Chapter XLI

Please, let it work! Let it do something, anything! I just don’t want to lose her, too! Please, Mom! Please say this can save her!

Eric was sitting huddled in the back of his bedroom, his legs pulled up to his chest as he stared at Lilly’s still body which was laying in the spot she had fallen. After realizing that he had failed to save Damien, Liz, and Natalie from being erased, he knew he had to do something. Ever since Album and Nigreos first arrived, he’d desperately wanted to avoid using the syringe his mother had left him despite the emergency he found himself in. This was predominantly due to the terrifying warning she had given him the night she left for Ijiria. That syringe could be dangerous not only to the person it was used on, but even to those around them. He was terrified of using it and accidentally being responsible for potentially hurting, or even killing, one of the others.

But now, the others are gone. Lilly is all I have left, so if anybody’s going to need protection, it’s her. I already have whatever protection charm Mom put on me, so Lilly can have the syringe. Maybe this way, we can do something!

The problem was that he didn’t have the first clue what the syringe would do to her. His mother had given it to him in a hurry and hadn’t had the chance to ever explain what it was or where it came from. By injecting it into Lilly, he could have potentially killed her himself.

And if I did—if Mom’s syringe didn’t work, then I’ll have truly lost everything. If Lilly’s dead…then I suppose I’ll just join her.

He briefly turned his eyes away from Lilly and down toward his left hand where a blueish-green dagger was clutched in his fist. It was the one he had found at the beach all those months ago, laying beside the gemstone. He never understood why, but nobody other than him had been able to see it. He knew as a fact that it was magic, but he didn’t know what its properties were. Ever since his discovery, he had been trying to figure out what it could do, but having been worried about potentially fiddling with something dangerous, he had always been too nervous to properly examine it. But now, he no longer cared. If Lilly died, he would shove it through his throat and leave nothing for Nigreos and Album to find other than corpses. If the theory that they couldn’t erase the dead was true, then he would ensure that the world never forgot what was done to them.

The room was silent, though barely a minute had passed and, to his pure and utter relief, Lilly’s eyes snapped open. Eric scrambled to his feet and gazed down at the girl as she blinked a few more times, as if trying to gather her bearings. She clutched her head and pushed herself to a sitting position, then glanced up at him, as if noticing his presence.

“Lilly?” he managed to say. “Are you okay?”

She rubbed her head a few more times and then, to his surprise, she smiled. “Yeah, I’m okay. I don’t feel much different yet, but I’m okay.”

He had expected her to be furious at him for doing something so sudden and rash, not to mention the fact that he put some mysterious, potentially lethal, substance into her body. He was ready for her to scream at him and tell him how much she hated him, but she just grinned like she always did and used his bed frame to pull herself to her feet.

“Although, a bit of a warning next time would be great,” she added.

Eric found he was shaking and so, he quickly tried to steady his body before replying. “Are you…um, what happened? I…I was told that the syringe…could protect you so… But I don’t know what it does…”

He knew he was doing a terrible job of articulating himself due to the emotions he was feeling and the physical fatigue from his battle with the Ijirans. Yet, Lilly didn’t seem to mind.

“It was weird,” she admitted, sounding almost too normal given the circumstances. “I woke up in this field at the base of a mountain where all these pretty little lights were floating around. A few of them led me up to the top where there was a hot spring and…well, that was really relaxing. Actually, I was walking up that mountain for a good hour or so, but it doesn’t look like it’s been that long here.”

She was so calm despite everything that he couldn’t help but suspect the syringe had done something to her. But having known Lilly for the better part of that year, he didn’t sense anything was too off. She still seemed like herself. Nothing was controlling her, of that he was sure. Instead, it was almost like she had been rejuvenated, like whatever mountain she had seen had given her the strength she needed to move forward.

And I don’t even know what she means by a mountain… Where did she go?

“Uh, no, it's only been a minute,” he answered. “Definitely not an hour.”

She nodded. “Yeah, I had a feeling time was moving differently there. I just wish you could have seen it. It was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been to. I’d go again, but…I guess it’s gone now because we used that thing.”

“Lilly,” he interjected. “I’m confused. I…was told by my mom that this syringe could help us in an emergency, but she never really explained what it could do. So, on this mountain, what happened? Did you find anything that could help us fight Nigreos and Album.”

Lilly grinned. “Yeah, I did. Actually, I met your mother up in that hot spring…or at least a part of her.”

Eric exhaled sharply, wondering if he had heard her correctly. “M-my mother? W-what? That’s not possible, Lilly. Nigreos killed my mom!”

