Guardians: The Triplex Part 34

I know very well what my answer is. But I don't understand why it's that way. Who walks into a situation knowing the end would be so brutal?

I'd only do it for her...

She's the only girl who could have driven me to the lengths I have gone to. I look back and try to find mistakes that I've made, moments where I could have been wiser, points in time where I could have said "let's not fall in love."

But instead of finding moments that I would change, my mind finds moments that I want to hold on to. I seek them out and replay them like a playlist on eternal repeat.

When she first said my name...

How adorable she was when she came to dinner and worried the team would disappear into their memories and never come back...

The way she can confront demons like Kairo, but hides her eyes during scary movies...

The way her skin feels between my fingers...

The moment she sees I'm losing hope, she lets herself get thrown into dumpster so I'll laugh...

Oh yeah, her laugh...

The way she holds tight to hope no matter what...

The books that she's read a million times but keeps nearby so she can read them a million more...

Her kiss...

Her body against mine...

The way she loves... I will never again be loved the way she loved me. And that, that is the pain I will not recover from.

The moment she stopped loving me is the moment I died, again.

I take my Rah out of my pocket and study it. It's something I didn't think I would ever have again after I laid eyes on her. Now it's in my hand. No one wants it. No one is asking for it. And even if they did, they can't have my Rah.

It belongs to her. It will always belong to her...

I spot an opening on the mountain side. I walk in and look around. Here seems as good a place as any. I carefully make a small hole on the side of the mountain and insert my Rah.

I always envisioned her and I doing this together...

I can't see a world where I don't hurt anymore. I wish I was human. Humans live eighty or ninety years, then their pain is gone. I will live thousands of years with a gaping wound that her love once filled.

I spend a few hours in the mountains trying not to think about her. I fail as I expected I would. Finally I push myself off the mountain and fly back to New York City. I can't even fly over her neighborhood with out missing her.

d.a.m.n, there's got to be a mixture to make this hurt go away.

I head over to see if Miku and Ameana need help giving their ma.s.sive piles of clothes away. I need to focus on something else, anything.

As I walk the cold New York streets, I run into happy partygoers. They are all rus.h.i.+ng off to Times Square to see the ball drop in a few hours. The streets are flooded with happy couples, families, and friends. The mood is upbeat despite the bitter cold.

I wonder what she's doing right now...

My cell rings just in time to keep me from a dangerous train of thought. I'm grateful to whoever is calling on the other line. I see it's Jay and wonder what he's come up with to keep me distracted.

"You don't have to keep calling to check on me, I'm good," I tell him.

"Hey, there's something I think you need to see," Jay says, sounding far more serious than I have heard him in the past few days.

"What is it?"

"We may be wrong."

"Who is we?"

"Me and Isabelle."

"Wrong about what?"

"We're at her family's house. She has a huge collection of history books."

"Okay..."

"Well, I told her about the Quo and she thinks she's read about them before."

"They said they have never been out into the Angel world."

"Then why is there a chapter dedicated to them in the Tri-history, volume three?"

"Are you sure it's about them?"

"It doesn't say "Quo" but it talks about Angels mingling with humans."

"Okay, so a few people may know about them, so what?"

"According to this book, they've been around for many Cycles and the Council kept them at bay because they were afraid."

"Yeah, they were afraid it would mess up the balance."

"No, Marcus, the Council was afraid. Like actual fear."

"Why would they fear the Quo?"

"I don't know."

"Okay, I'll take a look at the book but let's do it after we get to the Light."

"Okay."

"You and Isabelle meet us at the take off point."

"Done."

The take off point is near a small village in West Africa. It shouldn't take long to get there, so while we still have some time, I head to see if the girls need my help.

There's another reason why I want to see the girls. I'm sure Ameana didn't go to see Emmy but Miku would certainly say goodbye to her before she goes. A part of me is hoping that Miku will tell me she asked about me.

That is so pathetic...

I see the girls heading out of Goodwill but Miku goes back towards the hotel and Ameana walks in the opposite direction. Maybe she's meeting Wolf. She checks to see if she's being followed, then double checks again.

