Epilogue: Calling

After years of tireless searching, we had found only one.

Reece and I spent dozens of evenings walking through graveyards.  The wrinkles forming around his mouth grew deeper every trip we took, and at the end of the night he could only shake his head.

“It’s no use.”  He sighed, kicking the snow at his feet.  “I don’t know what’s happened.  I can’t sense anyone.  I haven’t sensed anyone in years.”

I put my hands on his shoulders and tried to smile, though my own heart was sinking faster with every year that went by.  “We will keep looking.  We cannot give up.”

Mr. Peter called us back to Dragon Valley on one such night.  He had a lead on where we could find a second Philosopher Stone.  We met him in Harmony Hospital, where I worked.  His health had taken a turn for the worse and the diagnosis was growing even grimmer.

“Here.”  Mr. Peters said, coughing as he handed me an address book.  “I’ve written down his number and address.  He lives in Bridgeport.  His collection is extensive, but I’m not sure how much you would need to offer him in order to get him to part with such a valuable artifact.”

He dissolved into a fit of coughing.  I ran to get him a glass of water, and patted his back as I lifted it to his lips.

He fell back onto his pillow, his brow slick with sweat.  “It seems that I might soon join the souls you seek in the Netherworld.”

I set the glass on the table, and smiled.  “The Netherworld is not all there is.”

Mr. Peters looked up at me.  “What else is there?”

I leaned back in my chair and sighed.  My eyes misted over.  “ ‘White shores… and beyond them a far green county under a swift sunrise.’ ”

Mr. Peters closed his eyes.  “Ah… I knew it.”

“We are gathered here today to honor the life and memory of Edmund Peters, beloved bookseller, professor, scholar, and friend.”

“Mr. Peters asked that I read this sonnet at his service.  During his life, it was one of his favorites…”

“Death, be not proud, though some have called thee

Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;

For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow

Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.

From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,

Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,

And soonest our best men with thee do go,

Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.

Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,

And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,

And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well

And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?

One short sleep past, we wake eternally

And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.”

When the service was over, I folded up my notes and pressed my lips to Mr. Peter’s coffin.

“Say hello to Mother for me.”  I whispered.

Snow was falling when we emerged from the church. 

“Did you realize that today is the winter solstice?”  Reece whispered in my ear.    I silently shook my head, and he kissed my cheek.  “Happy anniversary.”

So much had happened in the last eighteen years.  Already, my second life was full to the bursting with love, success, and fulfilled dreams.

But one dream still eluded me.

I sighed, and glanced back at my children.

Evangeline ran her hands through Gawain's hair.  Bowen was growing so tall.  I had no doubt that he would soon surpass Evangeline.  Maybe even his father.

One, two, three…

I frowned.

Seeing the look on my face, Evangeline looked down and around.  Her face paled.  “I swear she was right here…” 

“You have been a bad influence on her.”  I sighed, shaking my head.  “Come on.”

Reece, Evangeline, and the boys split in different directions, calling out and kneeling down to peer behind tombstones.  I searched along the stone fence and crossed the bridge to the other side of the graveyard.

At last, I spotted my four-year old daughter staring intently at the freshly dug dirt beneath a tall gravestone.  She sucked on one thumb and used the other to draw circles in the air.

“Odette!”  I called.

She turned around and smiled at me.  With the thumb she had been sucking, she pointed back to the gravestone. 

“Mommy, who is that man?” 

I knelt down next to her.   “What man?”

“That one.”  She pointed again.  Her thumb drew circles in the air, outlining a shape at the base of the gravestone.  “He’s right there.  Is he sleeping?”

“I do not see anyone.”  I said, lifting her up in my arms.

I heard running footsteps behind me.  I turned my head and Evangeline skidded to a halt a few feet away.  Her eyes widened, and she let out a little gasp.

Odette frowned and squirmed in my arms.  “Oh… well I don’t see him.  But I feel him.  Right there.”

She pointed again.  I stared at her with my mouth agape.

“I… I feel him too.”  Evangeline whispered.  She stepped forward, reaching out with one hand.  “He’s… he’s an old man, I think.  Just… sitting there at the base of the…”

“Reece!”  I cried, interrupting her.