“I know,” she said softly. “Like I said, it was only part of her. When we spoke, she said that she was a piece of Abi Reiner’s soul that was placed in that world as a guardian of The Angel. It was her, but it wasn’t. She was actually expecting you to show up so I guess my arrival confused her.”

Mom? Mom was there? She spoke to Lilly?

All of a sudden, he desperately wished he’d used the syringe on himself. He knew it was selfish, but he would have given anything in that moment to speak to her again. He had so many questions about her past and her home that he would never get to ask now.

But Lilly said…that place is gone. So…I lost my chance to say goodbye.

“But, she did have a message for you,” Lilly went on. “She said she was sorry…that she wished she could have come back to you and kept her promise…and that she loves you.”

The boy swallowed, his trembling getting worse as he listened to the message Lilly conveyed to him. There was no doubt in his mind that Lilly was telling the truth. He could see in her eyes the sincerity she was feeling and he only felt horrible for risking her life all over again.

But maybe it worked. She came back alive so she must have gotten whatever was kept on that mountain.

“So…what happened up there?” he pressed. “You said that she was the guardian of The Angel or something? What is that? What does it mean?”

She frowned, seeming to ponder the question. “Honestly, I’m not sure. Your mom said that if I embraced The Angel then I could have the chance of taking down the erased realm and bringing everybody back. She said it was possible and…she confirmed that Nigreos wasn’t lying. They're alive, Eric. Everybody who was erased is still alive.”

The possibility had been on the table for a while, but to hear it confirmed was the ray of hope he desperately needed after their utter loss at the apartment that night. He may have failed everybody, but the battle wasn’t over yet. If they could find a way to get them out, then maybe they still had a chance of returning things to the way they were.

“How?” he uttered, not wanting to get his hopes up just yet. “How can we save them all? Did she say?”

Lilly nodded. “There’s two ways and neither are really that easy. Either Album has to release them herself…or we have to bust the damn thing open from the inside. However, your mom stressed one thing: killing Album is not an option. By killing her, we’re locking ourselves out forever.”

Eric stood silent for a few seconds as he took in what she was telling him, thrilled that they now had the potential for a plan. “Neither sounds terribly easy. We can ignore any possibility of Album letting them out of her own free will. But if we can’t kill her…”

He felt a chill go down his spine. He had almost ended Album’s life back at Lilly’s apartment. If killing her really did lock the erased realm away for good, then he almost made a mistake that he couldn’t have undone. In his blind rage, he almost sealed himself off from his friends for good.

“But let’s step back a moment,” he muttered. “Setting that aside, you said that you had to embrace The Angel? What does that mean? Why does it all sound so vague?”

Lilly grimaced. “I honestly don’t know. I don’t feel any different, but…I did what she told me to do. I’m just not sure what I’m supposed to do to fix it.”

Eric clenched his teeth, glancing around the darkened room in thought. He knew they didn’t have much time before Nigreos and Album found them again. Now that they were the only two left, the Masters would do everything in their power to wrap it all up quickly so they could leave Wilham and finish their mission. He didn’t know what embracing The Angel meant, but he knew that had to be what his mother was talking about when she said the syringe could help in emergencies. If they could get out of there and buy time to figure out what it did to Lilly, perhaps they could find some way to turn it all around.

“By the way?” Lilly said. “Where’d you get the fancy knife?”

“Hmm? Oh, I found it in… Wait, you can see this?”

He almost didn’t process it at first, but nobody other than him had ever seen the blade. When he first found it, Damien, Liz, and Vinny had looked at him like he was crazy when he asked if they could see it, and Lilly hadn’t noticed it when she first came to his house. It had been sitting on his desk, but she hadn’t ever asked what it was.

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So why now? What the hell is this blade?

“Um, yeah, I can see it,” she replied, staring at him with confusion. “Why wouldn’t I be able to?”

Cursing the constant barrage of mysteries, Eric shook his head. “I’ll explain later. For now, let’s get the hell out of here! We can’t run forever, but if we can flee Wilham and hide for even just a few days to figure out what happened to you, that’ll be plenty. And I’ll—!”

But of course, his luck wasn’t good enough to give him even that much. The sound of the front door being ripped from its hinges sounded from down the hall, and he immediately reacted on instinct, jumping in front of Lilly just as a figure emerged from the shadows in his bedroom’s doorway, sliding out of the shadows like he always did. The man in a black suit stepped into his room, his eyes narrowed as he regarded the two of them.

“So we meet again, Reiner. Harper,” Nigreos Noctis said smugly. “Let’s hope this can be our last confrontation before we put this mess behind us.”

