrasts with his dark skin and hair, which I can’t ever admire enough.
I run my fingers over the design. The rough crystals drag against my skin. “Your mother did an excellent job.”
“She spent far too long on it.” Javen brings his attention to the mountain view.
; My hand reaches for his chin, turning his face toward mine. “You’re saying she spent too much time on the tunic her son will wear when he becomes Luminary . . . the leader of the Alku. Do you understand how ridiculous that protest sounds?”
“Everyone is making such a big deal of it.”
“As they should.”
“Then why are you out here instead of getting ready?” His eyes sparkle, his arms encircling my waist more tightly. The tips of his fingers caress the small of my back in a slow circle.
Seeking his eyes, I tip my head slightly. “You know how I like to come out here to think. I’m just trying to take it all in. Our lives are going to change.”
“I’m glad to have you by my side for that change.” His irresistible lips stretch into a soft smile, and I raise on my toes to kiss them.
When our lips touch, the universe swirls in my mind and I’m brought back in time, reliving all the moments it took to get to where we are today.
Earth is healed. Beautiful. Lush. And without the devastation it once experienced.
When the Starfire infused every living being on Earth and Arcadia, it changed us. For a brief second, it gave everyone a chance to see . . . to really see each other. We were no longer strangers, but family, neighbors. In love. Deep love.
No longer were there Alku and Earthlings.
Race against race.
Us against them.
A bit of the Pure Soul was planted in everyone, and it continues to be passed on to each life born. And this created more kindness and a stronger propensity to walk in someone else's shoes. Somehow, I was given the privilege of being that catalyst.
Life is still not perfect there on Earth, but perfection isn’t possible. It’s not. Life isn’t perfect on Paxon either.
Seeing into another’s soul takes work. Every day.
Over time the effect will fade and DNA will change, and there’s the possibility that we will return to a season of war and anger. My hope is that will be a very long time from now, and maybe by then, giving compassion and love to those we don’t know will become second nature. The Planet Council will be governed by fairness and listening hearts.
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