The Senate chamber was just like I remembered it. Well, there were a couple of differences, actually. For one thing, the spirits I had left here unconscious the last time I came were all gone. Bain Rusta had told me they had been moved to their quarters so they could recover from the mind control magic that I had freed them from. There were many items strewn across the Senate floor, but I remembered them being there. They had fallen with the spirits as I had treated them. Nobody had bothered to clean the place up, since there was a war to prepare for after all. Noel had left some muddy footprints behind, and I was about to leave some more. For some reason, I thought about whoever had to clean this place afterwards. What a terrible job it would be. Especially if they had to take care of the field outside too. I had to remember to help patch that place up with magic later. The stone slab had to be put back in place too.
I realized my thoughts had been wandering. I reigned them back in and stepped across the Senate floor. I couldn’t raise my legs much, so I left a trail behind me, and made a loud sloshing sound as I walked. The sound echoed through the empty room, announcing my presence, but that was okay. At this point, I couldn’t do anything to Noel even if I had the element of surprise. I just wanted to see. To see the mission that had been the cause of all this suffering. What was so important that Noel would go on this rampage, fighting everybody, including her oldest friend, and all for the sake of the Immortal who had taken her from her own family. I had to know. I just had to.
The biggest change in the Senate room was the mural. It was open. I blinked. The mural had been a door? The door ran right through the middle of the mural, splitting the image of Sharun the hunter in two. I saw something on the mural on the right. A bloody handprint. Except, it wasn’t only a hand, but a hand that went down into a streak. Noel hadn’t just opened the door. She had run her hand across the image.
I dragged my body forward. It felt like my legs were made of lead, and the rest of my body wasn’t much better. Still, I managed to bring myself to the door in the mural. I inspected what lay beyond, but couldn’t see anything. It was too dark. No, it wasn’t ordinary darkness. It was like a veil or a thick curtain. Whatever lay behind the mural was literally shrouded in darkness. I collected myself. Took a deep breath. And then I took a step forward.
---
A metal room.
There was no other way to describe it.
Cold to the touch. Solid and rigid. The floor felt like a panel of thick stainless steel underneath my feet. The sides of the room had the same metallic luster. The air carried a metallic scent, like the taste of blood. There were no windows or light sources, yet the room was well lit. As if the metal walls were emitting their own soft light, just not in a way that made them appear to be glowing. It was uncanny. I didn’t even notice that I had been holding my breath.
Noel stood in the back of the room. There seemed to be something in front of her, but I couldn’t make out what it was. Yet, I could sense it. That was it. That was what she had come for. Her mission. The thing the Immortal of Desire definitely did not want her to retrieve.
I had a feeling I shouldn’t let her take it away. I knew she was probably acting on the Immortal of Madness’ orders. If he got his hands on whatever this was, who knew what he would do with it. The guy was quite literally a madman! No, I had to stop her. Yes, I felt the urge bubbling inside me. The strength surging forth like a second wind. I had to do it. Ignore my injuries, the many wounds and gashes. The bleeding, the bruises, the sharp, piercing pain. None of that mattered. If I failed despite getting a second chance, I would not be able to forgive myself. I raised a hand, gathered the energy I didn’t know I had, and aimed at Noel’s back.
Noel turned. I saw the object she had come for. I froze. I felt a weight in my stomach as a fuzz of confusion filled my head.
“How can,” I said, thinking out loud, “how can something like this be here? In this world. How?”
In front of Noel, there was an altar. An altar made of wood, with little multi-colored decorations all over it. Not paint, not gems, but bright, sparkling flowers. On top of the altar there was something I could never have imagined seeing in this world: a book.
A book.
A real book. Hardcover, printed pages fluttering on their own, with words written on the spine. The book floated above the altar, moving from side to side like a playful kitten. As it moved around, I finally saw what was written on the book, and my mind completely blanked. I didn’t know I could be stunned twice in quick succession like this, but here I was. Unable to think. Completely dumbfounded by what was written on the spine of this book.
Annihilation.
In large, serif font English letters, the title ‘Annihilation’ was written on the book.
I laughed. Standing inside this metal box behind a curtain of darkness hidden inside a mural in the Senate building. After a terrible battle that had left me badly battered and almost broken. With no will to fight. Utter despair in my heart. I laughed.
I ignored the pain in my chest that came with the laughter. No, the pain only made me laugh more. Tears pooled in my eyes. Through my blurry vision, I could see Noel giving me a strange look, but that made me laugh even more. Belting, unrestrained laughter. Laughter that echoed through the metal room, filling the air with a terrifying, maniacal cacophony. I held my head in my hands, laughed at my feet, raised my head and laughed at the ceiling, then faced straight and laughed towards Noel.
“It was,” I said between bursts of laughter. “It was a book!” I laughed some more. “That lousy madman. It was a book all along!” I laughed, and laughed, and repeated my words. Some words I couldn’t even understand myself, but I said them anyways. They made me laugh some more, after all.
My laughter didn’t die down for a while. Not until my throat was dry, my chest heaving, and my mind a mush of jumbled thoughts, feelings, and pain. What a mess. What a terrible, terrible mess. The thing I had been searching for, the secret that would help me get back home, it was a book all along! And not just any book, it was a book that looked like it had come from my world, my previous Earth. And even that wasn’t all. It was a book that Noel wanted. No, a book that the Immortal of Madness wanted.
Had the Immortal mentioned it to me all those years ago, because he wanted to make me despair? Or had he manipulated me? Did he want me to come here? Had I done something that had helped him find or get to this book? Or was it just pure sadism? Was that maniac in the moon getting a kick out of seeing me suffer? I didn’t know. I didn’t care. I’d had enough. No more.
No more.
I was done with these tricks. These games. The manipulation, the indignation. This feeling that I was dancing on the palm of some giant’s hand, I couldn’t stand it any longer. I was going to end it. I was going to end it once and for all!
Electricity buzzed and crackled. White arcs flashed around my arms. Noel’s eyes widened. She reached for the book. I smiled. She thought I was going for the book? I laughed again. I laughed with the electricity that I was preparing with the last of my energy. Energy that I shouldn’t have had, but which I was thankful for at this time. It would help me finish it. It would help me finish everything!
I raised my hands above my head and let out a wild cry. Lightning flew around me, striking the metal walls, ionizing the air, and sending a deafening zap echoing around the room.
Noel grabbed the book. The room was filled with light.
Drop a heart!