Eric quickly glanced behind him, but for the moment, there was no sign of Album. The Master of Darkness was the only one standing before them, which only alerted him even further. Barely an hour prior, he had made the mistake of focusing solely on Album because she was alone, and due to that, Lilly got captured and used against him. There was no doubt in his mind that Album Luz was nearby and was simply waiting for the right moment to strike and attempt to erase Lilly.

“I’ll admit, I was impressed by your skill with fire magic,” the man went on. “Like I’ve said numerous times, Reiner, you are a talented mage. You could be one of the best in Ijiria with the right training, and perhaps even become a Master yourself somebody. All you have to do is step aside and allow us to deal with Harper.”

Eric clenched his teeth, his mind frantically considering his options. “How many times do I have to turn you down to get it through your thick skull, Nigreos! I’m not abandoning anybody!”

“And yet, what good has that done you?” he inquired calmly. “Everybody except Harper is gone. In the face of our power, you were still incapable of defending your friends. You don’t have a choice in the matter.” The Master’s eyes then shifted to the blade Eric was clutching in his hand. “And I see you already have the realm dagger at the ready. I was wondering what happened to it, but it seems you had it, too. I guess that makes sense.”

Realm…dagger?

Eric briefly turned his eyes down to the blade, realizing just how foolish he had been. Realm daggers were the talismans used to jump between worlds. His mother used to have one, though she had never let him see it. She always either kept it locked away or on her person. When she left, he had never known what became of hers.

But then…maybe this thing is our chance. If I cut open the realm and jump inside, maybe I can get away from them! Wherever it takes us, it can’t be more dangerous than here.

“Now, don’t make a stupid decision, boy,” Nigreos growled, as if already seeing through what was going through his mind. “We’ve already proven there’s nothing you can do…even with your blood protection. So, stand down.”

“No.”

He had wanted to deny Nigreos once again, but this time, it wasn’t him who spoke. While she remained behind him, Lilly eyed the Master with a calm expression as she went on.

“This isn’t as hopeless as you say it is,” she said. “Maybe you’ll win today, but you won’t win tomorrow. You’re underestimating us, and that’s what’s going to get you killed. We aren’t as pathetic as you think, and even if you erase me right here, it won’t change a thing.”

Nigreos snorted, regarding the girl as if she were nothing more than a mild irritation. “Well aren’t you confident, Harper. But unfortunately, there won’t be a tomorrow for you to fight. Soon enough, you, too, will be wiped from this reality and there won’t be a soul other than Reiner, myself, and Album that’ll remember you. Lilly Harper will cease to exist just like every other friend of yours that we’ve gotten rid of.”

In the face of Nigreos’s words, Lilly merely laughed as if what he was saying was some joke. “No, I won’t be forgotten. I don’t think you’re giving enough credit to human connections. You might erase my name and the memories of me, but you won’t erase me. You see, I might not remember the people you took, but I remember how they made me feel. I remember the effects they had on me, and there’s no spell in existence that can wipe away those feelings. That, I can say with certainty.”

Lilly…

“Can you?” Nigreos snapped. “And yet, you don’t know the first thing about magic. You’re a worthless magicless being, unblessed by the evolution of realms. And yet, you choose to tell me how magic works.”

Lilly grinned challengingly. “I do, yes. Because even though I don’t remember them, I still love them. I know that I wouldn’t be who I am today without the people you took. Yeah, I don’t remember them or who they were or what they did, but you can’t take away who I am and they made me, me.”

“Truly, you two are quite similar,” Nigreos muttered. “And just as stubborn.”

The girl shrugged. “Maybe. But in the end, I think that’s a good quality we share. You’re not going to win, Nigreos. Somehow, someway, we will defeat you and you will regret ever messing with us. Coming to this town will be the greatest mistake you ever make.”

She spoke calmly, yet Eric could hear the determination in her voice. Whatever she saw on that mountaintop gave her the confidence she needed to stand up to the Master of Darkness and he couldn’t be more impressed. Nigreos glanced to the corner of the room and smirked, then muttered something and flicked his wrist. Eric tensed up, ready to defend himself, but the shadow didn’t go after him. Instead, it picked up the small orange gemstone laying where Eric had thrown it before delivering it to the Master’s hand. Nigreos rolled it around in his palm for a moment and then chuckled.

“Unfortunately, it’s already over.”

Lilly shook her head. “Not yet.”