My husband and my two sons came running.  Bowen’s expression changed as he got closer.  He pursed his lips together and furrowed his brow, staring at the gravestone.  Gawain’s eyes widened, and he hung back behind Reece.

“Reece, do you feel him?”  I asked, pointing at the grave.

Reece blinked in confusion.  He slowly shook his head.  “No… I don’t feel anything…”

 “I feel him.”  Bowen said, stepping forward next to Evangeline.  He reached out, just as she did, tracing a line in the air.  “Who… who is he?”  He turned back to me.  “What’s going on?”

“Gawain!”  I called, setting Odette down on the ground.  “Do you feel him too?”

Gawain nodded his head, his eyes still wide.

 I turned back to Reece, barely able to contain my excitement.  “All of them!”

“But I… I don’t…”  Reece said, his face falling.

I touched his shoulder.  “Maybe the gift faded with time!  Maybe that is the reason you have not found anyone in years!”

Reece bit his lip.  “Maybe…”

“Wait…”  Evangeline said.  She stretched out her hand, her fingers grasping at thin air.  “He’s moving!  He’s…”

Her fingers froze and her face fell.  I heard Gawain let out a sigh behind me.  Odette’s head bowed down.

 Evangeline turned around and stuck her hands back in her pockets.  “He’s gone.  I… I don’t feel him anymore.”

“Me neither.”  Bowen whispered.

I tried not to let my disappointment show on my face.  I had already been planning to call our friends back and try to get the Philosopher’s Stone here this very night.  But if the old man had left the Void, there was no drawing him back from this side. 

I smiled at the bewildered faces of my four children.  There might be hope for that old man yet.  He may return to the Void where we could reach him tomorrow, next year, or within the hour.  In the meantime, there were likely thousands of others waiting.

I reached down and wound my fingers through Odette’s.  “Come.  I want to show you something.”

Our footsteps crunched through the snow.  I led my children to one old, weathered gravestone.

“Mom?”  Evangeline asked, pursing her lips together as she glanced around.  She recognized this area of the cemetery, though we had not been here in years.  “Why are we here?”

I stopped in front of the grave, my grave, and smiled.

I was born here." I told her, turning around.

Bowen chuckled, shaking his head.  "I thought you were born six hundred years ago on the fields of Tryblith while your mother used one arm to stab a dozen drag-!"

"Not the first time.” I said, interrupting him.  “The second time."

My children fell into a somber silence.  Reece reached out and rubbed my shoulder, a warm smile on his face.  I took a deep breath, starring out into the flurries of snow falling over the night street.

"I've been to the Netherworld.  It's a wasteland of hopelessness.”  I took a wandering step back towards my grave, and a smile cracked at the corners of my mouth.  “But I've also been to the place on the other side of the Netherworld, the place where faith and dreams collide.  And it was breathtaking.  It was as if my eyes were finally opened, and all the mist had at last been stripped away.  It was home.  It was the place that we were really made for.  I ache for the day that I can return."

I continued, my eyes downcast.  "But there is a shadow on that ray of joy.  When I wandered the Netherworld, there were others like me.  Hundreds, thousands... I could not number them.  They will never reach the other side because it cannot be reached.  Not through the Netherworld." 

I stared down at my own grave, shaking my head in dismay.  "I'm not sure what traps a soul in the Netherworld.  Unfinished business, unanswered questions…  an unfulfilled prophecy.” I finished, throwing a smile towards my children.  I caught the glimmer of a grin on Reece’s face.    “What I do know, is that they will never find their way to home, not without help."

Evangeline and Bowen exchanged a glance.  She stepped forward, biting her lip.

"What would you have us do, mother?" she asked.

I looked at each of them in turn.

"Find a soul.  Wake them up."

Chapter Twenty: Family

She threw our lives into chaos.  Neither of us got a decent night’s rest for months after we brought her home.  She would wake us in the wee hours of the morning and fuss all through the daylight hours.

And she was perfect.  Screaming, squalling, complete perfection.

