Tally’s inversion is completely successful. True to her word, Kiley plays an awfully mean trick. She distorts her perception, so Tally thinks she’s ugly. That provides entertainment value at Tally’s expense until I wake up and Ryan makes them stop the tomfoolery. Yes, his precise word. Point to Thome for carrying on from the Middle Ages, I guess. Barry isn’t the least bit phased, loving her despite her hideousness. I mean, he’s more relieved than not when the truth is revealed. Still, props to him for the show of support. It was nice of them to wait for me to bear witness. Front row seats for the win. I have a hair trigger by the time I finish Declan’s inversion. The scales are tipping toward the side of fiery force, and it takes exponential restraint to keep the flame at bay now that it’s the majority.

The closing act is the reversion of Barry and Kiley. They demand I spool their Sumair energy to use in my final battle. Good looking out, honestly. I slow burn Kiley’s air spool in the form of an emotional mask, preventing them from seeing how bad off I really am. Not hot news: I’m really, really bad off. Unwittingly, Barry helps. His earth spool acts as a barrier around my gas tank, awarding me precious moments of delayed ignition. I have to use it fairly consistently to prevent my fire fuel from ripping free from my body.

Matthew opts out of reversion, preferring to stay with the Amazon Coterie to help invoke dietary changes on a global scale. The sky-fliers, land-walkers, and water-gliders all stay, too, to protect them from any negative recourse they might encounter along the way.

Riding around with a bunch of humans is weird. I’ve gone from the least to the most supernatural in under forty-eight hours. They’re too busy exploring all the human prospects to notice. That’s not a complaint. I’m thankful for their distractions. I’m even more thankful for how well everything went. I’m tired again, right to the core of my being, but it’s fine. Soon, I’ll go for the long sleep where tiredness is a thing of the past.

When we pull up to a two-story house in a suburban area, the vinyl siding causes a chuckle mob riot in the back. “Red?” Tally muses. “I can’t believe they do siding in red.”

The irony of their safe haven isn’t lost on me. Derry’s chosen University Park, the location of Pennsylvania State University (Huck Institute of the Life Sciences). They were easily located on a map with Barry’s blocker gone. This guy can’t stop hoping for a future. Hopefully, he’s resigned to it being a solo venture.

“It looks new,” I note.

She rolls her eyes. “Of course it’s new.”

They idle at the curb.

“You’re not coming in?”

“We’re going to the mall,” Tally chirps. “We have shopping to do.”

“And food to eat,” Declan adds.

Barry grumbles under his breath.

Tally kisses him on the cheek. “You can cook me all the meals you want, Beef Cake. I’m only hungry for your food.”

His pecs dance appreciatively.

“And pictures!” Kiley coos. “The ones in a tiny photo booth that print in sheets.”

I laugh. “I know the ones you mean.”

“Lots of pictures!” she persists. “Oh, and a camera to take my own pictures.”

“Of you?”

“Of everything,” she clarifies, “and lots of me.”

I envision a few cloud drives full of selfies. She has a lot of missing memories to make up for.

“And hair dye?” Tally quips.

Kiley pulls her hair around to look at it. “Not just yet.”

Kiley’s reversion produced the only real physical change in the group. Dye wasn’t required since she was forcing us to see what she wanted. Her general bone structure is the same, but all the little pieces individualizing her changed. Her real hair is strawberry blonde. It suits her pixie personality. The freckles peppering her ivory skin are cute, too. Declan keeps trying to count the dots. He’s taken to referring to her as Constellation. Earns him a solidarity eye roll from the group every time he calls her that.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

I relinquish the passenger seat, yet no one claims shotgun. That seat is reserved. Mel runs from the house seconds later. Ryan’s barely out of the van when she barrels into him. Seeing them together is just the kind of affirmation I needed.

“You good?” Barry checks.

“I’m cool.” They can all live their lives now. I’ve helped it along. So, yes, I’m emotionally cool. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to leave things. They’re happy, which makes me happy.

“Love you guys,” I murmur, stepping onto the perfectly manicured lawn.

They missed the memo about leaving without an emotional display, filing out of the van to wrap me in the biggest hug ever. “We love you, too,” they chime in unison. Then, they’re back in the van, heading off for a grand shopping adventure the likes of which Pennsylvania has never seen.

“Three to go.” I clutch Brody in my palm. “Best for last. I promise.”