As the room went silent, Lilly and Nigreos stared at each other challengingly, and Eric let out a soft exhale. During their argument, he had subtly moved his finger down to the ruby button on the realm dagger and he was certain Nigreos hadn’t noticed. During his few investigations of the knife, he had noticed the button, and pushing it had caused it to flare with a yellow energy. It had startled him at first, and from there on, he avoided pressing it, but if it was a realm dagger like Nigreos claimed it was, then he knew what he had to do. Lilly was still behind him, so he prepared himself to make his last ditch attempt at escape. He didn’t speak or give any indication that he was going to act. He just lunged forward, pressing the button as he did, and sliced through the air before him. That yellow mana swirled around the blade as an opening appeared in midair, which quickly expanded into an oval portal of swirling yellow mana.

“Reiner, don’t!”

Ignoring Nigreos’s shout, Eric grabbed Lilly’s hand just as a flash of light exploded around his bedroom.

“Proto!”

He lurched forward, soaring into the portal and putting both his bedroom and his world behind him. The inside of the portal felt as if he was floating inside an ocean and he didn’t know what was going to happen, so he refused to release Lilly’s hand. The sensation lasted only a handful of seconds before he emerged from the portal and barely kept his footing as he landed on firm ground. He was breathing heavily as he frantically took in his surroundings. They were in a world devoid of anything but the black walls that surrounded them. In fact, it looked like a black box of obsidian, and just ahead were two closed doors.

Where is this place? Where did we go?

Clenching his teeth, he looked back at Lilly to make sure she had come through safely, only for his eyes to go wide with horror. She was standing just behind him, her hand still clutching his, but there was a bloody wound in the center of her chest, staining her clothes with red.

“N-no,” he stuttered as the sight burned itself into his head. “Lilly? Lilly, what happened?!”

She slowly looked down at her chest, her breathing labored. “I don’t…know… I…”

Her body then shook as if a tremor had run through it and, right before his eyes, she began to crumble into dust.

“NO!” he shrieked, rushing to her side just as her legs gave out and she crumpled to the floor. “Lilly, please! Stay with me! Don’t go!”

Her legs had completely faded into dust and her arms and hips were already beginning to vanish. He frantically tried to recall every healing spell he knew that might be able to stop it as he hovered his hands over the wound.

“Benedio!” he shouted, placing them against the hole.

He felt his power flowing into her and yet, it wasn’t working. Her arms crumbled into nothing and the look in her eyes began to grow distant, as if she were truly fading away from him.

“Benedio! Benedio! BENEDIO!”

He screamed and prayed that it would work, but he couldn’t stop his girlfriend from continuing to fade before his eyes.

No! Not like this! Don’t leave me Lilly! I don’t want to be alone! I don't want to be!

“You’re wasting your time, Reiner,” came the voice of Album Luz behind him. “Erasure can not be healed.”

He refused to turn around. He could feel the presence of Nigreos and Album behind him, but he couldn’t bring himself to look away from Lilly. He didn’t want to see their smug looks as they watched him lose the last person he had left. He wouldn’t give them the satisfaction.

“Lilly, please…” he uttered.

For a moment, Lilly’s eyes drifted over to him, and a bit of the light returned, and she smiled weakly. “Eric,” she managed to say just as the rest of her body began to crumble. “I’ll…save them.”

And with those last, weakly-spoken words, Lilly Harper vanished into nothingness, leaving him staring at the obsidian ground of the place he had gone to.

Lilly was gone.

In the end, he saved nobody.

In the end, he was a failure in every sense of the word.

The syringe…was supposed to save her. It was supposed to work! Why didn't it do anything! Why couldn’t it save her! What the hell was that goddamn thing, Mom?!

“Like we said,” Nigreos growled softly. “No matter how much you might have tried, or how many tricks you had up your sleeve, the ending to this story was always going to be your defeat, Eric Reiner.”

He could feel sadness and anger boiling up inside him, but he knew there was nothing he could do anymore. He couldn’t fight them nor did he even want to. He had been fighting to save his friends, so with the last of his friends gone, there was no reason to fight. All he could do was scream, hoping that Album or Nigreos would just cut his head off and end it all.

He lost everything.

He failed them all.

He wanted to die.

It was over.

***

Alexa Harper jumped to her feet, her eyes wide and her breathing heavy. Both of her parents, who were sitting on the opposite bed to her right in the small hotel room they were staying in, looked up at her in surprise.

“Lexi?” her father called over with a concerned expression. “What’s wrong, Sweetie?”

Alexa frowned, not knowing what the answer was. Why had she jumped up so suddenly? Why did she feel so scared? She wasn’t sure and, gradually, the feeling faded from a powerful surge of terror to more of a nagging in the back of her mind. The girl exhaled softly, then slowly sat back down on her own bed.

“S-sorry,” she muttered. “I don’t know what that was. I guess it just felt like…”

Alexa paused, trying to think of the best way to put her emotions into words, before finally settling on how to describe it.

“Like I’d forgotten something really important.”