Why is she acting so suspicious? At this point everyone knows that her and Wolf are together. Though I'm sure she didn't mention to him that Rage saved her life.

I follow her as she dodges into an alley a few streets over. She takes off into the sky. I follow at a safe distance. Something tells me she could be in danger. I have learned to follow my instincts as leader over the past few months.

Well, on anything but love...

She flies to the West Coast, to an out-of-the-way beach with a hidden cave. She double checks to make sure she's alone. I quickly pull back.

What is she doing here?

Maybe this is some romantic tryst she and Wolf are having before they go into the Light. I think about maybe turning back and giving them their privacy. But again, something tells me to stay with her. She walks into the cave toward a figure I can't make out.

There's a fire burning in the center, it gives everything a warm, orange glow. The flames enable me to make out a shadow along the wall. Ameana is in the cave with a male figure who has wings.

So, I guess it is Wolf.

She sits next to him and examines his chest, silently. I guess all of his wounds from Pyron aren't healed yet. She gently applies a mixture to different spots on his bare chest. He studies her as she tends to him.

When she's done, they sit in silence for a few moments watching the flames. Then she strolls out of the cave and onto the beach. Hiding is just an extra precaution because Ameana is too deep in thought to see me.

The wind blows carelessly through her hair as she stands on the soft sand overlooking the waves. Wolf stands up by the fire and walks towards me. I quickly hide in the shadows, not wanting to interfere with the couple.

I was wrong about the guy being Wolf. I was wrong about the guy being an Angel. Rage emerges from the cave s.h.i.+rtless and heads toward Ameana by the water.

He embraces her from behind. She leans into him. He nuzzles the slope of her neck slowly. She puts her hand through his hair, silently seeking out his kiss. He hungrily complies. She inhales deeply and closes her eyes.

Ameana is in heaven...with a Demon.

I leave them alone and take off into the sky. I could have stopped them but for some reason, I didn't. I'm not sure why. However it plays out, it's gonna have to be dealt with in the Light and not on earth. I pick up speed and head to West Africa.

When I get to the meeting point just outside of Ghana, I find Ameana standing next to Miku looking flushed, Jay stands proudly with Isabelle. But there is no sign of Rio.

"Have you guys seen him?" I ask.

"We talked a few minutes ago he was on his way," Miku says.

I call his cell. He picks up on the first ring.

"Where are you? The Light is coming. We need to be in it, you know that," I scold him.

"I was helping some kids trying to escape a fire a few miles outside of Moscow. I didn't realize it was that late."

"Did everyone make it out okay?"

"Yeah."

"Were any of them supposed to die?"

"No, Marcus. I wouldn't do that again."

"Okay, we'll wait for you."

"No, you guys go, I'll be right behind you."

"No, I don't want to leave anyone on earth for any reason. We came together, we leave together."

"Did you say goodbye to Emmy?" he asks hesitantly.

d.a.m.n, how can just hearing her name hurt?

"She doesn't want to see me, Rio."

"Do you want to know what her Wave says?"

It would just make it harder to walk away for "us."

"No, I don't. Just get here so we can go, okay?"

"Okay, be there in a sec."

At exactly midnight, a brilliant light streams down into the forest. I tell the group we need to wait for Rio and they all agree. The Council will be slightly p.i.s.sed but given everything we've been through, I think they can cut us some slack.

"Isabelle, you can go ahead of us," Jay says.

"Aw, come with me," she asks sweetly.

All of us make childish sounds and cheer them on. Embarra.s.sed, Jay plays it off like it's nothing, but I can tell he's gonna give her his Rah very soon.

"No, it's cool. We'll catch up," I tell him.

The two take off into the Light. Their bodies glow, become small beams of light, and then disappear.

A few minutes later, we see Rio flying towards us. I'm relived because I was about to give in and go see her, knowing that it would only make things worse. We wait for Rio to land so we can all take off into the Light together.

But Rio never lands because at the very moment his foot is about to touch the ground, a nuclear kind of explosion goes off in the sky.