Maintaining the house by the university with our little miracle soon became too much.  Regan invited us to move back into the Lewis estate, and we agreed.  With all three of us doting on her, Evangeline was pacified and we could all get just enough rest to get by.

I returned to my internship and my studies in the fall.  It was agony.  I rocked Evangeline to sleep in the evening and studied into the daylight hours.  

And my little angel grew.  The wisps of sapphire hair around her head thickened and fell to her shoulders.  

Her golden eyes shone brighter with every peal of laughter that rang from her little chest.  The freckles over her nose multiplied across her skin.

Her tiny hands grew strong and sure, and much to my dismay, she delighted in using them to playfully tug on Timber’s tail.

She was almost a year old before Orland and Eldora returned, frustrated and empty-handed, to meet her for the first time.

Yasmin was only a few months older than she was, making her the perfect playmate.  The two of them grew to be best friends, and would carry on entire conversations in their baby-babble.

Before I realized it, she was walking.  Then running.  She prattled all over the house in her little bare feet as though she owned the place.  There did not seem to be enough hours in the day to care for her and to see to my studies.

But study I did, until I could no longer count the times Reece carried me back to bed from the nursery.  Until all I could dream about were drug facts and infectious diseases.  But one sleepless night after the other, I made it.  Until finally, I was able to walk across the stage and collect my diploma.

And not a moment too soon.  Reece and I had grown a little too careless in the final weeks before my exams.

I had been offered a permanent position as a resident at the hospital, but almost immediately after I accepted, I had to go on maternity leave.

My son, Bowen Lewis, was born the following winter.

He had the famous Lewis hair and his grandmother’s rose-colored eyes.  His tiny hands were balled into fists the instant he came into this world, and his pudgy little arms packed quite a punch.  He was taking his first steps long before he started talking, and months before Evangeline had.

 Catch-up time with friends was quickly becoming a daycare.

“You two are spawning like killifish.” Nirina muttered, shaking her head.

“When are you gonna settle down and have a few of your own?”  I asked, raising my eyebrows.

Nirina rolled her eyes.  “When tadpoles grow wings.  I don't need guppies hanging on my fins right now.”

Reece and I shared a knowing smile.  “Children have a tendency to happen when you don't need them.”

Sadly, as time progressed and responsibilities loamed, I found our once close-knit circle of friends was drifting apart.  Nirina and Hale migrated away to chase more promising job leads in Sunlit Tides, and Daria cut down on her working hours to raise her children.  We still kept in touch through a few scattered phone calls, letters and postcards, but it was not the same.

Evageline’s first day of kindergarten was an emotional moment for me.  She insisted that she could wait at the curb by herself, and refused to wear a jacket.  Together with Yasmin and a few of the neighborhood boys she only remotely tolerated, she waited for the bus.

I fidgeted by the front door with tears brimming on my eyes.  Snowflakes caught in her sapphire hair and her cheeks flushed.  The wide-eyed excitement with which she spoke reminded me so much of her father.

Reece wrapped his arms around my waist and I leaned against him.

“She looks just like you.” I murmured.

Reece shrugged.  “But she acts like you.”

I frowned, turning around to glare at him.  “She acts nothing like me.”

At that moment, I heard a piercing scream from the children and I almost jumped clean out of my skin.  I relaxed when I saw that one of the neighborhood boys was merely waving a worm in Yasmin’s face.

Eva set her jaw and stood directly in front of him, but when confronted, he threw the worm at her.

“Plagues!  Plagues and pestilence and murder!”  Eva swore, shaking the worm from her shirt.

“Just like you.” Reece murmured into the crook of my neck.

Eva held an accusing finger up at the little boy.  “A pox upon your household!”

A smile cracked at the corners of my lips.

I gave birth to my third child just a few short weeks later.  We named him Gawain.

I had a high-stress job that called for precision, dedication, and night-shifts.  At home, three children demanded every ounce of my attention.  My days were full to the bursting with love and excitement, and I would not have had it any other way.