My father’s waiting for me at the door. He did an amazing job of raising me. Single-handedly. The bond we share is stronger than blood. It will outlive the inferno of my future. More than anyone, I want him to be proud of me, to see the output of his efforts. I want to save Mom for him. He deserves that. I owe him that. More, I owe myself that. I’ve worked tirelessly to get here. I’m running out of minutes, burning toenails on Barry’s earth spool at this point. It’s time to place the final puzzle piece on the board.

“Interesting location you’ve chosen.”

“Derry’s idea,” Dad deflects.

Sledge is nowhere in sight. Unlike Dad, Derry’s always been full of ideas for how I should behave. While we seldom saw eye to eye, he only had my best interests at heart. I do know that. Everything he decided was a logical choice I should’ve been making…if I were him.

“They do late registrations,” he points out.

“Sounds great. Can you go pick one up for me?”

I’m not filling it out. No way. I just need him out of my hair in case things go wrong. They probably will go very wrong, epically ka-BOOM wrong.

“Right now?” He seems confused. “Did you want to come see the school?”

“Soft pass,” I decline. “I need to lay down for a hot minute.” A really hot minute. I’m sweating through my clothes.

Before he leaves, I wrap my arms around him. He’s surprised, though it doesn’t stop him from reciprocating the full force hug. He’s happy to see me for however long that is. He won’t ask about the heat radiating off me like Texas June. Not his style. But, boy, oh boy, will he hug me like it’s the last time he’ll ever get to.

One down. Two to go. I need to say goodbye to Derry. He didn’t even greet me at the door. That’s a good sign. Hopeful. He has to get why I came, right?

I don’t regret Derry. From the very first moment I looked into his liquid honey eyes, his unruly hair falling in rust-colored waves that were brown in the grim sky lighting, I knew there was no going back. Everything would change. His mere existence threatened my suppression attempts. It began with Derry, and it’ll end in my ultimate flame-induced misfortune as a result of that meeting.

I could avoid this whole interaction, sure, but leaving things as they are is weak. If I purposely omit this ending, this goodbye, Derry will have to live with that. Not me. I’ll be gone. I do care about him, and I do love him. I’m just not in love with him. That hot seat belongs to someone else.

I stand outside his door for a few minutes, strengthening my resolve. It’s funny how such a seemingly small moment can outweigh the relief we all felt at winning the Sumair battle. Such a huge victory, requiring absolute faith and bravery, yet all I can bring into focus is the boy in his bedroom on the other side of the door I can’t find the courage to knock on.

“Enter.” He invites me inside before I find the nerve.

He’s lying on the bed. I approach cautiously, shoving my hands in my pockets for moral support.

“I heard what you did.”

I smile brightly. “I didn’t blow anyone up!”

His brow furrows. “I’ve spent too much time trying to protect you. I needed to do that, but that’s not what you needed from me. You just needed my support. I didn’t understand how you could send me away when you needed me the most. I get how heavy it is to carry around the worry. You couldn’t have done all this had we stayed. You saved them, Sweetheart. You saved them all, and now there’s only one person left to save. I hope you have it in you to save her, too. I’d be utterly lost without her.”

Her to us has entirely different meanings. I mean my mother, while he means me. I can’t say the things he needs to hear. He won’t get it. The only way to save my mom is to face the Tribunal in Sheelin. I can’t ignore my obligation, no matter how tempting.

He motions me forward. I hang my head low and let Tugboat Derry guide me. Hovering by the bed, I stare at my feet. He coughs, drawing my attention back to him. He’s holding out his hands, fists closed. “Pick.”

I lift a brow, confused.

His palms open. Electrical fire tears through me, my confusion increasing. “Pick,” he repeats.

“What am I picking, Derry?”

“Departure stone.” His left hand closes. “Landing stone.” His right hand closes.

I shake my head.

“Earth or fire.” He tightens his fists. “Pick.”

I’m still struggling to follow along. He wants me to choose between what? I need the departure stone. Otherwise, I have to use Brody. I’m assuming he’s holding Phelan in his left hand. I have no clue who the landing stone is. Nor do I have enough time to be fully curious over it. My flame is set to straight up rampage in T-minus five and counting.

What’s the choice, exactly? Phelan saves Brody. It means I won’t use up his seed, giving him hope for regrowth at some point in his future. I won’t see it, but I’ll die with that hope. Worth it.

The landing stone, in the other hand, would give me the missing link to my return from Sheelin post-transition. A way back for Mom. He knows what he’s asking of me. It’s not even a choice of Brody or myself. That’s an easy pick. Brody. Hands down. What he’s forcing me to choose is whether I’m saving Brody or Mom.

Hard choice time. Next level.