But sometimes, when the children were tucked away in bed and Reece worked late at his elixir crafting, I lay awake and wondered if this all there really was to life.  I had almost everything I had ever wanted, and yet…

There was something missing.  A tiny hollow lived in the back of my heart, a constant reminder that there was something left undone…

“Three fairies in Moonlight Falls, two genies in Starlight Shores, and one werewolf in Hidden Springs.  That makes over twelve known abductions in the last week, and close to a hundred since they began last August.”  Orland’s voice drifted in through the doorway.

I glanced at Daria out of the corner of my eye.  She was preoccupied with her son, Irywyn, reading him a cardboard book about colors.  Bowen appeared determined to shake his Robo-Teddy’s head off.  I scooted closer to the open door and lay my head against the wall.

“… if Belinda’s spies in the inner circle are correct, the Lucians have completed the rites.  They have a full curse already, have since before the Gala, and the plan was to use this new elixir of theirs to provide Constantine with enough power to cast it.”  Eldora continued.

“But we have Constantine.” Regan’s voice broke in.  “Surely they don’t believe that Quintessa could…?  Well even with the magic of the adducted supernaturals… the elixir couldn’t give her that kind of power… could it?”  There was silence for a moment, and I heard the shuffling of paper and glass.  “Reece… did you finish the analysis?  It’s not nearly that powerful… right?” 

“Well…”  My husband’s voice sounded weary.  “… they’ve got a lot riding on some very theoretical elements of alchemy, but potentially, yes.  It could be that powerful.”  Regan let out an audible groan of frustration and Reece quickly backpedaled.  “That is to say… it’s still a long shot.  I’m certain they would have much more luck with Constantine… or Gaia.  But even then…”

“Forget the curse mechanics for now.”  Orland interrupted.  “We need to work on locating the missing supernaturals.  Reece… we’re going to need the sample back.”

“Right.”  I heard the shuffling of feet and I looked up at Reece as he entered the room.  Bowen immediately abandoned his efforts to decapitate his teddy and prattled after Reece, stretching up his arms.  Reece picked him up and kissed him on the forehead.

Daria looked up, her expression somber.  “Still talking about the missing supernaturals?”

Reece nodded his head, shuffling through his alchemy cabinet with one hand.  “Barnacle Bay… Aurora Skies… Sunlit Tides… we have reports cropping up from all over the place now.”

Reece shut the cabinet and turned to go.

“Sunlit Tides…”  Daria repeated under her breath, her hand curling tighter around her son’s shoulder. 

“Something wrong?”  I asked.

Daria nodded her head, shutting the book in her lap.  “When was the last time you heard from Nirina?”

I furrowed my brow.  “She sent me an e-mail…” 

I stopped.  That e-mail had been months ago.

Seeing the look on my face, Daria leapt up and grabbed the Lewis’ home phone.  “I’m calling her, right now.”

I nodded my head and stood to my feet.  I paced back and forth over the floor, bile rising up in my throat.  Daria tapped her fingers against the receiver.  Her shoulders slumped.

“Voicemail.”  she whispered, the phone dropping back down to her side.

“She has barely kept in contact the past two years.”  I said, though I was unconvinced by my own words.  “She could be overwhelmed by work…”

Daria raised her eyebrows.  “Nirina?  Overwhelmed by work?”

I shrugged my shoulders and rubbed my temples.  “Well I had thought since the two of them had found employment in the same establishment and both had been lax about keeping in touch, that they found the job demanding.”

Daria’s eyebrows rose even further.  “Hale and Nirina… took a job… that was demanding?”

My hands dropped back down to my sides.  “Agreed.  Not possible.” 

I took the phone from Daria and thrust it into Reece’s hands when I met him in the kitchen.  “Call Hale.  Now.” 

“O-ho-kaay…”  Reece said, handing Bowen back to me and dialing in a number.  Reece pressed speaker so that we all could hear.

I tried to breathe deeply and keep my thoughts from running wild.

There was a clunk, and I heard Hale’s voice on the other end.  “Sup.”

I let out a sigh.  Reece shook his head.  “Dude, Daria and my wife were worried about you.  You shouldn’t drop off the face of the Earth like that.”

“Aw… really?”  Hale laughed.

“Yeah, really.  So when are you and Niri coming back to visit, anyway?  I doubt Eva even remembers you-!” Before Reece could finish, Hale’s voice interrupted him.

“Cool story, bro. Well I can’t come to the phone right now, leave me a message.”

An earsplitting beep sounded, and Reece flinched away from the phone.

“The mailbox is full and cannot accept new messages at this time.” A mechanical voice declared on the other end.  “Goodbye.”

I felt a sinking in the pit of my stomach.  Reece set the phone down, biting his lip.

“Look… there’s no need to jump to conclusions.”  Reece said slowly.  “They’re probably fine.”

Eva ran up behind me and started tugging at the bottom of my t-shirt.  “Mommy!”

I patted her on the head.  “But maybe… when Regan is there investigating… she can…”

“I’ll ask her.”  Reece said.

“Mommy!”  Eva shouted again and I finally turned to her.  “Is it true that your sword was a gift from the three wind fairies?  Made from the ashes of the fairies’ home trees and welded together with their tears?”

I stared at her, open-mouthed.  Reece coughed nervously, and Daria stifled a giggle.

“What?  No… that is preposterous.  Who told you this?”  I crossed my arms.

“It’s in the book Daddy gave me!  See?”  Evageline held up one of Reece’s old childhood favorites and flipped the pages to point at a certain picture.

I glared at Reece, and he let out a nervous laugh.

“That’s enough folklore for tonight… time for bed!”  Reece said quickly, shutting the book and nudging Eva along.

Weeks later, after dinner was over and my children had all dispersed to play in their own corners, I sat reading at the dining room table.

My phone rang.  I pulled it out and looked at the ID.  It was an unknown number.  I almost hit ignore, but I had a fleeting thought that perhaps Regan was trying to get into contact with me.  I picked it up.

“Hello?”  I answered.

“Sophia?”  a broken, weak voice crackled through the other end.

I sat up straighter.  I could hear the howling of the storm in the background.  Broken, labored breathing echoed in the foreground.

“Yes…”  I said, laying my book down.

“Sophia, it’s Nirina.”  the voice on the other end said.

“Niri?”  I jumped to my feet.  “Niri!  We've been trying to get a hold of you for ages… Where have you been?  Are you alright?”  I heard a gasp and a sniffle on the other end, and I stopped where I stood.  “Niri, what is it?”

“I… I need help.”  Nirina said.  “The past few months have been… have been…”  Her voice broke and I heard a muffled sob.

“Nirina, where are you?”  I asked.  “Are you in Dragon Valley?”

Nirina took in a deep breath.  Her shaking voice held steadier.  “Yes, I’m… I’m at a pay phone just outside of the market plaza…  I… I don’t have a car…”

“That’s alright.”  I said, grasping my keys on the counter and heading towards the garage.  “Stay there, I’m coming for you.”

“Thank you…” Nirina whispered on the other end.

I drove, the rain battering against my windshield.  I slowed down on the deserted streets of the market plaza, narrowing my eyes to search the darkened sidewalks.  I spotted a figure curled against the side of a nearby building, and I sped towards it.

Stopping the car, I opened the door to get a better look.

“Nirina!”  I called out through the storm.

The shadowy figure turned towards me.  She stood shivering under the cover of a lone awning, her arms clenched around her waist.

“Nirina, it's so good to see you!  I was so worried!”  I cried out, rushing towards her and wrapping my arms around her shoulders.

She was frozen in my embrace.  Holding her shaking body against mine, I felt the solid bulge of her stomach.  I let go, stepping back to get a good look at her.

“Nirina, are you... pregnant?” I asked, smiling with excitement.

“Yes…” she murmured, nodding her head. The pained expression on her face gave me pause.  Tears brimmed on the corners of her eyes.

My smile melted away.

“Are you in labor?”  I asked, clasping her shoulders.

“Yes!”  Nirina shouted, her arms curling around her midsection.

“Good Watcher...”  I whispered.  “Come with me...”  I said, slinging her arm around my shoulders and staggering back towards the car.